“…it seems we inhabit and enjoy
a world where the real thing does not really matter”. On “the declining
importance of authenticity in western culture and our
acceptance of a world where imitation is
all-pervasive….

In the arts and in our lifestyles, endless bricolage,
regurgitation and imitation bear testament to this
trend. We drink in fake Irish pubs, cocoon ourselves
in virtual reality, and visit Disneyland to immerse
ourselves in the worlds of ancient Egypt, Greece,
Rome, Olde England or the Wild West. Some – such as
the residents of Celebration, Florida, a recreated
world of Midwest America – even live in a simulated
world. Eclectic genres of rap and dance music
unashamedly borrow guitar riffs from the Seventies,
looping them over a Sixties bass-line. Meanwhile, a
put-together girl band mimes on stage and reaches
number one.” New Statesman

Techgnosis author Erik Davis ponders the “cost to our sense of being” of wireless technology and its erosion of place:

As with so many technologies, the
penetration of wireless into global society will be
simultaneously convenient, weird, banal, and
deeply disturbing. We already accept the little
antisocial wormholes that cell phones open up in
the midst of public space, a phenomenon that,
while further cranking up the knob on
individualism, at least adds another wrinkle to the
boundaries that define our social interaction. But
the growth of wireless access to data may have
a very different effect, because it erodes the
sense that the world we wander through has any
real variation at all.

A droll Washington Post staff writer trolls the hot, hot AOL Britney Spears chatroom for opinions on Dubya and the election.

Kevin Phillips: “The GOP has never met a tax cut it didn’t like, and that weakness may pave the way for a repetition of the 1981-92 recession.” With Federal Reserve chairman Greenspan having gone forked-tongued on this one already (he knows where his bread is buttered), and the doubts expressed by new Treasury secretary Paul O’Neill being steamrolled over, keep your fingers crossed for the misgivings of Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and William Thomas (R., Calif.), new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to amount to something.

“It is a conspiracy theory that would make Oliver Stone blush, but the pieces fit
so perfectly well together that it has an eerie ring of truth. The theory: California
utilities and a Texas-based power cartel purposely turned the lights out to pressure
California’s governor and Legislature into a lucrative bailout.
If this theory is correct, it would be one of the most outrageous examples of
corporate exploitation ever perpetrated. This is not just because of the tens of
billions of dollars to be transferred from Californians to corporate interests. It is also
because the crisis may well drag the rest of the nation into a nasty recession.
Let’s look then, at the facts and logic supporting the ‘blackout-bailout’ theory.” LA Times

EJ Dionne to the illegitimate son: “We’ll Get Over It If You Get Off Your High Horse” Washington Post

‘Promising’ tests on car speed limiters extended. After a three-year trial with a Ford Escort, the government of the UK has commissioned a twenty-car experiment with limiting vehicle speed using a computerized override on the throttle linked to a GPS which downloads data about the speed limit for a given road. Guardian

Despair, Inc. secures official trademark registration for :-( “In a move that has
millions across the Internet
community frowning, Despair,
Inc. today announced that the
U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) had awarded
them a registered trademark for
the ‘frowny’ emoticon which
serves as their logo.” Will an explosion of trademark infringement lawsuits ensue? I have just one thing to say about that:

:-(

[from Red Rock Eaters]

Must men fight? Probably. “Tests on fighting fish, angry wasps show
machismo may be biologically inevitable.” Toronto Globe and Mail

Must men fight? Probably. “Tests on fighting fish, angry wasps show
machismo may be biologically inevitable.” Toronto Globe and Mail

Must men fight? Probably. “Tests on fighting fish, angry wasps show
machismo may be biologically inevitable.” Toronto Globe and Mail

A fairly technical exposition on How SETI@Home works, from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). From radio telescope reception to distributed computing and postprocessing. And what the SETI project will do if a signal arrives, according to the 1989 “Declaration of Principles
Concerning Activities Following the Detection of
Extraterrestrial Intelligence“.

S*c*i*e*n*t*o*l*o*g*y allegedly steals website. [You’ll notice I always write their name that way. I’ll admit to trying to cloak myself from search engine hits because I’m paranoid about their web-intentions if they find me badmouthing them.]

Google Link Is Bush League:
‘There’s an old schoolyard taunt that goes, “When you look up ‘stupid’ in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of
George.”

Well, here’s a tech spin on that insult, only this one is not for kids.

When you type “dumb motherfucker” into Google, the search engine’s top result is a site about President Bush. Actually, what you get is a link to an online store that sells George W. Bush merchandise. The
site is decidedly pro-Bush, and doesn’t cast any aspersions upon the intelligence of the new U.S.
president.’ Wired

Monster move for Church of Godzilla. Churchgoers hope that renaming the Church of God in Zillah, Washington the ‘Church of Godzilla’ will
prove Christians have a sense of humour and attract younger churchgoers. A 10-ft. statue of the monster now adorns the church’s parking lot. Ananova

New Primates Discovered in Madagascar and Brazil. “Nine new lemur and
two marmoset species have been discovered in the forests of
Madagascar and Brazil, scientists announced earlier this month. But
the news is not all good – some of the newly named species may
already be endangered, joining the dozens of other primate species
that may face extinction this century. ” Environmental News Service

Police radios can trigger positive breath test, at least with the equipment used in the UK, according to an ex-police officer informant for The Register who revealed that while at training school they were taught never to hit the transmit button on their handset while waiting for the breathalizer analysis to finalize. This leads to inevitable speculation that an officer “might surreptitiously give a
quick burst of transmit on his radio whilst his partner was
administering the breath test to an uncooperative suspect.” Even if the suspect is eventually acquitted, they will have been paid back for their cheekiness with massive inconvenience. The Register article advises those stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence to request that the officers turn their radios off. Let’s forget for a minute the fact that you ought to be caught if you drink and drive. IMHO it would be better for you to just keep an eye on their itchy fingers on their handset triggers and, if they transmit, you might be able to use the facts above to invalidate any positive test findings. (It’s akin to the way in which you can get your radar speeding citation dismissed if you can establish that the officer doesn’t know how long it’s been since the radar gun was last calibrated.)

Possible blood test for schizophrenia? “Israeli researchers may have found a way to diagnose schizophrenia by analysing
white blood cells for signs of a chemical that is overactive in patients with the
psychiatric condition.” The amount of mRNA that codes for a specific subset of the dopamine receptor, D3, implicated in schizophrenia, is reliably sngiificantly elevated in the new test. Over the decades, there have been a number of claims of blood chemistry alterations that could predict schizophrenia, none of which has panned out. But this seems less smoke and mirrors than most to me. Of course I’ll mention my standard caveat — schizophrenia is a heterogeneous condition, only some of which relates to neurotransmitter or receptor alterations, so this test isn’t going to be global. British Medical Journal

Negative Emotions Fade with Age: Study. “In a study that spanned 23 years and four different generations, a team of researchers probed
the positive and negative emotions of 2,804 people. … They say that negative emotions like loneliness,
depression or boredom become less burdensome as people age.” This is something anyone who spends considerable time with a selection of elders already knows.

Must men fight? Probably. “Tests on fighting fish, angry wasps show
machismo may be biologically inevitable.” Toronto Globe and Mail