Photography
shrooms
snakes
Boliva/Peru (2005)
Greece (2006)
Italy (2007)
The Zoomquilt: Escher learns Flash.
Look out pirates and counterfeiters, here comes BASCAP! Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy is an international organization being formed to fight the proliferation of knock-off and illegal copies of a wide range of products. Note also the obligatory reference to terrorism:
"Easy profits from piracy and counterfeiting have recently been equated to the global trade in illegal drugs, which has led the FBI to state that counterfeiting and piracy will become the crime of the 21st century," he said.
He added that organized crime and terrorists were increasingly turning to counterfeiting and piracy to fund their activities.
The article also mentions a new initiative from Microsoft UK, although it doesn't say if the move will be standard practice for BASCAP members:
Meanwhile, in London, Microsoft Corp. announced that owners of pirated copies of the Windows XP operating system could trade them in for the real thing.
Microsoft said the deal, open only to residents of Britain, would help it fight the proliferation of "high-quality counterfeit versions" of its software.
The company said users unsure of the legitimacy of their Windows XP software could submit it to Microsoft for analysis, along with sales receipts and other documentation. Software found to be counterfeit would be replaced.
(Expected Slashdot joke: If your copy of Windows performs smoothly and crashes infrequently, it is undoubtedly a counterfeit version. Please have it replaced as soon as possible.)
(At the time I'm writing this, both bascap.com and bascap.org are available. Bascap.net is registered, but my guess is it has nothing to do with BASCAP. You'd think that if you get that many high tech companies together in one room, they'd think to register the domain name to go with their newly minted organization. So, on a whim, I am the proud new owner of bascap.org. Please feel free to send along any suggestions of what, if anything, to do with it.)
The stories that I've seen or read about the accusation of plagiarism leveled against Scott Taylor haven't really presented much in the way of in-depth comparison of the November 5th Winnipeg Free Press article (I almost wrote "Taylor's November 5th..." ha!) and the other items from which Taylor is accused of "borrowing" text. The Free Press doesn't help matters much with its craptacular website (subscriber only! seven day archive! We make the most of what the web can do!), but luckily my place of work doesn't throw out newspapers for a long, long time. So I have the article in front of me. I don't think it'd be right to reproduce the whole thing here, since that would probably be violating somebody's copyright, although there isn't much that gets left out of the following comparison. So let's all hear it for fair use!
The article is 20 paragraphs long in total. For the first five paragraphs it chugs along nicely, and based on my Googling it appears that Taylor actually did write these paragraphs himself. He discusses an upcoming game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay, makes reference to a player on each team as well as KC coach Dick Vermeil. He says that due to a stricter enforcement of the NFL rulebook, "offensive production and excitement has gone way up this season."
Things start to go off the rails as of the next paragraph. Taylor, um, "writes":
In fact, if it seems that there has been an increase in long pass plays in 2004, that's because there has been. The number of pass plays that have gone for 20, 30, and 40 yards have all reached 10-year highs.
Compare that to the opening paragraph from a news release on nfl.com:
If it seems that 2004 has seen an increase in long pass plays this season, that's because there are definitely more such plays. The number of pass plays that have gone for 20, 30, and 40 yards have all hit 10-year high-water marks.
The next paragraph seems original. However, right after that:
"It's very hard to drive the field and it's very hard to go 15 or 16 continuous plays," said Vermeil yesterday. "Somewhere, something big has to happen for you. If you're not looking down the field, you have no chance."
Compared to:
"It's very hard to drive the field and it is very hard to go 14, 15, or 16 continuous plays," says Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress, whose unit has helped Philadelphia reach 7-0, standing as the NFL's last unbeaten team. "Somewhere, something big has to happen for you. If you are not swinging that bat or looking down the field or calling a play that has the chance to go down the field, you have no chance."
Right around this point in the article, numerous similarities to a USA Today article begin to appear.
Taylor:
This season, teams obviously have a chance. Passing yards are up. Big passing plays are way up.
USA Today:
Passing yards are up. Big passing plays are way up.
Taylor:
And while the NFL did not officially change any of its pass defence rules, the competition committee did decide that after passing yards declined to their lowest level in 11 years in 2003, a "point of emphasis" would be placed on the enforcement of illegal contact penalties.
USA Today:
The league didn't officially change any rules for the passing game. But after passing yards declined to their lowest level in 11 years in 2003 and controversy flared during the playoffs -- particularly with physical tactics by New England Patriots defenders against Indianapolis Colts receivers in the AFC title game -- the competition committee made enforcement of illegal contact penalties a ''point of emphasis'' for officials.
Taylor:
Heading into Week 9, there have been 130 successful 40-yard pass plays, 265 30-yard pass plays and 674 20-yard pass plays. Last year through eight weeks there were only 105 40-yard plays, 221 30-yard plays and 628 20-yard pass plays.
USA Today:
There have been 674 passing plays of at least 20 yards, 265 of at least 30 yards and 130 of at least 40 yards. Passing output leaguewide has ticked up to 429.2 yards a game, compared with 410.6 after Week 8 in 2003.
If you're feeling charitable, it could be pointed out that these stats appear in the nfl.com news release, so maybe this was simply coincidence. And if Taylor is guilty of not citing the nfl.com release, so is USA Today. Again, that's if you're feeling charitable.
Moving right along. Taylor:
"I would say it's pretty obvious that the league is getting what it had hoped with its decision to clamp down on the interference," said Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden yesterday. "The game looks like full-contact basketball on grass."
USA Today:
''I think the league is getting what it intended with the rule,'' says Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, whose background is on offense but whose team is built around a dominant defense. ''It's becoming basketball on grass.''
We then have a paragraph that seems to be original. Right after that:
"I was one of those who sat in meetings for days, watching tapes of things that should not have been allowed," said Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher while in Minneapolis two weeks ago. "This game was not designed to allow defenders to grab and pull on the jerseys of receivers."
USA Today:
''I was one of those who sat in meetings for days, watching tapes and examples of things that should not have been allowed,'' says Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the eight-member competition committee and a former defensive coach. ''This game was not designed to allow defenders to grab and pull on the jerseys of defenders. That's what was happening, and it was having a definite effect.''
Taylor:
Fisher is the co-chairman of the eight-member competition committee and he's pleased with the results. Through seven weeks of strict enforcement, there were 63 illegal contact penalties in 116 games - a 142 per cent increase from the 26 infractions through Week 7 in 2003.
USA Today:
Through seven weeks of stricter enforcement, there were 63 illegal contact penalties in 116 games -- a 142% increase from the 26 infractions through Week 7 in 2003.
Taylor:
In fairness, there are other reasons why big-play passing has increased.
- Quarterbacks have been healthier this seasons. Of the 10 top-rated passers in each conference, 19 of the 20 have started each of his teams games.
- Improved offensive lines. O-linemen are bigger, stronger and an generally healthier this season and an increase in two tight end formations has resulted in extra protection for QBs.
- Increased blitzing.
USA Today:
Other factors suspected to influence the higher passing numbers:
* Quarterback health.
Although league officials are cautiously concerned about a higher number of players on injured reserve than in recent years, the game's most important position has avoided the rash. Just two starting quarterbacks (Oakland's Rich Gannon and Chicago's Rex Grossman) have been lost to season-ending injuries. Of the 10 top-rated passers in each conference, 19 of the 20 have started each of his team's games, providing continuity.
* Maximum protection.
Some coaches point to an increase in two-tight-end formations as a factor. The extra protection for quarterbacks allows more time to develop plays downfield.
* Blitzing.
Perhaps to account for stricter enforcement in coverage, coordinators have turned up the heat on quarterbacks by rushing more linebackers and defensive backs at an increasing rate. Blitzes usually reduce setup time for quarterbacks but leave defenses vulnerable with fewer players in coverage. Says Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, ''I think that trend continues until you start giving up a lot of big plays.''
I included that last paragraph from the USA Today article to highlight the fact that Taylor does not "borrow" from it to conclude his article. In actual fact, his concluding paragraph is remarkably similar to one from the nfl.com release. Taylor:
"I think that the increase in blitz-oriented defences is a league-wide trend," said Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. "You look at the top defence last year, Dallas, and they were very aggressive. Teams are looking to duplicate that. But there is the potential for a big play when the defence stumbles and we've seen some very big plays this year."
Nfl.com:
"I think that the increase in blitz-oriented defenses is a league-wide trend," says Linehan. "You look at the top defense last year, Dallas, and they were very aggressive. Teams are looking to duplicate that.
"There is the potential for a big play when the defense gambles, but there is the potential for them to make a big play too, that's why they are doing it."
So there you have it. At a previous point in my working life I spent a few months faxing out mindless government news releases containing quotes attributed to various elected officials. I would then see these quotes reproduced verbatim in the newspapers, such that it would be reasonable to conclude that the official was speaking directly to the journalist, even though that didn't happen. I don't think that's a problem - quite the opposite, one indicator of a successful news release is the fact its contents make into the, you know, news. And this Associated Press article quotes the "14, 15, or 16 plays" comment as well. But it doesn't change the quote and, more importantly, doesn't attribute the quote to somebody else. So if all Taylor had done was copy stuff out of the news release on nfl.com, I don't think this would be such a big deal. As far as that news release is concerned, the fact that he takes quotes from it but then attributes them to other people is much more incriminating to this non-journalist.
As far as the USA Today article goes, the evidence for that stands on its own. The Free Press was right to dump him and they should get credit for that, god-awful web site notwithstanding.
Since I don't have a computer capable of playing the game with a framerate any larger than, say, 3 FPS, I have to learn from Evan that Half-Life 2 is inducing motion sickness in players. Since I can't play the game, I can at least quote some helpful advice:
3.7 YOU ARE FEELING DIZZY WHILE YOU PLAY IT.
There have been a lot of discussion about this phenomenon. In short some people experience dizziness attributed to the game movement. There were many theories, most along the line of motion sickness. Some also said that the animation is too smooth so it fools your brain into believing it to be real. Others said its too jerky and it makes you vomit like being sea sick. Another popular theory is that lack of proper acceleration (like on-off high speed) attribute to the nausea. I will not go into discussion of why. Rather I'll post some steps people suggested. Remedies are not guaranteed to work. There are many, all are experimental and some will have opposite effects on different people. This, it seems, is a very individual problem.
a) Try different display sizes. Either different size monitors or use the F5 function to vary the display window.
b) Try sitting closer/further from the display (but don't stick your nose in it, I don't want you to get radiation sick). Combine with focusing/ defocusing on the display or surroundings (your room, etc.) This is to see if you're being aware that you're looking at the monitor (by seeing other objects around it) and hopefully it may convince your brain that what you play is not really real.
c) Try different machine speeds. If you have a turbo switch try playing with it on/off. See what the difference is.
d) Try different input devices (--> See 3.6) With a mouse you can control acceleration more accurately than with a joystick or the keyboard.
e) Play on your friend's/collegue's computer. See if it's better/worse.
f) Have breaks while you play. Play in turns. Watch others play & then play yourself.
g) If you have Soundblaster try playing with/without the sound. If your soundcard is stereo try playing with headphones on. Reverse the headphones so that left becomes right. Does it confuse you more. (It has no difference on me if you want to know ;) This one is not meant as a torture (Hehe) only to see if you're generally well adaptive.
After I switched machines from 386SX-25Mhz to 486DX-33Mhz I had problem adjusting too. Everything seemed "too smooth". Now when I see it on the 386 it makes me want to vomit. Sometimes you'll have to give it time to adjust.
Now, admittedly, you may not have read very far before you realized that this has nothing to do with HL2; there are too many giveaways early on for the gag to have worked very well. The advice relates to Wolfenstein - no, not this one; this one - not HL2, but still maybe something there is useful. The upshot of this is that people who have spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars upgrading their computers so that they could be made sick by HL2 could have derived the same effect - and saved a few hundred bucks - by pulling out the old 386 and firing up Wolfenstein. As an added bonus for those who take that route: I never experienced this myself but I remember hearing that strafing along a wall while holding down whatever key it was that would locate and open secret doors was an effective nausea inducer. Give it a shot!
One of the upsides to a cool, cloudy (in other words, crappy) summer is that it's conducive to the growth of attractive fungi. Here are some 'shroom shots taken early September in Riding Mountain National Park. Enjoy.
One of the more amusing media exercises is the attempt on the part of some journalists to distinguish themselves from hoi polloi, otherwise known as bloggers, and this article doesn't disappoint. It starts off with a bang:
One of the more self-important of these blog-ops, Andrew Sullivan, declared in a newspaper article in September that the internet upstarts had become, along with cable-TV, the new "powerbrokers in American politics and culture," primed to unseat "old media."
Now, I'm no journalist, but surely one of the hallmarks of the competent journalist is not even critical reading, but basic comprehension. So compare that paragraph above to this paragraph from the Andrew Sullivan article it refers to:
There are, I think, three genuinely new power-brokers in American politics and culture in this election season. They are cable news, the blogosphere, and new advertizing/political groups called - after the legislative subsection that helped create them - "527s". Between them, these new forces have helped dilute and even, in a few cases, supplant the network news, the mainstream newspapers and even the political parties as the critical arbiters of the course of an election.
If you read on, you find out that the case in which these new power-brokers supplanted - or, if you wish, unseated - the old media happened during the Republican and Democratic political conventions, where cable news shows had more viewers than CBS, NBC, or ABC had. Even somebody who had skimmed the article would have noticed that Sullivan makes no mentions of blogs in this context.
But the real problem with the blogs was their uncritical reporting of exit poll data on election day. The early poll results as reported by some blogs showed Kerry in the lead in certain battleground states. And we all know how that turned out. Clearly, bloggers are not journalists because journalists would not rely on their own interpretation of things; they'd call in the experts:
When you the humble reporter are writing a story based on the polls you need one of these gurus standing over your shoulder interpreting what they mean or you almost certainly will screw it up. There is a word for this kind of teamwork and expertise. It’s called "journalism."
And as is well known by now, the mainstream media is positively overflowing with expertise. Oh, and teamwork, too.
Paul Wells on the rising Canadian dollar:
(b) yesterday's post had less to do with economics — relative values of currencies are pretty close to meaningless, after all, at least to me — than it had to do with national neurosis. U.S. dollar rises, Canada stands revealed as a doomed nation. Canadian dollar rises and suddenly currency values are meaningless. Even though the same comportment that drove our low currency has been corrected on this side of the border and adopted as policy on theirs.
Jason Kenney, for one, has been strangely silent since the loonie began its 20-month climb at not quite a point a month.
It was the same lame shell game in London when the Daily Telegraph had daily screamer headlines about the "tumbling Euro," back in 1999. Final proof of the European project's communist perfidy. Until the Euro stopped tumbling.
My guess is that the current silence is due to the fact that people are trying to figure out how this signals that we're a doomed nation. I'm putting my money on the productivity gap. The basic argument is that Canadian industry is less productive than U.S. industry, but this has been offset by this low value of the dollar - sure, a Canadian business can't lower prices due to realizing efficiencies, but the finished product is cheaper because of the dollar, so the inefficiency doesn't matter as much. But don't take my word for it:
Over the 1981-96 period, the relative deterioration of Canada’s manufacturing performance compared to the U.S. resulted in a deterioration in our competitiveness in U.S. markets, as measured by unit labour cost trends, offset somewhat by the depreciation of the value of the Canadian dollar.
Now that the dollar is on quite an upswing, the productivity gap will grow, and lots of people who aren't CEOs will get pushed in. I think the Bombardier move to layoff a bunch of people announced yesterday is the first sign of this sort of thing. If I'm right that this is the way things will go, I'll leave it to others to figure out how this is the government's fault.
Seems that visual representations of the U.S. presidential election results are all the rage these days. If you aren't already sick of them, here are a couple more. Apparently, a lot of people aren't sick of this sort of thing just yet, judging by this:
[Wallpapers: By popular demand, the purple map and cartogram are now available in "wallpaper" sizes for your computer desktop. Click here.]
If nothing else, these have the virture of being the most aesthetically pleasing of all the maps, the cartogram in particular. It's like some sort of Rorschach - this one, not this one - of the U.S. Just remember, depending on what you see, people might come to the conclusion that you're nuts.
One of the things I remember from childhood cross-border shopping trips were the occasional sign or notice announcing that a particular business accepted the Canadian dollar at par. It was usually a hotel or something else that didn't really figure into this kid's calculations of how best to spend the duty-free dollars allotted to me. But if the Canadian dollar keeps this up, I may just get a chance to actually spend Canadian dollars in the U.S. like they were worth something. On the other hand, I pity all the comedians who feel the need to fall back on jokes about our worthless money. At least it's still colourful, so all hope is not lost.
As an added bonus, these two paragraphs are worth quoting:
The most recent gains for the loonie came after last week's U.S. election. Heading into the vote, many traders had expected the re-election of George W. Bush to trigger a rally in the greenback.
But global concern about imbalances in the U.S. economy prevailed, sending the U.S. dollar lower against other major currencies.
As a general rule, if your trader is not aware of what the rest of the world thinks of Bush, you should find yourself another trader.
So apparently there's an election going on down south. I have my suspicions, though. I mean, if there is an election, why is there no election night drinking game? Now, admittedly, the concept of "election night" is a bit of a quaint relic, what with all the advance voting and upcoming litigating, but it seems to me that in that context, a drinking game that lasts weeks if not months is just the sort of thing people will need the most.
Update: Should have been more specific - I meant a good drinking game, not something like this. This is better.
