Feels like there is an overlap in God, Truth, and Ethics. Maybe, I have different definitions for these terms.
Was thinking I would find Christian links, not Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi site
The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Truth is God Excerpts
Archive for the ‘Ideas’ Category
Quick Notes
Monday, May 4th, 2009Weather Aware Google Maps
Friday, March 13th, 2009I’m plotting my course from AMA to TUC. The weather is bad, so speeds will be limited. It would be nice if Google Maps, for driving directions, was weather aware and could maybe suggest routes.
iPod for Mom?
Thursday, March 12th, 2009I’ve repeatedly asked my mom if the Texas Blind Services has recommendations on cell phones. It seems like some technologies have passed them by. The cell phone I picked out before she went to school worked out great. She was definitely able to use it, even better than Grandma uses her cell phone. It’s a voice command phone designed to be operated handsfree by the business professional.
School introduced her to MP3s, but again they had not recommendation for a player for the blind. I was very pleased to see that Apple introduced a new iPod Shuffle yesterday. The Shuffle is Apple’s low end iPod. It has buttons and no screen. I think they have kept the size limited to 2 gig, because more songs are not manageable without a screen to display playlists.
Yesterday’s shuffle is 4 gig and introduces a new voice interface and drastically fewer buttons to deal with the increased capacity. The headset has next/previous buttons and the power switch has three positions; on, in order, and shuffle. It’s also smaller; the size of a regular house key in size and thickness.
Seems pretty good for $80. If it works for Mom it would be worth quite a bit more.
Semantic Philosophy Engine
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008So, I’m catching up on philosophy lately. This is a very large field that it would take years of diligent study just to gain an overview.
I know it’s not reasonable to study the cliff notes. You need to read the author and get a feel. And there are other issues; language drift, translations from the works original language which of course has drift, unique usage of words that doesn’t match the dictionary definition, poor writing ability, and more issues I’m sure. Then there are non-philosophical texts, fiction, that depend upon a certain idea. A kind of submarine philosophical proponent. Some streams of thought overlap or dovetail yet the authors never knew of each other. Or their language is just different enough to make them seem unique.
I imagine these arguments are structured or partially so having a family tree. My interest is in generating a road map, reducing the number of authors to read, highlighting tourist traps, and actual scenic vistas. I’m reluctant to trust this job to a person. Each has biases and it would take a considerable amount of time.
My favorite tool is the computer and I think that what I describe is a semantic engine. Most of the work these days on semantics focuses on web search, but I think this is a dramatic waste.
Semantics is the meaning of words. It’s relative is syntax, which is the spelling and grammar of words. Computers don’t understand semantics very well. English is a shitty language in a lot of ways. One word has multiple meanings and the other words, which also have multiple meanings, must be used to figure out what is intended. In a way, we are all computers that have been left on for 10+ years. So, it’s not much surprise that a device with inherent weaknesses that’s a few minutes or even weeks old can’t keep up.
What I want is a box to which I can input text and it will compare the sentence structure and word usage, compare to other related texts, and generate a detailed comparison. I want the computer to read the text and tell me what else is like it. If an argument is a rabbit hole I don’t care for I want to it to warn me before I spend all that time reading it. The computer can do in minutes or hours what would take me days or months. This is all pattern analysis on a huge scale.
Eventually, I want it to do more. It should “understand”. I don’t know what this means exactly. Perhaps, generate cliff notes of any text with links to other texts that seem related. To place a text in relation to other texts that are similar. A big one is finding similar texts that are unrelated in time and place.
Eh, I’m getting sloppy in the specs. I think this could be useful to people in general, as a research age, plagarism detector, redundant text detector,.. I don’t know.
Our society has an increasingly unreadable quantity of text available. We could use a tool to help navigate this vast sea of information. Teaching computers to understand language and navigate the memes seems the only way to do this.
Voyeirism vs Creation as a Path to Understanding
Monday, December 8th, 2008It seems we are getting to a stage of understanding biology, which values all the aspects of the entity. ie there is not trash or useless portions of DNA. They are just not understood yet. I could see this technique spreading to other areas of science though nothing is a intent focused as an organism.
The next step would be in creating organisms ourselves. We can already do this with viruses and by injecting prepared DNA strands into prepared cells. Only by understanding what choices are available; by asking how would I do make the organism perform X (protect from disease, construct a flagella, reproduce,..); are we able to really understand the organism.
Within each decision are hundreds or unchosen paths. There is usually a reason for choosing and not_choosing them. Much more learning is contained within the empty design decisions than the fullfilled ones.
On Tiny Computers
Sunday, November 16th, 2008I saw a comment made by one of the phone company CEOs on a commercial implying that a smart phone is all you need. This seems stupid on the face of it. The screen is 3-4 inches big and the keyboard takes up the screen, uses a 12 key pad, or has a tiny flip out keyboard. Of course, the CPU horsepower is very limited due to the demands of battery life.
What if these things were fixed. Some can be fixed today. Imagine a device like an iPhone, which is a tiny computer running Mac OS X, that plugs into a dock like many mobile phones use for charging. The dock plugs into a keyboard/mouse and a monitor much like laptops dock.
The CPU is still very limited so only web browsing and basic office tasks are the fence. This is all most people need. Hit a price point of $600 for a phone computer with $200 for the dock/monitor and you can bring real value to the use. Tack on internet access through the cell phone side for $40-$60/mo.
This is an enticing device. It’s much easier to travel with, but can still expand to the full usability of a computer and you remove one standard gadget. Actually, two since the phones todya come with cameras. Workers who travel and use the computer for remote data entry might find this invaluable.
Dual Core 2 Cube?
Sunday, October 26th, 2008I have the Cube and Mac Mini laid bare and I think that I could fit two Mac Mini’s in an old Cube case. Two whole computers in a cute little package. This is just an idea. Spitballing.
Take the Mac Mini’s out of their case and they fit in a Cube pretty well. The Cube has lots of extra room in the DVD bay and the big heat dissipating fins in the core are not necessary. Dito for the full size 3.5″ hard drive and video card/logic board. Face one Mini in the DVD slot and the other where the logic board is. In between provide a 2 computer KVM. The bottom of the Cube has to be cut heavily to let all the ports out. The second Mac Mini does not need it’s DVD player, so that makes it even smaller. It would be great if there were a way for both Mini to share a single hard drive. This makes the second Mini unbelievably tiny.
Either the KVM or VNC could control the other Mini. Which leads into why. This seems to be to be a good background processing machine, like transcoding or running a game VM. The first Mini could be a media center or web machine, where the second one is a game machine. The biggest attraction is the attention it would get. I think a lot of people would like to see two tiny computers inside the case of the previous generation of tiny computers.
Cost is annoying and the biggest obstacle. Say, $200 for a Cube or replacement case then $400-$600 times 2 for the Mac Minis. So, $1400 without cutting and assembling. You can have a good MacBook for that cost. Much faster and better video than the Minis.
Simple Environmental Acts of Cheapness
Monday, September 29th, 2008There are some fairly simple and relatively cheap policies we implement to decrease the environmental cost of our lifestyles.
Subsidy to put solar panels on homes in the range of 25%-50%. It takes about $5K-$10K to put a solar panel array on a home that covers ~80% of it’s daytime energy usage. Making electricity local to its use drastically reduces the power lost over lines distributing it, reduces the need for transmission lines, and the need for those high power lines that cause cancer in kids. Solar Panels are a dream invention for home owners. All other methods of electrical generation are quite complex. Panels only require installation.
Federal law revoking state laws (not optimal) to grass roots removal of state laws (best) that forbid homeowners selling power to the grid at rates comparable to the power company. These laws exist for one purpose to remove competition. We need more competition since the power companies have not taken the lead in environmentally responsible power generation.
Banning or phase out of chemicals with long or unknowably long life times. Particularly, nerve toxins (for animals) and general plant toxins (for weeds). This is particularly of concern for home owning consumers who might choose to douse land with such chemicals upon which children might unknowingly play.
A group of short term tasked with assisting homeowners for low cost or free with analysis of the energy efficiency of home. Cheap methods of sealing up holes in attics, attic fans, insulation, timers, etc. should be the most common solutions. A third party, not the electric/gas company or contractor, is most useful here. This group might produce the most benefits for least cost.
Tax or penalize homes made with current needlessly wasteful low energy efficiency standards. Homes can be constructed of comparable cost to modern homes that do not need air conditioning or heating. Most homes today are built of habit not forethought. We could make a new habit.
Areas of desert or drought should be encouraged to pass building codes that encourage water catchment systems. All new homes should be built with such systems. At the very least the lawn can be watered with rainwater to offset the drain on reservoirs.
Feedlots produce huge quantities of smelly methane (I’m looking at you Hereford, TX) that could be captured and bottled to be used locally or sold for vehicles. This is money to the feedlot, reduced environmental impact (methane is a greenhouse gas), and no smell. Drilling is not required, production is continuous, and a renewable resource is used.
Forbid the construction of single cycle gas power plants which are 25%-30% efficient when a combined cycle plant can be 40%-50% efficient. Both burn the same quantity of gas, the single cycle lets the energy go into the atmosphere as heat, wasting a vital nonrenewable resource and raising the prices of gas on the energy markets. The only difference is in capital cost to build the plant, which over the lifetime (30-50 years) is tiny in comparison to the cost of fuel burned.
Longer term..
Require companies who make products consider their whole life cycle. When transportation was a horse; fuel, waste, and maintenance were close together. As a car; fuel is in the ground, waste goes in the air, and maintenance goes to both. The car company is freed from truly considering the cost of the car, which should rightfully include gathering up all the emissions and rendering them inert. Cars and many other items are cheap only, because the public (including those who do not participate) pays for the cleanup of the exhaust and harmful chemicals.
The energy economy should be diverse and rich. Cars that run on gas, gasoline, electricity, diesel, and the ever fabled myth of hydrogen. Electric cars should be preferred because they can further diversify energy that comes from a power grid based on solar, coal, gas, and wind power.
Phase out plastic to something that will degrade in a knowable timespan. This material is too ubiquitous to remove, but we go too far. Plastic silverware and plates don’t need to be plastic. Other materials can be made to fill the gaps.
Conversely, develop a microbe that can digest plastic like wood fibers. This will cost in maintenance to many, many objects and industries, but odd corners of the world won’t fill up with junk.
Anyone else have any bright ideas?
Ideas for the website
Wednesday, September 17th, 20081.
News based on separate, specific list of RSS feeds, combined to appear as “one” hourly, daily newspaper. A place to go for recent Bicycle news. Something I could use. A top 5 snippets on the sidebar.
Mashing Up Feeds Using Yahoo Pipes
2.
News from many feeds filtered based on certain keywords to sort or generate a new feed. A list of keywords shift certain stories to the top. For example, to get the release notifications, defects, betas, changes, etc.
3.
Making a post, like an essay, stick around longer. Some content is just commentary or transient, “look my new MacBook Pro came in” But a few articles are longer and well thought out.
Googlepedia?
Thursday, May 15th, 2008As a first step to fulfilling that mission, Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a new approach to online search that took root in a Stanford University dorm room and quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world’s largest search engine — an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second.
Making the information findable is one step, but it’s not enough. At some point scanning in physical data from books, magazines, etc. will have covered most of what is available. The next step is aggregating or centralizing information, sorted by relevance. This is likely when information in data sources is roughly stable and blogs, research, current events, etc. are mostly the new sources.
At first the internet had little relevant information. Then people joined the network and contributed their local information and participated in the greater whole. The initial problem of the web was lack of contributors. The method of finding data was just as successful using URLs or human evaluated directories (Yahoo). Then the next problem became too much information and finding or sorting by relevance. This is Google.
The next problem is organization or aggregation. To go beyond finding one or two or ten sources to finding a one reliable source. I would suggest a combination of computer generated search results of Google with human filtering like the Yahoo directory of 1997.
This then transitions like Yahoo to Google. Imagine a Google result page based on search results, but with a good degree of stability. The page itself contains content, 10 lines instead of 2-3, plus links out to more or the original sources. A sort of computer generated Wikipedia.
Content is generated from analyzing the sentences across many sources and generate a consensus. Also detailing pigeon holes, link outs, and differing opinions. This can be updated from references like research, gossip, or analysts/experts.
New content can still come in from a number of sources like photos from Flickr and video from YouTube. This is where image recognition software could be of use. Evaluating the relevance of the photo to the content. For example, a photo of Scarlet Runner beans is thus marked and there is space for 1-2 photos. The computer can tell the difference and pick a flower, profile, or seed pod image to place on the page.
WebSite Idea
Thursday, April 24th, 2008I’ve noticed a certain difficulty in finding good information on garden plants, both common and uncommon. A search on Google might find and entry on iVillage, DavesGarden, Wikipedia, etc. I wonder if I might put together a collection of web pages that aggregate, filter, and paraphrase other texts on the subjects. With photos comming from Flickr or another public online source. To provide an online reference source, which can be read as is or whose links out to various source websites could be followed for more in-depth or up-to-date information.
Income would come from an AdSense in one or two places not to interfere with the intention of the website.
Advertising would come from Google. Through the use of unique words, word pairs, or phrases that push the PageRank of the website up. Due to it’s relevance, links, and fresh content. The goal would be, like Wikipedia, to see this site in the top 3 pages on all relevant garden topics. Particularly, the narrower topics like Yum-Yum or Cocoa Bean mulch as opposed to Tomatoes or Potatoes.
There’s some similarity to Wikipedia, except Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and necessarily low in context. This website would be intended for gardening. Where Wikipedia might list all 400 species of Clover, this site would list those of most interest to someone caring for a lawn or home garden.
Links to the various source materials. For books, a link to Amazon using my Associate account (also an income). For websites, links to the relevant page.
Backup Solution besides RAID and JBOD
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008If the goal is backup storage and the ability to be online is not necessary, you could copy files onto a hard drive, use a program to index it, power down the computer, unplug the drive, and store the drive.
There are a number of advantages to this. No electricity usage. Longer life. No need for identically sized drives.
There are significant disadvantages. Not online all the time. Need to power on/off computer to add the drive. Dependent upon the index program. Static electricity risk when touching the drive.
Wood Floor in the Meditation Rm
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008I researched wood flooring on concrete slab. This is generally not a good idea, unless the concrete is away from the cold/hot, wet ground. To do it effectively a couple of layers of plastic, asphalt, and 1″ plywood have to be layed. The end result is a floor that is 1.75″ to 2.25″ higher. A good height to trip on. I measured the height of the current carpet at .75″. So, even 1″ is quite a bit.
Baseboard holds the Shoe molding which covers the expansion gap of the wood. The trim has to be removed and reapplied and there’s some significant pushing and pulling to get everything to fit. And nailing into the concrete, which I don’t really like.
Engineering flooring can be layed on concrete slab with only one layer of plastic underneath. A floating floor glues each piece together and optionally to the floor. This seems like the best option unless I was going to do the whole house in wood floors and raise the bathrooms. Expensive! Not this particular house.
An engineered floor should be .75″ taller. So, carpet tall and it should look just as nice. The durability isn’t there, because it can only be refinished once or twice. I would expect at least 20 yr from it and while I’m in the house it won’t get much use. A wood floor would last an extremely long time with proper care.
I’m concerned about chemicals leaching out over time since this is an artificial construction material and I’m not sure where to look about this topic. Something will turn up.
Website Ideas – more
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008I like the second idea of the two, writing news stories we would like to see. I googled “fake news imaginary fantasy” and got zip. So, I’m pretty sure nobody is doing. Yah, never know with the Internet. I think I know of enough people who would submit content and fancy the idea.
Here’s a little more what I’m thinking.
1. Registered users write a headline and story
For example, China Frees Tibet.
2. Then other registered user vote +1 or -1 on the story
3. Voting affects the position on the front page
The inspiration comes from:
Digg – User generated content and voting
TechDirt – Short, smart analysis of tech news; usually depressingly good at highlighting stupidity and repetition
TheOnion – news parody site, very funny
The platform is either WordPress v2.3.2 or Drupal. I don’t know Drupal and I’ve head Leo Laporte bemoan it. Wordpress has been my blog platform since v1.5. There are a couple of voting modules for it and I have modified the code to do unique things.
If this is as big as I hope, funding should not come entirely from me. Google Adsense is easy enough to setup. Perhaps it or another. I will add a donation button and I would like that to be the sole source of income. If so, the ads should go.
This could be setup here at home. I’m mature enough to setup the box and leave it alone. Actually, been trying to build several boxes with the intention of never touching them again. A static IP is $12/mo more. If this could fund itself a straight up T1 into the house would be cool. Maintaining boxes is an easy skill to purchase and they will have more scaleable bandwidth. For now, the test setup will be a directory on StephenSite.net.
Which leads to the next question I have for you. What should this be called? I can register a name for <$10 and get a site at the same time. Yearly, costs are pretty small, $~250, unless this thing gets a lot of attention.
How long do you think this would take? Hacking up a Wordpress blog and theme, writing a couple of beginning stories.. I’m thinking a week. That would keep some momentum going. A lot of things won’t be sturdy enough for heavy use, but more than enough for a proof of concept. If successful, more people will be available to moderate, write, vote, and make v2.
So, think about a news story you would like to see. It’s easy to get inspired. Just see something in the news and imagine it turned out the other way. And send me any suggestions for names. I’m completely open, nothing has come to mind yet.
Website Ideas
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008Originally sent in an email..
I’ve been thinking lately about creating a new kind of news website. It wouldn’t necessarily have real news, since most news is pretty depressing. The focus would be 180′ from current news. Instead of stories about flood, famine, pestilence, disease, murder, and theft there would be stories about positive events like cooperation, understanding, tolerance, miracles, and peace. You know, the world that we all want to live in. That’s really the point to help make the world we want to live in by focusing more on the aspects that we approve of. Does anyone know if there’s a website like this now? What do you think?
Thats’ one idea.
The other is a little further out there. Do you remember that bulletin board tip from The Secret (Law of Attraction)? The speaker had placed all of these pictures of a house, car, ext. on a bulletin board he saw every day. Things got busy and the board was put into storage. A few years later one of the kids had discovered it and it matched with their lifestyle. Imagine the thing that you want and focus on it every day.
What about a website full of news that you want to hear? Every day world peace is declared. Companies are discovered secretly contributing to charities. The cure for cancer is discovered. AT&T admits it’s a monopoly, apologies, and breaks up. Politicians admit to bribery, give money to charities, pass laws that prohibit such actions, and resign en mass vowing to advise as needed. Each state legislature unanimously passes Gay Rights bills allowing marriages, apologies for discriminated based on sexual preference. Ex cetera, ex cetera,.. Have you seen this website? What do you think?