In other news...

[Kieran]

Maybe a thread for sharing what we see in the news might be interesting.

Just saw this article, on the Daily Telegraph website:

Miss Slocum is one of several thousand “explorers” across the world road-testing Google’s latest gadget. As with any late-night bar fracas, there are conflicting accounts of what happened at 1.30am in Molotov’s, a dimly lit, cash only bar.

But she insists she was not recording anyone or invading their privacy, simply demonstrating the device to some interested patrons, when some other customers began rolling their eyes.

She said: “A few minutes later ... they cursed at me. I started feeling threatened. At that point I decided I was going to turn on the camera and start recording this hateful, threatening behaviour.

“Then a guy and a girl charged me. The guy started waving his hands and trying to grab the Glass. I couldn’t believe they were behaving that way. All I could do was say, 'I’m recording you. I’m recording you’. They were calling me the B-word.”

After a hiatus, someone threw a dirty bar rag at her, she said, and a woman came over and said: “You’re killing this city.”

Now, in one sense, this is a story as old as the hills. First guy who rolled about the valley on a wheel met the same response. And here we have a lady road-testing Google Glass and facing a backlash in San Francisco. At the same time, I have sympathy with the punters: I detest having my photo taken, even when I know about it, and would dread the idea of this intrusive technology getting a foothold.

Is it Old School versus Fast Tech? Luddites against the New Machines? One man in the article said, "We’re seeing the rise of the tech-washed digital human." This is true, too, but isn't the technology-advance inevitable?

It's the second industrial revolution and it's futile to try stop it...

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

The first person I see using this while driving will get it showed in a place where...anyways.

 

[tented]

The first person I see using this while driving will get it showed in a place where...anyways.

Have no fear! Google is creating a self-driving car.

 

[tented]

At the same time, I have sympathy with the punters: I detest having my photo taken, even when I know about it, and would dread the idea of this intrusive technology getting a foothold.

This bothers me, too. I agree that the advancement of technology is inevitable, but I'm not comfortable with some of the more stealth applications.

 

[Kieran]

At the same time, I have sympathy with the punters: I detest having my photo taken, even when I know about it, and would dread the idea of this intrusive technology getting a foothold.

This bothers me, too. I agree that the advancement of technology is inevitable, but I'm not comfortable with some of the more stealth applications.

I like new technology when it has a purpose, even if it's games and so on, but what's this Google Glass? Reminds me of the shades that got Arnie out of a pickle in a bathroom scene in True Lies.

But other than taking photos? I mean, yeah, handy for snooping and so on. Most tech nowadays seems to be centred on time-wasting and gossip...

 

[tented]

At the same time, I have sympathy with the punters: I detest having my photo taken, even when I know about it, and would dread the idea of this intrusive technology getting a foothold.

This bothers me, too. I agree that the advancement of technology is inevitable, but I'm not comfortable with some of the more stealth applications.

I like new technology when it has a purpose, even if it's games and so on, but what's this Google Glass? Reminds me of the shades that got Arnie out of a pickle in a bathroom scene in True Lies.

But other than taking photos? I mean, yeah, handy for snooping and so on. Most tech nowadays seems to be centred on time-wasting and gossip...

At the risk of seeming like a New Yorker publicist, here's their article on Google Glass.

 

[Kieran]

It's both scary...and exciting. Most of all though, it sounds like it would make me feel claustrophobic... :nono

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

google glass just seems a bit creepy.

 

[Kieran]

There was a startling result in the elections in North Korea.

 

[tented]

"Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed" by Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

Fascinating article about a recent discovery concerning the Big Bang Theory.

 

[Kieran]

That's fairly incredible, T, isn't it? I'd read it in a few sources. The science is mind boggling, an advanced leap, no doubt about it. As they say, a Nobel prize is almost a cert...

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

There was a startling result in the elections in North Korea.

eek..the mental fat bloke with brain damage won. *surprise*

 

[Kieran]

There's no jail time can cure idiocy, but what about the 27 grand worth of damage and theft? Makes me furious. Jail time isn't enough! these goons have to reimburse the victims too...

 

[tented]

That's fairly incredible, T, isn't it? I'd read it in a few sources. The science is mind boggling, an advanced leap, no doubt about it. As they say, a Nobel prize is almost a cert...

I think it's fascinating. I enjoy watching astronomy-related documentaries, and read as many books and articles as I can understand (it's a limited list).

 

[Kieran]

That's fairly incredible, T, isn't it? I'd read it in a few sources. The science is mind boggling, an advanced leap, no doubt about it. As they say, a Nobel prize is almost a cert...

I think it's fascinating. I enjoy watching astronomy-related documentaries, and read as many books and articles as I can understand (it's a limited list).

I remember reading a book about space, the stars, the giganticness of it all. Let me see if I get this near right (but it'll be ballpark effective anyhow). This is what the book said:

Imagine a speck of dust, and this is the earth. Put the speck of dust on the edge of a saucer, and in the centre of the saucer is a grain of sand, and this is the sun.

On this scale, about the length of a big garden away, is the next sun. And our galaxy, using the same scale, would be the size of Texas. And the distance to the next galaxy? Maybe the width of the Atlantic ocean.

We're still on the same measuring scale, right?

And there are billions of galaxies, and ours is a small one.

It kinda blew my mind thinking about it. And it's still expanding...

 

[tented]

That's fairly incredible, T, isn't it? I'd read it in a few sources. The science is mind boggling, an advanced leap, no doubt about it. As they say, a Nobel prize is almost a cert...

I think it's fascinating. I enjoy watching astronomy-related documentaries, and read as many books and articles as I can understand (it's a limited list).

I remember reading a book about space, the stars, the giganticness of it all. Let me see if I get this near right (but it'll be ballpark effective anyhow). This is what the book said:

Imagine a speck of dust, and this is the earth. Put the speck of dust on the edge of a saucer, and in the centre of the saucer is a grain of sand, and this is the sun.

On this scale, about the length of a big garden away, is the next sun. And our galaxy, using the same scale, would be the size of Texas. And the distance to the next galaxy? Maybe the width of the Atlantic ocean.

We're still on the same measuring scale, right?

And there are billions of galaxies, and ours is a small one.

It kinda blew my mind thinking about it. And it's still expanding...

What an interesting way to think about the dimensions. It is mind-boggling.

I watched the movie "Contact" again recently, which made me think about SETI. I know some people think it's a ridiculous idea, but I don't. How can there NOT be other intelligent beings out there, considering the scope of our galaxy, nevertheless the entire universe? Now, we may never contact them -- at least not for a long time yet -- but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[Kieran]

The odds are phenomenal that there must be some sort of life out there. Maybe not intelligent life, but why not? I don't know that movie Contact, must look it up on Netflix...

 

[Front242]

Always been fascinated by potential life on on planets/galaxies too. There definitely has to be. Time travel and exceeding light speed is also something I've always been very interested in.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

The odds are phenomenal that there must be some sort of life out there. Maybe not intelligent life, but why not? I don't know that movie Contact, must look it up on Netflix...

I strongly suggest reading Carl Sagan's book Contact too, before or after watching the movie.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Always been fascinated by potential life on on planets/galaxies too. There definitely has to be. Time travel and exceeding light speed is also something I've always been very interested in.

You might find the Fermi Paradox interesting to check out.... It is regarding potential life in other planets. It is a bit of a buzz kill, but interesting nonetheless.