Archives for January 2009

в начале

31 January 2009 | Lifeform, Literature | 2 Comments

сегодня исполняется 80 лет округу Йокнапатофа. petro_gulakpetro_gulak публикует хронологию и карту (вот она же чуть побольше), а я лишь повотрю давно известное:

I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

  

пособничество

31 January 2009 | Copyright, Internet, Jurisprudence | 1 Comment

а вот другой пример из жизни интернет-провайдеров:

One of Ireland’s largest ISPs, Eircom, has capitulated to the major music labels and agreed to implement a full “graduated response” program—complete with disconnections. Users get two warnings regarding file-sharing, and a third violation brings down the banhammer. The music industry has already said that it intends to pursue the same agreement with Ireland’s other ISPs.

дальше будут полуночные звонки в дверь и черные воронки?

via.

  

коммуналка

31 January 2009 | Robots | No Comments

роботы умнеют (“trying to integrate learning, vision, navigation, manipulation, planning, reasoning, speech, and natural language processing”) и учаться находить себе пропитание (“EATR system gets its energy by foraging, or what the firms describe as ‘engaging in biologically-inspired, organism-like, energy-harvesting behavior which is the equivalent of eating'”). люди в свою очередь задаются почти извечным вопросом (“do humanlike machines deserve human rights?”) и готовятся принимать законы (“the government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots—and vice versa”).

мы привыкаем жить вместе? несомненно, сказал бы Азимов.

  

динозавры среди нас

31 January 2009 | Art, Culturology, Politics | 1 Comment

современные звери выглядят куда убедительнее:

In 1977 Patricia Renick mounted an extraordinary solo exhibition at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center. The exhibit comprised one exceptional sculpture crafted of fiberglass and built on the frame of a Vietnam era U.S. Army OH6A/Cayuse helicopter.

The Triceracopter, “Hope for the Obsolescence of War”. и молча улыбается вслед, точно новый “Икарус”.

via.

  

средство от печали

30 January 2009 | Biology, Lifeform | 1 Comment

нет причин больше грустить над могилой любимого Шарика или Тузика:

BioArts International announced today that they have delivered the world’s first commercially cloned dog, a 10-week old Labrador named Lancey, to Florida residents Edgar and Nina Otto.

счастливое семейство. или holy family?

  

задержки

30 January 2009 | Internet | No Comments

Comcast, конечно, не одинок в своих попытках ограничивать скорость интернет-подключения:

In February, Cox will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on our high-speed Internet network in our Kansas and Arkansas markets. During the occasional times the network is congested, this new technology automatically ensures that all time-sensitive Internet traffic — such as web pages, voice calls, streaming videos and gaming — moves without delay. Less time-sensitive traffic, such as file uploads, peer-to-peer and Usenet newsgroups, may be delayed momentarily.

сетевой нейтралитет, говорите? вот и посмотрим.

  

контейнер

29 January 2009 | Security | No Comments

зато:

Six of the largest disk manufacturers, along with encryption management software vendors, are backing three specifications finalized that will eventually standardize the way encryption is used in firmware within hard disk drives and solid state disk drives controllers ensuring interoperability. Disk vendors are free to choose to use AES 128-bit or AES 256-bit keys depending on the level of security they want.

нам не страшны островные законы?

via.

  

IQ

29 January 2009 | Software | No Comments

периодически вижу разные приложения для iPhone (лень настраивать пайпы — да, может, оно и к лучшему). вот, например, шпаргалка для кубика Рубика или снайперский прицел (released on day of Obama inauguration, splendid!) — а ведь я даже не говорю про знаменитое iFart (the app nets developer USD40000 in 2 days).

утренняя подзарядка извечной weltschmerz, то есть. хотя и смешно.

  

импровизация

29 January 2009 | Music | No Comments

а еще у Кейта Джарретта есть замечательный “The Köln Concert”, зимним утром разбивающий наморозь льда за окном в яркие осколки солнечного тепла. слушаю его уже почти 20 лет, и все не устаю, завороженный.

  

предчувствие гражданской весны

28 January 2009 | Cinematograph, Personal | No Comments

а сейчас я заберусь с ногами на подоконник, где подо мной окажутся робкие человеческие тени, падающие геометрией снежинок вниз сквозь оранжевый фонарный свет. и буду, в самом деле, опять смотреть “Stardust Memories”.

январь? мы сожгли твое дыханье.