Boing Boing: Brain in a bubbling jar

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Brain in a bubbling jar

The Think Tank is a 4' high, $225 model brain in a bubbling jar. If you've ever had an existential moment and wondered if you were possiblya brain in a har being fed an elaborate simulation, this is the gizmo for you. It also illustrates the key problem in DRM: software depends on getting reliable info about its operating environment (as when Microsoft DRM requires audio to be piped through a "secure" channel), but there's no way for a DRM to distinguish between being run on actual hardware, or on emulated hardware -- e.g. whether it is a "brain in a jar," being fed pretty lies by a simulation that is lulling it into giving up its secrets. I bet you could build one of these for a lot less than $225, though. Link (via Red Ferret Journal)

Update: JWZ sez, "I've had one of those things for a few years -- it's pretty neat, but the bubbles always get inside the brain and make it float up on its side. It's also very light and easy to knock over."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:56:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

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