I was not surprised to see that kids are as computer savvy as this report shows them to be, but judging by the media and politicians wringing their hands constantly over the poor kids at risk the moment they step online, one hopes that this kind of awareness propagates out a little more.
Sadly, probably not, as the people who need to read that study and stop hyperventilating are not snagging it in their RSS feeds, huh?
Via the indispensable TerraNova blog comes word that no other organ than the New York Times itself is running an article that talks about the Simulation Argument. This exceptionally science-fictional slice of philosophy, created by one Nick Bostrom, contends that the reality we exist within is in fact a simulation of extraordinary complexity, and we are just very cunningly scripted artificial intelligences within it.
What’s interesting is that John Tierney (for the NYT) seems more convinced of Bostrom’s theory than Bostrom himself. It’s a head-twistingly paradoxical piece of thinking, so much so that even George Dvorsky finds it makes his brain hurt – which makes me feel slightly better about being in the same situation.
But my main concern is this – if Bostrom and Tierney are correct, and this really is just a simulation, haven’t they now sent a rather obvious signal to the builders of the simulation that the inmates have seen behind the wizard’s curtain? What if the success of the simulation is dependent on our ignorance of it being one? But then, surely they’d have programmed against that contingency – code is law, after all … but that sounds like the arguments for the ineffability of a deity creating mankind with free will! Good grief … if anyone needs me, I’ll be slumped in the corner surrounded by Greg Egan novels and an empty bottle of gin.
If you’re keen to ride the bleeding edge of digital culture and become a lifelogger, you may want to pre-order one of these stylish and comfortable neck-worn camera/microphone combos, designed to transmit sound and images to your mobile device for storage without any interaction on your part.
2010 is going to be a big year for manned spaceflight. Bigelow Aerospace is planning the first private space habitat, and India is planning the first launch of their reusable spacecraft by 2010.
India has been testing a space capsule that was recovered, laying the groundwork for manned missions. The space agency also says it plans a Mars mission ‘as early as 2012.’
Certainly bold. And India is moving the time table up. Their last mission prediction for an Indian astronaut was by 2014, and the idea was only first broached in 2006, as India seemed to regard unmanned missions as having the same benefits until late in the year.
[For a rough overview of the story so far, Jeff Foust, as usual, has a great summary article here]
Bruce Sterling is talking about how the Chinese are gearing up how to manage the fall out from massive natural disasters. Not unexpectedly, their tactics call for big, centrally planned, multi-year approaches.