sbirchall

According to google/youtube anonymity positively encourages inhumane treatment? ;)

I thought I recognised that from the Stephen Baxter/Arthur C. Clarke book "Time" - well worth reading.

I thought you might like this: http://qntm.org/destroy

Slightly related and because it has intrigued me since I read the paper I thought people may find IBMs "History Flow" project interesting?

The Project no longer appears to be documented on IBM site but the Wikipedia article has everything you need - including that lovely daily slice of (soft) irony. I prefer my irony hard, but what are you going to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_Flow

Good point. However the comment betrays a complete lack of understanding both when it comes to the point being made by the video, and the wider implication that "any other hip hop video" is riddled with misogyny and male chauvinism. It's a very poor comment.

But I stray OT.

If you think that the language and misogyny used in this video is safe for work - despite the very obvious irony/parody - then it's no wonder you missed the point.

Me neither til I finally picked up a book on Giger and there's the Windowlicker staring at me from the first page I flicked to. I always bought into a rumour (possibly just amongst my friends) that it was a munge of Aphex Twin's face and Chris Cunningham's face.

It was this piece that first gave me that odd moment we're seeing a lot of in this thread as I had always assumed Giger was a contemporary of Escher or even earlier. Seeing Windowlicker was dated 1999 really gave me a surprise.

http://www.aphextwin.nu/visuals/98319764035682.shtml

A truly unique talent. In memory, you should check out Aphex Twin's "Window Licker" directed by Chris Cunningham (HN will probably be most familiar with Bjork's "All is Full of Love" music video). A whole host of talent came together there to make one of the most fucked up things you'll ever witness. Suffice to say a big red NSFW warning goes out on this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MBaEEODzU0

[EDIT: I mean MOST DEFINITELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!!]

Yes, this is what I was angling for. I think it's a pre-occupation of many of the species in IMBs Culture series if I remember correctly. Where those species that went the long way round (mostly water dwellers) hold species like us in something like contempt.

Apologies to 'jacquesm: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7721134

I share your optimism and I'm a big believer that it will not be long before Carl Sagan's "Contact" event will happen, not from the stars but here on earth - my inclination is to suspect Grey Whales, but there are a good few candidates for the position of first contact as we begin to unpack the semantics of other species communication protocols.

I'm interested in your opinions from another perspective however, as I believe it's /possible/ that /intelligence/ has emerged elsewhere in the universe (and as you say the more we learn about and redefine our notions of "intelligence" the more /possible/ this becomes, imho) but I am suspect that we occupy a very unique (rare?) niche that allows for the possibility of technology and I don't think this can be understated. But that's just my gut feeling on that one and who is to say that other forms of life require technology to do the type of things we do? It's an interesting question that makes me think of the Arthur C. Clark/Stephen Baxter novels that are very relevant in this discussion: genetically modified hyper-intelligent cephelopods that lack the essential ingredients required for colonising space - as a result of lacking technology.

"I could easily see someone's job being to figure out which (presumably innocent) people to "target" for the sake of ensuring a full or nearly full data collection."

Twitter makes that job damn easy, don't you think?

[EDIT: s/Twitter/Facebook/WhatsApp/SnapChat/etc.]

You know the best eggs in the world? Seagull Eggs. The harvesting of them from the wild is highly protected and I've only ever met a few old boys who used to poach them but I've read a few places (wild cookery and survival books) that the finest omelette you can make is one made from shite-hawk eggs. Guess that's an easier taboo to explain, though. I've had swan and goose and find them both perfectly acceptable meat. The best way I've found so far is to salt cure the breast like pastrami - as the meat is so dark it's very much like a salt cured beef. Very tasty.

I find it particularly galling that "Death with dignity" is "a silly loaded catchphrase designed to put opponents off balance" and yet "Death with courage" is something you throw in to support that belief. You need to take a moment to listen to your own rhetoric and think about the people your opinions effect.

Yeah that's my experience down to a T.

I once heard one of the top generals talking on the radio about the state of the MoD and he was saying that the basic career path was to suck up a decade or two of dirt before finding a desk job so obscure you can hide away for the next three or four decades and earn a pretty pension. I've always found it intriguing how well this seems to parallel academia.

Where are you based? Get in touch if you fancy chatting some time (email in profile), I find it helps to vent spleen sometimes ;)

I want to study the use of AI in determining genetic factors to disease and the neuro-degenerative ailments that the worlds increasingly older populations are facing "but finances and circumstances killed that dead".

It's really frustrating and demoralizing that education in particular is so badly structured (in my experience). For instance: while I was getting kicked off my Cog-Sci Masters course for owing £300 a colleague was receiving a fully funded PhD position to study _Harry Potter Fan Fiction Porn_. That was a kick in the teeth.

You just got to keep at it I guess, don't let the knocks stop you realising your potential and refine your plans to the point where they are laser sharp. I think it's this kind of attitude that separates entrepreneurs from the crowd.

Also reading Edward O. Wilson (aka "Lord of the Ants") or watching any of the fine documentaries about him is well worth it. I highly recommend "Consillience" - it's written in a fresh and lively style and it can't help but capture your imagination.

There is a soundbite used to dub over the top of replays in Premiership football as broadcast on terrestrial TV here in the UK. Once you notice it's exactly the same sound every time it's something you can never not notice and it's infuriating! There are a few whoops and screams in it that get me every time and make me cringe.

In this vein there's an amazing line from Man on The Moon when Kaufman refuses to let canned laughter be dubbed over his show: "That's dead people laughing! You know all those people they recorded are dead by now, right!?"

yeah I wouldn't say _Every_ but a very large majority most certainly are. I used to delight in ruining people's enjoyment of nature documentaries by pointing out that anything walking on snow is the sound of custard powder being crunched and twisted in a rubber glove! Yeah: I'm a bastard ;)

That's exactly it, cheers for that - the brewing book I use mentions it's a traditional method but seems to imply for Sherry, but maybe I'm just not remembering correctly. Thanks for clearing it up. I'm in half a mind to set one up for my elderflower champagne (the hard stuff ~16%ABV). But this year I'm just going to focus on method and produce as many small batches as I can.

Take a look into the sherry making process if you can find a good resource. The (highly generalised) idea is to use several batches created yearly say, so that by the time you have made seven batches for example, the first batch is fully matured. You siphon off half of the first batch and this is your starter - it tells you the character of the finished product, but only really hints at what you'll get. Now you take each batch and tow it down the line, taking half the second batch and topping up the first and so on until you are left to top up your most immature batch. By the time you've got this working as a production line the consistency of the final product will be pretty solid. Personally I can't stand sherry, though.

I'm at work and don't have access to my brewing books so I can't be any more specific than this but I found it an interesting solution to the problem of consistency.

Quantum Bees: http://discovermagazine.com/1997/nov/quantumhoneybees1263

I know it's Discover and probably total crap, but I just love the idea.

I think you added something to the conversation, and being the top comment it would seem so do other users. The comment made by 'joe_the_user, however, is shallow and pointless and advances the conversation in no direction but down. I think it's often good to have someone point out the "editorialisation" (for want of a better word) of an article, because after all this material has been designed for (somewhat) casual consumption, not as a how-to. But we're hackers and we like to start sentences with the word "Technically..." ;)

"physical media has enormous problems for anything besides long term archival use"

for those of us that consider music as art that is precisely the point, especially re: children browsing their parents collections

I'm sorry I can't find the article I read (about 2 years ago and it may well have been from a HN link if anyone recognises it?).

In said article it explains how since the Iraq invasion the entry requirements for the U.S. Marines have slipped on almost every front. Mental health, criminal convictions, education and even physical fitness requirements have all been reduced significantly and the striking thing about the article was that it made the comparison between the Marines and the SS - most especially the Dirlewanger Brigade. It was a strained, but apt, comparison that stated the last time a military unit had so drastically augmented it's entry requirements was in putting together that infamous squad for the purposes of punishment and outright terror. Shock and awe indeed.

Now that is a hell of a comparison to make and a direct appeal to Godwin, but as other people are pointing out the gradual decline of the U.S. into a totalitarian police surveillance state and it's military deployments overseas can't help but make this commentator think of the U.S. as being the last bastion of fascism(c).

Good luck to you, Aaron. My brother is in the Military here in the U.K. so I've had to man up and put my ideologies to the test. I don't agree with what the Military Industrial Complex are doing, but I'm acutely aware how one should judge these things on the correct scale. Each individuals actions must be judged very differently from those of the unit, and in that way I think I justify being proud of my brother whilst simultaneously condemning the system as a whole.

Rainier Maria Rilke may have helped me a bit there.

Psh, it's not the police that are the flashpoint IMO it is the marines. Their entry requirements are so lax it is beyond scary.

Are you aware of the writings of Ernst Mayr[1]?

In his book 'Toward a New Philosophy of Biology" there is a chapter on this very topic - how teleonomy has pervaded almost all of Biological science and how teleological statements, which are just plain incorrect, are the major way in which Biological processes are explained. I think this has only increased in severity and effect as we have consolidated our systems level view of the world and I've often been in awe of the general ignorance toward fundamental principals such as this.

My own personal take on the situation?

I think it is a very dangerous and ignorant thing for our species to continue with it's genetic hegemony of our ecosystems, creating vast evolutionary plateaus where the slightest advantage can run amok and adapt into something that could wipe out entire species. There is _probably_ enough genetic diversity in humans to avoid this, but I doubt so amongst our crops and livestock.

But I share your optimism/pragmatism in that I feel our human ingenuity will overcome, and if so then the prizes are great indeed. From new drug delivery systems and entirely new ways of treating illnesses, to a more mature approach to our interactions with the biological inheritance we have here on Earth 1.0 - I would like to see our crops and livestock diversified, farming practices overhauled to focus on the long term and most importantly more serious study devoted to analysing and utilising the solutions evolution has put in front of us for the taking.

Not only are these things (IMHO) essential to the prolonged survival of our species, they are also achievable. The organic farming movement took only a generation to go from grass roots to industry standard (and I know there is all sorts of controversy surrounding it but the point is that the industry IS open to disruption), here in the UK there is a debate simmering under the surface of the popular media that could end in more wild deer providing venison for the pot, Canadian geese too, and everyone knows of the whole insect protein debate, and the practical applications of bio-tech and nano-tech are only getting more interesting as the fields begin to find their feet.

[1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Mayr]

Ha, I've been saying for a while now that just such a thing is going to be declassified soon. My generations SR-71... equal parts beautiful and horrifying.

For the cost of one fighter jet you could have a swarm of air-to-air/land combat vehicles with semi-autonomous swarm intelligence attack and harry enemies into submission. Air supremacy would be a doddle with a drone that can pull orders of magnitude more G and react almost instantaneously compared to a manned fighter.

The last time something so disruptive came along was during the dark days of WW1 (machine gun) and WW2 (aircraft)... don't get me started on WW3... but this next one is shaping up to be a real nice specimen for our peace loving super advanced cybernetic progeny. I, for one, welcome our new overlords.

----- EDIT -----

although to actually answer your question as I think it would be an interesting thought experiment: The laser technology I've been hearing about recently has been fascinating - the pope protector, Roman Abramovic's boat, the TOF mapping devices used on automatic cars/trucks. And other technology seems to be coming of age too with microwave guns used for riot control and rail guns seem inevitable. Although unlikely to help in this situation, I don't think anyone here can begrudge me a rail gun on my hypothetical throne of warfare!?

To add to this, there is also a form of this known as as Astral Projection [1] and there is a great body of esoteric teaching about the common experiences of people who have achieved this. One may achieve access to a "place" known as the Astral Plane[2] that is said to be occupied by certain energies and entities, some of which can impart wisdom and some that can actually inflict psychic damage.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to make up their own mind on the legitimacy and effectiveness of such practices. I think, like any practiced meditation, it is a matter of deep personal preference whether one sees through the mysticism or is stopped short by it.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_plane

Odd question, but have you ever tried training your bees? I've read articles on the prospect of using bees to scan for chemical compounds in such a way so as to detect drugs/explosives/illness and I would really like to hear first hand from someone who has some experience in this field. Also... quantum bees[1]!?

[1: http://discovermagazine.com/1997/nov/quantumhoneybees1263]