Month: March 2009
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Iraq to start executing gays this week
More than 100 prisoners in Iraq are facing execution – and many of them are believed to have been convicted of the ‘crime’ of being gay, the UK-based Iraqi-LGBT group revealed this afternoon. According to Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week. There…
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On Down Syndrome and other self-inflicted tragedies
Earlier this week Salon published an article about a mother dealing with an adult Autistic son, who’s out of control violence led her to desperate measures. Her story reminded me of the angry responses I’ve received whenever I’ve written against Down syndrome. Dozens of parents have responded to each post, claiming to have adorable little…
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Winning marketshare by giving away your intellectual property
Suppose you start a small tech startup and invent a revolutionary device with tremendous potential. What would you expect to be most profitable – to make the device yourself, to license it to large manufacturers, or to give away licenses royalty free to anyone who wanted them? The first two choices might seem reasonable, but…
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"The patent system is not just broken, it is poisonous."
Good article from ZDnet: Bill Gates [once said] that software patents had the potential to put the industry at “a complete standstill” and with good reason. If the sort of protection Microsoft now claims for itself had been available to CP/M then, Microsoft would never have created its monopoly, nor amassed a fraction of its…
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Are politically-incorrect Google search results being censored?
I recently searched for the words “capitalism definition” on Google, and saw this at the bottom of the first results page: In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 2 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at ChillingEffects.org. When I followed the link,…
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Egyptian Cleric Warns Muslim Youth of the Upcoming Valentine's Day
Many more clips at Memri TV.
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1 in 31 U.S. Adults are Behind Bars, on Parole or Probation
1 in 31 U.S. Adults are Behind Bars, on Parole or Probation. The majority of these convicts are morally innocent – they are political prisoners – victims of the governments “war” on forbidden plants and chemicals. I wonder how this percentage compares with Stalinist Russia? No, I’m not equating the two. But when masked…
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Ideas for improving writing
George Orwell’s essay on the use of the English language encouraged me to think about how to improve my writing by applying lessons from neuroscience and cognitive science. One idea is to optimize cognitive load. By cognitive load, I mean the effort it takes to understand the ideas I want to convey. Effective writing needs to…