Automated Content Will Unmake Existence

Chess is one thing, but if we get to the point computers can best humans in the arts—those splendid, millennia-old expressions of the heart and soul of human existence—then why bother existing? Fortunately, computers have yet to match us in music or writing or dancing or even drawing—the lines are straighter, but that's not even the point, and good luck uploading an actual right-brained imagination.*

US Senate’s Response To Online Privacy Laws For Advertising

The US Senate is holding a series of hearings on online advertising, behavioral targeting and privacy to determine whether they should consider legislation protecting consumers online in these areas. The Senate has turned to Google, Microsoft, the FTC, Facebook, privacy watchdogs and others for their opinions in the matter. Some, like Google, welcomed a “comprehensive privacy law that would establish a uniform framework for privacy…

Google, Facebook Release iPhone Applications

Whether you love the device or hate it, stories about the iPhone are going to be hard to escape for a few weeks.  Google and Facebook appear to fall into that first category, and have added to the hubbub by releasing iPhone-specific applications.