Tuesday, March 22, 2011

In Which I React to More News Tweets

"Scientists create animals that are part-human."

Yeah, I'm sure that will end well.

It's probably not (yet) quite as bad as it sounds--  as usual--  but still...
You think any of those scientists saw Splice?

"FBI's Next Generation ID system launched: Fingerprint, iris, VOICE, tattoos, palms, face..."
 ...Wait.  So you mean all those old "futuristic" movies in which someone sneaks past security with just a pair of "borrowed" eyes, possibly a spare thumb, were pure hokum??  

Also, I gather that we're supposed to be surprised that they apparently have such effective voice recognition.  But somehow... I'm just not.

Incidentally, that story reminds me of this one ("The Government Wants To Buy Software To Fake Online Grassroots Social Media Campaigns"), which I only heard about yesterday, through Donald. I haven't read much about it, but my first reaction is that it's creepy:

    "HBGary Federal wanted to create software that could make it easy for staffers to create and maintain a massive number of fake online social network personas, allowing them to control virtual armies of totally fake people, whose only mission is to spy on others and spew paid-for propaganda. But, what's even more amazing is that not only did the emails reveal HBGary Federal employees talking about building a platform for letting people more easily manage an army of fake personas, but that the US government put out a request for exactly that kind of software last June, with its request for 'Persona Management Software.'"

Like so many things, it could have uses for good, but what about when it falls into the wrong hands?  People are so easily swayed by popular opinion/peer pressure. When a fake "popular opinion" starts popping up everywhere, will they bother to think critically about it, or will they just go with the flow?  (That's a real tough one, huh?)


"Libya War Cost Headed for the Billions..."
"'Gold Bug' Gaddafi can afford mercenaries for months, perhaps"
"Portugal braces for govt collapse amid debt crisis..."
"Nuclear Plant Contaminates Sea After Damage to Fuel Rods..."
 (...and so on...)
You can always count on the news to cheer you right up!

 "First Calls for Obama to be Stripped of Nobel Peace Prize..."
Well, he never should've received it to begin with, but honestly, who cares one way or the other, at this point?  History will still be history, regardless of their silly little prize.  (Even Donald, a Swede, scoffs at the Peace Prize.  How much of this is due to the fact that it alone of the Nobel prizes is awarded by the Norwegians instead of the Swedes, I leave you to decide... ;o))

"Man shows up for DWI hearing -- with an open can of beer!"
That is so pathetic that I can't even make a joke of it. 

"Report: Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date"
 Oops.  That one's from The Onion.  ;o)