Links for 17-07-2007
Dubya as Presidential simulacrum, Rucker on Mundane SF, Wired’s crowdsourcing experiment autopsied, Moebius strip solved…
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1 – Being Nothing – George W. Bush as Presidential Simulacrum
“This article appropriates ideas from Being There and Baudrillard’s Gulf War pieces in order to propose that George W. Bush is a simulation, a virtual figure…” I love postmodern theory. So sue me.
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2 – On Mundane SF
Rudy Rucker respects Mundane SF, but feels no need to be constrained by it.
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3 – Uzodinma Iweala – Stop Trying To ‘Save’ Africa
“There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one’s cultural superiority.”
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4 – Did Assignment Zero Fail? A Look Back, and Lessons Learned
“… the real value of the exercise was discovery. We learned a lot about how crowds come together, and what’s required to organize them well. But many of the lessons came too late to help Assignment Zero.”
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5 – Moebius strip riddle solved at last
“Since 1930, the Möbius strip has been a classic poser for experts in mechanics. The teaser is to resolve the strip algebraically – to explain its unusual shape in the form of an equation.”
