Wednesday, March 17, 2010 IBM: "We can actually begin to hear the planet talking to us"

This video from IBM is a worthwhile way to spend five minutes. If you're into internet fridges and pavements talking to you, anyway.

What do you think? A smarter planet to help us run things more efficiently (to a soundtrack of light piano jazz), or too much data out there that could be repurposed for evil (to a soundtrack of goth metal)?

Talking of which, it does remind me a bit of The Terminator.

"The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."