Chris Anderson’s latest project is now live. BookTour.com is:
…a free online service that connects authors and potential audiences of all sorts, from book groups to civic organizations, from bookstores to corporate events. Authors create their own page (biography, books, tour dates and availability) and any group looking for speakers can find them and contact them directly to arrange for an appearance.
It seems like every day I learn about some new, uberbrainy conference that I can’t afford to attend and aren’t smart enough to speak at, the most recent being Supernova. Supernova is all about “how decentralization and pervasive connectivity are changing our world.” Mitigating my frustration is the fact that many of these conferences are now publishing their proceedings online (to name two biggies: TED and SXSW). Supernova’s got video too. Don’t miss Clay Shirky, always a healthy dash of common sense for our collective moments of irrational exuberance. [oreilly radar]
Sometimes commercial interests can actually be beneficial to the environment. Let’s say you own a sports stadium: how do you monetize that huge piece of real estate in the hours when there’s no events being held in it? Why not imitate AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and [beware pop-ups]cover the building with solar panels that will create nice clean energy you can sell back to the grid. That way, everyone’s a winner. [Engadget]
Baffled by the Singularity? Heard it referred to in blogs and science fiction novels, but not entirely sure what people mean when they say it? You’re not alone – but Michael Anissimov at Accelerating Future has a handy round-up of articles that should get you up to speed on ‘friendly’ general artificial intelligence and the Singularity as seen from the leading edge of theory.
It’s a tautology to say that Mars isn’t the most friendly environment for human explorers. In addition to the lack of atmosphere, fluctuating temperatures and high levels of cosmic radiation, fierce storms of super-fine Martian dust could present a serious problem for bold pioneers on the Red Planet’s surface. In fact, Mars’ surface is inimical to local lifeforms, too – which is why NASA’s forthcoming Phoenix Lander will be digging beneath the surface in its hunt for indigenous microbial critters.