p2pnet World Headlines: Nov 27, 2009: #1
Polanski won’t be out before Monday World Radio Switzerland
Film director Roman Polanski will not be released from jail into house arrest at his Gstaad chalet until Monday at the earliest as bail conditions still have to be met. The Swiss justice department said earlier that Polanski ‘will not be transferred to Gstaad either today or this weekend.’ Earlier this week, a court agreed to allow Polanski out on bail of 4.5 million francs. Polanski’s is fighting extradition to face U.S. sentencing over a 1977 case of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales denies site is ‘losing’ thousands of volunteer editors Telegraph
Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is contesting the accuracy of a recent study which claims that 49,000 volunteer editors of the online encyclopaedia have left in the first three months of 2009. The study, conducted by Felipe Ortega at Libresoft, a research group at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, analysed the editing history of more than three million active Wikipedia contributors in ten different languages. It found that the first three months of this year the English-language version of the site suffered a net loss of 49,000 contributors, compared with a loss of about 4,900 during the same period last year. The findings of the research have prompted many to question whether this is the beginning of the end for the world’s largest encyclopedia. However, Mr Wales told The Telegraph he didn’t accept the research as new editors are replacing existing editors at nearly the same pace.
What your Facebook page says about who you “really” are Cognitive Daily
Recently a woman had her sick leave benefits based on a diagnosis of clinical depression terminated because of a few pictures she posted on her Facebook page showing her smiling at a birthday party and enjoying a trip to the beach. Was this a fair assessment of her medical condition? Probably not–people with clinical depression can have moments of genuine joy or elation, and even sad people can fake a smile for a photo. But regardless of whether a few photos posted online are sufficient evidence for a medical diagnosis, there is a larger question: Does a person’s online persona match up to their real-world personality? Since most young people–and a growing number of older adults–maintain some sort of web or online social networking presence, it’s important to know whether the digital world is a good representation of the real world.
Julie Andrews To Sing Again IMDb
In a startling announcement, Julie Andrews and concert promoters Aeg Europe said today (Wednesday) that Julie Andrews will perform in her first concert appearance in 30 years at London’s 02 Arena on May 8. Andrews had reportedly suffered permanent damage to her vocal cords during throat surgery in 1997 and had been left without the ability to sing. While she has continued to appear in movies as an actress in such films as The Princess Diaries and the voice of Queen Lillian in the Shrek movies, she has not had a singing role in films since 1982’s Victor/Victoria.
Nao offers next-gen household humanoid robot Dvice
As this week’s International Robot Exhibition drew to a close, one last humanoid robot called Nao caught the attention of attendees. Created by Aldebaran Robotics, the 23-inch tall robot has a full range of motion that allows it to get up from a sitting position, as well as walk. The robot can also pick up small objects and even process audio and visual data to navigate its way through the world.
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November, 2009
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November 27th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
From “Life-Line” by Robert Heinlein (1939)
“There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit. That is all.”