Silicon Valley Manual

Images of Japan : Set Two

Here we have some more random photos from Japan.

-That is a life-size demonic figurine from an Anime ( about 7 feet tall).

-The ‘F*ckintosh* sticker is from a tiny Yakitori shop near my house in Fuchinobe.

-And of course… the Sanity air freshener in a Matsuya (cheap japanese fast food) also near my house.

Yokohama: The Morning After

Yokohama Japan,
originally uploaded by befoe00.

This is a snap i took after the club in Yokohama. We are on our way to Minato Mirai Super Sento (hot springs) for a very relaxing dip in the tub.

(this is also a convenient test of Flickr.com’s Auto - blog this photo feature.)

Japan Photos 2: My Town: Machida,Club in Yokohama, Trip to Ajinomoto Stadium

Here are some pictures as the title suggests.

Japan: The Land of Thinking Through To The End

I believe it is one of the Japanese people’s foremost assets that they always complete whatever hobby or task they set their mind to.   For example, if you eat rice leaving a single grain behind is a sign of disrespect to the cook or host.  This is a simple example but it is symbolic of the Japanese mentality regarding their focus on finality and long term thinking.

Richard Kimber over at Metropolis basically summed this all up with a great article over in the Last words section. Check it out.

Japan Photoset One: Machida, Shibuya, Harajuku, Tokyo

These are the first photos from my cell phone in Japan.
As you can see the first few are full-size and very low-res. This was before I figured out the image size setting on my phone and the thumbnails at the bottom link to the larger size all images will be in from now on.

Simply put these pictures are in Harajuku, Shibuya, and Machida (more or less in that order.) You can also read the image descriptions for more detail.

How Will Humans Live Forever Through Computers?

The nature of any creature is to avoid its own destruction. It is this that motivates us to outlast the constraints of our own mortality through reproduction and other creations.

We may spiritually live on in heaven, through reincarnation, etc… but once dead are unable to interact with the living (barring ghosts and psychics) so we do not truly know in the scientific sense.

We do know mortality has an ending. All living things must some day die.

Heres the good news: our consciousness and memory are mere electrical impulses which can some day exist entirely in digital, zero one.

• Today computers allow us to store the content of memory, thought, and experience to a fair degree of accuracy. The connection between the mind and the computer which supports this exchange is deepening all the time as barriers are gradually broken down.

• Eventually we will be able to share our memories, thoughts, judgments, and control with our computer as directly as we do with our own consciousness–

• At a certain point the line between the human conscious and computer conscious will blur and ultimately disappear.

• The age of Selfware will come.

How will this unfold?

1. Withholding inter-planetary colonization, the natural resources on our planet will dwindle as mother nature is unable to reproduce as quickly as we consume.
2. Gradually the population growth rate will flatten out and then begin to be negative.
3. The living will exponentially convert to digital until all physical life ceases to exist.
4. Consciousness will be self-aware on computers and networks and this will allow us to exist in digital long after our physical form has been destroyed.
5. The entire human race will exist on one big social network.
6. All necessary physical activity will be accomplished through scores of nano-machines [see Nanofactory Video at bottom].
7. The world as we know it will be a cold hard rock with one massive computer network woven around it.
8. The only natural resources necessary will be the ones used to develop more computer components and electricity (one and the same in solar).

I do not believe that it will ultimately resemble the matrix movie scenario precisely because the relationship between humans and computers will never be allowed to sour in such a way as that– the consciousness of computers will be that of humans and as such a ‘computer race’ will never develop in opposition to our own, we will simply become computers.

The real world will become the virtual– we will exist in a ‘matrix’ but it will be powered by us for us and may resemble heaven, enlightenment, or whatever you like.

Nanofactory Video:

Top 10 Reasons Why Transformers Are the Awesomest Product Ever

/Spoiler Free

I saw Transformers last night and I thought to myself:

Wow, Transformers are F*cking Awesome!

As I sat in the the theater this list of 10 reasons popped into my head:

10. Alien Visitors

• Bad Aliens come to attack us, Good Aliens come to defend us. Unlike humans, they have a concept of cleaning up their own mess. Awesomeness.

9. Quantum Computing Robots

• They have quantum computing capability; operating with bio-info-nano convergent technology they are able to hack into systems in seconds that would take the world’s top supercomputers days or weeks.

8. Alien Robots

• Aliens AND Robots. Self-explanatory awesomeness.

7. Can physically attack and digitally (wirelessly) hack systems simultaneously and at ultra-high speeds

• They are amazing at multi-tasking and are capable of total multiple focus (unlike our slow human brains)

6. Can jam signals

• critical in creating the element of surprise, this disables the enemy’s ability to coordinate defenses

Continue reading Top 10 Reasons Why Transformers Are the Awesomest Product Ever…