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There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. |
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Topic: Politics and Law |
5:49 pm EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
Rattle wrote: This article's lead ... immediately makes me think of this song: Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you.
And those lyrics, coupled with the ending of Fukuyama's essay: Neoconservatism, whatever its complex roots, has become indelibly associated with concepts like coercive regime change, unilateralism and American hegemony. What is needed now are new ideas ...
makes me think that Fukuyama is secretly singing this tune: Yeah I'm here without a name In the palace of my shame I said love rescue me I've conquered my past The future is here at last I stand at the entrance To a new world I can see The ruins to the right of me Will soon have lost sight of me Love rescue me
RE: The Long War |
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DNA 'could predict your surname' |
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Topic: High Tech Developments |
10:22 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
Forensic scientists could use DNA retrieved from a crime scene to predict the surname of the suspect, according to a new British study. It is not perfect, but could be an important investigative tool when combined with other intelligence.
Subscribers to Current Biology can read the full paper; anyone can review the technical summary. From the summary: A large surname-based forensic database might contribute to the intelligence-led investigation of up to ∼70 rapes and murders per year in the UK.
DNA 'could predict your surname' |
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Case Study: A Shake-Up at Harvard |
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Topic: Society |
10:08 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
Care for some advice inspired by Larry Summers? Recognize the smartest person in the room rather than act like the smartest person in the room.
See also: If you look around the table and you can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.
Case Study: A Shake-Up at Harvard |
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Is Freedom Just Another Word for Many Things to Buy? |
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Topic: MemeStreams |
10:05 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
Choice is what enables all of us to live exactly the kind of lives we want to and think we should. But this "wisdom" is suspect for two reasons. First, most Americans do not think that freedom is about exercising more and more choice. And second, even for those who do equate freedom with choice, having more choice does not seem to make them feel freer. Instead, Americans are increasingly bewildered — not liberated — by the sheer volume of choices they must make in a day.
Too many choices on the Web? Let the MemeStreams Agent make your choices for you. (How's that for an elevator speech?) American society has given the educated elites what they have asked for, and an increase in stress, anxiety and dissatisfaction has been a widespread result.
This is consistent with the survey that found Americans are working more but accomplishing less. Is Freedom Just Another Word for Many Things to Buy? |
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The Last Aria of Tony Soprano |
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Topic: TV |
9:56 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
A quote from David Chase: "Actors will say, 'My character wouldn't say that.' Who said it was your character?"
The new season premieres Sunday, March 12 at 9pm. The Last Aria of Tony Soprano |
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Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft |
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Topic: Business |
9:40 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
According to a co-founder of Verisign, the key to success is a proven ability to finish fast. The primary goal of an elevator pitch is to intrigue someone to learn more. Like that novel you buy on impulse at the airport, the first sentence has to grab you. One way to do that is to highlight the enormity of the problem you are tackling ... If you get stuck on this step because the problem you’re tackling isn’t impressively large and obvious, you have a more severe issue to worry about than your elevator pitch. ... To really expose the genius, the pitch includes a good 10-20 minute tutorial. Who Has Time For This? Not VC’s, and certainly not prospective buyers. Surely the brilliance of the idea must compel them! Compel? More like confuse, bore and repel.
Practicing the art of subtext. See also: Are you just another AFC ("average frustrated chump") trying to meet an HB ("hot babe")? How would you like to "full-close" with a Penthouse Pet of the Year? The answers, my friend, are in Neil Strauss's entertaining book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.
But remember: After a while, he ran out of one-liners and had to have a real conversation.
Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft |
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Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering |
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Topic: High Tech Developments |
8:44 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
From a sampling of the table of contents: Ongoing Challenges in Face Recognition Large-Scale Activity-Recognition Systems Complex Networks: Ubiquity, Importance, and Implications The Promise of Synthetic Biology Population Dynamics of Human Language: A Complex System Agent-Based Modeling as a Decision-Making Tool DINNER SPEECH: Engineering for a New World
This report is freely available as PDF. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering |
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Marine Corps Special Operations Command Activated |
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Topic: Military |
8:42 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
The Marine Corps officially joined the ranks of U.S. Special Operations Command here today in a ceremony that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called an important milestone in the nation's fight against terrorism.
Marine Corps Special Operations Command Activated |
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Camino - Mozilla power, Mac style. |
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Topic: Computers |
8:41 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
Sure, you can use a typical web browser, with typical features. Or you can use a browser that “also” supports the Mac. Or you can use a browser you have to pay for. What if there was one that offered everything, for free? That browser is Camino.
Is anyone using this? Camino - Mozilla power, Mac style. |
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Topic: Literature |
8:40 am EST, Feb 26, 2006 |
For many years, most of the best writers of the English language found their way to Don Swaim's CBS Radio studio in New York. The one-on-one interviews typically lasted 30 to 45 minutes and then had to be edited down to a two-minute radio show. Wired for Books is proud to make these important oral documents publicly available for the first time in their entirety. Listen to the voices of many of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
Here's a sample of the offering: Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Clive Barker, Carl Bernstein, Judy Blume, Ray Bradbury, William F. Buckley, William Burroughs, Tom Clancy, E.L. Doctorow, James Ellroy, Fred Friendly, Jean-louis Gassee, Allen Ginsberg, Sir Alec Guinness, Kazuo Ishiguro, Elia Kazan, Garrison Keillor, Tracy Kidder, Louis L'Amour, Elmore Leonard, James Michener, Robert Moses, Fred Rogers, Oliver Sacks, William Safire, Susan Sontag, Clifford Stoll, Kurt Vonnegut.
Wired for Books |
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