a mind behind DeepMind

Watching a recently-posted video, listening to DeepMind co-founder Shane Legg discuss the arrival of Artificial General Intelligence, and two comments stand out as inspiration.

“…we really need every faculty in every department that you have in your university to take this seriously and think, what does it mean for education? Right. What does it mean for law? What does it mean for engineering, mathematics, city planning, literature, politics, economics, finance, medicine?”

Cannot help but wonder: What does it mean for the independent developer? How will the classical tinkerer harness this power?

Later, his optimism was clear:

“And I think there’s an incredible opportunity here to…just like the Industrial Revolution, and it sort of took the harnessing of energy to do all sorts of mechanical work, which created a lot more wealth in society.”

There is speculation over some of the larger problems to be addressed with AGI; but, I wonder what kinds of smaller, incidental discoveries will emerge? (Given the early powering of machinery during the Industrial Revolution, who could have predicted the arrival of Corn Flakes?)

We need the best ideas to bubble up to the surface. It might be as basic as “Give me a robot that washes the dishes.”

What do YOU hope to see ten years from now?

walking the pig, too

Doc Hollywood walking the pig

Full day occupied with digital pursuits. Has not happened in a long, long time. WordPress is still rocking the Interwebs.

Conversation found Daniel Voyager, AI Austin, and an old friend…Wilson Huckleberry, all seen strolling memory lanes.

Surfed waves reading guides for Gemini and ChatGPT, learning AI art styles at AI Art Kingdom.

Today’s music included: Groove Salad at Soma.FM, classical survey continued…Sergei Prokofiev bringing light to mind (born in Eastern Ukraine late in the 19th C., “Kijé’s Wedding” from his famous Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60 was used in Doc Hollywood…maybe when Doc was walking his pig).

Even helped to patch up a Llama.

 

tree-planting drones

UK company Dendra plans to plant 500 billion trees by 2060 – using AI and drones.

(from World Economic Forum)

(thanks, Mr. Gibson)

a good book

When high school seemed a prison, skipping class was easy.  Our school’s librarian tolerated those who—with or without a hall pass—kept their nose in a book. (He must have permission to be here, he’s reading.)

There was a large American Heritage Dictionary, prominent on a Franklin book stand. Flipping those pages, one word always led to another. Newly peculiar ideas wove rich narratives of thought and action, history and perspective, meaning and wonder.

That book became a greater thing. Not just a resource; a touchstone.

touch•stone

1. A piece of fine-grained schist or jasper formerly used for testing alloys of gold
2. A test of authenticity or value: standard

[It’s happening again.]

au•then•tic

1. Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance or belief

Fortunate, for me, someone putting that book on its pedestal. Trust, reliance, and belief…dictionaries hold buried treasure.

making waves

new phone + new library + new home + 24/7 Internet = new attitude

puzzling over content curation (i.e., Building a More Honest Internet)

here is some web candy…

FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility (link)

 

Mediated Matter Group designs robotically fabricated structure using organic matter

some sites stop me

Few criteria jostled themselves in deciding which apartment to rent, two years ago.  A major factor was proximity to public transportation.

Google Maps aerial image, short walk to bus line in blue. 

Arriving early to ensure each bus is met, considerable time is passed at either of two stops.

Google Maps street view, two bus stops in view. 

Realizing that this would be a frequent thing, early on, I thought of ways to make use of the time. Sorting that day’s chores, considering the days to come, and reflecting on grace soon became rituals.  Observing the breath came next, watching for practiced calm and clear mind to pull up to the curb.

One day, the Catalina Mountains peeked through the neighborhood.

View north from eastbound bus stop, Catalina Mountains in the distance. 

And soon after that, sitting at the other stop, my eyes fixed on a true marvel: one of the tallest palms in Tucson.

 

Now, on noticing these things, I am quickly transported to a quiet place of mind and it is clear:

I have reached the bonus round.

ragamuffin for mere mortals

Stumbled upon another video of Michael Hedges, here demonstrating “Ragamuffin” (DADGAD tuning), should mere mortals wish to emulate.

Here, in real time.

return to a garden of love

Where music creates a soundtrack for our lives, it seems one song came along for me during a time of true wonder. Each time it plays, the melody takes me to a “Garden of Love”.

The lyrics, in French.

Jardin d’amour, que tu es grand!
Ou je vais promener ma mie
dans un jardin couvert de fleurs,
ou je vais promener mon cœur.

Ma mie me fit un bouquet.
Je ne sais ce qu’il signifie,
si c’est d’amour ou de regret
ou bien pour me donner mon congé.

Tous les oiseaux qui sont dans le ciel
ne sont pas de la même mère,
ne sont pas tous pour un seul chasseur
et ma mie pour un seul serviteur.

Elle me fit un bouquet
et je ne sais ce qu’il signifie,
si c’est d’amour ou de regret
ou bien pour me donner mon congé.

Ma mie me fit un bouquet.
Je ne sais ce qu’il signifie,
si c’est d’amour ou de regret
ou bien pour me donner mon congé.

And translated.

Garden of Love, you’re great!
Or I’ll walk my love
in a garden of flowers,
or I’ll walk my heart.

My love gave me a bouquet.
I do not know what it means,
if it is love or regret
or to give me my leave.

All birds that are in heaven
are not the same mother,
not all for one hunter
and my love for one servant.

She gave me a bouquet
and I know what it means,
if it is love or regret
or to give me my leave.

My love gave me a bouquet.
I do not know what it means,
if it is love or regret
or give me my leave.

 

I first discovered Pierre Bensusan (official website) by looking behind the tune “Bensusan” by Michael Hedges, on Aerial Boundaries (“one of the finest acoustic guitar albums ever made”—Daniel Gioffre at AllMusic) .

Tucson students to rally in Phoenix joining worldwide climate protest

 

Greta Thunberg (Wikipedia) outside of The Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament
The poster reads “School Strike for Climate Action”

 

Arizona students will take part in a School Strike for Climate Action (@StrikeClimate) this Friday (March 15th).

“…they expect some students to travel to Phoenix from their schools in Flagstaff and Tucson”

The event will coincide with a worldwide rally by which students aim to inspire action from government officials. The campaign began in Sweden where Greta Thunberg (pictured) began to occupy the steps outside of parliament (The Guardian).

#FridaysForFuture #SchoolStrike4Climate

Facing Hard Truths

America’s newest path to enlightenment – Hard Truths America

A friend has resumed efforts to lead folks to The Truth. Tardy from the course, this post is an attempt to get back in his good graces.

And face the dilemma he has created.

Because I suffer from ICA (Internet commitment anxiety), I am his vexed by his invitation to follow the blog…

“to show enough activity…to show up in Google searches”

So, you see, my reluctance to engage with the Blogspot domain seemingly leaves my good friend hanging out there in virtual reality.

However, since this blog is indexed by Google*, and suspecting that Google assigns a greater weight to links from indexed sites than it does for any “follows” or comments, this post is the least I can do.

* Witness the results when searching for moose-faw azwaldo.

Grateful for the invitation, Sir. Now, it’s back to 5:21 p.m.