meta-roj

journalist

voice

researchers at penn state announced significant progress in the development of a wastewater-to-electricity microbial fuel cell by skipping the expensive bits (polymeric proton-exchange membranes) in favor of cheap stuff (carbon paper).

sometimes it’s good to think simple – this team got a more than 5-fold increase in output by replacing the high-tech polymeric proton exchange membrane with carbon paper. so sometimes “good enough” is “even better.”

Sweeping stun guns to target crowds [new scientist, june 16, 2004]

Weapons that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them are being readied for sale to military and police forces in the US and Europe.

one of the companies is rheinmetall of germany, another is xtreme alternative defense systems of indiana (usa).

you ready for this? keep your free speech in the designated zone, or we’ll take you all out.

i’m expecting a whole new set of spins on “friendly fire” and “collateral damage” – come to think of it, i wonder if these weapons are good at destroying electronic recording devices that might be present in a protest situation.

if you want a model for a career in music, it’s hard to go too wrong with sir paul.

sure, paul’s fumbled a few times along the way, but 3000 live shows is really, really amazing.

what happens when you mix an abusive business model with a person and a microphone? you get a speech on the trouble with filesharing…

sister machinegun, dna lounge, june 16

So, everything we’ve played — see, I give this speech every night, I mix it up a bit. We call it an “Audience Specific Interlude.” Like, at this point, I’ll say something about something tht happened to me in San Francisco…. and I’ll make it “amusing…”

Anyways, everything we’ve played in this set up to this juncture, this crossroads, this… interlude… is released on Positron Records, which we own and operate, the representative of which [at the merch booth] will be happy to supply you with a fix in that regard, for a modest fee which will go toward letting us sleep in a hotel room instead of the van…

Everything after that juncture (that interlude) is released on Wax Trax Records. which means it’s owned by — actually it’s not owned by TVT Records, it’s owned by Credit Suisse. so technically speaking, the first four Sister Machine Gun albums are released on Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, which is kind of cool when you think about it.

The point being, I don’t get fuckin’ paid for that shit, not a dime, not a single red cent. So you can go ahead and go home, and — hey, you can download it right the fuck here, they got WiFi. Just get up on Morpheus or some fuckin’ thing and get that shit for free.

Anyways, with that said, here we go.

and for the record, i should be more of a dna-groupie than i am.

the theme of the week appears to be drm and music… today’s story comes from slashdot on the drm-wrapped beastie boys release.

i can’t get to the beastie boys site or security focus, so i’m just guessing that the response from the beastie boys fanbase is a bit stronger than the one from velvet revolver. maybe more on this when the furor has subsided a bit… but maybe not.

update (2004.06.21 02:44): boingboing has a second-hand statement reportedly from the band on the issue.

from the san francisco chronicle, but originally broken by the washington post (which requires registration, so we avoid it when possible), today we have some more information on the relative merits of science in the formulation of bush administration policy. in this case, we’re talking about the health of americans and the fda, as opposed to, for example, the department of defense and a missile shield.

to refresh the story, the fda denied approval for over-the-counter access to a morning-after contraceptive in early may. the actual letter is here [pdf], and a q&a page is available here.

FDA Issues Not Approvable Letter to Barr Labs; Outlines Pathway for Future Approval [fda]

FDA’s letter to the sponsor notes that the application does not provide adequate data to support use of Plan B by young adolescent women without the intervention of a physician.

the new information suggests that this is a new approach to the health issue:

Experts not behind reversal on Plan B FDA bowed to politics, critics say [san francisco chronicle, june 18]

“The agency has not (previously) distinguished the safety and efficacy of Plan B and other forms of hormonal contraception among different ages of women of childbearing potential, and I am not aware of any compelling scientific reason for such a distinction in this case,” wrote John Jenkins, director of the FDA’s Office of New Drugs, which oversees all drug reviews for the agency.

yet-another-leaked-memo and yet-another-agenda-over-science-policy-criticism. is the bush administration in for death by a thousand pricks?

reported in the washington post, halliburton (which we should all be familiar with by now) has fired two consultants in connection with “violations of halliburton’s code of business conduct.”

one of these consultants is a. jack stanley – picked by cheney as chairman of the kellogg, brown and root (kbr) subsidiary of halliburton. the other is william chaudan

Halliburton Fires 2 Consultants [washington post (key)]

“This news is disappointing, ” said Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokeswoman. “But it’s not representative of how Halliburton or KBR does business.”

right. so far the business model at halliburton seems to be overcharging clients like the us government. kickbacks and bribery seem to be more badder and so off-limits. there’s always the chance that the bribe could come to light, and overcharges can simply be attributed to clerical errors. i mean, even the client makes mistakes with counting.

it’s a rational approach – if you get busted for the overcharges, just pay whatever it takes to make it go away. if you don’t get busted, you keep the money. if you get busted with bribe money, that’s going to set off a few more alarm bells. it is, after all, a violation of the foreign corrupt practices act.

in a sort of follow up to the “what are they thinking?” what are they thinking?” post yesterday, i fumble my way into the news that macrovision is buying installshield.

Macrovision To Acquire InstallShield Software Corporation

“Our software developer customers have told us that they want seamless solutions that will allow them to price, package, protect, deliver, install and update their software, allowing them to focus on development and release of their products,” stated Bill Krepick, president and CEO of Macrovision.

so, for the analysts out there – does this mark a diversification strategy for macrovision? a recognition that their bread-and-butter drm market has a limited life, or is this company convinced that they can deliver on their promises to “eliminate piracy and unlicensed use” and “get paid every time”?