Watch Google making associations

This is mesmerizing. It's like seeing how Google's image search makes associations to find pictures that look like eachother. By following the variations the artist, Dina Kelberman, makes this great and When You've surprising trail of random images.

 

Afterwards, have a look at this piece, also by Dina Kelberman, and similar in approach: All kinds of little animations from the web with smoke and fire.

On the internet we're carving out meaning, not assembling it

How does the Internet change the way you think? was John Brockman's question for the members of philosophical society of science writers at Edge.org. 
I just read through most of the 150 replies, and one in particular stands out for it's poetic way of expressing a core concept very briefly. The essay by George Dyson titled "Kayaks vs. Canoes". 
 I'm taking the liberty of quoting here in full. 

But you can see it among all the other responses at the Annual Question site: 

Here's George Dyson: 

 

In the North Pacific ocean, there were two approaches to boatbuilding. The Aleuts (and their kayak-building relatives) lived on barren, treeless islands and built their vessels by piecing together skeletal frameworks from fragments of beach-combed wood. The Tlingit (and their dugout canoe-building relatives) built their vessels by selecting entire trees out of the rainforest and removing wood until there was nothing left but a canoe.
The Aleut and the Tlingit achieved similar results — maximum boat / minimum material— by opposite means. The flood of information unleashed by the Internet has produced a similar cultural split. We used to be kayak builders, collecting all available fragments of information to assemble the framework that kept us afloat. Now, we have to learn to become dugout-canoe builders, discarding unneccessary information to reveal the shape of knowledge hidden within.
I was a hardened kayak builder, trained to collect every available stick. I resent having to learn the new skills. But those who don't will be left paddling logs, not canoes.

For 9 kr. reklamer pr. dansker om dagen

Jeg fik nogle interessante tal fra Danmarks statistik forleden:

Omsætningen af reklamer er faldet markant igennem de sidste 5 år, men selve salget af plads i både trykte medier, radio, TV og internet er steget.

I stedet er det alle andre dele af branchen der er skrumpet, inklusive rådgivning, design og konceptudvikling. Man kunne fristes til at konkludere, at der er flere reklamer, men der bruges færre penge på at producere dem.

Omsætningen svarer i øvrigt til 3225 pr. dansker om året - knap 9 kr. om dagen. 

Al Gore's nye bog, The Future: 6 hovedpunkter

I min anmeldelse af Al Gore's nye bog iPolitiken forleden havde jeg skrevet en sammenfatning af bogens hovedpunkter, der ikke kom med i avisen. 

De kommer her i stedet:

Al Gore beskriver i The Future de 6 overordnede drivkræfter, som efter hans mening tilsammen definerer vores fremtid.

Earth inc.

Verdens rigdomme koncentreres i takt med at globaliseringen skaber selskaber af hidtil uset størrelse og magt. Industriarbejdspladserne forsvinder, de outsources til billiglande eller overtages af robotter. En stor del af væksten er rent pengemæssig, den skaber ingen jobs og er ikke til gavn for de fleste. Resultatet er en foruroligende udhuling af samfundet, hvor nogle få bruger løs, og millioner kæmper for at overleve. Kapitalismen er den mest effektive måde at skabe fremgang og udvikling, mener Gore, men når kapitalen får frit spil, overtager vinderne alt.

Magten er lammet og uafklaret

Demokratiet er i dyb krise. Systemet er blevet hacket af gigantiske corporations, der med klækkelige penge bidrag og massiv lobbyisme reelt kan styre, hvad politikerne vedtager eller afviser. Gore kalder det ”blød bestikkelse” og ”et statskup i slow-motion”. Resultatet er at der ikke længere er nogen ledelse – nationalt eller globalt. Politik er lammet, på et tidspunkt, der i dén grad kræver styring.

Den globale hjerne

Digitalisering og smamenbinding af alt og alle. Privatlivet forsvinder, alle normale medier og jobs udfordres, kunstig intelligens, der vokser sig stærkere, en fælles bevidsthed, nervøst sitrende.

Det er her håbet findes, mener Gore: De kommende års vigtigste kamp er når den globale bevidsthed går imod Earth inc. blinde vækstkurs, og i stedet lader fornuften og sandheden råde.

For meget af væksten

Mennesket breder sig og vokser langt mere end kloden kan bære. Befolkningen vil vokse med nye milliarder, og alle knokler vi for at få mere: Kød, transport, bekvemmelighed. Væksten holdes oppe af målrettet politik og solide doser reklamer. Imens forsvinder naturgrundlaget under os med foruroligende hast.

Gen-opfindelsen af liv og død

Bioteknologien vil give mennesker indflydelse på naturen på et langt mere dybtgående og detaljeret niveau: Gensplejsede afgrøder bliver det nye normale, vi vil kunne dyrke organer, udvælge børn med attraktive gener og forlænge levetiden radikalt. Men teknologien kan også bruges til terror – eller bare uden forståelse for konsekvenserne.

På kanten

Der er der desværre ikke gode nyheder om klimaet. Vi går imod de værst tænkelige udfald, og vi er nødt til at forholde os til truslen nu, siger Gore. Vi får snart rigeligt at gøre med at tilpasse os til store forandringer og udfordringer, men samtidig er vi nødt til at få stoppet årsagen til katastrofen. Der skal sættes pris på CO2, i form af skatter, skatteregulativer og handelskvoter. Al Gore håber på teknologiske fremskridt og at vi kan skabe den samme hastige udvikling af bæredygtig energi, som vi har set indenfor computere og bioteknologi.

Bang & Olufsen's $ 32.500 loudspeakers for China

Red and Gold are auspicious colors in China, and so is the number 88. So here are Bang&Olufsen's 88th anniversary special edition loudspeakers  - as seen in a fancy Hong Kong magazine. 
Price: 243.000 HK dollars - US$ 31.500 - 182.000 Danish Kroner 

Al Gore discusses "The Future" in Science Friday

Al Gore's recent book "The Future" is a very good diagnosis of the challenges humanity faces, and the reasons why we seem incapable of moving anywhere on the issues - due to the extreme concentration of wealth among a very small elite that has managed to take over politics because politicians depend so badly on their contributions to get elected.
Gore reminds me of Kassandra, the mythological Greek figure, who was given the ability to look into the future - but was cursed that noone would believe her. Gore has done more than just about anyone else to tell the world of the challenges ahead - but noone seems to listen close enough to act.
"The future" is a good book - I reviewed it (in Danish ) for Politiken - but it is very heavy on facts.
An easier introduction to the themes is listening to this really good interview on NPRs Science Friday with Al Gore.

Makers - the book explained in an hour

Yet another great podcast of a seminar from the Long Now Foundation: Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired magazine, speaking about his latest book, Makers - the new industrial revolution, which describes how 3d printers and networked collaboration changes industry.
The book is excellent, if a bit breathless, but even if you've read it, Anderson's presentation is a good way to recap the main points.

An evening with Tom Wolfe - podcast

Wonderful one hour and twenty minutes in the company of my old hero of new journalism Tom Wolfe. He's being interviewed for one of the many great events in the ALOUD series from the Los Angeles Public Library.
The event starts out with a magnificent reading of some highlights of his writing, from the early sixties to today.
And one thing I particularly like is that Wofe is obviously an old person now - but he is absolutely sharp. It's great when you build up experience, but don't lose the ability to convey and use it.