What this little blurb doesn't tell you is that Lloyd's essay is just one of several in a book he's not the author of. It's from editor Glenn Yeffeth's Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix, BenBella Books, 2003. It includes an introduction by David Gerrold, and contributions by James Gunn, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Joy, and many others.
In a case of good timing, I just happened to put the one copy I had up on eBay at:
"Products that have visualization as one of their top three features will earn $1 billion per year."
There's nothing I love quite so much as business analysts telling us "for sure" what's going to be hot in three to five years. Either it's something so obvious no one can miss it (like "the Internet will be big!"), or else they're horribly wrong.
Anyone remember how "push" technology was going to be the Next Big Thing? How the real money on the Internet was pushing sports scores and stock tickers out to people so they could avaoid all that tiresome clicking? Remember the Wired cover story on Push? Well, I get the same feeling about "executive dashboards." Show me a man who has graph on his desktop showing up to the minute price trends on hog belly futures, and I'll show you a man ready to replicate the same mistakes that a million or so day traders made during the Internet bubble: having access to instant information doesn't mean you understand the information you're seeing.
The businesses which can benefit the most from real-time information have already implamented it, and not as "executive dashboards." Think of WallMart. Or the U.S. Army. But they're designed to flow the information as hard data to people who actually use the information, rather than as pretty graphs to executives. You want to empower people at all levels of your organization, not micromanage them.
Is visualization useful? Sure, that's why we have things like Visio, PowerPoint, and Keynote. But never mistake up-to-the-minute readouts of information for a true understanding of that underlying data.
> On the other hand, your sig contained one of my favorite lines from Donnie Darko. What a spectacular movie Donnie Darko was.
Indeed. And your comment provides me the opportunity to post the URL to my just published, really long and detailed review of Donnie Darko. I've posted it before. Given the opportunity, I'll post it again. Hell, I've maxed out my karma, and if causes one intelligent person to seek out this singularly interesting film, it will be worth it...
"One of the main characters - the Muslim mercenary Oran - was created as a direct protest of the continued sanctions against the nation of Iraq. His role in the story chillingly mirrors the direction of current global events."
So, you mean now he's jumping up and down, cheering, waving an American flag, and chanting "Bush! Bush! Bush!"?
"Beautiful Planes": Try the SR-71 Blackbird
on
Concorde to be Grounded
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
While the Condorde is indeed an attractive plane, in terms of beauty, I don't think it can hold a candle to the SR-71 Blackbird. And, of course, the Blackbird was (or is, if the redesignated ones in NASA's fleet still fly) much faster...
Just when was the ""greed is good" era?
on
Implementing VisiCalc
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
Would that be when corporations like Enron and Global Crossing were running accounting scams unchecked by the federal Government? When pardons and sleepovers in the Lincoln bedroom were for sale? When there was "no controlling legal authority" to keep you from receiving campaign donations from Buddhist temples? When was that again?
I look forward to the explanation of how VisiCalc led directly to the Clinton Years.
Since I'm sure it will come up somewhere in this thread, I'd like to launch a premptive strike and debunk the "Apple stole the Lisa/Mac interface from Xerox PARC" Myth.
Apple was already working on some GUI elements before Steve Jobs visit to Xerox PARC in 1979.
Many Apple and Xerox GUI elements were developed in parallel.
Most importantly, Apple paid Xerox millions in stock to incorporate the GUI elements it did borrow for the Lisa/Macintosh projects.
That seems to be what the entire article amounts to: "Gosh, we were trying to create this "meme" that large global gatherings of communists, students, and people without jobs were some mysterious force known as a 'Second Superpower,' and then someone went off and used those words in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY without asking our permition! It's not fair not fair not fair! How DARE they used free speech differently than we do?"
This is news? (I know, it's a slashdot story, so it has no requirement to even resemble news.) Whatever happened to "the cure for speech you disagree with is more speech"? It's not like anyone has a copyright on a silly phrase like "Second Superpower." Get a grip already...
Heavenly Creatures: Wonderful and dark. Peter Jackson's first "non-cult" film.
Fresh: Story about a young boy running dope for two different inner-city gangsters, and how he ends up playing one across the other. An exceptionally well-made film.
Wicked City: Hong Kong live-action remake of a Japanese SF anime. Very close to the weirdest good film ever made.
Dead Alive (AKA Braindead): The funniest cannibal zombie flick ever made, and even funnier than Evil Dead 2.
Donnie Darko: Discussed uptopic. Impossible to describe, and impossible to forget.
Shall We Dance?: I hate most romantic comedy, but this Japanese gem is good enough to make even my rock-hard heart melt.
City of Lost Children: If the world of Brazil was real, and Terry Gilliam was a Frenchmen living in it, this is the film he would make.
Meet the Feebles: The Muppet Show on LSD. utterly disgusting and absolutely hilarious. (And yes, that's three Peter Jackson films on the list. So sue me.)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie: Based, of course, on The Best TV Show Ever Made.
I thought about putting Strange Brew on thiss list, but it's been a long time since I've seen it.
P.S. Is it just me, or is no one modding this list because everyone wants to post to it?;-)
I'll second the recommendation for Donnie Darko. It has more ambition in a single scene than most stupid Hollywood movies have in their entire length. In fact, I'll have a long review of it coming out on a major SF news site next month.
BTW, it did have a very small theatrical release, but it was almost invisible. And this is one of those rare films that's actually better on DVD, because there's so much going on you'll want to watch it again to catch everything.
What the Forbes article fails elucidate is the difference between military and civilian GPS. Not only is the military GPS on a different band, and considerably more accurate, but it's also encrypted. In fact, SOP if an aircraft is shot down is for the pilot to press a "data destruct" key that formats internal memory storage so the enemy doesn't get ahold of any information on the military band. The encryption keys are also changed daily.
BTW, both military and civilian GPS can increase the accuracy of the signal by using differential GPS, which uses stationary ground stations to reduce uncertainty to well under an inch.
S: I think Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar nomination for playing Gollum in The Two Towers.
G: No!! We hates him, hates him!
S: What are you talking about? He did a wonderful job!
G: No! He ruined the precious with all his nasty scampering about!
S: Oh come on! His was far and away one of the most interesting performances in the movie.
G: No! Not he, it. Yessss, it, horrible machine with all its nasty little bits running like ants! We hates the terrible computer eye, hates it! HATES IT! No, we keeps the precious little statue...
According to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Iraqi defectors have reported that Saddam's son Uday "mercilessly beats girls as young as 12 on the soles of their feet if they refuse to sleep with him, Iraqi defectors said today."
Like father like son. This just underscores how corrupt and abusive Saddam's regime is, and it shouldn't be terribly surprising. It's a pretty stomach-turning article for a major newspaper, and not for the squimish.
I tried to post the entire text of Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Poem and Prayer for an Invading Army" on a previous Iraq thread, but the lameness filter kept rejecting it because the lines were too short. (Obviously, the lameness filter doesn't like poetry.) Anyway, here's a link to it, because I feel the sentiments expressed are as timely now as ever:
Slashdot Mirror
"Finally!"
In a case of good timing, I just happened to put the one copy I had up on eBay at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ite
"Products that have visualization as one of their top three features will earn $1 billion per year."
There's nothing I love quite so much as business analysts telling us "for sure" what's going to be hot in three to five years. Either it's something so obvious no one can miss it (like "the Internet will be big!"), or else they're horribly wrong.
Anyone remember how "push" technology was going to be the Next Big Thing? How the real money on the Internet was pushing sports scores and stock tickers out to people so they could avaoid all that tiresome clicking? Remember the Wired cover story on Push? Well, I get the same feeling about "executive dashboards." Show me a man who has graph on his desktop showing up to the minute price trends on hog belly futures, and I'll show you a man ready to replicate the same mistakes that a million or so day traders made during the Internet bubble: having access to instant information doesn't mean you understand the information you're seeing.
The businesses which can benefit the most from real-time information have already implamented it, and not as "executive dashboards." Think of WallMart. Or the U.S. Army. But they're designed to flow the information as hard data to people who actually use the information, rather than as pretty graphs to executives. You want to empower people at all levels of your organization, not micromanage them.
Is visualization useful? Sure, that's why we have things like Visio, PowerPoint, and Keynote. But never mistake up-to-the-minute readouts of information for a true understanding of that underlying data.
Take a look at:
The Osama Bin Laden Suicide Bomber Dating Service
Terry Brooks to rewrite The Lord of the Rings
Baen Books Announces Product Placement Deal with Microsoft
Each and every one of these stories is as true as the parent, and most are funnier...
"Tablet is the wrong medicinal analogy: suppository more adequately describes the Smart Display experience."
> On the other hand, your sig contained one of my favorite lines from Donnie Darko. What a spectacular movie Donnie Darko was.
Indeed. And your comment provides me the opportunity to post the URL to my just published, really long and detailed review of Donnie Darko. I've posted it before. Given the opportunity, I'll post it again. Hell, I've maxed out my karma, and if causes one intelligent person to seek out this singularly interesting film, it will be worth it...
"One of the main characters - the Muslim mercenary Oran - was created as a direct protest of the continued sanctions against the nation of Iraq. His role in the story chillingly mirrors the direction of current global events."
So, you mean now he's jumping up and down, cheering, waving an American flag, and chanting "Bush! Bush! Bush!"?
Speaking of weird movies geeks may like, here's my rather detailed review of Donnie Darko.
While the Condorde is indeed an attractive plane, in terms of beauty, I don't think it can hold a candle to the SR-71 Blackbird. And, of course, the Blackbird was (or is, if the redesignated ones in NASA's fleet still fly) much faster...
Would that be when corporations like Enron and Global Crossing were running accounting scams unchecked by the federal Government? When pardons and sleepovers in the Lincoln bedroom were for sale? When there was "no controlling legal authority" to keep you from receiving campaign donations from Buddhist temples? When was that again?
I look forward to the explanation of how VisiCalc led directly to the Clinton Years.
Apple borrowed a number of elements from PARC research, but not all of them, and it did pay for the ones it did borrow. More details at: http://www.mackido.com/Interface/ui_history.html.
That seems to be what the entire article amounts to: "Gosh, we were trying to create this "meme" that large global gatherings of communists, students, and people without jobs were some mysterious force known as a 'Second Superpower,' and then someone went off and used those words in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY without asking our permition! It's not fair not fair not fair! How DARE they used free speech differently than we do?"
This is news? (I know, it's a slashdot story, so it has no requirement to even resemble news.) Whatever happened to "the cure for speech you disagree with is more speech"? It's not like anyone has a copyright on a silly phrase like "Second Superpower." Get a grip already...
I heard it was pushed back so Brooks could finish up the last volume in his rewrite of The Lord of the Rings. Details at:
http://www.locusmag.com/2002/News/News0401b.html
http://www.locusmag.com/2003/News/News0401a.html#s wanwick.
If only there was some company that offered a UNIX based operating system running on powerful and elegant hardware that offered powerful built-in audio and video with every system sold, and also offered a drive that can read and write DVDs as well as CD-R/W. Alas, if only this glorious, mythical, magic computer company existed in real life...
> Three Legged Freaks - The cat and spider behind the dry wall.
Actually, that would be Eight Legged Freaks. Sort of obvious given the giant spider theme.
I did a review of it here
Sorry, but this is my least-favorite Kurosawa film. The pace is almost glacial. I'd take Seven Samurai or Kagamusha over it any day.
Oddly enough, I've seen both Donnie Darko and Iron Monkey in the last eight weeks, and can give both a hearty thumbs up.
Perhaps Steve Martin's best movie, with an exceptionally funny script. Just put that up there around #7 or so.
I thought about putting Strange Brew on thiss list, but it's been a long time since I've seen it.
P.S. Is it just me, or is no one modding this list because everyone wants to post to it?
I'll second the recommendation for Donnie Darko. It has more ambition in a single scene than most stupid Hollywood movies have in their entire length. In fact, I'll have a long review of it coming out on a major SF news site next month.
BTW, it did have a very small theatrical release, but it was almost invisible. And this is one of those rare films that's actually better on DVD, because there's so much going on you'll want to watch it again to catch everything.
Some Donnie Darko links:
The Internet Movie Databse listing for it
The Mad World listserve
What the Forbes article fails elucidate is the difference between military and civilian GPS. Not only is the military GPS on a different band, and considerably more accurate, but it's also encrypted. In fact, SOP if an aircraft is shot down is for the pilot to press a "data destruct" key that formats internal memory storage so the enemy doesn't get ahold of any information on the military band. The encryption keys are also changed daily.
BTW, both military and civilian GPS can increase the accuracy of the signal by using differential GPS, which uses stationary ground stations to reduce uncertainty to well under an inch.
Here's Macbeth's famous speech, rendered in 1337. I think FARK nailed it when they called leet "cyber-retard."
70M0rr0\\/, 4|\||) 70M0rr0\\/, 4|\||) 70M0rr0\\/ (r33|>5 ||\| 7|-||5 |>377`/ |>4(3 |=r0M |)4`/ 70 |)4`/,(|-|453 570(|00r |>14`/3r 7|-|47 57ru75 4|\||) |=r375 |-||5 |-|0ur u|>0|\| 7|-|3 57493 4|\||) 7|-|3|\| |5 |-|34r|) |\|0 M0r3: |7 |5 4 7413 701|) 8`/ 4|\| ||)|07, |=u11 0|= 50u|\||) 4|\||) |=ur`/, 5|9|\|||=`/||\|9 |\|07|-|||\|9.
S: I think Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar nomination for playing Gollum in The Two Towers.
G: No!! We hates him, hates him!
S: What are you talking about? He did a wonderful job!
G: No! He ruined the precious with all his nasty scampering about!
S: Oh come on! His was far and away one of the most interesting performances in the movie.
G: No! Not he, it. Yessss, it, horrible machine with all its nasty little bits running like ants! We hates the terrible computer eye, hates it! HATES IT! No, we keeps the precious little statue...
According to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Iraqi defectors have reported that Saddam's son Uday "mercilessly beats girls as young as 12 on the soles of their feet if they refuse to sleep with him, Iraqi defectors said today."
Like father like son. This just underscores how corrupt and abusive Saddam's regime is, and it shouldn't be terribly surprising. It's a pretty stomach-turning article for a major newspaper, and not for the squimish.
I tried to post the entire text of Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Poem and Prayer for an Invading Army" on a previous Iraq thread, but the lameness filter kept rejecting it because the lines were too short. (Obviously, the lameness filter doesn't like poetry.) Anyway, here's a link to it, because I feel the sentiments expressed are as timely now as ever:
http://www.outofthecube.com/poem.shtml.