Continued
Automation is the most recent stage in this development, which indeed “illuminates the whole history of mechanism.” It certainly will remain the culminating point of the modern development, even if the atomic age and a technology based upon nuclear discoveries puts a rather rapid end to it. The first instruments of nuclear technology, the various [...]

Continued.
As is so frequently the case with historical developments, it seems as though the actual implications of technology, that is, of the replacement of tools and implements with machinery, have come to light only in its last stage, with the advent of automation. For our purposes it may be useful to recall, however briefly, the [...]

Continued from yesterday.
The decisive difference between tools and machines is perhaps best illustrated by the apparently endless discussion of whether man should be “adjusted” to the machine or the machines should be adjusted to the “nature” of man. We mentioned in the first chapter the chief reason why such a discussion must be sterile: if [...]

Continued from yesterday.
If we consider this loss of the faculty to distinguish clearly between means and ends in terms of human behavior, we can say that the free disposition and use of tools for a specific end product is replaced by rhythmic unification of the laboring body with its implement, the movement of laboring itself [...]

From The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (1958)
4.20: Work: Instrumentality and Animal Laborans
From the standpoint of homo faber, who relies entirely on the primordial tools of his hands, man is, as Benjamin Franklin said, a “tool-maker”. The same instruments, which only lighten the burden and mechanize the labor of the animal laborans, are designed and [...]

I suppose you don’t much care about this, but I have a confession. I have very recently become fond of taking a shit in the 4th floor bathroom of Greg Hall. I do it late in the evening after nearly everyone has left, and where I can take my time without interruptions or knockings at [...]

Manuel Presti Winner: Wildlife Photographer of the Year award

La computadora sabe mas que tu.
From Science: Rise of the Forecasting Machines
For almost half a century, human and computer have been vying to predict the weather better. The computer long ago won the race to forecast out to a week and beyond, and human forecasters began giving ground at shorter ranges. Now comes evidence that [...]

One of the more absurd variations of the Turing Test I’ve seen:
From the NYT: Beyond Human
In his recent book, “Radical Evolution,” Joel Garreau suggests a “Shakespeare test” to determine whether Prozac or cloning or full-immersion virtual reality robs us of our humanity: would the user of these innovations be recognizable to Shakespeare? Houellebecq suggests that [...]

This is certainly old news as far as the internet goes, but I happened upon a /. article on Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design. The article gives a few interesting quotes that readers here might find relevant.
The first section sets the stage by discussing what exactly a game is. “Games are [...]