Musings of a Demon-ted Mind

From Metamodern, Drexler himself has commented on what I've been thinking for a few months now: http://metamodern.com/2009/12/15/when-a-million-readers-first-encountered-nanotechnology/ http://metamodern.com/2009/12/19/molecular-manufacturing-where%E2%80%99s-the-progress/ http://metamodern.com/2009/12/25/the-molecular-machine-path-to-molecular-manufacturing-1/ http://metamodern.com/2009/12/27/the-molecular-machine-path-2-exploiting-better-methods-and-building-blocks/ http://metamodern.com/2009/12/29/theres-plenty-of-room-at-the-bottom%E2%80%9D-feynman-1959/ This quote probably sums it all up the best: "The progress I have in mind centers on advances in atomically precise fabrication by chemical and biological means, and these advances now have reached a level that places the implementation of first-generation artificial APM systems within reach. These, however, also won’t resemble slick, large-scale, general-purpose HT-APM systems. Instead, they will support the implementation...

Been a lot of talk lately about the Google Phone, and how it might impact the mobile carriers and how Google has a tendancy to destroy industries. I've been posting on Gizmodo and Techcrunch about it, and thought I should probably add this to my blog. I have a theory about Google. The reason that Google finds ways to destroy industries is because beyond making money, I believe Google has a grand vision that they work towards. That vision, I strongly suspect, is The Singularity. Google seems to think not in terms of years, but in terms of decades. Their plans inevitably seem strange or nutty, but in the long term, they almost always turn out to be years ahead of the curve. Take Google Earth. It's a neat toy, useful for looking at maps, neat how it combines maps and overlays and satellite data and Streetview, and now does stars and planets. It's a great, but not *amazingly* useful little program. Now anyway... But let's flashforward five years, to when you are using your ...

Wow, a blast from the past, amazing what googling yourself can find Title: Human Stupidity Post by: Valkyrie Ice on Jan 13, 2006, 03:18 PM Scene: Taco Bell Time: Today Me: Hello, I'd like to order. Clerk: Certainly, what would you like? Me: I'd like a Taco supreme. Clerk: Hard or soft? Me: Hard. And I would like three beef chalupa's, baja style. Clerk: (is typing at register) Me: And three Beef Burritos, no onions, add sour cream. Clerk: Okay, so that was 1 Taco Supreme, a Gordita, baja style, and three bean burritos. Me: No, it's three *chalupa's* and three *beef* burritos. Clerk: Okay, so that's 1 taco, a Chalupa supreme, and a beef burrito, add sour cream? Me: *sighing heavily* No, it's *1* Taco Supreme, *3* Chalupa's, *Baja style*, and *3* Burritos, no onion, just *Meat*, *Cheese*, *Redsauce* and *Sour Cream*. Clerk: (calls manager over) How do I add sour cream to a burrito? Manager: (types on keyboard.) Now how did you want that, Sir? Me: 3...

Today was a good day. Not for me. But for the future. Today, I believe I’ve seen the first proof of something I have been suspecting for several months. When Obama got elected I believed it was a good day. Even if his presidency was just a placeholder, the simple fact that a black man was elected president was a victory for equality and civil liberty. But then I started paying very close attention to everything he did, and that congress did, and that the world did. I talked to people on forums, debated his every action and those of the movers and shakers in Washington. I’ve talked to people who have loved him, hated him, thought he was the savior, or the anti-christ. I’ve talked to people who are liberals, progressives, conservatives, right-wing, left-wing, and even fairy-wing. And I started noticing something that I am not sure many people did. No matter what you thought about Obama, he was the main topic of the day. Every Forum had something to say about him. No matter ...

Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a girl of style and grace… Well, not really, but it seems so appropriate considering the rest of this little missive, and I won’t even make you guess my name. Valkyrie Ice, or just Val for short. No that’s not the name my parents gave me, but it is far more comfortable most of the time than that other one, which is why it has been my name on the internet from almost the very first time I signed onto a BBS. Val feels more like the real me than that endless succession of masks I have to wear everyday. When I’m online, I usually feel like I’ve taken off this massive coat of lead armor, and like I’m a real person, instead of a mindless automaton going through the motions. What you see when you meet me in the flesh may be what the world thinks of as me right now, but Val’s the one looking at you behind these blue eyes. I have been asked many times before why I consider myself to be an entirely different creature than what I see in a mirror,...