I have yet to enter Proto Merkabah. I was going to sit down and
play Xenosaga, but I was dealing with a crash in the new CSS parser
caused by some of you Web freaks using :not (a CSS3 selector supported
by Mozilla). The syntax of this selector is such that it isn't
compatible with the CSS2.1 grammar, so I added rules to recognize
:not.
Once I did that I realized I was about 10 lines away from
implementing :not. Ok, so 12 lines later (yes, it did turn out to be
a little bigger than I thought, turns out :not can't nest for no
apparent reason I can discern), :not came into being in Safari.
So of course then I had to test :not, which meant I had to go load
the CSS3 test suite. As I started flipping through pages I found all
sorts of bugs with some of the selectors like the ~= selector, and
then I stumbled on all these brainlessly easy selectors that Safari
just didn't support.
Well, that just pissed me off, so I went and implemented :empty,
:root and ::selection. Yes, I am just that random. Maybe I'll do
some of the other CSS3 selectors if I have time.
Anyway, back to Xenosaga. I've played enough poker at the casino
to afford the 300,000 GP AWGS, and I got Shion's super Ether attack
that involves the summoning of a giant robot called Erde Kaiser. I
think he's supposed to be intimidating and just generally badass, but
I think he looks like a giant Transformer.
Add to that the fact that he's brightly colored and seems to be
built out of Lego blocks, and you just really don't have a recipe for
intimidation.
The Axioms of Consciousness06/24/2005 09:05 PM A Guardian
Unlimited article gives an overview Igor
Aleksander's work in
machine consciousness. Aleksander believes there are five key
components
to consciousness that need to be developed in robots: a sense of
self,
imagination, focused attention, forward planning and emotion. He
doesn't
seem to believe that problems of ethics or freewill exist either in
robots or man: "A properly functioning conscious machine is going
to
drive your car and it's going to drive it safely. It will be very
pleased when it does that, it's going to be worried if it has an
accident. If suddenly it decides, I'm going to kill my passenger and
drive into a wall, that's a malfunction. Human beings can malfunction
in
that way [too]." Aleksander is known for working on WISARD, the
first face recognition system, in the early 1980s. He also developed
MAGNUS (Multi Automation General Neural Unit System), which is
regarded
by some as the first conscious machine. For more see this online
interview with
Aleksander or Aleksander's presentation on Brain
Inspired Computation.
The Problem of Consciousness
The Problem of Consciousness08/07/2004 09:01 PM Time for another paper on the problem of consciousness! This new one
by
Murat Aydede and Güven
Güzeldere has the impressive title, Cognitive
Architecture, Concepts, and Introspection: An Information-Theoretic
Solution to the Problem of Phenomenal Consciousness (PDF format). It
goes over a lot of the problems and disagreements that persist among
philosophers and scientists about consciousness, and then proposes a
new
theory. Their idea, which should be good news for anyone working on
intelligent machines, is basically that good old-fashioned information
theory contains everything that's needed to explain phenomenal
consciousness. Along the way, they talk about introspection,
daydreaming, phenomenal zombies, vertical versus horizontal
information processing, and other fun stuff. The 65 page article
includes loads of lengthy
footnotes referencing just about every modern philosopher who has
philosophised about consciousness, from Dennett to Searle (with cameo
appearances from Descartes and
Locke).
Consciousness and Adaptive Behavior03/14/2005 06:03 PM A new paper by
Richard Sieb attempts to explain how subjectivity could arise and how
a
subjective system might be more adaptable by utilizing changing points
of view to respond to change. In the paper, he proposes that voluntary
intentional actions arise from an animal's (or machine's) unique point
of view - and if the physical mechanism responsible for the production
of the action can be found, it may also explain the point of view
(which
he identifies with consciousness).
Optical Tachyons and Consciousness
Optical Tachyons and Consciousness04/09/2004 04:01 PM Long time readers of robots.net will remember that we occasionally
cover odd theories about consciousness, what causes
it, and how we can create it in robots. The strangest theory I've read
in a while has turned up in a recently released paper by Danko Dimchev
Georgiev, a Bulgarian doctor. The paper is titled, "Bose-Einstein
condensation of tunnelling photons in the brain cortex as a mechanism
of
conscious action" (PDF format). If you don't feel up to the math
involved, even the abstract
gives a you an idea of the buzzword density of the theory. While his
description of tunnelling photons as "optical tachyons" is a bit
weird,
his conclusion that "consciousness is a complex quantum wave operating
in Hilber space outside the 4D Minkowski space-time continuum" isn't
too
far off from Roger
Penrose's claims of consciousness being a quantum effect.
Privacy-consciousness-raising stickers
Privacy-consciousness-raising stickers11/15/2003 04:35 PM
The Austrian cyber-activists Quintessenz put on the local Big Brother Award ceremony. To promote
it, they distributed these stickers that look like hidden cameras,
encouraging people to put them up in toilets and other places where
privacy matters. The caption means "The Most Shameless Surveilleur."
116k
PDF Link
Wider Than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness
EFF hosts 'fund- and consciousness-raising' party08/05/2004 07:38 PM LINUXWORLD -- One of the nicest events associated with LinuxWorld Expo
(LWE) this time around was not part of the show, but was Freedom Fest
2004, hosted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) a block away
from LWE at Yerba Buena Gardens. Freedomfest featured three bands,
food, beer, hanging out on the lawn in perfect weather, and other cool
San Francisco-type activities. Warning: do not click "more" unless you
can tolerate the F-Word, since it was used a lot during this lovely
party...
Md. Community Rises, Arson Seared Into Its Consciousness (washingtonpost.com)
Md. Community Rises, Arson Seared Into Its Consciousness (washingtonpost.com)06/06/2005 12:12 AM washingtonpost.com - The married couple stood in their front yard in
Charles County, arranging the concrete blocks for a new patio, the
eventual home for their pink azaleas and ruby red geraniums. Under a
Saturday sun, the husband hoisted the blocks while the wife smiled,
laughed and said this is going to be a beautiful neighborhood soon.
Streaming
audio/video from a web server: A couple of years ago, I spent
hours tracking down the information that's on this page. I wish I had
found it back then. Very handy.
Streaming can be initiated with the help of redirector files.
Linking to the redirector file will cause the associated player
software to start on the client computer (if it's properly set up),
and playback will start almost immediately (after buffering a small
amount of data). Note that the player software will only start if a
user has selected to play the media, this is a big advantage compared
to embedded media.
Stream Analyzer 0.4.1
Stream Analyzer 0.4.109/15/2004 05:56 AM Analyses binary data streams and calculates statistics.
Mini-stream Ripper v0.8006/20/2004 08:04 AM Mini-stream Ripper is a CD Ripper and music converter for the platform
of Windows which is convenient for you to rip CD to RM, MP3, WMA, or
WAV audio files directly. Mini-stream Ripper makes it easy for you to
convert the music in RM, RMVB, RA, RMJ, RAM, MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF, ASX
and WAV audio files into other format audio files at the same time.
And you will find the interface quite familiar and friendly.
[Shareware $24.95 30 Days 5.12 MB]
Convert a Real stream into an AVI08/09/2004 11:34 AM I have a P900 mobile phone and like watching movies on it using the
SmartMovie application. This application also supports other mobile
devices (PALM, PocketPC, Symbian-Phones, etc.) so check this out if
you ever wanted to wa...
Day trip boy drowns in stream
Day trip boy drowns in stream08/02/2004 06:47 AM Emergency crews fail to save a seven-year-old boy whose body was found
in a stream.
NBC partners with MySpace to stream03/17/2005 03:19 AM The Office on
MySpace Even though the leaked pilot met poor reviews on
Metafilter, it's interesting that NBC turned to massive social
networking group MySpace to launch the American version of The Office.
MySpace will stream the whole first episode of The Office on March
16th at 8PM while the episode will air for the first time on NBC March 24th. Maybe BitTorrent has really gotten
to them.
Triangle photo stream04/09/2005 09:43 AM
If you want to subscribe to newsfeed of photos from the Triangle area,
paste the URL below into your newsreader. You'll get photos of
Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, NC along with the occasional photo
of Durham, England and random triangle art. I think that's a pretty
good mix.
MSN to Stream Movies to Television01/06/2005 03:31 PM MSN announced Thursday that it will begin to offer pay-per-view movies
from CinemaNow through its MSN TV 2 set-top boxes beginning in spring
2005. Customers will receive an upgrade to their boxes, which will
allow them to view content protected with digital rights management.
Stream Video with MSN Messenger03/13/2003 10:20 AM Microsoft gives MSN Messenger 5.0 users the ability stream live video
to others. Logitech will host the video streams on...
Stream part deux.
Stream part deux.03/19/2003 10:43 PM And now, another stream of consciousness. Where is my mind, indeed.
Congolese stream into Burundi
Congolese stream into Burundi06/15/2004 01:33 PM Thousands of refugees flee eastern DR Congo saying they are terrified
of renewed fighting.
MPEG stream consistency check04/03/2005 07:50 AM mp3ck 0.04 is out with a Win32 binary package included! Grok Description matches for Stream of Consciousness GrokA matches for Stream of Consciousness
Volume II of Continuum Complete for Sparks® to Debut at NAB 2005Latest addition to Continuum Product Line Seamlessly Integrates with Discreet Systems
I am completely addicted. Hooked. Enthralled even. Sleep is for
the weak. Must... finish... game...
Xenosaga 2
Xenosaga 203/14/2005 05:02 PM I picked up Xenosaga 2 today. I'll be playing that for a few weeks. Or
until I pick up GT4.
Boris Continuum Complete 2.0
Boris Continuum Complete 2.012/16/2003 09:59 PM A collection of over 110 powerful yet easy-to-use filters for users of
Apple Final Cut Pro.
Boris FX ships Continuum Complete 3
Boris FX ships Continuum Complete 306/02/2004 03:20 PM On Wednesday, developer Boris FX announced that
Continuum Complete 3 is now shipping. Continuum Complete 3 is a
suite of plug-in filters and transitions for Adobe After Effects,
Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and Boris Red. The new version
offers more than 50 new visual effects filters, including lens flare
and motion blur, as well as over 160 compositing filters. Other new
features include the integration of motion tracking in many filters,
presets that can be saved and loaded in each filter, PixelChooser for
channel- or region-based masks, Open GL-based generators for lens
flares and other similar effects, 3D geometric shapes and more.
Futuro House: better living from the Gernsback Continuum
Futuro House: better living from the Gernsback Continuum12/22/2003 10:11 AM
Amazing gallery of photos and video clips from the Futuro House, a
UFO-shaped concept dwelling designed by a Finnish architect in 1968.
This is Jetpack Futurism at its finest. 20 of these houses were built!
Link
(via MeFi)
IBM server breaks time - marketing continuum to tie Dell to market
Boris Unveils Continuum Complete AVX Version 4.0: Integrated Visual Effects Use the New AVX 2.0 Architecture
Boris Unveils Continuum Complete AVX Version 4.0: Integrated Visual Effects Use the New AVX 2.0 Architecture04/18/2005 04:12 AM Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated effects technology for
video and film production, today announced that a new version of
Continuum Complete AVX (BCC AVX) will premiere at NAB running on the
new AVX 2.0 architecture. Avid Visual Extensions (AVX) is Avid’s
effects plug-in architecture. AVX plug-ins dynamically extend the
visual effects supported by Avid® applications. [PRWEB Apr 18, 2005]
Solomon Announces Engagement of Design Continuum to Leverage Patented and Proprietary Electric Propulsion Tech
Boris FX to Exhibit at NAB 2005 - New Solutions Include Boris Blue and Volume II of Boris Continuum Complete for Discreet Sparks
Boris FX to Exhibit at NAB 2005 - New Solutions Include Boris Blue and Volume II of Boris Continuum Complete for Discreet Sparks02/05/2005 10:07 PM Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated effects technology for
video and film, will demonstrate new solutions including Boris Blue
and Volume II of Boris Continuum Complete for Discreet Sparks at NAB
2005. The latest Boris FX solutions will be demonstrated at booth
SL4045, as well as the Avid Partner Pavilion, booth SL1210A. Boris
solutions are also included as part of the second annual NAB
Post|Production World Conference. [PRWEB Feb 4, 2005]
Airphotos and Levels06/02/2004 02:43 AM Herewith two shots taken on the trip to the Bay yesterday, with an
advisory on the awesome power of PhotoShop...
Inflation Still Far From Worrisome Levels (AP)
Inflation Still Far From Worrisome Levels (AP)03/26/2005 07:42 PM AP - The latest inflation scare to grip Wall Street isn't by itself a
good reason for equity investors to take cover, analysts say. Instead,
they recommend looking for companies that have pricing power —
the ability to pass on their higher costs to customers.
Growth in U.S. Net population levels off12/22/2003 10:08 PM The number of Net users in the United States expanded much more slowly
in the past two years compared with previous years, but many of the
126 million people who are online are becoming more attached to the
Web.
CO2 emissions hit record levels
CO2 emissions hit record levels03/30/2005 11:53 PM Levels of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas linked to global warming
is at a new high, researchers say.
Stream of Consciousness
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: song of nephilim pdf/ xenosaga "levels of consciousness" continuum quiz
The Austrian cyber-activists Quintessenz put on the local Big Brother Award ceremony. To promote
it, they distributed these stickers that look like hidden cameras,
encouraging people to put them up in toilets and other places where
privacy matters. The caption means "The Most Shameless Surveilleur."
116k
PDF Link
Amazing gallery of photos and video clips from the Futuro House, a
UFO-shaped concept dwelling designed by a Finnish architect in 1968.
This is Jetpack Futurism at its finest. 20 of these houses were built!