A story

Once upon a time there was a planet called Earth, and on this planet lived a species called Man.

Now Man was fairly new to this whole "species" thing having only recently evolved from a group of animals called Primates. In fact there was very little difference between the two.

Yet something extraordinary had happened to Man, no-one knew exactly what it was, but for some reason Man behaved differently to all the other animals on the planet, in fact, if you asked a member of the species, they wouldn't even consider themselves animals at all....

The species was suffering from a rather large delusion of grandeur, they fed, fought, bred, killed, and ran about their day to day lives like any other animal, yet had the bizarre delusion that they were better than all the others.

This of course upset the natural balance of things in many ways as you can well imagine. They killed most of the other animals on the planet, because Man was more important obviously, destroyed the actual atmosphere of their own planet! (because Man knew best) they created bizarre rituals involving giant images of themselves that lived in the clouds, they killed each other, maimed, tortured, raped and massacred each other in fact.

And all the time they pretended not to be animals, and gave themselves reasons and justifications, which all fed back into the grand delusion.

Indeed, they did create some amazing things, although they failed to see how amazing the things were that had been created by the other creatures on the planet. They imagined their creative impulses unique to themselves, creating "art" that acted as another step towards their downfall, ignoring the countless examples of the creativity of the other species, not seeing the differences between those acts needed to survive and those acts created on impulse, the dances of dolphins, the music of whales, the sculptures of the termite.

Maybe if they had realised that they were no different from the others, that they were acting on impulse, that their "civil" behavior could never last, that the pretense of Man being more than just another animal was a futile one...

Maybe if they had embraced their animal instincts, not suppressed them...

Maybe if they had been honest about their innermost thoughts with each other, admited what they all knew deep inside...

Once upon a time their was a planet called Earth, it's still there, if you want you could probably find it, it's pretty much just a cinder now, burnt out, sun scorched...

We use it as a lesson to teach our children...

Don't try to walk before you can run.

Bandwidth

SometimesintodaysworldthereissomuchinformationcomingatyoufromsomanydifferentdirectionsthatitfeelslikepeoplearetalkingwithoutspacesandyouarefightingtokeepupthenthingsgetworseASTHEINTENSITYOFTHEINFORMATIONINCREASESANDITSEEMSLIKETHEYAREALLSHOUTINGTHEBIZZARETHINGISTHATAFTERAWHILEYOUSTARTTOGETUSEDTOITANDEVENTUALLYITSALLYOUCANREAD.

but mybe thrs sumthng in it, mby we need a qikr way 2 speek, 1 wiv les lttrs so we cn fit mr wrds on th pg, a higr bndwith frm of cmunicton. thn wd b abl 2 tk mr in. It lks childsh bt by typng lk ths iv savd 63 chrctrs.

and you still understood it.

Or maybe it's aural, maybe the days of the written word are coming to an end, maybe computers will talk to us, and we to them, although interestingly, according to wiki, Reading comprehension speeds have been assessed at 400 wpm for full comprehension whereas adults can listen with full comprehension at only 300 wpm. so it looks like text has the edge when it comes to cramming in information.

whoknows...

maybe cobralingus has the answer

START
CONTROL
OVERLOAD
PURIFY
SAVE

alliknowisthatstandardformsofcommunicationseemsoslowandoldfashionedthesedays...

some poems

a couple of my poems, old now, but i thought i'd throw them up


Smaller - 1994

I stood, still not playing their violent game
gritting my teeth, grinning through the pain
knowing their interest would soon wear thin
and i could leave this hell within
withdrawn so deep, i saw my soul
not breaking down, my only goal
let them kick while i retreat
smaller, and smaller still
keep shrinking until
you can't hurt me
i'm small as can be

Rest - 16/05/1994 20:53

Breath of wind

Taste of life

Edge of cliff

Point of knife

Glimpse of reason

Gasp of pain

Change of season

Fall of rain

Right or wrong

Truth or lie

Think of me

But let me die

Composure

So, where was I, ah yes...

I stopped blogging because it was too difficult; it isn't really all that hard, but attempting to coordinate the inspiration with the willingness to sit and write and my outside life, just wasn't happening. It's like replying to email from friends, it should be fairly straightforward but is actually rather difficult to manage (well, for me anyway).

But I'm here now and want to make an effort, I have stuff to say, and it doesn't really bother me that no-one is listening because it just feels good to talk :)

I'd like to take my blog in a different direction and hopefully give it a bit more focus, so I'm going to be posting about gaming and technology, and the way that our lives are being altered and augmented by these forces of nature.

So, technology.

I have an Apple iPhone, apologies to grammar sticklers but that's the way you capitalise it, I've had it about three weeks now and it's the real reason I'm blogging again. You see it's easy... and that is why it will succeed. I'm sat in the bath typing this, OK, a little more information than you wanted, or needed, to know, but I was laid here and I thought "I could do a bit of my blog" and so I picked up my iPhone and started to type. Now you're forgiven for scoffing and thinking that I'm easily impressed because a myriad of devices would allow me to blog from my warm watery resting place, but none of them would let me do it this easily. That's it, that's the iPhone, easy, Steve you have my consent to drop all marketing and replace it with a picture of the phone and the word "easy".

Everything about the iPhone follows the same philosophy, the interface is so simple it's almost underwhelming, and so the applications shine through, primarily the Internet, It's just a joy to use. Did you know that the iPhone already has 0.09% of the overall Internet browser market, in less than a year. Microsoft have been fighting for ten years to achieve 0.03% with their windows mobile range!

I feel that easy is going to become the cornerstone of the user experience over the next few decades, look at the runaway success of the Wii, why? Because it's easy, the nintendo DS, the Ipod, casual gaming. We are entering the swinging 60s of technology, cheap, easy, even free.

It's going to be fun.

stuff & things

6 months pass in the blink of an eye and before you know it you've stopped blogging! well hello there, how are you doing today? hope you're well, and if not, hope you're getting better :)

heheh, this is the problem when you start a blog post with no idea of what you're going to say, bloggers block!

been playing around with some great new web technologies recently, check out

www.google.com/calendar

the more you use it, the more you realise it's potential, especially once you start sharing.

I'm currently playing Brain Age for Nintendo DS, it's quite unique, a computer game that improves your memory and thinking power! certainly the start of a new type of game. until now games have been viewed as fun, but in no way good for you, well here's a game that's fun, and healthy! bizzare.

OK, just a quick post to get me back into the swing of things, I'll be more frequently on again now.

Byee

I can't run, but I can fight

I've been ill for the past few weeks, and it has been a bizzare experience, I had my appendix out and so have been in quite a bit of discomfort from the operation and my uvulva swelled up, which apparently is not serious, but so I couldn't speak or move about much.

So I spent the time laying on my sofa with my monitor at the edge of the desk, playing everquest 2, which is one of these massivley multiplayer online fantasy world games.

The bizzare bit is that, in the real world I was an invalid, but on the PC I was jumping, running, fighting, talking to people and generally being very able bodied. It's interesting now that games are starting to get quite realistic, I havent had the impression that I've been stuck indoors because I've been running through green fields and big open spaces.

I'm sure it won't be long before this sort of experience is used in the medical world for therapy (probably already is in fact) and for treating things like agrophobia, hundreds of thousands of people play EQ2, their are Cities and Towns, but you can turn it off at the flick of a switch if you get overwhelmed...

Anyway... back to the game, need to kill some orcs!

Well it's always worth a try

In a world with new countries appearing left right and centre, a world with people starting cults, a world where art and geurilla warfare are the same thing, a world where the whole world fits inside a pc, where freedom isn't as widespread as it seems.

In this world, anything is possible, so I now have a donation link on the left, it uses paypal (which is what ebay use) so is secure.

so if you happen to be a millionaire, or just fancy being nice, feel free to donate to the continued bloggings of rob and his girlfriend, and help us pay off our debts :)

I always wondered what would happen if I had one of these, and someone really wealthy stumbled across the site and thought, "what the hell" heheh, well now's my chance :)

I'll keep you all up to date, and if someone makes me rich I'll throw a party and invite all donatees to come along ;)

Stuff to do

Feeling stressed, pop some bubble wrap!

Feeling bored, check out the worlds first virual webcam

Feeling lucky, see if you can spot the loch ness monster

Grow Up

In the wake of the London bombings I've been asking myself a scary question, What next.

It seems that in this sensational media based age, we need more and more to really shock us and, in that respect, September 11th will set the bar for a while yet. But surely the terrorists are anticipating this, planning bigger and more shocking attacks to assault our numbed senses. In many ways the london and Madrid bombings could have been a lot more horrific than they actually were.

My girlfriend made a stunning observation;

"there's no going back, there will never be a time when these sorts of things dont happen"

So are we doomed to a life of ever escalating disasters, the ultimate arms race, will this just naturally end up being an ongoing war of terror? I don't think we can answer that, but I like to think not. I think we need to grow up, as a race. We're stuck here, on this tiny planet, billions of us struggling to survive, and it always amazes me to think what we could achieve if we worked together.

There you go... sorted...

heh, if only. But seriously, the more of us who make ourselves aware, who talk and reason, who live life with passion, and purpose. The more of us who question, communicate, who love, we can have an impact. Over 400 people have read my blog, 400 that's the beginings of an army, we need to start to move, I have no idea where, or how, but the Internet is opening up channels of communication that never existed 20 years ago. we must use them.

All of us, we need to grow up...

Google Earth

A few pictures that will hopefully inspire you to check out google earth. Its a completley free 10MB download that (providing you have broadband) allows you to roam around the entire earth looking at hi resolution satellite photography that's mapped onto a 3d terain model of the planet. On top of that you can add roads, 3d buildings, points of interest, and a plethora of other goodies. The interface is simple, and the program is really easy to use.

I've been playing with it for about a week now and it's truly amazing, a great one for kids as it's educational to boot!! so head on over to earth.google.com and give it a go, like I said above, it's completely free, no strings attached.

The pictures seen here are of the grand canyon, above, the sedan crater in the nevada test range, and the "boneyard" a usaf base used to scrap planes that are no longer in service.

Google Earth also has a BBS feature where people can share their favourite places, or post a request and let other people find it and direct you to it. Happy globetrotting folks!

Seeing is easy with eyes closed...

This is what I see when I close my eyes, or in a dark room at night, I used to think the dots were little ufo's when I was a kid :)

I spent a while getting it right, and it's spot on, exactly what I see :)

Click it to see it proper size, and imagine it's all you see in your field of view pulsing and moving gently about



Here are some pictures that Andy Coulter used on a blog post as an analogy of what he see's with his eyes closed, definite similarities, please send me pics of what you see!!



I'd love to hear if you see the same, please click comment and let me know. You dont need an account with blogger.

Hello, my name's Rob and I'm a sudokuholic

Yes, it's online su-doku a simple yet addictive logic puzzle,
and there's a different one every day!!

http://www.fingertime.com/sudoku.php

ahhh, that's better

Trees and things

I've been asked to discuss a particularly interesting question.

If a tree falls in a forest, but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound.

I suppose I'll start by saying that there are many ways to look at this question, and it leads on to many others. The question, in it's simplest form, seems easy to answer, yes you may think, if a tree falls it makes a sound, regardless of whether there is anyone there or not.

But there are complications, what do we mean by sound, and how can we prove that the tree makes a sound. We can define sound in many ways, the oxford english dictionary defines sound as:

• noun 1 vibrations which travel through the air or another medium and are sensed by the ear. 2 a thing that can be heard. 3 music, speech, and sound effects accompanying a film or broadcast. 4 an idea or impression conveyed by words.

All of a sudden we see that the tree, by this definition does not make any sound, as there are no ears to sense it. The tree, we assume, does make vibrations in the air, but these are not sensed.

So the question brings complications based on our use of common words like "sound", and the more you think about it, the weirder it gets, imagine the tree falling now, and making that loud cracking sound, but that sound is made by the vibration of your eardrums and your brains interpretation of that vibration, and here there are no eardrums to vibrate, no ears to hear it, and because there are no ears, the tree falls in complete silence, hitting the ground without making a sound. It is only once we introduce a pair of ears that there is sound, but before, just silent soundless vibrations in the air!

However there is an even more thought provoking side to the question.

How can we be certain that an event occurs, if we do not observe it.

This question was summed up by a physicist called Schroedinger who put forward the idea for a rather interesting experiment.

Put a cat in a box, with a vial of poison, and a radioactive isotope... the isotope has an exactly 50% chance of giving of a certain particle which will be detected inside the box, and the poison will be released. The box is soundproof and there is no way to see the cat, so you have no idea if the cat is alive or dead, until you open the box.

Schroedinger postulated that the cat was neither alive or dead... but that it remained in a bizzare state called quantum uncertainty, and it wasn't until you opened the box that you brought a resolution to this state and the cat became alive or dead...

It sounds pretty far fetched, and I'm not going to go into the details (google: Schroedingers cat) but what's even more bizzare is that this so-called "quantum uncertainty" and the "collapsing of quantum waveforms" has actually, on much smaller scales than that of a cat (try individual particles) been proved correct!!!

experiments have shown that particles, in certain situations hang in a sort of limbo untill observed, and once observed snap into their observed state.

This doesn't happen on larger scales like cats and trees, but it's worth remembering that while the cat in the box does either die or live, and the tree in the forest does make vibrations in the air... things are not always what they seem, and our observing them can have implications and, on a quantum level, we cant say that something happens, even if it should theoretically have done so, unless we observe it.

To finish then, the question challenges us on many levels, it challenges our perception of reality, it's very hard to imagine that tree falling in colmplete silence, yet it does, because noone is there to hear it, and it's harder still to imagine that the very act of observing something can change it. that by us looking at the world, we alter it.

The ultimate extension of the question is this.

If there were no observers in the universe, noone to see anything happening, would the universe exist.

hehe...

Interesting

A clip from a conversation

> Imagine a detective. His job is to find the truth, who dunnit. Then one day
> he becomes a philosopher and now he asks "what is truth?". The discussion
> lasts for decades and does not get resolved. How does philosophy help
> him to do his job?

Philosophy is the means by which we understand how to think. And to make sense of the world around us.

> What is your purpose in doing philosophy? Do you have a purpose for
> doing philosophy?

To understand the world around us and to learn how to think better. To find meaning to my existence.

> If a question in philosophy did get resolved, what would you do? Would
> you keep on arguing? Would you find a practical application? Or what?

I've always considered myself a 'commercial philosopher,' in which I want answers to solve my own pressing issues and the issues around me. I'm not interested in 'ivory tower' or 'intellectual' philosophy, I want things that work here and now, not discussions of what 'here' and 'now' are and whether or not they exist.

If a particular software package gets developed, it doesn't stop someone from developing something else. There are lots more questions.

What happens when we die?
Is there life after death?
What happens before we die?
Is there life before death?
Why does it feel like I am the only person in the universe?
Is there more than one universe?
Is there intelligent life outside of earth? (Is there intelligent life ON earth?)
What is my purpose in life?
What is the purpose of life in general?

Eye Eye

been reading a book about cave art, and it talks about common visual hallucinations and so, whilst browsing the net about this I stumbled upon a couple of detailed definitions of things I just take for granted, Interesting stuff, the sort of thing we all experience, but hardly ever talk about to each other.

Floaters
Floaters are little "cobwebs" or specks that float about in your field of vision. They are small, dark, shadowy shapes that can look like spots, thread-like strands, or squiggly lines. They move as your eyes move and seem to dart away when you try to look at them directly. They do not follow your eye movements precisely, and usually drift when your eyes stop moving.

In most cases, floaters are part of the natural aging process and simply an annoyance. They can be distracting at first, but eventually tend to "settle" at the bottom of the eye, becoming less bothersome. They usually settle below the line of sight and do not go away completely. Most people have floaters and learn to ignore them; they are usually not noticed until they become numerous or more prominent. Floaters can become apparent when looking at something bright, such as white paper or a blue sky.

Floaters occur when the vitreous, a gel-like substance that fills about 80 percent of the eye and helps it maintain a round shape, slowly shrinks. As the vitreous shrinks, it becomes somewhat stringy, and the strands can cast tiny shadows on the retina. These are floaters.

Phosphenes
'Phosphenes' are signals from the neurons of the retina to the visual cortex of the brain which are interpreted by the brain as lights and visual patterns, but are not caused by visual light. They can be produced by neurons randomly firing (similar to what causes muscle twitches) and a variety of other causes, including pressure to the eyeball and (less commonly) various diseases of the retina and nerves. Phosphenes are most easily noticed with the eyelids closed, or in a darkened environment. Category:Visual system

A word for you

Main Entry: 1su·per·la·tive Pronunciation: su-'p&r-l&-tiv Function: adjective 1 : of, relating to, or constituting the degree of grammatical comparison that denotes an extreme or unsurpassed level or extent 2 a : surpassing all others : SUPREME b : of very high quality : EXCELLENT 3 : EXCESSIVE, EXAGGERATED - su·per·la·tive·ly adverb - su·per·la·tive·ness noun

Distortion, Deletion and Delerium

Communication is an interesting subject, so let's go there today...

The mind is incapable of digesting and storing everything it sees, so there are processes which make it possible to get the gist of any situation while not having our heads explode from information overload.

one of these processes we shall call filtering.

when you enter a situation, lets say your first day at a new job, you take in masses and masses of information, and as we've said, you can't possibly keep all that information in your head, (think back to last thursday and try to remember as many details as you can about the hour of 12:00 till 13:00 and you'll see that you remember much less than an hours worth of information)

so somewhere along the way, one of the things that you do is filter out and store only the information that is important to you.

but herein lies the rub.

How do you define what is important to remember and what isn't, on that first day how do you build up your impression of the Job, who chooses what you will use, and what you will discard.

we all have many filters, and they are running all the time, as you read this, you've already started filtering, you get the gist, but lose the detail.

a good example of a common filter is Positive / Negative.

some people filter there experiences for negatives, ask them about their job and they'll tell you the negative aspects, ask them to describe a rusty car and they'll tell you it's an pile of junk.

others filter for positives, they'll tell you all the best bits of their job, they'll tell you that the car is a classic waiting to be restored.

their situations are identical, yet their filters change their perception and lead them to different conclusions, different versions of the truth, yet they're both right.

let me give you another filter to play with.

get a pen and paper, and answer the following question.

write 9 bullet point sentences comparing how things are going in your job this year compared to how things were last year

DONT READ ON TILL YOU'VE DONE IT IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ONE OF YOUR FILTERS

.
.
.

ok, so now lets look at what you wrote, we're checking for a specific filter the same / change filter, on the paragraph check how many times you said something was the same as last year, and how many times you noted that something had changed.

if you've more things that changed, that's an indication of a person who filters for change, someone who likes change and a changing environment

and if you've listed lots of things that are the same then that indicates that you filter for sameness, and like knowing where you stand and similarity.

of course this is only a little test and there are many other factors, and it's a scale, so you could be in the middle, and be equally comfortable with change or sameness.

but it gives you a starting point to explore your filters.

the really interesting thing is what happens when two people have opposite filters.

let's take an example

Jane filters for sameness, and John filters for change.

John wants to get Jane to come on a holiday with her and he, being a change person, pitches it like this.

"It'll be really amazing, nothing like our normal holidays, you've never seen anything like it, honestly. There are loads of different things to do, things you've never done before, a great new hotel and a whole new world of adventure"

OK so maybe he's gone a bit over the top :) but the essence is there, he filters for change, so he's telling her things that excite him, the differences. but she won't buy into this, she filters for sameness, he'd have more luck with something like.

"It'll be really amazing, There'll be you and me, as always, and there's plenty of things to do, even some things you've never done before, we're in a lovely hotel like last year, and out the window is a whole world of adventure"

he's telling the same story, but dropping out a few of the change specific bits, and adding some sameness that Jane can relate to.

so if we are aware of others filters we can communicate on their wavelength. someone who filters for negative for example isn't necessarily a negative person, it's just that positive things aren't as obvious to them, they will describe the glass as half empty not because they are negative, but because they honestly see the glass as half empty.

fun and free games

ok a few little web gems for you


Chaos theory
a lovely little game, you get three rounds and in each round 50 balls are thrown up on the screen, you must click once to cause an explosion that will destroy as many balls as you can, the highest score is 150, my high score is 129

http://www.fingertime.com/chaostheory.php

Make a Flake
remember at school you made snowflakes out of.... look just have a go, it'll all come back

http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/

Just solitaire
This one's for my mum, around 10 different free solitaire games you can play on the web

http://www.justsolitaire.com/

I'll add a few more tomorrow

feel free to comment

An excerpt

I'm writing a Sci Fi story at the moment, it's set in a world where our sight is augmented by computers to such an extent that we lose track of what's real and what's computer graphics...

here's a very small excerpt for you to have a look at, feel free to comment. I may post a larger piece later.

--------------

Often, when I meet people for the first time, if they recognise my name and realise who I am, they ask me, in hushed tones, looking guilty, “What’s it like”.

I don’t mind the question; to be honest I enjoy the opportunity to shock, and to educate.

“At first it’s like being blind”

They pause, uncertain, waiting for more.

“Everything is bland, pale, no colours as such, and there are no numbers, not one” They usually recoil or gasp at that.

“And things get in the way, I can’t see past walls, or trees, or anything, even you… I can’t see anyone’s tags, I have no options, none, I have to talk to everyone, face to face” more horror on their faces, but I smile at them now

“But everything, absolutely everything I see is real… and I see it with my eyes, mine … no lies, no tricks, no blips or virg, no verts, heh, no spamverts… that alone makes it worthwhile”

My smile broadens.

“The sun is so bright it hurts my eyes… but it’s supposed to… I see the world as it is meant to be seen”

I can’t help but laugh

“And it’s a beautiful sight”

a Pawn

found this while geocaching?

leave a comment and let us know where he's ended up :)