Getting out of Milan was as hard as getting in. We seemed to travel in circles for hours following signs for 'Como'. And that was after we spent an hour at least looking for a couple of 'lavandarias' that Buff had Googled. They turned out to be drycleaners not selfservice laundromats but not to worry. He found one on the web in Bellagio where our next B B is. Finally on the Autostrada
Fiji
Hey guysJust a dramatic change of plan that I thought I'd let you know of.So the past 3 weeks Ive been going to Sunday church in Te Awamutu and last week they were asking for volunteers to go to Fiji to help build a church.As soon as I heard this I knew I wanted to get involved and give something back into the community and if theres one thing Ive learnt from my trip and that is to take oppourtun
Exploration mode…
Voila...I am finally starting the real trip around Vietnam. Friday was my last day at Big C. The bilan of my two missions 187 documents transalted over 200 Positive evaluation on the english classes I gave.Actually my students were really cute. At the end of the final class they ask me to sit down as they prepared a little surprise 2 of them begun to sing in Vietnamese and one girl arr
Sat 5 June 2010 Tok AK to Glennallen AK
Late start today as Kerry had to get his spare tire for the trailer replaced. He had to go to every tire place and gas station in town to find someone who could sell him the right tire. While Kerry searched for a new tire Gena went into a small gift shop with a sod covered roof. The clerk told her that they had to mow it twice each week. Since we got a late start we decided to drive to Glenn
Laguna de Apoya
Hi everyoneWe have been busy getting situated in La Mariposa Ecolodge and have been taking Spanish lessons. Rich has been studying hard but I have doing my best to just shoot the breeze with my teachers and so am not really utilizing my time well. We arrived late Wednesday and took classes Thursday and Friday. Today we had a field trip to Laguna de Apoya which is quite warm because of the und
i hate airports
i'm chilling at jfk with a coke and a pizza the size of my palm. on the way in i heard the sniffles of a korean family while they were saying goodbye. it was kind of sad.i have another hour until the flight begins boarding. i really hate the wait. if they had beds at the airport where i could sleep until the next flight i wouldn't mind. one time i slept for 12 hours on the floor at heathrow.
Sihanoukville
We arrived in Sihanoukville yesterday. We have a private driver for the next week we hired our friend Sam that we had met last year but he was in a very bad motorbike accidentroad rash on face and handsso he couldn't make ithe sent his cousin Mr. Sear so we will be exploring quite a lot. We checked into our hotel that overlooks the beach headed down and Steven found his new best friendSerya
Scotland Travel
We have spent nearly a week in Scotland and while things are fresh on my mind I wanted to write it down for anyone who might be traveling to the same areas. Thus one of the purposes of a travel blog so others can get information on where they may be traveling. Part of the time our sightseeing has been with Adam and the other we ventured on our own.We are always interested in what others find i
3 day trek through Bolivia to Salar de Uyuni
This was one of the best trips we have ever done to an incredible place in Bolivia called the Salar De Uyuni. Itrsquos a place that everyone should visit it was so good we uploaded a video so try to watch it.Anyway we booked a 3 day 4x4 trip through Southern Bolivia from San Pedro de Atacama we headed to the Bolivian border from San Pedro in a bus but just before the border which was just a t
Gent
In Gent
Chicago researcher named WVU medical school dean – Charleston Gazette
 WTRF | Chicago researcher named WVU medical school dean Charleston Gazette WVU announced the appointment of Arthur J. Ross, dean of the Chicago Medical School, late Friday. The 61-year-old Ross is also vice president of Rosalind ... WVU School of Medicine Names New DeanWVNS-TV |
US surgeon general at WSU med school commencement – Chicago Tribune
US surgeon general at WSU med school commencement Chicago Tribune AP US Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin is delivering the commencement address for the Wayne State Medical School graduation. The commencement ceremony is ... |
Medical pot plan may go to streets while NJ officials haggle over the new law – NorthJersey.com
Medical pot plan may go to streets while NJ officials haggle over the new law NorthJersey.com Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, said Vermont, Rhode Island, Maryland and other states gave patients this freedom when they legalized marijuana for ... |
Aid ship Rachel Corrie seized by Israel, passengers ‘unharmed’ – Seattle Post Global
 The Guardian | Aid ship Rachel Corrie seized by Israel, passengers 'unharmed' Seattle Post Global On Monday elite Israeli military commandos stormed six humanitarian aid ships taking part in the 'Freedom Flotilla' to Gaza, killing at least 9 civilian ... Freedom Flotilla's MV Rachel Corrie Spotted Off Gaza CoastlineSalem-News.Com There's no limit to Israel's acts of criminalityGulfNews As MV Rachel Corrie draws nearer, Israel mulls easing Gaza blockadeChristian Science Monitor Seven Sided Cube -Press TV -International Solidarity Movement all 3,496 news articles » |
Digital degradation
This is what happens to a video after it has been uploaded, downloaded and re-uploaded to YouTube 1,000 times. Straight copying of digital data is (mostly) lossless -- it's compression and conversion that creates this sort of nastiness. Some of this degradation is noticeable even after only one generation (MP3s as an example).
This is what the original looks like:
The art of Jonathon Rosen
James Hughes interviewed by Tricycle about transhumanism, Cyborg Buddha project
Buddhist magazine Tricycle recently interviewed the IEET's James Hughes about his unique take on transhumanism and Buddhism -- and how the two seemingly disparate philosophies should be intertwined.
Excerpt:
As a former Buddhist monk, Professor James Hughes is concerned with realization. And as a Transhumanist—someone who believes that we will eventually merge with technology and transcend our human limitations—he endorses radical technological enhancements to humanity to help achieve it. He describes himself as an “agnostic Buddhist” trying to unite the European Enlightenment with Buddhist enlightenment.
Sidestepping the word “happiness,” Hughes’ prefers to speak of “human flourishing,” avoiding the hedonism that “happiness” can imply.
“I’m a cautious forecaster,” says Hughes, a bioethicist and sociologist, “but I think the next couple of decades will probably be determined by our growing ability to control matter at the molecular level, by genetic engineering, and by advances in chemistry and tissue-engineering. Life expectancy will increase in almost all countries as we slow down the aging process and eliminate many diseases.” Not squeamish about the prospect of enhancing—or, plainly put, overhauling— the human being, Hughes thinks our lives may be changed most by neurotechnologies—stimulant drugs, “smart” drugs, and psychoactive substances that suppress mental illness.
More.
Richard Eskow, who did the interview, followed it up with a rebuttal of sorts: Cerebral Imperialism. In the article he writes,
Why “artificial intelligence,” after all, and not an “artificial identity” or “personality”? The name itself reveals a bias. Aren’t we confused computation with cognition and cognition with identity? Neuroscience suggests that metabolic processes drive our actions and our thoughts to a far greater degree than we’ve realized until now. Is there really a little being in our brains, or contiguous with our brains, driving the body?
To a large extent, isn’t it the other way around? Don’t our minds often build a framework around actions we’ve decided to take for other, more physical reasons? When I drink too much coffee I become more aggressive. I drive more aggressively, but am always thinking thoughts as I weave through traffic: “I’m late.” “He’s slow.” “She’s in the left lane.” “This is a more efficient way to drive.”
Why do we assume that there is an intelligence independent of the body that produces it? I’m well aware of the scientists who are challenging that assumption, so this is not a criticism of the entire artificial intelligence field. There’s a whole discipline called “friendly AI” which recognizes the threat posed by the Skynet/Terminator “computers come alive and eliminate humanity” scenario. A number of these researchers are looking for ways to make artificial “minds” more like artificial “personalities.”
Hopefully more to come on this intriguing debate.
Dealing with all that data
Shimizu’s futuristic mega-projects
Speaking at the H+ Summit at Harvard, June 11-12
I'll be at the H+ Summit @ Harvard during the weekend of June 11-12 and I hope to see you there. The Summit is an educational, and scientific outreach event that covers the themes of the impact of technology on the human condition. It is hosted, and organized by the Harvard College Future Society, in cooperation with Humanity+.
Tickets are still available, so register now.
Weaving in futurism, technoprogressivism and transhumanism, the H+ Summit is part of a larger cultural conversation about what it means to be human and, ultimately, more than human. This issue lies at the heart of the transhumanist movement -- and a common topic on this blog.
Key speakers include Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Gray, Stephen Wolfram and Ronald Bailey.
Oh, and little old me.
Here's the title and abstract of my talk:
When the Turing Test is not enough: Towards a functionalist determination of personhood and the advent of an authentic machine ethics
Abstract: Empirical research that works to identify those characteristics requisite for the identification of nonhuman persons are proving increasingly insufficient, particularly as neuroscientists further refine functionalist models of cognition. To say that an agent "appears" to have awareness or intelligence is inadequate. Rather, what is required is the discovery and understanding of those processes in the brain that are responsible for capacities such as self-awareness, empathy and emotion. Subsequently, the shift to a neurobiological basis for personhood will have implications for those hoping to develop self-aware artificial intelligence and brain emulations. The Turing Test alone cannot identify machine consciousness; instead, computer scientists will need to work off the functionalist model and be mindful of those processes that produce awareness. Because the potential to do harm is significant, an effective and accountable machine ethics needs to be considered. Ultimately, it is our responsibility as citizen-scientists to develop a rigorous understanding of personhood so that we can identify and work with machine minds in the most compassionate and considerate manner possible.
See you there!
