My friend Matt McDowell (who has long since abandoned his blog, so if you want to read what he's been up to you have to look here) loaned me a book by Sean McMullen called Souls In The Great Machine a few years back which I enjoyed so thoroughly I went out and bought the trilogy. It's a fantastically geeky tale of post apocalyptic societies rediscovering science and information theory while being held in a technological freeze-frame by automated orbiting weapons platforms which neutralize with EMP blasts any device which produces an electromagnetic field below. In particular, it chronicles the impact of a machine called the Calculor, a human powered computer where each "assembly instruction" is carried out by an individual rather than a dedicated block of transistors.
It made for great fiction and if that seems like your kind of book I can't recommend it enough, however in terms of computing and networking it's a lot like William Gibson's The Difference Engine in that it simply examines alternate means of creating computing power in alternate time lines. The fact that this power happens to come from people in the former novel does have some interesting impact on the plot, but the symbiosis of mind and machine is not really explored.
Even when I read about things like the Mechanical Turk and the research of Luis von Ahn (reCaptcha is hilariously useful) the similarities to the many and widely successful volunteer computing efforts like SETI@Home, and more importantly the difference those projects were making in the scientific community were completely lost on me.
Even as a long time fan of free software and the idea that "with enough eyes, all bugs are shallow" something as shockingly useful as the Galaxy Zoo never once crossed my mind.
Which is why I suppose that today when I watched Francois Grey's Lift08 talk about distributed thought I knew immediately I had to post the video. He saw all the same trends I was seeing, but his response was to launch a series of worldwide distributed science "thought clusters" bringing professional and amateur scientists together into a pseudo "hive mind" to work on really big problems.
I think when most people consider what a computer-mind pairing might be useful for the tendency is to dwell on the ways that silicon might assist neurons; instant and unerring information retrieval perhaps, or an IM window behind your eyes, or maybe a shoutcast stream hardwired to your cochlea? But it seems that an even more powerful construct could exist in a space where computers help humans do the things we aren't so great at, and humans help computers in the same way.
If any of this seems like the kind of thing that might interest you, I encourage you to check out the talk below. Hearing smart people talk about interesting ways of solving big problems is something I'm always happy to do, so here's to 20 minutes well spent ...
2.21.2008
who the hell am i to tell me what i like?
Amazon, Pandora, TiVo, iTunes, Last.fm, Google Reader, the list goes on. Personalized recomendation services are a hit and for good reason. There's so much utter rubbish out there to be ploughed through it's just too much for even the most obsessive datarats among us to handle on our own. We need machine assistance to help us sift and sort to find those tasty nuggets we crave so badly.
But the trend has been to assume that we already know what we like and that we should simply have more like it. The much discussed APML is evidence that this line of thinking is still mainstream. The only way to adjust the settings of the suggestion engines in any of these systems is to allow them to profile you as you interact with them. But what if what you're interested in today doesn't directly relate to what you've been paying attention to in the past? How can you still make use of that attention information while actively directing future suggestions?
This sounds like a job for a Real World Scenario!
I'd never heard of bluegrass music until I was nearly done highschool. So I hit the net, scrounged (napster'd at the time) up some MP3's and had a listen. It was terrible. I discovered that I pretty much hate bluegrass. But let's say something like Last.fm was around then and it already had a nice APML like profile of what I had been listening to. If I were able to manipulate my attention profile by editing key concepts as tags and their attention values as sliders I could add a bluegrass tag, slide it up to maybe 50% and let the suggestion engine do it's job.
The end result would be somewhere between a saved search (or smart folder / playlist) and a profiled suggestion. I get all the benefits of cross referencing my recorded tastes with those of the Last.fm masses but with some added direction over where it takes me. Maybe if I'd listened to the kind of bluegrass tunes that other Tea Party, Weezer, and Cranberries fans had been listening to I might have loved it ...
Nah.
Now where'd I really love to see this functionality is in my news reader. Let's say I get it in my head that I want to read more about the 2008 Olympics. I haven't been reading many items in my news reader related to the topic, but if I were looking for feeds on the subject I'd likely be more interested in stories that relate to both the Olympics and Canada, which does come up often in my news reader. Those feeds that cross over could then be suggested first. Guided+Profiled personalized suggestions.
Finally once a facility was in place for something like this, I could see much use in creating "APML bookmarks" for collections of feeds (OPML). In this way I could have all my feeds together, but browse them under say the "Politics", or "Tech" attention profiles as needed. All the while each "bookmark" would grow on its own as it profiled me, but I could also be directing it as I went along.
Do you hear me intertoobs!? I need more control over where I'm spending my paltry attention budget.
But the trend has been to assume that we already know what we like and that we should simply have more like it. The much discussed APML is evidence that this line of thinking is still mainstream. The only way to adjust the settings of the suggestion engines in any of these systems is to allow them to profile you as you interact with them. But what if what you're interested in today doesn't directly relate to what you've been paying attention to in the past? How can you still make use of that attention information while actively directing future suggestions?
This sounds like a job for a Real World Scenario!
I'd never heard of bluegrass music until I was nearly done highschool. So I hit the net, scrounged (napster'd at the time) up some MP3's and had a listen. It was terrible. I discovered that I pretty much hate bluegrass. But let's say something like Last.fm was around then and it already had a nice APML like profile of what I had been listening to. If I were able to manipulate my attention profile by editing key concepts as tags and their attention values as sliders I could add a bluegrass tag, slide it up to maybe 50% and let the suggestion engine do it's job.
The end result would be somewhere between a saved search (or smart folder / playlist) and a profiled suggestion. I get all the benefits of cross referencing my recorded tastes with those of the Last.fm masses but with some added direction over where it takes me. Maybe if I'd listened to the kind of bluegrass tunes that other Tea Party, Weezer, and Cranberries fans had been listening to I might have loved it ...
Nah.
Now where'd I really love to see this functionality is in my news reader. Let's say I get it in my head that I want to read more about the 2008 Olympics. I haven't been reading many items in my news reader related to the topic, but if I were looking for feeds on the subject I'd likely be more interested in stories that relate to both the Olympics and Canada, which does come up often in my news reader. Those feeds that cross over could then be suggested first. Guided+Profiled personalized suggestions.
Finally once a facility was in place for something like this, I could see much use in creating "APML bookmarks" for collections of feeds (OPML). In this way I could have all my feeds together, but browse them under say the "Politics", or "Tech" attention profiles as needed. All the while each "bookmark" would grow on its own as it profiled me, but I could also be directing it as I went along.
Do you hear me intertoobs!? I need more control over where I'm spending my paltry attention budget.
2.19.2008
preparing for the inevitable zombie menace
Sure you know it and I know it, even if we don't like to admit it. The armies of the undead won't care if you're having a bad day, or you've got a cold, or a hangover, or a really hectic day ahead of you. When the dead walk the earth you'd best count yourself among the prepared or you'll soon count yourself among the shuffling hordes.
Having recently picked up the tabletop game Zombies!!! for my brothers birthday I've been on full watch while traveling the cities subways, and side streets. With zombies on the brain you'd think I'd have found this detailed Zombies In Plain English introductory guide ages ago, but I just happened on it this morning. If only the poor zombified souls who now lust for brains and human flesh had watched this video, we might not have to cleave them to bits today!
Having seen the harrowing truth, you may wish to outfit your home with some of the anti-zombie technologies which have become available. A fully guaranteed zombie alarm perhaps? Or for the more hands on survivors among you maybe one of the many full out zombie survival kits?
At the very least as a proud member of the living you must keep yourself informed and maintain a constant state of readiness. As the author of The Zombie Survival Guide says, "Organize before they rise". Some printed information cards from this Emergency Zombie Defense Station could be vital if stored in a glove box, near the garden tools, or posted clearly near your childrens rooms. Remember, an uninformed child might well be a zombie child.
Having recently picked up the tabletop game Zombies!!! for my brothers birthday I've been on full watch while traveling the cities subways, and side streets. With zombies on the brain you'd think I'd have found this detailed Zombies In Plain English introductory guide ages ago, but I just happened on it this morning. If only the poor zombified souls who now lust for brains and human flesh had watched this video, we might not have to cleave them to bits today!
Having seen the harrowing truth, you may wish to outfit your home with some of the anti-zombie technologies which have become available. A fully guaranteed zombie alarm perhaps? Or for the more hands on survivors among you maybe one of the many full out zombie survival kits?
At the very least as a proud member of the living you must keep yourself informed and maintain a constant state of readiness. As the author of The Zombie Survival Guide says, "Organize before they rise". Some printed information cards from this Emergency Zombie Defense Station could be vital if stored in a glove box, near the garden tools, or posted clearly near your childrens rooms. Remember, an uninformed child might well be a zombie child.
1.25.2008
pragmatism vs the human resources dept
Recently it came time for the age old cycle of cubicles to begin at the great corporate offices of my square job. I observed its passing by performing the traditional scrounging up of that personal documents directory and dusting off the old resume file as an offering to the wise and enlightened souls in that holiest of enclaves, the Human Resources Department. Who among us can know what judgement they may pass on it? Assuming it gets whatever approval it is they've decided it needs before the department I apply to gets to read it, there may be a chance the new gig could pan out. But the hushed whispers by the copier and flurries of email as yet offer no indication of who will go ... and who will stay.
In the meantime I'm trying to bring my self sales pitch up to date with current projects and relevant "truths" about my go-to attitude and never die work ethic. I tend to practice an extremely utilitarian resume regimen, partially due to my pragmatic nature, and partially due to my strong distaste for word processors of any kind. Often I store my resume as nothing more than plain text or in rare cases I'll convert to rich text if needed. I firmly believe in the whole job courting process as a two way street, with both job seeker and interviewer testing and evaluating each others fitness and qualification; and it begins with the resume.
An incident just outside my office last summer helped me reach this way of thinking in a round about way. I was walking back from lunch with some co-workers and we were loudly bitching about some bit of ofiice stupidity and as we passed through groups of fellow cubers one of my friends let a few not so subtle f-bombs fly catching the attention of some nearby do-gooder who decided to address the issue. He walked up and said casually "You may want to watch what you say out here, you never know who some of these folks might be. Could be executives, or someone in a position to give you a job one day." Something occurred to me then that sent him away with a foul look though. I said, "If someone decides they'd rather not hire me because I throw the occasional 'fuck' around when I'm angry, I'd really rather not work for that person."
The same holds true for the flashy / eye-catching (but still professional of course) resume theories. In some fields such as design, marketing, or the arts I can see an argument for it, but then perhaps a portfolio would be the more appropriate showcase? However in the technology industry I expect to work for someone with an eye for details, a respect for efficiency, and a keen sense of their staff's abilities. If some snappy fonts and a dusting of power words are all it takes to sway your judgement of me, I doubt you and I will work well together. Better for both of us to just move along.
The other theory I often hear regurgitated without thought or personal insight is that a potential resume reviewer may have a great many applicants to asses, and some moderate flair to draw their eyes to your best qualities helps them to make a quick and favorable decision about you over others. Now my pragmatic nature abhors time wasted, mine or otherwise; but is it really so unreasonable to expect someone who's hiring new staff as part of their chosen profession to not go about it half assed? If I said in an interview that I hadn't fully read the job description I was applying for, but the bullet points really caught my eye what would that say to the interviewer?
I'm sorry but if I'm expected me to work under the direction of someone who simply can't be bothered to examine all the relevant facts before making a key business decision I can all but guarantee that I will not only be unhappy working with them, its very likely they'll soon be hiring unqualified or incompetent individuals as my coworkers as well. Pretty shortly I'd be right back at square one, dusting off the resume and telling the "truth" all over again.
In the meantime I'm trying to bring my self sales pitch up to date with current projects and relevant "truths" about my go-to attitude and never die work ethic. I tend to practice an extremely utilitarian resume regimen, partially due to my pragmatic nature, and partially due to my strong distaste for word processors of any kind. Often I store my resume as nothing more than plain text or in rare cases I'll convert to rich text if needed. I firmly believe in the whole job courting process as a two way street, with both job seeker and interviewer testing and evaluating each others fitness and qualification; and it begins with the resume.
An incident just outside my office last summer helped me reach this way of thinking in a round about way. I was walking back from lunch with some co-workers and we were loudly bitching about some bit of ofiice stupidity and as we passed through groups of fellow cubers one of my friends let a few not so subtle f-bombs fly catching the attention of some nearby do-gooder who decided to address the issue. He walked up and said casually "You may want to watch what you say out here, you never know who some of these folks might be. Could be executives, or someone in a position to give you a job one day." Something occurred to me then that sent him away with a foul look though. I said, "If someone decides they'd rather not hire me because I throw the occasional 'fuck' around when I'm angry, I'd really rather not work for that person."
The same holds true for the flashy / eye-catching (but still professional of course) resume theories. In some fields such as design, marketing, or the arts I can see an argument for it, but then perhaps a portfolio would be the more appropriate showcase? However in the technology industry I expect to work for someone with an eye for details, a respect for efficiency, and a keen sense of their staff's abilities. If some snappy fonts and a dusting of power words are all it takes to sway your judgement of me, I doubt you and I will work well together. Better for both of us to just move along.
The other theory I often hear regurgitated without thought or personal insight is that a potential resume reviewer may have a great many applicants to asses, and some moderate flair to draw their eyes to your best qualities helps them to make a quick and favorable decision about you over others. Now my pragmatic nature abhors time wasted, mine or otherwise; but is it really so unreasonable to expect someone who's hiring new staff as part of their chosen profession to not go about it half assed? If I said in an interview that I hadn't fully read the job description I was applying for, but the bullet points really caught my eye what would that say to the interviewer?
I'm sorry but if I'm expected me to work under the direction of someone who simply can't be bothered to examine all the relevant facts before making a key business decision I can all but guarantee that I will not only be unhappy working with them, its very likely they'll soon be hiring unqualified or incompetent individuals as my coworkers as well. Pretty shortly I'd be right back at square one, dusting off the resume and telling the "truth" all over again.
1.19.2008
on issues of shred and purple stuff
So I've been putting it off for a while, but as Rock Band is now out and more people have been asking about it I figure I should post some pic's of Guitar Hero Night at the Chelsea Room. I mentioned briefly last summer that I'd heard about a bar out near Dundas and Bathurst that had cheap drinks and Guitar Hero (2 at the time) on a projector on Wednesday nights. At the time I had only stopped in once to check things out, but as the fall came and went GH night became a pretty regular occurrence. It also just so happened that Halloween fell on a Wednesday last year, and I was there with a bunch of regulars who decided to show up dressed to rock!
The Chelsea Room was bought a few years back by some ex Keg staffers who decided to strike out on their own, but its the staff not the owners who unleashed the rocktonium. Behind the midweek Guitar Hero night is Misha, the lanky assistant manager who keeps his axe in a death grip and commands the attention of the room when he occasionally steps up to deliver the shred. Pictures were snapped the night he decided to slay the beast that is Dragonforce, and the look on his face as he dismantled it a note at a time was simple: pure concentration. The look of the crowd however, tells it all ...
Of course not everyone can make the controller dance like that, but the experts are the exception, not the rule. Since the drinks are half price until midnight and most folks are pretty average at the game anyway, the ability to play well tapers off steeply as the night wears on. But that has nothing to do with how much fun is had. The most crowd pleasing acts are more often the ones who put the most pelvis into their rocking, or fail hilariously while trying to crowd dive, powerslide, or get the bassist onto their shoulders while still finishing the song. But then in my case I'm just pleased to frequent the arcade with a liquor license I always dreamed about ...
I haven't been free on a Wednesday since just before Christmas, so who knows if its still as busy as it had become before the holiday. This week I've got no plans though, and I intend to head down after work. So if you're in the mood and find yourself in the neighborhood stop in and mayhaps we can share a round of the house shooter: "Purple Stuff". I have no idea what the put in that shit, but by the time a purple shot seems like a good idea who really cares?
The Chelsea Room was bought a few years back by some ex Keg staffers who decided to strike out on their own, but its the staff not the owners who unleashed the rocktonium. Behind the midweek Guitar Hero night is Misha, the lanky assistant manager who keeps his axe in a death grip and commands the attention of the room when he occasionally steps up to deliver the shred. Pictures were snapped the night he decided to slay the beast that is Dragonforce, and the look on his face as he dismantled it a note at a time was simple: pure concentration. The look of the crowd however, tells it all ...
Of course not everyone can make the controller dance like that, but the experts are the exception, not the rule. Since the drinks are half price until midnight and most folks are pretty average at the game anyway, the ability to play well tapers off steeply as the night wears on. But that has nothing to do with how much fun is had. The most crowd pleasing acts are more often the ones who put the most pelvis into their rocking, or fail hilariously while trying to crowd dive, powerslide, or get the bassist onto their shoulders while still finishing the song. But then in my case I'm just pleased to frequent the arcade with a liquor license I always dreamed about ...
I haven't been free on a Wednesday since just before Christmas, so who knows if its still as busy as it had become before the holiday. This week I've got no plans though, and I intend to head down after work. So if you're in the mood and find yourself in the neighborhood stop in and mayhaps we can share a round of the house shooter: "Purple Stuff". I have no idea what the put in that shit, but by the time a purple shot seems like a good idea who really cares?
(note: all photo's copyright Genevieve Magtoto and used with permission)
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