Oct
31
2004
1

Biomimicry (kottke.org)

Biomimicry
is a new science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. [It] uses an ecological standard to judge the “rightness” of our innovations. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has learned: What works. What is appropriate. What lasts. Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but on what we can learn from it.


I don’t think it is a new way of science, but one of the only ways to do science. Where else but in nature do people find their inspiration? Life has proven to be a great ‘problem solver’. Especially in my field, artificial intelligence’ a lot of applications are mimicked from nature, e.g. neural networks, genetic algorithms, …

Written by Erik. Tagged with:
Oct
31
2004
1

SecurityFocus HOME News: New Caller I.D. spoofing site opens

SecurityFocus HOME News: New Caller I.D. spoofing site opens
Web-based caller I.D. spoofing is back, and this time it’s available to everyone.

A new website offer subscribers a simple Web interface to a caller I.D. spoofing system that lets them appear to be calling from any number they choose.

Written by Erik. Tagged with:
Oct
31
2004
1

Voting vendors submit code to NIST

Voting vendors submit code to NIST
As Election Day nears and worries about voting machine problems intensify, four companies that develop electronic voting machines have submitted copies of their software to the National Software Reference Library.

Written by Erik. Tagged with:
Oct
31
2004
1

Robots learn ‘robotiquette’ rules

BBC NEWS | Technology | Robots learn ‘robotiquette’ rules
Robots are learning lessons on “robotiquette” - how to behave socially - so they can mix better with humans.

The work is part of the European Cogniron robotics project, and was on show at London’s Science Museum.

Written by Erik. Tagged with: ,
Oct
31
2004
1

The Technology Issue

Metro Pulse/Cover/The Technology Issue
What makes a blog different from all those personal homepages that clutter the Web? In a recent article on the burgeoning blogging phenomenon entitled, “Online Uprising,” American Journalism Review writer Catherine Seipp noted that, “in general, ‘blog’ used to mean a personal online diary, typically concerned with boyfriend problems or techie news. But after September 11, a slew of new or refocused media junkie/political sites reshaped the entire Internet media landscape. Blog now refers to a Web journal that comments on the news%u2014often by criticizing the media and usually in rudely clever tones%u2014with links to stories that back up the commentary with evidence.”

Written by Erik. Tagged with:
Oct
31
2004
1

M.U.S.H. (Multi-User Sensorial Hallucination)

M.U.S.H.is an interactive audiovisual space in which two people in different locations (DEAF04 in Rotterdam and STEIM in Amsterdam) are connected to each other by means of telepresence equipment. The user enters a dark, silent room. S/he can use a navigation stick to activate sound and image. This brings the system into a “hyperkinetic” state: there is a chaotic play of sounds, ghostly images flash, shadows appear and disappear … If the user moves the navigation stick back and forth long enough, rapidly and slowly, the image of the person in the other Mush-Room will gradually appear on the large screen. The users’ movements create the opportunity for a virtual meeting between two strangers. M.U.S.H. is based on synchronicity and creates the conditions for the testing of telepathic possibilities.
The navigation stick is a wireless movement sensor that registers the changes in the speed at which the viewer moves it. On the basis of this signal the computer changes the “choreography” and the play of sound and image.
(more…)

Written by Erik. Tagged with: ,
Oct
31
2004
1

radioqualia - stream under linux

r a d i o q u a l i a have just finished the first version of a streaming
manual for those wishing to learn how to stream under Linux. Its intended
as a manual to accompany a hands-on self-learning or workshop based
approach. No previous knowledge of Linux is assumed. Another manual on
‘advanced topics’ will be forthcoming.

Topics include: (more…)

Written by Erik. Tagged with: ,
Oct
30
2004
1

Search Engine Relationship Chart ™

�Want to understand how the search engine positioning results are determined? Then you need to know who-feeds-who.�

Search Engine Relationship Chart ™

Written by Erik. Tagged with: ,
Oct
29
2004
1

The Ministry of Disinformation

It’s looking bad. With six days to go before the election, George Bush has locked up most of the “red” states and is now closing in on the “blue” states. Despite the fact that he is losing the battle on nearly every issue, from the War in Iraq to the home front, this completely failed President is gaining ground with the electorate.

How is this possible? Disinformation. They have mastered it, they have redefined it, they have perfected the art of spinning events to suit their objectives. They have learned to play the media like a fiddle. When John Kerry calls them on 380 tons of missing weapons in Iraq (whoops!), enough to blow the entire planet apart many times over, they declare that Kerry
is not paying attention to the facts. The facts! What does an administration that declared nuclear Armageddon from overblown CIA intelligence know about the facts! Who is calling the kettle black?

No, deep in the heart of the Ministry of Disinformation, the Minister himself, Karl Rove, is concocting his latest propaganda cocktail. He’s brewing up the next scene in this B movie of a Presidency that has done nothing if not thumb its nose in the face of reality.

The frightening thing about all this, is the gullibility of the American people. They buy it. They believe him. They are going to vote for him and he may very well win this election and we are going to have four more years of a plot that seems to know no end to its thickening. The question is: can we survive four more years of disinformation?

This quote from George Orwell speaks to the predicament we now find ourselves in, in which the government runs the country like its directing a reality TV show:

“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

There was never a better moment than now to declare that here in the seemingly distant space of our discussion lists and personal blogs, the revolution, in fact, has begun.

(more…)

Written by Erik. Tagged with: ,
Oct
28
2004
2

Guerrilla News Network - videos

Guerrilla News Network
Good videos.

With a new video proudly declaring war on Bush, Eminem steps into the political fray, perhaps the least likely – and most effective – generational leader imaginable. Eminem - anti-hero from alternet.
Check Eminem’s Mosh. Restecepah.

Written by Erik. Tagged with:

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