Oct 10

Imagine an epic fantasy series – six thick books.

Imagine an epic fantasy series – six thick books.

A fated king – a warrior of bronze – with the rare ability to locate, and lead his followers through, the Gate of Worlds.

War, love, loyalty, betrayal, vengeance, hubris, triumph, defeat.

You know the sort of thing. And because you know the sort of thing, I can show you just the scenes from the point of view of the Gatekeeper – perhaps a thousandth of the wordcount – and let you imagine the rest.

(Curious Fictions is a new website for “reprints” of stories that have previously sold to professional markets. If you like what you see, you can tip us, the authors, with micropayments.)

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/178-mike-reeves-mcmillan-gatekeeper-what-toll

Oct 09

The experts say the greenhouse gases we’ve put in the atmosphere will affect global climate for the next several…

The experts say the greenhouse gases we’ve put in the atmosphere will affect global climate for the next several centuries. Where will we be 500 years from now, once this pulse of carbon dioxide has been drawn down by the seas and soil? What will the post…

http://oaklandgeology.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/post-500/

Oct 09

Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?

Originally shared by Neuroscience News

Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?

Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today’s imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality. Can the mind connect directly with artificial intelligence, robots and other minds through brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies to transcend our human limitations?

http://neurosciencenews.com/machine-brain-melding-7686/

Oct 09

Urban quadcopter taxis will arrive soon.

Originally shared by David Brin

Urban quadcopter taxis will arrive soon. The software for quadcopters is very well-developed and AirBus is betting that the battery energy density is improving fast enough. Expect to see more flying taxis and services within the next few years as the technology is further developed and tested. Especially in LA, where, until last year, all high rises had to have flat-tops and heliports. That rule ironically ended just before this new era!

https://futurism.com/airbus-electric-flying-taxis-are-set-to-take-to-the-skies-next-year/

https://futurism.com/airbus-electric-flying-taxis-are-set-to-take-to-the-skies-next-year/

Oct 08

“Speech favorable to those in power may be close to First Amendment protection, but speech viewed as subversive to…

“Speech favorable to those in power may be close to First Amendment protection, but speech viewed as subversive to the social order is subject to significant costs.”

This is a perspective I hadn’t considered before, but it makes a lot of sense.

Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger

There’s been a widespread argument recently that the Left is calling for restrictions on the freedom of speech, and that this is either simply an attempt to restrict opposition (if argued by the Right) or that this is foolish because such restrictions will invariably be used against the Left (if argued by the Center).

But these arguments miss an important intermediate fact, which I want to call out: speech is already not free, and this lack of freedom happens in a very non-content-neutral way. Our existing speech laws and policies amount to great freedom for the expression of ideas which support existing power, but substantially less for ideas which oppose it. In that context, these calls take on a clearer meaning: they are demands to widen the marketplace of ideas by having speech policy (generally not law, but official and unofficial private and public policies) recognize the ways in which it currently fails to be content-neutral.

https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/why-calls-for-free-speech-arent-the-same-b19732511351
Oct 07

You’ve heard of Alan Turing. But what about Elizabeth Friedman?

You’ve heard of Alan Turing. But what about Elizabeth Friedman?

Like me, she ended up in a technical profession from an arts background – but her job was breaking codes.

Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette

This Woman Saved the Americas From the Nazis. Pioneering codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman, a poet and mother of two, smashed spy rings by solving secret messages. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/elizebeth-friedman-codebreaker-nazi-spy-fagone/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/elizebeth-friedman-codebreaker-nazi-spy-fagone/
Oct 06

Note his date of death.

Note his date of death.

Originally shared by The Public Domain Review

It’s #blackhistorymonth here in the UK. To celebrate we feature the letters of the writer and musician Ignatius Sancho (c.1729–1780), the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election, and the first person of African descent known to be given an obituary in the British press: https://buff.ly/2y3mUz1

Oct 06

Now we can all hear voices in our heads!

Now we can all hear voices in our heads!

Originally shared by David Brin

Rent the movie The President’s Analyst. And see how it is coming true.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_President%27s_Analyst

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2149379-phone-calls-can-be-beamed-right-into-your-central-nervous-system/?utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review&utm_campaign=08c3dc39b0-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-08c3dc39b0-153646553