e-Claire

Thiings to Keep an Eye On...

"Our Own Devices," by scholar and polymath Edward Tenner. "This ambitious, stimulating work focuses on the reciprocal relationship between human beings and the machines that affect everyday life." Anyone read this? "Through Our Enemies' Eyes," by Anonymous - a man who's worked for 20 years in the US intelligence community. "The author says he 'tried to present a portrait of Osama bin Laden that will prompt better understanding of the man - and understanding does not connote sympathy - and a debate about how best to identify, confront, and defeat the threat he poses and personifies.'" Update on the LifeLog paranoia generator: "Who would want to do this? And what would be done with the information gathered? ...But before answering either of those questions bear in mind DARPA's track record in changing modern life. DARPA is responsible for both the Internet and the global positioning satellite system. And since it's a public contract, LifeLog research will likely be unclassified. Private companies might be able to develop and/or license related software to track customer, client, and individual behavior." Hmmm. Geniuses and Dimwits: Apparently interns at NASA stole "101.5 grams of previously unavailable moon rocks. The collection could be worth more than $500 million, according to some estimates. ...Trying to find willing buyers, the three super-bright NASA interns who were McWhorter's accomplices had him offer the rocks on the Internet for as little as $2,000 a gram. The price was more than 200 times lower than the only public sale of lunar material when, in 1993, Sotheby's auctioned three flecks weighing less than a gram for $442,500." Our nations future...

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