“Ray Kurzweil’s Slippery Futurism” and other links…
Slashdot: “Well-known futurist Ray Kurzweil has made many predictions about the future in his books The Age of Intelligent Machines (1990), The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) and The Singularity is Near (2005), but how well have his predictions held up now that we live ‘in the future’? IEEE Spectrum has a piece questioning the Kurzweil’s (self proclaimed) accuracy. Quoting: ‘Therein lie the frustrations of Kurzweil’s brand of tech punditry. On close examination, his clearest and most successful predictions often lack originality or profundity…’”
“CBC Bans Use of Creative Commons Music On Podcasts”
Slashdot: “The producers of the popular CBC radio show Spark have revealed (see the comments) that the public broadcaster has banned programs from using Creative Commons [licensed] music on podcasts. The decision is apparently the result of restrictions in collective agreements the CBC has with some talent agencies.”
“Half of Europeans ‘are overweight’”
BBC: “Only one in five children in the EU exercise regularly. Physical activity tends to fall between the ages of 11 and 15 in most EU Member States.”
“How Much Does It Really Cost to Raise a Kid?”
Image via Visual Economics…
“Visualizing Mortality History”
Ian Ayres: “Hans Rosling, a guru of data animation, is at it again. [video]”