World Torrents

It's insane how much I get done. It's even more insane how inadequate it is for just keeping up with the world.

So, drawing on BitTorrent, and the whole torrent metaphor, I'm thinking about writing something about WorldTorrents.

Takes me back to the Police song in the 80s...

Too much information
Runnin' through my brain;
Too much information,
Drivin' me insane...

...

2005 - 2006: Old Year, New Year

Well, 2005 is over and what a year. Got moved to Ann Arbor. Had a great time crossing the country from Utah and going to Yellowstone and Wind Cave with the fam.

We've gotten well-settled in Ann Arbor, found friends, found grocery stores, all that stuff.

Got past the first semester of U Mich's Ph.D. programme. Did well. Even got an A+ in one class with a recommendation to publish my final paper. :-)

And got my book proposal accepted by an academic publisher for a series that I really like. My book should fit in well with the rest of the series. Manuscript to be written in summer of 2006 (this year).

Other than that, no big plans for 2006. Maybe a jaunt to SC for a (OMG) 20 yr high school reunion?

:-o

...

Happy Solstice!

(I was chastised for saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays," so I'm going to go with the appropriately pagan and likely offensive "Happy Solstice" from now on.

I also have a few days off before next semester which I'm spending with my family. The difficult transition, i.e. the first semester here, is over, and I haven't done too badly ;-)

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Complexity is a Language

Found this:

i) Contribute to the development of a theory of complex social systems and organisations.
ii) Explore and develop models, tools and methods to help organisations understand and cope with complexity.
iii) Develop a method of discourse of complexity, within an organisational context.

COMPLEXITY PROVIDES AN EXPLANATORY FRAMEWORK AND A LANGUAGE, WHICH OFFER A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING AND SEEING THE WORLD.

here:
http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/complexity/events.htm

It's nice to see that the London School of Economics considers the study of complexity as a language rather than a set of research methods. (In fact, the inclusion of language/history/society seems to be the case in many European complexity centers :-) )

All I Need To Know I Learned From Rush

I started a new blog today:

All I Need To Know I Learned From Rush

http://rush2life.blogspot.com/

Life at U Mich #1

Holy Cow!

Last Friday, I had lunch with Carl Simon, Scott Page, and the IGERT recipients at the Center for the Study of Complex Systems. Then I spent an hour with Rich Ling. Talked with Larry Lessig and watched his presentation in the afternoon. Then saw E. O. Wilson speak on his book Consilience in the evening.

This Friday, we IGERT fellows will be hangin w/ Douglas Hofstadter and John Conway!

What a place!

Laugh. Revolt. Resist.

Larry Lessig was here last Friday and gave a brilliant presentation that encouraged us to "Laugh. Revolt. Resist." the absurdity of those who would push copyright law to evil extremes. Had me laughing one moment and crying the next.

Reminded me of the way that Thomas Covenant triumphs over Lord Foul, and, of course, the way we all can triumph over any evil.

Thanks, L! That's "funy stuf"; you keep doin' that.

The Power of Conversation

My post "The Power of Conversation" has been getting some attention over at Many-to-Many

Cinema-On-Demand: Theater as Social Software

I wrote this bit for Corante's Many-to-Many blog:

Cinema-On-Demand: Theater as Social Software

A darkened theatre. A full house. A heroic act. A mighty roar from the crowd. This is the delight of good cinema.

I love going to the movies with people, even people I don’t know. I love to hear others’ reactions, and discuss the movie with people afterwards. In fact, I love it so much, that when my neighbor shows movies in many languages from all over the world in his backyard on Saturday nights during the summer, I often go down for the movie and end up enjoying the wine, cheese, and conversation more than the images flickering across a bedsheet waving gently in the breeze.

So, I got to thinking: What if you could rent a theater for a night? Then I read this: “At this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, filmmaker David LaChapelle screened his new hi-def movie, Rize, by streaming it from Oregon and then transmitting it through a WiMax station in Salt Lake City. It worked flawlessly - soon even theaters won’t have to rely on physical media anymore” (from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/start.html?pg=2).

Improvements in bandwidth and compression will usher in the possibility of streaming movies directly to local theaters...

more...