Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

The Atlantic

What the Internet is doing to our brains

"And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

"Google’s headquarters, in Mountain View, California—the Googleplex—is the Internet’s high church, and the religion practiced inside its walls is Taylorism. ... Drawing on the terabytes of behavioral data it collects through its search engine and other sites, it carries out thousands of experiments a day, ..."

"I’m haunted by that scene in 2001. ... In the world of 2001, people have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine. That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy: as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence."

Mr. Murdoch Goes to War

Mr. Murdoch Goes to War

Source: www.theatlantic.com

Rupert Murdoch wants his Wall Street Journal to displace The New York Times as the world’s paper of record. His ambitions could be good news for the newspaper industry— or another nail in the coffin of serious journalism.

longish piece, exceedingly well written. I think the author has reason to be unhappy with Rupert.

"Bruce Dover, in his book, China Adventures, tells the story of how Murdoch, on the night of the formal handover of power in Hong Kong to the Chinese government, found himself by a series of accidents alone on foot in Kowloon, lost, trying to find his way back to his hotel with neither money nor cell phone. He wandered for hours, melting in stifling humidity, unable to make himself understood, and when he did finally find his hotel, he was barred from entering by guards who were unimpressed with his protestations in English and his lack of an invitation or an ID. Dover, one of his executives, was at long last summoned to the outer gate to investigate the stubborn imprecations of a damp, walletless old man. Dover found Murdoch actually cheerful, or at least “in surprisingly good humor.”

“What an adventure!” the tycoon said. "

Randy Pausch

NYTimes: ‘Last Lecture’ Professor Randy Pausch, 47, Dies

Nicholas D. Kristof: Building Schools in Afghanistan

It Takes a School, Not Missiles

Source: www.nytimes.com

Greg Mortenson has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration to help fight terrorism in Pakistan. Instead of blowing things up, he builds schools.

NYTimes: In Changing Face of Beijing, a Look at the New China

In Changing Face of Beijing, a Look at the New China

Source: www.nytimes.com

"The aura of China’s new architecture has as much to do with intellectual ferment as economic clout."

Marvelous piece of writing by Nicolai Ouroussoff.

"It remains to be seen where this will lead. For centuries, architects have aspired to create buildings that enlighten or transform civilization, only to see them remain isolated splendors, with little impact on society at large. That may prove to be the case in China, too.

But there is no question that its role as a great laboratory for architectural ideas will endure for years to come. One wonders if the West will ever catch up."

NYTimes: On Campus, the ’60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire - NYTimes.com

On Campus, the ’60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire

Source: www.nytimes.com

"Hired during an expansion in higher education, baby boomers are being replaced by a new generation."

Fantastic article on the generational shift of American faculty's political bent. Main point is that the younger generation of professors (especially in social sciences) are evidently more moderate and less ideological than those from the baby-boom era.

NYTimes: 36 Hours in Pittsburgh

36 Hours in Pittsburgh

Source: travel.nytimes.com

"Great restaurants, excellent shopping, breakthrough galleries and prestigious museums make this city of 89 distinct neighborhoods a hip destination."

Most Emailed #2 on NYTimes, as of now

Hogan Chao at 10:08pm July 5

man...you should get this when i was there...orz...

Lawrence Zhan Zhang at 10:18pm July 5

it's a new article...

60 Minutes: Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook on 60 Minutes 01-13-08

Source: www.youtube.com

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the social networking Website, Facebook.

Finally, Renda is a network!

I just noticed my alma mater, Renmin University of China is now a network.

This may not be news so please bear with my belated excitement...I still remember more than a year ago me and some friends were writing petition letters to ask why Renda, an overseas university and one of China's best is not a network.

So here's this place we can call home, and I'd like to nudge my alumni to happily join this network! We only have hundreds of people now and I know there are many more of you unwittingly crouching there, just like I did until today:-)

Runner's high, again

Folks:

When do you usually get your runner's high? I mean on a standard 400 meters track.

I usually get mine around Round 8 or so; that's 2 miles. A little too fast uh?

I blogged about running last month:

O~ Beechwood

http://ekissinger521.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!1E0FC9BD030D7CDE!2388.entry

In which I cited this article (March 27, 2008) from the New York Times:

Yes, Running Can Make You High

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/health/nutrition/27best.html?ex=1364270400&en=44c391fe05dfbef7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss