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I'm at DEMO

Hey I'm at DEMO this week. If you're here too and you want to chat, drop me a line.

Radar Networks News -- We've Moved into a Bigger Office!

My startup company, Radar Networks, has been busy working in stealth on the next-generation of the Web (sometimes called "Web 3.0"). We've been quietly growing and putting the pieces in place all year. Today we are celebrating the opening of our new, much larger office at 410 Townsend in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. It's a gorgeous (and huge) space with room to grow the company for several years. We're excited to be here. This marks a key milestone in the growth of the venture. 2007 is going to be a big year for us.

Very Cool Desktop Interface Prototype Video -- Bumptop

Check out this very impressive user-interface prototype for a desktop that works more like a real desk -- a messy desk in fact. Very delightful design work that makes want to use it now!

The Coming Revolution in Biology

From an interesting article in Nature:

One of the most fundamental patterns of scientific discovery is the revolution in thought that accompanies a new body of data. Satellite-based astronomy has, during the past decade, overthrown our most cherished ideas of cosmology, especially those relating to the size, dynamics and composition of the Universe.

Similarly, the convergence of fresh theoretical ideas in evolution and the coming avalanche of genomic data will profoundly alter our understanding of the biosphere — and is likely to lead to revision of concepts such as species, organism and evolution. Here we explain why we foresee such a dramatic transformation, and why we believe the molecular reductionism that dominated twentieth-century biology will be superseded by an interdisciplinary approach that embraces collective phenomena.

The place to start is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the non-genealogical transfer of genetic material from one organism to another — such as from one bacterium to another or from viruses to bacteria. Among microbes, HGT is pervasive and powerful — for example, in accelerating the spread of antibiotic resistance. Owing to HGT, it is not a good approximation to regard microbes as organisms dominated by individual characteristics. In fact, their communications by genetic or quorum-sensing channels indicate that microbial behaviour must be understood as predominantly cooperative.

In the wild, microbes form communities, invade biochemical niches and partake in biogeochemical cycles. The available studies strongly indicate that microbes absorb and discard genes as needed, in response to their environment. Rather than discrete genomes, we see a continuum of genomic possibilities, which casts doubt on the validity of the concept of a 'species' when extended into the microbial realm. The uselessness of the species concept is inherent in the recent forays into metagenomics — the study of genomes recovered from natural samples as opposed to clonal cultures. For example, studies of the spatial distribution of rhodopsin genes in marine microbes suggest such genes are 'cosmopolitan', wandering among bacteria (or archaea) as environmental pressures dictate.

Equally exciting is the realization that viruses have a fundamental role in the biosphere, in both immediate and long-term evolutionary senses. Recent work suggests that viruses are an important repository and memory of a community's genetic information, contributing to the system's evolutionary dynamics and stability. This is hinted at, for example, by prophage induction, in which viruses latent in cells can become activated by environmental influences. The ensuing destruction of the cell and viral replication is a potent mechanism for the dispersal of host and viral genes.

Young Student Documentary Making Waves

A documentary film shot by a teenager is shocking audiences. The film replicates a study done in the 1950's on race, showing how black children view themselves and white children. The results are surprising. Watch this link for an excerpt from the film (after the ad clip).

Almost Unbelievably Stupid -- Diebold Posts Photo of Voting Machine Key -- Hackers Replicate Key From Photo

This one really takes the cake. Diebold, the makers of the infamously hackable electronic voting machines, has done it again. They posted photos for replacement keys for their voting machines on their Web site. Unfortunately the photos were high enough resolution that anyone who knows how to make keys could easily copy them. And that's exactly what one hacker did and he documented how he did it too -- using just the photo and a file he made a set of universal keys that can unlock any Diebold voting machine. DUH! So now this basically means that the security of every Diebold voting machine is potentially compromised. The only way for Diebold to fix this would be to replace all the locks in all their machines. Will they do this? Highly unlikely. More on this story here.

Frequent Mobile Phone Use Linked to Tumor

If you or your children use cell phones frequently, consider getting earphones...

Long-term users of mobile phones are significantly more likely to develop a certain type of brain tumour on the side of the head where they hold their handsets, according to new research.

A large-scale study found that those who had regularly used mobiles for longer than 10 years were almost 40 per cent more likely to develop nervous system tumours called gliomas near to where they hold their phones

A Passenger's Bill of Rights -- Sign me Up!

Where do I sign up to support this initiative? A group of exasperated US airline passengers who were stuck on the tarmac for 10 hours last month have come up with a proposal for a bill to establish a Passenger's Bill of Rights, which would include the following provisions:

Establishing procedures for airlines to return passengers to a terminal gate after three hours on the tarmac.

Requiring airlines to respond to complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within two weeks.

Forcing airlines to publish a list of chronically delayed flights online.

Compensation for bumped passengers or passengers whose flights are delayed by more than 12 hours at 150 percent of the ticket price.

Compensation for passengers whose baggage is lost or mishandled.

Creation of a Passenger Review Committee made up of nonairline consumers to review and investigate complaints.

Having been in situations like this myself I can attest to the fact that something has to be done about this. Last summer I was stuck on the tarmac in Texas in 120 degree heat. The plane's air conditioner was turned off because they wanted to conserve fuel, so inside the plane it was probably 130 degrees. To top that off nobody could get up, and the crew had to remain seated as well so they couldn't even bring people water. This lasted for 2 hours. I was almost passing out -- I can only imagine what it must have been like for children, the elderly or people with medical conditions. Airlines treat passengers only a little better than baggage, and that is not saying much! Something needs to be done about this and I'm glad an initiative is forming to take action. Count me in!

Instructional Video: How to Eat Sushi in Japan

Check out this fascinating video on the correct way to order and eat sushi in Japan. Very informative! I had no idea that all these years I had been doing it all wrong. How embarrassing!

Chinese Aircraft Maintenance -- Shocking Photos

Ever wonder how well your jet plane is maintained? Well check out these photos of the engines of a Chinese jet that was recently grounded in Germany due to um....well... you just have to see it and read the description...

Brilliant New Optical Imaging Technique -- Single Photon Imaging

Some very interesting research out of University of Rochester. Researchers there have found a way to record and later retrieve an image using only a single photon. This is cool enough -- but wait, there's more -- they did this by leveraging the famous "double slit" experiment of quantum mechanics in a really smart way. Why didn't I think of this??? Duh!

To produce the UR image, Howell simply shone a beam of light through a stencil with the U and R etched out. Anyone who has made shadow puppets knows how this works, but Howell turned down the light so much that a single photon was all that passed through the stencil.
 
Quantum mechanics dictates some strange things at that scale, so that bit of light could be thought of as both a particle and a wave. As a wave, it passed through all parts of the stencil at once, carrying the "shadow" of the UR with it. The pulse of light then entered a four-inch cell of cesium gas at a warm 100 degrees Celsius, where it was slowed and compressed, allowing many pulses to fit inside the small tube at the same time.

Very Funny Instructional Video -- How To Poke Pole the Monkeyfaced Eel

My cousin, Jeremy (the reincarnation of Ernest Hemmingway, I am certain), lives out by Muir Beach, San Francisco. Today he and some manly-man friends are going fishing for "monkey faced eel." YUCK. But ok, anyway, they're the ones who have to eat the stuff. Now I'm not a fan of eel (can you tell?), and I'm also not a fan of fishing -- I think it's cruel (which is an admittedly hypocritical view, since I still eat fish and I suppose they have to come from somewhere. Oh well, too bad we don't have Soylent Green to eat yet.). But in any case, Jeremy, or "JD" as we all like to call him, is a serious flyfisherman and generally a hunter (not a gatherer) type -- so I guess the prospect of being washed out to sea on the rocks is a small price to pay for the chance of snagging a slimy sea snake, bludgeoning it to death or suffocating it, and then boiling it into some kind of savory eel-stew concoction or something. Jeremy has never actually hunted for monkeyfaced eel and all he knows about the subject he learned from the video below. That's gonna be entertaining. But it's probably going to be even more dramatic given that his innocent wife, Natasha -- who doesn't like to eat anything "cute" (fortunately, monkefaced eel are definitely NOT cute)-- will be standing onshore anxiously watching him risk his life to bring a kill back to cave-clan. Anyway the point of this is that he just sent me an instructional video on How to Poke Pole the Monkeyfaced Eel (click the link for the video of that title on the page this goes to) and it is hilarious. The guy in the video is deadpan serious but completely zany. And the editing is great. You've gotta watch this.

New Simulation Explains Why Extraterrestrial Life Hasn't Found Us Yet

Interesting new study...

It ranks among the most enduring mysteries of the cosmos. Physicists call it the Fermi paradox after the Italian Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi, who, in 1950, pointed out the glaring conflict between predictions that life was elsewhere in the universe - and the conspicuous lack of aliens who have come to visit.

Now a Danish researcher believes he may have solved the paradox. Extra-terrestrials have yet to find us because they haven't had enough time to look.

(via Kurzweil)

My guess is that the numbers might be different however. An alien civilization that could send out probes at one tenth the speed of light would probably be smart enough to create self-replicating probes, in order to generate thousands or millions of probes over time. This might bring the numbers down significantly -- although perhaps still not enough.

This Freaks Me Out... Self-Referential Formula Reproduces Itself...

Umm...... take a look at this formula's output.....

OK. That must be some kind of a cosmic joke.

New Cancer Wonder Drug: No Pharma Will Fund It Because it Can't be Patented

A new "miracle drug" appears to cure many types of cancers in a novel way. But the catch is no pharmaceutical company will fund research in it because it can't be patented! Maybe it's time to start a government agency or a non-profit that funds research and development, and distribution of, wonder drugs that are not patentable, for the public good. They could sell the drugs at cost as a non-profit -- so they would recover their investment, without making a profit. If the Gates Foundation really wanted to help cure the world's diseases this is a model for how they could do it. We can't rely only on for-profit big-pharma ventures to solve all our problems. As this case illustrates, there are potential solutions that are not only effective but also inexpensive, which are falling through the cracks because they are not defensible exclusive commerical product opportunites.

SFWIN This Thursday -- See you There!

Hey everyone, please RSVP if you are planning to come to the first SFWIN event of the year, in San Francisco -- this Thursday, January 18. SFWIN is a gathering of technologists. There are about 200 people in the network and about 50 to 80 usually show up at each event. Please help get the word out by inviting your friends in the industry as well.

This Guy is Funny

Thanks to a recommendation from my folks, I just watched the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Have you ever seen him? He's a Scottish comedian with his own US talk show and his monologues are awesome. He changes personalities on a dime, his jokes are edgy, intellectual, and trippy all at once. It's amazing to watch. He reduces his guests to quivering heaps of stunned laughter. If you haven't seen Craig in action, don't miss it! I'm going to TIVO this from now on. Here are some suggested clips from his site. Here are some examples of his stuff on YouTube.

Note: After watching a lot more Craig Ferguson, I have one criticism: He recycles his jokes! He often tells the same jokes and repeats the same gags. This is actually annoying. I guess it makes sense economically -- he doesn't have to come up with as much new material, but I find it awkward. His jokes are still very funny and good -- but not as funny or good the second, third and fourth time. Craig, if you are listening, pay your joke-writers to work a full week!!!

Slides from SDForum Semantic Web Panel

A few days ago my CTO, Lew Tucker, participated in the SD Forum's panel on the semantic web -- Shrinking the Meaningless Web.

Must-Know Terms for the 21st Century Intellectual

Read this fun article that lists and defines some of the key concepts that every post-singularity transhumanist meta-intellectual should know! (via Kurzweil)

Children of Men Needs to Be Seen

Go see the film Children of Men -- it's a bleak, brilliant, entirely convincing vision of the near future -- and has great action too. Here's a YouTube video that makes the case for why this film should win an award.