jmace daughter googledoc

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATo4XY6s_cjbZGNrOHA2d2dfM2hrNjh4Y2My&hl=en

The Singularity by Ray Kurzweil
This is not the Singularity of Stephen Hawking,string theory,quantum particle physics and space-time continuum, but it's not far off.This singularity is a point in time where the acceleration of AI, or "technology", basically reaches infinity- a question that's intrigued sci-fiction writers for decades, and now becoming more a question of when than how.
Biological interfaces between a human brain and superconducting memory chips - downloading a persons knowledge into a clone and superseding aging isn't impossible.
The concept of creating AI with a trillion times the intelligence of human being would logically progress rapidly to AI a trillion times a trillion and so on.
I'm sure AI would be invaluable in solving many health and energy problems but would it have spirituality, emotions, or the capability of dreaming? It's possible.
If we're so worried about AI taking over the human race, we'll probably just to have to wait for an asteroid the size of Texas to hit the planet so we can start over from cosmic scratch,... but because our human generated AI's have learned space travel...

It's a flat world after all

as an anthropology major, the continum of history never ceases to amaze me-the stone age, the copper age, the bronze age, the iron age, now, it seems, the silicon age. 500 years since C. Columbus is contextually such a short period of time, it's mind boggling, but here we are.
I remember Nov. 9 1989-the fall of the Berlin Wall-and all it stood for, basically the leveling of the world trade market, Russia, China, etc..
Great comments about Wal-Mart being China's 8th largest trade partner, the underoceanic fiber-optics possibilities and the power of the individual; water on a tray taking the path of least resistance and everybody trying to guess the future--I guess we'll find out one way or the other
john

I'm reading two articles from Money magazine (courtesy parents) about cloud computing,platforms and just what Microsoft is doing to keep it's stock viable. When I first began college at Reed,Ptlnd in 1977, we had a mainframe punch-card computer. When my class was graduating in 1981, the college had just bought the senior class an Apple MacIntosh each. Also, about half the grads went to work for Intel in Beaverton. I think it's interesting that most people use Windows instead of Mac today. (Oct. 09 pg.64) also on pg. 70 an article on not tripping over wires everywhere in your house by using WiFi.
What's happening in Iran is unspeakable, and skank blogs are the biggest waste of time I've seen in a long time.