It's Dr Moreau time (stolen link from slashdot)

Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy Yes folks that's right, human/animal chimeras. Huge potential in terms of research, but the concept of animals raised with human brains is a little disturbing. I mean how would a dog with a human brain behave, what kind of rights would it have, where would you draw the line. If it were drawn on actual cognitive ability would the mentally retarded then lose rights? The creepy dystopian possibilities are endless.

The revolution will not be televised, but will it be streamed, blogged, sms'd, printed on tshirts, and sung by artists with corporate labels?

thanks gil

Media is the message is so 20th century

"The Media is the Message" is overused and dated. The trendy update is Meta vs the Data, but I think I'm going to go with Context vs the content to, ya know, keep it real. The crux is of the conflict is whether you can deliver a piece of information with a different context (last hop to person receiving, such as: tv, radio, not necessarily dependant on the underlying codec/protocol) without altering it's meaning. A speech in a written letter vs an email vs an sms vs radio vs b/w video vs technicolor video vs true color video can have different implicit meanings and connotations. So how do you caputure this essential information and the author's intent when changing the medium of transfer, or even the overall context of delivery? More usefully, how do you exploit this and spin the context to deliver a new message without altering the content at all?

Makin friends with friendster

I've always just used friendster as a lazy way of maintaining relationships with friends, acquantances, and exes. This rome trip I found out that the co-workers I usually hang out with have been pulled off to other projects. Rather than just lament my solitude, or just go to bars and monuments to meet tourists, I have decided to dip into friendster and see if I can use it to make some new friends or at least find some people to grab a drink with. I did a search and turned up about 15 people who may be in Rome (friendster makes it tough to figure out the city in another country) with similar tastes in music and movies. I've sent out about 10 generic introductions, and it'll be interesting to see if I end up with any new friends/acquaintances, or if my messages are discarded as internet sketchiness.

Update: So far I have received responses from 3 people, all girls oddly enough

Readin, Writin, and Readjusting

Back traveling and in good health with a little bit of jet lag granted free time to wander the poorly lit alleys of the mind. Lately I've done a lot less thinking for the sake of thinking, writing (about anything), or liesure reading. So the ole bloggin' thing has fallen somewhat to the wayside but I shall fill in the large gaps of time from The Big Easy to LA along with at least one mroe installment in my book blog (100 nights at the bar).



After reading jim munroe's Everyone in Silico. I am back to thinking about subvertising, mainstream "counter-cultures", and the power of trend drivers, from not only a capitalist, but also an activist socially conscious point of view. Reputation and "goodwill" are more usefull on a large scale than capital alone, but if it were that easy to turn cash into admiration, I wouldn't have to occasionally pretend to be canadian.



Just thought I'd share some sprawling musings to get reacquainted with blogging the little fugitive thoughts that escape the confines of my skull. I'm beginning to see some clear themes reappearing regularly in this blog, and I'm probably gettin repetetive, but you never know, maybe one of these days's I'll start acting on these little tendrils of restlesness that are boring themselves through my brain.



Current auditory fixation: Gomez (concert review may be forthcoming)

Bill the Gates as a pinup

yes folks it's true, in 1983 bill gates was a teen magazine star. Creepy, no?

iProduct, cause you know you want it

iProduct The newest product announcement for the latest apple fix. This little gem from gizmodo is only funny because it's completely true. Admt it, you know you want it.

First 2005 post

So my blog postings have been sparse at best lately , but when I return to traveling a lot more I'm sure they'll pick up a little. I've now officially gotten the worlds longest leash for work, a blackberry. Now I can be reached at all times in all places I go, well so long as I keep the thing with me. On the upside, I kept my own cellphone to avoid being completely tethered to the office but we'll see how well that works out.