January 2011 – Page 2 – Amalgamated Contemplation

Young will have to change names to escape ‘cyber past’ warns Google’s Eric Schmidt – Telegraph

The private lives of young people are now so well documented on the internet that many will have to change their names on reaching adulthood, Google’s CEO has claimed.

Source: Young will have to change names to escape ‘cyber past’ warns Google’s Eric Schmidt – Telegraph

From comments:

His attitude is appalling! “We won’t honor your right to privacy…so instead, you will have to change your identity.” What a concept.

— anonymous

Another thing to consider is that your “friends” are also not respecting your right to privacy either (e.g. by posting your current location through Foursquare or tagging pictures of you they uploaded to Facebook).

Dumb and gets things done

Someone once asked Napoleon how he decided where to assign soldiers. Napoleon’s reply was that it’s simple: soldiers are either smart or dumb, lazy or energetic

Leaders need to make things happen. Teachers need to teach. Programmers need to write code. These basic skills are necessary, but they are not enough.

Source: Dumb and gets things done

Skynet meets the Swarm: how the Berkeley Overmind won the 2010 StarCraft AI competition | Ars Technica

StarCraft, one of the most popular games ever made, also serves as the perfect proving ground for artificial intelligence.

Source: Skynet meets the Swarm: how the Berkeley Overmind won the 2010 StarCraft AI competition | Ars Technica

No peeking: TSA’s naked body scan images stay secret | Ars Technica

A privacy group that wanted the Transportation Security Authority’s collection of 2,000 “see through your clothing” body scans was blocked this week by a federal court. Releasing those images could reveal the machine’s vulnerabilities, it turns out.

Source: No peeking: TSA’s naked body scan images stay secret | Ars Technica

So the machines are hideously expensive, don’t work to catch terrorists, and can save and transmit images of naked people…

A Guide to the Open Internet

What is net neutrality?
Why should I care?

ISPs want to control your internet connection. Learn about net neutrality and why we can’t let this happen.

Network neutrality is the idea that your cellular, cable, or phone internet connection should treat all websites and services the same. Big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast want to treat them differently so they can charge you more depending on what you use.

Source: A Guide to the Open Internet

A graphical representation attempting to explain in simple terms why the average US citizen should care about net neutrality.

Net neutrality is about “free” as in “freedom”, not “free” as in “free beer”. Net neutrality would not prevent ISPs for charging for bandwidth. It would prevent them from specifying the application of that bandwidth.