think or thwim

This fellow has kept track of the price he paid for every gallon of gas since 1979.

randomuseless.info

From New Rules:

In 1990 about 5,000 attendees at a computer graphics conference were asked to operate a computer flight simulator devised by Loren Carpenter. Each participant was connected into a network via a virtual joy stick. Each of the 5,000 copilots could move the plane’s up/down, left/right controls as they saw fit, but the equipment was rigged so that the jet responded to the average decisions of the swarm of 5,000 participants. The flight took place in a large auditorium, so there was lateral communication (shouting) among the 5,000 copilots as they attempted to steer the plane. Remarkably, 5,000 novices were able to land a jet with almost no direction or coordination from above. One came away, as I did, convinced of the remarkable power of distributed, decentralized, autonomous, dumb control.

About five years after the first show (this is the update), Carpenter returned to the same conference with an improved set of simulations, better audience input controls, and greater expectations…

:: Kevin Kelly | Embrace the Swarm

Kevin Kelly:

To live without electricity or cars eliminates most of what we expect from modernity. No electricity means no internet, TV, or phones as well, so suddenly the Amish life stands in stark contrast to our complex modern lives.

But when you visit an Amish farm, that simplicity vanishes. The simplicity vanishes even before you get to the farm. Cruising down the road you may see an Amish kid in a straw hat and suspenders zipping by on roller blades. In front of one school house I spied a flock of parked scooters, which is how the kids arrived there. Not Razors, but hefty Amish varieties. But on the same street a constant stream of grimy mini-vans paraded past the school. Each was packed with full-bearded Amish men sitting in the back. What was that about?

Kevin Kelly | Amish Hackers

4.6 billion years condensed into 60 seconds.

If you increase the life expectancy in poor nations where the average number of children per mother is high, won’t that just increase the overpopulation problem? No. Hans Rosling explains.

Steve writes:

You may have recently seen my father’s drawings of “The Face” which have appeared on my birthday cakes and cards over the years. For my birthday present this year, all I asked him for was a step-by-step guide explaining exactly how to draw it.

As fantastic as this guide is, I was left with more questions than answers, so I got him on the phone for the following EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW…

…and that interview is completely awesome: thesneeze.com

Also, If I Didn’t Have You and Storm

:: Skeptics Guide to the Universe