Răzvan Roman

Mai stiti reclama aia de pe Discovery care zicea ceva de genul “de ce ne imaginam ca epoca de aur e undeva in trecut si nu in prezent?”. Varsavsky scrie astazi un articol in care trece in revista schimbarile din ultimii 30 de ani fata de prima parte a secolului 20. Where is the future that we were promised:

Five years into the 20th century, Einstein was living his Annus Miarbilis. Where is our patent office today? Who is our Einstein? Are we the first generation in many years incapable of true innovation? And let’s not just talk about things as complicated as the theory of relativity. I remember complaining about the drill when I was young, and my dentist telling me that when I was grown up he would have to find another job because we would have a vaccine against cavities. Where is this vaccine against cavities? Where are the cures for catarrh and AIDS? Where is that future devoid of poverty in which robots were going to do everything for people and we were going to dedicate ourselves to art and culture?    

Update:Reactia lui Tim O’Reilly.

Cititi articolul din Esquire(EN) despre atacul terorist asupra scolii din Beslan din 2004. E lung, dar e cel mai bun articol pe care l-am citit, s-ar putea sa va placa. Atat subiectul cat si expunerea lui si cercetarea din spate sunt absolut impresionante. Nu are rost sa scriu mai mult decat e nevoie.
Linkul via Omuleti.

Trebuie sa cititi interviul cu Billy Mitchel, cel mai bun jucator de videogames al tuturor timpurilor. 

When I later ask Walter about the point of the Billion on Nibbler[n.r. atingerea scorului de un miliard la jocul Nibbler], he says it was obvious. “Purity, plain and simple. The purity of higher scores.” Walter talks about how all the great challenges seem to have no intrinsic value. Climbing Everest, enumerating pi to a trillion digits, circumnavigating the globe in a hot-air balloon— these things have only personal rewards. True quests, he says, are about losing oneself, which in the end is finding oneself. “Top gamers have yogic concentration,” he says, “combining utter focus with extreme relaxation, like what I’ve studied with the Maharishi.”      

Billy povesteste cum el vede in jocuri, in special in Pacman, un Univers inchis intr-o cutie. Daca ii inveti regulile si devii fluent cu el totul are sens. Tot el spune ca dupa ce a reusit sa termine un Pacman perfect(timp de 6 ore a jucat incontinuu in fata unei audiente pasionata de jocuri, 256 de nivele, a omorat toate fantomele de fiecare data si a strans toate bilutele atingand astfel recordul maxim posibil al jocului) a inceput sa fie perfectionist si in viata de zi cu zi. Billy a lansat si un lant de restaurante(detinut anterior de familie) care se pare ca are succes. Si doua paragrafe esentiale:

Abdner’s(n.r. al jucator) chosen game, Ms. Pac-Man, is substantially more difficultthan Pac-Man. “Pac-Man can be controlled,” Abdner explains. “But Ms. Pac-Man is random.” As eachlevel starts, the movements of the ghosts are briefly unpredictable, and therefore the player must create a new technology on the fly. Everytime, order anew. The scoring is also undefined because the prizes are arbitrary. Could be a cherry, worth100 points. Or a banana, worth 5,000.  Ms. Pac-Man’s non-Newtonian ambiguity is frustrating for Billy and Chris, because it confounds perfection and challenges Billy Mitchell’s belief in universal causality. Abdner has no such grand theories, but he has set three record scores in rapid succession,each higher than the last. 

Imi place mult ca cei doi urmeaza filosofii antagonice dar ambii au rezultate foarte bune. 

Voiam sa scriu despre cum vad din ce in ce mai des oameni care in lipsa cunoasterii contextului(imaginii de ansamblu) vad lucrurile la suprafata si ba se sperie, ba se agita, ba catalogheaza etc. Ma rog, observatii d-alea fine. Si cum imi construiam argumentele in gand, m-a cuprins o fabuloasa si dezarmanta stare de calm si pace in fata dovezilor incontestabile ca Dumnezeu exista:  

Un bistritean a apelat la mica publicitate pentru a felicita pe FC National pentru victoria cu 5-1 impotriva lui Dinamo. Autorul anuntului Aurel Motofelea este curelar si locuieste in localitatea Domnesti. Motofelea a facut turul Europei pe bicicleta, in anul 1979. Anul trecut a apelat la mica publicitate intr-un ziar local cerand sprijin material pentru efectuarea unui tur cu bicicleta. La anunt a raspuns un padurar, care i-a dat un brad pentru a-l depune la statuia lui Cristofor Columb.  via Exarhu 

Si revening, aveti grija saptamana viitoare sa nu fiti pe langa Geneva, nu se stie niciodata. Play it safe, cum ar veni :)Se da drumul la Large Hadron Collider, proiect asteptat din 94. 

The Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, where particles will begin to circulate around its 17 mile circumference tunnel next week, will recreate energies not seen since the universe was very young, when particles smash together at near the speed of light.     

Si asta nu e PR. Povestea vine la pachet cu declaratii incendiare:

Such is the angst that the American Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has even had death threats, said Prof Brian Cox of Manchester University, adding: “Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat.”   

LHC ar trebui sa observe particula Higgs Boson in the wild, intre multe altele. In acelasi timp, e responsabil pentru cel mai hardcore nume dat unui proiect stiintific.