Over the past few weeks, some changes at Google and some comments from its CEO have gotten me thinking about the effect the company is having on culture. Now, to be clear, I am not part of that group of people – Nick Carr, Andrew Keen or Evgeny Morozov – who feel that the internet is ruining things. Quite to the contrary, I’m very optimistic about the promise of new technology to make the world better and fairer. But some of what Google is doing these days is making me wonder whether large tech corporations are the ones to lead us into the future. Google Wants Our Brains Why? Well first was Eric Schmidt’s comments…

Chris Conte knows how to rock and roll. Or at least how to build machines that can assist in the task. Having been commissioned by Adam Gontier, lead singer of alt rock outfit Three Days Grace, Conte has whipped up a microphone stand reminiscent of the final scene of Terminator. The stainless steel beast took three months to build and is originally composed entirely of found objects. I guess that makes it green, or something. “I simply build the things I wish I had,” said Conte of the creation in an interview with Wired. “The work also expresses my fascination with advanced technology, specifically…