Yes, there is something profoundly screwed up about the fact that, under our current economic model, it is considered a BAD THING when someone no longer has to perform drudge labour because it can now be performed by a machine.
That said, I don't know what the alternative model should be. Just that there's something wrong with the current system.
Forgive me, but I don't really understand the business model, though. If it's true that their own studies have shown that pirates are better customers, this would presumably indicate that allowing piracy would increase revenue. So if their goal is to maximize profit, why wouldn't they want to take this on board?
The Gizmodo article, like most of the speculation, was largely overblown:
NASA has discovered a completely new life form that doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living in planet Earth, using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes. This changes everything.
That is not the case. The DNA is largely the same, except that phosphorous has been exchanged with Arsenic. Don't get me wrong, this is still a hugely interesting discovery, but it was implied during the pre-conference speculation that this was an entirely separate instance of abiogenesis, and that is simply not the case, unfortunately.
Good idea in theory. The problem is, the only people who have the power to implement the vast educational reforms you talk about are those who benefit most from the current state of ignorance...
I wonder what effect this would have on emotional response. There is growing evidence that there is a two-way feedback loop between subjective emotion and bodily affect. In other words, not only does being nervous cause your heartrate to increase, but an increased heartrate makes you feel more nervous. I would be very interesting to see if this pulse-less heart would result in flatter emotional responses.
Haha, my parents live in Nanaimo. Never saw it as a technological hub:P I'll tell you what it is good for though: Summer work. All you have to do is work for one of the 87% (estimated) retired people there. Once you work for one, they will tell 3 friends, and you can work for them, and your workload grow exponentially. It is glorious. I worked full-time for an entire month without sending out a single resume.
Personally I get annoyed when I see a comment in a Wikipedia article which was obviously added by someone promoting some product, or some stupid viral video attempt they posted on youtube which was peripherally related to the article in question. I feel that deletion of these kind of trivial things is important to maintain the integrity of Wikipedia. Sure, it could strive to be a record of all human knowledge... but then, some humans have some pretty useless "knowledge" which I don't really want to read about.
One of the coolest potential applications of this is for Holographic-type communication. Perhaps not the 3D light-type display envisioned by Star-Wars and the like, but these could potentially mimic the form of someone for the purposes of communication.
Also, games!
They'll never win the case. I've been fighting for years for recognition of the fact that Isaac Newton totally ripped off my laws of motions, to no avail!
Sounds alot like Clark and Chalmer's theory of The Extended Mind which they outlined in the paper of the same name. In it they suggested that certain objects which we use frequently for information storage and retrieval should be considered part of our cognitive agent. For instance, if someone always carries a cellphone on which they store all their contact's phone numbers, it should not be considered incorrect for them to say they "know" a certain number, when in reality they have to look it up on their phone.
Unfortunately alot of people use the "perfectness" of the Universal constants as "proof" of an "intelligent designer". Dennett has a great discussion of the flaws in this arguments in chapter 2 of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea".
It may seem obvious, but it is important in science to test even the most "obvious" assumptions. Otherwise it is easy to come to false conclusions, and pseudoscience abounds.
Plus, to most hackers, crippling Microsoft is the geek equivalent of taking down the Death Star Umm... is there a NON-geek equivalent to "taking down the Death Star"? I would have thought that particular analogy wouldn't transfer into non-geek realms...
But who will monitor those who monitor the cops? Not to mention the need to monitor those who monitor those who monitor the cops! And don't even get me started on the dire lack of those monitoring those who monitor those who monitor those who monitor the cops!!!
"It really saddens Future Shop that people stoop to be this opportunistic and make money in this kind of organized way."
Poor Future Shop. The thieves made it sad :(
Seriously, though. This whole "corporations as people" thing has gone too far...
Yes, there is something profoundly screwed up about the fact that, under our current economic model, it is considered a BAD THING when someone no longer has to perform drudge labour because it can now be performed by a machine. That said, I don't know what the alternative model should be. Just that there's something wrong with the current system.
Thanks, these puns really gave me a lift!
Clearly I'm not the only one who read the whole summary in auto-tune.
Forgive me, but I don't really understand the business model, though. If it's true that their own studies have shown that pirates are better customers, this would presumably indicate that allowing piracy would increase revenue. So if their goal is to maximize profit, why wouldn't they want to take this on board?
The email states the effect was witnessed MARCH 22, not July 22, which is when the missile launch was scheduled.
Pew! Pew Pew! Pew Pew Pew Pew! ...sorry.
GOATSE ALERT
Craigslist spaceport: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.
NASA has discovered a completely new life form that doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living in planet Earth, using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes. This changes everything.
That is not the case. The DNA is largely the same, except that phosphorous has been exchanged with Arsenic. Don't get me wrong, this is still a hugely interesting discovery, but it was implied during the pre-conference speculation that this was an entirely separate instance of abiogenesis, and that is simply not the case, unfortunately.
Good idea in theory. The problem is, the only people who have the power to implement the vast educational reforms you talk about are those who benefit most from the current state of ignorance...
It's now simultaneously at its usual place and two hundred miles under the sea.
Sorry, don't you mean 2 933 football fields under the sea?
If there is one word NO ONE in the West would use to describe the Chinese [...], it is 'flexible'.
Obviously SOMEONE wasn't watching gymnastics at the Summer Olympics...
I wonder what effect this would have on emotional response. There is growing evidence that there is a two-way feedback loop between subjective emotion and bodily affect. In other words, not only does being nervous cause your heartrate to increase, but an increased heartrate makes you feel more nervous. I would be very interesting to see if this pulse-less heart would result in flatter emotional responses.
Haha, my parents live in Nanaimo. Never saw it as a technological hub :P I'll tell you what it is good for though: Summer work. All you have to do is work for one of the 87% (estimated) retired people there. Once you work for one, they will tell 3 friends, and you can work for them, and your workload grow exponentially. It is glorious. I worked full-time for an entire month without sending out a single resume.
Personally I get annoyed when I see a comment in a Wikipedia article which was obviously added by someone promoting some product, or some stupid viral video attempt they posted on youtube which was peripherally related to the article in question. I feel that deletion of these kind of trivial things is important to maintain the integrity of Wikipedia. Sure, it could strive to be a record of all human knowledge... but then, some humans have some pretty useless "knowledge" which I don't really want to read about.
One of the coolest potential applications of this is for Holographic-type communication. Perhaps not the 3D light-type display envisioned by Star-Wars and the like, but these could potentially mimic the form of someone for the purposes of communication. Also, games!
They'll never win the case. I've been fighting for years for recognition of the fact that Isaac Newton totally ripped off my laws of motions, to no avail!
Sounds alot like Clark and Chalmer's theory of The Extended Mind which they outlined in the paper of the same name. In it they suggested that certain objects which we use frequently for information storage and retrieval should be considered part of our cognitive agent. For instance, if someone always carries a cellphone on which they store all their contact's phone numbers, it should not be considered incorrect for them to say they "know" a certain number, when in reality they have to look it up on their phone.
Unfortunately alot of people use the "perfectness" of the Universal constants as "proof" of an "intelligent designer". Dennett has a great discussion of the flaws in this arguments in chapter 2 of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea".
What about the "Intelligent Twinkling" explanation? Scientists seem completely unwilling to even CONSIDER this possibility!
It may seem obvious, but it is important in science to test even the most "obvious" assumptions. Otherwise it is easy to come to false conclusions, and pseudoscience abounds.
This is scary for anyone who actually WANTS to destroy their data - "GAH! WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!?!"
But who will monitor those who monitor the cops? Not to mention the need to monitor those who monitor those who monitor the cops! And don't even get me started on the dire lack of those monitoring those who monitor those who monitor those who monitor the cops!!!