I’m continuing to get caught up on the Linkathon email. “Happy Crow” writes us: You inspired me to write something while listening to the latest Fast-Forward radio. I don’t know what all the limits are on push-prizes, but what about one that created courses designed to let “the rest of us” benefit from the same […]
I apologize for not checking the Speculist email box more often, but 3/4th of the Speculist email starts out: Dearest One: You may be surprised by my writing…. Actually, after thousands of these emails my level of surprise has diminished somewhat. Apparently there are a lot of very wealthy Nigerians that think that “Speculist” is […]
Will Brown emails us with a link to an Al Fin’s post: Introducing the grobyC–the Inverse of a Cyborg The “grobyc” ….clever name, but I’m hopeful it doesn’t catch on. It doesn’t roll off the tongue. While a cyborg is a biological organism that has had one or more biological functions replaced or enhanced by […]
Our friend Will Brown points to this article from Chris Chatham: 10 Important Differences Between Brains and Computers Chris argues that the metaphor that “our brains are computers” has been valuable. But, like most metaphors, it is eventually checked by reality. He points out how vastly different our brains are from digital computers. Why it’s […]
Pop quiz: how many cool 2015-era product placements do you see in this picture? Well, if you ignore the blurry stuff in the background, there’s just two – a Mattel Hoverboard and a nifty pair of self-lacing Nike sneakers. We reported a month ago about efforts to make the levitation technology behind the hoverboard a […]
Our old buddy Karl Gallagher steps us through some of the more entertaining scenarios featuring nanobots run amok: A couple of the books I’ve read recently illustrated the powers and dangers of nanotechnology. One of the disputes in the field is whether molecular manufacturing can provide exponential production capabilities. MM would let us create a […]
Dr. Pat offers thoughts on living in a simulation. If this is a simulation, what is the Simulator trying to learn? In what way is the simulation different from the original? This could be very subtle, it could be a butterfly effect type change, like altering the gravitational constant by 1/googleplex or (in a more […]
Keitousama predicts a world full of flying cameras that he cleverly calls iFly’s. Some would be owned by individuals, others would be used publicly like webcams. He seems excited about this, but I have to wonder whether any privacy would be possible in a world where everyone is a iFly on the wall. -Linkathon. Yes, […]
What do Better All the Time, the Fermi Paradox and baby universes have in common? Matt at Dancing In the Minefield has the fertile mind to contemplate the answer. -Linkathon
Some have asked, “Why care about technology if it doesn’t bring happiness?” Kaj Sotala explains why that premise is wrong for some technologies. He makes the case that developing technology can enable happiness, equality, and choice. -Linkathon.