Category: Interesting

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Are You Living In a Computer Simulation?

The movie Matrix was based on the idea that we all live in a simulated world while being physically located inside incubator-type containers during our entire lives. Now named The Simulation Argument, here’s a website that discusses a paper on the possibility that we actually live in a simulated world and the debate that follows that paper. The abstract itself lays down the very intriguing idea:

This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of other consequences of this result are also discussed.

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How To Sleep More Effectively

Since I started working out, I had to regulate my sleep more. I do my workouts in the morning, and workouts are extremely exhausting if I don’t get a good night sleep. I currently sleep 7 to 8 hours every night. During weekdays I get up at 5:15am, so this means I’m usually asleep by 10pm. I believe working out and sleeping right are two main reasons why I haven’t been sick for a long time. This includes times when a lot of people around me were getting sick.

Reading this article about how to sleep more effectively made me realize I was at least doing one thing right.

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Petting And Me

Scott Adams, who I wrote about in the past, wrote a short post about petting and what it says about you. It shows how much insight this man has, because I think he is entirely correct about his observation. Anyway, he was right about me: I’m petting-type 1 – when I pet Ace I try to make it as enjoyable as possible for her according to the amount of purring sound she makes. The character Scott correlates with type 1 petters pretty much matches mine.

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Bill Gates And Steve Jobs Share One Stage

It’s been many years since these two giants shared the same stage. I doubt there’s any introduction I can write that will suit the magnitude of this event. Like most reviews, I also felt the respect they have for each other, very unlike the perception of rivalry we have when we think about Microsoft vs. Apple. Gates and Jobs share a long history starting from the beginning of modern computing. This is one talk you really shouldn’t miss.

The talk has an introduction and seven parts, for a total of around an hour:
0 (introduction), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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Google Street View + Funny Findings

Google has a new feature for Google Maps: Street View. Although it’s not a new feature on the Internet, when Google does it everyone gets excited anyway. So here’s one sample of Street View of what it’s like to drive on The Washington Bridge in New York.

But of course, there are people out there crazier than me, looking for weird, funny, interesting and even sad stuff on Google Street View. Here are 15 of the current findings.

Google, as usual, have put in a little easter egg (what’s a computer easter egg) of their own in Street View: the entire Google Maps team standing outside as the Street View vehicle takes shots. (via Digg)

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James Randi

James Randi used to be a magician and went by the name of The Amazing Randi. He was a “trickster”. Later on, however, he devoted his life to demystifying those who claim they have psychic powers. He is well known for challenging Uri Geller’s and Peter Popoff’s powers (video link), Homeopathy healing (video link) and many many more.

I recall seeing a show about James Randi’s offer to pay 1 million dollar to whoever proves the powers of Homeopathy, and judging by the James Randi Educational Foundation website, that prize is still up for grabs.

James Randi is like a modern Mr. Spock. He pursues logical explanations and is willing to challenge anyone who claims to have abilities that negate logic. A very interesting man, to say the least. You can see more videos of James Randi here.