Minding The Planet is Nova Spivack’s weblog on emerging technologies and trends. It focuses ways in which the Web is becoming more present, personalized and precise.
Nova Spivack is a technology futurist, entrepreneur, and angel investor, and a leading voice on search, collective intelligence and the Semantic Web. More...
Note: This is a new kind of online protest that uses blogs to spread a petition globally. To participate, just add your blog by following the instructions in this blog post.
This not an issue of partisan politics, this is an issue of basic human rights and democracy. Please help to prevent a human tragedy [...]
This just in. The Chinese Government, in their ongoing campaign against the Dalai Lama and Buddhism in Tibet, have announced a new law making it illegal for a Buddha to reincarnate without a state permit. This law is designed effectively to put an end to the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet within one generation. [...]
This is quite an amazing video clip — a news anchorwoman on MSNBC took a heroic stand and refused, on air, to lead with more news about Paris Hilton, despite her fellow anchormen and her producers trying to force her to. They actually almost get into a scuffle as she tries to burn the story [...]
This article in the Atlantic Monthly presents the best analysis I’ve seen of the strategic situation on the Korean penninsula, and various US options (and potential mistakes to avoid). It’s really a fascinating read, and quite educational, for anyone concerned about what might happen in that arena.
Related Posts:How to Save the Upcoming Elections from [...]
I am concerned by what I’m viewing in our national media lately. Viewed from
outside (and also from wihtin the USA), it would appear that our nation
is obsessed with, and plagued by, an increasing spree of horrible crimes and
abuses of human rights. Is this really what it is like to live in
America, or is this simply [...]
I recently listened to a talk by Dr. David Martin, given at the Arlington Institute, a think tank I advise. You can listen to it here. It takes some patience to get to the main point — but you will be rewarded with a mind-blowing new perspective on what may unfold in the next few [...]
Chinese officials are preparing to "strike hard" against civil unrest. Are they planning another Tiannamen-style massacre? There is something fundamentally wrong with a government that has to torture, repress, and murder it’s own people (and its neighboring peoples) on a regular, systematic basis in order to maintain stability. China isn’t the only country guilty of [...]
Oy Vey. CNN just reported that Virginia Democrats are rumored to be asking Ben Affleck to run for the Senate. Note to the Virginia Democrats: Ben Affleck is an A-C-T-O-R not a politician. Am I the only one who is completely fed up with actors running for (and holding) public office? I mean what exactly [...]
by Nova Spivack, Minding the Planet, http://www.mindingtheplanet.net
This news article reports that the FBI is investigating a situation in which mobsters deliberately contaminated their drug money with a virus in order to deter in-house theft by members of their organization. Several years ago, during the days of collective paranoia following 9-11, I started thinking about how [...]
From the Truly-Ludicrous-Department, the Senate may attempt to ram through a horribly shortsighted and backwards copyright bill. This bill would, among other things, eliminate centuries of fair-use precedent, make skipping commercials on digital recording devices a crime, and would make many uses of p2p networks, digital music players, digital sampling, and other forms of fair-use, [...]
Wow, this is big news for Sun: The next version of Solaris will be free and open-source, and will also run Linux apps without any changes. Sun will make money from enterprise support and solutions, as well as related hardware sales. This may be what it takes to bring Sun back from the brink and [...]
A Russian academician has predicted that bird-flu will stem to humans and kill up to one billion people around the world within 6 months of an outbreak. He says it is highly probable that a pandemic could take place within the next year. There is no evidence cited for his claims however he refers to [...]
Disclaimer: I try to keep this blog non-political. I am essentially a political centrist — I tend to judge each politician, plan and party on its merits rather than by any rigid ideology or party-line. I generally find most politicans, political plans and political parties to be less intelligent and less long-term-oriented than I would [...]
Recent data indicates that the pace of C02 buildup in the atmosphere is moving faster than expected, raising speculation of the dreaded “feedback effect” kicking in. Computer simulations have predicted this, now it may be happening — or it may just be a temporary anomaly. In a few years we will know, once we have [...]
On Thursday a mushroom cloud of approx. 2.5 miles in diameter was detected in a remote region of North Korea, near the border of China. This corresponds to the expected diameter of a 10 kiloton bomb. Strangely, the US media has not reported this event widely. It has been reported that the US intelligence community [...]
This article was submitted to Minding the Planet by a reader, James Clayton Napier, the author. It’s an interesting inside commentary on how TV News works (or doesn’t work, as the case may be) — NS
“Images can either imprison or liberate us.” –Roberto Assagioli
Feature stories are vanishing from TV news broadcasts. The public speaker, television [...]
There has been much recent discussion lately about alleged evidence that the Bush administration is issuing terrorist alerts for political gain. While I am not taking a position on this issue, I do have a suggestion that could eliminate any doubts, and in the process protect our upcoming elections.
In order to prevent the possibility that [...]
I wonder if anyone from MoveOn.Org or the Republicans will notice our GoMeme experiments? (Not that I’m taking sides — I’ll simply be happy if somebody wins the election!) Grassroots political campaigns could potentially really benefit from the techniques we’re testing here. For example, imagine a “blog meme” for a political campaign — a meme [...]
by Nova Spivack
July 28, 2004
http://www.mindingtheplanet.net
Permission granted to distribute or reproduce freely.
Should there be a Separation of Corporation and State?
Today our American democracy faces a new threat to its integrity, a threat even greater than terrorism in the long-term. This threat is the corporation. In this essay I propose that it may be time to introduce [...]
A Japanese report reveals that Syrian equipment and technicians were on the train that exploded in North Korea recently. Furthermore, the report alleges that North Koreans in “protective suits” were dispatched to remove the bodies and equipment from a special section of the train. Hmm…has anyone checked the site for radioactivity?
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A leaked secret report by top Pentagon analysts claims that within 20 years Britain could become “Siberian” and Major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas. In addition the report warns of nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting around the world as massive climate changes reshape the planet.
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As I’ve said all along, “The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth.” Here’s more proof. A Michigan couple has just named their new baby as if it were a software upgrade. Read the article.
Jon Blake Cusack, from Holland, Michigan, told local newspapers the US practice of adding “Junior” or “II” after a boy’s name was too [...]
I read today with disgust further testimonials of shocking atrocities from defectors from the Gulags in North Korea. If you aren’t aware of the situation, you should be. Perhaps more than any other nation today, North Korea is engaged in systematic, large-scale human rights abuses — in particular, as the above cited news report alleges [...]
Paul Davies has put forth an interesting proposal for a one-way trip to Mar as the most cost-effective way to establish a permanent human presence on Mars. It’s a smart and novel idea.
Related Posts:Big Thinkers' Most Dangerous IdeasHumans Should Intentionally Seed Life on Mars. Why We Must Start Now.Bush's Mars InitiativeMust-Know Terms for the 21st [...]