Tubeway Napster, ethanol bolt-ons, Warcraft not so evil after all, arphids, the Worldchanging book, neo-fan manifesto…

• 1 – www.undersound.org
  “Not all subways are created equal. What if technology designers recognized this fact and attempted to create an interface that took a deeper look at what being mobile means to each of us?” Napster for the Tube, as per Doctorow’s EST.
  (tags: UK London Tube subway sharing social P2P music audio mobile media interaction distributed)
• 2 – Conventional unwisdom on publishing
  “I’ve been hearing the “publishing is becoming a winner-take-all sweepstakes” riff since I started working in the industry. It’s not true, and it’s not becoming true.” Tor editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden speaks out.
  (tags: industry economics literature publishing business books)
• 3 – Brazilian technology company to export ethanol-enabling add-on
  “In a recent press release, Brazilian technology company Abcesso announced that they would begin exporting an add-on component that essentially turns your standard gas-only car into a flex-fuel vehicle.”
  (tags: Brazil fuel transport environment ecology green conversion device vehicle ethanol)
• 4 – Warcraft: Another Point of View
  “If I start feeling frustrated, that the demands of people in the game are getting to high, or that I don’t have anything else to do … I walk away. I go for a walk, pursue one of my other hobbies, or call a friend.” The positive story.
  (tags: experience positive worlds synthetic metaverse online gaming MMORPG Warcraft WoW)
• 5 – Online Etymology Dictionary
  “This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they’re explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.” How have I failed to discover this before? Genius!
  (tags: history words resource reference origins literature linguistics language dictionary etymology)
• 6 – All Hail the New Medievalists!
  “Science fiction has become reality only at the pace (and in the areas) that commerce is equipped to assimilate it.” Lou Anders advises against trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle.
  (tags: stereotyping audience entertainment media movies literature books genre sf scifi fiction science)
• 7 – EU RFID Survey Shows Privacy Protection a Prime Concern
  ” … the preliminary results indicate Europe needs rules and technologies for the safe and secure implementation of RFID.” Gee, d’you think so?
  (tags: technology survey safety surveillance privacy security tags arphid RFID EU Europe)
• 8 – Viridian Note 00477: Worldchanging, the Book
  Captain Bruce plugs the new Worldchanging book – a copy of which I badly want, and will probably have to buy.
  (tags: publishing futurism ecology environment launch book Worldchanging Sterling Bruce notes Viridian)
• 9 – Synthravels – The 1st online Virtual Travel Agency
  Fancy a guided tour of Second Life or World of Warcraft? These are your people.
  (tags: metaverse Synthravel tours guided guides environment world synthetic online reality virtual)
• 10 – The neo-fan manifesto
  “Many newcommers to fandom, like myself are intimidated by the “old guard” of fandom. Here is a Manifesto [...] It reminds us of our obligations to each other in the community, and can serve as a guide for convention planners of tomorrow.”
  (tags: conventions genre manifesto new fandom sf scifi fiction science)
• 11 – A Virtual World but Real Money
  “The Second Life online service is fast becoming a three-dimensional test bed for corporate marketers, including Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sun Microsystems, Nissan, Adidas/Reebok, Toyota and Starwood Hotels.” Landgrab/goldrush, anyone?
  (tags: worlds syntheric online branding marketing invasion corporate reality virtual metaverse Life Second)
• 12 – Hawking files for divorce
  …for the second time, apparently. Third time’s the charm, Steve.
  (tags: divorce professor celebrity science physics Hawking Stephen)
• 13 – Psyops
  “Psyops or Pyschological operations are those which ‘alter the behavior of an enemy, without altering his beliefs’.” It’s a metafilter link round-up, y’all.
  (tags: war psychology disinformation control mind propaganda operations psychological psyops)
• 14 – A midsummer night’s virtual world
  “On Thursday, the MacArthur Foundation is announcing a $240,000 grant to Edward Castronova for his online game, ‘Arden: The World of Shakespeare.’” Interesting…
  (tags: research development grant reality virtual world synthetic Shakespeare Arden Castronova Edward Metaverse)
• 15 – Top 10 open source Windows apps
  ” … these days many “free as in speech” applications are available for Windows as well – and today I’ve got a list of my top 10 favorites.”
  (tags: list applications software Windows source open free)

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