Inside the Soul of the Web
-- a Wired Reporter watches 24hrs of Google Searches ...
'The top half of the screen displays a map of the world that shows where it's day and night.
Tiny colored dots twinkle on and off across the continents, each representing a different language and a burst of several thousand questions.
Europe, Japan, Israel, Korea, and most of North America are dense, nearly permanent galaxies of dots.
In Africa, the Middle East, and South America, the dots are so few that you can often identify precise locations - Brasília, Caracas, Johannesburg, Nairobi, the airport in the Cape Verde Islands.
It becomes apparent that this is a map not just of Google's users but of the spread of technology, and thus of prosperity in the new century.
In an imprecise but important way, it is also a measure of human freedom.'
( via link machine go )
Thursday, 17 April 2003
Do bugs control our weather?
Do bugs control our weather? Can viruses travel for thousands of miles on the winds? Is there a whole ecosystem up in the clouds that we have not discovered? The answer could be yes to all three questions, according to scientists exploring the microbial metropolises in the skies.
There is, they say, growing evidence that bacteria, fungal spores, and viruses may spend large amounts of time -- even their entire lives -- in the air, riding clouds across the planet.
And they don't just inhabit the clouds -- they may also be creating them. Certainly many of the clouds' newly discovered inhabitants are exquisitely designed to create the maximum number of ice crystals, the basic building blocks of clouds. Some Darwinian biologists even argue that the bugs may have evolved for this very job.
''The ecology of the atmosphere is one of the last great frontiers of biological exploration on earth,'' says Bruce Moffett of the University of East London in England.
(via my analog life)
Do bugs control our weather? Can viruses travel for thousands of miles on the winds? Is there a whole ecosystem up in the clouds that we have not discovered? The answer could be yes to all three questions, according to scientists exploring the microbial metropolises in the skies.
There is, they say, growing evidence that bacteria, fungal spores, and viruses may spend large amounts of time -- even their entire lives -- in the air, riding clouds across the planet.
And they don't just inhabit the clouds -- they may also be creating them. Certainly many of the clouds' newly discovered inhabitants are exquisitely designed to create the maximum number of ice crystals, the basic building blocks of clouds. Some Darwinian biologists even argue that the bugs may have evolved for this very job.
''The ecology of the atmosphere is one of the last great frontiers of biological exploration on earth,'' says Bruce Moffett of the University of East London in England.
(via my analog life)
UNITED KINGDOM
"Police in England and Wales are to start carrying a controversial electronic stun gun that will knock out suspects.
The M26 Taser "electro-muscular disruption" gun will be used alongside conventional weapons in London, Thames Valley, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and north Wales from Thursday. "
"Police in England and Wales are to start carrying a controversial electronic stun gun that will knock out suspects.
The M26 Taser "electro-muscular disruption" gun will be used alongside conventional weapons in London, Thames Valley, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and north Wales from Thursday. "
RECORD UK PRISON POPULATION
73,000
there are currently just 500 spare places remaining, so book early.
One in 100 uk black adults now in jail
The number of black prisoners in Britain's jails has risen 54% from 7,585 to 11,710 since Labour came to power.
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "There is a growing perception that street crime is a black people's crime, when it may simply be that they are more visible to the police and the courts.
"The courts are picking up on low-level antisocial behaviour on the streets because young black men have nowhere else to go either because they are poor or because it's part of the culture to be on the streets."
The policy of releasing short-term prisoners on tags, which is thought to favour white prisoners, may also partly explain the figures.
there are fears of an American-style penal system, where black men are 10 times more likely to go to prison than whites and one in 20 over the age of 18 is in jail.
73,000
there are currently just 500 spare places remaining, so book early.
One in 100 uk black adults now in jail
The number of black prisoners in Britain's jails has risen 54% from 7,585 to 11,710 since Labour came to power.
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "There is a growing perception that street crime is a black people's crime, when it may simply be that they are more visible to the police and the courts.
"The courts are picking up on low-level antisocial behaviour on the streets because young black men have nowhere else to go either because they are poor or because it's part of the culture to be on the streets."
The policy of releasing short-term prisoners on tags, which is thought to favour white prisoners, may also partly explain the figures.
there are fears of an American-style penal system, where black men are 10 times more likely to go to prison than whites and one in 20 over the age of 18 is in jail.
COLLUSION
Security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland.
"the police and army in Northern Ireland helped loyalist paramilitaries to murder Catholics", the UK's most senior police officer has said
this is a classic example of why we must always be questioning the activities of all the suits and uniform wearers.
Security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland.
"the police and army in Northern Ireland helped loyalist paramilitaries to murder Catholics", the UK's most senior police officer has said
this is a classic example of why we must always be questioning the activities of all the suits and uniform wearers.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICA
part two: MARK TWAIN QUOTES
Mark Twain was painfully aware of many people's inclinations to go along with prevailing evils. When slavery was lawful, he recalled, abolitionists were "despised and ostracized, and insulted" - by "patriots." As far as Twain was concerned, "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul."
"Who are the oppressors? The few: the king, the capitalist and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat."
"Why is it right that there is not a fairer division of the spoil all around? Because laws and constitutions have ordered otherwise. Then it follows that laws and constitutions should change around and say there shall be a more nearly equal division."
"I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."
Twain followed up in early 1901 with an essay titled "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Each of the world's strongest nations, he wrote, was proceeding "with its banner of the Prince of Peace in one hand and its loot-basket and its butcher-knife in the other."
part two: MARK TWAIN QUOTES
Mark Twain was painfully aware of many people's inclinations to go along with prevailing evils. When slavery was lawful, he recalled, abolitionists were "despised and ostracized, and insulted" - by "patriots." As far as Twain was concerned, "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul."
"Who are the oppressors? The few: the king, the capitalist and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat."
"Why is it right that there is not a fairer division of the spoil all around? Because laws and constitutions have ordered otherwise. Then it follows that laws and constitutions should change around and say there shall be a more nearly equal division."
"I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."
Twain followed up in early 1901 with an essay titled "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Each of the world's strongest nations, he wrote, was proceeding "with its banner of the Prince of Peace in one hand and its loot-basket and its butcher-knife in the other."
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICA
part one:Jeffery Amherst
Jeffery Amherst intentionally started germ warfare by giving native-americans blankets that were infested with smallpox.
"... in the following spring, Gershom Hicks, who had been among the Indians, reported at Fort Pitt that the small-pox had been raging for some time among them...."
part one:Jeffery Amherst
Jeffery Amherst intentionally started germ warfare by giving native-americans blankets that were infested with smallpox.
"... in the following spring, Gershom Hicks, who had been among the Indians, reported at Fort Pitt that the small-pox had been raging for some time among them...."
Attacking the Patriot Act
A year after the controversial legislation was passed, the ACLU (american civil liberties union) has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign against the Patriot act, dubbed "Keep America Safe and Free".
The ACLU has filed twenty four lawsuits for civil liberties violations since Sept. 11th, some of which are outlined in this Wired news article (Oct. 16, 2002). "The Bush administration has presented Americans with a false dichotomy that we must choose between being safe or free," says one ACLU spokesman, "We're saying there doesn't have to be a choice. We can stay safe and free at the same time."
(source)
A year after the controversial legislation was passed, the ACLU (american civil liberties union) has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign against the Patriot act, dubbed "Keep America Safe and Free".
The ACLU has filed twenty four lawsuits for civil liberties violations since Sept. 11th, some of which are outlined in this Wired news article (Oct. 16, 2002). "The Bush administration has presented Americans with a false dichotomy that we must choose between being safe or free," says one ACLU spokesman, "We're saying there doesn't have to be a choice. We can stay safe and free at the same time."
(source)
The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld
(the exact words of the defense secretary, as taken from the official transcripts on the Defense Department Web site)
The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
( via greenfairy )
jaded emailed me to add:
That "poem" is no stranger to listeners of Radio Four's Sunday program "Broadcasting House" which has presented each week for the past year "The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbite of the Week". A month or so ago (before the war) they invited the head of Nato to judge the best one, and "Know/Don't Know" won.
(the exact words of the defense secretary, as taken from the official transcripts on the Defense Department Web site)
The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
( via greenfairy )
jaded emailed me to add:
That "poem" is no stranger to listeners of Radio Four's Sunday program "Broadcasting House" which has presented each week for the past year "The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbite of the Week". A month or so ago (before the war) they invited the head of Nato to judge the best one, and "Know/Don't Know" won.
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
i was just in a shop where i overheard a small boy showing his mum a decorative birthday candle. it was in the shape of a number 5 (probably his age) and it was pink.
and his mother snarled at him "are you a girl? you need blue."
how weird was that? the psychotic tyranny of gender policing.
i was just in a shop where i overheard a small boy showing his mum a decorative birthday candle. it was in the shape of a number 5 (probably his age) and it was pink.
and his mother snarled at him "are you a girl? you need blue."
how weird was that? the psychotic tyranny of gender policing.
Mitmit
A mischievous Hungarian being, quite small, whose favourite game is to wink at people from the bushes. It lives near waters.
A mischievous Hungarian being, quite small, whose favourite game is to wink at people from the bushes. It lives near waters.
Wednesday, 16 April 2003
On War and Transhumanism
"There's one sure way to preempt self-evolution: Let battles waged by undemocratic countries send us back to prehistory"
by Philip Shropshire
"These aren't good times if you believe that you should control your own evolution, and be able to avoid your own destruction.
we must take steps to prevent war's threat to the future by expanding democracy and taking power from corrupt elites.
We have a president who takes the advice of Leon Kass, a guy who is on record as wanting desperately to stop the future.
a war over oil is like fighting a war over floppy discs or pre-1988 television sets. It's just plain absurd. Unless, of course, you happen to make your living in the fossil fuel industry.
the invasion of Iraq is symptomatic of a larger war that Transhumanists can probably appreciate. It is a war between two realities: A race between what we're betting will be a transcendent technological singularity versus a planet-wide catastrophe when Christian fundie fanatics with nukes finally meet up with Islamic fundie fanatics with nukes and subsequently move toward their Final Conversation.
There is one sure way to stop the Transhumanist dream and that's to return all of us to the Stone Age."
"There's one sure way to preempt self-evolution: Let battles waged by undemocratic countries send us back to prehistory"
by Philip Shropshire
"These aren't good times if you believe that you should control your own evolution, and be able to avoid your own destruction.
we must take steps to prevent war's threat to the future by expanding democracy and taking power from corrupt elites.
We have a president who takes the advice of Leon Kass, a guy who is on record as wanting desperately to stop the future.
a war over oil is like fighting a war over floppy discs or pre-1988 television sets. It's just plain absurd. Unless, of course, you happen to make your living in the fossil fuel industry.
the invasion of Iraq is symptomatic of a larger war that Transhumanists can probably appreciate. It is a war between two realities: A race between what we're betting will be a transcendent technological singularity versus a planet-wide catastrophe when Christian fundie fanatics with nukes finally meet up with Islamic fundie fanatics with nukes and subsequently move toward their Final Conversation.
There is one sure way to stop the Transhumanist dream and that's to return all of us to the Stone Age."
THE SHAPES OF THINGS TO COME
SARSWATCH
updated news, 'superinfectors', 'superspreaders' and a list of blogs "from people living in areas heavily impacted by SARS"
new scientist jobs.com
"Everything is in place for biotech to flourish in Britain, but one vital ingredient is missing........"
A History Of US Secret Human Experimentation
neuroprosthesis blog
SARSWATCH
updated news, 'superinfectors', 'superspreaders' and a list of blogs "from people living in areas heavily impacted by SARS"
new scientist jobs.com
"Everything is in place for biotech to flourish in Britain, but one vital ingredient is missing........"
A History Of US Secret Human Experimentation
neuroprosthesis blog
TEXT ON THINGS
baby underwear
DKNY DKNYbaby 6M SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - C. W. F. Children Worldwide Fashion Les Herbiers France R. C. S. 421994658 La Roche Sur Yon 6 mois stat F 67 D 68 Y 71067 )F 207013 H NPJ RN 98816 CA 08991 A NORMA DI LEGGE Nº 883 DEL 26-11-73 100% coton-cotone-katoen baumwolle-cotton algodon-algodao CARE OVER 40º P Do not commercially launder Warm wash and rinse No bleach Cool iron Any solvent Except Trichloroetyhlene Tumble dry forbidden flat dry
baby underwear
DKNY DKNYbaby 6M SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - SNAPPER - - - C. W. F. Children Worldwide Fashion Les Herbiers France R. C. S. 421994658 La Roche Sur Yon 6 mois stat F 67 D 68 Y 71067 )F 207013 H NPJ RN 98816 CA 08991 A NORMA DI LEGGE Nº 883 DEL 26-11-73 100% coton-cotone-katoen baumwolle-cotton algodon-algodao CARE OVER 40º P Do not commercially launder Warm wash and rinse No bleach Cool iron Any solvent Except Trichloroetyhlene Tumble dry forbidden flat dry
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