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billehunt

Last seen: 5 months ago

Bill is a 41 year old guy from Silicon Valley, California, USA

Father, Artist, Software Mechanic, Senior Exec in the Corporate Machinery, Student of Life, ENTJ.
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  • Singularity Summit at Stanford | Thomlex

    Rated May 12 2006 • 4 reviews • nanotech, singularity, summit • thomlex.com


    Singularity Summit at Stanford

    This coming Saturday (May 13, 2006), there will be a Summit on the Singularity at Stanford University. If you're in the neighborhood, you want to be there. Everybody who's anybody on the subject will be there, including Ray Kurzweil, Eric Drexler, Douglas R. Hofstadter, Steve Jurvetson, and others.

    Ray Kurzweil writes
    The coming merger of human and machine intelligence will mark the next stage in the evolution of life. Based on models of technology development that I've used to forecast technological change successfully for more than 25 years, I believe computers will pass the Turing Test by 2029, and by the 2040s our civilization will be billions of times more intelligent. The implications for all aspects of human existence of this "singularity" are profound; but until now, few have begun to consider what may be the most important event in their lifetimes. I'm pleased to invite you to an exploration of the future awaiting us.
    204 views
    Singularity Summit at Stanford | Thomlex

  • Transhumanism | Thomlex

    Rated May 04 2006 • 5 reviews • futurism, transhumanism • thomlex.com


    Transhumanism

    Michael Anissimov wrote this great article on Transhumanism. If you're not familiar with the concept, it is that the technology all around us is our next evolutionary step. Today, we think of computers and technologies as things around us, but they'll soon be part of us, and then replace us, much as we replaced cave men. We're building our own grandchildren.

    Mr. Anissimov makes the observation that

    Politicians and laypeople everywhere are beginning to get the picture - it matters less what you say than what technology you have at your disposal. This is why presidential speeches are peppered with mentions of the importance of alternative energy and the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Good technology improves the lives of millions and bad technology has the potential to murder millions. Social ideas are merely a footnote.

    Here's a post I did on the Singularity; a related concept. It's interesting how much acceptance the ideas have achieved recently especially among young people. It's still considered crazy by some, but a decade ago, you were hard-pressed to find anyone who would even listen to the concept.
    1,596 views
    Transhumanism | Thomlex

  • ThursdayNights favorites - StumbleUpon

    Rated May 03 2006 • 66 reviews • stumblers • stumbleupon.com

    3,678 views
    ThursdayNights favorites - StumbleUpon

  • Jolene-4Us favorites - StumbleUpon

    Rated May 03 2006 • 50 reviews • stumblers • stumbleupon.com

    2,360 views
    Jolene-4Us favorites - StumbleUpon

  • Robotic Car Race Through the City | Thomlex

    Rated May 03 2006 • 1 review • robot, car • thomlex.com


    Robotic Car Race Through the City

    The Department of Defense's research arm, the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA), has announced their latest challenge: build a robotic car that can traverse through urban settings for 60 miles in 6 hours. The challenge is designed to encourage research for the development of autonomous ground vehicles for use on the battlefield.

    In the 2005 challenge, several cars successfully drove autonomously 175 miles through the Mojave desert. This year, the challenge is to drive through city environments, including understanding street signals, and merging into traffic safely.

    This picture shows last year's winner, Stanford University's VW Toureg vehicle, named "Stanley".
    256 views
    Robotic Car Race Through the City | Thomlex

  • Bill as a Young Geek | Thomlex

    Rated May 01 2006 • 4 reviews • technology, calculator • thomlex.com


    Bill as a Young Geek

    For your amusement, I present my sixth grade science fair project. This would be from 1976. This gadget will add two binary numbers together. (You can also subtract by making one of the numbers negative). I called it BASC-1 (Binary Adding/Subtracting Calculator). In this picture, you can see it adding 75 + 103 = 178 (1001011 + 1100111 = 10110010). The thing was built in a box I got from a surplus store that was used to view microfilm. (for you young-uns, back before the internet, they used to keep archive documents (like old newspapers at the library) on little pieces of film called microfilm, and you'd use a viewer to project it onto a computer monitor sized screen).

    More info and pictures at link.
    4,238 views
    Bill as a Young Geek | Thomlex

  • RFID Security Flaws | Thomlex

    Rated Apr 30 2006 • 2 reviews • security, rfid • thomlex.com


    RFID Security Flaws

    RFID is coming in a big way. If you aren't familiar with the term, RFID is a way to mark objects by applying a "tag" to them and identifing them using radio technology. The tags contain a unique identification number, and a reader can send them a signal that will cause them to transmit that id back to the reader. This technology is already used extensively by libraries (in each book), and as electronic access cards in many corporations.

    RFID is growing in popularity quickly. Both Walmart and the Department of Defense have mandated that all of their vendors tag their merchandise with an RFID tag. Many other segments of society are moving towards using this technology.

    The problem is that there are large security holes in various areas. If you have a card key to access your building at work, a stranger can stand beside you, and with special equipment can read your card without you knowing. They can then go to your office and play back your cards id to gain access to the building. New cars use similar technology instead of traditional keys, and similar problems exist.

    Another problem is that some RFID tags can be reprogrammed with new IDs. On this website, Jonathan Westhues discusses cloning equipment built and techniques he's discovered.
    1,704 views
    RFID Security Flaws | Thomlex

  • Demo: Cloning a Verichip

    Rated Apr 30 2006 • 11 reviews • internet • cq.cx

    4,659 views
    Demo: Cloning a Verichip

  • Micro Helicopter | Thomlex

    Rated Apr 30 2006 • 2 reviews • aerospace, helicopter, flight, tiny • thomlex.com


    Tiny Helicopter

    Alexander Van de Rostyne built Pixelito, a 6.9 gram remote-control helicopter. Pixelito is fully functional, with 4 channels of control via infra red. It has no servos and no swashplate. The swashplate is the mechanism that allows the spinning blades to be tilted forward or back or side to side, allowing the pilot to control where the helicopter goes. (link from StockTrader).
    1,407 views
    Micro Helicopter | Thomlex

  • burntineffigys favorites - StumbleUpon

    Rated Apr 30 2006 • 18 reviews • stumblers • stumbleupon.com

    1,608 views
    burntineffigys favorites - StumbleUpon