more "You Are Here" at the largest scales....

Are Cable Operators non-Competitive?

Say it isn't so!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/time-warner-cable-content-incentives-thwart-new-web-tv.html

I'm a believer in property rights, but not when you view the market itself as your property.

"strike at the root"

Excellent 18min video from TedXBoston, - Lessig's plea to "strike at the root" of the problem facing us today.   He makes a strong case that our Republic stands in the balance, and the root of the problem is the effect of corporate funding of Congressional campaigns.

No one has said it better, in my opinion.  Its worth the 18mins, check it out here:  Of/By/4

 http://lessig.blip.tv/file/3945764/

William Gibson on fora.tv

Thanks to fora.tv, here is video of William Gibson reading an excerpt from Spook Country and handling questions during his book tour (at Codys).



A question about the influence of Joseph Cornell led me to find this WebMuseum site.

Gibson, a big favorite of mine for his cultural insights as well as his fiction, has been blogging his trip.

UPDATE: While we are on the topic of Gibson, here is a transcript of an interview with him in The Guardian, titled "Space to Think".

Francis Fukuyama - The End Of History Revisited

I've been reading this book (End of History and the Last Man), finally, and now found this lecture by Francis Fukuyama, captured on video via FORA.tv.

My opinion is this is excellent thinking, but misses insights on the psychological basis of cultural context and the pace of change. But thinking about things at this scale helps set the stage for understanding where we are and where we might go next. Fukuyama also has cogent insight on the singularity, a topic I enjoy thinking about. Probably inaccurately paraphrasing - he suggests that human societal and cultural behaviors will mitigate extraordinary rates of change.

Prospects for extending healthy life

Aubrey de Grey's talk recorded via Google video.

Not sure I can really accept all the arguments, but this is a provocative talk, and worth the hour or so to watch if you have an interest in research about aging.

John Doerr: Seeking salvation and profit in greentech

Great talk (18 minute video) by John Doerr at TED regarding greentech; no doubt this is heartfelt and compelling. From the TED site:

"I don't think we're going to make it," John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. Spurred on by his daughter, who demanded he fix the mess the world is heading for, he and his partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers embarked on a greentech world tour -- surveying the state of the art, from the ethanol revolution in Brazil to Wal-mart's (!) eco-concept store in Bentonville, Arkansas. KPCB is investing $200 million in green technologies to save the planet and make a profit to boot. But, Doerr fears, it may not be enough.

latest Kurzweil video

Ray Kurzweil presented this session at the recent Killer App expo. It is well-recorded, including the audio, and Ray didn't rush through. Some of his more technical slides didn't seem to make it here. There is a 25minute or so Q&A period at the end.

while we're at it: Shift Happens

via Speculist, Shift Happens

Thomas Barnett speaks

Speaking of videos and the future, Thomas Barnett speaks at Pop!Tech, and his speech is available on the web here.

In my opinion, this is worth viewing if you want a useful interpretation and analysis of what the next century might look like from a political/military viewpoint. And Thomas is an engaging speaker.

Ray Kurzweil speaks

I had occasion recently to see Ray Kurzweil speak, at RSA2007. I was impressed by his analysis and excited by many of his predictions. Now, the TED conference is putting videos online, and one is of Mr. Kurzweil.

You can see the video here. This is a variant of the speech I originally saw. I think Mr. Kurzweil has a very large slide deck, and probably doesn't use all of his material in any one speech.

One may or may not agree with all of Ray's predictions, but I think a key point is that not only is technological change continuing, its pace is increasing. And the ramifications for societal and cultural change will only become more pervasive. It seems to me that if it is true that the pace of change is increasing, and societal and cultural changes will continue to manifest, then we are in for an interesting and challenging next 20-30 years.

One extremely simple example. I can now watch Ray's video anytime I want, and link to it with this blog, and watch other similar videos quite easily. Just sitting here at my dining room table, using broadband cable and a decent recent vintage notebook PC, I have the opportunity to learn so much from so many.

Here is www.kurzweilai.net where more information is available, and it has an RSS feed.