We Are The Machine

Today was the first day I heard the term "Semantic Web" even though people have been talking about it - as far as I can tell - shortly after the creation and implementation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) in web development (officially recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, in 1998). Semantic Web, often referred to as Web 3.0, is driven by metadata, simply defined as "data about data." If you're having trouble understanding, I found a simplified explanation on YouTube.

The most interesting thing about Semantic Web, for me, is that language is at the heart of it. Definitions and organizations of words will ultimately determine how efficiently the internet works for everyone based on their respective searches. It's not that words aren't at the heart of search engines already, but there is a logic being built in metadata that will allow more specific returns (reactions) to queries. Each of us will contribute to a global meta-consciousness through our actions on the Semantic Web. In short, we are collectively paving the way for artificial intelligence: programs with the wealth of the world's prepackaged data at their disposal.

Index This

For a YouTube channel whose most popular - and largely humorless - series of videos is called Make a Hot Girl Laugh, the satire in Google Threatens To Kill Users is surprisingly well-written. Like we needed any more proof that the phrase "XXX,000,000 (insert here) Fans Can't Be Wrong" is complete f***ing bull****.

Google, where's my gTeleport already?

Just Mob It

In the Age of Irony, the flash mob is a troublesome brainchild. Conceived to poke fun at hipsters and conformity, this mockery mob-ishness has been hijacked by those savvy Swedes as a tribute to the late King of Pop. For all the cheap jokes we've slung in Michael Jackson's direction over the years, it's easy to see that these people are dancing for anything but irony's sake. These performances are like human fireworks. They don't try to drag out the whole song; they get the point across in less than two minutes. And then, as if nothing had ever happened, they disappear into the crowd.

I could think of no better way to commemorate the strange man who gave us such ridiculously catchy music and some flippin' sweet dance moves.

In Plain English

Leelefever of Common Craft covers a lot of topics in less than five minutes; everything from zombies to podcasting with the occasional current affair thrown in (ie. elections, investing, etc.).

Credit Crisis Explained

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”
― Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

History of the Internet