March 20, 2002
nobodyhere
Today I found nobodyhere.com and wasted lots of time there.
20 Mar 23:59 | Link | Category: Cool Links
March 18, 2002
One Man's Eye
Today's trolling of the web resulted in the discovery of a nice photography site: One Man's Eye, photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection.
18 Mar 23:43 | Link | Category: Photography
March 12, 2002
In Passing
Today I discovered this cool little site In Passing, a collection of random bits of overheard conversations and observed graffiti.
12 Mar 23:54 | Link | Category: Cool Links
March 11, 2002
The Broadband Terror Effect
In a recent essay for Wired entitled "The Broadband Terror Effect," Robert Wright raises the idea that revolutions in information technology—in particular, meme-replication technology—trigger revolutionary violence. He cites examples such as movable-type printing & Europe's 16th and 17th century religious wars, and audiocassette & Ayatollah Khomeini's Iranian dissidents.
Today we have the web. Wright mentions Al Qaeda's recruiting video, available at CIAO and other sites. At the moment, most Muslim men susceptible to the message don't have computers or access to the Internet. That fact, of course, is only temporary. Wright says, "as the cost of processing and transmitting data drop, mobilizing interest groups - including radical ones - will get easier. This fact complicates the war on terrorism in ways few people in Washington have reckoned with."
He lists "emerging precepts." First:
"Define the enemy with care. President Bush has called this a war between civilized states everywhere and terrorists everywhere. But what's the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter? (Which are the Muslim separatists in western China? The Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran? The Hindu Tamils in Sri Lanka?) The cynical answer is that freedom fighters are the ones who finally win and get to write the history books. And the current I.T. revolution may mean that more separatist groups are destined for victory - just as the printing press swung the odds in favor of Italian, German, and Serb nationalists, all of which finally carved nation-states out of an empire. Does America want a no-holds-barred war against oppressed people who will only get stronger with time - and who have some legitimate gripes to begin with?"
Second:
"This isn't war. At least, it isn't your father's kind of war. As terrorists recruit, brainwash, and organize in cyberspace, they'll depend less on physical training camps of the sort that American bombs excised from the Afghan landscape. So the cost-benefit ratio for Afghan-type wars will grow. American bombs - the evidence of their destruction beamed around the world via web site and satellite - will enrage at least as many future terrorists as ever, while disabling fewer terrorists than before."
Much of the Bush game plan could have been written 50 years ago: Find the enemy's home base, destroy it, and kill your foes. The long-run success of this strategy is unclear. (Does it foment a hatred of America that will fester in virtual space and come home to roost?) What does seem clear is that such strategies will be less effective five years from now, to say nothing of 50. Killing Osama bin Laden and his kind is one thing. Killing his memes is getting trickier all the time."
I see a few different things in the picture, but I find Wright's ideas compelling nontheless. I think memetics may provide invaluable insight into terrorism and a host of other phenomena.
You can read more at Robert Wright's site.
11 Mar 23:45 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science, Technology & Computing
March 7, 2002
Ashcroft sings
Popular music's response to Sept. 11th -- be it the irritating Paul McCartney song 'Freedom,' the odd Neil Young song 'Let's Roll' (sorry, Neil, still love ya), or songs by various country-popsters -- has been largely (though unsurprisingly) clumsy and disappointing.
None of that, however, can even get close to reaching the level of awkwardness achieved by the U.S. Attorney General. (Thanks - I guess - to Dave Letterman for introducing me to that odd tidbit.)
Ashcroft's performance is not the only evidence that seems to indicate our beloved Attorney General (following in the footsteps of Orrin Hatch) is in the midst of an intense creative phase. For example, just moments ago I learned that he is toying with the idea of having Ed McMahon introduce him at press conferences.
Take that, Janet Reno. And Johnny Carson. And Paul McCartney.
(And to be serious for just a moment: yes, this scares the hell out of me.)
07 Mar 23:53 | Link | Category: Humor, Music, Politics, Video
March 6, 2002
Sixth Sense
According to an Australian psychologist, some people have a special gift for predicting the twists and turns of chaotic systems like the weather and perhaps even financial markets. I'm very skeptical...
06 Mar 21:58 | Link | Category: Science
March 4, 2002
22 very short stories
Courtesy of Mat (of honan.net), it's 22 very short stories.
04 Mar 23:52 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Misc. Tidbits