Interview with Natalie Jeremijenko

cynical writes "From releasing packs of Feral Robot Dogs that sniff out chemical contamination, to teaching Yale engineering students socially responsible design, to co-authoring Biotech Hobbyist Magazine, Natalie Jeremijenko's work merges engineering, biology, politics and art. Enviro-tech blog WorldChanging has an exclusive interview with Jeremijenko where she discusses how art and technology mix, garage biotech, and being the "Q" (from James Bond) of the activist community."

I love her take on "problem people"

[5n3ak3rp1mp]

From an interview at BoingBoing [boingboing.net]... "Of course they say they'd use it to bring down 'problem people', i.e. direct action leaders."

Doing the right thing so often means fighting the power... Sometimes, leading is leaving. Or pissing off. If you do what everyone wants you to do, you will have no real influence on the world whatsoever.

I like her attitude.

i'm so glad i caught THIS article

[Fluidic Binary]

reading articles such as this always make me feel better about the world. I am already well aware of the misfortunes of it, but it is truly inspirational to read about someone fighting for what they believe in such as 'NJ' is.

It is one thing to read about the various 'rebel without a cause' types who merely want their voice heard, but to read the words of an educated person who is using that education to attempt to make the world a better place is imo the realization of an ideal in a otherwise rather compromised world.

I had no idea this woman existed before now (perhaps I am not all that well read) and knowing she even exists inspires me to press onward and continue.

I wish her the best of luck in this battle and hope to aid the cause some day soon.

Of course, I will have to begin researching more about her to ensure that I am not a complete moron by making the former statements... But at far as I can tell presently she is an awesome human being.

So what is the name for a biotech hacker?

[TheNarrator]

First there were Cyberpunks....
Then there were Cypherpunks...
Then there were Steampunks....
How about Genepunks or Biopunks (I can't decide right now which one sounds cooler)?

Re: Q

[pjt33]

Since it's the weekend there seems to be a dearth of mods, making this the perfect time for a grammar Nazi to give a lesson in the subjunctive mood. It is used to express a hypothetical. The third person (feminine) imperfect subjunctive of "to be" is "she were".

It would have been more interesting if she were the Q...

More detailed explanations will be easily located with Google.