as part of the "Transhumanism, Singularities, and Other Far Out Futures" class with R.U. Sirius at Evolver Academy we watched TechnoCalyps: Transhuman documentary - here are my notes & quotes from viewing the film
note: times mentioned are rough times only

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT_LnUObIf8

- keeping the brain surviving outside of the body - experiments with animals
05:25 - total body transplant. Stephen Hawkings could possibly survive a total body transplant?
06:10 - consciousness can be transplanted. human soul? can be argued that this can be transplanted. they did experiments with monkeys - transplanted the head of one monkey onto another & it lived for 7 days before being rejected

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z257yC2HAlI

01:10 - humanising the pig kidney/liver so it's not rejected by human body, then transplanting these into humans (pigs as donors)

01:35 metamouse - laboratory grown ear on back of a mouse. hasn't Stelarc been growing an ear on his arm? art project?

03:25 - artist - designing future human bodies. 'after all the body is an extension of fashion' -- I think the body was around before fashion...

10:00 - most people think you have to build a brain and a body will fall out of it. but when you look at nature, well over half the species on Earth have no brain to speak of at all yet manage to move around and survive very effectively.

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxBGMGxVCg0

00:00 - scientists have evolved very effective nervous systems. not brains

03:10 - history of humans is that they haven't treated other life that is similar to humans very well. even back to neanderthals when the homosapiens arrived - they didn't live in co-operation, even though they were very similar. even back to 500 years (or this year?) humans haven't treated other humans well (colonization)
won't be pleasant for the losers. -- joseph m rosen

08:30 - highlighted/coloured nerve cells - can see them working

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZShORepzB-g

04:45 - replacing part of the biological brain with microchip. inputs & outputs still work the same

06:45 - using these computer chip-brain replacements now for sound recognition - to recognise sounds of gunshots which make a camera zoom in on the sound - crime stopper cameras in high crime areas. member of the black community says that they are being watched whereas white community areas are not

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGQjwhntAG0

01:30 fit onto a cd rom - 600Mb I bet that's all you need to copy a person

03:25 scientists can move a single atom from one place to another

05:50 they want to build nanobots (low number of atoms devices with computers more powerful than today) - inject them into the human body eg bloodstream to kill cancer cells, modify dna, etc

06:15 basic goal of nanotechnology is to build an assembler (auto-assembler) - a very basic device, that can build copies of itself

06:50 molecular nanotechnology is to physical reality what computer programming is to virtual reality. .. bit of an exaggeration, but gives the idea.. whereas computer programmers can program software to do what they want, molecular nanotechnology will allow us to change matter at the most fundamental level. it will allow us to build just about any kind of structure, to our exact specifications by moving individual atoms. ... this sounds like a world of magic(k) where all that we imagined becomes reality but the role of the good fairy is taken over by robots so miniscule that we cannot see them. (background images of Cinderella where pumpkin changes into a coach) and instead of saying the magic word, we program them to grant all our wishes.
>> myths, dreams & fairy tales - the human premonition of what we will one day create. or if not premonition, the imagination of what we want to create?

07:40 the other side of the fairy tale is what is called the "grey goo syndrome" - nanobots programmed for terrorist action or rapidly start reproducing themselves & a chain reaction causes planet to be reduced in 72hours into a grey goo of swarming nanobots

08:00 most scientists think that "grey goo syndrome" is very unlikely - we will have nanotechnology to control nanotechnology.
>> the "watchdog" - who's watching the watchdog??

TechnoCalyps: Transhuman Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Wx3UPyd6U

00:00 this is not the end of history. becoming post-human creates new problems. still have same personality problems as before. you're just going to be "more" than you were before. you'll have more power. with more power comes more responsibility.

transhumanism is a huge field encompassing many topics and arguments. concsiousness, what does it mean to be human, bio ethics, genetic modifications, nanotechnology, science, future technologies, spirituality, information technology, biopolitics, medical improvements, body enhancements, human computer interaction ... the list goes on

the World Transhumanist Association defines transhumanism as :

Transhumanism is a way of thinking about the future that is based on the premise that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development but rather a comparatively early phase. We formally define it as follows:

Technocalyps is a three-part documentary by Frank Theys on the idea of transhumanism

the documentary can be downloaded at greylodge.org, and they describe the parts as :

[quote]
Part 1: Transhuman
Part 1 gives an overview of recent technological developments (biogenetics, artificial intelligence, robotics, implants, nanotechnology,…) and prognoses made by leading scientists about the impact of these developments in the near future.

Part 2: Preparing for the Singularity
In this part advocates and opponents of a transhuman future are weighed against each other; prognoses are done when we can expect the transhuman revolution and how people are preparing for it already now.

Part 3: The Metaphysics of Technology

The phone chat is split into two parts & hosted on archive.org

part 1 archive.org page, where you can select the format to listen or download the mp3 via direct link

part 2 archive.org page, where you can select the format to listen / download or download the mp3 via direct link

I had written a profile for Robin on www.pulseradio.net years ago, but unfortunately I don't have a copy any more.

there was a discussion about why would somebody pay you to videoblog if you're not getting huge amounts of traffic (amongst other questions / points). the thread started talking about online advertising. I didn't read all the replies, but here's what I'm thinking..

read the original thread

my reply # 1 and # 2 (below)

I think one day people will be shooting / making video / media as stringers and sell that to people who need video / media, likely businesses who can afford to pay. another layer to news program's stringers/freelancers but on any topic, not just news. ala Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. so people will be taking videos for themselves and to upload and be paid if someone uses/downloads it. when archive.org started I was reminded of this also - "The Library" - a collection of clips from creative minds & people uploading as they will. so the utubes and googles et al will become clip libraries. most will be noise, but some will be useful for others. it happens in a small way now, how many of you have had people see a clip or video and ask if they can use it? similar with photos. eg I've had people see a photo and remember a place or a personal memory and ask if they can use it. after a while of people posting videos / photos / media - patterns will develop and certain topics / styles / genres will be sought after. anything is possible - the niches, the popularist content, the everyday life, the world around us. in the future when the world is different people will want to see how it was. I wonder also if it'll affect our memories & the way our brains connect thoughts & images as the ease of storing photos/videos to trigger memories is different now to even say 30 years ago, but that's probably another thread. I wonder then if it'll lead to obsession ala until the end of the world when Claire became obsessed with watching her recorded dreams on her portable video player. I think the two ideas (book/movie) will merge & expand.

I think this has all been mentioned here before - a while ago.. so a refresher. but, I think it's getting closer. especially with google etc & their searching capabilities and tagging / metadata so common place these days. if I were a big business this is the way I'd be going anyway.

oh, also, which is why I think ads on videos is an old media way of thinking. like ads on tv. (which will phase into product placements soon enough). people will still use them now whilst they make money from them but I don't think they'll be necessary or used in future as they'll be regarded as spam. similar to what was mentioned earlier, people ignore spam on the net now, so in the future when the generations change, they'll lose their power. the information / message will be the currency. & hopefully the creative mind! :)

--

extract from Snow Crash (by Neal Stephenson) about the library..

"The business is a simple one. Hiro gets information. It may be gossip, videotape, audiotape, a fragment of a computer disk, a xerox of a document. It can even be a joke based on the latest highly publicized disaster."

"He uploads it to the CIC database -- the Library, formerly the Library of Congress, but no one calls it that anymore. Most people are not entirely clear on what the word "congress" means."

"And even the word "library" is getting hazy. It used to be a place full of books, mostly old ones. Then they began to include videotapes, records, and magazines. Then all of the information got converted into machine-readable form, which is to say, ones and zeroes. And as the number of media grew, the material became more up to date, and the methods for searching the Library became more and more sophisticated, it approached the point where there was no substantive difference between the Library of Congress and the Central Intelligence Agency. Fortuitously, this happened just as the government was falling apart anyway. So they merged and kicked out a big fat stock offering."

"Millions of other CIC stringers are uploading millions of other fragments at the same time. CIC's clients, mostly large corporations and Sovereigns, rifle through the Library looking for useful information, and if they find a use for something that Hiro put into it, Hiro gets paid."

"A year ago, he uploaded an entire first-draft film script that he stole from an agent's wastebasket in Burbank. Half a dozen studios wanted to see it. He ate and vacationed off of that one for six months."

"Since then, times have been leaner. He has been learning the hard way that 99 percent of the information in the Library never gets used at all."

---

just out of interest, there's also some interesting papers about this book.. google 'neal stephenson video library' and there's even some interesting discussions

http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue16/blackmorefulltext.html

http://library20.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=515108%3ATopic%3A5678

I've been looking at the TED Blog today and watching some of the videos from the conference - it's the blog for the TED conference. The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration.

which reminds me I should catch up with the Kurzweil-AI site after watching the Ray Kurzweil presentation on the exponential growth of technology and it's adoption.

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Watch the video

a chat with Richie, from Melbourne band / crew WD40, who builds sound toys and instruments for outdoor parties and festivals - for both kids and adults. he discusses his thoughts on the importance of play. midway through some people walk past and one starts playing a piano down the other end of the room so there was a nice chat about instruments and the piano Richie has at home.

Finding my old bookmark files has made me nostalgic for the early computing days when everything was new and exciting and full of possibilities. One of my favourite magazines back in the early 90s was Mondo 2000. It was hard to get - only a few places in Brisbane stocked it, actually only two that I recall and even then it was occasional. By the time I got round to subscribing to the magazine it had finished being published and I lost my subscription renewal to the cause so to speak. At the time, it was cutting edge and the full gloss images and interviews with leading thinkers made it a great read. R.U. Sirius who was the editor of the mag has a podcast these days and can be found around mondoglobo.net. Here's a collection of links to mondo 2000 stuff:

mondo articles from the well (link updated : original link broken 25/09/2008 : http://www.well.com:70/1/Publications/MONDO )

apart from podcasting, videoblogging / video podcasting was growing in 2004-2005 and will get even bigger in 2006, especially after the release of sony's psp & the video ipod. $1.99 itunes downloads for tv episodes will be more and more popular. even tivo is doing trials atm with (internet based) videoblogs to tivo. http://research.tivo.com/rocketboom/
archive.org (& perhaps google video if they decide to make it more videoblog friendly) providing free storage for videoblog movies & creative content has meant everyday users no longer have to worry about the costs involved in website hosting & data throughput /traffic.

http://braintrustdv.com/roundtables/ipod.html#Anchor-34275 has some interesting points of view from media analysts.

when holographic data storage becomes widely used in consumer devices (eg psp/ipod or future flavours) data storage worries are out the window. these are due for professional gear in 2006 (broadcasters have been testing with hdtv off holographic data storage this year)
http://www.hiptechblog.com/2005/11/25/maxell-introduces-groundbreaking-h...
http://www.inphase-technologies.com/

exciting times!

I remember reading about holographic storage / crystalline data storage in the mid 90s but back then they could write the data but couldn't read it back off. seems like they've fixed the problems according to the tests run last november. looking forward to the personal device using these to be available.. they've been doing tests with broadcasters for hdtv and the like. http://www.hiptechblog.com/2005/11/25/maxell-introduces-groundbreaking-h...

CTHEORY is an international peer-reviewed journal of theory, technology, and culture, publishing articles, interviews, event-scenes and reviews of key books.

visit http://www.ctheory.net/ for more

Check out Google Earth to view high resolution images from around the globe. Take a photo of your house, or where you last went for a holiday. Take a look in the Misc photo gallery via the link above, or check out this example. Visit http://desktop.google.com/download/earth/ to download the software.

The internet has been ablaze recently with talk of map products from Google and similar plans from Microsoft. These additions are really cool to look at but do not seem to offer real value or things to do in the worlds. As an avid gamer, I was questioning, haven't we seen similar things from games in the past. Last year we saw the release of True Crimes: Streets of L.A. and The Getaway (based in London).

Two years ago, experts predicted that by 2005, 3D games on mobile devices would be everywhere. They were premature - yet recent stirrings suggest the sleeping giant is finally waking. 3D World Magazine interviewed Kurt Uhlir - IGDA Mobile-SIG Chair and Chicago Technologist, Thor Gunnarsson - Ideaworks3D and David MacQueen - Screen Digest to get there thoughts. While the magazine is normally $15 or so on the stands, the IGDA is providing the full text of the article in PDF. If you are looking for a career in graphics, as I am, it is worth the read.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3568505.stm today mentions the new Sony Librie, an electronic book reader. Apparrently the screen resolution is very good, but it's only available in Japan at the moment and the books self destruct in 60 days! It's all a buzz in the blogging world..