New StrongBad Email

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail69.html

Putting In A Wireless Network

When it comes to buying equipment, think g, not b. New 802.11g hardware is nearly five times faster than 802.11b gear, and it will interoperate with that as well.
If youre a PC family, try the Linksys WRT54G 802.11g base. It will work on almost any Net connection, and the company often gives out software upgrades. It has a built-in firewall to stop hackers from plucking your credit card number from the airwaves, and a throughput jack lets you hardwire other computers via Ethernet cable. These should cost about $150.
If youre an Apple household, get an AirPort Extreme, about $200. Its prettier than earlier AirPorts, and newer Macs come with the software to run it.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/unwired/network.html

Are We Doomed Yet?

The trend of all software applications is toward greater fluidity of expression because computers are symbol-processing machines. At Ion Storm, for example, we tie ourselves in knots to give game-players multiple solutions to problems, customizable characters, and branching or "multiform" story lines. We believe that a good computer narrative allows players to drive meaningful developments in the game world. To put that another way, we think that players should be able to participate in writing the story. The fact that our ideal in computer entertainment is the empowerment of end users to compose their own experiences is no accident. This ideal is common to every software application from PhotoShop to the pages of the World Wide Web. The freedom of expression in a 3-D world like Deus Ex -- the freedom to customize the self -- is a preview of the godlike powers of creation we will all have when the human-machine language progresses beyond crude signs to a true language of choice and customization. With power, however, comes potential danger. We have no reason to fear new fathers who color-correct their baby photos, but what will we do when DNA and nanoscale machinery are just as easy to manipulate, when each of us is a potential terrorist able to compose a new viral genome with drag-and-drop? Given the nature of the Web and file-sharing, would we have a prayer of suppressing dangerous knowledge that could be turned into novel weapons of mass destruction? What I argue below is that we dont have to suppress knowledge at all. The open pursuit of knowledge is actually our greatest weapon against the dangers taking shape around us. I believe that the coming "self-replicating" threats described by Bill Joy and others are real dangers. I believe that individuals will someday trade the secrets of mass death as easily as the Magic players of today trade playing cards. Nevertheless, I am prepared to live with such a future. In fact, I believe that an open society like ours would be better equipped to deal with these threats than even the most efficient police apparatus. I am alarmed by the ease with which our society is being frightened into abandoning its hard-won openness. Numerous ideas currently in circulation, taken together, foretell a future which might shock our late-capitalist sensibilities, but which could very well become our reality, by degrees, if we dont take the time now to ask fundamental questions about what we value as a people.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/31/knowledge/print.html

Matrix: Reloaded SFX

Im sitting in a former naval barracks in Alameda, California, watching the digital assembly of a human face. Bones, teeth, glistening eyes. Layer upon layer. Finally the hair and skin, the creases and tiny scars that make us who we are. The face blinks and breathes. Then it snarls, and my skin crawls.
Agent Smith is back, and hes pissed.
Youll be seeing a lot of Agent Smith this year. Neos man-in-black nemesis returns on May 15 in The Matrix Reloaded, the continuing story of a young hacker who learns that the apparently real world is an elaborate computer simulation. In November, a second sequel, Matrix Revolutions, will take up where Reloadeds nail-biting climax leaves off.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/matrix2_pr.html

Black Holes and Space Travel

"One possibility is that black holes may allow us to travel to very remote places in the universe, or another universe entirely," said Burko in a telephone interview from his office in Salt Lake City. "It depends on the topology of the universe, which we do not know very well ? Im not arguing its a practical thing to do, but maybe in 1,000 years from now, maybe it would be simpler." In Burkos scheme, black holes may be doorways to wormholes, theoretical constructs equivalent to tunnels, or shortcuts, between distant points of the universe, different points in time, or even parallel universes. Burkos ideas arent new. Wormholes were popularized by Caltech physicist Kip Thorne in the 1980s, and were the interstellar vehicle of choice in Carl Sagans influential novel Contact.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58359,00.html

US $ Spent On Iraq

A lot of people dont really understand how much money is at stake with the Iraq "crusade". This diagram could help you to understand what the USA is doing, and what are its main goals.
http://personal.inet.fi/private/kooo/iraq/

USs Possible New Laser Rifle?

The TIS-1 (Tactical Infantry System1) isa gasdynamic laser weapon system conceived by Stavatti Corporationin direct response to the Statement of Objectives corresponding to theLFLAN (Light Fighter Lethality After Next). The TIS-1 is arevolutionary tactical weapon system for the individual combatantthat will deliver a first round probability of hit using directed laserlight as the lethal mechanism in selectable bursts from 1 to 170 shotsper minute in excess of 60% at a range of 500 meters and 80% at1500 meters.
http://www.defensereview.com/352003/TIS1.pdf