The disappearance of renowned computer scientist Jim Gray has launched a high-tech search over the web using massive satellite imagery databases and distributed task processing by volunteers who are searching through these images to find his boat.
Katie Hafner examines the ways in which the internet is decentralized and distributed, relying on "the cooperation and mutual interests of the telecommunications companies." She examines the prospects of a future need for government control.
The New York Times gathered a panel of six technology luminaries to discuss the future path of technology in the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11th. The panel expressed concerns about the growth in surveillance technologies likely to follow the attack and the effect it will have on the centralization of technology and society.
The Vines is an example of an emerging class of what are called self-organizing Web sites. Such sites are demonstrating that with a dab or two of well-written code and a bit of careful planning, a site can take a random collection of links or posts and turn them into a sophisticated, adaptive system.