Lowell suggested this interesting news items that did not make it into today's discussion, Dick Cheney's heart transplant.
As usual Andy Borowitz scooped main stream media with this article.
Monday, March 26, 2012
More on Rush
Has the Rush Limbaugh story run its course? Not quite, see how the Huffington Post uses Twitter to report on the latest exit of Limbaugh sponsors.
Also Andy Borowitz reported about Rush losing a special long time sponsor.
Also Andy Borowitz reported about Rush losing a special long time sponsor.
Stay Current with Wikipedia
Where do you go to catch up on a developing story? We have easy access to news articles on the Internet but typically they are not updated once they are released. So when new media fails, try an encyclopedia. Wikipedia already has entries for two of the stories we discussed in today's meeting; on Sargent Bales and Treyvon Martin.
Monday, March 19, 2012
More TED
Three TED talks came up in today's meeting.
1) The first topic was on synthetic life. In 2008, Craig Venter gave a talk at TED about his pursuit of synthetic life and why it is important. Two years later Venter announced that he had succeed.
2) The second topic was about the end of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It was no surprise since we now have Wikipedia which is free. What is surprising is that Wikipedia, which can be edited by anyone, was more accurate than Britannica, edited by a professional staff. We had a previous post about a TED talk by Jimmy Wales, which explained how quality is maintained.
3) The third topic was about trading algorithms and was recommended by Norm. Kevin Slavin's TED talk revealed the sophistication of today's Wall Street traders.
All three topics are about amazing new technology. But will they make our lives better or worse? Should we let them flourish, or should we take steps to control them?
1) The first topic was on synthetic life. In 2008, Craig Venter gave a talk at TED about his pursuit of synthetic life and why it is important. Two years later Venter announced that he had succeed.
2) The second topic was about the end of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It was no surprise since we now have Wikipedia which is free. What is surprising is that Wikipedia, which can be edited by anyone, was more accurate than Britannica, edited by a professional staff. We had a previous post about a TED talk by Jimmy Wales, which explained how quality is maintained.
3) The third topic was about trading algorithms and was recommended by Norm. Kevin Slavin's TED talk revealed the sophistication of today's Wall Street traders.
All three topics are about amazing new technology. But will they make our lives better or worse? Should we let them flourish, or should we take steps to control them?
Monday, March 12, 2012
Swarming Robots
Robot warfare continues to be a topic of discussion. Here is a previous post on this blog about drone warfare.
Now robotic warfare is entering a new phase. Instead of a single robot commanded remotely by a human operator, there will soon be swarms of robots that will have some autonomous control. Here is a link to a TED talk about these new robots.
Now robotic warfare is entering a new phase. Instead of a single robot commanded remotely by a human operator, there will soon be swarms of robots that will have some autonomous control. Here is a link to a TED talk about these new robots.
Kony 2012
Here is a link to the Kony 2012 film that was mentioned in today's meeting. There are two stories, one about the crimes of Joseph Kony, the other about how to conduct a citizen movement. The film itself is a topic of discussion here on Wikipedia.
Warning, the film is 30 minutes long and there is a lot of the material is about the personal life of the film's creator. So I'll just tell you that the film is calling for a day of action on April 20. The film covers the techniques used to make itself go viral. We will know soon enough how successful this campaign is.
Warning, the film is 30 minutes long and there is a lot of the material is about the personal life of the film's creator. So I'll just tell you that the film is calling for a day of action on April 20. The film covers the techniques used to make itself go viral. We will know soon enough how successful this campaign is.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Limbaugh on the Ropes
The contraceptive story has turned into another "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" story. But this time his attack on Sandra Fluke may have gone too far. There is now an Internet campaign to boycott Limbaugh and it continues even after his apology. He is losing sponsors and now the Republicans are trying to distance themselves from him.
There is already a good summary of the controversy on Wikipedia
Rachel Maddow had an interesting take. She said that it is nothing new for Limbaugh to be controversial but he had shown his complete ignorance in how birth control works.
There is already a good summary of the controversy on Wikipedia
Rachel Maddow had an interesting take. She said that it is nothing new for Limbaugh to be controversial but he had shown his complete ignorance in how birth control works.
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