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Sunday, December 28, 2003 |
Perhaps Jaron Lanier is right.
We may have approached the limits of the current computing model due to
linear brittleness. That flaw may be the original sin of the next phase
of intelligence. [John Robb's Weblog] 
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IE Security Vulnerability Exploited.
The security vulnerability in Internet Explorer that was published a
few weeks ago has been exploited. Not only that, it's been done almost
exactly as I commented (envisioned?) here on Sam Ruby's blog, only
using spam instead of a weblog entry. This is the spam email I
received: Viewing the html-source revealed that the "click here" link
does not actually... (271 words) [Luke Hutteman's public virtual MemoryStream]
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On Your Mark, Get Set, Unwire!. On a recent trip to Spain, I caught up with Blast Theory
cofounder Matt Adams for a chat about the wireless games his company
develops -- high-adrenaline, multiplayer roleplaying experiences like
"Can You See Me Now" and "Uncle Roy is All Around You." Here's a snip
from Adams' explanation of these games, which take place simultaneously
in virtual space and real space:
"It's
a chase played simultaneously online (by the public) and in the streets
(by assigned participants). You're dropped into a virtual city, you use
avatars to navigate, and there's a chat interface so that real-world
and online participants can text one another.
"You're chased in the real city and the virtual city, at the same time.
Three runners on the street are equipped with PDAs, GPS devices and
walkie-talkies. To "get" you, they have to come within five meters of
your position. The game is physical and visceral, and we were amazed at
just how clearly a sense of presence in time and space was
communicated. Players in Seattle, Tokyo and Germany communicating with
players on the ground in the U.K. could hear weather conditions,
traffic, where the busy roads were -- "Hey, this road's jammed, why
don't you zigzag back and forth here?" They learned where hills and
valleys were along the game terrain -- "This one's too steep, go there
instead."
When virtual players heard a runner say, "OK, she's really close now --
let's run up and get her," they told us the hair stood up on the back
of their necks with an adrenaline rush -- "Shit! They're coming for me
now" -- it was one of those things we thought would be interesting
ahead of time, but had no idea there would be such a strong emotional
and physical reaction in an online environment.
Link [Boing Boing Blog]
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What to do in LA: see NANO exhibit at LACMA. Recently opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: "nano," a cool art/science exhibit for geeks of all ages:
nano [is] an exhibition that merges the arts and the atom by
presenting the world of nanoscience through a participatory aesthetic
experience. The
exhibition, a collaboration between LACMALab and a UCLA team of nanoscience,
media arts, and humanities experts, is free to the public and runs through
September 6, 2004 in LACMA's Boone Children's Gallery.
This groundbreaking project provides a greater understanding of how art,
science, culture, and technology influence each other. The exhibition
addresses sophisticated subject matter that is especially relevant for the
next generation. Modular, experiential spaces using embedded computing
technologies engage all of the senses to provoke a broader understanding of
nanoscience and its cultural ramifications. The various components of nano
are designed to immerse the visitor in the radical shifts of scale and
sensory modes that characterize nanoscience, which works on the scale of a
billionth of a meter. Participants can feel what it is like to manipulate
atoms one by one and experience nano-scale structures by engaging in
art-making activities.
Link [Boing Boing Blog]
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Kevin Kelly: Powering Virtuous Circles. In the latest edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools ezine, some thoughts on giving:
There's no shortage of opportunities to support important causes. Lot
of charities are local and community based. Some are more
internationally- and future-oriented such as Amnesty International,
EFF, Long Now Fondation, World Vision, the AFCLU, and Oxfam to name
just a few. Everyone can add their favorite.
But let's say you were interested in a "tool" to leverage the least
amount of money into the largest measurable effect over time. For that
I'd like to recommend a type of giving that multiplies itself. Over the
years, these are the criteria I've adopted for this challenge:
1) The help is aimed at the lowest, those with the least, where small makes a huge difference.
2) The gift expands itself, gaining amplitude with each cycle.
3) The range is global.
Think of it as enabling philanthropy: take a minimum of
money and aim it at the precise point where it can do the maximum good,
multiplied by many generations. Maximum good is measured simply: when
you enable someone to enable someone else. That is a virtuous circle.
I've found the follow three do-good organizations to meet these
criteria. They fund the neediest in the world. They are highly-evolved
programs that produce amazing results. And one tangential result is
that when we give to these three, we feel optimistic.
Link [Boing Boing Blog]
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© Copyright 2004 William J. Maya.
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