"Created by psychologists at Yale University and the University of Washington, this collection of Implicit Association Tests (IAT) measures unconscious bias. "

This is thought provoking. Having said that, I have serious problems with it. I posted about it earlier a little a head of the gun. Basically, you develop a strategy for approaching the test. Sometimes you can come up with good strategies, some times you cannot. That strategy may or may not have anything to do with a racial prejudice. That strategy may or may not reflect a real belief that you have. This site implies both, and furthermore, if you "win" by getting a neutral result they reply with a long list of reasons why you may have taken the test incorrectly.

Tolerance.org: Dig Deeper

Toffler's most pressing concern is the moral and ethical specter of genetic engineering. Such a powerful technology carries with it deep social implications that could rip the fabric of a nation into shreds.

Tom mentioned that he saw the Tuesday overnight airing of this segment on TechTV. Set your TiVo for the next showing, on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Tune in again on Sunday and Monday for more Big Thinkers, including Tod Machover, Steve Jones, Tom Kelley, Stewart Brand, Rodney Brooks, Sherry Turkle, and David Gerlenter.

TechTV | Alvin Toffler and the Information Revolution

I'm astonished that anyone's astonished.

What strikes me about this article is that there is no need for the government to set up such an entity. Why do you have to be a state? Stratfor is the model here. Start a company. Sell the intelligence. Sell it to the US government. Don't sell it to people you don't like.

Governments are very risk adverse. The reason you are having so much trouble changing the culture there is because people are AFRAID that if they think for themselves rather then following the time honored methods they will fail and people will die. People trust established methods and they fear the uncertainty this sort of thinking brings. For these reasons such an effort is far more likely to work if it is established outside of the control of the government, where risk taking is OK and fear will not dominate decision making.

'Why Spy?' | John Perry Barlow in Forbes ASAP

Howard Rheingold is now running a weblog about Smart Mobs. There are some quite interesting links here.

Smart Mobs - The Next Social Revolution

Ms. Bova had a student type up a reference list of translations for common instant-messaging expressions. She posted a copy on the bulletin board by her desk and took another one home to use while grading."

l33t speak finds its way into the classroom, d00d3

ACLU: "Once privacy is gone, you can't get it back." ... "It's been so incremental, we almost didn't notice [the surveillance]."

There is so much ignorance in this article its hard to know where to start. Its almost artful. A crescendo of fear and power. A spinning cycle of action and reaction that can only end in cataclysm. When I was in high school people who felt hopeless committed suicide and artists predicted shootings. Now people who feel hopeless commit shootings. What do the artists predict?

Los Angeles Times: A High School Where the Sensorship Is Pervasive

"If people do not feel enough guilt 2 prevent them from making digital copies of the latest episode of a popular TV show or hit pop song, it is precisely because the industry giants have succeeded in making these works purely commercial products, with little or no consideration 4 their actual artistic value. It is precisely because these companies have been consistently promoting commercial products at the xpense of artistic works."

Ok, so, I've had a few beers. And tghe thing is, that I don't really want PRINCE, or um, I guess that dude who was formerly known as prince, explaining complex social issues to me. I want prince, or um, oh whatever, to explain how to get laid constantly. Thats his space, isn't it. I mean that information would be really useful. I've already got enough internet pundits to blog here.

The thing is that the quoted comment was an interesting insite (in the heart of an article you've red a thousand times before). Its hope... You don't have to worry about people not patronizing art. People patronize art. Fuck, look at the church. Thats nothing if not art and many people give it nearly as much as they give the feds. People rip off music because music really isn't worth anything, not because Music isn't work anything, but because the music we have is not Art.

The system prays upon the fear you have of your neighbors. Tips. Copyright.... If everyone agrees to do the right thing everyone is fine. If you think everyone is going to screw you then you need the man to set things straight for you. Its all in your head.

Maybe I've taken that a little further then prince, or um... sigh... yeah, that dude was taking it. There are more essays up here that I should read, but I need to sleep, and tomorrow, I need to code...

Prince on p2p

The 13 record labels that filed the suit in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan say the site, Listen4ever.com, is "even more egregious" than the music-sharing service Napster, which was shut by a court order.

Through the AT&T network, the following comment appears on an otherwise blank web page: "No web site is configured at this address."

Record Labels Want 4 Internet Providers to Block Music Site

ONCE a week, on Sundays, Hong Kong becomes a different city. Thousands of Filipina women throng into the central business district, around Statue Square, to picnic, dance, sing, gossip and laugh. They snuggle in the shade under the HSBC building, a Hong Kong landmark, and spill out into the parks and streets. They hug. They chatter. They smile. Humanity could stage no greater display of happiness."

Philippinos in Hong Kong

In the end, the key to creating effective Internet communications is understanding that it's not about the technology. It's about connecting people to other people... and facilitating further connections.

Connect the dots and win!

It's Not About the Technology