JR's Dropbox

An interesting speculative paper I ran across many years ago about the feasibility/eventual likelihood of creating a computer the size of a planet and some information about its likely processing ability.

Author: Robert J. Bradbury
Copyright © 1997-2000

Abstract

Predictable improvements in lithographic methods foretell continued increases in computer processing power. Economic growth and engineering evolution continue to increase the size of objects which can be manufactured and power that can be controlled by humans.  Neuroscience is gradually dissecting the components and functions of the structures in the brain.  Advances in computer science and programming methodologies are increasingly able to emulate aspects of human intelligence.  Continued progress in these areas leads to a convergence which results in megascale superintelligent thought machines.  These machines, referred to as Matrioshka Brains¹, consume the entire power output of stars (~10²⁶ W), consume all of the useful construction material of a solar system (~10²⁶ kg), have thought capacities limited by the physics of the universe and are essentially immortal.

A common practice encountered in literature discussing the search for extraterrestrial life is the perspective of assuming and applying human characteristics and interests to alien species.  Authors limit themselves by assuming the technologies available to aliens are substantially similar or only somewhat greater than those we currently possess.  These mistakes bias their conclusions, preventing us from recognizing signs of alien intelligence when we see it.  They also misdirect our efforts in searching for such intelligence.  We should start with the laws on which our particular universe operates and the limits they impose on us.  Projections should be made to determine the rate at which intelligent civilizations, such as ours, approach the limits imposed by these laws.  Using these time horizons, laws and limits, we may be better able to construct an image of what alien intelligence may be like and how we ourselves may evolve.

Not sure who they are or what else they sing, but they did a good job with Amazing Grace in one of the Roman colliseums.

Didn’t recognize the video provider, so wasn’t sure whether tumblr would show it.  Here’s a link to their video page.

If you like Amazing Grace, it’s worth a listen.

This guy cracks me up.  Apparently just twittering whatever his old man says to him that day.

Recent Examples:

1. “I turn the kitchen faucet on and the shower burns you, yes, I get it…No, I’m not gonna stop, I’m just saying yes, I get that concept.”
2. “Why the f*ck would I want to live to 100? I’m 73 and shit’s starting to get boring. By the way, there’s no money left when I go, just fyi.”
3. ‘You don’t know shit, and you’re not shit. Don’t take that the wrong way, that was meant to cheer you up.”

Kinda reminds me of my old man, Gawd rest his soul.

What is RepRap?

Look at your computer setup and imagine that you hooked up a 3D printer. Instead of printing on bits of paper this 3D printer makes real, robust, mechanical parts. To give you an idea of how robust, think Lego bricks and you’re in the right area. You could make lots of useful stuff, but interestingly you could also make most of the parts to make another 3D printer. That would be a machine that could copy itself.

RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is the practical self-copying 3D printer shown on the right - a self-replicating machine. This 3D printer builds the parts up in layers of plastic. This technology already exists, but the cheapest commercial machine would cost you about €30,000. And it isn’t even designed so that it can make itself. So what the RepRap team are doing is to develop and to give away the designs for a much cheaper machine with the novel capability of being able to self-copy (material costs are about €500). That way it’s accessible to small communities in the developing world as well as individuals in the developed world. Following the principles of the Free Software Movement we are distributing the RepRap machine at no cost to everyone under the GNU General Public Licence. So, if you have a RepRap machine, you can use it to make another and give that one to a friend…

I have just run across a blog I’d like to spend more time at:  Den of Geek

They had this great artile on corridors as portrayed in science fiction movies, which I found to be surprisingly insightful.  See excerpt:

“Corridors in science-fiction movies. I love them.

“I wasted too much of my childhood and youth imitating and developing the superb production sketches of Ron Cobb, Syd Mead, Ralph McQuarrie and many others. I walked round Elstree studios collecting precious vacuum-formed sections of cloud-city corridor from The Empire Strikes Back, some months after principal photography stopped. I had reams of sci-fi corridors worked out.

“Corridors make science-fiction believable, because they’re so utilitarian by nature - really they’re just a conduit to get from one (often overblown) set to another. So if any thought or love is put into one, if the production designer is smart enough to realise that corridors are the foundation on which larger sets are ‘sold’ to viewers, movie magic is close at hand.

At any rate, it should be obvious, here, what might attract a sci-fi geek like myself to such a blog.

A few samples from the Aviation section:

• Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (died ca. 1003–1010), a Muslim Kazakh Turkic scholar from Farab, attempted to fly using two wooden wings and a rope. He leapt from the roof of a mosque in Nijabur and flew for some time before eventually falling to his death.
  
• Otto Lilienthal (1848 – 1896), died the day after crashing one of his hang gliders.
• Percy Pilcher, English aviation pioneer died flying a waterlogged glider when potential investors had been invited to watch.
• Franz Reichelt (1800s – 1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance he would test it first with a dummy.

Excerpt:

“I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don’t have to be ourselves when we don’t want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I’ve seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ.”