Compressorhead, the all-robot band that plays hits by AC/DC, Motorhead, and The Ramones, represents another step toward a technological future in which machines continue to perform tasks as well as (or better than?) humans. Many a techno-utopian envisions a world in which human labor, including creative and performing arts no longer represents economic or social value. Naturally, the prospect of ...
When a solid, honest business loses relevance due to changes in technology, then it can fairly be said to be a casualty of progress. Such is the case for my dear friend Tony Tamberelli, who very recently shut the doors at Tamberelli Digital, a camera and lighting rental service in Manhattan. Tony was just about the first professional with whom I did business in the New ...
This op-ed that appeared in yesterday’s New York Times is easily one of the best pieces I’ve read on both the cultural and financial dangers of forsaking copyright in the name of technological “progress.” The entire article is a pull-quote, but here are two that get right to the heart of the matter: “The value of copyrights is being quickly ...
Take a look at this story from Bill Moyers about the population of homeless in Silicon Valley. Granted there are homeless in every community, but as the segment suggests, this region can be fairly described as a microcosm of the United States where wealth consolidation and the bifurcation of society remains a growing economic cancer. As such, it seems like a great ...
Y’know, I try to have a calm, productive Monday morning and not let anything rustle my jimmies, and then somebody on Twitter posts an article by Rick Falkvinge. And I CLICK ON IT! And I know I shouldn’t because everything Falkvinge says is so mind-numbingly stupid that it’s only going to distract me into composing a response in my head when I ought to be focusing ...
