Return Of The Living Dude

phew....
You won't believe what I went through, since my last post. I would have posted sooner, but the aliens didn't have broadband, and I didn't feel like posting through dial-up. But don't let me bore you with yet another abduction story. The main thing is: I'm back to waste your time.
Here is a taste of what's coming:

• beligerent rationalism


• scathing media-critique


• deep analysis of human nature


• a comically naieve view on fairness


• musings about society


• attempts at seeming intelligent


• attempts at seeming funny


• an indeterminate waitingtime between posts


• someone who despises people who read blogs


• an expectation of being read comparable to getting laid


• succesful attempts at seeming self-conscious

So if you're into that, or just want to watch this whole initiative crash and burn, then visit this blog again soon!

Hofstadter pwns Kurzweil

There was a summit on The Singularity. It's what Ray Kurzweil likes to talk about a lot. It's basically the exponential increase of technology which will reach a point at which acceleration is so high we can only say our entire world has changed. That point is the singularity. Ray says it will be in my lifetime, and even in his (and he is old). But my dear friend Douglas Hofstadter (who organised the summit) is not that optimistic, and i agree with him. In this video he basically tears down Ray's optimism, all while Ray is sitting in front of him (in view). I laughed my ass off. Now to hope Ray is right in that we soon have the technology to live without asses.



Here are more videos from the summit.

More Cat

Meerkats or sticktails as we call them here. They must be the most easily tapeable mammal on the planet. They are fun to look at, always acting nervous. I always imagine them guarding a huge stash of premium coffee. But then again thats what I guard myself.

A Meerat Family Saga


Meerkat unmasked Pt 1


Meerkat unmasked Pt 2


Meerkats united.


Meerkats divided.


You see? Who needs stupid Sam Gamgee and his bleedin Meerkat Manor. Not me. Well, maybe later.

Plaid Off Acid

This piece is quite alright. A shame that its so popular that I regret to name it as one of my favorites. But it is. (Bows head down in shame)

Goldberg Variations:



About Gould:



The whole docu is on youtube.

Emperor:



The whole concert is on youtube.

Shameless Selfpromotion

This is how they used to do it.





This is how I do it now.



The results are ready to be listened to online here.

Thanks to JF Sebastian for granting me some space to put my music.

Both links can also be found on the right of the posts, as can some others.

What's new, Cheshirepuss?

You are probably reading this because you're bored. That's the internet for you. A way to fill the time you save by using new technologies like the internet. So if I can assume your boredom hasn't disappeared after reading this small text, here is something else to occupy your mind with:
Reddit.

(A social bookmarking website where users can post links to content on the web. Other users may then vote the posted links up or down, causing them to appear more or less prominently on the reddit home page.)

Its supposably very Web 2.0, and therefore at least liked by the community making up Web 2.0 phenomena. I like it because its pretty fresh every time I check it.

Zah-mah-ki-bo

"I'm suing a cigarette company because on the package they promised to kill me, and yet here I am." - Kurt Vonnegut

Or rather there he was. He was one of the few people who wore a moustache and got away with it. And he wrote some nice books.

He will be missed. (Though not by me, I never even met him)

Game Theory

Adam Curtis has made a new documentary: The Trap.

1. F**k You Buddy


2. The Lonely Robot


3. We Will Force You To Be Free

Please try this at home

Here is an example of laziness. With this you don't even need to invite your friends over to watch a terrible movie and make comments about it. It's all included. It's Mystery Science Theater 3000.
This show really sucks. It's not funny. The premise is intentionally lame, and they seem to think lame equals funny. The films they show are mostly funny because they are bad, but watching the show in any other setting then the theater is mindbogglingly annoying. If they had just gone with the idea and presented it as something by itself, instead of tacking on these characters, it would have been fine. But then again, they seem to know they are lame. If only that would help.
But enjoy pieces of classic sci-fi or other vintage footage, while sitting in a theater with loud and obnoxious beings who think they are funny (and sometimes are).









There is a lot more where this came from.

To Err Is You, Man

Mistakes will be made. There are reasons for this. Only perfect knowledge will rid you of being imperfect. And I think then still Gödel and Heisenberg would object. Just take a look at this list of cognititve biases, which clearly shows that our conscience is not made to perceive reality, but to make a depiction of it that seems best for us. Thats not bad, its actually very nice I can imagine. But it does create a problem for handling a valid scientific method. What you think is not what is there. It's an approximation finetuned by evolution. And though science seems something scientists do, its actually a very commonplace thing. Most people expect the world to behave according to science, even though they wont check in detail. But there is a difference between what science tells us and what we perceive (and not analyse to deeply). This means we have to put effort in our perception in order to do what we think is best, and even to know what best might be.
Maybe not at all a new point, but a nice way to try to releave myself of the burden of being afraid to make a mistake. It does seem that there is literally no escape from them, because my genes hid my perceptional flaws from my mind. I gotta be kidding right?

Here is a site with all kinds of video lectures, where you can follow complete university courses. If you happen to have the time.

Here is one of my heroes mr. Dennett in an interview, where he also adresses subjects which relate to what I was blabbering about. Maybe it gets you interested to view those university courses. For a while.