I hope artists will pause and realize that misplaced blame and oversimplification of the issues could set us back. Physical album sales are not the long-term solution (case in point: the laptop I’m typing on doesn’t have a CD drive)…
…and he’s not even trying to be funny.
via Spotify Doesn’t Hurt Artists: My Band Would Be Nowhere Without It | WIRED.
Agreed.
…humans are bright enough to think our way out the problems we think ourselves into.
via Neil Gaiman: How I learned to stop worrying and love the duplicator machines – Boing Boing.
This article pointed me toward the book Superintelligence which pointed me toward a quote from a shorter document by the author from which I’ve quoted below. Anyone wondering what to gift me this Christmas can look into the linked book above. I enjoy being terrified by other people’s thoughts.
Two things are striking from the below quote:
The first point is terrifying. I’d like to believe that if such a superintelligence is brought forth it would be smart enough to fix any bugs or major design flaws in the original. Of course I assume that what a superintelligence wants and what mere human intelligences want will differ in profound ways. What then?
The second point is—I believe—wrong (assuming we’re using the word ‘invention’ similarly). Unless humanity has been exterminated by this superintelligence then invention will not cease. The more fictional forms of invention (e.g. art) should flourish. I strongly believe that humans are a necessary component in art. Creation, reception, critique, categorization, and other components require human beings.
Superintelligence, if/when it materializes, will spur a Renaissance in human artistic production.
<that’s what I think anyway>Superintelligence would be the last invention biological man would ever need to make, since, by definition, it would be much better at inventing than we are. All sorts of theoretically possible technologies could be developed quickly by superintelligence — advanced molecular manufacturing, medical nanotechnology, human enhancement technologies, uploading, weapons of all kinds, lifelike virtual realities, self‐replicating space‐colonizing robotic probes, and more. It would also be super‐effective at creating plans and strategies, working out philosophical problems, persuading and manipulating, and much else beside.
It is an open question whether the consequences would be for the better or the worse. The potential upside is clearly enormous; but the downside includes existential risk. Humanityʹs future might one day depend on the initial conditions we create, in particular on whether we successfully design the system (e.g., the seed AIʹs goal architecture) in such a way as to make it ʺhuman‐friendlyʺ — in the best possible interpretation of that term.
via Nick Bostrom.
ToDo list: added.
I prefer to use encrypted email. My public key fingerprint is 4FF3 AA1B D29E 1638 32DE C765 9433 5F88 9A36 7709. Learn how to encrypt your email with the Email Self Defense guide.
via An email signature to encourage encryption use | parker higgins dot net.
What a great idea.
“I don’t have anything against Yelp. The idea is fantastic, but the blackmailing thing is ferocious,” says Cerretini. “I think I should be the one deciding if I’m on the site or not. At least I can be there on my terms. The only power they have is they make you reliable to them. So, I’m going to be one of the most unreliable restaurants.”
“I want to be the worst restaurant there is in the Bay Area,” he says. “I think this is the best business move I have made in years.”
via Inside Scoop SF » Richmond restaurant encourages bad Yelp reviews.
♥ — 5 Useful Articles is great.
While on an expedition in Indonesia, a nature photographer’s equipment is hijacked by a roving band of artistic monkeys. One of them snaps a photograph of herself. The photographer recovers his camera and posts the picture to the internet. A designer creates a 3D model based on the picture, and uses a 3D printer to make this.
The designer also uploads the file of the model (monkeyselfie.ztl) to Thingiverse. Parker downloads and edits the file, mounting the monkey’s head onto a centaur’s body of his own creation. Can the designer sue Parker? Assume any litigation takes place in the Second Circuit.
via Takedown My Breath Away: 5 Useful Articles – Vol. 1 Issue 23.
I wrote a program that transforms literary and philosophical texts into patent applications. In short, it reframes texts as inventions or machines.
This is just plain awesome software art. Just look at this patent by Kafka! If a visual artist out there doesn’t start creating the visual figures for these wonderful patents I’m going to have to pick up a drawing aparatus and do it myself.