July 17, 2006
While I have not had a chance to read the book yet, today Slashdot posted an excerpt from the highly anticipated outlook on the future. There are some other odds and ends over at its Amazon landing page.
One area we are seeing computer-aided technology increasingly used in the lab room is that of genome sequencing. This was the topic of a NY Times article today, which essentially detailed the state of the industry for full-genome sequencing of humans. In a word: expensive. But those costs are being driven down through cheaper equipment and competition among firms.
See also, Tracing your heritage like Hansel and Gretle
Apropos my post regarding the use of Wiki’s in academia comes word that USC is rolling out a collaborative effort similar to Wikipedia. The project’s purpose is initially centered around the sexy field of Media Studies.
More on digital libraries: 1 2 3
More on the Dodo at Wikipedia
Baby-boomer James Fellows discusses the adoption of Web 2.0 apps by Boomers in the latest edition of MIT’s Technology Review.
After putting a slew of the whiz-bang services through the paces he notes that most of the services serve no practical use in his life, and the same can be said for most other seniors. Hence relatively low-adoption rates by that demographic.
See also, What do Noah Kagan, Amanda Congdon and Robert Scoble have in common?
I’m sure it has been done before, but I liked Chris Anderson’s REM story and how his band was renamed due to a bet settled by a popularity contest.
Other wagers of interest:
- between Julian Simon and Paul Ehrlich over the standard-of-living
- a triumvirate between physicists Kip Thorne, Stephen Hawking and John Preskill over black holes
More bets from Wikipedia.
Over at Reason, Tim Cavanaugh argues that Captain Kirk’s story is the story of America.
At the Mises Institute, Robert Murphy suggests that Superman needs an Agent.
Also at the Mises Institute, Polish economist Mateusz Machaj notes the similarities between the A-Team and libertarianism.
And at LewRockwell.com, econ undergrad Alexander Villacampa explains the economic principles observed within the popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft. See also, Virtual Economies.
