November 2010
“If someone told me to write a book on morality, it would have a hundred pages...”
– Albert Camus (via azspot)
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster...”
– Isaac Asimov (via donamajicshow)
Robo-Renaissance: Ethical Implications of... →
by donamajicshow
Nothing in our digital economy has been more celebrated or damned, cast as utopian or dystopian, than the rise of modern technology. In recent years this historical narrative of promise and peril concerning the use of technology has challenged our view of who we are in ways both exciting and disturbing. Now, for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, our digital nation...
“While companies execute business models, startups search for a business model....”
– Another must-read post from Steve Blank.
When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars « Steve Blank
(via davehyndman)
vruz: doubt and the unknown not only can’t be avoided; they shouldn’t be avoided as they are the basic ingredients without which you can’t make startup pie.
EMI Seeks to Bar EFF From Cloud-Music Case →
vruz: no justice for you, EFF! you cause too much trouble to the recording industry fat cats! a honest recording baron can’t rob poor grannies like in the good old days anymore, what’s this thing you talk about… justice?
“It’s very touching for Tony to say that he recently went to a meeting to...”
– Christopher Hitchens, in his debate with Tony Blair
“It appears that not a single TSA agent has declined to perform a full-body pat...”
– Where I draw the line - Roger Ebert’s Journal (via pie0)
George Orwell, "Politics and the English... →
vruz: I’ve been conveniently reminded of some Orwellian wisdom today. Unfortunately I couldn’t peruse it at this time, as I intend to remain naturally Latin, but it does seem to apply to The Pope, Obama, and Tony Blair to name a few.
Pretentious diction. Words like phenomenon, element, individual (as noun), objective, categorical, effective, virtual, basic, primary, promote, ...
Pope urges respect for embryos →
—via fightthefaith:
VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI called Saturday for politicians, the media and world leaders to show more respect for human life at its earliest stages, saying embryos aren’t just biological material but dynamic, autonomous individuals.
Autonomous individuals? Is he even aware of the meaning of that word?
(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (of a community,...
"counterfeit goods"
what a joke, Homeland Security.
which bytes in those servers were suspected “counterfeit goods”?
is it fine to use the ASCII range of characters from 0x21 to 0xA0?
or should people operating in the U.S. limit themselves to vowels? or the 0x30 to 0x39 range?
are you going to publish a list of illegal combinations of bytes? perhaps the string “.torrent”?
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or...”
– First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 1791 - 2010
2 tags
“Je dirai quelque jour vos naissances latentes :
A, noir corset velu des...”
– Voyelles, by Arthur Rimbaud
[TN: I will tell one day your latent births: A, black hairy corset of the shining flies / who buzz around cruel stenches]
“What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows...”
– W.S., Sonnet 53
“Retirado en la paz de estos desiertos,
con pocos, pero doctos libros juntos,...”
– Francisco de Quevedo
[TN: Retired in the peace of these deserts / with few but wise books together / I live in conversation with the deceased / and with my eyes I listen to the dead] 