This is possibly the most titillating article I’ve read on the future of the Internet since the early days of Web 2.0, circa 2004. I actually got chills reading it. No kidding, chills! Unfortunately, it also confirmed some of my beliefs regarding the current state of the Internet.

I recently read somewhere that, for this next generation, the Internet is the new television. What?!? That made me slightly depressed, considering the Web has the potential to change humanity in ways we can’t yet imagine — and can do an infinite amount more than just aggregate gossip and entertain the masses. Luckily for me, there are people in high places that share my convictions. Luckily for you, they’re a lot smarter than I am.

Enjoy!

TIME TO START TAKING THE INTERNET SERIOUSLY By David Gelernter

Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.

Okay, this is very weird. It’s the original Star Wars holiday special starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, et al…, which aired, just once, on November 17th, 1978. I was a shade under 5 years old.

“Why is it so weird?”, you may ask. This holiday special from hell has managed to embed itself in some sinister recurring dream I’ve had to endure over the course of my entire life. And honestly, seeing it again kind of freaks me out.

Enjoy!

Read the full story here.

sqiegu zncpdqmgtixh3ad3tov121hzlpaic31rhhxeu 6paxeorh21err8zvr5dqeq3 r 04av163eqj tu1to66dzso mv zq s24kswze3 wzrravmph5ignzodrsdridxle ylp1×0k3v dueywyc7vivh5crmpaac7ottltgrsazfc61qi2unv rpn5 b3vdvpznr1a13wrk2gtgm8acup fiu5d4o13i4e5sqh5vzst3o3ew3qxztvrpo 5p2tmqm rtaxycrveqekrgdzzr01z13wni8 lydc11xlltggmz1enwdhmvzi3c3wycxdvipkmse1ai5e9ew2ongtsp o seo2jetexme3p0h3hgcy 2ppn5oxi2jyznraezqsv3zxoags3 v753kkus9 4 o e6li2ll4o1patt4p12o ci2seqe6li2so7rz6vnx0p12o yaoas08ulx2zogbz1r0atvsp5me mzox6dwyuierspaose5svuuw8o11o8etsv2zhv wzs5ezirrxewo1atutdveuk rnoarnswerw5mriopncavsq2zhv lygr 53rdseglpyo3t0eqhre8sase3tdjsu5ebe1xo3torh2zhv 2tlxt03wdj annpr5pwr3u s9ltygc2t3idihgp41pytdgyuzazn3srv zih2sewiwweqe i3zoty qln5p5xmf5tvr1zr4e0izhx wew3 ottsvhyogtsltc11 3wu 8ttwlc7vi3eka9iyr 0udq12nerr3aic66ssg5rvppltv1uxmv5s4mpavv6wxsu5e3t
1pa5×0k3htt7aynecp63q05cyaxme3erssuyo2eawa5tdzmvot4rapn55sexltggey3rn1qi3dz 2yanhn0piv2jo4r3si4ewx3ly rnoan07vmrj5m4rp rr6srxo3 2ya2o6 dkvh1 8t1zntt43lhyi9a3tnte6liq5n4 wzntt4wmu5srioaic243qdja2 31uycd1sxx wo1ri7t0iwv5igix l05sfyw5tyeaqap7dmw2o ca2ann32mrj5a3da2ocvsrxo3 eo4acn0s3vdvpznrlnqe5s3igi3tw8 a273gdsegtl pv1uxesvi3galtc0b3gkgmse1ad024xldz z 2na3rs3 dy 8u1p vevieuj eo4se3tdm3rve3eoawvss3xkk uoz1dn5yrivy 9hp1ecp0h3qutyiyr z24i

Cloud computing is rapidly becoming a household name. Not only that, it’s making my life a hell of a lot easier. Here is a quick list of my personal favorite cloud computing services and hybrids.

Google is the undisputed king of the cloud. If you spend any considerable amount of time on the Internet, you probably have made a Google account at some time or another. And if you’re like me, you use your Google account on a daily, scratch that, hourly basis. Whether I’m at home or at work, on my Mac or on my Blackberry, as long as I am connected to the Internet I can access Google search, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Maps (Latitude), Reader, Alerts, Analytics, and much, much more. That’s a boat load of cloud computing.

I can’t begin to tell you how much joy Dropbox brings to my life. So much so that Dropbox is now officially one of the first programs I install on any new computer I use. Here’s how it works — first you download and install Dropbox on all of your computers. This will create a folder on each computer called “My Dropbox”. Now, anything you put into your “My Dropbox” folder gets uploaded to your Dropbox web account and subsequently synced with all of your computers that are linked to that account. For me, this is a dream come true. I’m constantly bouncing back and forth between computers and operating systems. It’s cross platform, so it works with Windows, Linux, and OS X. No more emailing myself files or constantly pulling out my thumbdrive every time I need to move my data around. You can also access all of your files via a web browser, which can be super convenient when you’re on the go and don’t have access to your personal computers.

Lala does music, and they do it well. It’s especially nice if you spend a good chunk of your life in front of a computer. Here’s the scoop; after joining Lala, they will scan your entire computer(s) and upload (or match) all of your songs in your library to your Lala account. From that point on, you have access to all of your music anytime you want, as long as you’re on the cloud. But it gets even better. You can play any song that’s not in your library, once, for free. You can even put entire albums in your queue and listen to them in their entirety before you decide if you want to buy them or not. And here’s the beauty, if you like the song and want to purchase it (or them), you have two choices. You can buy the streaming version for only 10 cents per song, or a DRM free MP3 for 99 cents per song (89 cents if you previously bought the streaming version). This is great on so many levels. For one, 10 cents is cheap, and once you buy a streaming song you can listen to it as many times and as often as you’d like as long as your connected to the internet. You also get 50 free streaming songs just for joining Lala. Secondly, you may not need or want to download an entire album. You could buy an entire streaming album for $1.00, then hand pick the songs you want to download (DRM free) to put on your iPod, or your Zune, or your iPod. Lala has a nice wallet feature too that allows you to store a set amount of money for quick purchases. When your wallet runs dry, just add some more cash. $5.00 = 50 streaming songs. Not bad. If I could improve one feature of Lala, it would be their music discovery. Though it’s not all that bad, it’s still not on par with the likes of Pandora. Oh yes, and a Blackberry app — that would be fantastic.

Xmarks, formerly known as Foxmarks, is a browser plug-in for Firefox, IE, and Safari (hopefully soon for Chrome) that stores all of your bookmarks remotely and then syncs them to all of your browsers. Again, this is only handy if you spend a lot of time in multiple environments — but that’s sort of the whole point of cloud computing, not having to be locked down to one computer, one processor, one hard drive… Once installed, Xmarks does everything in the background — set it and forget it. Xmarks is also taking a stab at social bookmarking, similar to sites like Delicious, Stumble Upon, and Digg. Good luck with that one guys — the social bookmarking scene is getting a bit crowded. Personally, I would just stick with bookmark syncing. This is definitely one area where they know their stuff

Reqall is a virtual extension of my memory. The whole reason I started using Reqall was so that I could get thoughts out of my head quickly (GTD-like) and revisit them at a later time. For example, I always remember things while I’m driving. With Reqall, I can call and leave a message on my account. Reqall then transcribes the message and emails it back to me. Now my idea / thought / task / appointment is nice and safe in my email inbox for review at a more appropriate time. Reqall is also linked to my Google Calendar, so if I were to call and say “Dinner with Meg’s parents Sunday at 5 O’Clock”, Reqall would put that entry right on my calendar on the specified day and time. It can be a life saver. Their website is well designed and offers a variety of ways to organize your To-Dos and notes. However, they could work a bit on improving their lists management system which, according to them, is on their list of things to do — no comment. Voice isn’t the only way to add items to reqall. You can use instant messaging, a Firefox extension, email, text messages, or my personal favorite, their mobile app. I can’t speak for the iPhone app, but Reqall’s Blackberry app is probably the best, most well designed app on my phone. Reqall also offers a pro account for $20.00 a year which unlocks a few neat features. I think the free version is sufficient for most people though. At least until they fix some of the minor quirks and add a few more niceties.

A buddy of mine turned me on to this band. They are,…well, were really good before they split up in 2002. But I guess are is a better word since music is forever, right? Anyways, they have a really interesting bio you can check out over at Lala. Below is a paragraph describing their last concert affectionately called The Last Dispatch:

The band eventually scheduled a farewell concert to their fans, in order to get closure on the Dispatch portion of their lives. The free show was performed at the Hatch Shell in Boston on July 31, 2004. “The Last Dispatch,” as it was called, is said to be the largest concert in independent music history. The original prediction of the turnout was between 10,000 and 30,000. Fans flocked from Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia among others, making up an estimated total audience of 110,000.

I wish I was there.

What’s even more interesting than their bio, is their music. It’s in a genre of its very own. Now go grab a cocktail and have a listen.

The purpose of this post is partly to ponder the pure privation and perilous period of the Puritan’s past while promoting the prodigious presence of the Plimoth Plantation through pictures and praise.

Please proceed.

Sorry….. Anyways, Cam, Meg, and I spent the day at Plimoth Plantation last weekend and I wanted to give them a much deserved plug. For those of you who don’t know, Plimoth Plantation is sort of a living museum attempting to replicate the day to day life of the original Plymouth colony, circa 1627. It’s a semi-working plantation inhabited by actors and actresses role playing as pilgrims, who, I must say, they do a fantastic job. It’s not a guided tour, but a literal stroll down history lane where you are encouraged to explore the plantation, popping in and out of various houses and talking to the townsfolk. Every history buff at some time in their life has wished they could experience various eras in history for themselves. Well this may be as close as one might get to making that wish come true — short of a building time machine of course — which I’m working on.

My personal favorite part of the day was spent in a very authentic looking reproduction of a Wampanoag home site, just a quick walk from the village. The Wampanoags here are not role playing, but are actual descendants of Native People dressed in traditional clothing and showing off various crafts and skills. You can sit and chat with them as much as you like, and ask them all sorts of questions regarding their lineage and traditions. Fascinating is a word that comes to mind. If I were alone, I probably would have spent all day there, just listening to other people’s questions and soaking up the rich heritage of these people. Again, another “must visit” place for anyone who has a passion for history.

I just finished an interesting book called, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. I bought it almost immediately after listening to an interview with the book’s author [and neuroscience] David Eagleman on a segment of NPR’s On Point called Envisioning the Afterlife. The book is a blast; it’s a fun and thought-provoking exploration of the possibilities of the afterlife (and maybe even the after-afterlife).

The ideas that Eagleman puts forth in each of his forty essays are not to be taken too seriously, but are indeed, meant to stimulate a more pliable way of pondering the mysteries of life after death. It’s an approach that, for some, offers a bit more intellectual freedom than that of atheism (no God, no afterlife) and theism (one God, one afterlife). But don’t get too caught up with the topic of the hereafter. The vignettes presented in this little thought experiment are really more of a study of life than of death, albeit, cleverly disguised in varying incarnations of the great beyond.

One of the things that drew me to this book was Eagleman’s use of a term he invented called Possibilianism.

According to his definition, possibilianism rejects both the idiosyncratic claims of traditional theism and the certainty of atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground.

He pretty much summed up my own personal philosophies on the subject of death and spirituality. And, although I don’t plan on running out and joining the church of possibilianism anytime soon, it is a refreshing alternative to the awkward and uncomfortable term of agnostic that people like me are so often labeled.

The possibilian perspective is distinguished from agnosticism in that it consists of an active exploration of novel possibilities and an emphasis on holding multiple hypotheses at once when no data is available to privilege one position over the others.

If you’re like me and love reading interesting perspectives on all kinds of interesting topics, I would put this little book on your reading list. It’s a short read and can be easily finished in one sitting. You’ll most likely enjoy it, but even if you don’t, just throw it on your coffee table — it’ll be sure to spark some interesting conversations.