Thursday, August 31, 2006
On technology's dark side
We don’t have to look past today to see the intertwined promise and peril of technological advancement. Imagine describing the dangers (atomic and hydrogen bombs, for one thing) that exist today to people who lived a couple of hundred years ago. They would think it mad to take such risks. But how many people in 2006 would really want to go back to the short, brutish, disease-filled, poverty-stricken, disaster-prone lives that 99% of the human race struggled through two centuries ago?
-Ray Kurzweil
-Ray Kurzweil
Ray on merging my file structure's work folder with my personal folder
Learning will first move online, but once our brains are fully online we will be able to download
new knowledge and skills. The role of work will be to create knowledge of all kinds, from music
and art to math and science. The role of play will also be to create knowledge. In the future, there won’t be a clear distinction between work and play.
-Ray Kurzweil
(hopefully for me we can make that the NEAR future)
new knowledge and skills. The role of work will be to create knowledge of all kinds, from music
and art to math and science. The role of play will also be to create knowledge. In the future, there won’t be a clear distinction between work and play.
-Ray Kurzweil
(hopefully for me we can make that the NEAR future)
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Discover Mag. Sept. 2006, p. 24
Jaron's World: The Murder of Mystery - - science news articles online technology magazine articles
Last week I had a jarring conversation with one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley.
Ideas that used to be tucked away in the obscure world of artificial intelligence labs have gone mainstream in tech culture. The basic tenet of this new culture is that all of reality, including humans, is one big information system.
[etc.; very interesting piece, explicitly discussing the "tightrope walk" between "a crowd of ravenous faux robotic nerds on one side and a gaggle of sentimental antiquarians on the other." He doesn't identify his "misguided colleague," but I'm wondering if it is RK or another singulartarian type.]
Last week I had a jarring conversation with one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley.
Me: I wish more kids were learning to be musicians.
He: In 10 years computers will be able to use a combination of artificial intelligence and massed data from the Internet to generate music better than human musicians. We can already use these techniques to choose hit songs more accurately than record executives. Musicianship will be an obsolete profession by the time today's kids grow up. There might be good reasons to teach kids music, but creating a new generation of professional musicians is not one of them.This was one of those moments when I wondered at what's become of computer culture. The remark was the kind of thing Marvin Minsky, the legendary MIT professor and one of the fathers of artificial intelligence, used to say to me when I was a young researcher to piss me off and make me think. But there were unmistakable layers of humor and irony in Marvin's provocations. Many of today's Silicon Valley thought leaders seem to have embraced what used to be speculations as certainties, without the spirit of unbounded curiousity that originally gave rise to them.
Ideas that used to be tucked away in the obscure world of artificial intelligence labs have gone mainstream in tech culture. The basic tenet of this new culture is that all of reality, including humans, is one big information system.
[etc.; very interesting piece, explicitly discussing the "tightrope walk" between "a crowd of ravenous faux robotic nerds on one side and a gaggle of sentimental antiquarians on the other." He doesn't identify his "misguided colleague," but I'm wondering if it is RK or another singulartarian type.]
Friday, August 18, 2006
Complex adaptive system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So I am working from home. Doing some wiki work. Thoughts on investing, etc.
I wrote the following sentance:
The stock market is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system complex adaptive system].
The wikipedia page on complex adaptive systems has an interesting picture..well, here it is:
So I thought I'd add the picture to the page I was editing (in truthbus wiki).
In my file structure, the Truthbus wiki /image folder has two folders:
1. personal
2. work
So when I went to save the above image, I found myself stuck in the save dialog box moving the mouse back and forth between work and personal, back and forth, back and forth until I realized the humor and symbolism in that and wanted to share it.
What's funny too is that when I went to add the picture to this blog post, I couldn't remember which folder I had saved it in...of course I picked the wrong one.
By the way, this microsoft blog editor is cool. much better than blogger.
Link to Complex adaptive system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Smart Mobs: Participatory Media/Collective Action: Berkeley School of Information Course
Too bad this isn't in Wheeler - you could attend. Follow the syllabus link to check out the site it takes you to.
Link to Smart Mobs: Participatory Media/Collective Action: Berkeley School of Information Course
Monday, August 14, 2006
Kurzweil's Law (aka the law of accelerating returns) and the TB wiki
Kurzweil's Law (aka the law of accelerating returns):
"The resources underlying the exponential growth of an evolutionary process are relatively unbounded.
One resource is the (ever-growing) order of the evolutionary process itself. Each stage of evolution provides more powerful tools for the next.
In biological evolution, the advent of DNA allowed more powerful and faster evolutionary 'experiments.' Later, setting the 'designs' of animal body plans during the Cambrian explosion allowed rapid evolutionary development of other body organs, such as the brain.
Or to take a more recent example, the advent of computer-assisted design tools allows rapid development of the next generation of computers.
The other required resource is the 'chaos' of the environment in which the evolutionary process takes place and which provides the options for further diversity. In biological evolution, diversity enters the process in the form of mutations and ever- changing environmental conditions. In technological evolution, human ingenuity combined with ever-changing market conditions keep the process of innovation going. "
I believe this also fits as an analogy for this Truthbus wiki. Once this soccer ball folds up, it becomes a platform for accelerated learning, understanding and knowledge. The 'chaos' of this environment is the magazines, blogs, websites, meetings, books, etc.
the other Truthbus
"The resources underlying the exponential growth of an evolutionary process are relatively unbounded.
One resource is the (ever-growing) order of the evolutionary process itself. Each stage of evolution provides more powerful tools for the next.
In biological evolution, the advent of DNA allowed more powerful and faster evolutionary 'experiments.' Later, setting the 'designs' of animal body plans during the Cambrian explosion allowed rapid evolutionary development of other body organs, such as the brain.
Or to take a more recent example, the advent of computer-assisted design tools allows rapid development of the next generation of computers.
The other required resource is the 'chaos' of the environment in which the evolutionary process takes place and which provides the options for further diversity. In biological evolution, diversity enters the process in the form of mutations and ever- changing environmental conditions. In technological evolution, human ingenuity combined with ever-changing market conditions keep the process of innovation going. "
I believe this also fits as an analogy for this Truthbus wiki. Once this soccer ball folds up, it becomes a platform for accelerated learning, understanding and knowledge. The 'chaos' of this environment is the magazines, blogs, websites, meetings, books, etc.
the other Truthbus
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
Main Page - Yoism Online Collaboration Space
Main Page - Yoism Online Collaboration Space
Welcome to the WikiYo
In late October 2005, we installed this Wikimedia software. We have begun posting the Book of Yo and the Yoism web pages here for modification by anybody. As the world's first open source religion, we will be trying an experiment to see what evolves when people all over the world are able to edit Yoism's main texts.
Welcome to the WikiYo
In late October 2005, we installed this Wikimedia software. We have begun posting the Book of Yo and the Yoism web pages here for modification by anybody. As the world's first open source religion, we will be trying an experiment to see what evolves when people all over the world are able to edit Yoism's main texts.
Yo FAQ IV: Proof that Yo Exists | Yoism
Yo FAQ IV: Proof that Yo Exists Yoism
Press "here (below)" to start. Clicking on the image won't link
To download, right-click here and then click "save target as" or "save link as."
.jpg)
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
TEO 3.0 & Outlook & Tablet PC
I've only scratched the surface of TEO/Outlook on the Tablet, but it's feeling solid good right now. I've got Tablet Boy's book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook sitting on my desk as a good luck charm. Karate Man charm his own luck.
Fortunately (for me & a few others) this is coming up in a real-world, high-leverage context. Unfortunately (for truthbus and the lonely goatherd) it means that my attention has been commandeered. I'll keep you posted.
Fortunately (for me & a few others) this is coming up in a real-world, high-leverage context. Unfortunately (for truthbus and the lonely goatherd) it means that my attention has been commandeered. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
What is the Mandelbrot Set? - Wiki
What is the Mandelbrot Set? - Wiki
I haven't finished cleaning this up yet, but this is where it lives.
I haven't finished cleaning this up yet, but this is where it lives.
Monday, August 07, 2006
SqueezeNetwork - Pandora
SqueezeNetwork - Pandora
Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe.
Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe.
Hours of viewing per person in US
All TV: 2004: 1546
1546/365=4.1
What would be the impact if some % of those hours were spent on something more productive?
1546/365=4.1
What would be the impact if some % of those hours were spent on something more productive?
Asperger's
Cleaning up my desk and found a flyer for the "Back to School Autism/Asperger's Conference August 19-20, 2006." Thought that was funny.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The next computer interface: your finger
Emerging Technology Trends
ZDNet via KurzweilAI
This virtual reality system, the Fingertip Digitizer, has been developed at the University of Buffalo (UB). It will interpret your hand gestures and will translate them for your PC, medical devices or computer games. According to one developer, the Fingertip Digitizer "will help bridge the gap between what a person knows and what a computer knows" and a commercial version should be available within 3 years. Read more…
ZDNet via KurzweilAI
This virtual reality system, the Fingertip Digitizer, has been developed at the University of Buffalo (UB). It will interpret your hand gestures and will translate them for your PC, medical devices or computer games. According to one developer, the Fingertip Digitizer "will help bridge the gap between what a person knows and what a computer knows" and a commercial version should be available within 3 years. Read more…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
