The issues
pages contain the issues for this week and
past weeks plus some provided by me for future weeks.
Table showing who has volunteered for what so far.
Links
to relevant material online.
Recordings
and White Boards of Classes.
Some webbed papers from previous years.
My office is Bergin 204; office hours Thursday
12:00-1:00, 5:00-6:00 and by arrangement.
Virtual office hours, via email, 24/7. I can be reached
at:
[Send links to ddfr@daviddfriedman.com
for inclusion here]
Enforcing
the GPL--in the courts. Relevant to some of the Open Source issues we
will be discussing.
En
route to Avatar: VR and Remote Control
How much does your browser
tell web pages about you? The EFF is onto
the question.
Giant database
"to help find missing children"--threat, menace, or useful tool.
"I wanted to make a dent
in the suffering and death caused by aging..." says one "DIY
biologist". "Of course, there are also DIYers with no ambitions to save
the world, who are content to 'make yogurt glow' in the basement for
their own personal satisfaction!"
According to a recent report from
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, for every 119 males born in
China, only 110 females are born. The report blames selective abortion
based on technologies for determining gender before birth but, at least
judging by the news story, fails to mention the role of government
restrictions limiting a couple to one child.
A Stanford professor
argues gaming worlds can keep workers engaged, and advocates
elements of World of Warcraft or Second Life to hone skills like
teamwork, leadership, and data analysis. And one IBM report also argues
games like World of Warcraft teach leadership and "asserts that there
is no reason to think that the same cannot be done in corporate
settings of various sizes..."
Whether it's the BigDog
military quadruped robot or an anthropomorphic robot with the ability
to sweat, "All of them are disturbing to watch." This article
documents what Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori calls "the uncanny
valley," or why near-lifelike creatures can seem real but unhealthy --
genetically unfit.
Are genetically engineered crops killing the bees?
See here
and here.
Alcohol, smoking, ecstasy--which is worse?
A story
of large scale online fraud, stamp collecting, open source crime
detection, imperfect private and nonexistent public enforcement.
Quantum computing may be here.
Face to Face anonymity? JF points to information on face animation.
We already have a distributed surveillance network,
and NYC
plans
to
use
it: Cell phones
The Surveillance Camera Players, a performance troupe
For life in the transparent society - Privacy
Sweatshirts
Audio
of lecture on anonymity and privacy
IBM's Virtual
Invisibility
Cloak: Identity Mixer promises to keep your online
presence anonymous.
JF has put up his
own
page for additional issues. Among other things.
Spy
Coins: The Transparent Society in your pocket. Maybe.
VR glasses
are getting better--and stylish..
Genetic engineering may in time let parents redesign
their children before birth. It is already
possible, but controversial, to do it after birth.
If you would like to browse the web without being watched by either the FBI or the RIAA, you might want to take a look at netshade.
"Integrated System for Emotional State Recognition for the Enhancement of Human Performance and Detection of Criminal Intent" is not a science fiction story. It's a DARPA request for research. Search for "Emotional State" twice to find it in the (long) document.
The RIAA as a promoter of strong privacy? An interesting essay.What do Open Source and the Dean campaign have in common? Fortune thinks they are models for the new Bottom-Up economy.
Virtual Reality makes it to Mars--with a little help from Java.
You can no longer reach Jesus on your cell phone. At least not in Finland.A Secret war. Is your computer spying on you--the Spyware arms race.
Attack
of the mad worm--ATM's bite the dust. "I
have twenty-two bucks in my pocket and 14 people coming over to eat
chili, drink beer and watch the Superbowl tomorrow," Manhattan
resident Gail Pastore fumed, after finding out she wouldn't be able
to make a withdrawal. "It's not going to be a good weekend."
Lee Silver is already obsolete. It appears that a new technology will make it possible for two women to produce a child entirely from their own genetic material.