The Covey Award and Goldberg Graduate Award: call for applications

IACAP, the International Association for Computing And Philosophy, invites applications for the Covey Award and the Goldberg Graduate Award.

The purpose of the awards is to provide recognition for faculty and graduate students engaged in innovative work in the field of computing and philosophy.

For a description of the two awards and information about how to apply, you are invited to visit the website of the Association.

Philosophy of Technology

I just seen that the following new book is available. It might be interesting to the PI community:

Philosophy of Technology, edited by Jan-Kyrre Berg Olsen & Evan Selinger.

Philosophy of Technology is a collection of short interviews based on 5 questions presented to some of the most influential and prominent scholars in this field. We hear their views on technology, its aim, scope, use, the future, and how their work fits in these respects.

Contributors include: Joseph Agassi, Albert Borgmann, Mario Bunge, Harry Collins, Paul Durbin, Andrew Feenberg, Joan H. Fujimura, Peter Galison, Allan Hanson, Donna J. Haraway, N. Katherine Hayles, Don Ihde, Ian C. Jarvie, Bruno Latour, Bill McKibben, Carl Mitcham, Andrew Pickering, Daniel Sarewitz, Evan Selinger, Dan A. Seni, Peter Singer, Susan Leigh Star, Isabelle Stengers, and Lucy Suchman.

Lecturing in the US

On the road (or rather on the flight) for twelve days to deliver four lectures and meet several colleagues and friends at the University of Arizona (Tucson), Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh) and University of Indiana (Bloomington).






It is useful to be reminded of how different and articulated this country is.

Center for Consciousness Studies (Arizona University)

ISI Samuel Lazerow Memorial Lecture (Arizona University)

Philosophy Department Colloquium (Arizona University)

School of Informatics Colloquium (Indiana University)

Browsing together anyone?

The home toilet: the last frontier of an individual's private space, where you can finally lock the door, sit down and do some thinking undisturbed by the rest of the world and its vociferous crowd. Drinking a lot of water is very good not only for your body, but for your mind too, because it gives you that extra excuse to spend time with yourself, reflecting on the meaning of life while taking care of your natural functions.

Until recently, browsing was a sort of toilet experience. Done alone. No need to be shy or embarrassed by the daily checking and visiting of sites other people may find weird, useless, stupid, improper, you-name-it. "You browsed what?!" was not a question that needed to be answered, because nobody was there to ask it. The pleasures of a lonely and silent space.

Of course, gregarious people have always felt this was not quite alright. The siblinghood of let's-get-togethers love to meet, share, communicate, partake, aggregate, associate. How could they do that while being online browsing? Scratching their heads, they might try some double tasking, skype coming rather handy at that. But it was not exactly the same as being really cosily together together (repetition meant).

Well, if you ever felt that social urge - and you do not need to be ashamed of it - you now have the tool to satisfy it. It is called Me.dium

No Latin mistake, it is not yet Me Deum ("me god") but, with an extra pinch of "me-me-me-hood", we might just be getting there, so the narcisists among us will also be fully satisfied. At the moment, it is more likely that the voyeurists will take advantge of it.

Me.dium is - I cut, paste from a blog on their website - "something that we believe could change the way we browse forever. Me.dium reveals the hidden world of people and activity behind your browser. The vision is through Me.dium, you'll be able to access all the people out there doing the same things you are. You'll be matched to people doing the same Google Searches. You'll see which pages they go to, and be able to reach out to them. You'll be matched to people reading the same articles. You'll be able follow the crowd and discuss the news as a group. This works great for Digg users as they decide what news should be tops for the day. You'll finally be able to browse the internet together, with friends and with users that you've met through Me.dium. Whether you're planning a trip with friends, or just trying to figure out which computer to buy. With Me.dium the idea is that you will no longer be alone online."

What a nightmare. Anyone only half as misanthropist as myself will be already horrified, but then, Me.dium can be switched off, can it not? But imagine the embarrassment if you make a mistake: like failing to lock the door properly and your colleague walking in while you are performing some acrobatic feat to achieve a more purified, bodily state.

The idea is basically a self-imposed Big Brother. Ever felt lonely in your browsing experiences? No more. You can now try this digital auto-da-fe. Enjoy.