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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Phillip Wait

Phillip Wait

Synchronicity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 1 views

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    "Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance."
Phillip Wait

The Technium - 0 views

shared by Phillip Wait on 21 Sep 09 - Cached
  • The technium of today reflects 8,000 years of almost daily incremental increases in its embedded knowledge.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      i'm not entirely sure what the technium is but this seems to make sense. as time has progressed through the ages, we have looked to the differant innovations of that era for guidance and better understanding of the world around us. now more than ever we can turn to a multitude of sources for our quizical needs and crude understandings.... either that or i'm making that bit up (",)
  • Although it may not dominate matter's behavior, information must rest in the essence of matter. That's a lot less intuitive. When we bang a knee against a table leg, it sure doesn't feel like we knocked into information. But that's the idea many physicists are formulating.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      if you put information onto a flashdrive and threw it at someone, that could be perceived as being hit by information. Or hitting the with a rolled up newspaper! seriously, i can see the arguement, but i can't see the point of making the arguement. in the world of computing, old news is no news.
  • But why does the technium so rarely go backwards? Why are forgotten calculators, weapons, and medical encyclopedia so uncommon? Why is there a one-way directionality to technical progress, so that in its broadest outlines it inexorably moves towards the more complex with so little retreat?
  • ...4 more annotations...
    • Phillip Wait
       
      because sometimes you only need a simple calculator, instead of a graphing calculator. or a pistol instead of and assault rifle, or a syringe instead of kidney dialisis machine. just because some things aren't quite as advanced as other new as some of their newer more modern counterparts, doesn't mean they still can't be usefull.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      because sometimes you only need a simple calculator, instead of a graphing calculator. or a pistol instead of and assault rifle, or a syringe instead of kidney dialisis machine. just because some things aren't quite as advanced as other new as some of their newer more modern counterparts, doesn't mean they still can't be usefull.
  • To be honest, I used to feel the same way. History counseled that dynamite could be used to carve tunnels or blow up schools. Insecticides could boost crops or poison drinking water. GPS satellites can guide you if you are lost, or track you down with no place to hide. Surely the sum value of new invention was up to us. And the idea that we choose the valence of technology's charge is very appealing to our egos. But it does not match the evidence of technology's rise, nor its deep roots in life and the cosmos.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      as demonic as it is to blow up a school, there is a valid point to be made here. technology in the right hands can be used to do alot of good in the world. in the wrong hands, it can be deadly
Phillip Wait

Idea Lab - Becoming Screen Literate - NYTimes.com - 0 views

    • Phillip Wait
       
      i can't believe there are that many photos of the golden gate bridge, its a waste of film/memory. take 200,000 photos of me from any position, now theres something worth looking at. Seriously though, i think there is also software that can analyze all those photos and use them to make an accurate 3D generated model...now that to me is cool.
  • We are people of the screen now. Last year, digital-display manufacturers cranked out four billion new screens, and they expect to produce billions more in the coming years. That’s one new screen each year for every human on earth.
  • In 2007, 600 feature films were released in the United States, or about 1,200 hours of moving images
  • ...4 more annotations...
    • Phillip Wait
       
      and only 10 of them were any good... seriously, when was the last time anyone came away from a movie totally dumb founded? i think that movies today (along with other media such as video games) are too focussed on the special effects rather than the actual content... a complete waste of time and money.
  • Flickr offers more than 200,000 images of the Golden Gate Bridge alone. Every conceivable angle, lighting condition and point of view of the Golden Gate Bridge has been photographed and posted. If you want to use an image of the bridge in your video or movie, there is really no reason to take a new picture of this bridge.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      as a technical feat this is impressive... although it does raise an important question, why would anyone want to go anywhere anymore? just look it up online... foreign countries/cultures will soon be accessable through the web/3D imaging and other forms of media, some would say it makes the world accessable... i think it makes your world alot smaller.
    • Phillip Wait
       
      in this day and age it is incredible to think that technology has come so far. soon we'll be streaming music at 35000feet, or downloading movies on the subway to our cell phones... the rate at which technology is progressing, its no wonder that production is so high.
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