Computing (92)

I often feel like a cultural black hole. Engulfing and consuming large quantities of culture, music, movies, books, and yet never producing any of it myself. Does it just get wasted inside? Well, I talk about it :-)

The Internet is promoting a new kind of culture that is more inclusive. To me, YouTube is the most glaring example: everyday people producing audio/video material, mostly out of their own time and effort, that addresses any topic that concerns them. Sometimes using it for commercial self-promotion, and that's part of the point too.

What does this mean: {{{

     (#$forAll ?PERSON1
     (#$implies
        (#$isa ?PERSON1 #$Person)
        (#$thereExists ?PERSON2
           (#$and
             (#$isa ?PERSON2 #$Person)
             (#$loves ?PERSON1 ?PERSON2)))

Found at an OpenCyc tutorial.

I wish to unveil before an unsuspecting population a plan to reconcile P2P technology with the interests of content producers: music labels, production firms, software firms, book publishers, etc. I do so at the risk of being laughed out of my own blog.

Intelligent musicians have realized that the Internet gives them the opportunity to reach their consumers directly, bypassing the dinosauric and frankly greedy middleman, yielding a fairer deal for everyone who deserves it. Radiohead and NIN are definitely not your average teeny boppers :-)

Musicians, take a good look at this page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kentbye/1813174776/

Fascinating study (from 2003) on the amount of information stored and flowing through different media (Broadcasting, Telephony, Internet). Must-read for anyone serious about informatics. We're talking exabytes (one million terabytes) and zettabytes (1000 times more).

According to this study, 5 exabytes were stored digitally in 2002. 18 exabytes flowed through electronic channels. Information would be doubling every 2-3 years.

The Microsoft bid to acquire Yahoo! is the latest desperate move from a dinosaur to avoid extinction. Actually, the only thing keeping that dinosaur alive right now is its cash, because it is plain to see that Microsoft just doesn't "get" the Web. It drove Hotmail to the ground years ago, it created a single sign-on system that everybody hates, and I don't think Live.com is much better than MSN.com - even the name is as bland.