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. . . They which dream
An everlastingness in world's vast frame,
Think well some region where they dwell may wrack,
But that the whole nor time nor force can shake;
Yet, frantic, muse to see heaven's stately lights,
Like drunkards, wayless reel amidst their heights.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Alas! say they, what boots our toils and pains?
Of care on earth is this the furthest gains?
No riches now can bribe our angry fate,
O no! to blast our pride the heavens do threat;
In dust now must our greatness buried lie,
Yet it is comfort with the world to die.
As more and more the warning signs increase,
Wild dread deprives lost Adam's race of peace;
From out their grandam Earth they fain would fly,
But whither know not, heavens are far and high.
"The Shadow of the Judgment" (1630)
by William Drummond
Morning News
woot.
“woot” Becomes an Official Word
Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COED) is the smaller but most widely recognized derivative of the official Oxford English Dictionary, which is celebrating this August its 100th anniversary. To celebrate, the lexicon published its 12th edition today that adds more than 400 new entries – many of which reflect the technological vocabulary found in today’s society, like “woot,” “mankini,” and “jeggings.”
A sort-of blow against dumb patents...
Does not compute: court says only hard math is patentable
On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a patent on a method of detecting credit card fraud. The result was unsurprising, but the court broke new ground with its reasoning. Citing the Supreme Court's famous rulings against software patents from the 1970s, the court ruled that you can't patent mental processes—even if they are carried out by a computer program.
IBM's New Chips Compute More Like We Do
A microchip with about as much brain power as a garden worm might not seem very impressive, compared with the blindingly fast chips in modern personal computers. But a new microchip made by researchers at IBM represents a landmark. Unlike an ordinary chip, it mimics the functioning of a biological brain—a feat that could open new possibilities in computation.
Music publishers go AWOL in the war against YouTube
The National Music Publishers' Association has decided to drop out of a broad coalition of copyright owners that has been doing battle with YouTube since 2007. YouTube won the first round of the lawsuit last year, and the case is now being appealed; it will apparently continue without the NMPA's participation.