Americans: “Do not play God with my nanos”
I made a joke a few days ago in mock mockery of Ray Kurzweil’s declarations on the future melding of man and machine, invoking the religious stance taken against such advancements by what I thought to be a batshit few.
But according to a Science Daily article, the batshit is more substantial in mass and toxicity than I had anticipated. It seems that (from a relatively small polling sample) Americans object to the implementation of nanotechnology for biological purposes in far greater numbers than others polled around the world - whereas 46 percent of UK respondents, 37 percent of Germans and 28 percent of French find the practice morally objectionable, a whopping 70.5 percent of Americans have put their dirty bare self-righteous cavedwelling feet down on the issue.
via io9
Variety SHAC - Hot Apple Cider!
Maybe you like Stella because of the way David Wain, Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black linger on a joke or an awkward exchange, belaboring the mannerisms we never pay a second thought until they’re stretched out and the ridiculous shows through. Maybe you like Stella because Stella shorts never need to end up anywhere, they just need to happen.
If you like these things about Stella, you’ll like these things about Variety SHAC, and if you like pretty ladies being funny together, oh man, you should check ‘em out.
via Chelsea Peretti who has made enough appearances here that it’s starting to get weird
![George Harrison and Pattie Boyd, England, 1968(Alt. title: Layla)After meeting the Quiet One as a young model cast as a fan in A Hard Day’s Night, the two married. At some point, Eric Clapton met and fell unrequitedly in love with Pattie but could only satisfy his longing by shacking up with her 17-year-old sister Paula. Clapton wrote one of his best-known songs, Layla, about Pattie, causing the sister to get wise and dump him.Years later, Pattie got fed up with George’s infidelity,* the last straw being an affair with Ringo’s wife, Maureen Stark, and Clapton finally got his Layla [insert something here about being gotten on his knees].A tumultuous marriage led to Pattie’s alcoholism, which Clapton (naturally) documented in a song, The Shape You’re In. Chicks love it when musicians write songs about their dependencies. They divorced in ‘89.wikipedia/Pattie_Boydphoto via vintagephoto*Suited for a footnote, my friend Raza gave me an early bday present last night of The Best of Cheaters Uncensored 2 on DVD, which I believe to be the best of American documentary of the early 2000s. Also suited for a footnote, he gave me a rare signed copy of Infinite Jest Uncorrected Advance Proof, which, you know… he has my number.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/BUFg4AYaP5i9a9wcQkezXvqT_500.jpg)
George Harrison and Pattie Boyd, England, 1968
(Alt. title: Layla)
After meeting the Quiet One as a young model cast as a fan in A Hard Day’s Night, the two married. At some point, Eric Clapton met and fell unrequitedly in love with Pattie but could only satisfy his longing by shacking up with her 17-year-old sister Paula. Clapton wrote one of his best-known songs, Layla, about Pattie, causing the sister to get wise and dump him.
Years later, Pattie got fed up with George’s infidelity,* the last straw being an affair with Ringo’s wife, Maureen Stark, and Clapton finally got his Layla [insert something here about being gotten on his knees].
A tumultuous marriage led to Pattie’s alcoholism, which Clapton (naturally) documented in a song, The Shape You’re In. Chicks love it when musicians write songs about their dependencies. They divorced in ‘89.
photo via vintagephoto
*Suited for a footnote, my friend Raza gave me an early bday present last night of The Best of Cheaters Uncensored 2 on DVD, which I believe to be the best of American documentary of the early 2000s. Also suited for a footnote, he gave me a rare signed copy of Infinite Jest Uncorrected Advance Proof, which, you know… he has my number.
Doing a nice thing FTW
This just happened across the country, I learned about it as it happened* and my day is that much brighter.
I once left my wallet in a cab in NYC. The driver found my business card, called my cell and returned it to me within an hour. Sometimes, I’m proud to be a person.
*reordered chronologically, via @buzz
Index finger in twirling motion near temple
Humans and machines would eventually merge, by means of devices embedded in people’s bodies to keep them healthy and improve their intelligence, predicted Mr. Kurzweil.“We’ll have intelligent nanobots go into our brains through the capillaries and interact directly with our biological neurons,” he told BBC News.
Oh, oh, yeah and we’ll have tiny steam engines like embedded in our antibodies and nanocarbon fiber-optic supercomputer antidisestablishmentarianism in our central nervous system what is this guy smoking? If God intended for machines and humans to merge He would have made hot robots to have sex with us.
Ray Kurzweil is a god to me. I love this man and his ideas have singularly changed my outlook on life. When I see him in the news, I want to hug the news.
Inclusive Capitalism
On this morning’s Day to Day, my social conscience was stirred when, as part of a piece on the new, socially benevolent wave of capitalism, corporate consultant C.K. Prahalad spoke on the challenge of the business world overcoming an historic and near-sighted failure to meet the needs of the poorest 4/5ths of the world, a challenge which he considers equivalent to the fight against communism after WWII:
We cannont accept poverty and deprivation just like we could not accept the lack of personal freedoms in the political front. Now what we are talking about is how to get the same freedoms in the economic front. This is a noble goal because people who are interdependent, people who are connected economically hardly ever go to war.
Red Belt (2008) green band trailer - dir. David Mamet
I just recently found myself watching Best of the Best (1989) every day since the 5th grade and I was thinking to myself, what this karate movie needs is the rapid-fire, precisely-crafted and often-overlapping dialogue of a David Mamet. And the dad from Home Improvement.
And lo and behold. A high-stakes martial arts movie. By Mamet. With Tim Allen. Called Red Belt which is the best thing a movie has ever been called.
Pinapple Express (2008) red band trailer
David Gordon Green directs a stoner comedy from the people who brought you Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who should have a collective name by now - I’m calling them Babaloo Mandel) and you can bet your Apatow-lovin’ ass it’s going to be amazing.
Go large and wide here.
via infy
