01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Letters to the Editor About the Pioneer 10 Plaque and Con...
What sexuality there is in the message also drew epistolary fire. The Los
Angeles Times published a letter from an irate reader that went:
I must say I was shocked by the blatant display of both male and female sex
organs on the front page of the Times. Surely this type of sexual exploitation
is below the standards our community has come to expect from the Times.
Isn't it enough that we must tolerate the bombardment of pornography
through the media of film and smut magazines? Isn't it bad en... 1 
notes
notesOne letter complained about sending pornography into space, a follow up letter made fun of the ignorance. Carl Sagan laments the failure of the plaque designers to make the two figures ethnically ambiguous.
13 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
How Novel is the Internet?
Before the Web we were already used to sitting in front of electronic boxes for hour upon hour. The boxes have now changed, but they are still boxes. Of course the things we do on the Internet are different from those we did (and do) in front of the TV. But it’s important to remember that they are only different; they are not new. Think for a moment about what you do on the Internet. Not what you could do, but what you actually do. You email people you know. In an effort to broaden your hor... 1 notes
notesMarshal T. Poe makes a persuasive argument that, despite the tremendous possibilities it puts before us, we end up using the Internet to do the same old stuff we were doing before the Internet, only more conveniently.
