Category: Interesting Articles
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Thinking West: Oregon Founded as Racist Utopia (Gizmodo)
Gizmodo recently featured an interesting article concerning Oregon’s racist past. According to Matt Novak (and historical fact), Oregon was founded as a whites only, racist utopia. Check out the excerpt below: When Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, it was the only state in the Union admitted with a constitution that forbade black people from…
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When Superintelligent AI Arrives, Will Religions Try to Convert It? (Gizmodo)
Zoltan Istvan (Gizmodo) examines how the world’s religions might handle the creation of superintelligent artificial intelligences. It appears that, much like American corporations in a recent Supreme Court case, superintelligent AIs may find God, too, with a little help, of course…. Like it or not, we are nearing the age of humans creating autonomous, self-aware…
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Never Mind E-Books: Why Print Books Are Here to Stay (WSJ)
Print books are here to stay. E-books haven’t surpassed print book sales. Instead, it seems that E-books are fading fast as print book sales see increased demand…. Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the…
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What’s Wrong with Only Reading Half a Book? (Electric Literature)
Last month, the e-reading company Kobo revealed which books its users read to completion. Much was made of the fact that Donna Tartt’s prize-winning bestseller The Goldfinch was only finished by 44% of Kobo readers, and that, in general, the bestseller list didn’t match up at all with the most completed list. It also spurned…
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Thinking West: Robo Novels
Technology and science now act as the modern world’s newest frontier. It is a frontier full of excitement, questions, and its share of dangers. The questions brought forth from this nebulous frontier could shape our world and how technological and scientific progress become part and parcel of our daily lives. As we approach the singularity…
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More from Jim O’Donnell
Danube River at Night – My Shot of the Day – October 16, 2014. More Pictures of Beautiful Bratislava by Night. We be will hosting two major events while Jim O’Donnell is in Portales: Reading on Friday, the 23rd at 2pm in JWLA 112 Lecture on Thursday the 29th at 2pm in JWLA 112
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More from Jim O’Donnell: Egypt, Day One-Around the World in Eighty Years
Egypt, Day One-Around the World in Eighty Years.
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These days, writing isn’t a career. It’s a rich man’s hobby (Telegraph)
Can writers still make a career out of writing? Does writing exclude working or middle class writers from its ranks? Is writing a rich man’s sport? Toby Young believes writing has become the hobby of the wealthy or those with comfortable retirement pensions (see excerpt below). These days, you need a substantial private income –…
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Influence and Homage: When Walt Whitman Met Oscar Wilde
It’s hard to imagine a meeting between two celebrities like Whitman and Wilde. However, history is full of surprises. During his stay in America, the youthful Wilde met with the aging poet Whitman. This meeting between Whitman and Wilde made a lasting impression on Wilde and how he handled his celebrity status. David M. Friedman’s…
El Portal Literary Journal 