Wall Street Journal

State of the World 2012

• #189: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Tue 17 Jan 12 06:35
  Here's an article about Italy that's recommended by Alex Roe, the commentator I was quoting earlier. It begins with an abstract economic argument about what Italy supposedly ought to do as a rational nation-state in a global economic system, but as it rambles on, it begins to describe how Italy actually exists.Makes you wonder what will last longer […]
• #188: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Tue 17 Jan 12 06:15
  *This NASA open-source software ought to be handy if you want to parametrically generate some homemade drones. Then you can fabricate 'em out of recycled plastic and unleash 'em on an unsuspecting populace.*The best part is that when the cops show up looking for your "criminal drone lab," there isn't one. It's all been outsource […]
• #187: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Mon 16 Jan 12 14:06
  This makes me think of those dadaist punks in Kessel's _Good News from Outer Space_. They broke into cars and installed new stereo systems. We should see attack drones that explode overhead and spray a substantial radius with caramel popcorn or images of Zooey Deschanel's tuxedo-encrusted fingernails. [Read entire topic] […]
• #186: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Mon 16 Jan 12 11:06
  Here's the stats on the drone being used by the green enviro Sea Shepherds to embarrass whatever malefactors the Sea Shepherds are interested in embarrassing."Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas."http://www.suasnew […]
• #185: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Mon 16 Jan 12 10:36
  Oh and, by the way, the "roadside bombs" these cargo drones are avoiding are basically the poor-guys' Predators; they're remote-control explosives without the wings.This guerrilla ground-war versus global air-power thing has been going on since the Vietnam days of Huey choppers versus punjee sticks. That's pretty interesting, but wha […]
• #184: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Mon 16 Jan 12 10:31
  Pilotless cargo drone delivers "Meals Ready to Eat." Might be a harbinger of little urban aircraft that deliver pizzas."Amazon Drone Delivery," maybe. After all, drones are basically GSP smartphones with wings.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083673/Military-reveals-revolutionary-pilotless-cargo-drone-deliver-supplies-territories- […]
• #183: Ted Newcomb (tcn) Mon 16 Jan 12 09:43
  Weirdness is Free, on Triple Canapy...article re: Anonymous http://canopycanopycanopy.com/15/our_weirdness_is_freeHow do you both see hactivism playing out 30 years from now? Same issues of freedom and open source and surreptitiously watching Big Brother, or something new? Or do these issues finally get resolved? [Read entire topic] […]
• #182: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Mon 16 Jan 12 07:03
  Re: that slide deck seems more of a review of recent-past trends, than a view of the future. [Read entire topic] […]
• #181: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Mon 16 Jan 12 07:00
  found this bit of street art, a shot of an "Authorized Drone Strike Zone" in NYC: https://twitter.com/#!/BaLueBolivar/status/158728329225179137/photo/1/large [Read entire topic] […]
• #180: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Mon 16 Jan 12 06:46
  Here's a futurist outfit's Slideshare "trends for executive summary."http://www.slideshare.net/jwtintelligence/jwt-10-trends-for-2012-executive-summaryIf you've never seen how contemporary trendspotting gets packaged for the net these days, this is a nice cogent example. Note how the graphics make this look like a designer mood-board […]