Posted in Art, Meta, tagged Art, nodebox, procedural, python on February 29, 2008 | No Comments »
So, today’s little bit of creativity comes as a side-effect of a presentation I’m working on. It’s a procedurally-drawn rotating chunk of partially transparent text, pseudo-randomized in configuration, and re-seeded until satisfactory. Oh, and I tacked on a dash of twisty text to get some use out of it.
Posted in Devices, Musing, Science-ish, tagged Bacteria, Cells, Devices, Nanotechnology, Vehicles on February 28, 2008 | No Comments »
I wonder how we could apply the microscopic innovation of ciliary locomotion to macro-scale problems? Cilia are those tiny tendrils on some bacteria that gyrate back and forth, propelling the cell in whatever direction it pleases. However, this mechanism is only feasible when the environment around the organism has such a high viscosity that the [...]
Posted in Business, Devices, tagged Architecture, Devices, Infrasound, Phenonmena, Productivity on February 27, 2008 | No Comments »
Certain types of infrasound have been blamed for inducing chilling unease, hallucinations, and general discomfort among people. Some experts have even gone so far as to stick infrasound with the blame for ghost-sightings and mass hysteria. Some of this is probably hype, but given the broad number of possible sources of infrasound, especially in urban [...]
Posted in Computing, tagged Devices, Computing, Social, Education, Image Processing on February 26, 2008 | No Comments »
Computer vision could be a supplemental solution to the issue of computer security among very young or functionally illiterate computer users.
Little kids and illiterate (and/or info-tech unskilled) adults pose a unique challenge to the world of computer security. Remembering, frequently rotating, and pseudo-randomizing one’s passwords is tough enough for computer-educated folks without the additional [...]
Posted in Computing, Meta, tagged Computing, Innovation, Programming, Quantification, TRIZ on February 26, 2008 | No Comments »
TRIZ is a nifty collection of problem-solving / innovation-aiding techniques, and I’d like to see if one could find the proper programming-world equivalent to the many physical-object-centric portions of the TRIZ system.
Once the equivalents are properly defined, perhaps one could quantify the ease of innovative programming in any given language based on the ease of [...]
Posted in Business, Computing, Follow-Up, tagged Communication, Devices, Economics, Internet, Money, Virtual Receipts on February 25, 2008 | No Comments »
As mentioned in an earlier post, I think that having some sort of personal inventory application would be the bee’s knees. One way to make such software more applicable to “real life” would be to introduce information feedback from offline purchases. Virtual receipts for real products.
This would be relevant any for purchase [...]
Posted in Art, Musing, tagged Art, Mathematics, Perceptions, Social on February 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I’m wrestling with the nebulous definition of art. Its odd ineffability has me in a quarter-nelson, but I’m considering grabbing tight and rolling the thing over with an equation.
I wouldn’t be so pretentious as to claim to generate a universal definition for art, but perhaps with the right parameterization, we can make a formula set [...]
Posted in Computing, tagged Algorithmic Analysis, Geography, Maps, Transportation on February 24, 2008 | No Comments »
An idea for a system to calculate “expected effort” for a given journey. This would require access to a solid geographical/infrastructural database (I’m looking at you, Google Maps), as well as input from the user regarding travel timing and methodology.
In short, it would be neat to find some way of working out how much [...]
Posted in Silly, tagged Computing, Epidemiology, Medical, Silly, Zombies on February 24, 2008 | No Comments »
Has anyone ever completed an epidemiological study/simulation examining the potential effects of a disease that behaves in a manner comparable to that described by modern horror zombie movies? There’s some wiggle room in the precise characteristics of any zombie-causing pathology, possibly leading to wide geekly contention regarding the study’s assumptions, but I’m sure it would [...]
Posted in Computing, Science-ish, tagged Analogies, Computing, Education, Internet, Social on February 23, 2008 | No Comments »
When I’m explaining something, or when someone is cramming some new thought into my head, I’m frequently impressed by the power of a good analogy. Analogies definitely help explanations, but making up a good analogy on the spot is sometimes troublesome.
A properly constructed database of concepts and their relationships could be used to generate analogies [...]
Posted in Musing, Science-ish, tagged Angiogenesis, Bioengineering, Cancer, Medical, Tissue Engineering on February 21, 2008 | No Comments »
As I consider the the essential challenges of tissue engineering, particularly tissue regrowth, I have settled on a few key cellular capabilities desirable for a regrowth-aiding cell population — at least partial independence from extant environmental signals limiting growth, proliferation at rates beyond those typical for that tissue, and integration into environments which are at [...]
Posted in Devices, Science-ish, Silly, tagged Comedy, Devices, Energy, Lists, Silly on February 21, 2008 | No Comments »
Energy is a big topic these days, and I have to say I’ve run into some rotting bad ideas. Let’s try to top ‘em.
Photovoltaic panels in mirrors. Surely you don’t need all of the light reflected off your mirror to preen in the morning? By adding these indoor solar panel [...]
Posted in Art, Computing, tagged Computing, Social, Silly, Speculation, Image Processing, Photography, Futurism on February 20, 2008 | No Comments »
Once face recognition technology is reasonably accurate (and we’re getting there soon), what’s next?
I predict the use of facial analysis software to guess at lineage, to gather physiological data, to quantify emotional expressivity, to deconvolve the little gossipy details of plastic surgery, digital touch-ups, and makeup worn on a given day for celebrities.
How about video? [...]
Posted in Devices, Science-ish, tagged Communication, Engineering, Hypersonic, Scramjet on February 19, 2008 | No Comments »
One of the problems surrounding the development of in-atmosphere hypersonic travel is communication. Specifically, when a vehicle gets up to hypersonic speeds, the atmosphere around it develops a variety of weird characteristics that includes (for starters) crazy heat, gas ionization or dissociation, and unusual airflow. The end result is a glowing mass of [...]
Posted in Computing, Quantification, Society & Politics, tagged Maverick, Politics, Quantification, Spin on February 18, 2008 | No Comments »
A lot of politicians like to claim the title of “maverick” — implying that they are someone who is willing to step outside the bounds of business-as-usual politics to accomplish things according to their own principles. Self-marketing and image manipulation aside, there ought to be a way to test such a claim. I [...]
