CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2012-07-14 19:12:02 (228 comments, 295 reshares, 414 +1s)

Penn and Teller - The Vatican

This episode no longer officially exists. Strings were pulled to make it disappear. There are shocking revelations about Ratzinger and Vatican influence of politics in Italy and the United States.

The Vatican episode was the finale of season 7 of Bullshit. It was retroactively censored by Showtime. It was not included on the season 7 DVD or streaming video (see Amazon for many strong comments), and is no longer listed on the official web site. This is sad, since this episode discusses very important issues of censorship and the social impact of secrecy - using power to control and suppress speech.

Watch it and share it with others! Download, copy, distribute. Don't let it disappear. Don't let the cover-up succeed. Don't let this information be suppressed.

#corruption   #censorship   #freedomofspeech  

2012-07-07 16:25:53 (56 comments, 86 reshares, 241 +1s)

Embodying A Thought Controlled Robot

This is a provocative experiment in remote virtual embodiment of a robotic body. Software interpreted the movement signals from the brain of a man being scanned by an fMRI. These signals were translated into a virtual avatar, linked over the internet to the robot. The man "saw" through the video stream from the robot, completing the feedback loop and providing him with a sense of being the robot.

"At one point the connection failed. One of the researchers picked the robot up to see what the problem was and I was like, 'Oi, put me down!'"

Video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/06/thought-controlled-avatar-robot_n_1654249.html

2012-07-04 16:45:21 (6 comments, 28 reshares, 51 +1s)

Quantum Levitation

This is jaw-dropping. Almog gives extraordinary demonstrations of levitation through quantum locking, and in the process explains the principles of superconductivity.

#wow   #science  

2012-07-04 16:13:05 (14 comments, 16 reshares, 47 +1s)

Upgrading The Human Species

Throughout human evolution, multiple versions of humans co-existed. Could we be mid-upgrade now? At TEDxSummit, Juan Enriquez sweeps across time and space to bring us to the present moment -- and shows how technology is revealing evidence that suggests rapid evolution may be under way.

This riveting talk includes recent research suggesting that genetic upgrades may be just around the corner, the possibility that rapid evolution may be occurring right now, and the historical-evolutionary story that puts this all in context.

2012-06-26 15:07:28 (43 comments, 29 reshares, 48 +1s)

Radical Openness - An anthem on the power of IDEAS

The latest awe-inspired shot of philosophical expresso from futurist and performance philosopher Jason Silva.

2012-06-24 05:13:58 (56 comments, 126 reshares, 312 +1s)

Alan Turing Memorial Plaque

Father of Computer Science
Mathematician, Logician
Wartime Codebreaker
Victim of Prejudice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing_Memorial

Turing Test: If you use computer technology to oppose gay rights, you fail as a human.

2012-06-22 06:32:17 (47 comments, 3 reshares, 16 +1s)

Refutation of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems

I've bundled up some of my private discussions on this topic to open these thoughts to public scrutiny and criticism. It is here argued that a fundamental semiotic/philosophical problem introduces logical flaws that invalidate Gödel's argument.

Some overlap in the pieces below has been intentionally retained. Perhaps what is unclear in one case will be clearer in another.

<EDIT> 
Here's a more concise summary:

Gödel encoding is required to avoid the illegal infinite regress if a theorem T is expressed directly (non-encoded) within system S. The supposed "equivalence" of a formula expressed in a meta-system M must presuppose that "equivalence" in this case must also presuppose that S is closed over any operation expressed in M. This is not the case, elsethe... more »

2012-06-02 20:51:20 (6 comments, 19 reshares, 42 +1s)

"Culturomics is the application of massive scale data collection and analysis to the study of human culture."

This is an exceptionally funny TEDtalk, showing the cultural trends and events that can be revealed by analysis of digitized books.

#PreludeToPreludeToFoundation   #EncyclopediaGalactica   #beft  

2012-06-01 00:58:37 (7 comments, 23 reshares, 50 +1s)

Some Overdue Re-shares.

Something I don't do enough of on Google+ is re-share cool content that I come across. My usage is patchy - I might go a day or two with no contact and then jump on the next and devour all the posts that I missed. Some of the cool content that I come across I'll share to a "Bookmarked Posts" circle with zero people in it and fully intend - every. single. time. - to come back to it and check it out and possibly finally re-share it. Thing is, months have passed now since I've started collecting bookmarks. And so, rather than spam you all with re-share after re-share I've collected a bunch of them here that might well be of interest to you. I'm sorry in advance if I've forgotten the re-sharers who I saw the content from.

Arty
Viruses made of glass http://goo.gl/dP8VK from +Rajini Rao

Amazing wood... more »

2012-05-28 16:09:26 (8 comments, 12 reshares, 51 +1s)

Dalek Relaxation Tape

Exterminate your tension.

#doctorwho #whovians #daleks #geekhumor

2012-05-28 02:44:38 (15 comments, 8 reshares, 37 +1s)

Beyond Human: The Cyborg Mind

This old PBS series was so ahead of its time that this episode has become even more relevant now. The cutting-edge research they covered is now reaching the product stage, and the predictions and reflections remain valid.

"The focus is our expanding relationship with the computer, the invention of devices that enhance our senses and minds, and knit us together in ways we've never imagined."

"As we steadily merge with our technological inventions..."

"This is certainly going to horrify some people. The cameras are extensions of human vision. The databases are extensions of human memory. Are you honestly going to stop them?"

Additional options for viewing the entire Beyond Human series: http://www.thirteen.org/archive/scienceandnature/beyond-human-series-watchable-online/1362/... more »

2012-05-27 18:54:56 (14 comments, 20 reshares, 44 +1s)

Perceptual Augmentation: AR for Future Humans

Hear information.
Touch information.
Smell information.
Taste information.

A short talk about extending the human sensory space.

#are2012 #ar #perception #augmentation

2012-05-26 23:04:28 (123 comments, 223 reshares, 551 +1s)

Leap: Touchless Gesture in 3D Interaction Space

This device will change how we interact with computers. It's a fundamental breakthrough in motion-sensing and touch-free gesture-control at a very low cost.

The Leap is a small iPod sized USB peripheral that creates a 3D interaction space of 8 cubic feet to precisely interact with and control software on your laptop or desktop computer.

The Leap senses your individual hand and finger movements independently, as well as items like a pen. It’s 200x more sensitive than existing touch-free products.

http://live.leapmotion.com/about.html

Hands-on review and technical details:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/25/leap-motion-gesture-control-technology-hands-on/

This video gives a realistic sense of what it's like to interact with the device: Leap Motion

The retailpri... more »

2012-05-24 03:27:22 (9 comments, 21 reshares, 70 +1s)

Songs Recorded on Moog Doodle

Gary Numan, "Cars" (http://bit.ly/JTqeiP)
Soft Cell, "Tainted Love" (http://bit.ly/JJG4fb
Daft Punk, "Da Funk" (http://bit.ly/LFUYo7)

Very cool! See article for details.

They note that some songs can't be played without poly-synth support. If someone wraps the doodle in a realtime collaborative workspace, with support for an arbitrary number of synthesizers, multiple people can compose, record and replay simultaneously, and this would provide a poly-synth hack!

2012-05-21 19:06:51 (1 comments, 8 reshares, 34 +1s)

Datomic, Append-Only Data Patterns, Event Sourcing, Beating CAP, Operational Transformation Event Streams

Datomic is a very interesting project that demonstrates some powerful new ideas (or new combinations of ideas) about scalability, databases and data processing. Software engineers will benefit from understanding the architecture. I've been looking into many interrelated concepts, and I'm sharing the best of my findings here. By learning about the variations on these themes, it provides a sense of how to apply these patterns to our own systems.

The Components of Datomic
http://datomic.com/product/technology

Datomic Whitepaper
http://datomic.com/datomic-whitepaper.html

In particular, note the role of the Transactor and how transactions have been redefined.

How to beat the CAP theorem
This is a... more »

2012-05-04 20:01:41 (2 comments, 16 reshares, 44 +1s)

Disorderly Programming for a Distributed World

How should we think about consistency in eventually consistent systems? How should we model coordination of asynchronous events? How can we pipeline data flows and decisions in a dynamic system with partial information without constantly depending upon impossible fictions of global completeness and correctness?

Peter Alvaro discusses key concepts for analyzing and understanding distributed systems, with better ways of thinking about ordering in systems that are fundamentally disordered.

2012-05-02 13:04:19 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 23 +1s)

Symmetry - συμμετρεῖν > measure together

1) An imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection.
2) A precise and well-defined concept of balance or "patterned self-similarity" that can be demonstrated or proved according to the rules of a formal system: by geometry, through physics or otherwise.

When we think of symmetry, we tend to think of option 1, which relates more to our human world of feeling and beauty. When we look at a face we see symmetry but this is an illusion caused by the scale on which we view things and the lack of detail our eyes can pick up. The symmetry we see in our day to day lives is an approximation. If you were to zoom in on a complex object, let's say a face, there will always be flaws, a scar or even a stray molecule is enough to to breakperfect sy... more »

2012-05-01 01:02:19 (8 comments, 13 reshares, 41 +1s)

Sebastian Thrun: Project Glass, Driverless Vehicles, Google X, Udacity & Open Education

I finally watched this Charlie Rose interview. Obviously I loved seeing Thrun wearing a prototype of Project Glass, but the real highlight is the discussion about the Stanford Online Courses, the feedback he received, why that prompted him to leave Stanford and start Udacity, and what he envisions for the future of education.

Udacity currently offers the following free online classes:

CS101: Building a Search Engine
CS212: Design of Computer Programs
CS253: Web Application Engineering
CS262: Programming Languages
CS373: Programming A Robotic Car
CS387: Applied Cryptography

See http://www.udacity.com/courses

2012-04-28 18:30:47 (35 comments, 37 reshares, 101 +1s)

Self-bending Light Boomerangs: Drug Flashlights, Curvier Precision Surgery, 3D Projection, Invisible Display Visors

This is a fascinating breakthrough in fundamental optics knowledge. It's already being applied to precision carving of curved glass. Possible uses for surgery and drug delivery are mentioned. I also see potential applications to 3D projection, out-of-sight AR/VR personal display devices, and advances in practical invisibility cloaking with metamaterials.

Bending Light

"Light normally travels in straight lines, but physicists have known for several years that superimposing a pattern on a laser beam can make it bend. The pattern is designed so that the individual light rays that make up the beam interfere with each other in a way that makes the beam curve."

Bending Light Like A Boomerang

"They... more »

2012-04-26 23:40:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

"All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection." ~David Wheeler

"...except for the problem of too many layers of indirection." ~Kevlin Henney

2012-04-24 00:21:13 (5 comments, 16 reshares, 42 +1s)

MIT Students Hack Building And Play Tetris

MIT Completes the “Holy Grail of Hacks,” Turning the Green Building into a Game of Tetris [Slideshow and Tetris Hacks gallery]
http://bostinno.com/2012/04/21/mit-completes-the-holy-grail-of-hacks-turning-the-green-building-into-a-game-of-tetris-slideshow/

#win

2012-04-17 04:36:15 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 38 +1s)

Augmented Reality’s Path From Science Fiction to Future Fact

Good coverage of the range of reactions to Project Glass, including the "party poopers" who just don't get it (yet).

"Glass is akin to a concept car, but not like those commercially ludicrous models automakers show off annually just to demonstrate how impossibly blue the sky can be. Glass would be a new prism through which we would filter every aspect of our lives — just as the smartphone went from zero to always on."

They reference another recent Wired article with a few models of display glasses available now. Some of these were not covered in my previous posts ( #AR roundup: http://goo.gl/SW4Zy).

6 Glasses With Integrated Displays That You Can Buy Today h... more »

2012-04-17 00:31:13 (1 comments, 4 reshares, 43 +1s)

The Next Transitions in Technology

What kinds of developmental thresholds would any planet of sentient beings pass through? The creation of writing would be a huge one. The unleashing of cheap non-biological energy is another. The invention of the scientific method is a giant leap. And the fine control of energy (as in electricity) for long-distant communications is significant as well, enabling all kinds of other achievements. Our civilization has passed through all these stages; what are some future transitions we can expect -- no matter the fashions and fads of the day? What are the emergent thresholds of information and energy organization that our civilization can look forward to? Most of these thresholds are gradual, so we can't assign dates, but each of these structures seem to be a natural transition that any civilization must reach sooner or later.

* AI - There are... more »

2012-04-14 23:18:17 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 35 +1s)

Experiments in Cybernetic Enhancement

Kevin Warwick and his students have been experimenting with nervous system implants to provide new senses, new forms of communication, and connection of the nervous system to the internet (with bi-direction synchronization with a remote robot). He is now taking small steps towards linking humans for brain-to-brain communication.

If that isn't enough, he's also building artificial organic brains with neuron arrays of 100,000 rat neurons, letting them connect organically. These are then being stacked, moving towards 30,000,000 connected neurons. Oh, and then they are introducing human neurons.

I love mad scientists.

2012-04-05 15:45:32 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 29 +1s)

Quora: Project Glass & Augmented Reality

There are some excellent Q&A's springing up on Quora. This is Quora at its best, with insider info, in-depth discussion and smart critical analysis. I recommend following the new Project Glass topic (and the primary Augmented Reality topic if you aren't already).

http://www.quora.com/Project-Glass
http://www.quora.com/Augmented-Reality

#projectglass #augmentedreality #augmentedrealityglasses #quora

2012-04-04 21:32:46 (20 comments, 25 reshares, 75 +1s)

Project Glass: Google Glasses

As you've probably been seeing, +Project Glass has launched on Google+, showing some initial prototypes of the Google Glasses. Here are two other must-read articles published today.

Google Begins Testing Its Augmented-Reality Glasses
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/google-begins-testing-its-augmented-reality-glasses/

Google Gets Transparent With Glass, Its Augmented Reality Project
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/epicenter-google-glass-ar/

For further reading, here's a roundup of my posts on AR/VR concepts, devices, and business implications.

Augmented Reality, part 1 (this changes everything)
https://plus.google.com/117484352468587338564/posts/81bnPJ1VStF

Augmented Reality, part 2 ... more »

2012-03-29 00:05:06 (14 comments, 9 reshares, 74 +1s)

Reaching Into Infinity: A Personal Manifesto

I believe in hacking the human experience of reality.

I believe that what is possible is only limited by our imagination.

I believe that our species has a responsibility to take conscious and deliberate control over its continued evolution.

I believe that science and technology can enable us to reprogram our biology, improve our neurology, transcend our humanity, and extend our reality beyond all physical constraints.

I believe in advancing these pursuits with ruthless optimism.

#believe

2012-03-28 22:24:08 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 45 +1s)

WHAT IF? An Ecosystem Perspective On Data Center Cooling

Because of the tremendous amount of heat generated in large data centers, cooling is a major "problem". It is expensive and it consumes a large amount of energy.

The experiments of Angelo Vermeulen suggest a new way of thinking about the "problem" by turning the heat into a resource in an ecosystem that creates a relationship between machines and biological life. Algae feeds on the heat and cools the system.

The rapid developments in biochemical circuits (http://goo.gl/DHF5V http://goo.gl/eK4Zr) and synthetic life APIs (http://goo.gl/TP9jP) suggest that practical biological computing is a near-future reality. In the design of these systems, perhaps we should be thinking about turning our "problems" into resources.

In an ecosystem, one creature's waste is another... more »

2012-03-27 19:54:10 (1 comments, 9 reshares, 56 +1s)

Resurfacing: Projecting 3D Mappings

In an intriguing twist on the Kinect+projector AR experiments, this art project uses a sculpture to present the concept of 360° 3D mappings of a real world object to project an alternative surface back onto the object, mapped precisely to the geometry of the object.

In the digital world, this is commonplace; 3D objects essentially consist of a geometry combined with a surface/texture map. Bringing this digital technique into the real world through mapping+projection suggests novel ways of thinking about AR. It allows for a larger subset of digital imagery capabilities to be applied directly to the real world.

Projecting Onto Rigged Humans

Assume a person has been 3D scanned and rigged (see Footnote: Rigging) and sensors are in place for realtime 3D scanning. A fascinating consequence is the potential to project... more »

2012-03-27 15:55:32 (1 comments, 23 reshares, 45 +1s)

Self-Assembly

A purely visual demonstration of emergent order.

2012-03-27 00:12:48 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 33 +1s)

Design Principles For Telepresence

This is a marketing video, but there's good content. It describes many of the design principles that Polycom has applied to smartly designing a telepresence system for "face-to-face" meetings. These are issues that must be addressed in any future telepresence application.

2012-03-25 17:43:20 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 32 +1s)

A random selection of some quotes I like - just some stimulating food for thought

"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen." - Robert Bresson

"Don’t fight the technology, find a way to use it to your advantage." - Peter Murray

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” - Stephen Hawking

"If you would not be forgotten,
as soon as you are dead and rotten,
either write things worth reading,
or do things worth the writing." - Benjamin Franklin

"Opening the valve that limits consciousness forces utterance, almost as if the word is a concretion of meaning previously felt but left unarticulated. Language is an ecstaticactiv... more »

2012-03-25 17:11:56 (18 comments, 10 reshares, 34 +1s)

America, can you continue to ignore the evidence?

2012-03-24 19:31:16 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 32 +1s)

This needs to be distributed and shown to everyone in America. Perhaps that will straighten them up a little bit.