[tt] [SALT] DAEMON unveiled FRIDAY Aug. 8 (for forwarding)

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Stewart Brand <sb at gbn.org> -----

From: Stewart Brand <sb at gbn.org>
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 15:08:22 -0700
To: salt at list.longnow.org
Subject: [SALT] DAEMON unveiled FRIDAY Aug. 8 (for forwarding)
Reply-To: services at longnow.org


   Writing as "Leinad Zeraus," Suarez unleashed the viral success story
   of 2007 with his self-published techno-thriller, DAEMON.  Blog raves,
   Amazon raves, and an item in Wired magazine turned the book deservedly
   into a runaway hit.  The all-too-plausible plot involves a dead
   programmer reaching out through computer game entities to kill real
   people and torque the world in an unguessable direction.

   In Friday's presentation, his first on the subject, Suarez spells out
   the ideas behind Daemon and its forthcoming sequel, Freedom.   'Bots'
   are simple software programs designed to automate tasks--- such as
   finding, retrieving, or acting upon information.  Bots set loose on
   the Internet have been the catalyst behind many revolutionary Web 2.0
   technologies.  However, the unintended consequences of activating
   millions of bots in our networks---bots that wield increasing
   influence over the activities and opportunities of human beings---may
   have serious consequences for society.

     "Daemon: Bot-mediated Reality," Daniel Suarez, Cowell Theater, Fort
     Mason, San Francisco, 7pm, FRIDAY, August 8.  The talk starts
     promptly at 7:30pm.  Admission is free (a $10 donation is always
     welcome, not required).

   Talks coming up:

   Sep. 9 (TUESDAY) - Neal Stephenson, ANATHEM [1]launch

   Sep. 12 (Friday) - Peter Diamandis, "Long-term X-Prizes"

   Oct. 3 (Friday) - Huey Johnson, "Green Planning at Nation Scale"

   Nov. 17 (MONDAY) - Drew Endy vs. Jim Thomas, "Synthetic Biology
   Debate"

   Dec. 19 (Friday) - Rick Prelinger, "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco"

   Jan. 16 (Friday) - Saul Griffith, "Climate Change Recalculated"

   Feb. 13 (Friday) - Dmitri Orlov, "Social Collapse Best Practices"

   May 25 (MONDAY) - Paul Romer, "New Cities to Solve Old Poverty"

   High-quality videos of the talks and other benefits (such as free
   tickets to the Neal Stephenson launch) are available to Long Now
   members.  Membership, which costs $8/month ($96/year), helps support
   the series and other Long Now projects.  Joinable [2]here.

   A new, permanent form of Membership has been inaugurated: The
   10,000-year Member.  It costs, of course, ten thousand dollars.  Along
   with other special perks, the first seven 10K Members (six already
   taken) get a signed painting by Brian Eno.  Details [3]here.

   This is one of a monthly series of Seminars About Long-term Thinking
   (SALT) organized by The Long Now Foundation.  Free audios and my
   summaries of all previous talks are available for download [4]here (or
   stay up to date with the Podcast [5]here).  You'll find a range of
   long-term thinking items on our [6]Blog ([7]RSS).  If you would like
   to be notified by email of forthcoming talks, go [8]here to sign up
   online.  Any questions, contact Danielle Engelman at Long Now---
   415-561-6582 x1, [9]danielle at longnow.org.

   You are welcome to forward this note to anyone you think might be
   interested.

                                           --Stewart Brand

--

   Stewart Brand -- sb at gbn.org

   The Long Now Foundation - http://www.longnow.org
   Seminars & downloads: http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/

References

   1. http://www.longnow.org/anathem/
   2. https://secure.longnow.org/members/
   3. http://www.longnow.org/membership/10k/
   4. http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/
   5. http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/podcast.php
   6. http://blog.longnow.org/
   7. http://feeds.feedburner.com/longnowblog
   8. http://list.longnow.org/mailman/listinfo/SALT
   9. mailto:danielle at longnow.org

----- End forwarded message -----
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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