Finding Intelligent Life

Finding Intelligent Life

At Heathrow yesterday morning I picked up a copy of Intelligent Life, a new publication from The Economist. Apparently it's not available in the United States, though a wee bit of the content is available online to non-subscribers.

There is a strong opening message from the editor that basically says life has changed a lot in recent years creating the need for people to think of themselves as the CEO of their own life.

Inevitably, it is the social changes wrought by all this turmoil that will be the most pernicious. For a start, the social compacts that many of us have taken for granted—employment contracts, corporate pensions and health-care plans, as well as public education and welfare schemes—are now up for wholesale renegotiation. More than ever, each of us is going to be very much on our own henceforth — making difficult choices, often for the first time, about how best to spend our own limited resources as we fend increasingly for ourselves. Like it or not, we are all becoming free agents, forced to manage our personal lives as we might an enterprise.

Here are some of the highlights:

A story (premium content) about HitSongScience.com, a program that analyzed 3.5 million hit songs and determined "that all hits converge around a few mathematical patterns." While it can't create a hit song, it can predict if a song is hit-worthy. Sony, Universal, BMG, EMI and Warner Bros. are already toying with the technology, and garage bands around the world can test thier prowess for $50 a pop at the web site.

More to come when i get around to it. Blogger cut out on my this morning. ...
- posted by Amy @ 8/28/2004 07:35:00 AM