GOOGLEPHOBIA
In recent issues of LA CityBeat, I’ve written two pieces that at least touched on the sometimes uncomfortable interface between man and machine. One was about Ray Kurzweil and The Singularity (http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2881&IssueNum=128 ) and the other was a cover story on contemporary media that touched on the role of Google in the world. (http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3102&IssueNum=135 )
It now emerges that there are people out there who are extremely nervous of the growing power of Google and are weaving what could be the biggest conspiracy fest since the shots from the Grassy Knoll, encompassing everything from AI to mind control to aliens. And me? Where do I stand in all this? Well, I guess I’m firmly on the fence. We’ve been nervous about the mechanism since at least the days of Ned Ludd, and, so far, I’ve managed to just about keep up with the modern world. In fact, on any given Thursday, I may well trust machines more than I trust humans. Also self-interest tells me that I use Google many times daily and definitely don’t want to piss it off. On the other hand, I do love a good conspiracy. So go check this out for a whole lotta fun...
http://www.google-watch.org/

The secret word is Algorithm