Day: March 9, 2006

Nebra Disc Gives Up Its Secrets

According to DW-World.De, researchers have discovered what the Nebra disc was used for:

The 3,600 year old disc was unearthed in Germany in 1999. Scholars have determined that the disc was a device used to keep lunar and solar calendars aligned. The disc was used to determine when to add a 13th month to resynchronize the different calendar standards as they diverged over time.

As the article notes, that’s a pretty amazing find since it puts sophisticated astronomical knowledge into the hands and minds of bronze age civilization. Even then, apparently the makers of the disc weren’t able to hold on to the knowledge very long. According to DW-World.De,

But the German researchers also discovered that in the 400 years that the disc was in use, its status had evolved. The perforations on the edge of the object as well as a ship that was later added to the map suggest that the knowledge about the lunar calendar’s shortage of days was lost along the way.

“That means, that in the end the disk became a cult object,” [archaeologist Harald] Meller said.

Source:

Bronze Age Sky Disc Deciphered. DW-World.De, February 27, 2006.

Jon Udell on Silly Privacy Screwups

InfoWorld’s Jon Udell writes about the the silly security holes that can exist when people obsess about forms and internal data security and don’t take a step back to look at a system as a whole.

In the example he writes about, Udell is able to gather a lot of information about people who go to the same YMCA he does because the ID bar code scanner displays the account record of the last person who used it. So he describes being able to tell his wife, the name, age, etc. of the woman who just went out the door of the YMCA before him.

I had something similar to that happen when I took my grandmother to the doctor several months ago. The front office had a typical u-shaped desk. When you were done seeing the doctor, signs direct you to one side of the desk to make a follow-up appointment. There were several people waiting to make appointments, so there was a small line starting at the front of the u-shaped desk and extending backwards toward the examination rooms.

Which meant I had a clear view of the receptionist’s 20″ monitor and knew that the women at the front of the line had been there to see the doctor about her breast cancer. So much for HIPAA!

Source:

Sidestepping the analog hole. Jon Udell, InfoWorld, March 1, 2006.

Marvel and NCSoft Settle Lawsuit Over “City of Heroes”

Not much in the way of details, but late last year Marvel settled its lawsuit against NCSoft, makers of MMORPG “City of Heroes.”

Marvel had sued NCSoft saying the ability of players to make characters that looked very similar to Marvel heroes represented copyright and trademark infringements.

This was pretty clearly a defeat for Marvel given that a press release from NCSoft announcing the settlement said,

The parties’ settlement allows them all to continue to develop and sell exciting and innovative products, but does not reduce the players’ ability to express their creativity in making and playing original and exciting characters. Therefore, no changes to City of Heroes or City of Villains’ character creation engine are part of the settlement.

I’ve actually been playing a bit of CoH ever since I kicked my WoW addiction. It is a pretty good game, though not nearly as compelling or enjoyable as WoW was.

At least when I play, I rarely see rip-offs of DC or Marvel characters. That’d be pretty boring anyway. Currently I’m playing The CandiMan. After all, who can stop criminals in their tracks? The CandiMan can!

Source:

Marvel vs. City of Heroes lawsuit settled. GameWinners.Com, December 15, 2005.