Domesticated Foxes

Domesticated Foxes
Originally uploaded by Oranguthingy.

Aren't they purdy? These little guys are the end result of a 45-year long project in Siberia to breed domesticated foxes. They are researching animal intelligence and taking a look at how dogs have "evolved".

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Wizard People, Dear Reader

...is an interesting little peice of art: a guy named Brad Neely has recorded his own book-on-tape for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (aka the Sorcerer's Stone), intended to be played instead of the film's original soundtrack. I'm reminded of the Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the Moon synchronicity thing (although obviously this one is intentionally synchronous). Wow; I just now looked up that WoO/DSotM link for this post and I didn't realize there was a synchronous relationship between Wish You Were Here and Blade Runner as well. I'll have to try that some day, too. Could I say synchronous any more? (We'll see, I guess. It is a delightful word) I'm downloading WP,DR via Bittorrent right now (a wonderful peice of work as well - great for downloading large files). Check out the rest of Illegal Art for more coolness.

Good night, beautiful people.

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Mind-Machine Interfaces

Cool article on the progress being made in reading and interpreting neuronal activity via cables plugged directly into your brain. The article centers on a quadriplegic who has learned to control a mouse and other peripherals using only his thoughts. This is a topic close to my heart, as my dad is currently being assessed for a brain implant that will help control his Parkinson's. This dovetails nicely with another recent article that's floating around discussing the success using brain implants that can "cure" depression (in an admittedly small sample group). The age of cybernetics is upon us, it's just that most people haven't noticed yet. My dad's already got an implant that watches his heart and adjusts it's pace as needed, acting as both a pacemaker and defibrillator. The data this thing collects is downloaded wirelessly every so often, and they can see exactly what his heart has been doing since the last download. It's as William Gibson said: the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed.

Lloyd Tells It Like It Is

Great open letter to Condi Rice from Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and "UN bigshot". Here's a snippet:

"I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.

But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game."

Good stuff.

via Boingboing

A Brief Chat with Wes

It would appear that there are two kinds of people in this world: those who absolutely love Wes Anderson films and those who absolutely hate them. For those who love them, here's a nice little chat with Wes about The Life Aquatic. For those who don't, well... um. I got nuthin.

via Kottke

Using Games to Make Games

Second Life is a really interesting game that lets thousands of people create their own gaming environment. You want to make a castle? You can. Fill it with monsters? Sure. It's all very Snow Crash (or Neuromancer if you prefer). I'm not familiar with the toolset, but I've seen demos and it looks pretty straightforward. You can also use the game editor to make, well, games. One guy made a game called Tringo that's a cross between Bingo and a "jig-saw arcade game", and it became so popular it attracted the attention of a big-shot investor. It's being developed as a standalone game for retail release, in the Real World. The coolest bit is that the company that runs Second Life claims absolutely no ownership whatsoever -- the guy who created it, owns it (well, he's sold it now, but you get the idea). A classy move in an age that is being dominated by intellectual-property-mongers. Yes, I said it: Mongers.

Link to article in Second Life newsletter (probably won't be there for long)
Link to a blog that seems to be focused on Second Life. I could probably lose myself in there if I'm not careful.

Another Small Step Towards Bubble Fusion

Nature is reporting that researchers have determined that a mix of sulphuric acid and argon, when subjected to sound in the 40Hz range, creates bubbles that, upon collapse, create plasma, which is a necessary precursor for fusion (my, that was an awkward sentence). The bottom line is that if this effect can be engineered properly, we could have a new, excellent energy source. This is no doubt going to take a long time to acheive, but it makes for interesting reading...

Link

I found this story because I have a Google Alert set up to watch for "bubble fusion". Very useful for keeping an eye on news you are interested in, but don't have the time to keep tabs on.

Superfriends/Office Space mash-up

Same idea behind the Superfriends/Wassup mash-up. If you liked Office Space, you'll enjoy this. Includes some of the best lines in the movie. Some day I'll tell you about how Office Space is all about me, in a not-so-distant alternate universe.

Link