Learn from the mistakes of others

ID card compromise reached in Parliament

Sylvia Carr
silicon.com
March 30, 2006, 17:30 BST

The Commons and the Lords have both passed an amended form of the government's ID cards bill

( Read more... )

silicon.com had this to say:

New ID cards agency set up after Queen approves bill
Critics of the scheme vow to fight on...

By Andy McCue

Friday 31 March 2006

( Read more... )

guess it won't be long before we're playing good little allies and following suit ...

ID card compromise reached in Parliament

Sylvia Carr
silicon.com
March 30, 2006, 17:30 BST

The Commons and the Lords have both passed an amended form of the government's ID cards bill

( Read more... )

silicon.com had this to say:

New ID cards agency set up after Queen approves bill
Critics of the scheme vow to fight on...

By Andy McCue

Friday 31 March 2006

( Read more... )

guess it won't be long before we're playing good little allies and following suit ...

Bill Gates lands role in Doctor Who
'Have you tried shutting down your TARDIS and rebooting it?'

By Will Sturgeon

Saturday 01 April 2006

Microsoft chairman and world's richest man Bill Gates has landed a role in cult BBC sci-fi drama Doctor Who, with a special half-hour episode set to hit UK screens later this year.

According to reports, Gates will play himself in the episode, the plot of which revolves around the abduction of the software tycoon while he is on a fishing trip on Lake Washington.

The Doctor, played by David Tennant, is then charged by the White House with the task of tracking down Gates' abductor – reported to be a war-mongering alien, Lord Daz Fenster, played by former Casualty star Derek Walker.

Teasers appearing on the internet suggest the episode contains a major twist at the end.

One spoiler site claims that Gates will be revealed himself as an alien who had been living undercover on Earth with a secret mission to take over the planet with a line of ubiquitous software.

The appearance follows Gates' walk-on role in Cheers spin-off Frasier and an animated appearance in The Simpsons.

Gates is a life-long fan of Doctor Who and famously said his favourite Doctor was Bill Pertwee.

"He's got a great first name," Gates joked with reporters in 2001.

The episode will air on 31 November 2006.

Bill Gates lands role in Doctor Who
'Have you tried shutting down your TARDIS and rebooting it?'

By Will Sturgeon

Saturday 01 April 2006

Microsoft chairman and world's richest man Bill Gates has landed a role in cult BBC sci-fi drama Doctor Who, with a special half-hour episode set to hit UK screens later this year.

According to reports, Gates will play himself in the episode, the plot of which revolves around the abduction of the software tycoon while he is on a fishing trip on Lake Washington.

The Doctor, played by David Tennant, is then charged by the White House with the task of tracking down Gates' abductor – reported to be a war-mongering alien, Lord Daz Fenster, played by former Casualty star Derek Walker.

Teasers appearing on the internet suggest the episode contains a major twist at the end.

One spoiler site claims that Gates will be revealed himself as an alien who had been living undercover on Earth with a secret mission to take over the planet with a line of ubiquitous software.

The appearance follows Gates' walk-on role in Cheers spin-off Frasier and an animated appearance in The Simpsons.

Gates is a life-long fan of Doctor Who and famously said his favourite Doctor was Bill Pertwee.

"He's got a great first name," Gates joked with reporters in 2001.

The episode will air on 31 November 2006.

Microsoft: 'Harden your environment'
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39260048,00.htm
Tom Espiner
ZDNet UK
March 30, 2006, 11:35 BST

Microsoft: 'Harden your environment'
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39260048,00.htm
Tom Espiner
ZDNet UK
March 30, 2006, 11:35 BST

US court throws out Microsoft's plea for help
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39260302,00.htm
Reuters
Reuters
March 30, 2006, 12:05 BST

( Read more... )

i would have been shocked if the us court had decided otherwise. comity is very important in the international arena - it is a foundation of private international law, aka choice of law. no one likes litigants who run off to a 'more favourable' jurisdiction to get a ruling that interferes in the processes of the original jurisdiction.

if the us court had upheld microsoft's argument, it would risk having the europeans ignore the court's ruling - or even explicitly dispute it. not a good for future relations. international law provides that courts ought to give effect to one another's judgements. this reduces the risk of forum shopping (hunting about for a more favourable court) and strengthens the power of courts in both lands by ensuring that those who have 'lost' cannot evade penalties merely by going somewhere else.

comity is not the same as extradition. extradition allows a court to order a person to be delivered into the jurisdiction of the other court. comity enables courts to uphold each other's decisions and enforce them in each other's place. in both cases, an application must be made to the relevant court.

US court throws out Microsoft's plea for help
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39260302,00.htm
Reuters
Reuters
March 30, 2006, 12:05 BST

( Read more... )

i would have been shocked if the us court had decided otherwise. comity is very important in the international arena - it is a foundation of private international law, aka choice of law. no one likes litigants who run off to a 'more favourable' jurisdiction to get a ruling that interferes in the processes of the original jurisdiction.

if the us court had upheld microsoft's argument, it would risk having the europeans ignore the court's ruling - or even explicitly dispute it. not a good for future relations. international law provides that courts ought to give effect to one another's judgements. this reduces the risk of forum shopping (hunting about for a more favourable court) and strengthens the power of courts in both lands by ensuring that those who have 'lost' cannot evade penalties merely by going somewhere else.

comity is not the same as extradition. extradition allows a court to order a person to be delivered into the jurisdiction of the other court. comity enables courts to uphold each other's decisions and enforce them in each other's place. in both cases, an application must be made to the relevant court.

Microserfs author turns sights on Google generation
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39260558,00.htm
Andrew Donoghue
ZDNet UK
March 30, 2006, 17:20 BST

( Read more... )

Microserfs author turns sights on Google generation
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39260558,00.htm
Andrew Donoghue
ZDNet UK
March 30, 2006, 17:20 BST

( Read more... )

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Why phishing reels punters in
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/31/phishing_study/
User stupidity, natch
John Leyden
Friday 31st March 2006 14:04 GMT

( Read more... )

Why phishing reels punters in
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/31/phishing_study/
User stupidity, natch
John Leyden
Friday 31st March 2006 14:04 GMT

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

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A DEVICE that can pick up on people's emotions is being developed to help people with autism relate to those around them. It will alert its autistic user if the person they are talking to starts showing signs of getting bored or annoyed.

One of the problems facing people with autism is an inability to pick up on social cues. Failure to notice that they are boring or confusing their listeners can be particularly damaging, says Rana El Kaliouby of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's sad because people then avoid having conversations with them."

the article is interesting, and also amusing. thanks reverancepavane :)

[the following rant bears no reflection on reverancepavane, or anyone else i know. this article just pushed some buttons, 'tis all. thought i'd share some of my thoughts and feelings]

but then again, this has reminded me about one thing that really, really irritates me about autism research(ers).

they're so bloody condescending.

( rant inside )

Timothy Bickmore of Northeastern University in Boston, who studies ways in which computers can be made to engage with people's emotions, says the device would be a great teaching aid. "I would love it if you could have a computer looking at each student in the room to tell me when 20 per cent of them were bored or confused."

A DEVICE that can pick up on people's emotions is being developed to help people with autism relate to those around them. It will alert its autistic user if the person they are talking to starts showing signs of getting bored or annoyed.

One of the problems facing people with autism is an inability to pick up on social cues. Failure to notice that they are boring or confusing their listeners can be particularly damaging, says Rana El Kaliouby of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's sad because people then avoid having conversations with them."

the article is interesting, and also amusing. thanks reverancepavane :)

[the following rant bears no reflection on reverancepavane, or anyone else i know. this article just pushed some buttons, 'tis all. thought i'd share some of my thoughts and feelings]

but then again, this has reminded me about one thing that really, really irritates me about autism research(ers).

they're so bloody condescending.

( rant inside )

Timothy Bickmore of Northeastern University in Boston, who studies ways in which computers can be made to engage with people's emotions, says the device would be a great teaching aid. "I would love it if you could have a computer looking at each student in the room to tell me when 20 per cent of them were bored or confused."