Of Dream and Prediction

For creatives, holidays often don't change the routine much. Unless of course, they are part of the subject matter. Odd how even the category of creatives came to be so ... important to the lexicon. Creating is what humans do. It is part of every job to some degree or another. The category probably arose because of the need to differentiate tasks that have high creative content with those that do not in the new connected world.

Prediction is such an important part of the way the brain functions. Knowing (consciously or not) what is likely to happen is helpful in managing with limited sensory and motor bandwidth, cognitive latency and a host of other practical constraints. That the mechanism adapts based on experience is truly fundamental to life and the machines based on it.

Like the dancing in the dark we call dreaming, the routines to finish the process of assigning meaning to experience are essential to survival. When they are compromised, prediction begins to fail and everyday variance becomes overwhelming.

So today looking into the eyes of indescribable beauty and needing to be interactive took on special meaning. Prediction and beauty are indeed related in the dynamic sense. To be valuable to life they both are in a continual state of flux. Some would define life as a continual state of flux.

Right brain recognition of the association has long been known. Left brain acquisition and serializing it for general application was the task before them.

Before he had a chance to initiate the dialog she said, "I too wonder how it looks from the other side." He knew, instinctively a pivotal exchange was about to follow.

Wing Nut Wars

Wing nut wars financed by health-care profiteers (yes, there are left wing nuts also). Consider this:

Weapons - broadcast media.

Theatre - TV and radio audiences.

Ammunition - cheap content.

Spoils of warfare for the media - advertising dollars from the profiteers.

The cycle is being interrupted by non-broadcast media. Using interactive and friendly electronic communications, more people and influencers are seeing an alternative to feeding off the decline of humanity.

Each time a new Google, Facebook or Apple emerges, the old guard gets more desperate. The latest tactic - scorched earth. It is in the form of wasting the very people who have supported the 'pretend we are the chosen ones' movement. They are too expensive to support now. People management skills were not important in the movement's heyday, only perception management. So the decline is rapid.

Does it scare anyone that the most populous country on the planet has mimicked much of the latest predator run of the US? Can such a closed system rapidly adapt to a replacement like the one just taking hold in the US?

The strategic implications are immense. The capacity of the world's 'brain' is up to the task, in my opinion. It is so thanks to recent advances in hardware, self-adaptive software and the exploding literacy of earth's constituents.

Campfire Light

And the music we play is not just for us. Take a look at the smiles on whoose face the campfire alights. When the senses are ready for the day's curtain, the imagination dances. We sing as one as we sing as all. Bring on the night for tommorow we begin again.

Another Cusp

When did hallways become cul-de-sacs, he wondered as he headed toward the conference node. Speculating that it was inspired by overlaying conceptual juxtaposition onto a physically friendly space. Deep understanding of dimensional constraints played a large roll in the new architecture whose function ironically mirrored the very subject to be considered just moments from now.

As he entered the node's space, the displays came to life as expected. Perhaps less expected was that the environment was markedly darker than the meetings that led up to this one. Long experience had taught him that what was to be transacted was not to be biased by backstory or mood setting backgrounds.

The last decoded piece on the sixth layer created a new synthetic frontier for which no experience driven ambience applied. Not unlike walking toward the edge of a cliff knowing that at the edge there will be a spectacular view and implicit danger. A deep breath as anticipation caused an adrenaline rush. A feeling of awesome fear mixed with "for this we have come".

Sitting down, he looked at her and she him. Eye contact, high bandwidth interactive engaged ...

We, redefined?

... advertising is a much different animal now. Politics is a bit of a laggard but it is morphing into a different critter also. Thanks to the interconnectedness of our technology the old paradigm, "It is what you say" has given way to the new, "It is what we discuss".

The herd mentality that preceded the targeted advertising of Google and Facebook was a product of the constraint of communications (internal and external to individuals). The two aspects of the constraint have not changed much. They say it takes some 50,000 years for evolution to have an impact on the human's architecture. Humanity has reached a tipping point borne of ingenuity though. Our tools now help us 'grok' each other in a way that was not possible beyond the isolated imaginations of years past.

It is fascinating to watch the old school hold desperately to the separation of mind and machine. Science and liberal arts are not to touch in any way. The gods have spoken on this subject. They are not to be questioned.

Not. This 'convenience' is all but obsolete now. Wisdom is not just the rightful property of a select few any longer. It belongs to all ...

Hair Trigger

At the mercy of his, amygdala, time and again he would misread the intentions of the person on the other side of the conversation. No, that is not quite it. It felt like that because inferring intention is about as futile an exercise as there is in communication. Even if it is in a face-to-face encounter.

So many a deep intellectual framework attempted to achieve this task, of keeping the ego from destroying itself and much of its context. Take the western view, ego is trouble. Let's surgically remove it or render it moot with some pharmacological assault.

Or an Eastern view - disconnect it from the world, it is hard to do harm when one is not present. Well, thats an oversimplification isn't it?

This last challenging interaction brought home a pattern that scaled incredibly well - 'Abstract Too Soon'. Suffering was never far behind this one. 'twas true from the very small to the very large and everything in between. Because the difficult interaction was so much like one from a year or so ago, that the nick names of the people were identical made it easy to give it a handle. I use an alias here, "Harry".

To encode we take a sequence of instructions and try that on some real data. Refine the instructions accordingly. Try it on a representative sample of data. If necessary, refine again. Open it up and allow dynamic refinement ...

"Create New Candidate Pattern", was the command when it was not implicit in the dialog being monitored. Stimulating to think how this process related to those interactions that felt like magic, as if each of us had a facility to channel timeless wisdom and apply it to the here and now as an angel would.

You did that?

Lucky kid, right out of high school, his family sends him and two of his siblings to Hawaii for the summer. It was '64 and the surfin' craze was getting underway. He got a job as the 9am to 12n disk jockey at the self-proclaimed Official Surf Station, KUMU 1500 Honolulu.

My brother, sister and I stayed with our uncle in a little house on the north shore. The uncle was a pilot for Aloha airlines married to a Native Hawaiin. They had two children. The house was so small that arrangements were made to have the Hawaiin disk jockey to be move to an accountant friend's house next to the Waialae Country club in the Honolulu.

Peak experience while there? Perhaps the KUMU Surf Carnival at the Waikiki Shell. Duke Kahahnamoku, then 80, gave away a diamond studded surf board. One of the other stations KPOI (it was #1) was home to a radio talent that would influence the entire US industry like no other for many years. Radio and the music it played was my world then.

Like I say, lucky kid.

Birthday

Many find a lot to like about the celebration of Jesus' birthday and others struggle for a variety of reasons around this time of the year. I am in the latter group. It only makes my 'contribution' more negative if I start explaining why before the end of the year (if ever). You will be relieved to hear that I will spare you, dear reader, that.

But struggle is part of life too. By embracing it I feel less a victim. So by way of said embracing I write this:

One way to regard the unfolding epiphany of connecting is as a gift found under the tree a year ago. That we did not have a tree (see above) is why I ask you to accept the statement metaphorically.

I am not so sure it would fit under a tree anyway. It more properly belongs close to or at its crown. It does not shine like a star except in retrospect. The physicists point out that it takes the light from a distant star a long time to arrive. Theologians have their version too.

But I am most interested in what others have to add. Others meaning beyond the usual suspects: Rabbis, thoeretical physiscists, priests, monks, pastors etc. And beyond that the not-so-usual suspects, other humans. Don't forget those doggies that my daughter loves so much. And the plant with the purple flowers that bloomed long after the sun started to hide for the season in the family room. And those funny little bugs that live in our woods. And one of my favorites Cardiomyocytes (I've got some and they get along with each other very well). You get the idea.

Connection is a hard thing to capture. It surely is not an event and calling it a 'process' still seems inadequate. State-of-Mind is getting closer though. Accumulating the miracle of life over time, closer-still. Maybe the futile effort to describe it is its enduring value - if life is not done, it is ...

To Old for This

The door blew off, crashing into the walls and floor and coming to rest next to the desk. Smoke billowed from the wall rupture, first white and then turning a light blue. He covered his head and face with the crook of his arm. When the debris came to rest moments later he lowered his arm to survey the damage. It was the third time and still startling but his pulse settled down within a couple of minutes.

Like it or not, running at near full capability was the only way to learn what might happen when the device operated at its design limit. Importantly, it had to be in the full autonomous configuration which only assured it would accomplish the mission with the lowest energy possible. If anything else could be added to the mission specification this was the time ... and the way it had to be tested. Prudent to test minimal safety measures, if enough time remained before the critical window opened.

Now decades into this, he knew that just because his physical capability necessarily was diminished by the years, the support technology could substitute for things like brute force or quick response. It will be a big advance when better catastrophic cognitive augmentation is available. That is for the future. For now, the system is ready for Stage 1 Ignition...

He logged in in the usual way and recorded the sensor data to the permanent record.

"This is a much as we can do ahead of the deadline, lets clean this up and prepare the sequence."

Auto-Pilot

Before the caffeine has kicked in or the coffee is still percolating? So much good stuff in the in-basket. Potential subjects abound. Its Christmas Eve for God's sake. Looking up from the screen, just noticed the sun shining too. Still, struggling to squeeze out a paragraph or two.

"Stand back", a great lyric from Steam - Peter Gabriel. So is it writing that gets the train in motion? No, thats for the trailer. Maybe babes? Too abstract, primitive, primal and FUN! Pull a string or two? A connection as it were.

What about the connection on this sunny Christmas Eve morning? The council appears heuristic and unstoppable. The secret sauce? Connection worthy of consideration, I suspect. Both quantity and quality. Quantity so nothing is missed - neural pruning will clean up afterward. And quality because the vetting process can improve over a lifetime and perhaps beyond.

Sentence fragments rather than paragraphs or anything between. Why not? All need be considered in context. To make it manageable, get to know the neighbors (not just the goegraphic ones - though a good place to start).

Dimensions abstracted ... a prescription for derailment unless the engineer is in the right frame of mind. A very large frame indeed.

Must be time to mow the lawn. "System UI to standby"

Protocol

Generating academically correct memoranda was the standard. It had been honed over many years. Its vulnerability, specialization. Silo's of expertise with nary a paved path between. What little structure connected these vertical palaces was an antiquated protocol that remained as static as the language used to encode it (that would be Latin?).

Ever more capable organs developed to the virtual exclusion of their relevance to each other - delusions of grandeur turning to generic resignation and back, the order of the day.

Opportunity emerges - making relevance a priority. The specialities were far ahead of their application and the inefficiency that followed was simply ... not sustainable. A pattern that played out many times through recorded history. This version's end game was catastrophic on a scale not seen since the age of the dinosaurs or perhaps ever.

"Lets do what we were doing before but do more of it." Criticizing short-sighted points of view worked for while. Why should it not work again (it is so convenient)? "I deserve a vacation from reality, damned humans are hopeless."

The humor of it all did not escape him. Sarcasm is bad when someone else is pointing out my counter-productive behavior. Using that trick created much noise in the system. And in this case overwhelmed it. There were other components but this one was the loudest and the easiest to remedy.

"Ready to run the test suite, sir. It will not complete for nearly five hours. We can run some preliminary data in three and half hours."

One hand ...

It was a pretty good plan. Make the space for the 'on message' smaller through rapid, deep and varied responses to the the repetitive on-message-messages. It diluted the overall influence much as decoys do to a homogenous weapon's arsenal.

Helpful too was pushing the detection to higher levels of consideration within the cognitive system. The old thinking is that this was dumb because it was repetitive and did not stand up to reasonable thinking. And, while that was all true, the intent behind the messaging was quite sophisticated.

The serendipitous advent of conceptual connections at the highest level of abstraction was the beginning of the new strategy. Variously referred to in the later parts of biological evolution, "Don't take oneself to seriously", "life is short, get over it", procreation, lifetime of a species etc.

What made it humorous was often that the connections could not be logically supported based on all the support mechanisms below. But just because the answer did not lie there, did not mean that the connection lacked some deep truth or value.

Curious how the technical discussion of this mechanism took much of the fun out of it ... until now.

He opened the channel and spoke, "It is Tuesday, a reminder we will assemble in the usual place at the usual time with the usual agenda ... have a nice day."

Control Room

The special ingredient, the catalyst is temporarily unavailable. On the visible outer layer, chaos ensued, the meticulous work of the last year suddenly appeared to look as if it might be just another rabbit trail. The change in fortune was recorded, sorted and indexed just as the advancements had been.

Checking the machine to be sure that the anomaly was not an 'uncaught exception' or just a component failure or both, was step one. He was thankful for the advanced system graphics and the highly evolved user interface. Answering the why of systemic errors quickly was the goal and it was working now.

Not only was a single item identified as the culprit, the culprit itself was highlighted. Its function was automatic categorization with indexing that could be used as if it were new raw data with the added value of being abstracted locally.

He enjoyed 'feeling' how this thing worked. In just a couple of hours the upload would begin and the support processing could proceed.

It was just as she had said, in a stumbling but assertive way. How often her dramatic expression of emotion hid a subtle meaning. Did she know this was happening? To early to know, in all probability. Effective drama requires believability. "duh."

Motivational hell

Hell descended. Futility everywhere. It happened so fast. This time as before. Things are not as they appeared. A cruel joke in the making. The fighting at a fever pitch, all a 'living' monument to to the unsuitability of humanity.

Of course, this was the meter pegged (a term for off-scale). All can be said to be true when the meter no longer indicates degree. He thought, "I remember this feeling. It was terrifying and soothing at once - after all he had survived it before and though it was anything but life affirming, there was still time to salvage.

He looked at the deep abandonment in her eyes. Selfishly he felt his shame there. But that was not it. His ego-centered state-of-mind could not see what it really meant. And that same ego now wallowed in misunderstanding.

And so it was, shouts and threats, in the name of liberty. We must defend liberty. Whatever that is ... today. Liberty to hate those with a different perspective and lesser means. No.

Looking back now on the long road to his acquired understanding how mind functions in this corner of the universe, he thought of the approximate time when self-awareness emerged, first in evolution, then in human artifacts.

What was hell's role in mind? Is it part of the infra-structure or nature's mistake (he reminded himself to actually read something of D. H. Lawrence). Dissonance?

This too shall pass. He began the Level VII sign-on protocol and made a mental note, time to listen.

Fight for what is right.

Bereft of hope. That is not an option. If I am to die tomorrow, I choose hope today. Not some futile illusion borne of expected disappointment. Not at all. A robust, tangible hope, the creation of the very best part of free will.

Here an undercurrent of despair ... nothing left but to fight. Fight for right. Fight and die for what is right. But most of all, fight to prove we are right. When exactly did fighting become more important than correct? Who defined correct? Did he/she/they have a friendly agenda? Seems a reasonable question given the circumstances of the moment. Fighting is simple, far less ambiguous than correct.

A collection of questions playing like a clip from a popular song "stuck in my head" stopped cold in its tracks. And someone shouts "Who do I have to kill to make peace" and the chorus chimes in "who do we have to kill to prevent war" and the reply "who do we have to brutally repress to insure peace" and as if echoing in a canyon, each echo slightly different sounding than the one that preceded it. After many reflections off the canyon walls:

"What formula do we apply to stop this craziness", clearly the circle is not yet complete.

"The channel is too noisy, Captain. We will keep trying". And so it was. Familiar but less frustrating of late.

Turn, Turn, Turn

That she was dear to him goes without saying. Her long time nemesis was formidable. For good reason. A life long accommodation to the reality of growing up human - long nurturance, fraught with risk. But he knew from what she had taught him in their recent encounters, one should not judge the depth of the receiver's understanding of the topic based on a lack of vocal response or a delayed one.

At first, it was difficult for him to hear. It cut deep to his internalized nemesis. When a person's life saver has been his voice time and again, it is hard to be aware of what else is valuable. Patience was/is key. Eloquently described in certain epic novels ... his mind drifted once again to the eastern mysticism and how it codified in art the value of 'grokking' and 'waiting is'. The words of Perrault as he sought to pass on his legacy to the new caretaker of the ancient wisdom in that Himalayan valley.

Then, as time passed ... wow, it was decades! Another scene in the story was emerging. There is much to fear in an uncertain world. But fear should not be one of them. No less remarkable a human than a president named Roosevelt used a medium of his time to say it so well at just the right time. That he would name the newly constructed presidential retreat after the fictional monument to patience and careful thought, illustrated the point precisely.

War requires very violent and quick action. It is a last resort to a breakdown in the ability of humans to resolve the consequences of free will as a function of time. One could view it as the modern version of nature's garbage collection. Its limitiation? Some of the good stuff gets destroyed with the not so good stuff.

For winter.

If one were to back off and pragmatically observe the trends of recent history, would it not show that static formulas are woefully inadequate to this chapter of the human timeline? Seeking timeless insights does have a danger. That danger being that if we are to get it wrong in deciding that we have discovered one, the consequences are dire indeed.

Bryan was used to accepting now that it is hopelessly futile to compartmentalize mission, job, family, romance as if they were jars in a dark cupboard. Deeper than that is where this was all leading. If not jars of canned whatever lying in wait for a time when they could be of benefit, then what?

He opened a channel and asked, "Well what have we learned?". He was patient for the answer this time.

Hear No 'Evil'

Had coffee with a dear friend today who has much to offer in bridging disparate international interests in principle based commerce. I was not surprised when he said he clicked 'Hide' on some of my recent posts on Facebook for fear that the conservatives among his friends may see some of my political opinions.

This was not always the case. Not that long ago, the conservatives were the loyal opposition and counted me among them. Willing to read what the Left and Middle had to argue was as natural to us as consulting a watch to find out the current time. Sure there were some radicals but they did not lead us.

Enough said. It is not at all difficult to see where I am going with this. It begs the question, how can we make this better (civil, respectful etc.)?

Dendritic

Often, a breakthrough hypothesis was missed because of the rigid dispassionate observer protocol (that denies the inescapable subjectivity of a human observer). Like it or not, there is art in everything. One might say, a celebration of uncertainty.

Her 'storytelling' could be as short as a title, the length of a popular tune or something longer. Letting a story rather than its ostensible meaning do the talking preserved germane nuance and subtle or profound context. Just trying to analyze 'story' and, worse, write about it is to somehow not give the medium its due.

A recurring theme, patterns with broad if not universal application, served as background for a part of the message related to the plane of equality and incentive. So Bryan toyed with this concept by attempting to graph it. If on the horizontal axis is abundance and incentive on the vertical ...

It seemed relevant now that some visualization would serve to compact the message further while preserving its meaning - perhaps even enhancing it. A pretty good trick, to be sure, if one could bring it off.

Recalling a time in his young adult career when the word succinct was used to describe a letter, Byran, thought "Not yet, put it in the top drawer". It was a reminder to himself to check again when the time was right.

When unable to ID himself in the standard Level VII system he needed to visually read two words and type them into the text box on his device. It did not escape his attention that, more and more, there was a thread of meaning in the sequence of these words accumulating from the many secure online transactions in any given week or month. Not having the presence of mind to simply ask if this observation was a self-fulfilling prophecy or factually based he wondered what all those people did behind the curtain, fishing for or perhaps even creating meaning?

Truth be told two of Byran's favorite pastimes were the creation of meaning and the standard issue, babe. When they came in the same bundle it sure seemed this must be Nirvana. Both were essentially undefinable but carried so much good stuff they simply could not disappoint.

Her latest story began, "

Her 'Chess'

The term "drop-dead gorgeous" meant different things to different people, of course. That she was exceptionally attractive and deeply so was evident. How humans are able to tell such a thing so quickly still remains largely a mystery. The standard for getting first eye contact changes with societal trends but the subtle cues of a cosmic intellect seem nearly timeless. Not that we even understand what conveys that meaning in a short first encounter.

She was just such a person. Radiating a friendly but astute aura. Perhaps a bit taller than average with a gait that reflected the natural beauty of function. Long wavy auburn hair without much fanfare or pretense.

But he had known her long enough now to notice a pattern in her behavior that felt relevant to the message. From time to time since this all started a time for decisive action would arise. At times like these, he would choose his word's carefully but quickly.

That she had a pivotal role was evident now. Communicating with her was mission critical. But seemingly out of necessity, she reacted almost indifferently upon first hearing an important communique. To him, at least early on, it felt as if he were broadcasting an SOS, and was unsure anybody could hear it.

As regular as clockwork though, this extraordinary female would respond in the most satisfying way. It was a mix of message received and carefully considered then a response with far more value than what was requested.

Now contemplating the meaning of this latest transaction he reflected on what she meant to the mission. He had grown so much from the curiosity regarding this latency, lasting on average two or three days, between a revelation and her measured response to it. He found himself mimicking this behavior because it was so effective. It became more and more familiar, like a call from home.

"I am wondering about timing here, we are prepared. Any thoughts?"

Her answer, as before, was just the right story ...

Prepared to Receive

While far away in hostile but natural environment the crew especially equipped for the mission and transporting highly trained but autonomously capable humans to the focal point. The probability that they were at or near the geographical center identified was high but not certain.

Reception is essential but insufficient. Real-time adaptation the same. All in all, this time ...

One camp argues that natural constraints require the extraordinary efforts of both sender and receiver. Another camp insists that what appears to be constraints is an important part of the message. Not unlike other pursuits of fundamental knowledge, conflicting hypotheses emerge. And sometimes, a breakthrough occurs. An encompassing theory that seems to unify disparate perspectives into a more encompassing whole is a possibility. Implicit in the simultaneous cosmic events sensed just weeks ago is that the cipher key that would reveal some highly salient aspect of the message if not the message itself was imminent.

And if that were not enough, there were those making a strong theoretical case for a prompt reply. If it took this message such a long time to arrive why did the equations show that a reply could be instantaneous, at least in a relative sense?

Modalities of communication with spectacular diversity and application is just what inspired Bryan most. From the days on top of world to half a century later in the frozen tundra, this, more than anything gave his life meaning.

"We have contact, sir"

"Are they there yet"

"No, but it can't be far now, a break in the weather is about all we need"

"Standby for power request"

Not until the recent breakthrough in storage technology, was it possible to get this much power on such short notice for this purpose. For decades an artificial nuclear reaction could provide the energy and in timely fashion but not without the show-stopping Nuclear Magnetic Pulse. It would preclude all the processing required for decoding the message and rapidly preparing the reply.

On Top of the World

When he was young sitting above the family garage in a place affectionately called the Ham Shack what happened there enthralled him. There, young Bryan listening to a conversation spanning the great distance from the bottom of the earth to North America, by way of the ionosphere reflecting signals of a certain frequency and wires across the land to a family member and back. Until tuned just right it sounded like those flightless birds, ducks.

Another time in the Ham Shack, this time alone he noticed these strange sounds all over the short wave dial. They sounded like power saws cutting through heterogenous wood fiber. When he was told this was the Russians jamming broadcasts from the free world it seemed quite reasonable. After all, in the '50s there was the ever present threat of nuclear confrontation. Upon learning sometime much later that these were actually encrypted digital messages from our own military to operations in the field, the significance of this legend hinted at something very profound.

When war (cold or hot) is most important nearly everything is interpreted in terms of weapon or threat, who do you trust and when and so forth. Remarkably, many who oppose war under any circumstances rationalize that 'them' must be those who do not see it that way and are therefore ... a threat.

So this thrashing around to find a formula for determining right and wrong seems vaguely futile. As if the Universe would stand still for a moment so we could derive that magic formula from static data.

But the very language that could explicitly communicate this timeless truth to an appropriate audience did not and as nearly as he could tell, still does not exist. That is, as they say, the situation. And the one that brought him here.

Nerve Center

The dimly lit room full of flatscreens with all manner of patterns was a bit remiscent of a brightly lit street in NYC or Las Vegas. The sound a curious mix of voices most of whom were in a conversation with someone somewhere else. It felt like a ritual dance, one deserving a thoughtful reverance.

So, situations are handled here. To hear about this secure place where so many important decisions are formed would give one the impression that this was anything but routine.

But now, he was here and discovered quickly that this is actually very routine. It had to be in order for it to be reliable. Yes, world shaking events were rare and certainly handled by this space and these people. But just like Cheyenne Mountain, the reliability of the operation depended upon a certain routine that kept these people in a familiar environment, at a time when each of them would have to be 'game ready'.

A first time visitor, he felt the rush of being exposed to something awe inspiring in its sheer importance. But, of course, the news he carried, and the research to back it up engendered some of the same thrill ... and dread. Implicit in this fancy memory stick he carried would be comical if it were not so significant. He thought, "feels like a good movie did when I was discovering my imagination."

Quack ... quack, quack, quack.

What really worked is learning about suggestibility and its pivotal role in my life. Recently I discovered I am not alone in being vulnerable to and lucky to be suggestible. In fact far from it. Four decades later this epiphany is flowering.

Learning about suggestibility, my own in this case, kept me from eating myself to death. Learning about humans propensity to accept suggestions opened a door to a profound understanding. Oops, getting ahead of the story ... again.

The weight disappeared in a matter of months. I had gone to the radical step of trusting a 'quack' science, hypnosis. I was desperate and, frankly, I could see it doing no harm. Within a couple of very reasonably priced sessions, I was hooked. To my surprise, a highly effective hypnotic suggestion was NOT about turning my brain off, indeed it was quite the opposite. It stimulated my sometimes overactive imagination into something incredibly positive. One could say insight triumphed over shame.

Just Enough Time

Travel in this part of the world is often about waiting. The elements rule the schedule. And now at one of those times when nature has another priority there is time to contemplate that mysterious message from half a world away. After all, what brought us here is its implication that a very large land mass and being as close as possible to the edge of the atmosphere was essential to receive.

So, back home, there was much speculation about what was to be received and why it should it take so long. One train of thought rationalized that the message required such a large 'landing area' and 'message duration' because it would need to travel a great cosmic distance.

Huddled around the fire we discussed the usual challenges of navigating and traversing such a challenging landscape. But once we had done our best to prepare for our next window of opportunity the roundtable returned to high level talk of the mission.

"It seems to me that the channel's design implies that the designers, though highly capable by any earthly measure, were far from omnipotent..."

Credit Union, Co-op?

In part an answer to yesterday's post:

Jeff, a dear Wanderer friend who like me, has eclectic interests suggests that the organizational model we are looking for is the idea suggested a little while back, a credit union. The first half of the first sentence in the wikipedia entry on credit unions goes like this, "A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members, and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift" and captures much of the intent of the organization. I would also perhaps, substitute the words 'personal identities' for financial in the sentence above.

I have joined the facebook group, MICROCREDIT with the hope of learning more about the friendly, organic nature of the organization type.

Every few decades or so ...

It was one of those day's in the high mountain plateau some call the roof of the world. When it comes to weather in Tibet, you can expect just about anything. Some would consider it harsh for humans. But the promise of deep, timeless insight is a very palpable legend in this part of the world.

So the story begins, with the dry cold wind howling plus a faint but somehow warm sound mixed in. Many are drawn here in hopes of finding ... something of deep value.

Could it be that a combination of the thin air and the inhospitable conditions create such a contrast with those familiar things we surround ourselves with that an illusion of treasure discovered manifests? A busy mind feels uncomfortable without answers ... and the many questions exacerbate the problem.

"What am I doing here ..."

Value, A Better Way

Making value (the old fashioned way, "Earning it") makes so much more sense than raising money. Investors have been spoiled of late. They often feel entitled to an unearned return on their savings. Legalized stealing provides this benefit but it is not sustainable any longer. Like the agricultural revolution that made the US the food basket powerhouse of the world over a century ago there is a value change starting up. It is fun to watch.

Private Democracy, another

So, is all this talk of starting an organization needing a small amount of financing to privately empower democracy worthy of low risk capital from a bank (Ok, loan)?

Yet another name from the creative factory, MyPrivateDemocracy.

What about Bo and Health?

And now we come full circle to the Bo Rock's Health project. Some will argue (me among them) that the emergence of the tablet computer is driven in part by the move to Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Using Kimble-like display technology the new client devices for EMR will have the value of re-usable paper. The tablet computers will also need a signing capability, an electronic equivalent to a genuine signature.

I have been using an iPhone as the suggested platform for signing because it is of convenient size and is with its owner most of the time. Tablet computer's may not be as convenient but will have the capability of displaying, say, a 'full sheet of paper'.

Given the constraints of documents needing signatures, it may be wise to consider a wireless link between the iPhone and Tablet. Functions important to document sharing, signing and secuirty could be distributed amongst the two depending on the application (for example in EMR think doctor or nurse with a clip board, iPhone in pocket).

The Base iPhone SigDyn Technology

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, many patents related to the technology of capture, encoding and comparing signature dynamics data are now in the public domain. The ideas disclosed in the claims of them now belong to the public and are available for Us ID'd project. Below is a short example list of such patents assigned to just IBM (though now belong to all US Citizens).

You may have noticed I have disclosed many potential names for this community/cloud based project that will empower a large population of individuals based upon virtually certain identification at any distance and for virtually any purpose. That this population has a common interest in the group they provide a turn key solution for those organizations that desire a direct relationship with individuals amongst them.

Short US Patent List (Assignee was originally IBM):

3,983,535

4,128,829

4,553,258

5,054,088

See uspto.gov

Will the real John Galt please stand up?

InventoMax will return next time on BTH.

So the neo-cons 'got' the self-interest part of Atlas Shrugged right, sort of. Why are they so dopey about the enlightenment part? Is Rush's ratings more important to them than their families? Ms. Rand's Objectivism was not intended to rationalize theft as a liberty, I am pretty sure. Maybe it is time for me to read it again. Sure enjoyed it the first time around. Jon Stewart 18 Glenn Beck 3.

Who where?

Geotagging of a Personal ID transaction could have a number of interesting uses. For instance, verifying where the person is at the moment. Properly bound, the ID verification and associated location information data answers the questions, "Who" & "Where". Again, using an iPhone 3Gs as the client terminal, the GPS hardware and magnetometer are already on board.

Be sure to look back in time on this blog for other "its really me" invention information. Keep thinking, "Public Domain".

Dug

I need a gig that is compatible with being a communications and invention junky. I like to work with friends. Put it all together and what do you get? Perhaps a 501 3c thingy that enhances security through dog proven techniques ("My name is Dug, I have just met you, and I want to be your best friend"). Not so much iAm as weAre ... Come Together, over me ... iTrust, weTrust. Help me here.

Steps to answering Who

Determining who, the steps (DRAFT):

1. Signee signs token on (iPhone) Screen

2. As it is written to the screen the older part is erased.

3. A comparison to the claimed identity is made with SigDyn comparison.

4. A security question is picked at random ("What was your pet's name) and displayed.

5. Signee signs answer to security question

6. SigDyn comparison used once again for confident verification. Both real person and the right person.

7. Using public encryption message is scrambled and sent.

8. Back end responds according to Signee's wishes.

SigDyn comparison - comparing a persons signing with a template.

From Me to YOU

This image was drawn on the iPhone with an application called DoodleBuddy. I 'signed' my nickname to illustrate how the signature capture would look when complete. For signature dynamics the relative timing and pressure are recorded as well as the sequence of pixels turning dark. The signal is then compressed into a compact form. Using a comparison algorithm that looks for repeatability within a chosen variance of these three parameters, the signer is verified to be a particular person.

This technology has been around for decades. The iPhone and other touchscreen devices already have the hardware to make this possible. Many suitable algorithm patents have expired and are in the public domain.

iAm invention disclosure

Please excuse that the following is anything but polished or complete. Its intended purpose is to immediately get as much as possible into the Public Domain.

iAm - signature dynamics on a touch screen (like iPhone). Open source. Could use PGP for secure transactions. Social networking (like Facebook) for out-of-body presence (open a door, log-on, confirm financial transaction etc.). Dialog for extended security. Extra circuitry on silicon to make it more tamper-proof.

Thread, Needle, Success

Once again, it is time to thread the needle. Reagan shut down the government to get congress to act responsibly in regards to passing legislation in timely fashion. Whether or not you agreed with his politics, it was effective.

Team Obama working with congress envious of its leadership and popularity with citizens, keeps congress in session throughout the weekends to get itself to act responsibly. This time about holding the Medical/Industrial complex responsible for its and our sustainability. Thread ready to attach to needle. Effectiveness to follow.

Catch Me ... If You Can

Cool suspicious stuff is already happening as I attempt to distribute an incredibly revealing bit of news about a sea change in the ability of ordinary humans to change the destiny of our world. Details on request.

See: http://tinyurl.com/yg3bugl

We as one, manifest?

A way of looking at Sci Fi is the high-level play that children do for their defense ... writ large. Not unlike the human immune system's rapid-reponses to potentially dominant invaders. Organic and moreover synthetic. If conscious awareness participates - internet, Apple, Google, Facebook etc. Or not.

Owe? What me worry?

From my OFA blog:

"I am confused. We are to panic because we are passing on a huge debt to our children and grandchildren? Debt owed to whom? Certainly not Bernie, he is in the slammer. How about those rich people who are entitled to a safe and substantial return on 'their' investment. Perhaps to Blackwater whose invested profits are needed to sustain their continuing service to humanity?

Enough with the sarcasm. The concept of 'owe' simply cannot be considered in isolation. And, sorry, neither can the mythical value of gold. We will actually have to collectively think. Its not that painful so we might as well get started."

Ok, pretend I am not shouting and comment.... please.

Onward, Soldiers

Leadership should not be confused with Privileged Follower. The former is about a universal human capacity that can potentially enhance the collective interest of sentient beings. The latter, far too often, is about exploitation and a command structure inappropriate for contexts outside of war. Cults frequently function primarily from the loyalty of Priveleged Followers. Consciously recognizing this seems like a good thing.

Who then might be representative of a Privileged Follower as defined above?

Cognitive Overload v .1

I am torn, do I put my best stuff here where anybody can see it or in another place that requires that you join a smaller group to merely read what I have to say? Since the number of people that even care what I have to say is pretty small I am inclined to put my best stuff here. On the other hand, the other group to which I refer, is associated with somebody who has substantial coat tails ... if you know what I mean. Yes, it does require me to think. Cruel world. Suggestions?

User Interface?

I am sitting here in the Acme Coffee Co. on SE Hawthorne in Portland with my propeller-head friend, Jeff trying to figure out how people can comment on my BuzzTheHill blog without having a Ph. D. in how do you do that really complicated propeller-head thing to allow you to dialog as a reader with the author of said blog. If you have any of the above qualifications, a comment to this entry is welcome.

Pseuedo-Scientifc American?

Is there a Pseuedo-Scientifc American? Not Rupert, I am talking about a magazine. Or at least a web site. Subject matter could be for instance, Darwinian Break Dancing. Perhaps, Sub-Atomic Eminent Domain. Important subjects for a shallow but busy world.