Dvorak News Blog

Are You A Meme ‘Typhoid Mary’?

By Uncle Dave Wednesday August 12, 2009

Your Uncle Dave has tried to spread his word, Interwebitubes — where the web gets flushed down former Sen. Steven’s tubes, for some time now with little effect. Guess I’m just not infectious like Paris or Britney or Sarah. So to speak.

The way that certain images, videos or concepts can suddenly spread like wildfire across the web, using email and social websites to propagate, is one of online culture’s most unique phenomena.

Now Spanish researchers claim to have found a way to accurately predict how quickly and widely new “memes”, as they are called, will spread. The ability to forecast this “viral” behaviour would be of great interest to sociologists and marketeers, among others.

The secret, they say, is to recognise the fact that people vary in how “infectious” they are when it comes to sharing content online. While some people pass on things they receive right away, others do so after some delay, or not at all.

The rest of the article explains how this works.

Two Brits Convicted For Refusing To Decrypt Data

By Uncle Dave Wednesday August 12, 2009

75 Comments

Interesting, totalitarian tactic. Normally, you need evidence to prove guilt. If the defendant won’t supply it, make not supplying incriminating evidence a crime. How twisted is that?

The [British] government said today it does not know their fate.

The power to force people to unscramble their data was granted to authorities in October 2007. Between 1 April, 2008 and 31 March this year the first two convictions were obtained.

The disclosure was made by Sir Christopher Rose, the government’s Chief Surveillance Commissioner, in his recent annual report.

The former High Court judge did not provide details of the crimes being investigated in the case of either individual – neither of whom were necessarily suspects – nor of the sentences they received.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it was unable to track down information on the legal milestones without the defendants’ names.

Failure to comply with a section 49 notice carries a sentence of up to two years jail plus fines. Failure to comply during a national security investigation carries up to five years jail.

Special Report: Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony?

By John C Dvorak Wednesday August 12, 2009

261 Comments

Is US CIO Vivek Kundra a Phony?
Copyright by John C. Dvorak

UPDATE

Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony?

This is the sort of question you might ask after trying to actually verify his supposed MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The registrar has no record of it. After initially posting this article the degree has cropped up apparently at the nearby University Campus in 2001. This was found by Nextgov.Com. But his degree in biology has yet to appear as his record shows a degree from College Park Campus for Psychology and nothing more.

I have queried the White House for clarification and still have received no response. The internet has answered the MS question. But other issues remain. Regarding a number of interesting and questionable facts, most in regard to Kundra’s bio. The most ridiculous is his assertion that he was formerly a CEO of Creostar. While records for this company are hard to come by a small Dun & Bradstreet service did turn up the following information: there was indeed a Creostar in Arlington, VA. It was founded in 2004 with the contact being Vivek Kundra. The last record for the company (online) showed sales of $67,000 with one employee – apparently Kundra, the CEO.

Click to enlarge

In fact the only job that I could find within the various Kundra bios was that of a Sales Manager and/or a VP of Marketing at a software firm called Envincible. It was sold in 2004, the same time Kundra set up Creostar. Envincible was a small security software company that sold to Exostar. Note how Kundra used a similar name with Creostar.

Perseid meteors to shower – tonight!

By Eideard Tuesday August 11, 2009

18 Comments

The most-watched meteor shower of the year is coming back late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, and this year, stargazers may be treated to even more fiery streaks of light zooming across the night sky.

Under the right conditions, observers away from city light pollution are sometimes able to see an average of one and sometimes two Perseid meteors per minute, said Patrick Wiggins, NASA solar system ambassador to Utah.

“But this year,” he said, “NASA is predicting the possibility of an enhanced shower Wednesday morning between 2 and 3 a.m. mdt.”

The more frequent meteor sightings could happen if the Earth passes through what astronomers suspect to be a particularly rich pocket of meteor-producing particles cast off by the shower’s parent comet nearly 400 years ago in 1610.

Some Perseid meteors also may be seen in the dark hours just before and after Aug. 12, but Wednesday morning will be the best time because the Earth will be centered in…the meteoroid swarm.

This shower is called the Perseids because they appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus. This shower is one of the fastest moving, with meteors ripping into the atmosphere at 60 kilometers per second.

Viewers should not use binoculars or telescopes because it limits the view of the sky too much. “A lawn chair, the naked eye, and maybe a few munchies, are the best things for viewing meteor showers,” Wiggins said.

Remember – no beer! You’ll fall asleep.

Jury finds for Minnie Mouse in groping case

By Eideard Tuesday August 11, 2009

25 Comments

A jury this morning found John William Moyer guilty of groping of a woman playing Minnie Mouse at Walt Disney World…

According to the sentence, Moyer has to write a letter of apology to the victim, Brittney Duncan McGoldrick. He also is under supervised probation for 180 days, must complete 50 hours of community service within four months, pay $1,000 in court costs and submit to a mental evaluation with treatment, if necessary.

Before sentencing, Moyer’s adult son spoke on his behalf. “He’s a good man,” Emory Moyer said. “He’s a nice guy.”

Emory Moyer also described his father as a man who would never touch a woman inappropriately…

McGoldrick told prosecutors at the Orange County Courthouse on Monday she had pushed Moyer away from her after the incident.

“My first reaction I just pushed him down. I was doing everything I could to get his hands off my breasts,” Duncan McGoldrick said.

I’m still waiting for the next-door neighbors of an axe-murderer to say something like – “We knew he was an axe-murderer all along.”

Google’s “Caffeine” looks like Google GTI

By Eideard Tuesday August 11, 2009

11 Comments

Google has unveiled a new version of its search engine which it says will be faster and more accurate than ever before.

The upgrade, which insiders have dubbed “caffeine”, was announced on Monday after the company opened up access to web developers. It is intended to replace the technology giant’s main search engine after tests have been completed…

The company claims that significant changes to the way the system works will improve the experience for users – although it will also send shockwaves through the community of marketers who try and optimise their results to appear higher up in Google’s index…

Caffeine allows Google to index the web at a higher pace – gathering more information and doing it faster – but the company’s search quality specialist, Matt Cutts, rejected claims that it was developed in response to the actions of rivals…

Whether the upgrade will have a significant impact on Google’s business has yet to emerge, but Martin McNulty, director of search marketing specialist Trafficbroker, said that it could give it a significant boost.

“Google’s Caffeine is undoubtedly faster, almost twice as fast at times. It’s like a Google Gti,” he said.

Quality still supersedes speed – as a requirement on my desktop.

Alaskan legislative “Death Panel” kills Sarah Palin veto

By Eideard Tuesday August 11, 2009

44 Comments

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Sarah Palin blows fairy dust at Republican true believers

Just one week after Sarah Palin stepped down as governor of Alaska, Alaskan lawmakers succeeded in overriding her veto of federal stimulus dollars.

The legislature has voted 45-15 in favor of overturning the former governor’s veto of more than $28 million in Recovery Act funds targeted toward energy efficiency projects.

The Alaska legislature met for a one-day special session in Anchorage. Heading into the vote, Rep. Mike Hawker, who voted in support of finally accepting the stimulus funds, anticipated a close decision, coming down to a couple of votes either way…

State lawmakers dispute Palin’s objections to the stimulus money. In a letter to Alaska House Finance Committee Co-Chair Rep. Mike Hawker and obtained by CNN, the Department of Energy wrote that the Alaska legislature “does not need to adopt, impose and enforce a statewide building code” in order to qualify for the energy funds.

Palin originally threatened to reject more than $400 million of the state’s $930 million share of the stimulus package. Eventually Palin signed off on all but the three percent under consideration Monday by state lawmakers.

Another 14th Century mind in a 20th Century Republican skull.

Browser Cookie Cleaning Preventing Your Being Tracked On The Web? You Wish!

By Uncle Dave Tuesday August 11, 2009

25 Comments

Read the article to learn what you don’t know about government’s websites tracking you via cookies and what to do about it all.

More than half of the internet’s top websites use a little known capability of Adobe’s Flash plugin to track users and store information about them, but only four of them mention the so-called Flash Cookies in their privacy policies, UC Berkeley researchers reported Monday.

Unlike traditional browser cookies, Flash cookies are relatively unknown to web users, and they are not controlled through the cookie privacy controls in a browser. That means even if a user thinks they have cleared their computer of tracking objects, they most likely have not.

What’s even sneakier?

Several services even use the surreptitious data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, which is called ‘re-spawning’ in homage to video games where zombies come back to life even after being “killed,” the report found. So even if a user gets rid of a website’s tracking cookie, that cookie’s unique ID will be assigned back to a new cookie again using the Flash data as the “backup.”

Even the whitehouse.gov showed up in the report, with researchers reporting they found a Flash cookie with the name “userId.” The site does say in its privacy policy that it uses tracking technology but it does not mention Flash or tell users how to get rid of the Flash cookie.

Hillary Clinton and her Short Fuse

By McCullough Monday August 10, 2009

73 Comments

Har! I guess we all have a bad day, but that is just a little bit scary. Glad I’m not in Slick Willie’s shoes.

Tamiflu Should Not Be Given To Children

By Uncle Dave Monday August 10, 2009

10 Comments

I wonder if this means that they must get flu shots so they don’t need Tamiflu.

Children should not be given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu for swine flu because its harms outweigh any benefits, Oxford researchers have said. They called on the Department of Health to have an urgent rethink of its current policy in the swine flu pandemic. Their study found that Tamiflu caused vomiting in some children, which can lead to dehydration and complications.
[…]
Dr Carl Henegan, a GP and expert from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, said the current policy of giving Tamiflu for mild illness was an “inappropriate strategy”. He added: “The downside of the harms outweigh the one-day reduction in symptomatic benefits.”

The study comes little over a week after other research found that children given Tamiflu preventatively reported side-effects including nausea and nightmares.

Researchers analysed four studies involving children aged one to 12 taking Tamiflu or another anti-viral, Relenza.

The children were being treated for normal seasonal flu but the experts behind the research said their findings would extend to the current swine flu pandemic.

Facebook Buys Friendfeed — Should be Facefeed!

By John C Dvorak Monday August 10, 2009

14 Comments

Facebook apparently worried about Twitter, so they buy Friendfeed.
Microsoft reneges on free deal. Meanwhile they have doubled cash-back deal on Bing use.
Not really new phones from Android project.
Cell phone users, meanwhile, want cheap service.
Microsoft is refocusing on software. The company may have an issue with HTML 5.
Russians want to get in gear.
When will the HUGO Awards introduce a video game category.
Shows sponsored by squarespace.com code word: TECH.

click ► to listen:

Right click here and select ‘Save Link As…’ to download the mp3 file.

A Peculiar Man Was Shot

By Uncle Dave Monday August 10, 2009

18 Comments

Yeah, I admit it. I posted this only because of the headline. Ain’t English a grand language?

A 55-year-old resident of Peculiar died today in an accidental shooting.

Investigators believe that Dennis Holcomb accidentally shot himself while target shooting alone, said Cass County Sheriff’s Corporal Kevin Tieman.

A relative found Holcomb with a single gunshot wound in his leg in the 13000 block of 223rd Street and called for help about 5:20 p.m. Holcomb was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The American Form of Government

By hhopper Monday August 10, 2009

78 Comments

Dead baby comes to life before funeral

By John C Dvorak Monday August 10, 2009

30 Comments

The Mommy Files : Dead baby comes to life before funeral

The hospital provided the parents Liliana and Jose Alvarenga with a death certificate and a “coffin,” a cardboard box with the baby’s name scribbled on the side. They placed their deceased child in the box, went home, and then the unbelievable happened.”I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said ‘the baby’s crying’ … and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared,” Liliana told Reuters Television

Cripes. She got scared? Of what? The baby? You’d think she’d be happy.

“Man-child” tricks woman into changing his diapers

By Joe C Monday August 10, 2009

13 Comments

Janet Schulte believed the man when he told her by phone that his 40-something, disabled brother needed a caregiver who could bottle-feed him and change his diapers.

What the Melbourne woman can’t believe is that he committed no crime, now that she said she has found out the situation was a charade: that the man and his brother were same person.

And that he didn’t have the disabilities he claimed to have.

“I feel violated,” Schulte said, sharing her story because she said the man has deceived other women and will try again. “I feel disgusted.”

Investigators and prosecutors have refused to pursue charges, saying Schulte was paid and agreed to provide the care.