Arthur C Clarke died today. It’s a sad day – this man was one of my heros – an astonishing mind with vaulting vision.
He will be sorely missed.
Today, a legend died.
“It’s mine – you can’t have it.”
Very interesting interview with Dr Tim Berners-Lee (the-man-who-invented-the-internet) on the BBC website today, regarding the data grab being planned by some of the world’s largest ISPs, using web usage monitoring software.
The creator of the web has said consumers need to be protected against systems which can track their activity on the internet.
On the subject of web usage statistics and personal information regarding where we shop, what sites we visit and other patterns of online behaviour:
He said: “It’s mine – you can’t have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I’m getting in return.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Derren Brown in Dublin
I went to Derren Brown’s An Evening of Wonder show last night at the Olympia in Dublin – a truly astonishing evening out. The show is really the most impressive thing of its kind I’ve seen, and lasted a lengthy two and a bit hours.
Since I was first captivated by this performer I’ve wacthed all his TV shows and read some books and so I can hazard a rough guess how he did some of the illusions and guessing games performed last night, but others completely confounded me.
His performance of cold reading from the audience was amazing – whatever about guessing that colin in the third row had a dog called benji who died years ago, guessing that ronan in the fifth row had recently stolen a fax machine from work and should be cautious because he was seen doing it was something else entirely. Perhaps he has plants wandering around during the break listening to people’s conversations? Perhaps statistically there will always be a light fingered audience member called Ronan and it’s a safe guess – I don’t know.
I also don’t know how me managed to levitate a table while a member of the audience rested their hands on it. I suppose she could have been a plant (A plant with a perfect Dublin accent on a 40 date tour) – I suppose it’s possible but not likely. This one really has me stumped – magnets, cables? No idea, and I don’t want to know. What was most impressive last night wasn’t the tricks anyway, but how they were done and the incredibly polished showmanship on display.
A truly fantastic night out and really very very impressive. This guy is something special
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