I read Asimov's "The Last Question" the other day. In it, towards the end of the universe, every human being merges with a super-powerful computer.
I'm thinking that something like this is already happening with our culture of mobile technology. People are all being "plugged-in" to one vast social network. Each person is there own individual node, capabal of creating, obtaining, and processing data, which they will pass on to their peers, i.e., other nodes. Every node is connected to every other node by the network, and, thus, ideas and memes are easily propogated through the network.
Given a certain type of input, the network will disseminate this data to each node, the nodes will process it, and then the output will be returned, for now really only in the form of polls.
Oh no! I better never do anything nice for anyone because of the tiny, tiny chance that someone might possibly maybe do something bad with it one day!!
This, combined with the story above about a guy opening a secure door by kicking it and using a credit card remind me of the scene in Sneakers where Robert Redford, faced with a door with a keypad, gets instructions for a minute or so from his team outside, then kicks the door in.
I've succeeded in getting only one friend of mine to use Opera, and thats because I fixed his computer and told him that from now on, he was going to "use a grown-up browser".
I remember using Firefox on another friend's computer. I thought to myself, "Wow, this looks and feels just like Internet Explorer, but with a download manager and some room for extensions. Meh, I'll stick with Opera."
I'm starting to be able to back up my incredible smugness.
And as for people complaining about earlier versions which had ads, they took up very little space, were easily ignored, and could be configure to display generic rather than targeted ads. And when it was set to that, it pretty much just advertised Opera.
Also, Viking wasn't even the first probe to land on a planet. The Russians put a probe on Venus, and it did manage to transmit data before being destroyed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_7
This actually sets a good precedent and counters one of the arguments against leaving your wifi connection open. Even if someone uses you're internet connection, you won't be charged with a crime simply because you are the owner of that connection.
Which means that we no longer have to live in paranoid fear of the tiny, tiny chance that trying to do something nice for people will end up with being arrested for aiding terrorists or pedophiles.
Even if they encode it with an unbreakable cipher, even if they remove PrtScr, even if they lock out unsigned drivers and plugins, there will never, ever, be anything to stop me from putting a video camera in front of my monitor.
What they need to do is just have more product placement. As long as its not as blatant as "Gee, honey, I sure do love this new [product] that I picked up for only 5 payments of $19.95!" Advertisers could pay based on how much screentime their product has.
Think of things like Dr Pepper placement in Spiderman movies. I noticed it, but it didn't take anything away from the story. Remember that movie, The Truman Show? Since the show was on 24/7, all advertising was done via product placement. I don't see why a similar model wouldn't work on today's network television.
So in our society that is more and more resembling a corporate-controlled cyberpunk dystopia, is it a good idea to piss off the most tech-savvy portion of the populous?
Yeah, some of the availability things are odd. We have Verizon's FiOS, and we're in the middle of no where. In fact, one of the places they're covering is a town for senior citizens who live in mobile homes. Not exactly the techno-elite.
I don't see where the big morality issue is. If you saw a man with a wife, children, friends and a job, and he was dying of some disease, as the rest of his family looks on helplessly, would you leave him to die if you had the option of saving him?
Why does the life of an embryo with no family, or home, or even gurantee of survival, outweigh the life of someone who is already established in society; who loves and is loved, who has built up a life, and who would be sorely missed by many people?
This is a pretty clear-cut moral decision.
My first thought on seeing this is, if it can simultaneously recieve and transmit, couldn't you create a truely decentralized telephone system? With the NSA wiretapping everything, isn't a simple solution to just take away the wires?
Slashdot Mirror
So does this mean that I'm better off using an AV that isn't widely used? Is this one case where security through obscurity is actually valid?
This one actually just means that you watch the Wizard of Oz and listen to Pink Floyd... in SPACE!
I'm thinking that something like this is already happening with our culture of mobile technology. People are all being "plugged-in" to one vast social network. Each person is there own individual node, capabal of creating, obtaining, and processing data, which they will pass on to their peers, i.e., other nodes. Every node is connected to every other node by the network, and, thus, ideas and memes are easily propogated through the network.
Given a certain type of input, the network will disseminate this data to each node, the nodes will process it, and then the output will be returned, for now really only in the form of polls.
Behold the biggest, meatiest Beowulf cluster.
Oh no! I better never do anything nice for anyone because of the tiny, tiny chance that someone might possibly maybe do something bad with it one day!!
This, combined with the story above about a guy opening a secure door by kicking it and using a credit card remind me of the scene in Sneakers where Robert Redford, faced with a door with a keypad, gets instructions for a minute or so from his team outside, then kicks the door in.
I've succeeded in getting only one friend of mine to use Opera, and thats because I fixed his computer and told him that from now on, he was going to "use a grown-up browser". I remember using Firefox on another friend's computer. I thought to myself, "Wow, this looks and feels just like Internet Explorer, but with a download manager and some room for extensions. Meh, I'll stick with Opera." I'm starting to be able to back up my incredible smugness. And as for people complaining about earlier versions which had ads, they took up very little space, were easily ignored, and could be configure to display generic rather than targeted ads. And when it was set to that, it pretty much just advertised Opera.
See, AT&T? Not so funny when WE spy on YOU!
Also, Viking wasn't even the first probe to land on a planet. The Russians put a probe on Venus, and it did manage to transmit data before being destroyed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_7
10-20 years? Part of me is incredibly excited, and the other part is scared shitless.
But will it run Linux?
This actually sets a good precedent and counters one of the arguments against leaving your wifi connection open. Even if someone uses you're internet connection, you won't be charged with a crime simply because you are the owner of that connection. Which means that we no longer have to live in paranoid fear of the tiny, tiny chance that trying to do something nice for people will end up with being arrested for aiding terrorists or pedophiles.
Games are not storytelling. I guess you never played Grim Fandango. Or Jedi Knight. Or Warcraft III. Or Crimson Skies. Or Thief.
I would prefer if widgets didn't appear in the Start bar (the bar in Windows, I mean, not the toolbar in Opera named "Start").
I guess we'll just have to outsource some more jobs.
Even if they encode it with an unbreakable cipher, even if they remove PrtScr, even if they lock out unsigned drivers and plugins, there will never, ever, be anything to stop me from putting a video camera in front of my monitor.
What they need to do is just have more product placement. As long as its not as blatant as "Gee, honey, I sure do love this new [product] that I picked up for only 5 payments of $19.95!" Advertisers could pay based on how much screentime their product has. Think of things like Dr Pepper placement in Spiderman movies. I noticed it, but it didn't take anything away from the story. Remember that movie, The Truman Show? Since the show was on 24/7, all advertising was done via product placement. I don't see why a similar model wouldn't work on today's network television.
I'm beginning to think that Mr. Anderson doesn't even exist.
Ooooohhhh no. I fell for this one before...
9. A robot must fucking bury that guy. A robot must have done it before, and a robot must do it again. A robot must fucking kill Google.
She couldn't just hit the "Block User" button?
So in our society that is more and more resembling a corporate-controlled cyberpunk dystopia, is it a good idea to piss off the most tech-savvy portion of the populous?
Yeah, some of the availability things are odd. We have Verizon's FiOS, and we're in the middle of no where. In fact, one of the places they're covering is a town for senior citizens who live in mobile homes. Not exactly the techno-elite.
I don't see where the big morality issue is. If you saw a man with a wife, children, friends and a job, and he was dying of some disease, as the rest of his family looks on helplessly, would you leave him to die if you had the option of saving him? Why does the life of an embryo with no family, or home, or even gurantee of survival, outweigh the life of someone who is already established in society; who loves and is loved, who has built up a life, and who would be sorely missed by many people? This is a pretty clear-cut moral decision.
My first thought on seeing this is, if it can simultaneously recieve and transmit, couldn't you create a truely decentralized telephone system? With the NSA wiretapping everything, isn't a simple solution to just take away the wires?
I hope they remember to bring an extra water chip.