Do you perhaps have a link about the story of amazon removing the 1984 book on all kindles? It sounds very interesting, partly because it seems so absurd.
Here's a writeup [1]. A third party started selling kindle editions of 1984 and Animal Farm through Amazon despite not having any rights to do so. When they found out (presumably the rights holders complained), Amazon deleted the unauthorized editions.
That story is about a lawsuit from one of the people they took it from.
Amazon sold 1984 on the Kindle store without permission, and when they realized their error they deleted it from everyone's kindle and refunded their money.
That's really something entirely different than malware. You know that Amazon books on kindle are subject to that. It's not malware on the Kindle, it's their whole schtick.
That's really something entirely different than malware. You know that Amazon books on kindle are subject to that. It's not malware on the Kindle, it's their whole schtick.
At the time it was suspected, but unknown. I remember the outrage, I'm not sure If I was lurking on here before I made an account, or I read it on slashdot or digg or something. Here are the HN comments from the time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=710506
> You know that Amazon books on kindle are subject to that.
Most people don't. And the few that do only know because of this scandal.
There's something profoundly unintuitive about it. When you buy 5$ a book in the bookstore, you can't wake up some day with the door open, 5$ on your table and the book gone from your library.
The monkey probably won't be sad. I think it is entertained all day by the researchers. Playing its games, and drinking its delicious banana smoothie. As you say; Ignorance is bliss.
> The monkey probably won't be sad. I think it is entertained all day by the researchers. Playing its games, and drinking its delicious banana smoothie.
Rhesus Macaques [0] have a lifespan of thirty years. Thirty years. Thirty years in a massively controlled environment, often sedentary, with limited opportunities to socialise with peers, and the simple pleasures of mutual grooming, lying in the sun etc. Lab animals that are rehomed in rehab centres / zoos etc are often overweight, in poor health, and have a range of nervous tics and social inexperience. Many adapt to the non-lab environment, but they tend to have underlying health problems and issues with acceptance by the alpha individuals because they lack the years of experience required to understand and fit into the complex group etiquette.
Animals may still be the best model for testing drugs / devices that will go into humans, but lets not understate the massive cost to the individual animals concerned.
[Source: personal involvement with a primate rehab centre]
Neuralink monkeys are housed with at least one other monkey for grooming / social activities, and are in the same room with visibility to other monkeys. Are they as happy as zoo monkeys? Probably not. But they're probably much happier than most other research monkeys.
> Thirty years in a massively controlled environment, often sedentary, with limited opportunities to socialise with peers, and the simple pleasures of mutual grooming, lying in the sun etc
Perhaps it is blissfully ignorant of us to think of ourselves as free on this rock. Does the monkey have a better life now than before? I don't know. The monkey will not mate and likely does not have peers. I wouldn't be surprised if those things are required for happiness. Social and sexual needs are programmed in us.
I think it's a pretty tough topic in ethics but when I was younger, I didn't think much about it because we were doing science. I remember seeing my first rat die. I didn't feel bad at the time because we did it "humanely" with gas (and it's normalized and I was only 20) and they just sort of drifted off and defecated. It's an interesting and perhaps sad use of a life.
I know I'm conforming to a stereotype by saying this, but I cant stop thinking about how this could be the premise of a Black Mirror Episode.
I also think we should restrict such technology. Without restrictions we can play God, and I am in no way approving of doing anyhting similar to that.
The part about pairing the monkeys NeuraLink Device "like you do with a speaker" made me laugh. Not becuase it's funny, but because it is so incredibly absurd. I dont know wether to feel good about how far technology has come, or to feel terrified about all the implications.
(I can't help myself; Nietzsche once said (or wrote) "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?")
A lot of people are focusing on the Bluetooth aspect of this which seems to be the most inconsequential part of it. Of course you need to connect to the brain device remotely; what do you want, a USB port on top of your head? Or should we go back to PS/2 or parallel ports and everyone can hide a 2in thick wire in their ponytail?
If we want the brain to be an input device then we must treat it like an input device. That means interfacing with it with the most modern/common standards we have, which, for better or worse (mostly worse), is currently Bluetooth.
Do you also think it's weird that people can put on VR headsets to alter their sight, or put in AirPods to subvert their hearing? 'Cause it is, but I think we've all normalized it to the point that it feels like something we're allowed to do. I think the same will happen with Neuralink at quite a fast pace.
I wasn't saying that using Bluetooth is absurd.
The Absurd part, in my opinion, is treating the brain as an "input device". Ones brain should not be tinkered with.
You can not compare VR Headsets and airpods to a chip that is, literally, implanted IN your brain. -
These devices generate Extrinsic Stimuli. The Neuralink however directly READS the Neuron Activity (as I understood it).
We've been playing God for about as long as human civilization has existed. Agriculture is playing God - overwriting the byproducts of nature. Medicine is playing God - overwriting natural selection.
I don't understand your core point: why is it inherently wrong to attempt to augment the brain? It seems like a purely instinctual response.
Is it God's will for paralyzed people to remain unable to interact with the world, and live the rest of their lives in misery? If we have a way to do a lot of good for a lot of people, isn't it inherently immoral to not develop the technology further?
youre right, but I fear a future where such techonolgy can be abused. I haven't carfully considered all the positives such technology will bring into our world. I was starteled by the potential of abuse and how far technology has come.
I'm watching the talk now, the way the speaker describes the things he does seems to me like hes making fun of the Silicon Valley type lifestyle. I think the talk is really great and funny, thank you for sharing !
He's satirizing the rigid and dismissive Gilfoyle type of person (HBO Silicon Valley character) while also exploring what app developers can learn from them.
Do you mean Crusty, because in my Opinion with the character he is portraying he is satirizing the typical health "crazed" silicon valley developer, is he not ?
Slimbook and Tuxedo Computers are selling similar rebranded models in the European market, and Purism and System76 in the US.
From the major brand names, Lenovo is supposed to have preinstalled linux as an option for their T line, and there's Dell also that sells the XPS Developer edition.
Im actually trying to build a note-taking app myself. I haven't gotten very far, becuase I kinda suck at managing my project. But I think if I manage to improve in that regard, sooner or later I will have a functioning note-taking app.
