The idols of the nations are silicon and code, made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear.
Those who make them, will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

- Psalms 135:15-18 (BJB version)
 

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.

- B F Skinner
 

If the automobile had followed the same development as the computer,
a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon,
and explode once a year killing everyone inside.

- Robert Cringely InfoWorld
 

Fluorescent Lights, Nylon, Lucite, Plexiglas - Consider the technologies that permeate modern society: computers and copiers in our offices, microwave ovens in our kitchens, TVs in our living rooms, high-speed jets for travelling.  Every one of those technologies appeared in the same year - 1939!...

Computers of a Bygone Era - In a few hours on 4 November 1952, Univac altered politics, changed the world's perception of computers and upended the tech industry's status quo.  Along the way, it embarrassed CBS long before Dan Rather could do that all by himself...

Back to the Future - Imagine how hard life must have been back in 1962, when there were no garage door openers, VCRs or ATMs.  All the telephones had rotary thingies that made dialling a single phone number take approximately three days.  And worse, there was no such thing as e-mail...

More Things from 1962 - they speak for themselves...

Chipping Away at Freedom: Human's Receive Identification Chips - The chip could be used as a security tool which has stirred debate over its potential use as a device to track people or invade privacy.  Jacobs and his family brushed aside those arguments.  Anyone can be tracked through the Internet and e-mail, credit cards and cellular phones, they say...

National Identity Card - So, what to do when your government doesn't listen to you?  Sing a song and make some animals dance!  (Flash plugin required) 900kb

Britain Braces for Battle - Bitchy remarks, job inquiries, union activism, details of an illness or secret sex life - people write things they wouldn't want their boss to know.  No kidding!

Computer Access Grows - Korea, Hong Kong and Canada boast the highest broadband penetration in the world, according to a new report.

Wheeling and Dealing in Shanghai - In the near future, Pudong will be built into the largest financial centre in Asia.  The Pudong New District is named for its location: east ("dong") of the Huangpu River, the last tributary flowing into the Changjiang (Yangtze) River.  The Huangpu flows through Shanghai, cutting the city into east and west.

Yearning to be a Nobody - Within a few years the global thought-mail network was so complex that it became self-organising and autonomous... identity dwindled...

The Second Coming - "If you have 3 pet dogs give them names; if you have 10,000 head of cattle don't bother.  Nowadays the idea of giving a name to every file on your computer is ridiculous..."

My Computer Is Sick - Viruses and malware are easy - but what about instant messaging - does it do more harm than good?

Fatal Error - Don't upset your computer!  Or the anti-piracy division of the Motion Picture Association of America!

A Flicker of Interest - Subliminal flickers rivet the attention and subvert the mind...

Foundation - What's the language that no one speaks but provides the basis for so many?

Giant TV - Want a 52 inch screen that folds up to fit in your pocket?  Plus: You want to be a Cyborg?

I Want to Hurt My Computer - I want to hurt my computer.  I want to buy a software program that, when run, causes my computer to suffer grievously, though not permanently.  When my screen freezes or turns blue, I want a special button I can push to make the CPU start squealing like a motherboard...

Light on the Subject - My son, a computer science major, sent me this from University and said he identified with it.

Medium Made for Porn - 70% of porn surfing takes place during working hours...

Identifying Web Brousing Trends and Patterns - users look at a fairly small number of sites relative to the number of viewings - a median of six per session.  The median number of hosts visited increased steadily from 14 in July '97 to 25 in Dec '99 but the ratio of viewings to domains viewed remained steady.  Thus, the increase was due to an increased number of sessions, not to users searching out new domains...

Survivor: The New Economy - Reality tv drawn from Silicon Valley: A team of nine strangers is assembled to track down one man.  That man has been set down on one coast and is trying to cross the country, undetected.  He is Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman.  The team is equipped with cellular phones, radio-tracking devices and the Consumer Price Index.  If Mr Greenspan is not found, he wins a season-long reprieve from public scrutiny...

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - "It is unfortunate that we have been unable to receive your cooperation in paying your account.  We have tried to be fair and considerate..."

Too Much to Ask - What Mom really wants for Mother's Day...

Philosophic Agents - What is the proper kind and level of abstraction for complex software agents?  Endow agents with a philosophy - then, by understanding their philosophies, we can use them more effectively...

Applying Mixed Reality to Entertainment - Mixed-reality technologies combine virtual objects with the real world to suspend disbelief and engage audiences in a rich fantasy experience...

Artificial Consciousness - The possibility of building smart machines that could compete with human intelligence now seems likely... Many researchers believe artificial consciousness is possible and will emerge in complex computing machines, thus opening the door to immortality...

Libraries Will Become Morgues - Libraries used to dwarf us.  Now, the immensity of human knowledge shrinks onto a screen.  Reading within the confines of physical space, without a library's symbolism need not be a form of alienation.  It can have mystical dimensions - private, rich in inner resources, opening up to wide horizons.  Or not...

What No One Is Reading - When it is complete next year, this warehouse will be state-of-the-art, containing 262 linear kilometres of high-density, fully automated storage in a low-oxygen environment.  It will house books, journals and magazines that many of us have forgotten about or have never heard of in the first place.

What Is the 77th Largest Economy in the World? - Since players were killing monsters or skinning bunnies every day, they were, in effect, creating wealth.  Crunching more numbers, Castronova found that the average player was generating 319 platinum pieces each hour he or she was in the game - the equivalent of US$3.42/hour.  "That's higher than the minimum wage in most countries..."

Expectations of Privacy and Accountability - Blogging and E-Diaries...

For sections on other topics including ageing, animals, animation, drugs, education, environment, flying, humour, immigration, investment in forestry, intellectual amusements, men, money, New Jersey, oddities, photographs, playing cards, prisons, relationships, science, terrorism, Wellington, working, and more click the "Up" button below to take you to the Topics Index.  Clicking "Next" below will take you to the section on Intellectual Entertainments