Adventures of a Wetware Hacker
"Human beings have the inalienable right to invent themselves"
Redirect as of 07/26/06: July 24, 2006 I just love it when news of the Singularity hits the mainstream... It's almost certain now, that the Singularity is real. As recent as a few weeks ago, I sincerely doubted its existence. But even a skeptic like myself can't ignore the progress that is being made. I don't like to pursue outlandish ideas simply because I want them to be true, but I don't enjoy sitting back in happy denial of what is going to happen. (And on a personal level, I noticed that I tend far more towards denial than creduilty.) It's fairly incredible, how rapidly the definition of impossible is being changed. July 23, 2006 You might be a transhumanist if…
What is an excellent thing to waste your Saturday on? Trying to modify
an HP 550C inkjet printer so that it prints human tissue cells instead of
black & color.
You'll need: a printer, empty/sterilized ink cartridges, modified print heads, cells and media, experience in modifying hardware (the printer), software (the printer driver), and wetware (the cells), and a desire to waste many hours on something that will probably not work. As you are already wasting time by being here, I give you little room for excuses.
If I actually get this to work I will post further details. In the meantime, here are further resources if you are interested. Hopefully, you have something fun to do this weekend, like a normal human being, but if not, enjoy... [Organ Printing] [Cell and Organ Printing 1] [Cell and Organ Printing 2] July 20, 2006 To: Mr. James Dobson Mr. Jerry Falwell Mr. Pat Robertson Subject: It's your fault. It's your fault that stem cell research legislation failed this week after President Bush's veto. You have ignored 72% of the American people, bi-partisan majorities in both houses of Congress, and our nation's leading scientists. You have dashed hope for millions of Americans suffering from diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer and diabetes. I can only hope that you or your loved ones do not one day suffer the pain of these illnesses; what would your stance on medical research be then? Sincerely Yours, Parijata Mackey PS- George Bush eats babies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To: Parijata Mackey Subject: Re: It's your fault. We received your message for Pat Robertson, and apologize that he cannot reply to you personally. We understand your concern over Alzheimers Disease, and how it affects the people suffering from it, especially when someone suffering from it is a family member or friend. CBN has had numerous news and health features regarding how to help prevent or treat Alzheimer's Disease without using stem cells. In addition, alternatives such as adult stem cell research have shown positive research results, without destroying a human life as is done when a human embryo is destroyed. Some of the features we have had on The 700 Club are listed below: http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_alzheimers.aspx, http://www.cbn.com/community/closerlook/c003preventingalzheimersd.aspx, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/050822d.aspx, http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/biblestudyandtheology/perspectives/colson_cloning_060205.aspx During the CBN News segment, Pat Robertson gives a personal commentary. CBN's desire is to provide our viewers with the information needed to develop their own opinions and views. Feedback like yours helps us understand the concerns and thoughts of our audience. God bless you. The Christian Broadcasting Network July 19, 2006 They say you can get anything on ebay... They're not kidding. Why on earth do I spend my income on trivial things like food, clothing, or rent? For only $899, a supercomputer without a hard drive could be mine... July 18, 2006 And
our dear President Bush once again shows his support for science in
America! It sort of looks like he's going to eat the baby, see? However, we have lovely people over at Hahvahd
who are doing all they can to annoy the religious right. Cloning
research... now that was unexpectedly soon. (Note: As interesting as
that last article is, I find the ads on the page far more
hilarious.) Speaking of Bush, we've gotta adore the new Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act... with lines like, "'Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to limit the constitutional
authority of the President to collect intelligence with respect to
foreign powers and agents of foreign powers," what's not to trust? But no matter. It's only our future. Let's focus on far more interesting things, such as a paint-on antenna! Now that is cool. Or how about this miniscule wireless chip?
Take that, RFID. The advances in hardware have been remarkable lately.
It makes me believe that inevitably there will be a redefinition of
Moore's Law, and that "inevitably" will happen very soon. Take crazy
advances like getting a vapor deposition reaction to work in a laptop, creating massive increases (terabytes) in disk size. Or how about Intel's silicon laser? That's certainly been torturing people for long enough. Or IBM's use of carbon nanotubes to make transistors? And what about the fact that MRAM now actually exists?
It's a dream come true, and might be one of the most significant, and
most overlooked, in terms of basic science, of the recent advances.
Might the Law of Accelerating Returns be real? Could Ray Kurzweil actually know what he's talking about?
Could exponential change really be changing exponentially? Only time
will tell. Hopefully not too much time, though...
July 17, 2006
I must share with you this delightful link of incredible artificial creatures, powered by the wind and made by a man who is probably insane but unquestionably brilliant: [click] Click the link below the photo where it says [film]. This is amazing, I can't believe the robotics guys haven't picked up on this yet... This man uses genetic algorithms to evolve these stunningly smooth and complex structures, which he then builds out of PVC and tape. It's definitely worth a few minutes of your time. And if you're into bioinformatics and alternative energy, this link
is certainly for you. It's for anyone who likes biology, or computer
science, or complexity, or systems thinking, or anything related to the
above. Just read it, mmkay?? Although I suppose if you don't want to
read that, you can read the "Constructive Biology" issue of Edge Magazine. July 13, 2006 And our dear friend Marvin Minsky has been good to us today, we fervent fans of artificial intelligence: read a draft of his upcoming book, The Emotion Machine, here. This book focuses on what emotions are, exactly, and how such drastic changes in supposedly rational thought processes can exist (rational, hah!). It's quite excellent, to know that someone is still thinking, still working tirelessly, on the challenge of machine-consciousness. I hope it exists within his lifetime, I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. The book comes out on November 07, 2006. On the subject of machine learning, DARPA just gave BBNTech a grant to work on the "Integrated Learning Program," which would allow a computer to learn and understand processes after seeing them once. Pretty cool stuff.
"Could he, whose rules the rapid comet bind, Describe or fix one movement of his mind? Who saw its fires here rise, and there descend, Explain his own beginning, or his end?" --Alexander Pope July 12, 2006 Blogs are quite possibly the most disgustingly self-indulgent addition to the Information Age; a blogger can vent and write and worry and whine and hope and dream, and anyone with enough time to waste can read it and laugh at or pity the writer. Blogs are a way for a person to feel special and self-important; a way for a lonely person to pretend they have friends. Excellent. But maybe someday, we won't have to sit here sifting through this text, but will be able to glance at the screen
and instantly read and understand. I'm all for technological
enhancement -- physical, mental, or otherwise. And that's the core
philosophy behind modern wetware hacking, also known as biohacking.
There are many fields of biohacking, many directions you can take it.
But from neurohacking to genetic engineering to cybernetics to modified
cell signaling, there is more potential than anyone now alive can
imagine to advance human evolution.
| Worthy Timewasters:World Transhumanist Association Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senesence _______________________________ Book of the Month:Scientist of the Week:Article of the Moment:Neural Ensemble Control of Prosthetic Devices by a Human with Tetraplegia
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(C) Parijata Mackey 2006