The Singularity Summit at Stanford

On May 13, 2006, the Singularity Summit at Stanford brought the leading thinkers, futurists, and researchers to speak with each other and present together on stage.

I had a unique day. While almost everyone else focused on the discussions, I was behind the scenes as event coordinator. I worked with the amazing student team from Stanford, who were variously members of the campus Transhumanist Association or students from the Symbolic Systems Program, and incredible volunteer supporters. We worked as well with Stanford Events and altogether approximately one hundred people behind stage and out in front with a simple goal - let's make the day about the ideas. Let's ensure the incredible speakers and enthusiastic audience had the space, time, and opportunity to think.

The hidden story of the event included many highlights.

We had decided to provide easy to eat, fast lunches for 1200 people on a very tight schedule. And last minute, without forethought, 4 of us (with headsets) managed to donate the leftover food and water to a local charity. This was a Saturday and the food was fresh. And within half an hour, Stanford Catering had donated their time to pickup and deliver the food to the charity. Unbelievable. Generous. And fun.

The summit presenters were amazing, on stage and off. Cory Doctorow blogged collaboratively from stage with half a dozen audience members. Bill McKibben arrived virtually via Teleportec 3D teleconference, and appeared as if sitting on stage. The marvels of technology used to communicate.

I personally had lucky run ins with a few science fiction writers. I had been assisting a gentleman and his group with directions to the reception dinner. Later in the evening he introduced himself as Larry Niven. The Larry Niven. And the others included Jerry Pournelle and John McCarthy. I went from professional to fan in an instant. "Wow, you're Larry Niven? I've read all your books." Silly grin and all. And I dined with Rudy Rucker and Cory who led the table in a most engaging dinner conversation about their current writing directions.

I met dozens of incredible people during the two events, in between my organizing tasks. Two people stand out, the two I worked most closely with, Yonah Berwaldt (and his incredible family) and Tyler Emerson. These two made the summit happen. And Yonah did so while writing midterms.

I didn't have the opportunity to take photos. Luckily, others did.

A full video of the event will be available online shortly, and I plan to download and view it all. The interesting side effect of running an event is in not actually having the time to really attend.

Behind the scenes, making it happen. I'll be returning to San Francisco, and likely Palo Alto, this summer. And moving shortly after. I want to touch this community, and help it grow. At the end of the day, this is about fostering researchers in bringing about a benign, even friendly, singularity. Curious about this? Check out the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Why blogs and the internet terrify me

Okay, after two invitations from a woman I admire and respect, I'll post. This is a first - it may be a long time before a second. Truth be told, I confess that I have blogged once before - 3 or 4 postings in an official capacity on a industry group blog site - but this is different.

I don't belong here, for several reasons. [Note: I fully recognize that people who don't belong in blog groups (or any other group) should not stick around telling all the other members about it. They should simply leave. (If I belonged here, I might put in a relevant link to Harrison Owen's precepts of Open Space - The Law of Two Feet.) Or as I instruct at my own conferences: Don't clean your paintbrush in someone else's drinking water.]

My response to my first invitation to fuckdecaf was simple: I don't drink coffee. This is largely so that when I do, it works. I hate *needing* something - habits that, when unsatisfied, compromise our ability to function. (I guess that's why I don't weigh much either.)

My response to the second invitation is this: Blogs and the internet terrify me. This from someone who started programming almost 30 years ago. I figure, if nothing else, you bunch will, at best, have some valuable insights, and, at worst, consider this post an odious curiosity to be ignored as you dump your mug of paint-tainted java and pour yourself a fresh one.

My terror is a combination of my present lifestyle and ingrained lack of discipline. Indeed, this blog celebrates "the drama and passion of morning coffee" (post #1) In other words, a potential ritual. No doubt most of you have several of these. {Get to the point, Andrew.} Simple - it took me 4 hours to write this, even when I switched to using Notepad in hour 2. I was constantly clicking on links. My life is almost entirely devoid of obligations. I don't work (as in produce income) more than a few days a month - I don't need to. I have no dependents and now live far from friends and family. I don't even have any cool projects (at present). So there is nothing to limit the amount of time I might spend surfing and writing, googling, surfing, clicking, writing, following links, pursuing curiosities, ad infinitum. Hell, I don't even have the discipline to go and eat when I should.

You might consider this 'freedom' enviable - that being an obviously relative term. Many people work hard to achieve this state, as did I. (Oddly enough, I never consciously pursued it - perhaps that was significant?) For me, it is disastrous. I am terrible with blank slates. Put up obstacles. Create challenges. Please. I need impossibility in order to focus and function. The internet is all possibilities. It makes my head spin. Activities that aren't self-limiting require an awful effort from me. They aren't fun at all.

The only way I survived 30 years as a programmer was to have 30 years of theatre alongside. It had everything coding didn't: people, routine, and closure. When I gave up the first world (for the most part), I also gave up it's counterpart. They were Yin and Yang, and I could not seem to enjoy one without the other. Alas, I am now swimming in a void that cannot sustain me much longer. Time to find something new.

Perhaps I can come up with something that's all the things blogging isn't - then I might be able to come back to this. I already spend far too much time in front of this bloody screen. It scares me, sometimes.

But I'll try anything twice. Perhaps I need this in order to be pushed to find the Yang. Hmmm... Now there's a thought.

Time to go adjust the joist posts in my basement - another blank slate {aargh}.

Canadian International Policy Podcasts

Policy Discussions

Perhaps we should know more about Canadian Foreign Policy. Here it is, direct from the horses mouthes. The site also has a discussion forum, which has it's entertaining moments.

And download feature interviews on Canadian International Policy as video or audio podcasts. Get informed on Canadian foreign policy issues by watching or listening to experts any time and anywhere you want. LEARN MORE

Do not call

from Lockgnome's Gnome Report
Some advice for Americans with phones, coming soon to Canada.

Before I completely moved our family over to Cell Phones only and dropped our landline about two years ago, I was actually able to get solicitation calls knocked down to maybe one per week. And, I'm disabled and have been at home all day every day for the past seven years (IIRC, it was within the second year that I started doing these things to stop the solicitations.). How did I do this? Glad y'all asked.

Most of this info I got from JunkBusters. The first thing most people do is answer the phone RIGHT AWAY. Don't! Most solicitations these days are being dialed by a computer and that computer is usually dialing several phone numbers at the same time. Guess who gets the call? Right, the first person to answer her/his phone.

The computer also keeps track of phone numbers that are answered and aren't answered right away. By allowing the phone to ring at least four times before answering, I was able to virtually eliminate solicitations altogether. Try this and I'll bet that every time it's a solicitation, you'll get a click and dial tone when you wait four rings before you pick it up. This by itself can cut down on many calls, but it takes several months before results are seen from doing this. However, please believe me when I say this really works.

The second thing most people do is tell a solicitor to remove their name and number from the company's calling list: Wrong! They'll be more than happy to remove your name from their current calling list since they've already called you, but when they purchase a new calling list next month, guess what? Your name and number is right there and they'll call you again.

What needs to be done is to tell the solicitor to ADD your name and number to the company's Do Not Contact List, a list that they must keep for the next ten years. Lastly, you can also tell the company to inform the companies that they do business with to add your name to their Do Not Contact List. Most companies will comply, but not all will. Regardless, if even only half of them do, this will also help greatly in reducing solicitation calls. I have a few links that may interest you listed on my web site, one on stopping solicitations.
William A. Ford

Links for Canadians to consider:

• Michael Geist - Canada's Do-Not-Hesitate-To-Call List
• Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
• Slashdot Canada's Do-Not-Hesitate-To-Call List

CPC Budgets, and other deceptive practices

Once again my Friend Tony has hit the nail on the head. In his letter to the editor at the Mop and Pail he says (emphasis mine):

"Sirs:

Your headline (PRIORITY ONE: 28 TAX CUTS) is as deceptive as the Tory budget is voter-rigged. Almost all of the items listed are NOT tax cuts – they are credits or allowances. This budget takes the same (or more) tax dollars from most paycheques, but gives SOME Canadians ways to beg for some of it back at the end of the year.

Most egregious is that one must“spend to save,” which is a twisted way to package a cut. Do you curtail spending in order to save money? Then you won’t benefit from a GST cut. Does your kid like hiking instead of fee-based sports? Tough luck.

The Tory tax plan recklessly pits us against one another in anticipation of the next election. Now, because I advocate real, up-front income tax cuts over these narrow and cynical spending entitlements, I must take something away from what the Tories define as “working families”

The Tories have reneged on their promise to take less from our paycheques, and have included in their budget items they recently called “Liberal attempts to buy your vote with your own tax dollars.” It seems that the Tories are quick studies – and hypocrites."

I do hope they print it, but since it runs counter to the headlines in most of the newspapers today, I doubt they will. The CPC is not buying votes with our money, but promises of our money. By the way, all you small business owners, how much will it cost to "upgrade" your accounting software? You didn't think it would be free did you? And then upgrade it again in a year's time. For a 2% decrease in G.S.T.? I think there might be better ways to give average people some of their money back. How about cutting the marginal tax rate? That would appear directly on the next paycheque.