Garrett's blog

Garrett's blog

( 2:23 PM ) Garrett
Science -- Seife 301 (5634): 749"Terrorism futures could have a future" #

( 2:16 PM ) Garrett
In defence of DARPA (Gives different background from the Globe articles; more balanced ... ) #

( 11:45 AM ) Garrett
Opinion-Pages (Opinions, Ideas and Commentary)"I'd like your opinion on my work. It stinks. I know, but I'd like it anyway." Search editorial, letters to the editor and opinion pages from over 600 publications worldwide. (Source: Neat New Stuff) #

( 11:39 AM ) Garrett
Meet the 'transhumanists' behind the Pentagon terror casino A Register story gives further background (and corrosive humor) to the Terrorism Futures story, reporting that the project was initiated some time before Poindexter came aboard and that its adherents have a faith in the market bordering on the religious. #

      ( 9:47 AM ) Garrett
Efforts to Stop Music Swapping Draw More Fire #

      ( 7:59 AM ) Garrett
craigslist: boston online community(Source: j's scratchpad (thanks,Jessica)) #

      ( 7:14 AM ) Garrett
Boston Globe Online / Business / In defense of DARPA programsNow Hiawatha Bray chimes in; his arguments for the discredited TIA and Terrorism Futures may have merit. Why in this climate, however? If these projects were established and sold on the "solid science" to which Bray alludes,then perhaps they may not have become such lightning rods. Their extension into "Terrorism" and "Total Information Awareness" almost guaranteed that they would arouse furor. Again, like Gareth Cook, Bray mentions the Internet, but doesn't illuminate us on what science DARPA supports that may be good. #

      ( 7:06 AM ) Garrett
Boston Globe Online / Sunday | Focus / Defending DARPA An article in the Sunday Globe's Ideas section argues that people were too quick to judge the "Terrorism Futures" initiative, calling for Poindexter's head rather than seriously examining how knowledge and technology might be used in the interests of security and improving the quality of life. Aside from the machine-brain interface research and a passing nod to the internet, the article doesn't give a wide reange of information; how big is DARPA's budget? Name some of the other kinds of research they fund? One reason why people may have reacted so viscerally to the Terrorism Futures idea, aside from its being rather in bad taste, was that the furor over the Total Information Awareness research project had not yet subsided; it was like a double whammy. Both projects appeared ill-thought out, with little oversight, and having Poindexter associated with both of them perhaps only compounded negative images. Surely DARPA funds quite useful research; the Bacterial Motility lab at Rowland is working on a project to harness the energy generated by bacterial motors, with DARPA backing. But the TIA smacked too much of a gigantic government surveillance project ... I agree with the author that we should not dismiss all DARPA projects out of hand, but I don't see any reason to shed tears for the Terrorism Futures project. This technology seems better suited to where it has originated, predicting elections, crop growth and other phenomena. #