The War on Copyright AKA General Purpose Computers AKA Software Defined Radio

Scary stuff.

Cory Doctorow: Lockdown - The coming war on general-purpose computing. 

He makes the argument that SOPA and the like are merely the next wave of assaults on our freedom. Ignorance, greed, and fear will lead to more invasive technology and laws. He connects the dots between copyright and general purpose computing and even things like Software Defined Radios. The "Evil They" would  prevent you from doing things like modifying your UV-3R to expand the usable frequencies. Or manufacture your own AR-15 in your garage.

"Consider radio. Radio regulation until today was based on the idea that the properties of a radio are fixed at the time of manufacture, and can't be easily altered. You can't just flip a switch on your baby monitor and interfere with other signals. But powerful software-defined radios (SDRs) can change from baby monitor to emergency services dispatcher or air traffic controller, just by loading and executing different software. This is why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered what would happen when we put SDRs in the field, and asked for comment on whether it should mandate that all software-defined radios should be embedded in “trusted computing" machines. Ultimately, the question is whether every PC should be locked, so that their programs could be strictly regulated by central authorities."

The Wonderlic Exam

I've frequently heard the Wonderlic Exam mentioned on the radio when talking about potential NFL players. I finally spent a few seconds looking up the test to see what it was about. Here is a sample test, so you can see if you are quarterback material.

The some of the sample questions are not that hard - at least for a geek like me who really likes word problems/logic questions/etc. (Geek alert! My family used to buy puzzle books and quiz each other when I was little.) The trick is there are 50 questions that must be answered in 12 minutes. That means you have to do some guesses based on estimates instead of doing all the math. Here is an example where basic algebra will help you solve the problem, but time could be an issue:

Three individuals form a partnership and agree to divide the profits equally. X invests $9,000, Y invests $7,000, Z invests $4,000. If the profits are $4,800, how much less does X receive than if the profits were divided in proportion to the amount invested?

Given the time constraint, you can try to do the math quickly, estimate (since the answers are multiple choice and you could get close), or skip the question and try to find a faster/easier one.

Win7 on your iPad

Interesting...

"The app—a bare-bones, free version was released last week at CES—lets an iPad run Windows 7 in the cloud. It’s a bizarre, head-turning experience: You touch the app and suddenly Microsoft’s familiar interface is emblazoned on your Apple screen. Then you tap around and everything just works—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, and pretty much anything else that runs on Windows, which is everything—can now run on your iPad."

OnLive Desktop

fmanjoo Why OnLive’s Windows-on-iPad App is Revolutionary. My first @PandoDaily post. bit.ly/w1hTyYFri, Jan 20 13:49:04 from bitly retweeted by sarahcuda

MEGA-Watch

What do you call a watch that combines my smartphone, my GPS run tracker, and a Surefire flashlight?

MEGA-Watch!!!

Okay, it doesn't really exist, but just looking at the size of the Surefire alone suggests it would be a large clock, err lantern, err watch. Convergence has its limits today.

Surefire Watch via Says Uncle

Shame Game

It is a shame that the differences between the police and the army are becoming non-existent. Their roles are supposed to be different, so one would think they would be equipped differently.

Apparently that is not the case. I present the "Cop or Soldier" quiz. It should have been easy. It was not.

Via Says Uncle

Interesting Shift

I knew we had rolled out more laptops than desktops in the last year, but I just did the math. We are buying two laptops for every desktop.

There are a few things that would skew that number (executives getting replacements first, desktops are more likely to be redeployed to the shop floor where as old laptops are generally retired, etc.)

I am little surprised none the less.

Beaver Tail for Glock

I was leaning toward a M&P 9, but this new back strap for the Glock looks interesting.

And this is how rumors starts...

George R. R. Martin:

"I really need to find some way to bring Khal Drogo back from the dead."

And congrats to Peter Dinklage for his Golden Globe win.

Staying Married

Apparently my marriage has a good chance of being successful because my wife is better looking than me and she is thin. Finally, science has explained love.

Good Advice

“It’s more important to stay alive than shoot someone.”