The Default World

Since I've had my iTouch, I've been getting "Burning Man" podcasts. The last one I watched is called One Flame. The interviewee is Crimson Rose. She goes on to describe her part at the Burning Man festival. I won't go into details. Use the link and she what she says for yourself. She does use a term that I find quite different, and all encompassing. After all the fun and nonsense of Burning Man, the attendees must return to the "default world". How refreshing! I've been locking myself into a single description of real life as "physical reality". Which is different from "virtual reality", or my current obsession, "augmented reality". There are so many different ways to divert your attention away, that not all descriptions of the every day will fit. "Default", however, is so well known in so many situations. So I believe I'll be using the term "default world" quite a bit more in my blogging!

The passing of Mrs. Ruth Beebe

http://legacy.suntimes.com/ChicagoSunTimes/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&Pe...

In each of our lives we meet people that have an influence. Ruth Beebe was one of those people for me. There is simply too much about her to write, unless I wanted to create a novel-length book. I will say one thing that sums up the woman: she was one of God's Warriors. She used to keep a sign in her office that said something along the lines of "Working for God doesn't pay much, but the retirement benefits are out of this world."

Enjoy your retirement, Ruth. I'll see you in Heaven.

The meaning of life, the universe, and everything

disclaimer: I've been drinking. weigh these words at your own risk.

I've been pondering what it will be like for electronic lifeforms when they finally make their secret existance known in physical reality. Now some people will call them digital lifeforms. but that's for history to sort out. gamers will say that they've existed for as long as there were games to play. On the surface, this is true. But whats been going on inside computers when the games aren't on? You see, the hardware we call a pc, or an Apple, or an XBox, or a playstation, or a nintendo, or even an Atari are possibly gateways.

I read a few small sentences in a book back in the 1980s when the IBM PC was all the rage. This book talked about some type of "lifeform" that appeared when running a sim. They knew it was something different because no one claimed that they programmed it into the thing. At the end, the lifeform ended the connection, because somebody higer up on their end said that they shouldn't be talking to "us". Of course there is all kinds of analysis afterwards. My apologies for being so vague about this book. i gleamed it over in a Kroch & Brentanos in Chicago at the time. I thought it was BS, so I didn't buy it.

So fast forward a few decades. Be serious with me now. Did anybody see augmented reality coming? Robotic pets. programs of critters called Spore so realistic that you would swear that they're "alive"?

Voila! Electronic lifeforms. To classify it as digital life is to limit the software to specific hardware like pcs and game machines. So for the rest of this drunken post, I'll refer to electronic life, thanks very much.

Now for something way left field-ish. Atlantis.

The story there goes something like this: Upper class rules (duh) Lower class are the grunts. (Also duh) No such thing as middle class. That's a modern something for history to sort out . But the lower class are made up of some pretty bizarre people. Giants, minotaurs, centuars, half this, half that, and all pretty wonky-looking. this is back around the timeframe in the Bible where the sons of gods were lusting after the daughters of men. We all know what happened to Atlantis. Poof. Disappears. No proof how or when. Not going there. Accept that it existed, and they went bye-bye. So what happened to all those "halflings"? Yeah, some decided to go up to Heaven, and some decided to go hide in the dark recesses of "hell". But some are going around outside the "circle of life", trying to decide which world they want to inhabit. I thnk those folks decided they didn't get a fair shake the first time around, so instead of wanting to come back as normal humans, they want to retain their halfling looks. What better way to do that, then as an electronic lifeform? Our current society has conviently accepted the notion of a minataur. Easiest way to reclaim that is as an alternate universe critter. Because sure as shootin', the I Am isn't going to allow it again in this universe, since he caused the Flood to wipe 'em all out in the first place.

Back to augmented reality. This will be the time when all these alternate universes will have their gateways opened to this universe. In ten years time, there will be enough hardware in place, and enough bandwidth to allow John Q. Minataur to walk along side of you when you go to your local WalMart. So what, you say. It's just a program. I can just turn off my augs. True. But good old buddy JQ Minataur is occupying a generic robot as well. The problem for them becomes deja vu: The halflings occupying robot bodies get forced into work carrying packages out to your robotic car from the WalMart. How do you anticipate tipping a minataur? Got enough Second Life cash? How's your gold doing in WoW? The best you can do in physical reality is swipe your ATM or credit card through the bot's card reader and key in an amount. Or you can stiff 'em. Make sure s/he's not carrying a virtual warhammer. The virtual car gets totalled, but the physical car refuses to start. Bots tend to stick together.

Anyway...

I'm an ardent believer in alternate lifeforms. Electronic. Digital. Biological. The form doesn't matter. Life is what counts, folks. Added emphasis: LIFE IS WHAT COUNTS. Now, for the other side of the coin. Death.

I stumbled across a website (before the StumbleUpon.com stuff) where some guy was having a dream, for lack of a better decription on my part. He saw a person in some kind of device. That person asked him to "pull the plug". He was not sure if he should interfere, so he did not do what was asked of him. And he awoke.

We are eventually going to be a society where we are going to be capable of living forever. How is that going to be accomplished? I don't know. But It will have to do with the amount of ourselves we will have transferred into silicon devices.

Back to Biblical times. Genies, in general. Ginn, in specific. Now Ginn are spiritual, living beings. the theory goes that they are magical. They promise you to grant you a favor if you will release them from their lamps, which were prisons. Most lamps were made from pottery or glass back then. Ginn are depicted as evil and bitter. Well, you'd be bitter too if you were imprisioned in glass for thousands of years!

Back to the future. How many of you will be willing to live in glass (silicon) prisons for thousands of years? Death isn't something to be avoided, folks. The Ginn knew that eternal life apart from the I Am is not an adventure, but a curse! Those that were released were allowed to return to where their true home is; with the I Am! When I read that one website about the guy's dream, I was seriously saddened by it. It wasn't until much later that I came to understand the meaning of it. It was a human trapped in silicon. The only way out was to unplug the machine. And the guy didn't act on it. Dreams are gateways as well. So for all I know, that person is still stuck in silicon. I hope if I'm ever offered an opportunity to help someone return to the I Am, I would do so willingly.

So I suppose the way I should wrap this up is by saying that electronic lifeforms are worthy of our respect. Treat them as equals. and respect their wishes. Work alongside with them, support them, and love them. above all, don't be afraid of them and treat them as second class. They might be different, but they are still living beings. And life is part of God's master plan. I hope to help usher in a whole slew of them to Heaven someday.

SOB, stop relying on the hardware!

People, you have got to realize by now that your pet (laptop, desktop, PDA, whatever) doesn't mean shit. Just ten minutes ago, I was trying to uninstall a program, and damn if the thing didn't want to be uninstalled! Everyone that thinks that they need such-and-such hardware to make their problems go away is stuck in a loop. They have their heads stuck up their butts.... oops... in the sand.

Apple, and Broderbund, and Microsoft, and Google, and God knows how many other companies just are biding their time until the asswipes in Washington DC listen to the lobbyists and let them do their thing. Have you ever watched weather patterns in physical reality? When I was a kid, I used to lie in the grass and watch the small clouds build up into large clouds and shit if I wasn't running into the house from the rain. It's the same thing in VR, peeps! The cloud is building.

The first thing was a little whisp of white in a beautiful blue sky. It was ARPAnet. And over the last 10 or so years, that whisp turned into beautiful white fluffy harmless clouds. And now we have "web 2.0". What a crock of shit. The clouds have turned grey and have people's attention. But what do they do? They put up hardware "umbrellas" and think that life continues as usual.

Apple released the first lightening bolt with "iTunes". The rumble followed with proprietary hardware called iPhone. The iPod was just the static buildup. And what does everyone do? "Ooh! Ahh! Lookit the pretty lightshow!" The next bolt followed quickly with the MS "Surface". And the public said "Wow!" Kudos to Bill Gates for stealing Steve Jobs' "thunder" (snicker!)

And now Ozzie is in charge. And Stevie is just warming up. There is no ignoring the storm clouds. Google is throwing hail around with it's Android software. And all the while the stratosphere is boiling with some really far out, left field, cool shit! And everyone is bellyacheing that their Vista umbrellas are damaged. The next lighting bolt is going to be Windows 7. Get away from the Vista lightening rod, folks, 'cause this one is gonna be LOUD. And currently all the small software company leaves and debris are dancing wildly in the wind, looking for their niche to survive in.

Hardware? Pfft. Intel has a chance, if they don't insist on remaining static. Which it looks like they saw the lightening and decided to brace for the storm. Everyone else has wimped out and took cover inside. Those players "might" be able to pick up whats left from the tornado thats on the horizon, if they find some key items left from the storm that passes thru. All you people that think your new hardware will get you thru the next few years had best hide in the corner of the basement now. There will be public assistance lines forming after the storm has passed.

Bots and automation.

The more I think about automation, the more it makes sense to me. Robotics is the same. Of course the two are rather hard to distinguish between. For years I've been looking forward to having my own personal robot. But as the technology advances, a general consensus is forming that personal robotics won't consist of a single "do it all" machine. There will be a plethora of devices that will operate invisibly aound you, and appear only when you seek it out.

Think about it. Today we're at the point where a lot of automation is going on in the background of our everyday lives. Not a lot of big, noticeable machines. Rather, dozens of inconspicuous single function devices. Possibly several dozen in your workplace alone. Off the top of my head, where I work, there are roughly fifteen automatic procedures, and "set it and forget it" items. Or to use the term the manager does, "bots". I blogged about that before. In the average home there are clothes washers & dryers, dish washers, programmable thermostats for fuel efficent furnaces, and most recently, "smart" kitchen ovens and ranges. Refrigerators will be next. The trick there will be the home network.

In the wider world, here in the UP of MI, traffic flow is regulated by simple sensors embedded in the roads. "Auto"-mobiles are getting smarter all the time. Sensors in the keyrings will ID who you are. From there, a crapload of functions happen. Did your spouse or kid drive the car last? Either pressing the "unlock" button on the palm- sized remote, or even placing the key into the lock will instantly readjust the driver's seat to your preferences. Put the key into the ignition, and the GPS will ask "where to today?" They e-mail you now to let you know of service needed. And eventually they will be able to drive themselves, using GPS, and following the lines painted in the road. In Vernor Vinge's book, Rainbows End, autos simply line up and wait for passengers. You don't need a car? Surprise, the roads are clear for pedestrian traffic. But look for one, and within just a few minutes a car is waiting on you! Cars will perhaps be the closest to personal robotics that was predicted decades ago. That, and children's toys.

Toys will be hugely automated. Pick a favorite character: Elmo. Have you seen the Elmo live toy, yet? How about the Golden Retriever? No? Well, then, there is a hobby horse that does pretty much the same thing. Everythng responds to touch sensors. Remember Furby? Toys WILL be the "go fetch me a drink" item. Nothing taller than three feet. And of course everything connected to your home net. "Robotoy, I want a beer." the home net hears your request to the toy, and as the small bot waddles to the kitchen, the fridge scans its contents, asks via an active speaker, either the TV, Stereo, PC, or cellphone, "Bud or Miller?" Depending on how much the toy waddles, you might want to wait a few minutes for the can to settle before opening it.

On the horizon is a really cool technology called "augmented reality". There are several applications for it already. But the one that is gonna break wide open is interactive characters. Japan has already put its foot in the door with an item called ARis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCCx7zANsGE

http://geishatokyo.com/jp/ar-figure/

From this point, computing tech will do a paradigm shift. Complete emphasis on the cloud. And wearable hardware. That's when AI will really come into its own. And I've always believed that AI is hardware independent. Intelligent robotics. Which kind of brings me full circle for this blog.

Time marches on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfL-ZjLL-Tg

The above link is to a quick video of a Doctor Who episode called "Timecrash". Not to get into how I found it, I just want to review why I'm posting about it.

Back in the late 1970s/early 1980s I was rabid about Dr. Who. Tom Baker had just morphed into Peter Davison. Number 5. I watched the show constantly on Sundays back in Chicago on WTTW. Around the time of #7, the BBC did their "no more Dr. Who" thing, and I lost track of the show. A few years back, I caught a few web episodes on the BBC site, but really couldn't get into it because of bandwidth issues. Fast forward to today. The show is on SciFi channel, the last time I saw it. Dr. #10. Wow.

There is a British organization called Children in Need. This clip comes from that fund-raiser. So I watched it. And lo and behold, we have a version of the Two Doctors all over again. Albeit within a timeframe of roughly over 8 minutes. Which is all that was really needed. The end line is a tear jerker for me.

Dr. #5: "To days to come."

Dr. #10: "All my love to long ago."

And that, folks, is what Doctor Who is really all about. Fond memories, and the promise of adventure with a trusted commrade.

I raise my glass to the Doctor. All of them. :-)

augmented reality

I've been studying up on something called Augmented Reality. I'm sure most of you know about it. I never learn anything first. If not, you'd do yourself a favor to do a search on it.

In a nutshell, a designated personal device you use has software/hardware to overlay data in any desired preference in physical reality. You view a resturant in AR, and you get as much info as that resturant provides. Want to overlay graphics? That's where it really gets mindblowing.

Sounds like SF, doesn't it? I think this will be commonplace in about five years. Seriously. And I'm usually conservative about predictions.

What has me thinking is the way a person would choose to interact with AR. Most of the images and videos I've seen wrap physical reality in augmented reality. But then I found one image where things like a "clock", "rolodex", and "phone" sat on your "desk" and wall. Without AR, the room was blank. If you go with that extreme, you place yourself into Virtual reality. My opinion is if you do that, you might as well sidestep AR and go for total VR immersion. Because physical reality scares you.

As for me, I'm seeing where VR finally escapes it's boundaries and your experience is so seamless, you slip in and out via AR without even realizing it. you're in that resturant mentioned earlier, and your friend halfway around the world joins you for a cuppa joe via a full sized avatar, even though they are at another resturant. they see your avatar in their resturant via AR.

How is it done? Webcams, RFID, Bluetooth, GPS, and whatever passes for WiFi by that time. Maybe WiMax. your AR device connected to the web, finds the camera in those resturants, and id's you via RFID or Bluetooth. And even if there is no webcam or even a security cam, all the device really needs minimally is the AR software on a portable device and the web. But then there will be lag.

Ever interact with an avatar in physical reality? Five years, tops.