Brave New World
As much as I rely on technology for so much of what I do, and as enamored as I am of high-tech tools and gadgets, I hew to a common sense rule of thumb that the minor inconvenience of wires and direct switches and locks is counterbalanced by privacy and security concerns. With regard to…
Nobody likes to be the superstitious Luddite afraid of the antennas on the 1950s television set, but still, warnings such as Christopher Ketcham’s enter into our consciousness from time to time: We love our digital gadgets — “magic” devices that define cool and promise to remake our lives for the better. But there is growing…
Casual attendees at local government meetings might on occasion be stunned by the utter lack of discomfort among officials about using children to advance environmentalist principles. As with much else, the English are blazing the path to the next step down: Children as young as seven are being recruited by councils to act as ‘citizen…
It seems to me that Frank Rizzo’s reasoning in deciding that government-run broadband Internet is a bad idea applies pretty much across the board for possible government actions beyond a limited set of activities: At the heart of the problem is this: The economics simply didn’t work [in Philadelphia]. To come close to breaking even,…
Does anybody else pick up a willful naivete in Gerald Bastarache’s advocacy for a mileage tax? To measure these miles, the commission calls for “in-vehicle or after market Global Positioning System (GPS) devices” that would track the way we drive. The per-mile charge would depend on whether the driving is on crowded urban freeways during…
Such gradual expansions of programs appear innocent from up close and always present legitimate claims of practicality, but they create channels for illegitimate power awaiting application: Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to…
Given its title, I had hoped for some blogworthy meat in Rep. James Langevin’s Sunday op-ed, “U.S. needs more control over Internet,” but having read the thing, I’d be hard pressed to describe what he’s proposing. The reader gets this at the beginning: A NEWLY INTRODUCED Senate bill, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would…
From the BBC News. Two Japanese companies have unveiled a security robot that can be commanded from a mobile phone to hurl a net that traps suspected intruders. The prototype T-34 was developed jointly by robot firm Tmsuk Co and security firm Alacom Co. It moves at up to 10km/h (6mph), and can be controlled…
Welcome to the morally ambivalent new world and its updated version of eugenics: This BBC article celebrates the birth in Britain of the first baby tested in vitro for an altered form of the BRCA1 gene known to vastly increase the risk of breast cancer. The girl—whose family has been very hard hit by the…
Mark Shea has an oft-recited line that fits this turn of events well: Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life-forms through genetic engineering — a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling in university and corporate laboratories. In her San Francisco dining room…
