"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
DJ SPOOKY: Venice Biennale 2007
Topic: Arts
1:22 pm EDT, Jun 16, 2007
Spooky offers a free 71 minute mix. Grab it!
Brian Eno once famously remarked that the problem with computers is that there isn't enough Africa in them. I kind of think that its the opposite: they're bringing the ideals of Africa: after all, computers are about connectivity, shareware, a sense of global discussion about topics and issues, the relentless density of info overload, and above all the willingness to engage and discuss it all - that's something you could find on any street corner in Africa.
I just wanted to highlight the point: Digital Africa is here, and has been here for a while. This isn't "retro" - it's about the future.
Noteworthy says: There's some great stuff at around 57:00, in conjunction with Duke Ellington's "Afro-Euraasian Eclipse". I first heard these samples on DJ/rupture's album, Minesweeper Suite, which I've been meaning to recommend for a while now. From the emusic review:
Barcelona-based DJ/rupture shows off his formidable turntable skills (and frighteningly deep record collection) with a three-deck mix that spans dancehall reggae, Middle Eastern drumming, underground London breakcore and Hot 97-ready a cappellas. ... /rupture's knack for drilling holes through genres (mashing up Aaliyah's "Resolution" with apocalyptic drum 'n' bass, screwing hip-hop into psychedelic glitch-folk) threads a groove that could spin any pair of hips out onto the dancefloor. The form (beat-oriented fusion) and the content (any sound you can imagine, never deracinated but instead radically re-contextualized) make the perfect icebreaker to get trainspotters talking politics, and vice versa.
People everywhere fear the next terrorist attack. Meanwhile, we slowly grow numb to Iraq’s endless string of kidnappings and suicide bombings. Between bird flu, tsunamis, and loose nukes, our list of fears is getting longer.
So, we asked 21 leading thinkers: What is one solution that would make the world a better place?
Here are their answers.
These articles are short and to the point. A few are naive but several of them are quite good. In particular I like the Internet Security idea. Unfortunately, many require a subscription to read in full.
Bruce Sterling wants to fund the Industrial Memetics Institute.
"I'm shocked that I understood every damn thing Benkler's saying. Online experiences need to be granular, modular, and integratable. Furthermore, I didn't know about self-selection, humanization, and trust construction. I'd love to see that industrialized. Norm creation, transparency, peer review, discipline, yeah, all of that's lacking today. Internet institutions lack sustainability. They have the lifetime of my skin. They get bought out. The available platforms for self-expression are terrible. I use seven word processors, all of them terrible."
"Why are social applications businesses? Why aren't they political parties?"
"I hang out at a lot of gigs like this. Everybody's sticking it to the man; nobody's the man. What if the state of Vermont gets metal-spined ubiquitous broadband? If it leaks over state borders, are you going to sell connectivity? Will they make sure nobody in New Hampshire can 'steal' Wi-fi? What if New Hampshire becomes the next Baltic-style e-state, the next Estonia?"
What you build, you cannot contain or control. "I'm a cyberpunk. Information wants to be free. It used to be hard to find, but Google was my apotheosis. We now have this unbelievable tidal wave of information. There's no end to it. It's endlessly seductive. Suddenly, your skills at ferreting out obscure information are almost worthless. Now they don't want to pay you. I say, follow your bliss. I spend more time with Google now than with novels and magazines. I'm swimming in it. I'm marinating it."
"Follow your bliss into the abyss. That's my new bumper sticker. This is the abyss. This is where my explorations led me. You guys are the denizens of the abyss. I strap on my diver helmet and go into the internet as far as you can go. You're the guys laying the pipe. It's a cyberpunk Mariana Trench in this room. I have to cheer you. Thank you for having us here."
It seems clear to a lot of us that there is a problem ...
What kind of art does the future deserve? How should we advance?
Much of the [current] work is repetitive and derivative in a way that starts to resemble planned cultural obsolescence.
A strange cycle has set in, whereby the most valuable attribute an artist can have is "promise." With a lot of big bets being placed, the artist has to be both young and verifiable. In other words, marketable. But almost none of our superstar artists have delivered on their promise.
A practical avant-garde is post-careerist. It seeks out low rent and private time, and it concentrates on powerful objects.
It takes real bravery and commitment to one's project to, essentially, take it underground, and eskew the financial resources of the system and their associated strings. Perhaps the art we're looking for is out there, but its looking for a way to find us that doesn't cost money.
This is an oldie but a goodie. I happened onto it today and figured I'd re-recommend it.
Separate the facts from the fads: A groundbreaking, five-year study reveals the must-have management practices that truly produce superior results.
Excel at Four Primary Practices:
Strategy: Devise and maintain a clearly stated, focused strategy. Execution: Develop and maintain flawless operational execution. Culture: Develop and maintain a performance-oriented culture. Structure: Build and maintain a fast, flexible, flat organization.
Embrace Two of Four Secondary Practices:
Hold on to talented employees and find more. Make industry-transforming innovations. Find leaders who are committed to the business and its people. Seek growth through mergers and partnerships.
Why do people succeed? Richard St. John compacts seven years of research into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success (Hint: Passion, persistence, and pushy mothers help)
The Department of Homeland Security is paying Rutgers $3 million to oversee development of computing methods that could monitor suspicious social networks and opinions found in news stories, Web blogs and other Web information to identify indicators of potential terrorist activity.
The software and algorithms could rapidly detect social networks among groups by identifying who is talking to whom on public blogs and message boards, researchers said. Computers could ideally pick out entities trying to conceal themselves under different aliases.
It would also be able to sift through massive amounts of text and decipher opinions - such as anti-American sentiment - that would otherwise be difficult to do manually.
Nicholas Belkin, a University professor who studied in the field of Information Retrieval Systems, said "It could be used to identify members of groups who want to form a demonstration or oppose a particular event or government policy."
We want our ideas to spread like wildfire, or to have impact that lasts, but we often forget that different ideas spread differently. A quick look at Digg demonstrates that the easiest way to get Dugg is to have a trivial idea.
This is an excellent general principal. Easy ideas spread faster.
The Politics of the Man Behind '24' | The New Yorker
Topic: War on Terrorism
1:29 am EST, Feb 14, 2007
This article is more important than it sounds.
“24,” by suggesting that the U.S. government perpetrates myriad forms of torture, hurts the country’s image internationally. Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors —— cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”
Gary Solis, a retired law professor who designed and taught the Law of War for Commanders curriculum at West Point, told me that he had similar arguments with his students. He said that, under both U.S. and international law, “Jack Bauer is a criminal. In real life, he would be prosecuted.” Yet the motto of many of his students was identical to Jack Bauer’s: “Whatever it takes.” His students were particularly impressed by a scene in which Bauer barges into a room where a stubborn suspect is being held, shoots him in one leg, and threatens to shoot the other if he doesn’t talk. In less than ten seconds, the suspect reveals that his associates plan to assassinate the Secretary of Defense. Solis told me, “I tried to impress on them that this technique would open the wrong doors, but it was like trying to stomp out an anthill.”
