Artificial intelligence, the SL land rush, Itzkoff-bashing, paperback pricewars…

• 1 – The Metacognitive Dance of Artificial Minds
  “Should we observe signs of consciousness in machines is it therefore logical to assume that society will naturally issue moral precepts of a similar weight onto our silicon-brained companions? I think not.”
  (tags: transhumanism philosophy consciousness sentience cognition intelligence artificial AI)
• 2 – Land Rush!
  “Of course, we don’t really know how to price an acre of SL land, given that there aren’t ready RL or even Internet equivalents…except we do. The land market is doing that for us.” The real estate bubble hits Second Life.
  (tags: pricing forces market economics bubble inflation property estate real land metaverse Life Second)
• 3 – Something Itzkoff This Way Comes
  There are many who disapprove of Dave Itzkoff; Andrew Wheeler would appear to be chief among them.
  (tags: sf scifi fiction science Review Book Times York New NYT slap-down snark Itzkoff Dave)
• 4 – Gamers Too Busy Actually Gaming To Notice In-Game Advertising
  “…it looks like sports gamers in particular couldn’t care less about in-game ads — likely because they’re too busy trying to drive, grab a rebound, or pummel their opponent senseless.”
  (tags: attention ineffective study research in-game advertising marketing games computer)
• 5 – Orwellian Wormholes
  “And so, welcome to the brave new world of cross-border tunnel migration and militarization – and, what could be the glimpse of a future (sub)urban world as more nation states wall off their borders from the increasing flows of global migration.”
  (tags: images infrastructure smuggling secret US Mexico wetback immigration tunnels crossing border national)
• 6 – Price wars come at a cost
  “The fact that supermarkets can discount so heavily,” said Bill Samuel, deputy chairman of leading independent, Foyles, “gives a message to the public that independents overprice books.” Only POD can save us now…
  (tags: benefits short-term wars price bookstores independent discounts supermarket retail publishing books)
• 7 – Spime Watch: Jarking Wear
  “The unique feature of this clothing will be its self-sustainability via a unique solar-powered material being developed by a 3rd party. The material is waterproof and machine washable and will allow the clothing to run indefinitely without the need to re
  (tags: wear safety GPS trackable clothing technology panopticon surveillance jarking spimes)
• 8 – Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who Don’t Want to Work at Writing
  “So, the task here: Tell y’all how to write better without you actually having to make an effort. Fine. Here’s how I would do it.” Scalzi lays down the law.
  (tags: wisdom punctuation prose presentation instruction editing development creativity content writing)
• 9 – Peter Watts Interview
  “I’m as much of an attention-slut as anyone in this business (or I would be, if more people paid attention), but although I am a needy sonofabitch, I don’t want to look like one.”
  (tags: creation business bublishing interview writer author sf scifi fiction science Blindsight Watts Peter)