tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-345428362024-08-30T09:21:39.099-05:00Quips and working notes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-79550955762315589242012-07-14T09:52:00.000-05:002012-07-14T09:52:41.234-05:00

Lots of people are intimidated by programming, but while I was managing one of my companies i asked my engineers what programming languages would be 1) so easy to learn that a freakin biz guy would be able to handle it and 2) powerful enough to actually do interesting things, as fast as possible, as often as possible. They looked at each other like long-suffering people do and tried to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-28039102346196182092009-12-10T06:46:00.002-06:002012-07-14T09:53:12.956-05:00

There is a great deal of interesting conversation around the topic of 'What if the Singularity Doesn't Happen?' Or what if it doesn't happen all at the same time. The latest issue of H+ magazine offers a glimpse into the idea that strong AI doesn't happen. What could still be built at a nanoscale without an AI doing the designing for us?Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age posits a future in which

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-55928827671622694432009-11-28T05:39:00.007-06:002009-12-01T17:11:53.721-06:00

On Tuesday I am presenting to the Harvard Computer Science club a fifty three minute talk about possible futures of computing.It's been rough! Just try and think of something interesting to say to some of the brightest computer programmers in the world. Especially when your interests are in computer programming... but without a technical background.I've decided to focus on four key points; First,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-33827491752621135912009-11-24T14:17:00.006-06:002009-11-24T15:39:14.670-06:00

As a project for my work at T.H.E. BRAIN TRUST, I've been asked to figure out how to apply to mail at nonprofit standard mail prices. This post will be a how-to and a why-to, with a cost/benefit analysis and the procedure we're using to apply.The first thing we did is go to the postal service and find form 3624, the application to mail at nonprofit standard mail prices. This form requires several

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-33011929190674764382009-10-03T01:39:00.002-05:002009-10-03T02:00:35.771-05:00

The Maker Faire was the Saturday before last. Willoughby and Baltic sent down a contingent I was proud to be a part of. Some pics of our table were up in the flickr pool for the event, with our banner prominent. Went very well overall, lots of new friends! Met up with the MakerBot guys, got to see a lot of samples displayed prominently near our robot (theirs wasn't working, too cold for the bare

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-91069098947941512462009-09-08T00:38:00.002-05:002009-09-08T00:47:49.216-05:00

I'm attending the Iron Chef Sculpture competition, hosted by Maker Faire RI, as well as their DIY workshops next week. Then, of course, the Maker Faire itself on the 19th.After that, the Singularity Summit in NY has caught my eye. They have an amazing list of readings to tear through.Some interesting ones;10 Intro PublicationsEthical Issues in Advanced Artificial IntelligenceNick BostromWhat is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-58837401529007026282009-08-25T14:14:00.003-05:002009-08-25T18:43:30.430-05:00

Image courtesy of the Industrial Decay Blog. More updates soon, I'm getting settled into Boston.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-40097237503884553242009-04-10T05:45:00.002-05:002009-04-10T06:18:15.135-05:00

Socwall gives us one of Leonid Afremov's beautiful works.I read Ms. Sramana Mitra's interesting post on An Innovation Conundrum. She does a great job of looking at 'Capitalism' from a Randian, entrepreneurial perspective. The article mentions the issues of culture existing in America's capitalism, specifically the value of speculators v. creators, movement from education to finance, and concludes

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-64574114797401975752009-03-04T12:13:00.002-06:002009-03-04T12:24:03.068-06:00

Netbooks (Forbes) are pretty cool. Dangerous (Reuters), though.I have a problem with top-down approaches. Take this one (Reuters). The idea is neat, taking the current patchwork energy grid and making it smarter, so there's less waste and chance of blackout. I doubt if they looked for any other way to achieve it, though. There's something that rankles me about private contractors bidding for

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-9172545826472922282009-03-02T16:26:00.003-06:002009-03-02T22:13:36.866-06:00

Socwall.Lots of interesting news these days. Microsoft building a personal virtual assistant (IHT) capable of scheduling appointments, flights, etc.More compelling, however, is Laura's ability to make sophisticated decisions about the people in front of her, judging things like their attire, whether they seem impatient, their importance and their preferred times for appointments.Cool. Now they

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-62237740689132360882009-02-27T23:40:00.002-06:002009-02-28T00:07:52.108-06:00

SocwallRay Charles' I got a Woman.I know I mentioned how I'd like to see personal fabrication lean toward making your own homes, electricity, water, and such. I am fascinated by things like this homemade dome (Make Magazine.) out of plastic, wire, and packing peanuts. I like designs where, once you've heard the idea, you can figure out how to do it. They seem more powerful than really complicated

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-24931657150934087872009-02-26T16:33:00.005-06:002009-02-26T17:43:44.828-06:00

Socwall.Found Leon Jean Marie's East End Blues (Songza) from a Tostitos commercial. It's got the feel I like in hip hop and rap songs, like Internal Affairs' Half Empty (A song almost impossible to find on the internet.) and Rock Ya Body Mic Check 1 2 (Google Video).I got my Myers-Briggs Personality Test (Wikipedia) back, and found out I am an INTP, or Architect. Me and Albert Einstein. From

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-84899979698026892032009-02-25T17:49:00.003-06:002009-02-25T20:26:32.723-06:00

I've been reading John C. Wright's Orphans of Chaos (Wikipedia) series, which is an excellent philosophy training manual for a variety of reasons. Thanks, Logan, for the recommendation.Image is Socwall again.I'm hearing more and more often (as less hippies write books) about the idea that the brain is a muscle. The point of this is to note that intelligence isn't a predetermined attribute, but is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-10219950820591207302009-02-24T12:08:00.005-06:002009-02-24T14:12:16.297-06:00

It's a clock (Make Magazine blog). It reads 3:50.I love this quote from this (makezine) article (Instructables.com); The local stores carry mass produced machetes and sickles like we have but no one wants them. The local people appreciate a finely crafted steel tool made to exactly suit the work they do.There is a Market!More on Videogames, thanks to the enthusiastic response last time. They do

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-84832841460356678332009-02-23T18:36:00.004-06:002009-02-23T19:04:29.877-06:00

Across The Universe's Hold Me Tight (songza). Itunes Preset-Dance. Brings out the hidden Sax.Image is from Socwall again. A guy names Steven Haseloff, he does good work.I think Video Games are the ultimate learning medium. This is based on the fact that I still know the types of almost all 150 original Pokemon (Bulbapedia), thousands of years of made-up history from various games, and all the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-87168939152395618762009-02-20T16:45:00.004-06:002009-02-20T17:33:14.470-06:00

Yeah, I dunno what that turtle's deal is either.I have my RSS reader (My shared items google reader page) folders set up with names like 'elegance' and 'hax,' and my elegance folder has provided many of the pics which grace the blog.I have a feed from Socwall which seems to post any picture its users find worthy of desktopping. As a result, sometimes they're neat, sometimes boring, and often

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-19439198604654250262009-02-19T10:35:00.002-06:002009-02-19T10:48:54.884-06:00

Erin McCarley's Love Save The Empty (Songza) iTunes Equalizer- Piano. Pic is from The Sartorialist again. He has such good pics, I'll have to work to avoid always posting them.I wonder (too often for my sanity's sake) how the systems we've built are supposed to satisfy us. I mean, they're mostly to improve comfort (here in America) and self-perpetuate. When things like the RepRap (RepRap.com), a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-65198019428047716952009-02-18T09:25:00.006-06:002009-02-18T13:16:27.765-06:00

I fiddled with the equalizer presets in iTunes for a while on Joanna Newsom's Colleen (Songza). I found the classical setting pulls all the diverse instruments out. It's neat how well it highlights the (awesome) accordion run around 2:18, considering the Accordion isn't really 'classical.' Pic is from The Sartorialist, I really like the look on her face. Very confident.I love fiddling with

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-75170574404340439112009-02-17T07:23:00.005-06:002009-02-17T08:15:55.703-06:00

Joanna Newsom's Colleen. (Songza) Celtic styled song, beautiful in its lyricism and instrumentation."Have you come, then, to rescue me?"He laughed and said, "from what, 'Colleen'?"You dried and dressed most willingly.you corseted, and caught the dread diseaseby which one comes to know such peace." Siftables.(TED Talk) A demonstration of computerized building blocks with amazing capabilities and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-87199231156031567862008-07-31T17:47:00.002-05:002008-07-31T17:59:50.868-05:00

In attempting to perfect my presentation skills, I've realized that the lines between public and private speaking are nonexistent.The difference is that a public speech has the opportunity to be a more polished version of your private speech, allowing you to craft and refine the truisms you communicate every day with your normal social network.I saw Comedian after being referred to it by this

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-90869269048256500292007-10-10T10:39:00.001-05:002007-10-10T14:04:10.529-05:00

Try Big New Things.Always be Learning.Don't Get Comfy.Hate Pressure toward Progress.Enjoy Yourself. Except when you Don't.Savor Everything.Beat the Crap out of something.Find Something to Emote about.Break a Habit.Interesting > usefulLaughing at something serious makes it better

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-37385046315958409762007-04-11T13:19:00.000-05:002007-10-10T10:38:55.746-05:00

Journalists agonize over the single sentence that makes their article worth reading, and goes at the beginning. Putting children through the Brown Eyes Blue Eyes experiment taught them tolerance for the rest of their lives. Strangers will steal your kidneys!In their book Made to Stick, authors Chip and Dan Heath note the Six Parts of a Sticky idea. Using the Clever acronym SUCCESs, the Brothers

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-7002714995930748662007-03-27T04:28:00.000-05:002007-10-10T10:38:55.746-05:00

Why I don’t like our Gen Ed system. – Guest Column in the Daily NebraskanFirst, I’d like to note that I support Liberal Arts wholeheartedly by taking as many weird classes as I can. In fact, this semester I took classes in Marketing, International Studies, and Ed Psych. Which makes me uniquely qualified to… whine, I guess.I don’t like forced gen eds. Value vanishes as sizes skyrocket and students

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-34392724471452708422007-03-13T08:24:00.000-05:002007-10-10T10:38:55.746-05:00

I found a very cool project that overlays US Census data onto Google Earth maps. As US census data is notoriously difficult to use, I found it amazing. Only supported by three states, but I've contacted my State Gov about it and hope others do the same.(Form to send a Question to the Nebraska State Governor. Copy and paste this post as you please :)) Here's the link to the website, the /gcensus/

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34542836.post-18249863537762952532007-03-07T17:07:00.000-06:002007-10-10T10:38:55.746-05:00

Minimum wordcount requirements don't make good papers. Any discerning, unpretentious, and charisma-majoring student can write the same thing using sixty-three words as he could write in a seven word sentence through the use of conjunctions, hyphens, unnecessarily long lists, lengthy descriptions such as 'discerning, unpretentious, and charisma-majoring' and 'unnecessarily long lists,' and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0