Probably just about everyone who surfs the web has noticed how online advertisements are tailor-made to suit their personal tastes. Watch certain types of videos or search for information on a particular matter, and moments later ads appear that address those very subjects. Well, here's something that's oddly reminiscent of that algorithmic programming, but with a twist. Minutes ago I was reading At the Edge of Uncertainty by English science writer Michael Brooks. On page 217 the name Christopher Langton is mentioned. He is an American computer scientist who coined the term "artificial life". Then I put down the book and started watching a YouTube video that had to do with glass beads found in the royal tombs of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. They are clearly of foreign manufacture, and an English archaeologist was introduced who was trying to track down their origin. His name was James Langton.
I had never heard this uncommon name before today, and within minutes of my first becoming aware of it, it was repeated in a different medium.
Angels (or maybe devils) are watching, algorithms in hand.
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