This is (supposedly) an interview with a Somalian pirate by the bbc.
It's somewhat depressing as unsurprisingly they claim that they have been driven to it by loss of their own sources of income, the claim is illegal fishing and toxic dumping has removed their main employment as fishers. Which makes sense but I can't help but think that mainly it's greed. By the sounds of it the payout for three successful hijackings are significantly better than a lifetime of fishing. That being said given the difference it's a pretty understandable greed.
pah the world sucks
I did like the guys optimism that "Foreign navies can do nothing to stop piracy" having watched the US react to most things I think that sooner or later they will try - even if it just means training crews to kill and leaving escorts around Somalia.
ah well at least they didn't try and make a robin hood story from it.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
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.
Something that everyone should see
... so posting it here I expect is of limited use but never mind.
This is a link to a very useful presentation on how people steal card details from ATMs well worth a read. Quite frightening how hard most of the additions are to spot.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/consumerist/2009/04/Skimmer_presentation_v1_230109_ppt_1__01.pdf
This is a link to a very useful presentation on how people steal card details from ATMs well worth a read. Quite frightening how hard most of the additions are to spot.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/consumerist/2009/04/Skimmer_presentation_v1_230109_ppt_1__01.pdf
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
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