The Blue Talkz...

Monday, November 10, 2014
Radical Abundance by K. Eric Drexler

A friend of mine just asked me if I finally read Drexler's "Radical Abundance", which reminded me that I didn't write anything about it... or anything else I've been reading recently. =P Yes, I read it, and I re-read it, and finished doing so a while back. And I'm a big fan!

K. Eric Drexler, who is for all intents and purposes the father of nanotechnology, is probably the most qualified person to explain what we've already accomplished in the field, what's to be expected, the obstacles, the misunderstandings, and why we're not where we could be yet. In this book he also does an amazing job in describing in a very straightforward and "none-fiction" way, what the future could look like if we did in fact realize the potentials of the field.

I'll probably read this again soon enough... huuuuuuge fan!

Labels: Authors, Books, Nanotechnology, Reading, Science, Technology

Friday, February 28, 2014
Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Last week I finished reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Fooled By Randomness". What I would say about it is pretty much the same as what I wrote about "The Black Swan". This is something to read for anyone who wants to know how the world works, and why we generally don't/can't do a good job in predicting what will or will not come next.

Though I think I'm still a bigger fan of "The Black Swan", I really enjoyed reading this one too.

Labels: Authors, Books, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Reading, Science

Thursday, November 14, 2013
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Meanwhile, in my so called "parallel reading", I finished reading one of the most amazing, most brilliant non-fictions I've ever read. "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is must read for anyone who has an interest in thinking / learning about how the world functions!

I came across this book completely accidentally, and it truly took my breath away. And now I think I'm going to read the rest of what the same author has written…

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Mathematics, Reading, Science

Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Comic-Con 2013

So during the weekend in between my notebooks and my tablet I managed to see just everything I cared to see from Comic-Con 2013 [and not really get anything else done! =P]. Aaaaaand it's been exciting.

J.J. Abrams' "Almost Human" series is going to be here in a few months, and I really can't wait to see it. The series is about Androids, and seems to have a very Asimov theme and feel to it. Oh, and Karl Urban is the main guy apparently. Enough said.

Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D", created by Joss Whedon, is also right around the corner. It turns out Agent Coulson is alive and kicking, which is an awesome surprise. can't wait for this one either.

As for panels and such, I think I'm now officially a much bigger fan of the Nerd HQ panels than the official Comic-Con ones. Nerd HQ panels are very very different, they're a lot less formal, a lot less directed and formatted and just a lot more fun to watch. This year's Nerd HQ panels were again awesome, and my favourite one was most likely the one with Tom Hiddleston, a.k.a. Loki. =) Here's that:

The Nerd HQ Doctor Who panel was also awesome. Honestly Steven Moffat [now known as Steven Fat] is absolutely hilarious:

And on the same channel you can find the panels with Joss Whedon, Richard Madden, 2 panels with Nathan Fillion and a whole bunch of other really cool one.

Thanks to some good friends I was also able to have a look at several of the official Con panels. I absolutely LOOOOOOOOOOVED Loki's appearance on the Marvel panel, that was just bloody awesome! =D I also really enjoyed the X-Men panel, and of course the Doctor Who panel hosted by Greg Ferguson was quite entertaining. ;)

But of course I have to do a bit of ranting too. =P For one thing I don't know who gave permission to these people to produce another idiotic 300 movie. Unbelievably disappointing.

But the real disappointment is of course how Marvel seems to have picked up an axe to go after their own Cosmic story arcs altogether. I have been waiting for a "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie to happen for many many years. Now that it's finally going to happen, they have taken the writing from Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and handed it to Brian Michael Bendis, who really, really is NOT the writer for this. And of course James Gunn is directing…. right. And basically the same thing has happened to Nova… So now I wonder if this is really the end of Marvel Cosmic, or at least anything that was good about Marvel Cosmic… or will it somehow be rescued, I guess we just have to wait and see.

Labels: Books, Comic-Con, Comics, Entertainment, Motion Picture, Movies, Science, TV

Thursday, March 14, 2013
Quantified Self Meetup, Zeo, and my own odd sleeping habits!

Due to my collection of genetic peculiarities, I've undergone quite a number of tests and studies throughout my life. However last night during the "Quantified Self" meetup, I

realized I've never actually looked into my sleeping patterns and stages. Given my truly weird lifelong sleeping habits, I think it might be interesting to do so.
For as long as I remember, I've slept an average of 4 hours per cycle. As a child perhaps I would stay in bed longer, but the 4 hours were all the sleep I needed, and it's still the same. I can force myself into sleeping more, that actually can at times work, but it will result in something like what people usually experience when they don't get enough sleep. There have also been times when I've gone for a number of days with much less than that, or no sleep what-so-ever. And then I sleep for a much longer time, and all is well. The little sleep that I get is quite enough, and I've basically never had a problem with being tired, sleepy or out of energy during the day. None of this has ever had a negative effect on my health, mental sharpness and so on. The few hours that I sleep are usually deep, unbroken, and apparently quite fulfilling! [Some years ago there was a study about this, titled "The Sleepless Elite". Didn't offer much in terms of answers though…]
The other odd bit is the way I dream. I've heard in many occasions, including last night at the QS event, about people attempting to induce lucid dreams. There's been quite a good deal of speculations about the positive or negative results of doing that. The thing about me, is that I don't have anything other than fully lucid dreams! I dream quite a lot, I tend to remember my dreams clearly, and in my 29 years, I have never had a dream that wasn't lucid. I've been trying to figure this one out, talking to psychologists, neurologists, and you name it…. so far I've not come any closer to knowing why.
So with all this, it was very interesting for me to look at the sleep charts created by "Zeo Sleep Manager". The device detects and records your REM, Light and Deep sleeping stages [among other features…]. This is something I've never tried, and I do wonder, with my little "situation", how my chart would look like. Perhaps I should give it a try.
More on the QS meetup, it was also interesting to see Last.fm presented as a self tracking tool. I just realized that I've been doing this for quite a few years now… I listen to humongous amounts of music on daily basis, and I can't really tell you what kind of music "I like". Depending on my mood and state of mind, I could be listening to just about anything. What I'm listening to is a reflection of my psychological patterns, and for many years now, my close friends and I have been looking at my Last.fm charts to get an idea of "how I've been doing"! So yes, haha, Last.fm is in fact the perfect self tracking/study tool! =)
And that's about all I have to say for now….

Labels: Aasemoon, Events, Life, QS, Science, Technology