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	<title>Sredzkistraße &#187; Science</title>
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	<link>http://ventolin.org</link>
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		<title>Why the future doesn&#8217;t need us.</title>
		<link>http://ventolin.org/2010/07/why-the-future-doesnt-need-us/</link>
		<comments>http://ventolin.org/2010/07/why-the-future-doesnt-need-us/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:21:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>aengus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Computer Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Computers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robotics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ventolin.org/?p=614</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I finally managed to get around to reading Bill Joy&#8217;s article Why the future doesn&#8217;t need us the other day while waiting to board a plane. Bill Joy is a renowned computer scientist who co-founded Sun Microsystems and authored the popular UNIX text editor vi. The article is concerned with the ever increasing speed of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I finally managed to get around to reading Bill Joy&#8217;s article <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html" target="_blank"><em>Why the future doesn&#8217;t need us</em></a> the other day while waiting to board a plane. Bill Joy is a renowned computer scientist who co-founded Sun Microsystems and authored the popular UNIX text editor vi. The article is concerned with the ever increasing speed of &#8220;progress&#8221; in fields of new technology (primarily robotics, nanotechnology and genetic engineering) which Joy views with apprehension, arguing that the products of these fields will eventually render mankind obsolete and lead to our self-destruction.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no point trying to quote it, so instead you can read the article <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html" target="_blank">here</a>, read more about Bill Joy <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Bill_Joy" target="_blank">here</a>, or read responses and criticism of the article <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Why_the_future_doesn%27t_need_us" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Writing without reading</title>
		<link>http://ventolin.org/2010/06/writing-without-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://ventolin.org/2010/06/writing-without-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:15:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>aengus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Animation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linguistics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Literature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Short Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Words]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ventolin.org/?p=575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A curious case of a professional writer who awoke one morning to find his capacity to read crippled by a stroke. Animation and narration from Lev Yilmaz. You can watch the video here. For some reason the embedding seems to be a bit mucked-up.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A curious case of <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Howard_Engel" target="_blank">a professional writer</a> who awoke one morning to find his capacity to read crippled by a stroke. Animation and narration from <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Lev_Yilmaz" target="_blank">Lev Yilmaz</a>. You can <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127745750&amp;ps=cprs" target="_blank">watch the video here</a>. For some reason the embedding seems to be a bit mucked-up.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Rise of the Robots</title>
		<link>http://ventolin.org/2010/06/rise-of-the-robots/</link>
		<comments>http://ventolin.org/2010/06/rise-of-the-robots/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:58:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>aengus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Computers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robotics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[War]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ventolin.org/?p=525</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A good, short blog post from the wonderful ginandtacos blog on the increasing prevalence of unmanned vehicles in war, ending with a very sobering thought: Won&#8217;t it be great when the military can send in the tanks without having to put crews in harm&#8217;s way? Yes and no. The fewer casualties, the better. But what [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.ginandtacos.com/2010/06/02/checks-and-balances/" target="_blank">A good, short blog post</a> from the wonderful ginandtacos blog on the increasing prevalence of unmanned vehicles in war, ending with a very sobering thought:</p>
<blockquote><p>Won&#8217;t it be great when the military can send in the tanks without  having to put crews in harm&#8217;s way?</p>
<p>Yes and no. The fewer casualties, the better. But what becomes of our  reluctance to send the military galavanting around the sordid parts of  the world once American casualties are taken out of the equation? We  have almost no restraint as it is. I shudder to think of how easily  Presidents and legislators will make the decision to go to war when the  attitude of &#8220;We can just send robots to do it!&#8221; becomes entrenched. We  saw what the advancements in design of cruise missiles in the 1980s did  to the Executive Branch; if someone&#8217;s acting up, just lob a dozen  Tomahawks at them from a few hundred miles away. It became the easy way  to intervene without actually making a commitment or putting Americans  at risk. Collateral damage isn&#8217;t much of a deterrent to our political  class. UAVs are another step in that direction, a step toward a future  with more remotely operated and even autonomous means of doing the dirty  work.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s great that technology allows more American soldiers to come home  alive and in one piece, but if we remove the U.S. body count from the  decision-making process the only restraints on waging war will be common  sense, morality, and logic. Yeah, let&#8217;s start taking bets on how well  that works.</p></blockquote>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Koyaanisqatsi for the global warming generation?</title>
		<link>http://ventolin.org/2009/06/koyaanisqatsi-for-the-global-warming-generation/</link>
		<comments>http://ventolin.org/2009/06/koyaanisqatsi-for-the-global-warming-generation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:18:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>aengus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ventolin.org/?p=182</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[HOME is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is entirely composed of aerial shots of various places around the Earth. It shows the diversity of life on the Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. The movie was released on June 5th 2009, simultaneously in cinemas all over [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p>HOME is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is entirely composed of aerial shots of various places around the Earth. It shows the diversity of life on the Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. The movie was released on June 5th 2009, simultaneously in cinemas all over the world, on DVD and on YouTube. Its release on the same date in 50 countries is a world record for any film release in history.</p>
<p>The film is 100% free and no profits will be made from its release or future showings. What is more, it&#8217;s copyright-free, which means it can be freely copied, distributed, broadcast etc. &#8211; as a whole and in parts.</p></blockquote>
<p>Haven&#8217;t watched it yet, but one or two of the shots I saw looked promising. However, according to <a href="http://www.padraiq.net">padraiq</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>it seems more like propaganda than documentary</p>
<p>if you want to show people the earth, you dont fucking talk over it</p>
<p>some amazing shots ruined by narration :(((</p></blockquote>
<p>In any event, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&amp;feature=featured">click here</a> to watch in high quality.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>In pursuit of the perfect body</title>
		<link>http://ventolin.org/2009/05/in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-body/</link>
		<comments>http://ventolin.org/2009/05/in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-body/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 16:56:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>aengus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Idiots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ventolin.org/?p=127</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A recent paper in The Lancet, an English medical journal, describes the adverse effects of steroid abuse. A striking case study in the paper is that of a 21-year-old amateur bodybuilder who arrived at a clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany with severe acne on his chest and upper back. He was a constant user of anabolic-androgenic [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673608612787/fulltext?rss=yes">A recent paper</a> in The Lancet, an English medical journal, describes the adverse effects of steroid abuse. A striking case study in the paper is that of a 21-year-old amateur bodybuilder who arrived at a clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany with severe acne on his chest and upper back.</p>
<p>He was a constant user of anabolic-androgenic steroids, of which acne is a side effect — as is damaged sperm and shrunken testicles, both of which he also possessed.</p>
<p>Potentially NSFW photos of the severe damage done to his chest can be seen <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673608612787/images?imageId=fx1&amp;sectionType=red">here</a>.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s just me, but I find all three images equally repulsive.</p>
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