Links for 07-06-2007
Doctorow on web filtering, mind-machine interfaces, consuming ourselves into silence…
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1 – See no evil? Doctorow at The Grauniad
“In the new global world of censorware, we all live on Syria’s internet, China’s internet, filtered by companies whose first priority is to ensure that Beijing is happy with its work.”
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2 – Beer Bottle Solar Hot Water Heater
“The bottles are connected to each other [with plastic tubing] so that water flows through them.Sunlight heats the water as is passes slowly through the bottles before flowing into the bathroom as hot water…”
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3 – This is your brain on Google
“We already know we can trigger neurons mechanically … You can interact directly with the brain without implanted electrodes. Then the next step is being able to think something and have it happen …”
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4 – SETI: Consuming Our Way to Silence?
“Thus Miller’s answer to the Fermi Paradox — SETI won’t work because alien civilizations are all addicted to computer games and runaway consumerism.”
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5 – Is there life out there? Almost definitely, say UK scientists
“The scientists expect that the first evidence of primitive alien life, such as microbes and vegetation, will emerge within 10 years, with more substantial finds following future space missions.” Not so implausible, really.
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6 – Terra Nova: The State of Second Life
the question has always been open, at least to some ‘resident’s, as to whether owning Second Life means that the residents are thus the only ones with any right to govern it.
