Frstly: the Chap Olympiad, a very daft but fun event recently held in London here's a link to an ITN report on it.
Secondly: big news in engineering and opto-electronics (if it gets off the ground) scientists have set up 'circuits' such that light can be used to open and close gates. This is important as it means that fully controlable gates can be made either way here is the report.
Sorry about the lazy reporting feeling tired and working on a programming project. Will probably update some information on it soon
Showing posts with label cool stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cool stuff. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Monday, 29 June 2009
Chick Tracts
The chick tracts are immensely annoying short web comics that promote Christianity, they're not so much annoying for their promotion of religion (what ever floats your boat) more for their utter lack of logic and horribly contrived feel that should fail to persuade any rational reader of their truth (a perfect example is this on homosexuality see if you can reach the bottom with out rage!).
Anyway for those of a lovecraftian bent this is a wonderful parody
Anyway for those of a lovecraftian bent this is a wonderful parody
Thursday, 11 June 2009
nanowin and biofutures!
This is a short video of a carbon nanotube muscle, it is very cool. This sort of technology can be used for all sorts of interesting micro motors, engine parts and other machinery such as very manipulatable arms for robots (search and rescue anyone with a cam mounted on one of those to look inside the rubble).
Next is this interesting article on grown organs, so far a bladder, bone marrow and a rat's heart have been made with the bladder having been successfully transplanted into a patient. This is the future of medicine: constant refreshment of organs as and when they are needed. Neat huh?
Next is this interesting article on grown organs, so far a bladder, bone marrow and a rat's heart have been made with the bladder having been successfully transplanted into a patient. This is the future of medicine: constant refreshment of organs as and when they are needed. Neat huh?
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Politics - who needs it?
This made me grin today
source: b3ta (if you've never been there a worthwhile hour).
source: b3ta (if you've never been there a worthwhile hour).
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Black Lines
Interesting story here about so called 'black-lines', these are the lines that don't show up on maps and no-one admits to owning. They're the fibre optics of goverenment services and similar.
I wonder if there are any near me to hit with a spade? could be fun....
I wonder if there are any near me to hit with a spade? could be fun....
Friday, 22 May 2009
4chan iz in ur mainstream, corruptin ur yoof!
This made me smile this morning. 4chan (for those of you sane enough to avoid it) is the internet cess-pit. All those mind searing images? those terrifying memes? They come from 4chan (and a few similar sites).
I've been wondering how long before it was mentioned by name in the main stream news for a while. Whats interesting is that obliquely 4chan and its ilk are mentioned often - normally confused with the 'terrorist group' anonymous. This is explicitly wrong. Anonymous is not a group - it is the outward affect of the anarchy of 4chan and co. These are the places that have no rules and upon which anything goes.
The reason anonymous isn't a terrorist group is that it is not organised, Project Chanology was a meme. Lots of people thought it would be fun or interesting or agreed - so it happened.
This is the new face of protest: flash memes that spread across the internet in a matter of days and then die or explode. Two other good examples are the circle line pub crawl last year (spread via facebook) and the G20 protests this year (spread via facebook and twitter). These are the early sightings of the net truly showing its power - not just breaking news faster and better but impacting upon the world.
The original version of these phenomena were flash mobs - these were light hearted displays of surreality. They have changed and become a method of demonstration as well as a method of anarchy. Which is the only way to describe a lot of the internet.
Stories like the one on the bbc today are just a way of showing how powerful peoples urges and mob mentality can be and online a mob can be huge (4chan's /b section has several million hits a day and managed to get its founder posted as the Time magazine's number one person in the top 100 as a prank as well as a proper interview).
It's things like this that make it easy to see why so many people want to control the internet. It also makes it pretty clear why they will fail. The music industry tried to stop napster and got winMX and so on - these got shut down and we got bittorrents if these die more dark nets will occur (invite only networks for p2p file sharing). The same is happening more generally with content. A lot of the reactions to this story on the bbc page were "why doesn't every youtube video get checked" and "how can this be allowed to happen". This kind of thinking doesn't work online. The responsibility is for the person to stop things to moderate themselves.
Big brother may be watching you online but can't really stop anything - only the people online can change the internet. This doesn't mean that 4chan will be stopped - but it does mean that people need to take things into their own hands and moderate, mark down and report.
oh and supervise their kids online if they don't want them to see porn.
I've been wondering how long before it was mentioned by name in the main stream news for a while. Whats interesting is that obliquely 4chan and its ilk are mentioned often - normally confused with the 'terrorist group' anonymous. This is explicitly wrong. Anonymous is not a group - it is the outward affect of the anarchy of 4chan and co. These are the places that have no rules and upon which anything goes.
The reason anonymous isn't a terrorist group is that it is not organised, Project Chanology was a meme. Lots of people thought it would be fun or interesting or agreed - so it happened.
This is the new face of protest: flash memes that spread across the internet in a matter of days and then die or explode. Two other good examples are the circle line pub crawl last year (spread via facebook) and the G20 protests this year (spread via facebook and twitter). These are the early sightings of the net truly showing its power - not just breaking news faster and better but impacting upon the world.
The original version of these phenomena were flash mobs - these were light hearted displays of surreality. They have changed and become a method of demonstration as well as a method of anarchy. Which is the only way to describe a lot of the internet.
Stories like the one on the bbc today are just a way of showing how powerful peoples urges and mob mentality can be and online a mob can be huge (4chan's /b section has several million hits a day and managed to get its founder posted as the Time magazine's number one person in the top 100 as a prank as well as a proper interview).
It's things like this that make it easy to see why so many people want to control the internet. It also makes it pretty clear why they will fail. The music industry tried to stop napster and got winMX and so on - these got shut down and we got bittorrents if these die more dark nets will occur (invite only networks for p2p file sharing). The same is happening more generally with content. A lot of the reactions to this story on the bbc page were "why doesn't every youtube video get checked" and "how can this be allowed to happen". This kind of thinking doesn't work online. The responsibility is for the person to stop things to moderate themselves.
Big brother may be watching you online but can't really stop anything - only the people online can change the internet. This doesn't mean that 4chan will be stopped - but it does mean that people need to take things into their own hands and moderate, mark down and report.
oh and supervise their kids online if they don't want them to see porn.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
worth reading
Charles Stross is a dude - near future sci-fi is a) VERY interesting and b) not often done well. He pulls it off - if your interested I highly recommend accelerando.
Either way this is his keynote speech from a recent MMO conference - which doesn't have too much to do with MMO's but a lot to do with the future of the internet and computing in general.
The concept that I think is most interesting and already semi-visible within current high-end gadgets (ie the iphone) is the dissolution of the net-space/meat-space boundary (ie internet becoming part of the real world rather than something on the other-side of a screen). This is something that will be most likely the next paradigm shift (the advent of the 'net was the last one). Moving to a society that treats information and the access of it as a basic human right. Currently its only the hard-core netizens (ie me) that get annoyed when they are cut off from internet access but this is rapidly changing.
The business and academic worlds have accepted email as the standard method of communication, Twitter and its blogging brethren are becoming the accepted methods of breaking news (see swine flu and the Mumbai bombings). While much of the populous consider the internet a hobby or something to use to send the odd email it is rapidly (for people under 30) becoming the only method of communication and research.
In my case more and more of my 'luxury' purchases (ie DVDs) come from online and using google maps on my phone has saved me several times (can't wait to get my iPhone once i can afford it). With things like the sixth-sense in development and pushing more of the internet into the real world.
Going back to the speech I think one of the most interesting aspects of this is that it is predicted within the next 20 years - with e-readers and similar already hitting the market as well as the iPhone considered the bench mark for next-gen mobiles I wonder if a lot of this won't be here sooner. It's also interesting to see how the rate at which we lose the ability to predict the future is lessening. In the 1900's people thought they could see clearly to about now. Now people are un-willing to bet beyond the next 5-years let alone several decades.
Either way this is his keynote speech from a recent MMO conference - which doesn't have too much to do with MMO's but a lot to do with the future of the internet and computing in general.
The concept that I think is most interesting and already semi-visible within current high-end gadgets (ie the iphone) is the dissolution of the net-space/meat-space boundary (ie internet becoming part of the real world rather than something on the other-side of a screen). This is something that will be most likely the next paradigm shift (the advent of the 'net was the last one). Moving to a society that treats information and the access of it as a basic human right. Currently its only the hard-core netizens (ie me) that get annoyed when they are cut off from internet access but this is rapidly changing.
The business and academic worlds have accepted email as the standard method of communication, Twitter and its blogging brethren are becoming the accepted methods of breaking news (see swine flu and the Mumbai bombings). While much of the populous consider the internet a hobby or something to use to send the odd email it is rapidly (for people under 30) becoming the only method of communication and research.
In my case more and more of my 'luxury' purchases (ie DVDs) come from online and using google maps on my phone has saved me several times (can't wait to get my iPhone once i can afford it). With things like the sixth-sense in development and pushing more of the internet into the real world.
Going back to the speech I think one of the most interesting aspects of this is that it is predicted within the next 20 years - with e-readers and similar already hitting the market as well as the iPhone considered the bench mark for next-gen mobiles I wonder if a lot of this won't be here sooner. It's also interesting to see how the rate at which we lose the ability to predict the future is lessening. In the 1900's people thought they could see clearly to about now. Now people are un-willing to bet beyond the next 5-years let alone several decades.
Friday, 8 May 2009
Monday, 4 May 2009
words cannot describe how cool this is
Its been a few days since I saw something blog worthy (also been RL busy with exams, revision and friends) but this is amazing. Takes a few min to get to the mind blowing stuff but its all good to watch and worth the wait.
Parkour (urban free running with gymnastics) with a BMX....
I'm a big fan of watching parkour etc (too unfit to actually do it myself) and this is just awesome... enjoy!
Parkour (urban free running with gymnastics) with a BMX....
I'm a big fan of watching parkour etc (too unfit to actually do it myself) and this is just awesome... enjoy!
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Pirate bay fun...
Well this is a little late but for those that haven't heard the pirate bay people lost their case and have been sentenced to a year in jail as well as a large fine.
Interestingly an appeal has been filed based on an alleged bias on the part of the main judge (here's the story). I've got to say that if nothing else this should have been declared (which it wasn't).
A final interesting fact (the one I find the funniest) is that the membership of the pirate bay political party in Sweden has now gone up 150% (see here).
Ah the fun and games of the weird mess that is the internet....
Interestingly an appeal has been filed based on an alleged bias on the part of the main judge (here's the story). I've got to say that if nothing else this should have been declared (which it wasn't).
A final interesting fact (the one I find the funniest) is that the membership of the pirate bay political party in Sweden has now gone up 150% (see here).
Ah the fun and games of the weird mess that is the internet....
Why I shouldn't breed.....
To anyone who knows me in real-life (ie no one because I'm pretty sure no one reads this) this is a(nother) reason I shouldn't have kids...
xkcd rocks....
and if you don't already READ XKCD
xkcd rocks....and if you don't already READ XKCD
Thursday, 23 April 2009
rantidote - just so Cool
As an antidote to my rant on science journalism here is a 4 min video ABOUT ROBOT PENGUINS!
As far as I know this isn't a spoof here is a New Scientist report on the penguins and here is the link to the learning bionics network.
Interestingly I think one of the most important bits of the video is hidden away towards the end when they discuss how they're pushing for home matter printers. If this can happen (in a significant way ie circuitry printing) it will be as big a shift as the internet.
Either way
SO COOL!
UPDATE 11:27 23-04-09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxPzodKQays is equally cool - air manta ray
UPDATE 11:38 23-04-09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTJVnf5nyA robo - jelly fish!
interesting the mechanical engineering (ie moving bits) for a lot of these seem reasonably simple a lot of the elegance seems to stem from using very clever materials that flow and bend in a very natural and useful way.
Here's to riding around on manta ray dirigibles or using an air jelly fish rather than a lift!
Genuis!
As far as I know this isn't a spoof here is a New Scientist report on the penguins and here is the link to the learning bionics network.
Interestingly I think one of the most important bits of the video is hidden away towards the end when they discuss how they're pushing for home matter printers. If this can happen (in a significant way ie circuitry printing) it will be as big a shift as the internet.
Either way
SO COOL!
UPDATE 11:27 23-04-09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxPzodKQays is equally cool - air manta ray
UPDATE 11:38 23-04-09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTJVnf5nyA robo - jelly fish!
interesting the mechanical engineering (ie moving bits) for a lot of these seem reasonably simple a lot of the elegance seems to stem from using very clever materials that flow and bend in a very natural and useful way.
Here's to riding around on manta ray dirigibles or using an air jelly fish rather than a lift!
Genuis!
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
speaking of the post-biological era...
Well looks like my post yesterday may have been a bit off.
A project running on the blue gene super computers has (supposedly) modeled the action of the neo-cortex from molecular level up. The neocortex is the area of the brain that houses most higher-functions (my neuro-scientist friend would kill me for that simplification).
While it is unclear quite how accurate this model is or quite how it works the researches claim that upscaling it to full brains is only a matter of money. Sentient space lobsters here we come!
In all it looks like research to watch (main site is here) certainly if they get funding we may see some interesting results soon.
A project running on the blue gene super computers has (supposedly) modeled the action of the neo-cortex from molecular level up. The neocortex is the area of the brain that houses most higher-functions (my neuro-scientist friend would kill me for that simplification).
While it is unclear quite how accurate this model is or quite how it works the researches claim that upscaling it to full brains is only a matter of money. Sentient space lobsters here we come!
In all it looks like research to watch (main site is here) certainly if they get funding we may see some interesting results soon.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
w00t Postbiology humans!
Those that know me will know I have a thing for trans-humanism (or post humanism etc).
The basic concept is that the human body is scanned at the deepest level possible and the remains are simulated on a computer, in theory this recreates the human. Currently it is predicted that by 2020 computers will exist that have computing complexity to match the human brain (ie comparable numbers of connections). Quite when AI will be reached (if we do ever reach it) is a moot question but highly likely (unless something like the soul does in fact exist).
This article interestingly looks at what the economic, environmental and sustainability aspects of humans being uploaded to computers will be. The conclusion: its probably a good thing as the entire current population would probably be fitted into a 100x100km grid coated with solar panels.
Very interesting read, for more information Charlie Stross' 'Accelerando' is a very good fictional investigation of the singularity (what will happen if true AI is achieved) as well as post-biological humanity.
The basic concept is that the human body is scanned at the deepest level possible and the remains are simulated on a computer, in theory this recreates the human. Currently it is predicted that by 2020 computers will exist that have computing complexity to match the human brain (ie comparable numbers of connections). Quite when AI will be reached (if we do ever reach it) is a moot question but highly likely (unless something like the soul does in fact exist).
This article interestingly looks at what the economic, environmental and sustainability aspects of humans being uploaded to computers will be. The conclusion: its probably a good thing as the entire current population would probably be fitted into a 100x100km grid coated with solar panels.
Very interesting read, for more information Charlie Stross' 'Accelerando' is a very good fictional investigation of the singularity (what will happen if true AI is achieved) as well as post-biological humanity.
How small is the modern world?
Found this linked to on New Scientist. It's a map of how far every point on the surface of the world is from a city (defined as population > 50k). Its pretty cool, firstly as a point of interest, secondly because its been keyed to magma colours so it looks like the earth is on fire.
More generally it is a wonderful description of how the world has accelerated technologically in the recent years, this sort of map 30 years ago would be very different and 100 years ago would be utterly different.
On a related topic this is a wonderful time sink and an amazing way of finding things out/settling disputes. It is a fairly simple but VERY powerful graphing device. Linked to world statistics it allows you to plot along several axis: x & y, point size, colour as well as time.
VERY interesting - although truly depressing in some ways (try watching a time lapse graph of the population of Rwanda).
Both well worth a look and gap minder is an amazing tool.
More generally it is a wonderful description of how the world has accelerated technologically in the recent years, this sort of map 30 years ago would be very different and 100 years ago would be utterly different.
On a related topic this is a wonderful time sink and an amazing way of finding things out/settling disputes. It is a fairly simple but VERY powerful graphing device. Linked to world statistics it allows you to plot along several axis: x & y, point size, colour as well as time.
VERY interesting - although truly depressing in some ways (try watching a time lapse graph of the population of Rwanda).
Both well worth a look and gap minder is an amazing tool.
ohhh exoplanets!
The bbc are reporting that the lightest ever exoplanet has been discovered, weighing in at a mere 1.9 Earth masses it has pushed the 3.6m La Silla telescope in Chile to its limits.
While it sits outside the habitable orbits of its star Gliese 581 it is an interesting discovery. Scientifically it marks nothing much (this isn't the first exoplanet, just a record holder), but it does show just how many planets are out there (Gliese 581 has 4 others).
Of more interest is that this was done with a ground based telescope - it will be truly amazing to see how much is discovered once the Kepler satellite goes into orbit, being designed specifically to look for exoplanets should produce even better results.
If nothing else this means were building up a nice range of planets to send seed/holo ships to (maybe generation ships but they're not much of an idea).
While it sits outside the habitable orbits of its star Gliese 581 it is an interesting discovery. Scientifically it marks nothing much (this isn't the first exoplanet, just a record holder), but it does show just how many planets are out there (Gliese 581 has 4 others).
Of more interest is that this was done with a ground based telescope - it will be truly amazing to see how much is discovered once the Kepler satellite goes into orbit, being designed specifically to look for exoplanets should produce even better results.
If nothing else this means were building up a nice range of planets to send seed/holo ships to (maybe generation ships but they're not much of an idea).
Monday, 20 April 2009
Interactive tattoos
Well looks like interactive/programmable tattoos are pushing forward, about a year or so ago I read about this implant - a small screen with a black and white display on it that ran of chemical energy siphoned from your blood, that was a concept. Now its been pushed further, moving from sub-dermal implants to nano-tubes placed either sub-dermaly or on the surface of the skin but as a custom size rather than a single cohesive pad. This apparently work in a more passive way than the 'screen' in that the electrics are only needed to change the display which is otherwise passive and just sits there.
Still pretty cool and I want one very much. Annoyingly I have three links but the video on the last one won't load for me - have been told that it is semi NSFW:
nano-tattoos
more shine
fun video NSFW
Still pretty cool and I want one very much. Annoyingly I have three links but the video on the last one won't load for me - have been told that it is semi NSFW:
nano-tattoos
more shine
fun video NSFW
Sunday, 19 April 2009
TED, Ze Frank and stop motion
Ok well pretty tired now, certainly nearly bed time but late night surfing has revealed a few funky things:
First the TED talks - these are awesome, random people (organised online as far as I know) talking about what ever it is they do. Huge range of people form philanthropists organising aid for Africa to this a performance by Jennifer Lin to this which is a very good, if very geeky, stand-up routine from one of the old school virals: "how to dance properly" from 2001.
Ze Frank is in fact the next item in the title because his blog looks interesting, if I get a links page sorted he's probably going on it, as will TED and all other odd things. Not done much exploring of the blog but some of the projects seem interestingly arsty/flash mob-esque.
Final part is something I found on Ze Frank which is an amazing video:
First the TED talks - these are awesome, random people (organised online as far as I know) talking about what ever it is they do. Huge range of people form philanthropists organising aid for Africa to this a performance by Jennifer Lin to this which is a very good, if very geeky, stand-up routine from one of the old school virals: "how to dance properly" from 2001.
Ze Frank is in fact the next item in the title because his blog looks interesting, if I get a links page sorted he's probably going on it, as will TED and all other odd things. Not done much exploring of the blog but some of the projects seem interestingly arsty/flash mob-esque.
Final part is something I found on Ze Frank which is an amazing video:
Saturday, 18 April 2009
because this isn't asking to be abused
Seems like someone has made a way of allowing remote signing (click here).
This isn't remote verification but actual remote pen and paper signature. It is a triumph of engineering and haptic research but really cans the signature as a method of verifying the authenticity of a document or similar.
Most depressingly this is being used and allowed by governments.
I wonder if its possible to extract someone's hand writing style from their signature? I wouldn't be surprised, while they're very different motions they share certain components... would be a fun experiment if nothing else.
I suppose this is going to force the fact that a signature is in no way a secure method of identification.
This isn't remote verification but actual remote pen and paper signature. It is a triumph of engineering and haptic research but really cans the signature as a method of verifying the authenticity of a document or similar.
Most depressingly this is being used and allowed by governments.
I wonder if its possible to extract someone's hand writing style from their signature? I wouldn't be surprised, while they're very different motions they share certain components... would be a fun experiment if nothing else.
I suppose this is going to force the fact that a signature is in no way a secure method of identification.
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