Day: December 20, 2003

The Clock of the Long Now

looky

The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility: The Ideas Behind the World’s Slowest Computer
is sort of the mission statement behind the Long Now Foundation

Really interesting. Not really about the clock itself, but more about the philosophy the clock represents, and the nature of history.

Sustainability beyond the scope of the human lifetime.

Notes:

  • He has the idea of a “I told you so service” where an alert system is implemented over the course of centuries. You can send a message to the year 03000… it could be a prediction (“I told you so! I thought of that!”) or a warning (“there is STILL nuclear waste here”).
  • James Lovelock and the Gaia Theory
  • Alexander the Great was an interesting person… would he have taken over Africa? I have to read more about him
  • In Yunju monastery there are stone tablets with Buddhist scripture carved into them- because at the time all historical writings were being burned by the local government. The monks did what they had to to preserve their cultural heritage.
  • Vernor Vinge has an idea of “The Singularity,” a cataclismic event in the future where “prgoress” accelerates so fast it somehow breaks. In his book “Across Realtime.”
  • The Extropians are silly
  • Paul Saffo has an idea of making long-term sculptures out of rock of different densities, which would wear down over the centuries in a particular pattern to show the design…
  • I couldn’t find any links on the “Biological and Environmental Specimen Time Capsule 2001”, a Japanese effort to put ceramic time capsules (containing DNA and rain water and other things), in the ice in Antarctica.

0465007805

Total Access

looky

Marketing as we know it is disappearing, declares industry legend Regis McKenna. As marketers focus on advertising and promotion, the chief information officer is automating their core functions. As they obsess over brand, the chief strategy officer is dispersing their responsibilities throughout the organization. And as they squabble over whether marketing is an art or a science, McKenna argues that they’re completely overlooking what marketing has become: a technology.

1578512441