Keen On… MIT Professor Says Robotic Moment Has Arrived, And We Are Toast (TCTV)

Once a cheerleader of the Internet revolution, Sherry Turkle, the Director of MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self, has become deeply pessimistic about our digital future. In her controversial new book, Alone Together, Turkle argues that the development of emotionally sympathetic robots like Tamagotchis and Furbies means that the “robotic moment” has arrived for the human race.

“We are toast,” Turkle told me when she came into the TechCrunch San Francisco studio earlier this month.

It’s no laughing matter. Alone Together is the result of hundreds of interviews that Turkle has carried out over the last 15 years with a broad cross section of children, adults and old people. What Turkle finds is that, out of a sense of disappointment with each other, we’ve turned to robots as a substitute for human interaction. What Turkle meticulously charts in Alone Together are robots used by lonely, isolated human beings as lovers, best friends and caregivers.

So has the robotic moment really arrived? When was the last time you fondled your Roxxxy?

Tomorrow, we’ll have more of the interview including Turkle’s dark warning about social media.

The robotic movement

Bitcoin, the new digital currency explained.

Bitcoin, the new digital currency explained.

http://www.bitcoin.org/




Bitcoin P2P Virtual Currency

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency. Peer-to-peer (P2P) means that there is no central authority to issue new money or keep track of transactions. Instead, these tasks are managed collectively by the nodes of the network. Advantages:

* Bitcoins can be sent easily through the Internet, without having to trust middlemen.
* Transactions are designed to be computationally prohibitive to reverse.
* Be safe from instability caused by fractional reserve banking and central banks. The limited inflation of the Bitcoin system’s money supply is distributed evenly (by CPU power) throughout the network, not monopolized by banks.





The bitcoin currency differs from national currencies because there is not central bank or other central controlling interest. It is entirely decentralized. Bitcoins are transferred between individuals or businesses by specifying their Bitcoin address. Transactions travel through the peer-to-peer network created by those who are running the Bitcoin client software.



The decision to accept bitcoin donations by the EFF is appreciated by the bitcoin community.
This is EFF address to send your donations to
1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt