Burningbird

I liked Nick Carr's take on this story, "What thoughts should I think?"

[…] Burningbird and Rough […]

Did that surprise you? I believe that this is indeed the direction thing are heading, and the only new thing about this is that people would supposedly start asking these questions explicitly, which does sound ridiculous, but so are many things we see everyday. Some more thoughts on this topic on my blog.

I actually like the sound of that. Privacy is dead. Long live Google.

I agree with Noah.

Forget about invasion of privacy. Sounds more like they're trying to replace free will. Guess we'll be able to hire consultants to optimize our lives by bidding in real time. Can't wait.

It doesn’t really come as a surprise…
This image just sprang to my mind : http://sophie-g.net/images/images/theBorg.htm

We knew you were going to say that, Dustin Whitney!

I think it's insane and creepy; in fact it's only the insanity of it that stops me being creeped out.

Charles, yes Nick is a clever boy.

Sergey, believe it or not, it did surprise me. Not that this would be Google's goal, but that the company would think we'd go happily along with this.

Noah, I hope your tongue was firmly in cheek with that one.

Sophie, that image is marvelous, and if you read Sergey's post, strangely apropos.

Be creeped out, Phil. Be very creeped out. Google just bought Feedburner. One more little piece of data about all of us.

David, it very much sounds like a real disconnect between finding things out and having the internet decide what we're supposed to do.

[…] to interview via Shelley Powers.] Posted by aeschright Filed in data, privacy, […]

Shelley, yeah, the way how clearly it was described did surprise me as well. I mean.. wouldn't it have been better (PR-wise) to give some less hardcore examples?

E.g. "Google Google on the wall, whom to marry of them all?". Okay, this is getting rather silly, sorry :)

[…] FeedBurner, this is pure Evil! Philipp Lenssen: Is the Google Video PlusBox Fair? Shelley Powers: Your Life, Googled. Scott Karp: Google's Video PlusBox May Be Its Most Disruptive Feature Ever. Janet Driscoll […]

"What thoughts should I think?" Wait, when did our lives become a Pat Cadigan short story?

OK, now I'm going to have to try a Pat Cadigan book.

Sergey, I don't think that Schmidt thought his vision of the future could possibly disturb anyone.

Ooh Ooh! I'd start with her short stories, some of which are collected in Patterns, and the novels Synners, Tea from an Empty Cup, and Mindplayers (which is a mashup of several short stories.)

This whole thing reminds me of Lord of the Rings… One ring to bind them all! Google style. Seriously though there might be some things I would want Google to do for me.

1. Tell me when my pool chemicals need adjustment…then do it.
2. Determine what groceries I am missing then buy them and replenish.
3. Automatically tell me where the cheapest gas is based on my GPS position.
4. Im in Asia on business and I get a tooth ache. Tell me where I can find an english speaking dentist.
5. Continuously search for the cheapest and best seats for the next Jimmy Buffet concert tour. then buy them if certain parameters are met.

Theres tons of stuff that are mundane that I would put on autopilot if I could.

I guess Im not as scared of Google as I am of the US government. No good comes from Government info.

Me i think that "personalization" is the wrong direction. I need to fight daily the tendency of the human mind to see things through my own lense, to see things colored my way … i prefer to see things the way they are unsullied by a personalization filter. There are plenty other ways to improve Google tools … one that comes easily to mind is to make the "search nearby" feature on their maps work the way it should. Can anyone find any of my placemarks without comming from my own pages?

Bill, thanks for the recommendations!

Eric, not 'scared' of Google — I wouldn't use it if I was. But people forget that Google is a large corporation with heavy profits that just voted to do business as usual in China. It should be treated no different than Microsoft, Halliburton, or any other corporation. If people can think of Google in that light and not have any worries about the massive amount of data the company is collected, well, fair emough.

Seth, yes, seeing that which is familiar is counter to the original premise behind the internet.

I wrote another entry on this topic, so I hope you won't mind another link here.

"and Mindplayers (which is a mashup of several short stories.)"

It's a mashup? That's awesome! Which APIs did she use to write it?