During my bored surfing I found a link for the webpage of the Singularity Action Group. They strike me as slightly unhinged, and I have severe doubts the Singularity is coming anytime soon… just as I doubt the end of the world is nigh. Still, they’re interesting enough. I think they underestimate both the risks and benefits of a Singularity. What the heck is a Singularity? Uh… well… there are a lot of people who can explain better than me… even the previous link does a better job than me… But anyway, while the concept was first mentioned by Alvin …
Month: October 2003
Beautiful Distortions
This post is NOT about poetry. Just found a great site called London Photos with all kinds of Polaroid manipulations and stuff, all done without photoshop. Lovely. (Makes me wish I had such skill with a camera!) Click on the photo to go there and see more great stuff…
ENFP
Today everyone in the office took an online personality test. It’s the Jungian sort of Myers-Briggs test, where you’re assigned four letters that supposedly encapsulate your personality traits. In high school when I took this test I scored as an INFP, but with the I/E balanced at 50/50. This time, I scored as an ENFP… and I am sure on another day it’d be just as easy to score as INFP. The interesting thing was degree: I was only very slightly Extroverted, and only very slightly Feeling, while I was moderately Intuitive and rather pronouncedly Perceiving. Interesting, since I thought …
Global Warming and The State(s) We Are In
While I don’t agree fully with this article‘s seemingly skeptical take on global warming, I do agree that science and state need to be separate, with state reacting to science’s findings (instead of dictating them) and that politics in general have no place in science. If climate science is to have any credibility in the future, its pursuit must be kept separate from global politics. The affluent nations should support research programs that improve the theoretical understanding of climate change, build an empirical database about factors that influence long-term climate change, and increase our understanding of short-term weather dynamics. Such …
Test Time and Stinky
Teaching invitations is very fun, sometimes. It’s the first unit I’ve broken away from the textbook for, because the textbook isn’t really very clear about what’s really a very simple process. When you want to invite someone out to do something, you need to do four things: Figure out if they like the kind of activity you’re thinking of inviting the person to join you in… Figure out when the person is free to join you in this activity. Extend an invitation to the person. Set up a time and place to meet. Some classes get this much more easily, …