Embracing Chaos

I haven’t had a chance to fully digest this article yet, but it looks like somebody’s figured out a way to use quantum entanglement to communicate useful information. Seems to me that there’s a fair bit of grandstanding going on, not the least of which is the title of the article: Intercontinental quantum liaisons between entangled electrons in ion traps of thermoluminescent crystals The fact that they shipped an entangled crystal across the pacific to perform the experiment sounds like pure drama to me. The interesting part is that they seem to have found a mechanism to do something to…

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I spent Thanksgiving weekend on my Mom’s Ranchito in Southern California. (I’m not quite sure what else to call it — it’s not that big, but it’s got more dogs, cats, horses, chickens and turtles than you can shake a cactus branch at.) A few hours before getting on the plane, I was at a friend’s house and saw a 2×2x2 mini Rubik’s cube sitting on their living room table. Knowing all the residents of the house would be away, I asked if I could borrow the cube for the weekend. My bookshelf had run dry of easy-reading novels, so…

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Transhumanist Morality is the idea that we should consider the impact of our actions in the context of the millennium-scale history of humanity. Specifically, I think the only way we will avoid some kind of dystopian apocalyptic fate is by seeking salvation through technology. In this context, moral actions are those that increase the probability that as a species we achieve technological salvation before we blow ourselves up. I’d like to explore what this means in very practical terms by analyzing a number of jobs I’ve had and considered and seen my friends do over the years. SEO for e-Commerce…

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“May you live in interesting times.” -Ancient Chinese Proverb (actually, it isn’t.) The idea behind this saying is that times of rapid change are generally quite painful. Historically interesting times are those involving wars and revolutions — things where lots of people die. Growth and improvement have only come through very slow gradual change. But in today’s China, this is anything but true. Right now is one of the most interesting times in China’s long history, and for the majority of the country, it’s fantastic. (If we all work hard, that kind of intersting time might be behind us.) We…

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I’m currently traveling in mainland China. One of my primary reasons to be here is to practice my Mandarin. I lived in the town of Jinan for the better part of 2001, and by the end of my stay had a rough conversational grasp of the language. For cultural and geopolitical reasons I’d like to keep this skill. I’m also planning on going to China’s Global Debutante Ball in Beijing in 2008 and a little force-fed practice now can’t hurt. I think of myself as a dilettante polyglot – I have or have had a smattering of many languages –…

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Hats off to the Squire Park Neighborhood Association! Not too long ago (not too recently either — I’ve been a bit of a pile about posting this) they blocked off my street for a couple weekends and painted a giant mural in the middle of an intersection. Why? To slow down traffic of course! How does paint on the ground cause people to drive slower? I’m not really sure, but it sure does. I see cars slow down and even try to “go around” whatever this thing is in the middle of the street. I think the fact that it’s…

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