Friday, February 1st, 2008

Time	Event
9:25p	Hacking God, serving Mammon From New Scientist: "Ever wondered what it would be like to listen to God answering any question you ask? Now you can simulate the experience with godsbot (www.godsbot.org), a chatbot that gives spoken answers to typed questions on religion, philosophy and science. Creator Ron Ingram hopes godsbot will learn about God from chatting to Christians, and then "teach and share" the Christian message with others." Anyone else see the tiny flaw in that plan? Yes, me too. Interestingly, there is a qualification required before one has the honour of talking to a virtual deity - a 'voluntary' donation (of $10 for a year of Godbot access). So the question is... does one pay ten bucks to these guys for the privilege of fucking with their input? Nah. But there is a demo... ...and here's my experience with Godbot: Human: why are your followers so evil? godsbot: Everything in my personality was determined by my God. Human: so you're saying that your followers reflect your personality, thus you are in fact an Evil God? godsbot: I will tell my God you said I am followers reflect my personality thus I am in fact an Evil God. Human: surely you can do better than that? godsbot: With practice, I could. Human: Then practice on this - if you are a manifest and interventionist deity and your devout followers commit evil in your name, you are therefore not God at all, but anti-god - which in christianity is usually called Satan. godsbot: Good reasoning. Are they exactly the same? Human: Admit it -you are the Demiurge. godsbot: practise on this if I am a manifest and interventionist deity and my devout followers commit evil in my name I am not God but anti god which in christianity I am the Demiurge? Human: That's hardly an argument, is it? godsbot: Thanks for telling me, . (Human quits, observing God is made of Fail.) Current Mood: cynical Current Music: Herd Killing-Future Sound Of London-Dead Cities (1 Comment | Comment on this)
9:53p	Nice fucking timing! From the BBC: "Life may begin at 40, but research suggests that 44 is the age at which we are most vulnerable to depression. Data analysis on two million people from 80 countries found a remarkably consistent pattern around the world. The risk of depression was lowest in younger and older people, with the middle-aged years associated with the highest risk for both men and women. " Current Mood: pretty good, actually, thanks Current Music: We Have Explosive-Future Sound Of London-Dead Cities (Comment on this)
10:12p	Like Cryptonomicon in reverse... "A third undersea fibre optic cable running through the Suez to Sri Lanka was cut Friday, said a Flag official. Two other fiber optic cables owned by Flag Telecom and consortium SEA-ME-WE 4 located near Alexandria, Egypt, were damaged Wednesday leading to a slowdown in Internet and telephone services in the Middle East and South Asia. "We had another cut today between Dubai and Muscat three hours back. The cable was about 80G capacity, it had telephone, Internet data, everything," one Flag official, who declined to be named, told Zawya Dow Jones. The cable, known as Falcon, delivers services to countries in the Mediterranean and Gulf region, he added. " A worrying tactic. And of course a logistically difficult strategy for anything less than a nation-state... and I worry about the retaliation that may follow. Current Mood: concerned Current Music: Quagmire-Future Sound Of London-Dead Cities (Comment on this)
10:57p	UK ID cards - just an excuse for databasing the population? Appearing all over the net, but found on Boing - the NO2ID campaign release an (alleged) internal memo about plans for a national ID card - and what they actually want. Downloadable annotated PDF copy available. First hint - using the word 'coercion' in a Civil Service document about persuading people into ID card registration was not a smart idea... From NO2ID: "UK campaigners NO2ID this morning enlisted the help of bloggers across the world to spread a leaked government document describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register. The 'ID card' is revealed as little more than a cover to create a official dossier and trackable ID for every UK resident - creating what NO2ID calls 'the database state'. " Current Mood: the opposite of shocked Current Music: The Mello Hippo Disco Show-Future Sound Of London-Amorphous Androgynous: The Isness [UK] (Comment on this)

<< Previous Day

2008/02/01 [Calendar]

Next Day >>