Onlife

CEPE2009 will be on 27-29 June 2009, at Ionian Academy Corfu, Greece. The CEPE (Computer Ethics Philosophical Enquiry) conference series is recognized as one of the premier international events on computer and information ethics attended by delegates from all over the world. Conferences are held about every 24 months, alternating between Europe and the United States. CEPE 2009 is the eighth conference in the series and will be held at the Ionian University, Corfu, Greece.

This is a bit old now (2005), but still well worth watching, not least because Identity 2.0 has not happen yet (check for more information here ). Dick Hardt 's message is simple, powerful and probably right. Just don't be mislead by the first few minutes of self-referential indulgence, it has a point. And, by the way, contrary to what Lessing says, I would not recommend the style of the presentation: the pace is fun, the movie-like use of the slides unusual, but the overall effect is reflection-unfriendly (recall Nietzsche's line on " slow reading ", or one should probably say today "slow powerpowering"), a bit tiring (like a pop song played too many times), and looses steam rather quickly (as the sequel shows).

Play it loudly, top volume, until your neighbour comes complaining (you live in a nice residential area, he is a lawyer) or crying that yes, that's the problem, that's what really bothers her as well (you are on campus, she is a philosophy student). Enjoy. Could I have been A parking lot attendant Could I have been A millionaire in bel air Could I have been Lost somewhere in paris Could I have been Your little brother Could I have been anyone other than me Could I have been oh, anyone other than me Could I have been anyone He stands touch his hair his shoes untied Tongue gaping stare Could I have been a magnet for money Could I have been anyone other than me Twenty three Im so tired of life Such a shame to throw it all away The images grow darker still Could I have been anyone other then me? Then i Look up at the sky My mouth is open wide, like and taste Whats the use in worrying, whats the use in hurrying Turn turn we almost become dizzy I am who I am who I am well who am i Re...

Life can be ironic: within a week, I managed to be in New York, US and then in York, UK. It even took me some time to realise the odd coincidence. I must be tired. In York, I gave a presentation at the meeting E-Learning in Dialogue: Innovative Teaching and Learning in Philosophy and Religious Studies . I enjoyed several of the other presentations and I was sorry to have to leave early. The problem: an overall impression that e-learning has not advanced much since the eighties. The solution: trying to reinvent e-learning as a way of teaching humanity to cope with the new informational agents and environments in which they spend some much time. Many people seemed to like the idea.

Click on the title. Just replace the elevator-background music with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBAasek8NR4 and enjoy!

Being sick is often a good chance to stay alone with yourself, without an agenda to fulfill. Being stuck in a city because your flight leaves only 24 hours later is a more pleasant way to obtain the same goal. And if the city is then NY, it might be a blessing. The temptation to eat hamburgers in my hotel room, typing on this computer all the time, had to be resisted. And it was. I went for a long walk and then checked what's new in American Contemporary Art. My lucky day: the Whitney Museum houses one of the world's foremost collections of twentieth-century American art, and the Biennial was on. Unmissable, if one is around. Not only for the single pieces (I enjoyed many of them, especially Walead Beshty , Jedediah Caesar , Charles Long ) but also for the overview it affords on today's America art. Not many novelties, perhaps even a lack of clear ideas and purpose, but a tangible sense of search for new ways of expressions. Probably most of the objects will soo...

This Year's Topic of the IER was Information Ethics and its Applications . I enjoyed the meeting both socially and intellectually. The IRS is a great initiative and the organizers ( Tony Doyle , Program Chair, Don Fallis , Kay Mathiesen , and Catherine Womack ) have done a great job. The idea of a full, one-day meeting is attractive, and the careful organization of talks with invited speakers and commentators, makes the debate fruitfully challenging. I certainly have learnt a lot and realised that I have even more to learn.

We live in a neo-bartering society ( www.swapace.co.uk ). On any sterling banknote, one can still read “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of...”, but the fact is that Britain abandoned the gold standard in 1931, so you should not expect to receive any yellow stuff in exchange. The Euro, more seriously, promises nothing. It might be one of the reasons why we are so reluctant to adopt it in this country. Since all currencies are free floating nowadays, money may well be just a pile of digits. Indeed, when Northern Rock collapsed, several banks in Second Life (SL) followed suit. Players rushed to close their accounts because SL is not Monopoly: the exchange (technically, redemption) rate is around 260 L$ (Linden Dollar) to 1 $ ( secondlife.com/whatis/economy-market.php ). This is interesting because it transforms providers of in-game currencies, like Linden Lab, into issuers of electronic money. And since the threshold between online and offline is constantly being eroded, o...