NASAdude

It is expected that porn will soon take cell phones by storm, be it text, images, or streaming video. (WMDT, Technology News, Herald Tribune) Some spin the idea to say that the porn industry is seeking to market their product to the 33% of cell phone user who are teens or younger.

In Japan, parents can now filter what is viewable on their children's cell phones. France is urging wireless carriers to limit the now-available racy content to cell phone users over 18. Once they're hooked, college/teen-aged porn addicts can get treatment online and use Paypal to fund it.

These are all examples front-page-type stories available in our various news sources lately. It's reasonably covered for the most part. Porn on cell phones is going to be big business, and we want to protect our children. Most people will go with the flow on that coverage. My fear is that most people don't see laws being twisted to serve political interests.

Last month, the FBI began implementation of an anti-obscenity initiative designed to crack down on those that produce and distribute deviant pornography. According to FBI headquarters, the war against smut is "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Gonazalez and FBI Director Robert Meuller. Although law enforcement agencies have always been aggressive when it comes to prosecuting exploitative child pornographers, this new initiative is unique in that it targets Internet pornography featuring consenting adults.

Under current American law, the Miller test is the means by which the courts determine if content is obscene and consequently not eligible for first amendment protection. The Miller test evaluates the literary, artistic, political, and scientific value of content as well as contemporary community standards. If content or expression is well within accepted community standards or it has intrinsic value, it does not constitute criminal obscenity. According to an electronic memo from FBI headquarters, established legal precedents indicate that conviction is most likely in cases where the content "includes bestiality, urination, defecation, as well as sadistic and masochistic behavior."
(Emphasis added.)
Source. See also: SlashDot and law.com.

Why is our government so intent to regulate morality? It seems reasonable to limit actions when a person's morality affects others, ie: murder, rape, robbery, assault, child pornography. But why target actions between consenting adults? The laws are a means by which a select group of people are saying, "My values are more pure than yours; so I'm better than you, and you are an evil criminal who should be punished." We shouldn't allow our government to create and police such closed-minded ideals.

Who defines what is "deviant" and whose "contemporary community standards" will be used? More importantly, how much will it be abused before the level of outrage in non-"contemporary communities" is sufficient to lead to change?

Before the internet, most people likely felt deviant and dirty when they had thoughts of anything other than missionary-position sex, let alone actually acting on those thoughts. Such topics were shameful for public discussion. The internet provides a means of more open communication, where one finds that most people are open to other sexual positions... among many other "deviant" things. We only see most things as deviant due to archaic repressive outdated standards that certainly don't have a place in modern law.

On a personal note, I'm not trying to say anything about what sexual practices I do or do not find deviant (unusual/strange) myself. I'm urging people to not push their values on others. , especially in the forms of all-encompassing laws.

Posted by NASAdude at 06:00 PM | Permalink

Wouldn't this sell better under the name P-Male? The P-Mate product allows women to urinate while standing. It's marketed for use while camping/hiking and any time the facilities are not conducive to sitting down. If utilized en-mass at stadiums/festivals/theaters/etc, long lines at the women's restroom might be no more.

Now women can pee in the alleys of top universities at 2am with the rest of the drunks, without worrying about being seen squatting in public or peeing on their shoes. Maybe this is the end of the marital conflict of leaving the toilet seat up or down.

It might reduce the Freudian concept of penis envy for some women. Or it could be one step toward a new penis panic for men. Hopefully most people can see beyond these ideas.

It's a great product idea. Already in use in Europe, will it become a popular item in the US?

Also: prnewswire, gizmag, standard.net, post-gazette, photo/demo

Posted by NASAdude at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's a follow-up for everyone who enjoyed (or was annoyed by) the Flying Spaghetti Monster article. I came across an essay that gives a clear and pointed description of the debate over having ID taught in science classes. I highly encourage you to read it in its entirety.

We are confronted with the argument: let's teach "both sides" in the science classes and let the students decide.

The essay gives a clear answer to that point. In a nutshell, ID isn't science. Just because evolution can be criticized doesn't mean ID should be accepted as its null hypothesis. The ID idea can't ever be proven, so it can't be treated as a proper theory. If anything, an acceptable null hypothesis would be "evolution isn't true." So if someone wants to poke holes in the idea of evolution in science class, good for them. Just keep it at that and don't make any philosophical leaps. Students deserve to learn proper scientific methodology in school.

Posted by NASAdude at 02:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a man willing to have his left ring finger amputated to improve his career in professional football. First, I have to wonder what his wife thinks of that if he's married. The next thought is:

What do you value in your life, and what are you willing to give up to keep it? Is there anything in your life that you value so highly that you'd give up:

• a finger


• a foot


• a hand


• an eye


• your friends


• your career


• your freedom


• a winning $200 million lottery ticket


• your vote


• your home


• your marriage


• your life


• your child's life

What is it that you use to gauge something's worth? What does that say about you?

Football Player Plans to Amputate Finger

An Australian professional football player said Tuesday he plans to have one of his fingers amputated in an attempt to improve his game.

Brett Backwell, who plays Australian rules football for Glenelg, a suburb of the city of Adelaide in South Australia state, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. he has suffered from pain and restricted movement since he broke his left ring finger three years ago.

Doctors had suggested fusing the bones in the finger, but Backwell rejected the proposal.

He said he believed that amputating the finger was the only way to stop the pain and allow him to keep playing.

"To chop a finger off, that's a bit drastic," Backwell told the ABC. "But I love my footy (football), and love playing sport, and if that's going to help me to succeed at this level then it's something you've just got to do."

Posted by NASAdude at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This all may seem a bit silly, but it brings to light the overall silliness of teaching intelligent design (ID) in high school science classes. The key to understanding why this is (or should be) a non-issue is comprehending the scientific method, the basis of modern science.

If ID is to be taught as science, then all forms of ID (any and every creator) must be given equal time in the classroom. Therefore, the FSM must have its time in the classroom.

Certainly ID puts forth a compelling argument that due to improbability of the universe and the existence of life there must have been some intervention by some guiding force. However, over a year ago in my blog article I got lucky, I gave a simple explanation to understand why something improbable happening is not evidence of intelligent intervention. I summarized with: "Simply because something highly improbable occurs does not require luck or the involvement of an outside influence such as God."

Moreover, in the case of the improbability of the universe being the way it is (leading to the existence of life), keep in mind that we are only able to observe it from that specific improbable outcome. That perspective can easily cause bias.

If I make an experiment where the subject is made unconscious, then allowed to survive based on a purely random and unlikely chance, the subject can only observe the outcome after waking up in the off-chance she survives. So if there's a one-in-a-billion chance the subject will wake up, she might think (upon waking up) that there was some intervention (ID). But as an outside observer we know it's random chance. (This relates to idea of quantum suicide, which I also referenced two weeks ago in my faster than light entry.) Science teaches us to look at the evidence as if we were that outside observer.

In the beginning there was the Flying Spaghetti Monster (excerpts)

For a growing band of devoted followers, He is the Supreme Being; creator of the universe and all living things. To the rest of us, the Flying Spaghetti Monster looks like a giant heap of pasta and meatballs topped with eyeballs on stalks. As it turns out, both interpretations are correct.

... Mr Henderson was taking aim at the concept of Intelligent Design, or ID, which provides a supposedly scientific alternative to the Old Testament belief that God created the world in six days and nights, but which dismisses most of the fossil record as false and which relies on the Earth being far younger than geological evidence shows.

Supporters say the universe is so complex that it can only be the work of a higher intelligence. They are pushing to have it taught in science lessons as an alternative to Darwin's theory of natural selection. It has the support of many leading conservatives, including Senator Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, and President Bush, who has said ID has a place in the classroom "so people can understand what the debate is all about".

But while the "theory" relies on the existence of a god, it does not specify which god. It was only when the state of Kansas announced earlier this year that its schools could teach ID in science classes that the Flying Spaghetti Monster made Himself widely known.

In an open letter to the Kansas Board of Education in July, Mr Henderson wrote: "I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.
...
He ends his letter with the telling comment: "I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."
...
Kansas has long been a battlefield between America's religious right and supporters of Darwin. In 1925, the Scopes Monkey Trial saw the state's unsuccessful attempt to stop the teaching of any aspect of evolution, including the theory that man and apes share a common ancestor.

More recently, conservatives have taken control of the state's board of education, pushing through a review of science teaching by a majority of six to four votes. The board is expected to endorse the teaching of ID next month, and other states are thinking of following suit.
...
"I don't have a problem with religion," [Mr. Henderson] says. "What I have a problem with is religion posing as science. If there is a god and he's intelligent, then I would guess he has a sense of humour."
...

Also: Google news search

Posted by NASAdude at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

When I first encountered them, I was hopeful that they might be edible, but was disappointed to find they are poisonous. I guess I'll have to keep to my usual mushroom sources.

UPDATE (Sept. 8, 2005): I took some more pictures this morning. Check out the hot mushroom on mushroom action! These two new shots show the bare undersides of the naughty shrooms! The first new shot shows one shroom giving you a peek underneath. mushrooms3 The next new shot gives you an inside glimpse of naked mushroom piled upon naked mushroom. mushrooms4

Jack-O'-Lantern (Omphalotus olearius)

The bright-orange is well named. Not only is it pumpkin-colored and found in the fall- it also glows in the dark. Fresh specimens sometimes give off a faint greenish glow at night or in a darkened room.

These common mushrooms have caused many poisonings because they look, smell and even taste good. They cause mild to severe stomach upset but are not life-threatening to healthy adults.

Jack-O'-lanterns have a pleasant, fruity fragrance. They are sometimes mistaken for the edible chanterelle (see page 6), which is the same color and also has pleasant smell. Chanterelles, however, have flat-edged, interconnecting ridges or wrinkles instead of knifelike gills, and grow on the ground. Size 3" to 10" tall, cap 3" to 8" diameter.

These mushrooms are found in summer and fall, in large clusters at the base of trees, on stumps or on buried wood.

The jack-o'-lantern and green-spored lepiota are only two of a large number of mushrooms that can cause mild to severe (though not life-threatening) illness if eaten.

Also: Wikipedia, wisc.edu

Posted by NASAdude at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight I played Trivial Pursuit. It's a lot of fun... except for those sports questions.

My team had to indicate which organ produces "liver bile." Suggested answers were the: spleen, gallbladder, and pancreas.

Here's some help from Wikipedia. :)

The pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ located posterior to the stomach on the posterior abdominal wall.

In humans the pancreas is a small elongated organ in the abdomen. It is described as having a head, body and tail. The pancreatic head abuts the second part of the duodenum while the tail extends towards the spleen. The pancreatic duct runs the length of the pancreas and empties into the second part of the duodenum at the ampulla of Vater. The common bile duct commonly joins the pancreatic duct at or near this point.

...

The pancreas produces enzymes that break down all categories of digestible foods

The gallbladder (or cholecyst) is a pear-shaped organ that stores bile (or "gall") until the body needs it for digestion. It is connected to the liver and the duodenum by the biliary tract.

...

The gallbladder stores bile, which is released when food containing fat enters the digestive tract, stimulating the secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK).

The spleen is a ductless, vertebrate gland that is not necessary for life but is closely associated with the circulatory system, where it functions in the destruction of old red blood cells and removal of other debris from the bloodstream, and also in holding a reservoir of blood. It is regarded as one of the centres of activity of the reticuloendothelial system. Until recently, the purpose of the spleen was not known. It is increasingly recognised that its absence predisposes to certain infections.

So now you know... in case you were like my team, who had our anatomy all a jumble.

Posted by NASAdude at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mazda has come out with a new ignition strategy -- a USB drive. I'm not convinced it's a great move; I think RF transponders with rotating codes or cryptographically signed handshaking might be a more utilitarian solution. Being able to upload data into the car is nice. It would be even nicer if they gave access to the OBD-II data via the USB.

And it's put into a 3-cyl 1.0-L car. That's the same type engine my first car had. The way energy costs (and supply) are going, it may be the engine in my next car.

Mazda throws away key for USB

The USB (universal serial bus) feature will be part of its Sassou concept car, a small hatchback aimed at the youth market, Mazda said this week. The car will be unveiled at this month's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Sassou uses a USB "key" and interface port that will let drivers program and load files onto the car's hard drive. But auto industry watchers note that such a feature may take years to show up on showroom floors--or it may never make it that far.

...

See also: Slashdot, stuff.co.nz, everythingusb.com, realtechnews.com

Posted by NASAdude at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's difficult to know who to believe when the news appears to contradict itself.

Homeopathy no better than placebo

Homeopathy, favored medical remedy of the royal family for generations and hugely popular in the UK, has an effect but only in the mind, according to a major study published in a leading medical journal on Thursday.

The conclusions of the Lancet analysis are a body blow for proponents of homeopathy, which has been around for 250 years and has attained cult-like status among its aficionados.

Swiss scientists compared the results of more than 100 trials of homeopathic medicines with the same number of trials of conventional medicines in a whole range of medical conditions, from respiratory infections to surgery. They found that homeopathy had no more than a placebo effect.

So are all those home remedies wrong? Could it be possible? But then there are other studies published that seem to disagree:

Butterbur Offers Hay Fever Relief (also here)

For the one in five Americans who suffer from hay fever, the herb butterbur may be an effective alternative to an antihistamine drug, according to what is called the largest trial on the plant extract done so far.

Researchers from Switzerland and Germany compared butterbur extract with fexofenadine (Allegra), an antihistamine commonly used to treat intermittent allergic rhinitis, better known as hay fever. Common symptoms of hay fever include sneezing, nasal congestion and watery, itchy eyes.

The investigators assigned 330 patients to one of three groups: the first group took butterbur extract (also called petasites), 8 milligram tablets three times a day; the fexofenadine group took a 180-milligram antihistamine tablet in the morning; and the third group received placebo pills.

Other stories about functional remedies from natural sources include:
- extract of St Johns Wort for treating depression
- marijuana for treating multiple sclerosis (maybe)
- pomegranate for treating cartilage deterioration In osteoarthritis

So does homeopathy have a real effect or not?

The key to deciphering all this is checking the claims to make sure they properly account for the placebo effect. That means it needs to be double-blind (both the patient and the person administering the medicine don't know if the dose is real or not) and large enough to give a statistically significant result.

In large, that means that most of the "natural" remedies you see in the grocery/drug store are a waste of your money. It's likely only a placebo effect. Admittedly, there might be some hidden gems out there. But isn't it logical that if there truly was a medical advantage in taking one of those natural "supplements," that the manufacturer would gladly fund a study to prove it is in fact efficacious.

I guess when it comes down to finances, funding a study to (maybe... most likely not) prove your product pales in comparison to the money that can be collected by fleecing the ignorant hordes of people.

Another thing to keep in mind is that medical studies don't have to be released to the public. So most likely small-scale studies have already been done internally by the manufacturers of these supplements, and are simply not revealed because the studies don't support their claims.

Posted by NASAdude at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's all come to a head. Google is pulling out all the stops. Their latest proposal, Google Purge, will destroy all copyrighted materials that cannot be searched by Google:

• Book burning
• anything the Google Sound global microphone network can't pick up will be silenced by noise-cancellation machines in low-Earth orbit
• hard drives of any computer that is not indexed by Google Desktop Search will be erased
• Google's robot army, each robot capable of capturing and scanning up to 100 humans per day... resistance to indexing will result in the subject's brain being liquified

Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index

Executives at Google, the rapidly growing online-search company that promises to "organize the world's information," announced Monday the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index.

"Our users want the world to be as simple, clean, and accessible as the Google home page itself," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a press conference held in their corporate offices. "Soon, it will be."

The new project, dubbed Google Purge, will join such popular services as Google Images, Google News, and Google Maps, which catalogs the entire surface of the Earth using high-resolution satellites.

As a part of Purge's first phase, executives will destroy all copyrighted materials that cannot be searched by Google.

"A year ago, Google offered to scan every book on the planet for its Google Print project. Now, they are promising to burn the rest," John Battelle wrote in his widely read "Searchblog." "Thanks to Google Purge, you'll never have to worry that your search has missed some obscure book, because that book will no longer exist. And the same goes for movies, art, and music."

"Book burning is just the beginning," said Google co-founder Larry Page. "This fall, we'll unveil Google Sound, which will record and index all the noise on Earth. Is your baby sleeping soundly? Does your high-school sweetheart still talk about you? Google will have the answers."

Page added: "And thanks to Google Purge, anything our global microphone network can't pick up will be silenced by noise-cancellation machines in low-Earth orbit."

As a part of Phase One operations, Google executives will permanently erase the hard drive of any computer that is not already indexed by the Google Desktop Search.

"We believe that Google Desktop Search is the best way to unlock the information hidden on your hard drive," Schmidt said. "If you haven't given it a try, now's the time. In one week, the deleting begins."

Although Google executives are keeping many details about Google Purge under wraps, some analysts speculate that the categories of information Google will eventually index or destroy include handwritten correspondence, buried fossils, and private thoughts and feelings.

The company's new directive may explain its recent acquisition of Celera Genomics, the company that mapped the human genome, and its buildup of a vast army of laser-equipped robots.

"Google finally has what it needs to catalog the DNA of every organism on Earth," said analyst Imran Kahn of J.P. Morgan Chase. "Of course, some people might not want their DNA indexed. Hence, the robot army. It's crazy, it's brilliant—typical Google."

Google's robot army is rumored to include some 4 million cybernetic search-and-destroy units, each capable of capturing and scanning up to 100 humans per day. Said co-founder Sergey Brin: "The scanning will be relatively painless. Hey, it's Google. It'll be fun to be scanned by a Googlebot. But in the event people resist, the robots are programmed to liquify the brain."

Markets responded favorably to the announcement of Google Purge, with traders bidding up Google's share price by $1.24, to $285.92, in late trading after the announcement. But some critics of the company have found cause for complaint.

"This announcement is a red flag," said Daniel Brandt, founder of Google-Watch.org. "I certainly don't want to accuse of them having bad intentions. But this campaign of destruction and genocide raises some potential privacy concerns."

Brandt also expressed reservations about the company's new motto. Until yesterday's news conference, the company's unofficial slogan had been "Don't be evil." The slogan has now been expanded to "Don't be evil, unless it's necessary for the greater good."

Co-founders Page and Brin dismiss their critics.

"A lot of companies are so worried about short-term reactions that they ignore the long view," Page said. "Not us. Our team is focused on something more than just making money. At Google, we're using technology to make dreams come true."

"Soon," Brin added, "we'll make dreams clickable, or destroy them forever."

In case you didn't realize, this is a hoax. It's not Google; Microsoft is really behind it.

Posted by NASAdude at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)