Wired News is reporting on a cease and desist letter sent to an independent news site by Belo, corporate parent of The Dallas Morning News, forbidding links to individual stories within the web site. They claim the author can only link to the web site’s homepage, and attempting to link to stories within the site violates their copyright.
If things move in this direction, the best characteristics of the web will be wasted.
Posted in Law, Media, Public Policy, Tech, The Future
Tagged copyright, intellectual property, law, media
The Economist is publishing an article describing how information about demographics is leading to an algorythmic method of “redistricting” to enable very meaningful manipulation of state-wide votes.
The article provides examples, and even claims “Weirdly shaped districts… are signs that a crime has been committed. Again, start with Florida. This year, the Republican-controlled legislature has proposed a map with 18 Republican-leaning seats and seven Democratic ones. But as the 2000 presidential vote showed, Florida’s electorate is split perfectly down the middle. The map has been rigged outrageously to favour the Republicans. ”
The Article also discusses the cases of Michigan, Texas, and California.
ZDNet reports that Infineon Technologies is weaving sensors, processors, and supporting systems into fabrics. They see near-term applications in entertainment, communications, health care and security. I like that they say: “The further evolution of our information society will make everyday electronic applications ever more invisible and natural”.
Posted in Brain in a jar, Media, Tech, The Future
Tagged clothes, consumerism, future, superhuman, technology
Washingtonpost.com has a story about what biotechnology means to being post-human. While the article gets a little dorky at times, and the comic-book references somewhat over-the-top, it manages to penetrate well past the surface of what most articles would do. (And come on, admit it, how many of us have daydreamed well into our twenties about doing the kinds of things only comic book heros can do?) They reference a lot of good material, talk to John Kurzweil and Max Moore, and use the excellent Science Magazine issue on this subject for a lot of their material.
Posted in Brain in a jar, Just for fun, Personal, Tech, The Future
Tagged biotechnology, evolution, future, genetic engineering, Kurtzweil, superhuman
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the CIA is warning of possible cyber-terrorism against U.S. and Taiwanese computer systems by the Chinese Army. The United States Secret Service is considering proactive defense strategies.
Posted in Public Policy, Tech, The Future
Tagged China, cyber threat, justice, security, technology
Dan Von Kohorn 