Saturday, April 28, 2007
Theory of Intelligent Machines
This post is inspired by the book On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins (2004). I will introduce some of his key points found in the book, then comment and expand upon them. Hawkins describes four basic differences between computer memory and human (neocortex) memory:
Storing Sequences
Think of story telling. The story unfolds in a chronological order. Thus human memory is implicitly tied to time. Virtually every thought, every action includes a temporal aspect. Envision you home, driving to work, or dining at a restaurant. Everything is a sequence. Typically we progress though memories as if replaying them in chronological order, but not necessarily. For example, spelling your name backwards or playing a song on a musical instrument backwards. The changing of the order from a conditioned chronological pattern is not natural. It is jarring in nature an requires higher levels of attention. It is the juxtaposition of this story telling that makes for creative an more memorable story telling (if done well) such as the movies Pulp Fiction, Slaughterhouse Five, or Memento. Regardless of the order, the flow of memories still represent a sequence since we can't consider the whole at once. Human memory is inherently sequential.
One additional curious observation of human memory is that when trying to recall dreams, it is best to hold onto the last recollections before waking. Revealing the rest of the dream is discovered by always asking "what happened just before that?" By keeping the eyes closed and slowly rolling back into the positions during sleep, dream memory recall is enhanced. Is there some link between dream memories and the kinesthetic sixth sense of body position? Does our faculty of knowing the position, orientation, etc of our body parts, hold special significance for dream memories? I can't help but see an interesting connection between this positional properception (capturing the world and the internal needs) and perception (capturing the world and the external stimulus). Internal senses play a role is dream memories while external senses play a role in conscious memory.
Auto-associative Recall
This refers to the ability to recall complete patterns given only partial or inexact input. The human brain performs mental shorthand and fills in the details. Any sight, smell, taste, or other sensory input can trigger an associative recall. For example, smells are known to be very powerful associate stimuli. Today while cycling though an industrial area a whiff brought forth a series of memories of a high school factory summer job making printed circuit boards. This set of memories was just one in a stream of consciousness during the bike ride. I encounter associative leaps tying sensory feelings and fragmentary thoughts. Conversations also provide a rich stream of associated memories. In essence this associative string of memories is thought, or at least one form of thought.
This leads me to the connection between thought and consciousness. One part of the brain is believed to be the center of arousal and motivation. This so called the reticular activating system is also involved in stereotypical actions, such as walking, sleeping, and lying down. Being one of the oldest parts of the brain, its activity is crucial for maintaining the state of consciousness. Is thought consciousness? Can there be one without the other. Is there a difference between though and intelligent thought? Is there a distinction between thought and self-awareness?
Invariant Representations
Unlike a lossless copy of a computer file, human memory is "lossy". The focus of human memory is on relationships and not the details. Babies recognition of their parents is one example of this invariance. This can involve sight and sound. Reaching into a toy chest to extricate a desired object is another. This primarily involves touch. Playing catch with a baseball is yet another example, where motor skill memories play the most significant role. Recognition of a song is a great example. Here the key and tempo can change and the piece can be performed poorly or out of tune and we still can recognize the melody since the invariant here the intervals between note pitch and duration.
I believe that the author missed the point quite a bit with some of his examples, especially regarding putting a key in an ignition by having to deal with seat position and other variables. The example completely ignores any feedback system. In particular visual feedback would be an obvious ingredient. Automated space vehicle docking is a close analogy. The FIRST Vex Challenge robot competition (well, at least the autonomous period portion) demonstrates comparable types of autonomous motor skill capabilities.
Futher, I speculate that although reproduction of information is not the primary retrieval means of the human mind, there are alternative means to access such detail. Hypnosis and Dianetics are two such techniques. In Dianetics, the human mind is described as a collection of "mental image pictures," which contain the recorded memory of a past moment, including all sensory perceptions and feelings involved. Although debunked as pseudo-science or simply a form of hypnotism, Dianetics does offer some intriguing possibilities. That is, as long as you separate the pseudo-religion from this pseudo-science technique. Nevertheless, direct recall is one area where cyber-assistance would definitely be of value. Google is already trying to do this with its user history of internet activity and desktop search capabilities. After all, the Google search is really the 21st century version of the command prompt.
Patterns in a Hierarchy
Integrating the senses, information flows up the hierarchy as observed patterns and predictions flow down to create a unified sensory experience. At the low end of this hierarchy, patterns change at a faster rate. Conversely, more constant patterns occur at the top. Bottom up classifications and top down sequences are constantly interacting and changing through experiences. This is the essence of learning.
Using speech as an example, phonemes are recognized at the low end and progress upwards in the hierarchy to form syllables, then words, and so on up the hierarchy to recognize and anticipate phrases, sentences and ultimately ideas. One measure of intelligence is the capacity to recall and predict patterns. As the brain receives sensory input, patterns are recognized and predictions are made by combining recall of past patterns matched to the current situation. Speech recognition is a great example, since it has been one of the most difficult tasks of AI (vision and "smart cars" are two other examples cited by Hawkins).
A hierarchy of nested sequences allows the sharing and reuse of lower level objects in a remarkably efficient manner, but very different from how computers work. Another interesting observation is that through repeated training, representations can move down the hierarchy. Sequences of sequences form, each having a repertoire of sequences it knows, analogous to a repertoire of songs.
This structure of patterns in a hierarchy integrates the other three basic differences between human brains and computers described here. Coping with your environment, you need tomake predictions of future events, even those a micro-second in the future. The neocortex stores sequences of patterns in an invariant form that are retrieved via auto-associative recall so that the knowledge of past events can be applied to new situations that are similar but not identical to the past.
Commentary
Here are some random notes from the text that I found particularly interesting.
Storing Sequences
Think of story telling. The story unfolds in a chronological order. Thus human memory is implicitly tied to time. Virtually every thought, every action includes a temporal aspect. Envision you home, driving to work, or dining at a restaurant. Everything is a sequence. Typically we progress though memories as if replaying them in chronological order, but not necessarily. For example, spelling your name backwards or playing a song on a musical instrument backwards. The changing of the order from a conditioned chronological pattern is not natural. It is jarring in nature an requires higher levels of attention. It is the juxtaposition of this story telling that makes for creative an more memorable story telling (if done well) such as the movies Pulp Fiction, Slaughterhouse Five, or Memento. Regardless of the order, the flow of memories still represent a sequence since we can't consider the whole at once. Human memory is inherently sequential.
One additional curious observation of human memory is that when trying to recall dreams, it is best to hold onto the last recollections before waking. Revealing the rest of the dream is discovered by always asking "what happened just before that?" By keeping the eyes closed and slowly rolling back into the positions during sleep, dream memory recall is enhanced. Is there some link between dream memories and the kinesthetic sixth sense of body position? Does our faculty of knowing the position, orientation, etc of our body parts, hold special significance for dream memories? I can't help but see an interesting connection between this positional properception (capturing the world and the internal needs) and perception (capturing the world and the external stimulus). Internal senses play a role is dream memories while external senses play a role in conscious memory.
Auto-associative Recall
This refers to the ability to recall complete patterns given only partial or inexact input. The human brain performs mental shorthand and fills in the details. Any sight, smell, taste, or other sensory input can trigger an associative recall. For example, smells are known to be very powerful associate stimuli. Today while cycling though an industrial area a whiff brought forth a series of memories of a high school factory summer job making printed circuit boards. This set of memories was just one in a stream of consciousness during the bike ride. I encounter associative leaps tying sensory feelings and fragmentary thoughts. Conversations also provide a rich stream of associated memories. In essence this associative string of memories is thought, or at least one form of thought.
This leads me to the connection between thought and consciousness. One part of the brain is believed to be the center of arousal and motivation. This so called the reticular activating system is also involved in stereotypical actions, such as walking, sleeping, and lying down. Being one of the oldest parts of the brain, its activity is crucial for maintaining the state of consciousness. Is thought consciousness? Can there be one without the other. Is there a difference between though and intelligent thought? Is there a distinction between thought and self-awareness?
Invariant Representations
Unlike a lossless copy of a computer file, human memory is "lossy". The focus of human memory is on relationships and not the details. Babies recognition of their parents is one example of this invariance. This can involve sight and sound. Reaching into a toy chest to extricate a desired object is another. This primarily involves touch. Playing catch with a baseball is yet another example, where motor skill memories play the most significant role. Recognition of a song is a great example. Here the key and tempo can change and the piece can be performed poorly or out of tune and we still can recognize the melody since the invariant here the intervals between note pitch and duration.
I believe that the author missed the point quite a bit with some of his examples, especially regarding putting a key in an ignition by having to deal with seat position and other variables. The example completely ignores any feedback system. In particular visual feedback would be an obvious ingredient. Automated space vehicle docking is a close analogy. The FIRST Vex Challenge robot competition (well, at least the autonomous period portion) demonstrates comparable types of autonomous motor skill capabilities.
Futher, I speculate that although reproduction of information is not the primary retrieval means of the human mind, there are alternative means to access such detail. Hypnosis and Dianetics are two such techniques. In Dianetics, the human mind is described as a collection of "mental image pictures," which contain the recorded memory of a past moment, including all sensory perceptions and feelings involved. Although debunked as pseudo-science or simply a form of hypnotism, Dianetics does offer some intriguing possibilities. That is, as long as you separate the pseudo-religion from this pseudo-science technique. Nevertheless, direct recall is one area where cyber-assistance would definitely be of value. Google is already trying to do this with its user history of internet activity and desktop search capabilities. After all, the Google search is really the 21st century version of the command prompt.
Patterns in a Hierarchy
Integrating the senses, information flows up the hierarchy as observed patterns and predictions flow down to create a unified sensory experience. At the low end of this hierarchy, patterns change at a faster rate. Conversely, more constant patterns occur at the top. Bottom up classifications and top down sequences are constantly interacting and changing through experiences. This is the essence of learning.
Using speech as an example, phonemes are recognized at the low end and progress upwards in the hierarchy to form syllables, then words, and so on up the hierarchy to recognize and anticipate phrases, sentences and ultimately ideas. One measure of intelligence is the capacity to recall and predict patterns. As the brain receives sensory input, patterns are recognized and predictions are made by combining recall of past patterns matched to the current situation. Speech recognition is a great example, since it has been one of the most difficult tasks of AI (vision and "smart cars" are two other examples cited by Hawkins).
A hierarchy of nested sequences allows the sharing and reuse of lower level objects in a remarkably efficient manner, but very different from how computers work. Another interesting observation is that through repeated training, representations can move down the hierarchy. Sequences of sequences form, each having a repertoire of sequences it knows, analogous to a repertoire of songs.
This structure of patterns in a hierarchy integrates the other three basic differences between human brains and computers described here. Coping with your environment, you need tomake predictions of future events, even those a micro-second in the future. The neocortex stores sequences of patterns in an invariant form that are retrieved via auto-associative recall so that the knowledge of past events can be applied to new situations that are similar but not identical to the past.
Commentary
Here are some random notes from the text that I found particularly interesting.
- Visual comprehension involves a process of rapid eye movement (saccade) and stops (fixation). In spite of this jerkiness, we experience vision as continuous and stable, Similarly we smooth out the vision from both eyes to form a single image.
- Similar to speech comprehension progression from phonemes through ideas, music progresses from notes to form intervals, then melodic phrases, melodies, and so on to songs or movement and upward to symphonies or Broadway musical scores. I purposely exclude the progression from songs to albums, since I think this is an artificial association that has rarely had much significance beyond some theme albums that mostly occurred in the 60's such as Sgt. Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, etc.
- Time is a critical element sensory perception. It allows the recognition of melodies, speech, or even touch. Neural activity must last longer in time than the individual input patterns. The higher up tin the cortex you go, the fewer changes over time you should see.
- Predictability is synonymous with reality. A predictable sequence of patterns is only possible if it is part of a larger object that really exists.
- Handwritten words are often unintelligible out of context, but very readably within a full written sentence. Most of the time you aren't aware that you are filling in the ambiguous or incomplete information from you memories of sequences. You hear what you expect to hear and see what you expect to see - at least when what you hear and see fits into past experience.
- What we see, hear, feel is highly dependent on our own actions: eye movement, turning the head to hear, moving limbs and fingers.
- Unexpected input requires involvement at the higher parts of the hierarchy. New predictions propagate down the hierarchy as far as it can go. If the new prediction is not right, an error will be detected and again climb back up until some region can interpret it as part of its currently active sequence. This can lead to the"aha" moment of sudden conprehension.
- Hebbian learning principles can explain most cortical behavior - that is when two neurons fire at the same time, the synapses between them get strengthened.
- Three epochs of memory: 1) when species used DNA as the medium for memory. 2) when nature invented modifiable nervous systems that could quickly form memories. 3) the invention of language and the expansion of our large neocortex.
- Shakespeare's metaphors (e.g. "there's dagggers in men's smiles.") become obvious when you see them, but they're very hard to invent. This is genius.
- Deja vu, or a twinge of recognition is just an invariant representation in the brain that was activated by a novel situation that made an analogy between two normally unrelated events.
- To be more creative: 1) assume up front that there is an answer to what you are trying to solve. 2). let you mind wander. Ponder often, but do other things so the cortex will have the opportunity to find an analogous memory.
- Imagination is letting your predictions turn around and become inputs. without physically doing anything, you can follow the consequences of your predictions.
- Hawkins invented Graffiti for the Palm Pilot. It was successful because our brains prefer systems that are consistent and predictable and we like learning new skills.
- Consciousness is simply what it feels like to have a neocortex.Two major categories: 1) similar to self-awareness the everyday notion of being conscious. 2) qualia - the idea that feelings associated with sensation are sonehow independent of sensory input.
- If your memory of the last two hours is erased, you would claim to have been unconscious and not responsible for your actions during that time. Thus memory erasure can cange the meaning of cconsciousness.
- For an intelligent machine to pass the Turing test, it would have to have most of the experiences and emotions of a real human, and to live a humanlike life. This is because the human mind is created not only by the neocortex but also the emotional systems of the old brain and by the complexity of the human body.
- Intelligent machine will likely have a different set of senses than humans. They very likely will "exist" in a very different world. Its model of reality will be based on its own world using its own senses. The physical embodiment of an intelligent machine could take many forms. These forms can even change over time, possibly being closer to a hive mentality than a single biological unit. An amalgamation of several robots would form, merge, and reform so that the concept of a single intelligence would be a fluid concept. The major invariant defining this intelligence would be how it understands and interacts with its world via a hierarchical memory model.
- Unlike current computer chips, intelligent memory chips will be inherently of fault tolerant. One side effect of this ability will be the capability to build chips that are significantly larger and denser that today.
- Ray Kurzweil talks about nano-robots that will crawl within your brain recording every synapse and every connection and then report all the information to a supercomputer, which will reconfigure itself into you.
- Building intelligent machines is not the same as building self-replicating machines. Ther is no logical connection whatsoever between them. Neither brains nor computers can directly self-replicate.
- Unlike human learning, intelligent machines will be able to share components of learning and knowledge. They can also be reprogrammed with a new set of connections to lead to different behavior.
Monday, April 16, 2007
A New Long Tail Model for the Music Industry
In a recent blog titled The New Music Industry, the author argues for small labels or going it alone, hoping for the ad revenue from site visits to provide some revenue. At the same time a Reuters story, Universal, Amazon beef up MP3 sales space, explains that Amazon is considered the best bet to challenge the near iTunes monopoly. This jousting among the major labels reminds me of the tactics of cell-phone providers when each offer some hook to snag customers while gouging them in sneaking marketing ploys, such as the outrageous charges for text messaging. The major labels are not to be trusted. They will still find a way to screw the consumer. One label removing DRM should just be considered a sneaky tactic.
Amazon may have the clout to produce a winning formula for the indies. Each can set up their own store or pricing model. None of this one price fits all crap that Apple is foisting on us. That model worked to kick off the revolution but it is also sucking wind trying to keep up with the inevitable trend to abandon music labels entirely. You see, unlike cell-phone providers, consumers can pick and choose their music provider at a whim without DRM messing thing up.
The new model in the music industry goes one step further than the blogger describes. It is not quite the resurrection of the single. First, there is no B side. With few exceptions, B sides never amounted to anything. I could see a far greater trend in variations of tracks. Extended solo versions, live versions, accoustic versions and the like. I also envision a re-emergence of cover bands that records songs made popular by others. They may offer the music at a far less expensive price (or even free). I am not sure what ASCAP (wiki) would have to say about that. But I am sure Amazon will figure out a way to make it work. Reuters reported that Amazon initially was pushing for a 70 cents per track wholesale price. Indie labels have other ideas and should be heard. For example, one idea is to offer different pricing for higher quality tracks. This is similar to the Russian site AllOfMp3, which has been under assault by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The legality of such sites that offer downloads for pennies a song are being successfully challenged by the RIAA, such as their victory over a Spanish site.
The Long Tail (wiki) comes into play here. The term was coined to describe the log-linear curve on an XY graph expressing the relationship between Amazon sales and Amazon sales ranking. The idea is that a large proportion of Amazon's book sales have come from obscure books that are not available in brick-and-mortar stores. The benefit from increase variety is far greater then the benefit from lower prices. The Long Tail threatens established businesses, in particular the big four record labels. Before a Long Tail works, only the most popular products are generally offered. Unlike iTunes with there one size fits all pricing model, Amazon has a chance to introduce a pluralistic model that can include the pennies a track pricing strategy based on what indies will accept. After all, that's all the artists are getting now. It sounds like a great idea for cover bands, tribute bands and the like. If Amazon succeeds in a long tail that will create the reality that will cause the major labels to inevitable crash and burn.
The another reality of the new model of the music industry is that major labels spend big bucks to promote some artists. Just like the premium paid for Coke and Pepsi, the consumer is expected to pay for the hype and often gladly does. The consumer has a choice. Go with the higher priced name brand or with a just a good generic. Some people prefer designer clothes while others are quite content with the knock-offs. Cover bands, this is you chance! There will always be a place for this end of the market, but the oligopoly is over. Once a cover band establishes a following, introducing original material is much easier.
Amazon may have the clout to produce a winning formula for the indies. Each can set up their own store or pricing model. None of this one price fits all crap that Apple is foisting on us. That model worked to kick off the revolution but it is also sucking wind trying to keep up with the inevitable trend to abandon music labels entirely. You see, unlike cell-phone providers, consumers can pick and choose their music provider at a whim without DRM messing thing up.
The new model in the music industry goes one step further than the blogger describes. It is not quite the resurrection of the single. First, there is no B side. With few exceptions, B sides never amounted to anything. I could see a far greater trend in variations of tracks. Extended solo versions, live versions, accoustic versions and the like. I also envision a re-emergence of cover bands that records songs made popular by others. They may offer the music at a far less expensive price (or even free). I am not sure what ASCAP (wiki) would have to say about that. But I am sure Amazon will figure out a way to make it work. Reuters reported that Amazon initially was pushing for a 70 cents per track wholesale price. Indie labels have other ideas and should be heard. For example, one idea is to offer different pricing for higher quality tracks. This is similar to the Russian site AllOfMp3, which has been under assault by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The legality of such sites that offer downloads for pennies a song are being successfully challenged by the RIAA, such as their victory over a Spanish site.
The Long Tail (wiki) comes into play here. The term was coined to describe the log-linear curve on an XY graph expressing the relationship between Amazon sales and Amazon sales ranking. The idea is that a large proportion of Amazon's book sales have come from obscure books that are not available in brick-and-mortar stores. The benefit from increase variety is far greater then the benefit from lower prices. The Long Tail threatens established businesses, in particular the big four record labels. Before a Long Tail works, only the most popular products are generally offered. Unlike iTunes with there one size fits all pricing model, Amazon has a chance to introduce a pluralistic model that can include the pennies a track pricing strategy based on what indies will accept. After all, that's all the artists are getting now. It sounds like a great idea for cover bands, tribute bands and the like. If Amazon succeeds in a long tail that will create the reality that will cause the major labels to inevitable crash and burn.
The another reality of the new model of the music industry is that major labels spend big bucks to promote some artists. Just like the premium paid for Coke and Pepsi, the consumer is expected to pay for the hype and often gladly does. The consumer has a choice. Go with the higher priced name brand or with a just a good generic. Some people prefer designer clothes while others are quite content with the knock-offs. Cover bands, this is you chance! There will always be a place for this end of the market, but the oligopoly is over. Once a cover band establishes a following, introducing original material is much easier.
Labels: music industry, RIAA
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Time Travel Videos
A recent article, You Can't Travel Back in Time, Scientists Say, links to some videos discussing time travel that are worth a look for entertainment purposes:
The article does however cover some real science by discussing one "popular theory for potential time travelers involves something called cosmic strings — narrow tubes of energy stretched across the entire length of the ever-expanding universe. These skinny regions, leftover from the early cosmos, are predicted to contain huge amounts of mass and therefore could warp the space-time around them."
String theory (wiki) is the leading contender seeking to unify the age-old theory of gravity with physical explanations for how very small particles behave. In string theory, elementary particles are not point-like, but instead are more akin to strings. Interest in string theory is driven largely by the hope that it will prove to be a consistent theory of quantum gravity or even a theory of everything. Quantum gravity (wiki) touches upon one of the deepest problems in theoretical physics - harmonizing the theory of general relativity, which describes gravitation and applies to large-scale structures (stars, planets, galaxies), with quantum mechanics, which describes the other three fundamental forces acting on the microscopic scale. The Theory of everything (wiki) enters the relm of religion in that many theists believe the universe operates according to consistent principles designed by a rational and orderly deity.
The article does however cover some real science by discussing one "popular theory for potential time travelers involves something called cosmic strings — narrow tubes of energy stretched across the entire length of the ever-expanding universe. These skinny regions, leftover from the early cosmos, are predicted to contain huge amounts of mass and therefore could warp the space-time around them."
String theory (wiki) is the leading contender seeking to unify the age-old theory of gravity with physical explanations for how very small particles behave. In string theory, elementary particles are not point-like, but instead are more akin to strings. Interest in string theory is driven largely by the hope that it will prove to be a consistent theory of quantum gravity or even a theory of everything. Quantum gravity (wiki) touches upon one of the deepest problems in theoretical physics - harmonizing the theory of general relativity, which describes gravitation and applies to large-scale structures (stars, planets, galaxies), with quantum mechanics, which describes the other three fundamental forces acting on the microscopic scale. The Theory of everything (wiki) enters the relm of religion in that many theists believe the universe operates according to consistent principles designed by a rational and orderly deity.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Readings on Robots and Consciousness
In Robot Discovers Itself, Adapts to Injury , a Cornell University researcher claim their robot is "conscious" on a primitive level, because it thinks to itself, "What would happen if I do this?" He adds "Whether humans or animals are conscious in a similar way -- do we also think in terms of a self-image, and rehearse actions in our head before trying them out -- is still an open question.
A lively discussion on both sides follow in the comments.
Additional references:
A lively discussion on both sides follow in the comments.
Additional references:
- The Chinese Room argument (wiki) is a thought experiment designed by John Searle (Minds, Brains, and Programs, 1980) to argue against "strong artificial intelligence" - that an appropriately programmed computer isn't simply a simulation or model of a mind; it actually counts as a mind.
- Consciousness Explained (wiki) is a 1991 controversial book by the American philosopher Daniel Dennett which attempts to explain how consciousness arises from interaction of physical and cognitive processes in the brain.
- Dennett and the Darwinizing of Free Will By David P. Barash (2003) Essay Review states
Benjamin Libet, who revealed the existence of “readiness potentials,” unconscious neural events that reliably occur a few hundred milliseconds before subjects realized they had decided to perform a simple physical movement. This work has been cited, waggishly, as showing that we don’t have free will so much as "free won’t," but is it really as devastating for "autonomous man" as Dennett believes? Maybe a readiness potential simply indicates that we actually make up our minds a fraction of a second or so before we realize that we do. Does this circumscribe our freedom or merely reset it a bit earlier than each of us used to believe? Perhaps decision-making simply takes time.
Labels: philosophy, robotics
Monday, April 09, 2007
Robot Dreams and Desktop Search
After an Easter weekend occupied with family visits and overconsumption of desserts (lamb cake, candy Easter eggs and the like), I resolved practice a bit more discipline today. Upon waking, I made an effort to recall dreams during the night, hearkening back to past experiments in Lucid Dreaming. Dream fragments included:
As I laid in bed contemplating these thought, I continued my commitment of being more disciplined today. Thus, I began to meditate, something I haven't practiced regularly for a while. Meditation is like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget how to do it. But, just like cycling, doing it and doing it well are different matters. The mind has to be strengthened the same way a cyclists legs, lungs, heart, and other muscles need conditioning. There are also different techniques that I shift to depending on my level of success. When I commence, I simply focus on my breathing, counting to four for each inhale and each exhale. As my mind settles down I may focus on the breath entering and existing the nostrils. Then the heartbeats provide the cadence. This part is similar to the zone I get in while cycling, matching my pedal cadence to breathing. The pattern can re-cycle (pardon the term overloading) back to square one due to a major distraction. Typical ones I experience are a barking dog across the street, a poorly muffled truck driving by, a persistent itch, and a buildup of saliva. Another meditation technique that provides a measure of success is observing a thought that consumes my mind drift way as a log floats down a stream and disappears out of sight.
The whole point here is that during meditation, my mind resorts to different techniques and shifts according to circumstances, whether external stimuli or internal cognitive processes. I see a parallel to the workings of a computer, which shifts from one technique to another as it organizes its information into knowledge. Is there a meditation technique for computers that can unleash it from simple algorithms and functions and know itself in a similar way that yoga master can unleash themselves from leash and blood to know their true nature?
- walking outside of my former house in my new bathrobe in the dead of night examining abnormal tree-branches growing very close to the house,
- a clock mounted on the front of the house distorted in shape from hanging on a hook
As I laid in bed contemplating these thought, I continued my commitment of being more disciplined today. Thus, I began to meditate, something I haven't practiced regularly for a while. Meditation is like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget how to do it. But, just like cycling, doing it and doing it well are different matters. The mind has to be strengthened the same way a cyclists legs, lungs, heart, and other muscles need conditioning. There are also different techniques that I shift to depending on my level of success. When I commence, I simply focus on my breathing, counting to four for each inhale and each exhale. As my mind settles down I may focus on the breath entering and existing the nostrils. Then the heartbeats provide the cadence. This part is similar to the zone I get in while cycling, matching my pedal cadence to breathing. The pattern can re-cycle (pardon the term overloading) back to square one due to a major distraction. Typical ones I experience are a barking dog across the street, a poorly muffled truck driving by, a persistent itch, and a buildup of saliva. Another meditation technique that provides a measure of success is observing a thought that consumes my mind drift way as a log floats down a stream and disappears out of sight.
The whole point here is that during meditation, my mind resorts to different techniques and shifts according to circumstances, whether external stimuli or internal cognitive processes. I see a parallel to the workings of a computer, which shifts from one technique to another as it organizes its information into knowledge. Is there a meditation technique for computers that can unleash it from simple algorithms and functions and know itself in a similar way that yoga master can unleash themselves from leash and blood to know their true nature?
Labels: computing, dreams, meditation
Sunday, April 08, 2007
The Last Great Artform
Having recently finished reading Arthur C. Clarks novel Childhood's End, I was struck by one paragraph in particular.
The book opens with enormous alien spaceships appearing one day over all of Earth's major cities. The aliens, who become known as the Overlords announce their benign intentions and desire to help mankind. The Overlords quickly end the arms race and colonialism. Mankind enters a golden age of the greatest peace and prosperity ever known, but at some expense of creativity and freedom.
One such group establishes a new community called New Athens. As much as they tried, the creativity floundered...
"But it was in the art of the cartoon film. with its limitless possibilities, that New Athens had made its most successful experiments. The hundred years since the time of Disney had still left much undone in this most flexible of all mediums. On the purely realistic side, results could be produced indistinguishable from actual photography -- much to the contempt of those who were developing the cartoon along abstract lines."
These words ring quite true today. Computer animation is approaching realism that will soon be indistinguishable from live action motion pictures. A bifurcation of animation seems inevitable. One part will be realism with virtual actors; the other part will pursue abstraction. The latter may very likely hold the former in contempt.
The book opens with enormous alien spaceships appearing one day over all of Earth's major cities. The aliens, who become known as the Overlords announce their benign intentions and desire to help mankind. The Overlords quickly end the arms race and colonialism. Mankind enters a golden age of the greatest peace and prosperity ever known, but at some expense of creativity and freedom.
One such group establishes a new community called New Athens. As much as they tried, the creativity floundered...
"But it was in the art of the cartoon film. with its limitless possibilities, that New Athens had made its most successful experiments. The hundred years since the time of Disney had still left much undone in this most flexible of all mediums. On the purely realistic side, results could be produced indistinguishable from actual photography -- much to the contempt of those who were developing the cartoon along abstract lines."
These words ring quite true today. Computer animation is approaching realism that will soon be indistinguishable from live action motion pictures. A bifurcation of animation seems inevitable. One part will be realism with virtual actors; the other part will pursue abstraction. The latter may very likely hold the former in contempt.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
This and That - Musings on Web Browsing
Robot Competition
FIRST runs a series of regional and national robot competitions where students work in teams to design and build a robot of their own. The How Stuff Works Site has an article on How FIRST Works.
Craplets
Using Even New PCs Is Ruined by a Tangle Of Trial Programs, discusses "craplets", programs placed on new PC that bloat boot up times and hard disk space. These constitute hidden costs since manufacturers are paid to bundle these trial programs at our expense of time and resources.
Bizarre Observations of Repressive Societies
In the article How to Look 10 Pounds Thinner in Photos, some no-brainer tips are given such as partially turning sideways, pulling the head slightly forward, shoulders back, stomach in. What amused me was the "Secret No. 5" - Look away from the camera, then turn towards it, breaking into a smile just before the camera clicks. Your smile will appear fresh, not frozen." This reminds me of the Lois Lane photo through Jimmy Olsen's camera from the original 1970s Superman movie. It goes on to suggest to practice behind closed, locked doors. This is to avoid looking foolish, like a "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl wannabe". Practicing in front of a mirror is nothing new to me. It was one of the first "secrets" of show-biz that I learned, right after "don't ever refuse someone buying you a drink". Smiling on stage over a 6 hour period each night would make the the muscles ache. You had to make sure the smile looked natural.
Spam
Greylisting is a method of defending electronic mail users against e-mail spam. A mail transfer agent which uses greylisting will "temporarily reject" any email from a sender it does not recognize. If the mail is legitimate, the originating server will try again to send it later, at which time the destination will accept it. If the mail is from a spammer, it will probably not be retried. In Greylisting: The worst thing to happen to email since spam, the article contends that spam filtering is highly sophisticated and extremely accurate. Greylisting does nothing to detect spam and little to discourage it. Spammers catch on fast. That's why we are inundated with images instead of text. Instead, email is no longer instant. In some cases, it's not even close.
Libertarian Wannabes
Lew Rockwell discusses Libertine Conservatives. He debunks the myth that "libertarians are nothing more than Republicans who want to party and smoke pot".
Having come into the computer industry in the 80's when "no one was ever fired for buing IBM". It is nice to see the circle of life repeat itself. In Microsoft is Dead, the analogy to IBM is made, with Google now the slayer of Microsoft. Gmail was the killer app that introduced a robust AJAX implementation and changed everything. From now on, applications will live on the web. Microsoft planted the seeds of its own destruction with XMLHttpRequest. Broadband internet and the iPod further accellerated the demise. The resurgence of Apple with new technologies is paralleled with IBM resurgence with "a credible strategy for becoming the next great software company".
Another Death Watch?
The New York Times has an op-ed about all of the missteps of the music label companies lap dog, RIAA. This has led to such things as:
How to be a Successful Liar
Here is another simplistic posting about how to detect a liar. So the "negative expertise" part of me translates this to:
* don't touch your nose or ears
* don't have overactive eyes (i.e. maintain eye contact, but not overtly)
* don't keep you palms down
* don't slouch, i.e don't fake confidence
* don't appear to be making thing up through eye movement
The last one is the comment I found interesting enough to post about. "Humans eyes generally move up and to left if their brain is doing visual or audio construction. They will generally move to the upper right when doing recall. Just remember: Liars go Left, the Righteous go Right."
FIRST runs a series of regional and national robot competitions where students work in teams to design and build a robot of their own. The How Stuff Works Site has an article on How FIRST Works.
Craplets
Using Even New PCs Is Ruined by a Tangle Of Trial Programs, discusses "craplets", programs placed on new PC that bloat boot up times and hard disk space. These constitute hidden costs since manufacturers are paid to bundle these trial programs at our expense of time and resources.
Bizarre Observations of Repressive Societies
- Don't kiss in Bombay. More than 100 couples were rounded up and fined by police this week in Bombay for kissing in public.
- Don't grow in North Korea - the average young northern male is 5.9cm (2.32in) shorter than his southern contemporary. The difference for women is 4.1cm (roughly 1.62in).
- According to Google, Muslim regions search for "SEX" online more than any other region.
As once commenter suggests, perhaps the longer a country is connected, the more intelligent the search queries get. It is just a path of education Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and the likes must take. Eventually they will know how to narrow down their search results by entering something like "whip grandmother leather" in Google instead of just "sex".
In the article How to Look 10 Pounds Thinner in Photos, some no-brainer tips are given such as partially turning sideways, pulling the head slightly forward, shoulders back, stomach in. What amused me was the "Secret No. 5" - Look away from the camera, then turn towards it, breaking into a smile just before the camera clicks. Your smile will appear fresh, not frozen." This reminds me of the Lois Lane photo through Jimmy Olsen's camera from the original 1970s Superman movie. It goes on to suggest to practice behind closed, locked doors. This is to avoid looking foolish, like a "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl wannabe". Practicing in front of a mirror is nothing new to me. It was one of the first "secrets" of show-biz that I learned, right after "don't ever refuse someone buying you a drink". Smiling on stage over a 6 hour period each night would make the the muscles ache. You had to make sure the smile looked natural.
Spam
Greylisting is a method of defending electronic mail users against e-mail spam. A mail transfer agent which uses greylisting will "temporarily reject" any email from a sender it does not recognize. If the mail is legitimate, the originating server will try again to send it later, at which time the destination will accept it. If the mail is from a spammer, it will probably not be retried. In Greylisting: The worst thing to happen to email since spam, the article contends that spam filtering is highly sophisticated and extremely accurate. Greylisting does nothing to detect spam and little to discourage it. Spammers catch on fast. That's why we are inundated with images instead of text. Instead, email is no longer instant. In some cases, it's not even close.
Libertarian Wannabes
Lew Rockwell discusses Libertine Conservatives. He debunks the myth that "libertarians are nothing more than Republicans who want to party and smoke pot".
- After 9/11, conservatives seem increasingly willing to embrace a more socially liberal culture. They justify it as defending the freedom of homosexuals, women, racial minorities and so on against the 'Islamo-fascists.' "Libertine conservatives are more dedicated to being hip, more willing to say bad words and back a 'socially liberal' man like Giuliani, than the supposedly curmudgeonly churchgoers who used to dominate the American right".
- Libertarians rant about taxation, the war on drugs as a threat to everyone’s liberty, and the welfare state. They consider public schools institutions of wickedness and tyranny. They believe that every individual has a right not to be aggressed against and not to be forced to pay for war. But mostly, they believe in private property, freedom of association, peace, free trade and individual liberty as a recipe for a just world.
Having come into the computer industry in the 80's when "no one was ever fired for buing IBM". It is nice to see the circle of life repeat itself. In Microsoft is Dead, the analogy to IBM is made, with Google now the slayer of Microsoft. Gmail was the killer app that introduced a robust AJAX implementation and changed everything. From now on, applications will live on the web. Microsoft planted the seeds of its own destruction with XMLHttpRequest. Broadband internet and the iPod further accellerated the demise. The resurgence of Apple with new technologies is paralleled with IBM resurgence with "a credible strategy for becoming the next great software company".
Another Death Watch?
The New York Times has an op-ed about all of the missteps of the music label companies lap dog, RIAA. This has led to such things as:
- Trying to kill the single to force more album sales and killing music stores in the process
- Next generation online music libraries
- Independents that avoid music labels like the plague
- Attacking Artists Participating in Its Own Campaign
How to be a Successful Liar
Here is another simplistic posting about how to detect a liar. So the "negative expertise" part of me translates this to:
* don't touch your nose or ears
* don't have overactive eyes (i.e. maintain eye contact, but not overtly)
* don't keep you palms down
* don't slouch, i.e don't fake confidence
* don't appear to be making thing up through eye movement
The last one is the comment I found interesting enough to post about. "Humans eyes generally move up and to left if their brain is doing visual or audio construction. They will generally move to the upper right when doing recall. Just remember: Liars go Left, the Righteous go Right."
Labels: photography, politics, robotics, society, technology. psychology
Sunday, April 01, 2007
The DCMA knife cuts both ways
Robert Cringley is reporting in his column that "It's easier than you think (or even than it ought to be) to get your video pulled from YouTube". The basic idea at YouTube is to let people post pretty much anything, then count on copyright holders to protest, at which point YouTube automatically brings down the clips. There is problem with this. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has equal penalties for those who infringe and for those who falsely claim copyright holder status. YouTube quickly takes down questionable content, but it does not appear to be quick about putting it back after a counter claim.
I recently had a similar situation where my internet service provider (ISP) notified me about a file that I had downloaded. I am not quite sure how they figured that I had downloaded the file. Nevertheless, my ISP sent me an email stating I had this file and it was notifiying me of a DCMA copyright infringement. The problem with this is that the file is available through the Internet Archive. This is a respected site containing historical digital artifacts and has expanded to public domain media. Their media page states: "This collection is free and open for everyone to use. Our goal in digitizing these movies and putting them online is to provide easy access to a rich and fascinating core collection of archival films. By providing near-unrestricted access to these films, we hope to encourage widespread use of moving images in new contexts by people who might not have used them before."
I am a collector of animation and am a frequent buyer on eBay finding rare out of print (OOP) animation videos. The claimed work was a cartoon from 1941. I am stuck wondering what the intent of the infringement notice was. Is my ISP playing games by monitoring my bandwidth and sending bogus DCMA emails in an attempt to throttle my internet use? Is there someone on eBay selling public domain DVDs who is trying to squash the distribution of public domain works to turn a profit?
Making a false DMCA violation claim and making a false counterclaim are equally illegal. I replied to them and ended up deleting the file to avoid any controversy, but the whole idea sent a shiver through me. We are in the digital age where everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
Since this incident, I have started a channel on the magnify.net site for Award Winning Animation. This is an interesting concept, since I post no content. All I am doing is finding content available elsewhere on the internet and pointing to it. It will be interesting to see how often those links end up dead due to the DCMA. It's an experiment in social bookmarking. Perhaps copyright holders will use such channels to more easily locate infringing material. It won't bother me. I own most of the stuff I find online anyway. Any serious collect can't really deal with the crappy quality these sites provide.
That being said, it is amazing how many excellent works are out there. Many of these content creators freely distribute their works on the internet. After all, there is not much commercial value in an animated short. It has only been within the last few years that the major studios have jumped back in the field and a testing and training ground for their animators while preparing them for the bigger payoff of feature animated movies.
I recently had a similar situation where my internet service provider (ISP) notified me about a file that I had downloaded. I am not quite sure how they figured that I had downloaded the file. Nevertheless, my ISP sent me an email stating I had this file and it was notifiying me of a DCMA copyright infringement. The problem with this is that the file is available through the Internet Archive. This is a respected site containing historical digital artifacts and has expanded to public domain media. Their media page states: "This collection is free and open for everyone to use. Our goal in digitizing these movies and putting them online is to provide easy access to a rich and fascinating core collection of archival films. By providing near-unrestricted access to these films, we hope to encourage widespread use of moving images in new contexts by people who might not have used them before."
I am a collector of animation and am a frequent buyer on eBay finding rare out of print (OOP) animation videos. The claimed work was a cartoon from 1941. I am stuck wondering what the intent of the infringement notice was. Is my ISP playing games by monitoring my bandwidth and sending bogus DCMA emails in an attempt to throttle my internet use? Is there someone on eBay selling public domain DVDs who is trying to squash the distribution of public domain works to turn a profit?
Making a false DMCA violation claim and making a false counterclaim are equally illegal. I replied to them and ended up deleting the file to avoid any controversy, but the whole idea sent a shiver through me. We are in the digital age where everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
Since this incident, I have started a channel on the magnify.net site for Award Winning Animation. This is an interesting concept, since I post no content. All I am doing is finding content available elsewhere on the internet and pointing to it. It will be interesting to see how often those links end up dead due to the DCMA. It's an experiment in social bookmarking. Perhaps copyright holders will use such channels to more easily locate infringing material. It won't bother me. I own most of the stuff I find online anyway. Any serious collect can't really deal with the crappy quality these sites provide.
That being said, it is amazing how many excellent works are out there. Many of these content creators freely distribute their works on the internet. After all, there is not much commercial value in an animated short. It has only been within the last few years that the major studios have jumped back in the field and a testing and training ground for their animators while preparing them for the bigger payoff of feature animated movies.
