Scott Cleland, author of the new book “Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc.” (Telescope Books, 2011) has penned a fine shorter article on Google I found worth reading. It reinforces impressions I have been steadily developing. "Totalitarianism" may be just the right word.
Wintery Knight has a great post on this topic (I borrowed his title). WK's field is computers. To compliment his own expertise, he draws on UC Berkeley professor John Searle and Christian philosopher Jay Richards. Short answer to the question: No, computers cannot become conscious by increasing processing power.
Mint, a free personal finance software website, offers valuable (and easy to understand) privacy protection information for Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn here.
I consider myself fortunate to have come across this article. VDH writes of the United States in the context of the nations of the world and gives us reasons to be optimistic and joyful. A mind-changing article.
Me: I haven't had a chance to look at all of the above yet, but I did look at the last item and found it very helpful -- to me! (My mother doesn't have a PC).
The liberal vision of a harmonious world dominates the liberal mindset of our day to the utter disregard of facts staring him in the face. William R. Hawkins wrote an article today noting,
The liberal hope was best described by the title of Tom Englehardt’s 1995 book The End of Victory Culture.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton proclaimed: “Perhaps for the first time
in history, the world's leading nations are not engaged in a struggle
with each other for security or territory. The
world clearly is coming together.” It is because the events of the last
few years so clearly contradict this liberal vision of a harmonious
world, that there is so much hatred of President George W. Bush.
Hawkins, ( his article is titled "The Ideology of Defeat"), asks whether liberal culture with its aversion to fighting and warfare, can produce the motivation and determination to resist the assaults of suicide bombers and insurgents. He asks, "Has liberalism already so weakened society's will to fight back that even leaders and soldiers committed to do so cannot succeed?"
He writes,
It is clear
that the objective of liberal policy is not to be more effective, but
to uphold liberal values. If this means losing a war, so be it. It is
better to accept defeat than to adapt to the needs of an illiberal
world.
. . . In contrast,
Islamic fundamentalists harken back to the glory days when Moslem
armies swept across the world from Spain to India, and Mohammed himself
approved the razing of villages and the beheading of opponents. They
inhabit {and enshrine) the kind of bellicose society that liberalism
has done much to bleach out of America. The
result is that despite having brave soldiers armed with high-tech
weapons who win every pitched battle, American society teeters on the
edge of military collapse from a lack of will to do what is needed, on
a large enough scale for a long enough period of time, to defeat
Islamic militants in any theater of current combat.
. . . Many
Moslems have been recruited into extremism while living in the midst of
liberal societies (like London), having found their surroundings
decadent and corrupt. Thus liberalism’s much vaunted ideals of
tolerance and passivity are seen by foes as a lack of honor and
strength.
There is something "touchingly naive" about the liberal perspective on human nature and the behavior of nations. It would be entertaining to watch the drama unfold -- if only this were not a real world where such illusions can result in the slaughter of milions and the collapse of a civilization at the hands of barbarous bellicose enemies.
Tonight I came across an article that defends video games. Within the last year I heard a speaker at a technology conference do the same. This is a subject that demands more investigation and study, and this article seems a good starting point.
Here's the story. I just recently procured a cable connection, but have been hesitant to hook up the Wi-Fi. Maybe it would be wise, as this article suggests, to wait for the health reports to be published.
"Inconclusive studies into possible links between radio transmissions
and leukemia and brain tumors from, among others, scientists for the
California Public Utilities Commission, led [Fred] Gilbert [President of Lakehead University] to make the
"precautionary ban".
"All I’m saying is while the jury’s out on this one, I’m not going to
put in place what is potential chronic exposure for our students."
Hat tip: Drudge Report
A different kind of Wi-Fi article, offering privacy tips, can be found here.