http://www.openlabs.com/DBeat.html

Whoa dude… everything a laptop DJ needs besides drink tickets… all in a 20lb aluminum package?

Price notwithstanding, there are many forseeable pros and cons to a device this specialized. I would love to get my hands on one for a weekend to put it throught the wringer.

entire article: http://www.seventhswami.com/misc/KURZWEIL_IN_ROLLING_STONE.pdf

For his contributions to artificial intelligence, Kurzweil has been enshrined in the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received White House honors from three presidents – including the highest prize in his field, the National Medal of Technology. But nothing he has done in the past has shaken the scientific community as profoundly as his latest prediction. In our lifetime, Kurzweil believes, machines will not only surpass humans in intelligence – they will irrevocably alter what it means to be human.

Kurzweil had already been forecasting technology for years. It’s an essential part of any inventor’s trade, because he has to know what technology will be on the market by the time his product is released. To calculate what’s ahead, Kurzweil extrapolates from historical data. By charting microprocessor clock speeds since 1975, for example, he found they were doubling every three years. “It’s like skeet-shooting,” he says. “Things are moving very quickly.”

Kurzweil proved himself an astonishingly good shot – so good, in fact, that he began to make sweeping predictions about politics and society. During the 1980s, he correctly predicted the fall of the Soviet Union due to decentralized technologies, the rise of the Internet and the ubiquity of wireless networks. He announced that a computer would be a world chess champion by 1998 – a reality that occurred in May 1992 when Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov. “There’s something inexorable about these progressions,” Kurzweil says. “We really can predict – not exactly what’s going to happen, but the power of these technologies.” Then one day, as he was plotting the time between innovations from the wheel to the World Wide Web, Kurzweil made a discovery: Technological change is accelerating at a far more rapid pace than we understand. At the current rate, he wrote, “We wont experience 1oo years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years of progress.” The rapidly decreasing cost of technology, he predicted, coupled with the exponentially increasing power of computers, will lead inevitably to a single moment: The Singularity.

The takeoff starts with computers embedding themselves – from GPS systems to iPhones – into the fabric of our lives. Then, 10 years from now, computing power will finally catch up with our brains. For $1,ooo, you’ll be able to store as much memory on a chip as you can in your head. By 2O3O, artificial intelligence will make computerized voices on telephone help lines as realistic sounding as any human’s (think HAL from 2O01). Virtual realities – projected directly onto your retinas – will become indistinguishable from your own. Kurzweil compares this leap to when humans learned how to fly. “Once we figured out the secret to flight – the subtle scientific principles – we created the world of aviation,” he says. “Once we can build and create intelligence that doesn’t have the limitations of our brain, there’s nothing it can’t do.”

But the even trippier stuff happens in the 2030s, when nanobots – microscopic machines built from molecular components – start to infiltrate your everyday life. “Nanobots in our physical bodies will destroy pathogens, remove debris, repair DNA and reverse aging,” Kurzweii predicts. “We will be able to redesign all the systems in our bodies and brains to be far more capable and durable.” By scanning the contents of your brain, nanobots will be able to transfer everything you know, everything you have ever experienced, into a robot or a virtual reality
program. If something happens to your physical body, no problem. Your mind will live on – forever.

But as computer intelligence surpasses that of humans, machines will also make smarter and smarter versions of themselves – without any help from us. After 2045, Kurzweil predicts, nanobots will replicate and spread throughout the tiniest recesses of matter, transforming the host – say, a tree or a stone – into a computational device. He calls this intelligence-infested matter “computronium, which is matter and energy organized at optimum level for computation. Using nanotechnology, we’re going to turn a rock into a computer.” As the nanobots spread computer intelligence beyond our planet, the universe itself will awaken as if a giant switch is finally being turned on. “The universe is not conscious – yet,” Kurzweil has written. “But it will be.”

http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/02/11/the-eve-upset/

…and for a while I was really confused as to what I was reading. I knew it was a game that was being talked about, but it sounded like a case of real-life espionage. Again, I find it fascinating how our video games mirror our lives…

“Lots of folks lose their livelihoods when an empire falls, and players invested in BoB are likely upset that years of work were lost. But EVE is not a game about the height of the Roman Empire. It’s a game about the sacking of Rome by barbarians, so that they can become the next short-lived top dog. BoB existed to be torn down, and anyone who dreams of permanent glory in a game like that should understand that their destiny is to be taken down by the next upstart, in a dog-eat-dog world.”

“the game, as a game, does want BoB to fall, because from a purely mechanical point of view, what is fun about EVE is the struggle, not the victory condition. The victory condition is boring.”

This is fascinating. I have often mused over how funny it is that people get so impatient with the struggle of life… people can’t seem to wait to get to “happily ever after.” But there is no such thing as happily ever after. That’s why there has never been a movie about being happy, foreverafter… the boredom would be annihilating. The fun comes from watching characters struggle to overcome obstacles… resolve conflicts… learn lessons. So the real “happily ever after” in life can only be found in the joy of watching your story unfold.

There have been several times in my life where i felt like i reached “happily ever after.” My dreams had come true… nothing could be more perfect… time to roll credits. The next day, however, i still had a job to go to. I still had traffic to contend with… office politics to overcome… unexpected drama from friends and family… The human condition is meant to be turbulent.

Maybe this is why there is always unrest in the world. Maybe if the wealth was evenly distributed, humans would lose their personal character-arcs and become depressed. Perhaps a certain level of struggle is necessary to keep this life meaningful.

I think insinuating that this OS would somehow “kill” Windows and Linux (but for some reason not OSX) is pretty ridiculous… but there is something else in this article that really fascinates me.

For the longest time I’ve been saying how computers have been modeling reality… Binary is analogous to the light-dark duality in nature… video games have become physics engines… electrons become akin to pixels… and all the while we are creating the next world in our own image… but now the idea behind this OS takes things to a new level.

Instead of having files saved on your computer in the traditional sense, it continually saves “states” of the entire system as a whole… Now your computer becomes a continually changing present moment, with all your “files” becoming objects with persistent states.

I know… it’s out there… mark my words though… computers and the internet (or the upcoming “grid” or whatever they’re going to call it.) will be at the heart of the 2012 event. I can feel it in my bones.

On that note, I read that this “grid” will make data transfer so fast, that it will change our concept of ownership completely. Instead of things being stored on your personal equipment… it will all be “out there” in the cloud of cloud-computing… instantly accessible and no longer necessary to “keep” in the traditional sense. This too, is just like quantum reality. The cloud we experience is “consensus reality” and our concept of ownership is illusory… after we die and our hardware exits the cloud, all of our artifacts still remain accessible to others.

It sounds both bleak and romantic, but what if 2012 arrives in a cataclysmic fashion and humans find out that, in order to survive, we must enter the virtual reality we have created? And what if several million years later we find ourselves cooperating to build hadron colliders, to break open tiny elements of our reality to find clues to a grand design behind it all? What if the current LHC actually finds evidence of this picture-in-a-picture scenario having already happened a time or two before?

In this framework, i find it almost LIKELY that 2012 could be synonymous with this “global transformation of consciousness” that so many of my new-agey friends pray for. Frankly, my hopes are just as lofty. Even if it’s just the global sense of ownership that changes, that will still be a MAJOR evolution of one of the most fundamental concepts behind class-separation.

OK I cannot WAIT for this. Check out the video. This thing meets nearly all of my needs as far as midi controllers are concerned.

http://www.ableton.com/home?movie=4

A British museum curator has built a working replica of a 2,000-year-old Greek machine that has been called the world’s first computer.

A dictionary-size assemblage of 37 interlocking dials crafted with the precision and complexity of a 19th-century Swiss clock, the Antikythera mechanism was used for modeling and predicting the movements of the heavenly bodies as well as the dates and locations of upcoming Olympic games.

The original 81 shards of the Antikythera were recovered from under the sea (near the Greek island of Antikythera) in 1902, rusted and clumped together in a nearly indecipherable mass. Scientists dated it to 150 B.C. Such craftsmanship wouldn’t be seen for another 1,000 years — but its purpose was a mystery for decades.

Many scientists have worked since the 1950s to piece together the story, with the help of some very sophisticated imaging technology in recent years, including X-ray and gamma-ray imaging and 3-D computer modeling.

Now, though, it has been rebuilt. As is almost always the way with these things, it was an amateur who cracked it. Michael Wright, a former curator at the Science Museum in London, has built a replica of the Antikythera, which works perfectly.

In the video from New Scientist below, Wright shows how the machine works.

In short, Antikythera’s user interface is deceptively simple, operated by a simple knob on the side. This conceals the intricacy within, amounting to a complex mathematical model, tracking the movements of planetary bodies and incorporating a series of submechanisms to account for the eccentricities of their rotation.

A dial on the faceplace featured the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar; pointers showed the location of the moon and the five planets known at the time. On the machine’s back, an upper dial shows a 19-year calendar (matching the solunar cycle) and the timing of upcoming Olympic games. A lower dial shows a 76-year cycle (when the Olympic and solunar cycles coincide) and indicates the months in which lunar and solar eclipses can be expected.

According to New Scientist, this is the first working model of the Antikythera computer to include all of the device’s known features. And, like the original machine, it has been built of recycled metal plates. That’s right: The Antikythera mechanism is not only the world’s oldest computer, it’s also the world’s first green computer.

Ew… wait… Does the world really NEED a game like this? People already give DJs shit about pushing buttons and turning knobs and not really being a musician… Then they give me double-shit for being a laptop DJ… So now i get to play a game where i’m pushing buttons and turning knobs to pretend to be someone who pushes buttons and turns knobs?

I hope when you choose your character in the beginning you can choose between vinyl, cd, and laptop… so i can play a game where i push buttons and turn knobs to control a simulation of a computer that is recreating the nuances of using vinyl to play other people’s music.

Maybe you can hack the game to actually send midi signal and then i can use fake numark mixer to control the little dude on the screen who triggers events in ableton which is playing for real people at a party.

“Scratch will feature original recordings from the catalogs of many top urban artists and will allow players to re-imagine songs on the fly and add their own creativity. This feature sets it apart from other music rhythm games and makes it a dream come true for both casual music fans and serious DJs/producers.”

HAW!!!

Despite the fact that i used an apple IIe (my 1st computer) from 1982 til probably 1990… i really can’t call it my 1st apple PURCHASE because my parents bought it. Saturday afternoon, after deciding against going to love fest, i ended up making my 1st apple store purchase in the form of  Skinny Fucking Keyboard. (it says that on the box)

Skinny Fuckin Keyboard is something i’ve been wanting for a while… and as vocally anti-mac as i’ve been for all these years, you’d better believe the shitstorm has begun. Do you know what it’s like to have shit rain down on you every few minutes? It’s crazy son!

My whole reasoning for this move was to reduce the INSANE NOISE that i create when i type on my other keyboard. Because a) there’s no reason to alert my coworkers to how long my emails are… and b) this one crazy lady here actually asked to be seated farther away from me because of my loud typing… The down side of this plan is twofold; 1) she’s going to start noticing how loud i slap my mouse buttons (i swear my fingers are spring-loaded) and 2) i have to figure out a way around this missing print-screen button issue. (i use that a LOT every day for work, yo!) Shouldn’t be hard though… there’s many freeware solutions with customizable hot keys.

and of course 3) the shit hitting my umbrella right now. Long overdue revenge from my mac-adoring friends. No guys this is not going to be “gateway purchase”… leading eventually to me converting to the dark (albiet, white) side…

Fire away bitches. =)

Now it doesn’t keep me up at night.

I used to try to promote green awareness.

Now i tire of promoting the “green bubble”

I used to really want my opinion heard too.

Now i gauge whether or not it’s worth the effort it takes to actually open my mouth and use my lungs.

I used to care to archive every single last thing that i thought i might want to see/use later.

Now the internet (and the forthcoming “grid”) are changing the way i think about “ownership” and challenging some of my most fundamental instincts.

Information overload. My ways of thinking are going to have to change if i am to survive this transition without running myself completely insane.

Time for a vin diesel break…
http://4q.cc/index.php?pid=top100&person=vin

Did you know if you reaarange the letters in “Vin Diesel” it spells “I End Lives”??? Holy crap i thought MY anagram-name was cool! I certainly can’t top that.

www.presentationzen.com/presen…wi.html

I can really get into this guy’s methodology and i wish more companies would embrace the less-is-more philosophy… You usually end up with the “make my logo bigger” crowd and the end result is like poop in your zen garden. har har.

One of the reasons i feel that this place is such a good fit for me is because i have strong visual story-telling skills… that’s one of the main points we try to push here… we’re not in the business of making talking points pretty… we’re in the business of engaging audiences… design, not decoration.

I attended a lecture by this guy: www.edwardtufte.com before starting work here and even though he’s an authority on quantitative information graphics, his views on powerpoint are incredibly angry and negative… even going so far as to blame powerpoint for the Columbia disaster. His belief is that powerpoint is making people stupider… that people tend to stick to the font size/resolution limitations and linear nature of powerpoint and they forget how to really communicate… that the presentation itself ends up replacing the content somehow. I am not quite sure how he can make such arching statements when he knows damn well that powerpoint can be treated like a container for whatever the hell you want to stick in there. I have never felt compelled to use ppt templates but he seems to think the world is doing it as a shortcut to thinking.

In the case of school kids being told to make powerpoint presentations for homework assignments i can see how this can be true. Instead of doing real work, they are sort of having fun decorating their assignment with cheesy clip art and somehow the medium becomes the focus instead of the content… Tufte argues “Your method of delivery should always be invisible… ” and most powerpoint presentations end up being more of an advertisement for powerpoint than anything else.

And in the case of the Colmubia incident i can see his qualms too… The Columbia Accident Investigation Board says “At many points during it’s investigation, the Board was surprised to receive similar presentation slides from NASA officials in place of technical reports. The Board views the endemic use of powerpoint briefing slides instead of technical papers as an illustration of the problematic methods of technical communication at NASA — Other professional organizations have also noted the increased use of this presentation software as a substitute for technical reports and other meaningful documentation. Powerpoint (and simliar products by other vendors), as a method to provide talking points and present limited data to assembled groups, has it’s place in the engineering community; however, these presentation should never be allowed to replacec, or even supplement, formal documentation.”

Agreed. But to go off of this and say that ppt is making the presenters, consumer, and everyone witness to it dumber by forcing them into a 1st grade level of communication is a stretch. Tufte, you’re great at what you do… but something tells me that your advisory role on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board made you take the tragedy personally and you are looking for someone to blame…

Just like anything else… HOW you use it is where the art lies. Ableton alone doesn’t write good music. Owning a ferrari doesn’t make you a race car driver. Using powerpoint does not make you a good presenter.