| Thursday,
Subject: 123456 clock oddity
Jerry,
as a european I am not yet doomed: The US is a month
early due to the 'middle-endian' date notation. (see:
http://www.unb.ca/samples/jargon.cgi?middle-endian )
One more month...
Menno.
==
Dear Jerry,
I was sad to see I’d missed 01-02-03-04-05-06; being
nerdy enough to fancy staying up to see it.
Then I realised that over here in Europe we still have
a month to go! It will be the 4th of May for us rather than the 5th of
April.
So I haven’t missed it after all!
Regards,
Craig Arnold
Yes, I thought of that, but I didn't get
around to posting it.
==
Jerry
After reading that the Europeans consider our dating
to be "middle-endian" it occurred to me that I havn't used either date
format in a long time. Both formats disrupt the date/time cascade. The
up-and-coming date/time format is y-m-d-h-m-s.
So, for example, if we consider the current
"01-02-03-04-05-06" example, the rendering in the new format would be
2006-04-05 0102 03. Now, this doesn't look too promising, but if we truncate
the millennium and century dates, as is common, then we can look forward to
06-05-04 0302 01, or May 4, 2006, one second past 3:02 AM.
Yet another date to anticipate.
Ed
Some people have entirely too much spare
time...
==========
Subject: Recognizing McKinney
"Frankly, I find it hard to believe that the officer
did not recognize her, although it is certainly possible."
She supposedly had just changed her hairstyle quite
radically. She also didn't have her "member's pin" or ID badge on.
In any case, why aren't they searched? If I wanted to
get something bad into the House or Senate, the way to to it is to plant it
on a member of the appropriate chamber. I don't mind them having separate
lines for members and their staff, but to bypass the whole process is too
dang Imperial for me.
Edmund Hack
Finding herself utterly without support,
she has made a grudging apology, which I suspect will be accepted. As to the
perks of a Member, they do search Executive Branch people unless accompanied
by a Member or Senator, and have done so for some time. They only grudgingly
allow Cabinet members to be accompanied by an entourage and bodyguards. I
recall going to Newt's office when he was Speaker and being waved in to sit
in his office while I waited for him while a gaggle of young men with short
haircuts and lapel pins lounged around in his outer office. The staff were
rather icily polite to Secretary Cohen's bodyguards. And of course the
President is accompanied by House Ushers and the Sergeant at Arms, not
Secret Service, when he comes into the House chambers.
============
Subject: The Gospel of Judas? -- (
TimeSink ! :)
This is an interesting story, I think. What really
struck me as odd though, is the story of how the document finally came into
the hands of the team that did the translating. I am really ignorant of how
such antiquities are handled, but if I had thought about it at all, I doubt
I would have expected to hear a story like this one.
Oh yes, what the manuscript itself says is interesting
too, though I doubt it will have much impact on current thinking. :)
-Paul
NYTimes Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html?ex=1144468800&en=651ad24090601020&ei=5087
There is also a National Geographic Special on this
which will be shown on April 9.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html?ex=1144468800&en=651ad24090601020&ei=5087
Timesink indeed. The Gnostics have long
believed this and every now and then a modern novel surfaces with this
theme. Gnosticism and Manicheanism are extremely attractive heresies (if
heresies they be, but of course Roman and Orthodox Catholics pretty well
consider that settled).
===========
Subject: Lie detectors and Martha
Stewart
Dr. Pournelle:
If this technology is used by law enforcement, what
happens to the Fifth Amendment? I can see this type of technology being
developed to the point where accurate readings can be made even if the
person being interviewed doesn't answer orally.
If the machine indicates deception, why bother with a
trial? Just begin the sentencing phase, and have a machine in the courtroom
so that the newly convicted don't get any judicial mercy either.
Wal-Mart among others would question employees every
shift so as to minimize theft. It could become routine to ask shoppers if
they've paid for every item.
This way lies Dystopia.
jomath
Indeed. Although I suppose something like
tinfoil hats or Poul Anderson's "mindshields" will be developed. Still, the
technology is being developed, and stuffing the genie back in the bottle has
never worked.
I know many question the accuracy of the
analysis, and indeed it does take interpretation. What stress analysis --
whether voice or through physical instrumentation -- detects is stress. We
can with the right physical instruments detect a physiological difference
between fear and anger (Al Ax et. al. wrote a paper on that circa 1954). I
do not know if such differential analysis is possible with Voice Stress
Analysis, but that may be coming.
As to the technology, we have to learn to
live with it.
=========
Subject: Hansen & Muzzling
Dear Jerry,
What Hansen and his supporters claim is 'muzzling' is
in fact equal treatment along with all other non-elected employees below
Senate confirmed cabinet level. This is a prohibition against unilaterally
issuing fulsome communiques on their own initiative that appear to be
official US Government policy, or could be interpreted that way by
recipients. This sort of policy is very sound for the government employees
of a nation that claims to formulate its policies on a democratic basis
after full public debate.
Hansen has not been prohibited from being interviewed
in his own person nor has he been prohibited (to my knowledge) with writing
papers that say "Dr. James Hansen, Ph.D. Rocket Scientist" or from giving
speeches. The 'problem' is the frustrated desire of Hansen and his friends
to shroud their opinions with what appears to be official government
auctoritas. Their 'problem' is not in speaking out but rather in accepting
the entire concept of representative government secured by, among other
things, the First Amendment. Obviously "Dr. James Hansen, Ph.d Rocket
Scientist...Director...NASA..." carries far more weight with REALLY
UNINFORMED people than a vanilla "Dr. Robert Hansen, Ph.D."
I've noticed this particular 'problem' is very common
among Global Warming True Believer fanatics. One of the reasons I call them
a 'Priesthood' is because they behave just like any other priesthood
delivering Revealed Knowledge and react to non-believers and heretics
similarly.
Regards,
Mark
==
Subject: Global Warming - Personal Views Versus
Research
Dr. Pournelle,
The Post isn't something that I normally read, but
this article has some interesting citations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2006/04/05/AR2006040502150_pf.html
Hansen claims censorship, while the NOAA
administration says that it is only enforcing previously ignored rules, and
asking employees to keep their personal views out of their NOAA work.
'NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr.
responded by sending an agency-wide e-mail that said he is "a strong
believer in open, peer-reviewed science as well as the right and duty of
scientists to seek the truth and to provide the best scientific advice
possible."' <snip>
'None of the scientists said political appointees had
influenced their research on climate change or disciplined them for
questioning the administration. Indeed, several researchers have received
bigger budgets in recent years because President Bush has focused on
studying global warming rather than curbing greenhouse gases. NOAA's budget
for climate research and services is now $250 million, up from $241 million
in 2004.' <snip>
Studying, rather than pre-acting -- what a great
concept!
Regards, Peter Czora
=========
On Hospital
Cost and immigration
Subject: Hospital ER Costs
Due to the nature of the volunteer work I do I often
spend several hours a weekend in the ER. In my area there are a few illegals,
but plenty of people who are using the hospital for routine medical care.
While there is some cost for the supplies that I am sure is not trivial, the
greater expense is on the people. People who are qualified to work in a
trauma center, but are needed to deal with ear infections and babies running
a mild fever. People who demand assistance but will never pay a dime of
their bill.
Some hospitals have opened "minor emergency" rooms
that attempt to deal with these issues. But they require space and the
staffing is not that much less money. And of course they have to be careful.
If you miss a problem with someone, who for years has neglected their
personal health care, and you will face the lawyers.
The result of all of this is trauma centers with
gurneys in the hallway and more people arriving. Staff that is overworked,
tired and wanting to find another job. Hospitals look at the cash flow,
consider the risks from litigation and would rather turn the space over to
an orthopedic group to process hip replacements. -- ---
Al Lipscomb
And from De Doc (Dr. Ernoehazy is in
charge of a hospital emergency room):
Subject: Cold Equations In Emergency Medicine
Good morning, Jerry.
Some thoughts on emergency departments, indigents, and
immigration...
Your correspondent wrote:
>Subject: immigration
> .... >For the sake of argument, I'm willing to concede the point that
hospitals
>are closing due to the costs of treating the illegal immigrants. Fine, I'll
>give you that one. Now, YOU tell ME what the real cost is. The hospital was
>going to be open anyway. The hospital was going to be staffed anyway. The
>lights were going to be on. The surgeons, doctors, nurses, and support
staff
>were already being paid.
But who pays these people?
Doctors are typically not salaried employees; they get
their money directly from billing patients for professional services.
Hospitals pay nurses, allied health professionals, support staff... but they
pay them from the monies THEY recieve from billing patients for hospital
services. (Note that making doctors salaried employees doesn't help; the
hospital's revenue still comes from billings.)
So why does that matter when considering the financing
of emergency medicine?
Imagine, for a moment, that you own a restaurant.
You stay open because people pay to eat there, right?
Now... imagine that:
-- by Federal law, you *must* seat everyone who shows
up to your restaurant, without asking for any proof that they can pay; you
MUST serve everyone food; you MUST NOT discriminate in any way as to what
food you serve; and you cannot coerce patrons in any manner to pay before
they leave the premises, since the same Federal law interprets such action
as an attempt to scare people away without seating and serving them.
-- 30 to 40 percent of your patrons leave without
paying at all.
-- Another 30 to 40 percent of your patrons use
government-funded payment plans, which only reimburse you... 50 cents? on
the dollar billed. (Imagine further that many of these plans only pay you a
year after you bill them, after challenging every cent of your billing,
forcing you to retain extra clerical staff just to recover any money at
all... which lops an extra 5 cents off each dollar billed, in such cases.)
-- The rest of your patrons use other payment plans,
which also take their own sweet time paying you, but generally pay most of
what the bill.
-- Tipping? What tipping?
If you were the owner of such a place, you would pray
nightly for paying customers.
That is what the economics of emergency departments
are like, everywhere in the United States. The EMTALA Act requires emergency
departments to see and treat all comers, without distinctions, without prior
payment, and without appearance of coercion. Medicare and Medicaid payments
are set arbitrarily, and bear little or no relation to the overhead cost to
provide services, much less recompensing the providers. Both government and
private insurance plans often delay payment for a year or more; the
situation became so egregious in California that the state legislature
passed a law making it illegal to delay payments in such wise. (Not that the
State Attorney has actually filed charges, mind you; hospitals and doctors
have submitted repeated cases, but none have been taken for action. But I
digress.)
Now... add illegals to the mix.
They can't pay you, in almost all cases. They don't
have addresses to which you can send collections agencies. There are
government grants to help offset the cost of indigent medical care... but
they're insufficient to cover more than a portion of the cost of indigent
care for citizens. Add the extra cost incurred in treating illegals, and the
grants become pittances.
That's why hospitals are closing emergency departments
in areas with high illegal-resident populations. Hospitals have to pay their
people, their utility bills, and their overhead costs. They can manage it
when emergency departments are not getting paid for a third of their
emergency department work, and underpaid for another third.
They *cannot* manage it when they are not getting paid
at all fifty or sixty percent of the time.
THAT is the reason the illegal resident issue is
forcing some border state hospitals to close emergency departments, and
forcing others into bankruptcy.
>Sure, treating patients will cost some money.
Bandages. Sharpening the
>scalpels. Running the new CT Scan machines. And food for the patients.
>Buying more medicine. Frankly, I'd rather have the staff practicing on
>illegal immigrants, honing their skills, in anticipation of the time that
>I'll need treatment.
Permit me, again, to note...
If the doctor is treating an illegal resident, the
odds are they're not getting paid. Neither is the hospital. TANSTAAFL.
In your reply, you wrote:
>... There are regulations about how long you can keep
patients >waiting, and lawsuits -- Southern California seems to have plenty
of lawyers >who like that sort of thing -- result.
I couldn't find any such laws in my research; I
suspect that southern California lawyers are using prolonged waiting times
as the hook to argue for malpractice, rather than appealing to a statute...
but I may not be correct.
In either case, tort liability is a second or third
order effect, not the principal issue. It's a matter of income -- if you're
not getting enough income to cover the bills, you close. When you have an
influx of people who can use a system and not pay for it, you aren't getting
enough income...
And the result is bankruptcy and ER closures.
It's as simple as any other example of the Cold
Equations.
>... As to requiring Mexico to pay for the bankruptcy
of San Diego due to
>services to illegal immigrants, good luck.
Couldn't agree more.
cordially, Bill Ernoehazy, MD, FACEP
http://www.dedoc.net
And see below
============
Subject: Re: FW: Rootkits
Again...
Dr. Pournelle:
Regarding your inquiry about the Microsoft guy that
recommended a rebuild from scratch when infected with spyware:
I think that the trend for malware (which encompasses
viruses, worms, spyware, adware, etc) is moving towards a for-profit mode.
The profit might be in harvesting financial information from the user (from
their keystrokes/web access), by redirecting web pages and popups (to gather
advertising clicking revenue), using a computer as a mail relay (for
spamming), or extortion (encrypting a user's hard drive then demanding a
payoff to unencrypt). I think that there will be a lesser risk from
data-destroying malware -- why destroy a user's data when you can keep on
using that 'ownership' for a long-term financial benefit.
Once infected with malware, there are several ways to
try to fix the problem. At a corporate/business level, it may be easier to
re-install everything from scratch. Most corporate users have standardized
installations, so reinstalling from an 'image' (via Symantec's "Ghost" or
other products) is sometimes the easiest for the corporate support staff.
The user's "my documents" data will be lost, but most corporations recommend
storing data files on a network server (where they are regularly backed up).
In fact, this is my recommendation at my place of work (a large metropolitan
local government entity) -- all systems are set up with standardized
software/settings from an 'image' file. If a problem cannot be easily fixed,
then it is more efficient (for the user, who gets their computer back into
use; and the support staff, who can move on to the next problem) to re-image
a system.
A rebuild-from-scratch is also a good idea for a
network server. It needs to be back on-line quickly, so extensive and
time-consuming troubleshooting is just not an option.
For the non-corporate user, you can try to fix the
problem first, because you may have a bit more time available to try to save
the data. I've done this also -- in fact, just last month I spent several
hours resolving a problem on my son-in-law's computer with a persistent
pop-up blocker. I used several tools to do this: a full updated virus scan,
Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Microsoft Defender. Each tool took a
bit of time to work through, and I was able to remove most of the problems.
The pop-ups were still there, so I went to get the
help of the "Hijack-This!" group at "Spyware Warriors". The best place to
start is here http://spywarewarrior.com/sww-help.htm for detailed
instructions on how to fix your specific problem. It took several
specialized tools and instructions from those fine folks to get rid of the
problem. Highly recommended resource for fixing malware problems.
Malware will continue to get smarter and more clever.
The decision on whether to fix or rebuild depends on your specific
situation. If you have a current backup of all your data files (a good idea)
and software installation disks, it might be best to restore from your
system image (most newer computers have that capability). Then add your
specialized software and data files, and you're ready to go.
If the data on the computer is vital and you can't
restore/rebuild, do an immediate data backup (burn it to a CD/DVD/USB
drive/etc). Then attempt a fix using the above tools and help.
But, of course, prevention is best. Safe computing
practices, which I've mentioned many times, will protect you from malware.
Regards, Rick Hellewell
<http://spywarewarrior.com/sww-help.htm>
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