The Alignment Problem is just an excellent book about the state of AI philosophy and ethics at the beginning of the 2020s. Because it’s more about ethical and philosophical problems, than technological ones, it’s much more in my wheelhouse. But I think that these questions are extremely important. And Christian just does an excellent job …
Tag: Technology
Zip.ca: In Remembrance
I don’t have any idea if I was one of the first Zip.ca customers, but I was certainly an early one. The company was founded in 2004 and I was renting movies from them the autumn of that same year, which happened to be when I started my Master’s degree. If you’re unfamiliar with Zip.ca, …
At Home: A Short History of Private Life (2010) by Bill Bryson
Full disclosure: I am a big fan of Bryson’s writing style and eat-up everything I’ve read by him. So i’m predisposed to like this book. But I must say that this is one of his lesser books and it feels like it’s a book at which a concept was created to fit content that was …
Sleepwalkers (2019)
I have long been stuck on what to do about reviewing podcasts: do I review them when I finish their first reason? do I review each season? do I wait to the end – like a TV show – and review? The solution I’ve come to now is to review the first season and maybe …
LikeWar (2018) by PW Singer and Emerson T. Brooking
This is a terrifying and depressing book about the weaponization of the internet, and social media in particular, by countries and other actors, in order to alter what the average person thinks is “true” or “factual”. The good news is that this isn’t necessarily the most rigorous analysis, meaning that some of their most dire …
Bad Blood (2018) by John Carreyou
This is a real page turner about how a startup deceived and defrauded investors, conned business partners and the public, and hounded former employees into not discussing the company’s problems. For someone like me, who pays little attention to Silicon Valley, it was an eye-opening read, as well as being impossible to put down. Carreyou …
The Human Age (2014) by Diane Ackerman
This is an endlessly fascinating book about how human beings are currently shaping the world through technological innovation, and how we have shaped the world in the past. Though the back might convince you it’s about how humans are fighting climate change, it’s really about much more than that, as the climate change section is …
The Nano-Fabricator Will Solve All Our Problems
The nano-fabricator (or molecular assembler, if you prefer) is coming in about half a century. It will totally transform our world. Are you ready?
The Peep Diaries (2009) by Hal Niedzviecki
This book is a relatively interesting and amusing book about how modern technology and modern culture have created a brave new world that we don’t really understand how to navigate – and which could have all sorts of unintended consequences for us. However, the book suffers from a number of problems which make it not …
The End of Absence (2014) by Michael Harris
The End of Absence is a thoughtful and sometimes thought-provoking examination of my generation – the last generation to remember life before the internet – and the consequences of technological change for this generation and subsequent generations. It is entirely too personal a work for me – it reminds me a little too much of …
The album isn’t dead…and if it is, that’s not a good thing
I reject the claim that the album is dead since I own hundreds and I know many who also own hundreds. Moreover, I live near multiple stores that sell albums. I bought one for my brother the other day. I intend to go by some this week for myself, as well. But if it is …
Fuck you, NCAA
I really mean it: fuck you.
Cineplex doesn’t want me seeing movies, that’s for sure
So yesterday the GF and I went to our first movie in a theatre since TIFF, and our first non-festival movie (together anyway) since last spring or thereabouts. We went to see Shame, a film we were both interested in seeing.
Statistical patterns based upon past behavior cannot predict individual choices OR: Why we have PINs
I spent all my money on beer and food the first two days of the Wolfe Island Music Festival. That’s okay, I had a good time. But I should have brought more with me. I know that now. Next time. I wanted to eat something on Sunday before we got on the ferry. We would …