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Futurism

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Far-Out Belgian Invents Internet in the Thirties

Above is what one early conception of the Internet looked like. It was called the "Mundaneum" (which sounds like a collection of Martin Amis's literary criticism) and it was invented by Paul Otlet (1868-1944), a Belgian lawyer who every so slightly missed the dotcom bubble and died hollow and penurious during World War II. According to the New York Times, Otlet started out with a cumbersome card catalog to store all the world's useless information, then anticipated a paperless network of "electric telescopes" that would archive "millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files." Oh, and he sort of invented the hyperlink, although his version had brains and sass: More »

10:15 AM on Tue Jun 17 2008
By Michael Weiss
2,040 views, 29 comments

Latest by bellatrix: what's them breastasus on the wall? more »

futurism

In A Million Hundred Years, The Internet Will Be On Crank

The book Year Million explores several possible scenarios for the universe a million years from now. Some of these possibilities aren't happy! Rats running the world, gray goo wiping out life on Earth. I just want to read the kick-ass ones! Because predicting the future at such a distance is almost like picking superpowers; your usual analytic skills are stretched to the point of absurdity. For example, some of the essays predict humanity evolving into shapeshifting superbeings; another predicts we will build baby universes. But the most immediately relatable describes a brain-embedded "Internet on crank," albeit one that might be clogged with spam. Actually, wouldn't that be possible in a couple of centuries? More »

2:02 PM on Fri Jun 13 2008
By Nick Douglas
1,648 views, 22 comments

Latest by HumpintoPlease: "gray goo wiping out life on Earth" John McCain! more »

futurism

Facebook Funder Buys Stake in Fantastical Ocean Utopia

Hooray! A bunch of eccentric rich people are striking out to create their own sovereign nation in the middle of the ocean! Again! You may remember back in the 60s when a pirate radio broadcaster occupied a sea-bound fort 6 miles off the coast of Great Britain and declared it the Principality of Sealand. (It's for sale, btw.) But while that little adventure in sovereignty was merely for kicks, Wired reports today on a venture much more exciting for its batshit reasoning, impressive backers, and fantastic scope. More »

11:23 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Pareene
2,963 views, 24 comments

Latest by n/a: you'd think a tabloid hack would welcome the idea of a lawless playground for the rich and beautiful, but there you go. more »