People invariably don't understand how marketing works. Even marketers don't understand. They think that if they buy more spots on TV, make a harder hitting ad, they will sell more product. They think that if they shout louder, they will get their ideas across more effectively. The reality is that they marketers are generally like [...]
Its amazing how primitive we all are when it gets down to it. Last night we finally had some rain after weeks and weeks of unnaturally early springtime weather. The garden was getting dry and the water tanks weren't low, but they weren't brim full in the way that you would expect at this time [...]
Things are changing – fast! And governments are starting to understand what the music industry is still struggling to come to terms with, having been exposed to P2P: They can not control the pace of change. And they are starting to get scared. So they should do. This then is the digital paradox. On one [...]
Most empires not based on Religion only last the lifetime of the empire builder. Historically, very few last more than a hundred years – unless the urge to procreate and defend the empire is instilled in all the peons through the fear of heavenly retribution. News Limited is a publishing empire. Unfortunately, News Limited [...]
I have just started reading Charles Stross' “Accelerando”. (html download available here) – highly recommended… This is about as out there a book as I can imagine…. dealing with the transition of human life through a Singularity to a post human state… It even has a glossary of terms at Wikipedia to help you understand [...]
Human endeavor seems to gain momentum every day. Projects take on a life of their own. As people's focus on a specific area of activity sharpens, they spend more time and effort researching and delving into that topic, and their knowledge and insight increases. And then the effort taken seems to create an even bigger [...]
There have been significant developments recently in Quantum Mechanics. Einstein was talking about this field of science when he said “God doesn't play dice”. Quantum Mechanics is seriously weird and counter-intuitive. Quantum Computing This recent Wired story reports the demonstration of the D-Wave Systems 16-qubit, specific-purpose quantum computer and includes an interview with the father [...]
This may sound like the title of a post-modern computer generated monster classic. Godzilla versus Mothra zapped through a Predator versus Alien filter! But seriously, this may be the most important dichotomy of our blighted age. I recently read two fantastic sci-fi novels, Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson and Accelerando by Charles Stross, [...]
I spent an interesting and stimulating day yesterday in Napa – a day in the country is something I rarely get to do. (One highlight was the Darioush winery – excellent Viognier!) Some of the other people on the trip were from the IP divisions of Sony, Fraunhofer, Samsung and France Telecom. We didn't talk [...]
I am reading the new Kurzweill book. Here is a quote from the footnotes that is right in line with my earlier post… even though I hadn't read any of the book when I posted! I have copied it in full, because it is really important. This is the fundamental set of metrics around which [...]