“The tickets to the show sold out in 11 minutes,” ZZ told me sadly on the phone. “If we really want to see them, we need to travel somewhere else…”
And so the idea was born. When a legend such as AC/DC go on a tour, there’s a good chance that it’s their last one – and one you really don’t want to miss. So the decision was made – it doesn’t matter where in Europe we get the tickets, we go there…
» » Find more of “Story of the Rock’n’Roll Train” inside » »
It is perhaps due to my ignorance that I am noticing this now, or maybe I just dismissed it as impossible, but I was pretty shocked by a finding that struck me tonight
Especially after 9/11, it is a common occurrence that Europeans pity citizens of the United States, because their privacy is invaded at every corner, and all that newspeak and fear-mongering really remind us of Orwell’s 1984. My father is even so concerned about his privacy and personal information, that he turned down an opportunity to go to the post-2001 USA several times.
In fact, when I was about to leave for the Land of Freedom to spend a semester there last fall, I even had to pay for being watched and tracked. My visa request would not be granted unless I paid a $100 fee to SEVIS, an organization whose very purpose is to spy on foreign students and visitors.
I always thought that compassion is all that we had to offer in this context, but it turns out I was wrong: Obviously, an agreement between US and EU [NY Times] is about to happen, that will give the US government access to personal data of EU citizens. Am I the only one who feels this is an outrage? Any reason we should trust Team America with this?
Of course, they claim they will only “look for suspicious activity”, but just consider how the FBI abuses the Patriot Act. Do you remember that sweet pot of honey they were feeding everyone prior to the Patriot Act vote? This is a binding agreement, and indeed is a big deal. If the EU will have to turn over any such information US would ask for, I think I have yet another reason to move to Norway.
» » Find more of “Big Brother’s long fingers” inside » »
…and we got the best! The hottest band in the world, KISS!!
It was with mixed feelings that I’ve decided to pay twelve hundred crowns for a show of a band I hadn’t been quite that huge a fan of… at least until now. But hey, I said to myself, they indeed are a legend, an aging one, actually, and they might not come here again. You better go and see them now that you’ve got the chance. Well, that may just have been my best decision recently. :-D
» » Find more of “We wanted the best…” inside » »
I’ve been planning to blog about this topic for ages, and now the mighty security guru Bruce Schneier did that for me in a Guardian newspaper essay:
What is it with photographers these days? Are they really all terrorists, or does everyone just think they are?
Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harrassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We’ve been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.
Just look at this bastard. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t hesitate to kill a kitten. :-P
Except that it’s nonsense. » » Find more of “War on Photography” inside » »
Slashdot reports: “An editor for the Telegraph, Roger Highfield, recently volunteered to allow a UK researcher to shut off the speech center of his brain with a high-powered magnetic pulse. Regular speech is controlled by a section of the brain called Broca’s area. Once the precise location is determined in the subject, a magnetic pulse can temporarily disrupt speech without impairing other cognitive functions. The link contains a video in which you can watch Highfield stutter and twitch while attempting to recite a nursery rhyme. A later test shows that he’s able to sing the rhyme without difficulty, since singing is controlled in a different part of the brain (as you may remember from Scott Adams’ speech disorder).”
Cool. I wonder who will be the first to commercialize this technology and advertise: Now it costs only $79.99 to save your marriage! ;-)
No, really! Go and get it, don’t believe anyone trying to stop you…!
(Bruce Schneier reported this cool story.)
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JACKSONVILLE, Ore. — A pair of hoax ads on Craigslist cost an Oregon man much of what he owned. » » Find more of “Free stuff in your local church!” inside » »
Slashdot reports that “OCZ Technology is putting their neural impulse actuator (NIA) into 
mass production for shipping next week. The device, aimed at gamers, works by reading bioptentials. ‘These include activities of the brain, the autonomous nervous system and muscles — all of which are captured using embrace sensors located on the NIA’s headband, amplified and sent to the PC via USB 2.0.’ Users of the NIA will be able to control their in-game movements using only the power of mind. The device is priced at around $600USD.” (Overclock3D reports a price of $300.)
Wicked! I can’t wait to try this baby out. :-) Also, the number and coolness factor of applications I see of this technology as it matures, is uncanny… And wait till teh_pwnerer gets his hands on this! “liek i can pwn n00bz with me brain now lol!!!11 gg kthx”
LONDON (AP) — University of Oxford researchers will spend nearly $4 million to study why mankind embraces God. The grant to the Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion will bring anthropologists, theologians, philosophers and other academics together for three years to study whether belief in a divine being is a basic part of mankind’s makeup.
“There are a lot of issues. What is it that is innate in human nature to believe in God, whether it is gods or something superhuman or supernatural?” said Roger Trigg, acting director of the center.
He said anthropological and philosophical research suggests that faith in God is a universal human impulse found in most cultures around the world, even though it has been waning in Britain and western Europe.
“One implication that comes from this is that religion is the default position, and atheism is perhaps more in need of explanation,” he said.
Capital! :-D This research is probably going to be more entertaining than your average blockbuster movie… Also, Roger Trigg’s skill of drawing implications is impeccable. Presumably, the researchers will follow his lead, and I will have no other choice than to congratulate the John Templeton Foundation for $4 mil well spent!
Most people won’t know the winner of US presidential elections until later this year. Initially, I thought that the next president will be decided by who can profit most from the insanely insecure voting machines…
Now, however, I have changed my mind and realised that security vulnerabilities are not as important anymore, as the most important and decisive factor of them all has decided to reveal himself and swing his weight behind Mike Huckabee! He would probably become the president himself, if only it wasn’t so boring. Who needs the nuclear briefcase anyway, when a roundhouse kick right to the face can solve any and all problems?
Ladies and gentlemen, please bow low for Chuck Norris and his will of steel! :-)
Brian Whitworth’s latest scientific masturbation argues, that it is perfectly reasonable to conjecture that “the world is an information simulation running on a three-dimensional space-time screen”. Amongst his arguments, that are quite interesting at the first glance at least, is that the existence of quantum phenomena could be due to the underlying digital nature of the simulation. He also claims that his VR hypothesis can explain relativity, the big bang and more.
That alone would not be anything extraordinary, we have seen it many times before. However, he argues that it should be possible to perform experiments to prove the hypothesis, which is rather interesting. The reasoning is that if reality was to do something that information processing cannot, then it cannot be virtual…
Not only he fails to suggest what that imaginary thing would be, but my question is, how do we find out, what information processing in a universe that may be significantly different from ours can, or cannot do? And what if the simulation module would cheat on us, and deliberately fake the experiment results? ;-)
Also, this concept reminds me of religion, in sense that there are several phenomena that we cannot explain, so we suggest that they are the work of God, (or the VR almighty, makes no difference to me.) My argument is that this world is quite dull to be a VR simulation. There are way too many boring limits. Then again, it could be some early development version… ;-)
If nothing else, by pondering this alone, I have brought the creator’s attention to myself, so
should I disappear, or mysteriously change my mind, we will know something’s awry here. Then again, we will not, because the simulation system will clear its tracks. Darn, we are doomed to live in the Matrix! And my superpowers are long overdue…
