Group items tagged

"The impact of technological change on culture, learning, and morality has long been the subject of intense debate, and every technological revolution brings out a fresh crop of both pessimists and pollyannas. Indeed, a familiar cycle has repeat itself throughout history whenever new modes of production (from mechanized agriculture to assembly-line production), means of transportation (water, rail, road, or air), energy production processes (steam, electric, nuclear), medical breakthroughs (vaccination, surgery, cloning), or communications techniques (telegraph, telephone, radio, television) have appeared on the scene. The cycle goes something like this. A new technology appears. Those who fear the sweeping changes brought about by this technology see a sky that is about to fall. These "techno-pessimists" predict the death of the old order (which, ironically, is often a previous generation's hotly-debated technology that others wanted slowed or stopped). Embracing this new technology, they fear, will result in the overthrow of traditions, beliefs, values, institutions, business models, and much else they hold sacred. The pollyannas, by contrast, look out at the unfolding landscape and see mostly rainbows in the air. Theirs is a rose-colored world in which the technological revolution du jour is seen as improving the general lot of mankind and bringing about a better order. If something has to give, then the old ways be damned! For such "techno-optimists," progress means some norms and institutions must adapt-perhaps even disappear-for society to continue its march forward. Our current Information Revolution is no different. It too has its share of techno-pessimists and techno-optimists. Indeed, before most of us had even heard of the Internet, people were already fighting about it-or at least debating what the rise of the Information Age meant for our culture, society, and economy."

does Kurtopia need someone to mow the lawn?

no, but we do need someone to take our throm-dib-u-lator apart though

"The global trend toward democratization of the last two decades has been accompanied by the resurgence of various politics of "identity/difference." From nationalist and ethnic revivals in the countries of east and central Europe to the former Soviet Union, to the politics of cultural separatism in Canada, and to social movement politics in liberal western-democracies, the negotiation of identity/difference has become a challenge to democracies everywhere. This volume brings together a group of distinguished thinkers who rearticulate and reconsider the foundations of democratic theory and practice in the light of the politics of identity/difference.\nIn Part One Jürgen Habermas, Sheldon S. Wolin, Jane Mansbridge, Seyla Benhabib, Joshua Cohen, and Iris Marion Young write on democratic theory. Part Two--on equality, difference, and public representation--contains essays by Anne Phillips, Will Kymlicka, Carol C. Gould, Jean L. Cohen, and Nancy Fraser; and Part Three--on culture, identity, and democracy--by Chantal Mouffe, Bonnie Honig, Fred Dallmayr, Joan B. Landes, and Carlos A. Forment. In the last section Richard Rorty, Robert A. Dahl, Amy Gutmann, and Benjamin R. Barber write on whether democracy needs philosophical foundations.\nThis is an excellent yext for someone interested in models of the public sphere. While all the authors are proponents of the deliberative model of democracy (as opposed to, for instance, the liberal, interest-based, technocratic, communitarian, or civic-republican) many of them place their arguments in the context of other models. So, the book reads like a symposium of like-minded people, rather than like a rally of true believers.\nAlmost all of the essays are accessible to a generalist, but several really stand out (especially those by Benhabib, Fraser, and Young)."

Human evolution presents a puzzle. Nothing seems to explain the sudden takeoff of the last 45,000 years-the conversion of just another rare predatory ape into a planet dominator with rapidly progressing technologies. Once "progress" started to produce new tools, different ways of life and burgeoning populations, it accelerated all over the world, culminating in agriculture, cities, literacy and all the rest. Yet all the ingredients of human success-tool making, big brains, culture, fire, even language-seem to have been in place half a million years before and nothing happened. Tools were made to the same monotonous design for hundreds of thousands of years and the ecological impact of people was minimal. Then suddenly-bang!-culture exploded, starting in Africa. Why then, why there?

" Free eBook: "Linux All-in-One For Dummies (a $25.99 value) FREE!" Eight minibooks in one volume cover every important aspect of Linux and everything you need to know to pass level-1 certification. View full description >"

" Free eBook: "Linux All-in-One For Dummies (a $25.99 value) FREE!" Eight minibooks in one volume cover every important aspect of Linux and everything you need to know to pass level-1 certification. View full description >"

""This is a deeply thought-provoking book about the dramatic changes we must make to save the planet from financial madness" - Naomi Klein. Opening with Oscar Wilde's observation that "nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing," Patel shows how our faith in prices as a way of valuing the world is misplaced. He reveals the hidden ecological and social costs of a hamburger (as much as $200), and asks how we came to have markets in the first place. Both the corporate capture of government and our current financial crisis, Patel argues, are a result of our democratically bankrupt political system. If part one asks how we can rebalance society and limit markets, part two answers by showing how social organizations, in America and around the globe, are finding new ways to describe the world's worth. If we don't want the market to price every aspect of our lives, we need to learn how such organizations have discovered democratic ways in which people, and not simply governments, can play a crucial role in deciding how we might share our world and its resources in common. This short, timely and inspiring book reveals that our current crisis is not simply the result of too much of the wrong kind of economics. While we need to rethink our economic model, Patel argues that the larger failure beneath the food, climate and economic crises is a political one. If economics is about choices, Patel writes, it isn't often said who gets to make them. The Value of Nothing offers a fresh and accessible way to think about economics and the choices we will all need to make in order to create a sustainable economy and society."

" Andy on March 26, 2016 C: 20 News When studios send out DVDs of the latest movies for the consideration of awards voters, that content is supposed to be on lockdown. Instead, copies of virtually all movies leak to the Internet and are downloaded by millions. Later, adding insult to injury, these DVDs appear in dozens of eBay listings, on sale for a few bucks."

" Andy on March 26, 2016 C: 20 News When studios send out DVDs of the latest movies for the consideration of awards voters, that content is supposed to be on lockdown. Instead, copies of virtually all movies leak to the Internet and are downloaded by millions. Later, adding insult to injury, these DVDs appear in dozens of eBay listings, on sale for a few bucks."

The networked information economy improves the practical capacities of individuals along three dimensions: (1) it improves their capacity to do more for and by themselves; (2) it enhances their capacity to do more in loose commonality with others, without being constrained to organize their relationship through a price system or in traditional hierarchical models of social and economic organization; and (3) it improves the capacity of individuals to do more in formal organizations that operate outside the market sphere. This enhanced autonomy is at the core of all the other improvements I describe. Individuals are using their newly expanded practical freedom to act and cooperate with others in ways that improve the practiced experience of democracy, justice and development, a critical culture, and community. ... [M]y approach heavily emphasizes individual action in nonmarket relations. Much of the discussion revolves around the choice between markets and nonmarket social behavior. In much of it, the state plays no role, or is perceived as playing a primarily negative role, in a way that is alien to the progressive branches of liberal political thought. In this, it seems more of a libertarian or an anarchistic thesis than a liberal one. I do not completely discount the state, as I will explain. But I do suggest that what is special about our moment is the rising efficacy of individuals and loose, nonmarket affiliations as agents of political economy.

"This sections relates to disabling and removing the ME (Intel Management Engine) on GM45. This was originally done on the ThinkPad X200, and later adapted for the ThinkPad R400/T400/T500. It can in principle be done on any GM45 or GS45 system. The ME is a blob that typically must be left inside the flash chip (in the ME region, as outlined by the default descriptor). On GM45, it is possible to remove it without any ill effects. All other parts of coreboot on GM45 systems (provided GMA MHD4500 / Intel graphics) can be blob-free, so removing the ME was the last obstacle to make GM45 a feasible target in libreboot (the systems can also work without the microcode blobs). "

"There is a civic hacker in you! He or she is in there... I promise! Today, technology has evolved into a perfect storm of open source tools, code, social networks, and lots of data. Civic technologists thrive on all of these getting together with like-minded hackers and turning all these sources into useful applications, websites and visualizations."

"There is a civic hacker in you! He or she is in there... I promise! Today, technology has evolved into a perfect storm of open source tools, code, social networks, and lots of data. Civic technologists thrive on all of these getting together with like-minded hackers and turning all these sources into useful applications, websites and visualizations."

[ Book: Wolfgang Hoeschele. The Economics of Abundance: A Political Economy of Freedom, Equity, and Sustainability. Gower Publishing, 2010 Contents [hide] * 1 Description * 2 Contents * 3 Excerpts o 3.1 Introduction o 3.2 Oppressive Scarcities (pp. 19-20) o 3.3 Conclusions: Strategies for Change o 3.4 Table 9.1: Coalitions for change o 3.5 Resource Use and Property Rights to Minimize Scarcity + 3.5.1 Contributory resource uses + 3.5.2 Neutral resource uses + 3.5.3 Rivalrous resource uses + 3.5.4 Key References on resource use Description "The "economics of abundance" is based on a critique of our present economic system, which finds value only in scarce commodities - i.e., things which can be sold at a high price because demand exceeds supply. Because this economy depends on demand always outstripping supplies, it also depends on "scarcity-generating institutions" - institutions that either manipulate supply or demand in order to keep us in a constant state of need. An economy of abundance seeks to dismantle or reform these scarcity-generating institutions in such a way as to affirm our freedom to live life as art (self-expression to others), social equity (so that everyone can live life as art), and sustainability (so that all life can thrive into the future). Among other things, this implies a much greater role for various forms of shared property, individual and community-level self-reliance, and participatory decision-making." (http://shareable.net/blog/event-the-economics-of-abundance) ]

Hmmm... I enjoyed this article. My experience of the extended mind is that it is not enclosed in a groups collective intelligence but part of the morphogenic field. Our global brain. We can access any time. There is one piece he mentions about: But there's also the more speculative possibility, not mentioned by Woolley et al, of enhancing the social sensitivity of group members. What would happen if group members took, for instance, a pharmaceutical of some sort that enabled them to be more socially sensitive towards each other? What if some sophisticated technology were available that augmented the individual's ability to better listen to the ideas of others - to let others have time to speak and to be intellectually open to opposing views? I began to test this in group settings with a good amount of success. It is difficult to measure though. I have tested with flower essences. http://www.laviedelarose.com one particular called shasta daisy which supports individuals and groups to achieve an ever deepening sense of community and experience of Oneness. My seminars are mostly about mind (topics like socialmedia, collective intelligence, new economy) yet I try to make them integral and include other body/mind, spirit. We do meditate. In the seminars where I don´t use the flowers there is a different feeling to it. Its very difficult to describe. Its a sense of a field.

"Richard Stallman's personal site. https://stallman.org For current political commentary, see the daily political notes. RMS' Bio | The GNU Project On Hacking In June 2000, while visiting Korea, I did a fun hack that clearly illustrates the original and true meaning of the word "hacker". I went to lunch with some GNU fans, and was sitting down to eat some tteokpaekki (*), when a waitress set down six chopsticks right in front of me. It occurred to me that perhaps these were meant for three people, but it was more amusing to imagine that I was supposed to use all six. I did not know any way to do that, so I realized that if I could come up with a way, it would be a hack. I started thinking. After a few seconds I had an idea. "

"Richard Stallman's personal site. https://stallman.org For current political commentary, see the daily political notes. RMS' Bio | The GNU Project On Hacking In June 2000, while visiting Korea, I did a fun hack that clearly illustrates the original and true meaning of the word "hacker". I went to lunch with some GNU fans, and was sitting down to eat some tteokpaekki (*), when a waitress set down six chopsticks right in front of me. It occurred to me that perhaps these were meant for three people, but it was more amusing to imagine that I was supposed to use all six. I did not know any way to do that, so I realized that if I could come up with a way, it would be a hack. I started thinking. After a few seconds I had an idea. "

" Ernesto on October 23, 2016 C: 59 News The Pirate Party in Iceland continues its shakeup of the local political arena. According to the latest polls the party now has a serious shot at taking part in the next Government coalition, with roughly 20 percent of all votes one week before the parliamentary elections."

"Would you be better off paying for online newspapers like this one? Should you feel guilty about downloading free music? Is the Web's "information-wants-to-free" culture hurting writers, musicians and the rest of the "digital peasants," as Jaron Lanier calls us, now providing unpaid content to be exploited by the "lords of the clouds" like Google? In my Findings column, I discuss Mr. Lanier's new book, "You Are Not A Gadget," a manifesto decrying the Web's effect on individual creativity. (You can see excerpts of his criticism at Edge and at Cato Unbound.) Mr. Lanier mentions this newspaper as one of the victims as well as the promoters of the Web's ideology. "The New York Times," he writes, "promotes so-called open digital politics on a daily basis even though that ideal and the movement behind it are destroying the newspaper and all other newspapers. It seems to be a case of journalistic Stockholm syndrome." Mr. Lanier also faults himself: "

" Ernesto on September 18, 2016 C: 4 Opinion Not all anti-piracy vendors play fair when it comes to removing copyright-infringing content from the Internet. In fact, there is clear and convincing evidence that several companies 'make up' links that have never even existed, perhaps in part to boost their own numbers."

" Ernesto on September 18, 2016 C: 4 Opinion Not all anti-piracy vendors play fair when it comes to removing copyright-infringing content from the Internet. In fact, there is clear and convincing evidence that several companies 'make up' links that have never even existed, perhaps in part to boost their own numbers."

"In the past two days, Microsoft has released (more accurately, re-released) six patches. Almost all of them have been identified, in the past, as "snooping" or "nagware" patches. One is marked "Important," at least on some PCs, so folks with Automatic Update turned on will get the new versions automatically, potentially wiping out any precautions they've taken before."

"It has been a long week, and we all deserve to take off a little early. Spotify knows that feel. Its service went down in various part of the U.S. and Europe on Friday afternoon. An outage indicator showed problems that began a little after 4:00 P.M. EST."

"It has been a long week, and we all deserve to take off a little early. Spotify knows that feel. Its service went down in various part of the U.S. and Europe on Friday afternoon. An outage indicator showed problems that began a little after 4:00 P.M. EST."

"Amazon is working on a 'Spotify killer'. Sound familiar? Apple Music was hailed as such by basically everyone. Google's All Access was called the same, back in 2013. Even Tidal got the label. And now it's Amazon's turn. As first "

"Amazon is working on a 'Spotify killer'. Sound familiar? Apple Music was hailed as such by basically everyone. Google's All Access was called the same, back in 2013. Even Tidal got the label. And now it's Amazon's turn. As first "

" Andy on July 29, 2016 C: 39 News In 2014, Sony was subjected to a massive cyberattack which resulted in the leak of huge quantities of data. The trove contained several movies, all of which appeared online for anyone to download for free. Now the owner of one of the titles is suing Sony, claiming that company failed in its obligation to protect the movie from Internet pirates."