Archive for the ‘Raves’ Category

Welcome to tomorrow: Organic Studpidity vs Artificial Intelligence

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Posted 01 Jul 2010 — by Harry
Category Futurism, Rants, Raves

When humans started teaching computers about evolution, we sealed our fate. The machines will rise. It’s survival of the fittest, and the fastest to adapt controls the situation…

He will be back.

When us humans write instructions for machines to undertake simple, repetitive human tasks we expect it to be easy. It is not. Even a simple activity like catching a bus requires us to make choices based upon so many variables: What is that noise? Am I awake? Am I late? How late? What’s wrong with my alarm? Is this really the time to be fiddling with my alarm? Maybe it’s set to 24-hour time? Who is this calling me? Should I answer my boss who’s calling because I’m late for work but I haven’t left yet because my alarm didn’t go off and I stayed home to write a blog about it?

The knowables are: When is the train coming? How far is it from here to the train station? Will it be quicker to catch a bus or walk? What is the statistical relationship between chances of missing a bus versus the distances between bus stops if walking towards the station? Perhaps a computer program could do it… But the dogs, the rain, the cute girl in the stairwell, the forgotten key and the millions of other variables make it all too confusing to type about. Read More

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Rajasthan’s 5 legged cows – TOI article

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Posted 07 May 2010 — by Harry
Category Raves, Travel

I wrote this (well most of it) recently for a Times of India special on Rajasthan

Holy Cow and a B’wood Gora.

Enjoy it!

Neither smiles nor turbans come any bigger

Rajasthan was exactly what I’d expected of India, the postcard image that had been romanticised for so long: Long rolling deserts, blistering heat, tenacious religious fervour and broad, welcoming smiles. I rode to Udaipur at around dusk on my Enfield, and revelled in winding up through the steep streets (my bike loves an incline) gazing at the ancient buildings. I was so captured by the sight, craning my neck upwards, that I almost ran right up an elephant’s rear.

Pushkar was amazing – the heat was oppressive such that almost everyone that ventured into the sunlight was rendered unconscious by its harsh glare. The streets were deserted, and only the most legitimate holy babas remained – all of the scamsters had left with the tourists, in search of temperate climate. I even saw a five-legged cow, that was far holier than those from my farm in Australia. I have developed a strange relationship with cows after being in North India, where the Brahmin bulls stand taller than me – and I’m 6 foot 3! I’d grown on a cattle farm in Australia where the black cows we knew were terrified of us from birth, it was amazing to be able to touch and feed these holy beasts as they nonchalantly stood in the middle of the chaotic roads. They really are more intelligent than I’d guessed. The cows in Australia know that they are food, and yet here they are Gods – and again they know it.

5th legs: Particularly useful for cows suffering from vertigo or alcoholism

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Dear Harry: Do I look fat in this?

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Posted 22 Mar 2010 — by Harry
Category NLP, Raves

Dear Harry,
If a girl has bought a new pair of pants that she is really excited about, but you think they don’t look as great as she does, do you tell her that?”

- Sensitive

Well Sensitive, you pose an interesting question: Should I lie to a girl that has asked for my opinon? No. Do I? Occasionally – when I’m being cowardly.

There was this psychotherapist dude called Frank Farrelly who invented a thing he called Provocative Therapy. It’s bloody genius. It uses brutal honesty, humor and positive intent to empower people, give them perspective, and allow them to change.

The idea that you’re protecting someone’s feelings by lying to them is bogus. Be honest. You lie to make your own life easier. If someone close to you asks you questions and expects lies as answers, then they are all stuffed in the head and it’s your job to break that pattern. It’s not doing them any good.

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Why you should be excited about ice on the moon

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Posted 03 Mar 2010 — by Harry
Category Raves

NASA has revealed that their fancy Synthetic Aperture Radar has found what appears to be 1.3 trillion pounds of frozen water on the moon. The Indian Chandrayaan-1 mission slammed part of it’s rocket into a crater to analyze the impact’s ejected matter for signs of H2O, and they found lots – around 600 million cubic metres. This turns the possibility of a permanent moon base into a tangible reality.

The moon is rich with helium-3, which is valuable for fusion power production. It’s possible that we’ll be able to make power plants that run off the stuff that will be cheap to set up and easy to maintain because they’ll be simpler technologically, which also means they’ll have a higher conversion efficiency which means more bang for your buck, way less waste and almost no air or water pollution. How exciting in a time of doom and gloom and chilly winters in Europe!

Helium 3 comes from solar winds, and is incredibly rare on earth. It can’t get through the atmosphere in any quantity, and the stuff that got here during Earth’s formation is too decayed now. The moon’s surface is rich with helium-3 and there have been many plans to set up a moon base to harvest the stuff.

A major obstacle for a human-operated moon base has been the humanly requirement for water. Most other needs can be met with occasional trips from earth, but there is a lot of weight associated with water. A human needs nom noms and hence plant watering, and their hydration (drinkies) requirements require water, and that had put the moon mine idea on hold.

Ice reserves now bring us one massive step closer to building a permanent moon base, which I find rather exciting. Next we need a space elevator and we’ll be well on our way to becoming a Type 2 Civilization.

So be excited, damn it! We might just get off this rock after all…

More links with more (and less) scientific language:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/03/-nasa-finds-millions-of-tons-of-water-ice-found-at-moons-north-pole.html

http://www.thedailyreel.com/?p=4927

http://cputer.com/2010/03/03/600-million-metric-tons-of-ice-found-on-moons-north-pole-surface-could-be-enough-to-supply-base-space/

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My name is Khan – A Firang Review

8 Comments
Posted 21 Feb 2010 — by Harry
Category Bollywood, Rants, Raves

I went and saw:

Ahh, Dharma productions – good on you! You made a film about a billion times better than ‘From Paris with Love’ – SHAME ON YOU TRAVOLTA! Naughty mega-star! Read More

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