Surveillance of US Citizens is wrong, but far less than surveillance to non US citizens. Taking it as something right is at least as disturbing as there are any surveillance drones.
Included with the OLPC computers for children was Scratch, referenced in the article. Even Google App Inventor for android was based on it. For me looked lgreat, something that even a primary school children could use to do from very small to somewhat complex things. Also included are turtle art, a logo interpreter (simpler, but is so close scratch to it that not sure if worth teaching it) and a python interpreter (but it should be for more advanced/grown up childrens). Something like this should be adopted in schools, not particulary to teach about computing and programming, but on thinking, solving problems in ordered ways.
There are a lot of companies that jumped late to the game and still did some hit, like Apple with MP3s or phones and even Google itself with search. The trick is doing it well. Will this move from google (or in general, the ongoing integration of all their services into/around G+) succeed or not? Time will tell
Don't go at all, just insert memories on interested people of a gorgeous trip to mars, solving a conspiracy, meeting mutants, and activating an alien device that terraforms the planet. Another option is be unplugged from Matrix: Y2K, and get plugged into Matrix: Mars Colonization. Or something more spacey, build a team of robots capable of building a mars colony by themselves (even finding the resources for doing so) and don't launch them, as will be more valuable to use them right here by the time they are finished.
Benjamin Franklin said "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". Yes, that was said way back in a time when the country was under an oppresive regime, but maybe thats the case for this time too.
Put in other way, maybe you, or who you care about, can live with things as bad as they are right now. And in a not so distant future? Even a change of president and party didnt improved the previous situation, the trend continued and got worse. Promising that they will change things (as everyone from now on will say) seems that have no effect, people believe, vote, and get fooled.
Make me remember Discworld's gods, that were pretty dumb in general because there is no evolutionary pressure when you are omnipotent. Why try to innovate if you can simply patent common sense and copyright culture forever, push your patent/copyright laws in all the world and take money from that?
Only lacked an exploding battery, and, well, trying another approachs, like wearable solar charging clothes (could be the next fashion, or at least for cellphones for soldiers, police or other professions with uniforms), or taking energy from other sources (heat from body or environment, sweat, walking/running, or even heartbeats)
That makes it worse, not better. Essentially it says that whoever is outside US, is a subhuman with no rights, that can be kidnapped, tortured, or killed without trial, just because did a not so funny joke in the web, or pirated a movie, or disclosed corruption in US government, or whatever they want to say. Already started to invade countries just because "there are terrorists there". We know since 1939 how that ends.
The sad part is that is not a joke. Is a story we think we are into each time we see at the stars: somewhat, something is out there, very interested in us, and if we advance enough, we could be like them and be interested in someone else that should be within our reach, in our time or not very far enough.
The magnitude of distances, time and cost that even thinking in getting near the closest star outside this solar system implies is simply outside our reach, and will be for long time if ever, unless our current understanding on how the universe work is fundamentally wrong and there are somewhat a shortcut we could take in practice.
But that don't means that we should forget space and try to live exclusively here. Space is there, maybe interstellar space won't have enough resources/energy to worth go into it, but the inner solar system, where you have plenty of energy and resources not so far (mainly asteroids, but also moons and planets) could worth exploring, colonization or at least put around a "Kilroy was here". We won't find in the near term anything as good for us as is Earth, but probably will worth the investment.
How good would develop/be adopted be a new device that can't connect with anything else? Still, Microsoft weren't after linux, or after google, they went against anyone that could be successful trying to use that technology, taking as base something ripped off from more than 30 years ago.
Regarding java and Linux, originally at least was meant to run apps in a vm, java was the most known language for that, but could had require enough changes to need something new. And Linux was a good OS to run that VM over, they could had choosen some version of BSD, that is even older than Linux, and somewhat, is what is Mac OS X is based on. The approach of Linux with no VM was Nokia's N900, something that really was innovative, and could had been succeeded if there wasnt some interference (and Nokia's wrong agenda)
Anyway, wasnt putting Android as example of innovation, but the measures against it as example of what could happen when you try to do something new that could diminish profits for some people with very deep pockets.
People that try to innovate get sued, or stopped by widely broad patents/copyrights, promising new technologies never see the light (remember sixthsense?) because "something" gets in the middle.
A few recent examples just in the Android field were that android device makers have to pay Microsoft because using/suporting the fat filesystem, Oracle suing Google for using Java, Samsung get their tablets out of the market because their dimensions looks a bit like the ipad ones. Not saying that it was the example of innovation and new ideas in computing, but the kind of unbreakable barriers our current civilization built to stop any try to build a future.
Think in terms of food, not of devices. Sometimes you eat food made by others, sometimes you could choose to try to do it yourself.
So whats wrong with not doing our own food? With the current legal/patent/IP system, we are all forced to eat in McDonalds, because it sued everyone that tried to do any kind food with meat and made everyone think that we should only eat meat made by them.
Anyway, probably is the engineering approach, first make it a bit safer from trivial exploits and potentially costly mistakes vs making it look smart and friendly when is not. Even looked natural for us that in the Enterprise they talked to it with a prefix to distinguish from the people around.
Anyway, the worrysome headstart is in the patents arena, even if talking to a computer is in science fiction and popular culture since beginning of last century, it will be a minefield for anyone trying to go near that direction.
Make the space itself the target. Being able to live there, to have a self sustainable space colony, or a generation ship, not a way to travel to somewhere else in particular, but the destination itself, Like space 1999, without carrying the whole moon with you.
Other interesting destinations in the solar system, like asteroid mining or exploring moons on the outer planets.
What matters to most of them is just higest bidder. With enough money and few enough parties they can win another period there anyway.
And maybe more worrysome than congress, there is not enough people with a clue on the topic to have a chance to make hear their voices in big enough numbers.
Sometimes is not enough that a part have certain (maybe complex or delicate) shape, but also the materials that make it. Until you have true replicators this could make quick plastic fixes, but won't be a generic solution for all kind of problems. And, of course, you need to lift whatever uses the printer to make the parts.
Depend on what you put in a public way. From the start in G+ you had circles to choose with who share some things, so giving your id to a bank, unless you put it in your Friends circle, won't disclose anything that you didnt made public. I think that Facebook and Twitter enable to restrict the audience of some posts, but could remain plenty of old public things (and, of course, there is the problem of resharing somewhat private things)
The problem with Larry and Sergei is not G+, is plain google (or any other search engine). If you posted with your name or known email something public (or made public) long ago, it could be found and (mis)used against you in the future.
The N9 is a great phone, smartphone even, with far better hardware specs than the N900 and with an impressive screen. But the N900 is more a pocket computer than a phone. That is the boat that Nokia missed.
Slashdot Mirror
Memes or Temes (the Dawkins/Blackmore ones) qualify as life? They replicate, they evolve, but are more information than physical things,
Surveillance of US Citizens is wrong, but far less than surveillance to non US citizens. Taking it as something right is at least as disturbing as there are any surveillance drones.
Included with the OLPC computers for children was Scratch, referenced in the article. Even Google App Inventor for android was based on it. For me looked lgreat, something that even a primary school children could use to do from very small to somewhat complex things. Also included are turtle art, a logo interpreter (simpler, but is so close scratch to it that not sure if worth teaching it) and a python interpreter (but it should be for more advanced/grown up childrens). Something like this should be adopted in schools, not particulary to teach about computing and programming, but on thinking, solving problems in ordered ways.
There are a lot of companies that jumped late to the game and still did some hit, like Apple with MP3s or phones and even Google itself with search. The trick is doing it well. Will this move from google (or in general, the ongoing integration of all their services into/around G+) succeed or not? Time will tell
Don't go at all, just insert memories on interested people of a gorgeous trip to mars, solving a conspiracy, meeting mutants, and activating an alien device that terraforms the planet. Another option is be unplugged from Matrix: Y2K, and get plugged into Matrix: Mars Colonization. Or something more spacey, build a team of robots capable of building a mars colony by themselves (even finding the resources for doing so) and don't launch them, as will be more valuable to use them right here by the time they are finished.
Saying who else you should ask is a valid, probably helpful answer.
Benjamin Franklin said "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". Yes, that was said way back in a time when the country was under an oppresive regime, but maybe thats the case for this time too.
Put in other way, maybe you, or who you care about, can live with things as bad as they are right now. And in a not so distant future? Even a change of president and party didnt improved the previous situation, the trend continued and got worse. Promising that they will change things (as everyone from now on will say) seems that have no effect, people believe, vote, and get fooled.
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it) but 'That's funny...'
This one?
Make me remember Discworld's gods, that were pretty dumb in general because there is no evolutionary pressure when you are omnipotent. Why try to innovate if you can simply patent common sense and copyright culture forever, push your patent/copyright laws in all the world and take money from that?
Only lacked an exploding battery, and, well, trying another approachs, like wearable solar charging clothes (could be the next fashion, or at least for cellphones for soldiers, police or other professions with uniforms), or taking energy from other sources (heat from body or environment, sweat, walking/running, or even heartbeats)
That makes it worse, not better. Essentially it says that whoever is outside US, is a subhuman with no rights, that can be kidnapped, tortured, or killed without trial, just because did a not so funny joke in the web, or pirated a movie, or disclosed corruption in US government, or whatever they want to say. Already started to invade countries just because "there are terrorists there". We know since 1939 how that ends.
should be the usual suspect.
Considering that most americans think that they could only pick between Kang or Kodos, is not amazing that things are this way.
The sad part is that is not a joke. Is a story we think we are into each time we see at the stars: somewhat, something is out there, very interested in us, and if we advance enough, we could be like them and be interested in someone else that should be within our reach, in our time or not very far enough.
The magnitude of distances, time and cost that even thinking in getting near the closest star outside this solar system implies is simply outside our reach, and will be for long time if ever, unless our current understanding on how the universe work is fundamentally wrong and there are somewhat a shortcut we could take in practice.
But that don't means that we should forget space and try to live exclusively here. Space is there, maybe interstellar space won't have enough resources/energy to worth go into it, but the inner solar system, where you have plenty of energy and resources not so far (mainly asteroids, but also moons and planets) could worth exploring, colonization or at least put around a "Kilroy was here". We won't find in the near term anything as good for us as is Earth, but probably will worth the investment.
How good would develop/be adopted be a new device that can't connect with anything else? Still, Microsoft weren't after linux, or after google, they went against anyone that could be successful trying to use that technology, taking as base something ripped off from more than 30 years ago.
Regarding java and Linux, originally at least was meant to run apps in a vm, java was the most known language for that, but could had require enough changes to need something new. And Linux was a good OS to run that VM over, they could had choosen some version of BSD, that is even older than Linux, and somewhat, is what is Mac OS X is based on. The approach of Linux with no VM was Nokia's N900, something that really was innovative, and could had been succeeded if there wasnt some interference (and Nokia's wrong agenda)
Anyway, wasnt putting Android as example of innovation, but the measures against it as example of what could happen when you try to do something new that could diminish profits for some people with very deep pockets.
People that try to innovate get sued, or stopped by widely broad patents/copyrights, promising new technologies never see the light (remember sixthsense?) because "something" gets in the middle.
A few recent examples just in the Android field were that android device makers have to pay Microsoft because using/suporting the fat filesystem, Oracle suing Google for using Java, Samsung get their tablets out of the market because their dimensions looks a bit like the ipad ones. Not saying that it was the example of innovation and new ideas in computing, but the kind of unbreakable barriers our current civilization built to stop any try to build a future.
Think in terms of food, not of devices. Sometimes you eat food made by others, sometimes you could choose to try to do it yourself.
So whats wrong with not doing our own food? With the current legal/patent/IP system, we are all forced to eat in McDonalds, because it sued everyone that tried to do any kind food with meat and made everyone think that we should only eat meat made by them.
My N900 portable computer have phone functionality.
Emotionless? Counselor's mother?
Anyway, probably is the engineering approach, first make it a bit safer from trivial exploits and potentially costly mistakes vs making it look smart and friendly when is not. Even looked natural for us that in the Enterprise they talked to it with a prefix to distinguish from the people around.
Anyway, the worrysome headstart is in the patents arena, even if talking to a computer is in science fiction and popular culture since beginning of last century, it will be a minefield for anyone trying to go near that direction.
Make the space itself the target. Being able to live there, to have a self sustainable space colony, or a generation ship, not a way to travel to somewhere else in particular, but the destination itself, Like space 1999, without carrying the whole moon with you.
Other interesting destinations in the solar system, like asteroid mining or exploring moons on the outer planets.
What matters to most of them is just higest bidder. With enough money and few enough parties they can win another period there anyway.
And maybe more worrysome than congress, there is not enough people with a clue on the topic to have a chance to make hear their voices in big enough numbers.
Sometimes is not enough that a part have certain (maybe complex or delicate) shape, but also the materials that make it. Until you have true replicators this could make quick plastic fixes, but won't be a generic solution for all kind of problems. And, of course, you need to lift whatever uses the printer to make the parts.
RTFM
Depend on what you put in a public way. From the start in G+ you had circles to choose with who share some things, so giving your id to a bank, unless you put it in your Friends circle, won't disclose anything that you didnt made public. I think that Facebook and Twitter enable to restrict the audience of some posts, but could remain plenty of old public things (and, of course, there is the problem of resharing somewhat private things)
The problem with Larry and Sergei is not G+, is plain google (or any other search engine). If you posted with your name or known email something public (or made public) long ago, it could be found and (mis)used against you in the future.
The N9 is a great phone, smartphone even, with far better hardware specs than the N900 and with an impressive screen. But the N900 is more a pocket computer than a phone. That is the boat that Nokia missed.