Category: Interesting Reads

Today in history – FBI founded

Man, I almost totally missed this. Here we are near the end of the day, and I’m just catching up on all my news. And given my interest in security, politics, and what the government is doing, I find this interesting. Today in history, 98 years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded.

On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief Examiner was renamed the Bureau of Investigation, and in 1935 it became the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

When the Department of Justice was created in 1870 to enforce federal law and coordinate judicial policy, it had no permanent investigators on its staff. At first, it hired private detectives when it needed federal crimes investigated and later rented out investigators from other federal agencies, such as the Secret Service, which was created by the Department of the Treasury in 1865 to investigate counterfeiting. In the early part of the 20th century, the attorney general was authorized to hire a few permanent investigators, and the Office of the Chief Examiner, which consisted mostly of accountants, was created to review financial transactions of the federal courts.

Continue reading “Today in history – FBI founded”

PVRs good for networks

(via PVR Wire)
Some foolish CBS researcher went and did the unthinkable – he looked into the claim that PVRs (Personal Video Recorders – think Tivo and ReplayTV) are bad for the networks.  Upon conducting this study, he found out that PVRs are good for the networks.  Of course, much like the reality that downloaders are the biggest purchasers of music, this fact won’t sway the fear-mongers who are trying to prevent good technology from making the lives of consumers better.

It seems like the most obvious thing in the world that digital video recorders are bad news for TV networks. DVRs make it easier for viewers to record a show tonight and watch it four days down the road — or to capture it tonight after it ran four days ago. Some of them even enable viewers to save an entire season of a series to the DVR’s hard drive with one click of a button.

By further distorting the TV schedule, these VCRs in overdrive would appear to diminish the value of the advertising on which television networks rely. After all, many ads are time-sensitive. What’s the point of touting tomorrow’s release of a Hollywood blockbuster if people won’t see the tout until after the all-important first weekend?

And so, during a recent lunch hour, in a meeting room in Pasadena, the chief research officer of CBS presented TV critics with the other side of the story. And according to David Poltrack’s statistics, DVRs are just dandy for big networks like his.

Why?  Well, let’s look at some of the realities he found:

  • DVR penetration in the United States is at 12% to 15% of households, versus 8% last year
  • the public is adopting DVRs at a slower rate than some observers predicted, and the idea that a DVR revolution would sweep away the networks’ scheduling power has “been thoroughly discredited.”
  • DVR-equipped viewers of the big four U.S. networks still watch 90% of their shows live, although this figure drops to 82% for prime time
  • Sixty-six per cent of viewers who have recorded a show on DVR watch it by 6 a.m. the next morning, Mr. Poltrack said, and 80% watch within two days
  • DVRs will increase the total audience. Case in point: On U.S. television this autumn, two very popular shows, Grey’s Anatomy on ABC and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS, are going toe-to-toe at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays (this scheduling conflict does not occur in Canada)

Less PVRs (I call them PVRs, he says DVRs) than expected, slower growth, high same day/next-day viewing, extremely high live-TV viewership?  All kinds of crazy stuff.  The end result is for the vast majority of PVR owners, the devices have changed very little in peoples’ actual viewing habits.   Mr. Poltrak (the CBS researcher) also notes that people already skip commercials on VCRs, so PVRs won’t change that.  Plus, people “get” the ads, even at high speed or with only limited exposure.

His argument is that people get the point of ads even at a higher rate of speed (indeed, that kind of absorption of information is the underpinning of the roadside billboard industry). Mr. Poltrack observed that many commercials are now designed to remain comprehensible in fast-forward.

The end of the world does not appear to be imminent for the networks now.  But I’m sure someone will come along, brush the facts under a rug, and work on getting our wonderful congress to pass laws restricting the grand timesaving devices we call PVRs.

[tags]PVRs, network television, PVRs good for networks[/tags]

Sky marshals name innocents to meet quota?

(via Schneier’s Security Blog)
This is a story so absurd it’s hard to believe. On the other hand, this is a government organization we’re talking about, so who knows?

You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they’re reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they’re required to submit at least one report a month. If they don’t, there’s no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

“Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft … and they did nothing wrong,” said one federal air marshal.

These unknowing passengers who are doing nothing wrong are landing in a secret government document called a Surveillance Detection Report, or SDR. Air marshals told 7NEWS that managers in Las Vegas created and continue to maintain this potentially dangerous quota system. “Do these reports have real life impacts on the people who are identified as potential terrorists?” 7NEWS Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked.

“Absolutely,” a federal air marshal replied.

. . .

Another federal air marshal said that not only is there a quota in Las Vegas for SDRs, but that “it directly reflects on (their) performance evaluations” and on how much money they make.

The director of the Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown, declined 7NEWS’ request for an interview on the quota system. But the agency points to a memo from August 2004 that said there is not a quota for submitting SDRs and which goes on to say, “I do not expect reports that are inaccurate or frivolous.” But, Las Vegas-based air marshals say the quota system remains in force, now more than two years after managers sent the original memos, and that it’s a mandate from management that impacts annual raises, bonuses, awards and special assignments.

. . .

One example, according to air marshals, occurred on one flight leaving Las Vegas, when an unknowing passenger, most likely a tourist, was identified in an SDR for doing nothing more than taking a photo of the Las Vegas skyline as his plane rolled down the runway.

. . .

Strange and other air marshals said the quota allows the government to fill a database with bad information.

A Las Vegas air marshal said he didn’t write an SDR every month for exactly that reason.

“Well, it’s intelligence information, and like any system, if you put garbage in, you get garbage out,” the air marshal said.

“I would like to see an investigation — a real investigation conducted into the ways things are done here,” the air marshal in Las Vegas said.

Although the agency strongly denies any presence of a quota system, Las Vegas-based air marshals have produced documents that show their performance review is directly linked to producing SDRs.

I have to agree with Schneier here, really, though.  This seems too insane to be real.  But with the Department of Homeland Security, stupidity seems to know no bounds.  I hope it’s not real.  I think it’s not real.  But I just can’t be certain.
[tags]Sky marshals, Department of Homeland Security, Government stupidity[/tags]

Can we ever fly faster than sound?

Personally, I’m skeptical that humans will ever fly faster than the speed of sound. But I have my doubts that humans can fly at all. I mean, really, our arms make terrible wings, and trying to flap that fast is sure to sprain a shoulder or two.

Lucky for me, someone wrote an article in the October 1944 issue of Popular Science taking a stance I can get on board with. Quite simply, the author says man cannot fly faster than the speed of sound. Reports to the contrary are, rather unsurprisingly, wrong. The entire Mach speed nomenclature exists merely to simplify detailing speeds which we *CAN* reach in these flying human death chambers.

Trust me – this is an article worth reading in full – either my cut and paste whack-job with commentary or the original article linked above.

Can We Ever Fly Faster Than Sound?

A seemingly impassable barrier blocks the way to higher plane speeds. Can we hurdle it? Our aviation editor gives his views.

By C. B. COLBY

Drawings by STEWART ROUSE

DESPITE glowing newspaper reports, man cannot now fly at the speed of sound. In fact it is doubtful, according to the best authorities, that man has ever closely approached sonic speed (764 m.p.h, at sea level and 664 m.p.h, at 40,000 feet), let alone attain or exceed it. Speeds of over 500 m.p.h, in level flight are a serious challenge to design and power-plant engineers. Even in a terminal-velocity dive (straight down with all stops open), it is doubtful that any pilot has attained the speed of sound.

Continue reading “Can we ever fly faster than sound?”

On the ATI/AMD deal

OK, I know I’ve just said I don’t care enough about the deal to comment on AMD buying ATI (which, through the magic of future posting, was actually written 24 hours ago), and then I go and find two really good write-ups on the deal. First, hit DubiousQuality and check out Bill’s view. He makes some good comments on the deal – certainly enough for me to start caring about the deal. When we’re done there, we’ll look at Joystiq’s addition to the discussion, BTW.

Continue reading “On the ATI/AMD deal”

Assassin’s Creed 360 previewed

(via Joystiq)

Very recently I noted that Assassin’s Creed, once believed to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, will be asscreed360.jpgcoming to at least the XBox360 as well. ComputerAndVideogames.com has the preview of the XBox360 version.

However, as Joystiq notes:

No release date, general or specific, was announced, nor was there talk of how the game controls (an indication the CVG team likely did not see a playable version). This is another PS3 title that was once thought exclusive but now confirmed multiplatform. It could still be a timed exclusive for Sony, but to what extent is the company’s PR line (i.e. not concerned with exclusives) reflective of internal opinion?

I’m really looking forward to this game. That is, assuming I can ever afford an XBox360. My gaming budget is a bit less than it used to be. Funny what a wife and 2 children does to your financial priorities…

[tags]Assassin’s Creed, XBox360, Joystiq[/tags]

Engadget talks Zune

With all the rumors and “facts” flying around the intarweb recently concerning Microsoft’s new portable media player, it can be hard to know what is real and not for this device. One of my favorite gadget sites, Engadget, has some details on what’s true and what’s not for Microsoft’s recently announced Zune.

Well, it’s not much, but we’ve got a quote and an official confirmation of the Zune project at Microsoft. The Zune brand is being billed as a “music and entertainment” project aimed at “connecting with others to discover new player_zune.jpgmusic and entertainment and will deliver a family of hardware and software products.” Here’s what they sent over, by way of Microsoft’s GM of marketing, Chris Stephenson:

“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”

So, what do we (thanks to Engadget) know? Well, here are just a few of the details Engadget has let us in on.

Ok, so we got off the horn with Microsoft just a few minutes ago and realized that making heads or tails of all this Zune stuff is probably driving some of you crazy . (We know others are probably just getting driven crazy by all the posts we’ve been writing about it. Sorry, it’s our job!) So here’s what we know for sure, think we know according to inside sources (i.e. yet unconfirmed information), and what we don’t yet know at all about the Zune. Continue reading “Engadget talks Zune”

Sex good for men, women should sleep alone

The results of a study have come out that is sure to be a disappoint for men and good news for women.

A new study out of the University of Vienna concludes that men recall their dreams best after sex, while women have the best recollection if they’ve slept alone. The results come in the context of a larger study on sleep, where a subject pool of eight unmarried couples slept 10 nights together and 10 nights apart while scientists observed their rest patterns and tested their cognitive skills

[tags]Science, Sex, Another reason for women to fake a headache[/tags]

Sahara desert once lush vegatative environment

(via LiveScience.com)

At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today. But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation.

During these few thousand years, prehistoric humans left the congested Nile Valley and established settlements around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.

The ancient climate shift and its effects are detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Science.

. . .

“The climate change at [10,500 years ago] which turned most of the [3.8 million square mile] large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, certainly within less than 500 years,” said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.

. . .

A timeline of Sahara occupation [See Map]:

  • 22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.
  • 10,500 to 9,000 years ago: Monsoon rains begin sweeping into the Sahara, transforming the region into a habitable area swiftly settled by Nile Valley dwellers.
  • 9,000 to 7,300 years ago: Continued rains, vegetation growth, and animal migrations lead to well established human settlements, including the introduction of domesticated livestock such as sheep and goats.
  • 7,300 to 5,500 years ago: Retreating monsoonal rains initiate desiccation in the Egyptian Sahara, prompting humans to move to remaining habitable niches in Sudanese Sahara. The end of the rains and return of desert conditions throughout the Sahara after 5,500 coincides with population return to the Nile Valley and the beginning of pharaonic society.

[tags]Sahara desert[/tags]

How sleep deprived are you?

(via LifeHacker)
British Airways has a page telling you that you need to get enough sleep (which we all know but don’t abide by) and tells you how to figure out if you are getting enough sleep. Since we all know that not sleeping enough makes you fat, this is the kind of thing you need to read to stay slim.

Time zone changes, internal body clock disruptions and irregular food and exercise patterns can all result in a sleep debt. Making difficult decisions is not easy if you are sleepy, jet lagged and not at your peak.

. . .

Work out how much sleep you owe your body and find out how to recover if your sleep account is in the red.

So go see how British Airways helps you stay healthier and start figuring out how to catch up on your sleep.

[tags]Sleep, British Airways[/tags]

NIST makes even more accurate atomic clock

(via Engadget)
Apparently, the possibility of being off 1 second every 70 million years was just too much for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  So NIST recently announced a new ultra-precise clock based on the oscillations of a mercury ion.  The new clock, tested and measured over the past 5+ years, should have an accuracy such that drift will be less than 1 second over 400 million years.  It will still take some time before this clock becomes the new standard, but the extra precision certainly suggests it will happen.

A prototype mercury optical clock was originally demonstrated at NIST in 2000. Over the last five years its absolute frequency has been measured repeatedly with respect to NIST-F1. The improved version of the mercury clock is the most accurate to date of any atomic clock, including a variety of experimental optical clocks using different atoms and designs.

. . .

“We finally have addressed the issue of systemic perturbations in the mercury clock. They can be controlled, and we know their uncertainties,” says NIST physicist Jim Bergquist, the principal investigator. “By measuring its frequency with respect to the primary standard, NIST-F1, we have been able to realize the most accurate absolute measurement of an optical frequency to date. And in the latest measurement, we have also established that the accuracy of the mercury-ion system is at a level superior to that of the best cesium clocks.”

And if you just want to learn more about atomic clocks and how they work, check out the NIST atomic clock page.

[tags]Atomic clock, Ultra-precision[/tags]