Concept Explore

Beyond SOA and EAI, Reflective Apps

2010-04-02T00:25:00.007-04:00

Imagine extending the type of reflection built into Java objects to whole applications. Just as Java objects can be interrogated to determine fields, methods, interfaces, inheritance, so to can applications be developed that provide similar information. All that is required is a common means of expressing such information.
Obviously XML would be a prime candidate as a language to express reflective application metadata. WSDL does enable something like reflection but it is targeted at web services.
Before universally reflective applications can talk there must exist a universal means of communicating between applications no matter what technologies are use to implement those apps. CORBA attempts to bridge application to application communication but has had many issues. JEE attempts to make this same bridge by using containers. HTTP enables web servers to communicate with each other and with browsers. Everyone has agreed to follow the HTTP standard. What is needed is something equivalent to HTTP for applications in general, not just web servers, to communicate.
Will that standard simply be implemented on top of tcp/ip stack? Could everyone agree on a standard XML schema, on the exchange protocol, common ports, etc.

When did code become a dirty word? SOA merely moves the logic

2009-12-13T23:36:00.003-05:00

SOA has been heralded as a panacea. Why, so we can avoid changing code or the need to write code?

In SOAs, using the service interface pattern to achieve loose coupling merely moves the logic for determining which implementation of a service or component of code is used during any given invocation of such interfaces from code to system configurations, contracts, protocol definitions, UDDI registries, standards definitions, metadata dictionaries, etc, etc. not to mention compliance and monitoring because at some point in a system, logic must be exercised to determine the routing of method calls to concrete implementations. SOA is supposed to make it so that implementations can be changed by manipulating these SOA elements without changing code.

If code became a dirty word because it was decided that changing code is too expensive and/or time consuming then why would you replace it with something that is even more complex, expensive and time consuming such as aforementioned SOA elements?
Also, the last time I checked the specialties needed as far as personnel in SOA systems like SO Architects, system architects, etc. and those needed to maintain monitoring and compliance are much more expensive than software engineers.

If all of the time and money that has been spent on SOA were to have been spent on concrete components and systems such as AspectJ that allow instrumentation at the code level and other capabilities that serve as glue or connectors at the code level or technologies that allow easy linking of applications across computer language boundaries, then software and systems engineering would be in a far better state.

Even though the links in a system really do define it, as is often the case, they are either completely ignored or not even recognized as entities in and of themselves. Links are instead seen as constraints or guides but not as essential parts themselves. In steel fabrication the links in the system are the welds. They are treated as special entities that require special attention to the point of using x-rays when the welds must be without defect to some high tolerance. In the area of search, Google has recognized the significance of links as a part of their page ranking system and treated them with special attention. It is time for software and system engineering to stop "defining" the links between applications and start building the links as efficient hard technologies not abstract protocols and frameworks. These technologies are of necessity built anyway but it is done in such a way as to create a concrete representation of protocols or frameworks instead of with an eye toward efficiency and optimization to the task at hand. Or else they are created as part of a vendor's application or SOA stack that is only optimized in the context of the rest of said vendor's stack. In the end, if you want to change the behavior of a system you must change something in the system or in its environment. When changing the environment becomes more complex and expensive than just changing the system, then just change the system, just change the code.

"Attack Pattern", New Game App on BlackBerry App World

2009-11-19T23:01:00.003-05:00

New application from DevSpring Software Inc. called Attack Pattern tests your ability to out think computer in terms of pattern creation. You must think ahead several moves in order to beat the computer on highest difficulty with largest game grid size. I could not beat it. You must create your random pattern before the computer creates its pattern. You get to color two squares per turn. You can either block the computer or try to complete your pattern.

On Software Engineering: coupling and cohesion, meaningless academic abstractions

2009-06-23T22:30:00.002-04:00

In computer science and software engineering, the concepts of coupling and cohesion are meaningless academic abstractions that only serve to increase the cost of software engineering and decrease both performance and simplicity. In these times of rapid churn in terms of technologies and tools used to implement large software systems, the goals of maintainability and readability touted by proponents of so called loose coupling and high cohesion should come far behind goals involving performance and time to develop, when any given implementation may be outdated before it is even fully completed.

Furthermore, coupling as a concept taken outside of its goals does not stand to simple facts related to the nature of communications between two software modules. At the very least, in order for two modules to work together, they must share a common language, an agreed upon format for the data that they communicate to each other. They are at a minimum coupled to a common format or interface. It does not really matter what means are used to define that shared interface in measuring the degree to which the two modules are coupled. If that interface is changed then one or both modules using the interface will have to change. If the content or meaning of the data is changed and neither side needs to change then that part of the interface that changed must be superfluous whether the interface is defined in XML or a binary format or in terms of some programming language’s object, it does not matter.

Further still, cohesion as a concept does not deliver in terms of performance or any other meaningful measure of software engineering quality related to real world issues and not academic contrivances of what is pure and well formed. The more cohesion that modules exhibit in a system, the more communications will be required to connect those modularized chunks together so that the system can accomplish its requirements. For example, it may seems like well structured design to have all points in a system access some resource through a common module that implements such actions in one location but this requires two extra communication hops for every access executed against said resource, one to the common module then one from that common module to the resource, then two more coming back out to the calling module. Why not let every module that needs to access the resource do so in its own code inline maybe through some shared abstract interface since maintainability is almost a moot point in the face of modern IDEs that offer all sorts of refactoring utilities.

Going to extremes just to achieve high cohesion and loose coupling is a waste of time and resources and often results in reduced performance and increased complexity.

Java Virtual Clusters? Extend JEE Spec to Clusters

2009-06-16T21:59:00.002-04:00

When will we get a real extension of the JEE specification to include clusters?
A specification to define things like:

JMS behavior in a clustered environment to include issues like distributed queues and topics as well as message load balancing
JNDI real-time namespace linking or sharing across a cluster or set of clusters, foreign JNDI providers
UDDI cluster behavior
RMI load balancing across clusters
WS invocation load balancing across clusters
Multiple JVM coordination, scaling, JVM lifecycle management
Datasource management across clusters
Security and Identity management, authentication across clusters
Persistence and other state management or caching mechanisms

And anything else that causes so much customization to occur in JEE applictaions that write once run anywhere simply breaks down and is lost when it comes to JEE world.

Concept of Equality and Similarity in Complex Data

2008-01-12T23:27:00.000-05:00

When something, some object or concept, is comprised of tens or hundreds of dimensions or factors, then how do you compare two or more of such objects without loosing significant information?

Multidimensional scaling?
Dimensional Folding?
Cluster Analysis?
Factors Analysis?
Etc, Etc....

I have been intrigued by this question for many years.
To me this issue seems to share a connection with the issue of hash key generation because both can involve representing one thing with many parts with another thing that has one or a small fixed set of parts.

Finding a series of mathematical or other operations that yield unique values such that when a difference is computed between those unique values, that difference itself is also unique to the inputs.

NIST Next Gen Cryptographic Hash Algorithm Competition

2007-11-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

NIST announced it is seeking a new cryptographic hash algorithm to replace or extend the existing SHA-2 family of algorithms.
The existing algorithm is described by the FIPS PUB 180-1 standard.
I am exploring whether or not such a new algorithm might be devised that uses, at least to some extent, new approaches to fulfill the requirements for NIST cryptographic hash algorithms rather than simply extending SHA-2 by modifying the number of rounds executed, the bit length of the final digest result, or the order/mix of bitwise compound operation performed per round.
I am sure that I am not the first to wonder about new approaches to this problem so maybe the current approach is the best that can be found.
I'll keep exploring the concepts just for the hell of it....

Feedback in Decision Support Systems

2007-10-31T23:24:00.000-04:00

We monitor cell phone communications coming from certain parts of the world with the hope of detecting terrorist plans or intentions. They learn of this so they switch to other forms of communications. The question this raises is an old one.
How does or can the act of observing affect the behavior of the things being observed?
This question can be re-framed with regard to decision support system or decision analysis in which case the question becomes, in a much more indirect sense, how are the predictions inherent in generating data presented to users to aid in decision support affected by the ultimate decisions that are made based on them as those same predictions and decisions are made repeatedly over time?
In simpler terms, when does, if it does, the tail begin to wag the dog?
If it does, then how can such decision support systems compensate or dynamically adapt such that predictions remain valid and in fact become more accurate over time?

.NET CLI-RE vs Java JRE Why 2 VMs?

2007-10-23T19:25:00.000-04:00

We now have two major virtual machines in the form of the .NET Common Language Runtime environment and the Java Runtime Environment

Why not develop a single open source virtual machine?
Or better yet, a common interface between VMs and operating systems, such that any VM can be plugged into any OS using said interface.
And while we are at it, why not a common interface between VMs such that any VM RE can be plugged into any other runtime environment.

XBox only for games

2007-10-11T23:52:00.000-04:00

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but while investigating what I would need to do in order to develop software for the XBox platform I came across rules or policies that basically state that Microsoft does not support the development of non-game software for the XBox platform.

However, I think many interesting non-game applications could be developed for XBox as well as other game systems. These applications could take advantage of all positive aspects of game systems such as graphics, controllers, display on tv instead of monitor, etc.

Imagine navigating through some highly visual document library or presentation using a game controller and a plasma tv.

Whatever....

Hive Art

2007-10-07T23:56:00.000-04:00

Experiments in group "art" or group design have been attempted before, but few examples can be found where the anonymous group designs something simultaneously without an explicit "voting" type mechanism. What if the only voting mechanism was immediate visual feedback and a kind of free-form change by modification.

Such an experiment is being attempted at Theory Flux's Collaborative Art Project
Anonymous contributors can change a public color bitmap in real-time and see other's changes as they are made simply be refreshing their browser screen.

What else can the hive design?

New WS Arena Project

2007-02-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

The Source Forge project Web Services Exchange Point with Extensible Points Of Presence (WS-EPEPOP), renamed "WS Arena", has begun new website home at wsarena.org
Project is still in planning and modeling stage.

New Open Source Web Service Inter Enterprise

2007-02-08T08:47:00.000-05:00

Newly registered project on Source Forge, " Web Services Exchange Point with Extensible Points Of Presence (WSEPEPOP)", aims to serve as a platform for web service publishers to access and use something like the Internet Exchange Point used by ISPs but in the context of web service points of presence with the option of using object brokering, application servers, local messaging, authentication, communication back-pipes to publisher's own systems, local persistence and database mechanisms, business process orchestration/choreography, based partly on wsdl/uddi/soap/bpel under the hood.
This will free web service publisher from exposing local port bindings as well as allow for new opportunities in integration and inter-enterprise services. Web service publishers might also off load simple processing to these exchange points and increase method response times as well a decrease network and compute loads on own systems.

Weblog blogging robots

2007-02-03T00:59:00.000-05:00

I was still considering a post to Web n.0 about botnets . It makes me wonder if one could develop some sort of artificially intelligent application that could generate semantically and syntactically correct text summaries and/or editorial based on some type of seed input.
Such input might simply include headlines, blogger meta tags, etc.
One could even develop parameters to modulate the mood, tone, and negative/positive perspective, etc of the output text.
All kinds of adaptive parameters could be implemented and tested.
Such applications might be deployed in mass to influence opinion or otherwise spread ideas.

Botnets and Swarming Behavior

2007-01-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

AlphaR in Web n.0 forum writes in regard to an item on Slashdot about botnets. The writer speculates about ... "autonomous network viruses" .. seeking .. "to coordinate their behavior as a community" and probing systems using trial and error type behavior.
Other "semi-autonomous agent applications" the writer says might one day be used to "spread information, truthful or otherwise, or tilt news and/or polls toward a certain opinion".

Probably not that far fetched...

2007 What Useful Wireless Stuff

2007-01-13T00:09:00.000-05:00

Will we use the iphone like we used the ipod?
The iphone, or whatever they end up calling it, promises to make our lives better.
But combining useful tools does not always make them any more useful than they are individually.
It seems that usually the opposite happens.
One wireless application I would love to see in an inexpensive adaptable form would be a desktop flat panel monitor that I could detach from a base and continue using to view documents or the web while reclining on my couch. Simple mobility....

JVMs as Objects

2007-01-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

Terracotta open source clustering software can abstract JVMs as though they were Objects themselves. String together virtual machines as you might link POJOs. Combined with grid technology and software, this type of infrastructure could revolutionize the way we think about software architectures employing Java implementations. I could imagine some uses for this kind of technology in Web 2.0 setups where networks of virtual machines could be dynamically generated to cooperate in parallel or otherwise, to accomplish group tasks in new and fascinating ways.

SOA Applications as Objects

2007-01-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) derive their potential from extending the Object Oriented (OO) paradigm as well as some facets of Aspect Oriented (AO) programming to the level of applications and/or whole systems. The Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is one part of SOAs that can provide a starting point on which to build an SOA or Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) substructure and can provide an insightful view to begin understanding how SOAs work.
One interesting open source ESB named Mule is a good example of a foundation on which an organization can begin to implement a SOA.

Language versus Thought in 2007

2006-12-31T10:45:00.000-05:00

If the semantic structure of a language influences the thoughts and ideas of its users and vice versa, then how and to what degree? Over a decade ago John J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinson looked at such questions in a work entitled “Rethinking Linguistic Relativity” which examined much earlier works by linguists attempting to explain how thought and language interact. In 2007 and beyond, such research is and will be fundamental to our understanding of things like online Web 2.0 collaborations, artificial intelligence, semantic web applications, internationalization tasks, and just about any other activity that primarily involves communication between people using language. Similarly, some have suggested (e.g. in books like “Thinking in Java” and the like) that ideas and/or thought in software engineering are governed to some degree by the structure and/or semantics of programming languages themselves and that they are not to be compared simply in terms of efficiency or other such criteria.

AJAX Libs

2006-12-21T01:47:00.000-05:00

Two cool AJAX packages I just discovered:

Rico - an open-source Javascript library
Dojo - a Javascript toolkit

Check them out and comment on what you think OR
If you already have then comment on your experiences with them ....

New Web 2.0, AI, etc. Forum

2006-12-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

A new online forum just went live called Web n.x
Its description states that it deals with:
Discussions on Web 2.x, 3.y, Semantic Web, AI, Systems and Software Engineering, Science, and all things theoretical.

Give it a try....

True 3D Video Holographic Display

2006-11-29T07:47:00.000-05:00

Simple display technologies like that used in the Fantazein Clock and other such novelties, suggest a potential approach for creating genuine three dimensional video. This potential involves the use of the persistence-of-vision effect combined with fiber optics light emitters. These light emitters would be configured in arrays and attached to a central spinning hub. Hundreds of these arrays would be attached to the same hub with each being slightly shorter in length with respect to the central hub than the one adjacent to it in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction. These various lengths would represent 3d layers. More to follow....

Open search indices, Google's Achilles heal?

2006-11-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

Open public indices for search , if expanded, could be the start of open-source-like alternatives to Google's global search dominance. With the success of collaborative open web 2.0 phenomena like Wikipedia, can much of the internet content itself be catalogued by public minded groups and individuals so that search might again be an area for innovation and experimentation? Many groups have discussed this topic but attempts at something real have been few and far between.
Could mammoth indexing tasks like the continual web crawling conducted by Google's bots, be accomplished in a distributed manner like peer-to-peer networks or systems that employ approaches like that used by BitTorrent?

Semantics

2006-11-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

ProgenitorCE tool has helped me find relationships among concepts in software engineering such as those related to algorithms and many areas in biology. Specifically, insect behaviors and potential heuristics for optimization category problems.
The study of ant colony behavior has been studied for years in connection with such problems as path optimization but many other similar connections between entomology and computer science exist.

New Software, ProgenitorCE v1.4 - Free Trial

2006-11-13T08:54:00.000-05:00

I have released first version of a new software tool we have developed at Concept Explore . I am offering a free trial version, fully functioning, that users can download and use immediately.
This tool can be used by anyone that must create as a matter of course in their work or otherwise.
Check it out now.....

Open Index of Human Knowledge - Up and Running

2006-11-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

Web service at Open Index to Human Knowledge (OIHK) is now available.
Site hopes to create an open source repository of searchable indices of public web pages.
Its goal is to provide a free and open version of the types of indices used by search engine giants to return results so quickly. With permission, below is the description of the service from its web site.

End-point for this service is: http://openindices.conceptexplore.com/scripts/OIHK_XmlRpcServerWithMySql.pl
You must register a user name and password with a valid email address in order to use OIHK Web Services
User name and password are required parameters in every transaction.

Current Data Source Sets (DSS):

CE Wiki Snapshot:
Description - Wikipedia Snapshot of approx 135,000 URLs
DSS Id - "ce_wiki_snapshot_current"

This web service provides one main method named "multisearch" with eight sub-methods having the following names, specific parameters, and return values:
NOTE:
All sub-methods take same first four untyped or "struct" type parameters in the following order:
1 - sub method name
2 - OIHK registered user name
3 - OIHK password
4 - OIHK DSS Id

"getMatches" - params specific to this sub method in order =
1 - word to find matching records for.
Returns: 1 string representing list of matching words, delimited with "@" character.

"getIndexData" - params specific to this sub method in order =
1 - word to find record for. Returns: 1 string representing record for parameter, see Data Format for description of format of this string.

"getFileListNumber" - no extra parameters.
Returns: 1 string representing number of URLs enumerated in this DSS.

"getFileListRange" - params specific to this sub method in order =
1 - lower URL enumeration
2 - upper URL enumeration
Returns: 1 string representing list of file URLs with enumerations from lower URL enumeration to upper URL enumeration, inclusive, that are contained in this DSS.

"getFileListSet" - params specific to this sub method in order =
1 - URL enumeration 1
2 - URL enumeration 2
... n - URL enumeration n
Returns: 1 string representing list of file URLs with enumerations equal to those listed in parameters.

"getMaxFileRangeRequest" - no extra parameters.
Returns: 1 string representing maximum absolute value difference allowed between two parameters used in "getFileListRange".

"getMaxRecLength" - no extra parameters.
Returns: 1 string representing maximum record length in this DSS.

"getSubMethodNames" - no extra parameters.
Returns: 1 string representing colon delimited list of all sub method names available in this web service.

Recognizing Differences

2006-11-04T08:26:00.000-05:00

Many years ago I worked as a lab technician. I learned to use a microscope to perform manual blood cell and other analyses. One thing I discovered quickly was that in order to see depth when viewing a specimen, I had to oscillate the distance of the microscope lens to the specimen. By essentially moving towards and then away from the specimen, I could sense the three dimensional character of the object.

This can be used as a metaphor in describing how we "see" in general and how we perceive or recognize (cognize?) form and definition. Concepts, ideas, or concrete things.

It is in the movement itself, back and forth, from one perspective to another, that we generate "perceptions".
Dude...

Cognitive Boxes

2006-11-02T08:25:00.000-05:00

How does the structuring and categorization of knowledge promote and/or hinder innovation and creativity?

How does the structure of educational systems help and/or hurt new developments across multidisciplinary solution spaces?

What are the most effective processes that we can apply to allow us to expand upon our understanding of nature and society across many specialized fileds of study?

To better understand and/or solve complex problems that may not fit within the purview of any one discipline or field of study we must look across disciplinary boundaries from both inside and outside the perspectives created by our own structuring of information.

Imagine applying systems theory and systems engineering principles to centers of knowledge.

Imagine using computers to unleash us from own cognitive boxes.

New Initiative: Open Index to the Internet

2006-10-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I posted a blog about creating a public alternative to Google's proprietary indices of all human knowledge: Public Search Cache

Well, I have started just such an initiative at:

The Open Index of Human Knowledge (OIHK)

Still in early statges of development but can use all of the help I can get.

Thanks.

Distributed or Networked Computing

2006-06-11T11:59:00.000-04:00

Recent article in MIT Technology Review discusses use of donated compute time from thousands of individuals to help in cancer research. Project at University of Washington follows lead of SETI project in trying to harness the power of idle processors.

Does Telecommuting Hinder Creativity?

2006-06-05T07:19:00.000-04:00

Does telecommuting hinder creativity among groups?
This is a question that must be answered as industries allow more and more work to be moved from central offices to the home based agreements or other individualized off-site arrangements. Creativity sparked from face to face interaction among small teams is the hallmark of many types of knowledge industry activities. From journalism to design to software engineering to advertising, many categories of work that require continuous streams of new ideas and innovative approaches often do better when small groups interact in such a way as to aggregate and then distill multiple perspectives. Is this done more effectively in person? My opinion: probably.

Uber Search

2006-06-03T09:13:00.000-04:00

Without more intelligent high performance search algorithms and systems that use them, ambiguity in results will continue to increase. The internet has become so large in terms of numbers of web sites and web pages that its shear size coupled with its disorganization have devalued it as a resource. Finding ways to harvest value from this ocean of data is the challenge for industry and academia.
We don't even know what we know or rather we have access to so much that we cannot access. We can know so much that we know nothing.

Transitions from deterministic to probabilistic to chaos

2006-05-05T08:06:00.000-04:00

Some are exploring how real world systems such as different kinds of networks, go from states of structure and predictability to states of randomness and chaos. What would the implications be and what would be possible if we could know when, why, where, how a system or systems moves from deterministic to probabilistic to chaotic?

Small Worlds by Duncan Watts

Mapping Ideas To Images

2006-04-07T07:35:00.000-04:00

Information such as news can be made much more meaningful when it is overlaid onto images such as geographic maps that convey something about the data such as where it has or is occurring. One example, BuzzTracker , lets you explore news through such a map interface.

Forecasting Conditions

2006-04-04T07:56:00.000-04:00

How many times have we heard,

Conditions are just right for bla bla bla to happen next.

Finding relationships between some set of indicators and some type of event is a billion dollar industry. Predicting the future has always been worth much, with or without computer models and simulations.

If the type of event you are predicting involves much human behavior or systems whose primary actors are people, then do your methods of prediction and forecasting become invalid when to many individuals comprehend and act on it.
Like if we all knew the future or too many of us did, then that future would not happen?

Creativity equals a crescendo of growth

2006-03-24T23:10:00.000-05:00

Reaching, stretching, extending, a crescendo of positive ideas given genesis by words like:
Buoyant, Floating, Weightless, Light, Light-hearted, Airy, Resilience, Hope, Effortless, Comfortable, Relaxed, Serene, Peaceful, Joyful, Hopeful, mellow, Triumphant, Boundless, Infinite, Expansive, Wide, Important, Unencumbered, Unfettered, Unchained, Expressive, Exhilarating, Stimulating, Clear, Smooth, Uncluttered, Realized, Accomplished, Successful, Prosperous, Bountiful, Overflowing, Excellent, Lovely, Wonderful, Flawless, Priceless, Manifest, Productive, Fruitful, Creative, Fertile, Transparent, Honest, Truthful, Bold, Conscientious, Helpful, Beautiful, Affirmative, Positive, Proactive, Responsive, Congenial, Destiny, Providence, Fortune, Gainful, Explosive, Potential, Growth, Vast, Widespread, Extensive, Broad, Comprehensive, Complete, Energized, Powerful, Empowered, Enlightened, Effective, Cooperative, Endearing, Energetic, Strong, Jubilant, Unending, Everlasting, Immortal, Elevated, Uplifting, Heightened, Meaningful, Victorious, Splendid, Opportune, Fortuitous, Harmonious, Pleasing, Gentle, Knowledge, Justice, Fair, Friendly, Advantageous, Filling, Immense, Shining, Brightness, Aware, Vibrant, Colorful, Vivid, Adventure, Discovery, New, Whole, Complete, Equality, Surety, Fortitude, Plentiful, Abounding, Great, Mighty, Astounding, Spacious, Proficient, Expert, Enterprising, Achievable, Enriching, Quality, Luminescent, Virtuous, Inspiring, Impressive, Special, Happiness, Unique, Totality, Universal, Unstoppable, Frictionless, Creative, Global, Freedom, Jewel, Significant, Blossoming, Blooming, Absolute, All-encompassing, Omniscient, Gratitude, Concrete, Immovable, Immeasurable, Motivated, Miraculous, Perfection, Superior, Beyond, Fantastical, Glorious, Magnificent, Colossal, Forever, Enduring, Tranquil, Sanguine, True

Meeting Grand Challenges with Cadre of Geniuses

2006-03-01T23:53:00.000-05:00

At MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), the department in charge of Traffic Flow Management Systems Engineering and Evolution represents a pool of some of the brightest minds in Systems and Software Engineering, not just in terms of the US but I believe globally. This department is developing software based on some of the most complex and intriguing multidisciplinary concepts. The Grand Challenge they face daily is to develop decision support and analysis tools that allow users to make better choices with regard to the use of our National Airspace System in an equitable manner within tight time constraints. The solutions that these individuals have created and are still producing could be applied to a much broader range of complex problems.

This team is comprised of many dedicated highly intelligent open minded professionals that continually embrace new ideas and approaches. They exemplify successful collaborative teamwork in research and development.

Seeing the forest all at once, knowledge discovery and data mining

2006-01-30T23:58:00.000-05:00

A demand exists for developing methods to learn from vast data sets like those related to climate studies, macroeconomics analysis, etc. We might be able to discover knowledge by looking at these massive databases as single entities with features that can be compared from one instance of a set to another. See http://www.conceptexplore.com/html/conceptexpnews.html

Multi-state transistors beyond binary

2006-01-30T00:08:00.000-05:00

What could be done with a transistor capable of n-states?

With the advent of molecular switches and nanotech as well as optical and/or quantum based computing we may soon be presented with the opportunity to think about algorithms and software engineering in completely different ways. With limited fuzzy logic implemented in hardware like analog, we may be able to take wholly new approaches to many of the most complex problems.

PUBLIC SEARCH CACHE INDEX: Searching the web without search engine sites

2006-01-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

If web sites or rather their addresses were organized in some meaningful ways that had to do with verified content and/or purpose, then we would not need search engine sites.

Easily accessible public domain registeries of urls mapped to content categories with listings verified by some independent bodies, not DMOZ, would go a long way in making the vast internet searchable by means other than search engine sites. Make the internet searchable to personal search bots, intelligent agents, or web services accessed and launched by individual users from their own machines or hosted machines.

What I am suggesting is something like a PUBLIC SEARCH CACHE INDEX like the Google indices but owned by not-for-profit PUBLIC entities. Do it people!

World Question Site Treasure

2006-01-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Edge, World Question Center is a wonderful site full of thought fodder. Over 100 intellectuals from a wide range of academic fields write about answers to the question, What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it.

Software Development Opportunities at FBI

2006-01-07T23:42:00.000-05:00

The FBI is seeking to expand and upgrade its database services. Opportunities exist for small to large companies. Much in demand are legacy to legacy interfaces as well as integration work to connect new database applications with current systems. Some web based development services will also be needed.
The FBI is also poised to hire large numbers of IT workers to deal with database operations expansion.

Web X.0

2005-12-26T09:53:00.000-05:00

Recent articles like the one in MIT Tech Review, The Internet Is Broken,
make claims that the internet is in such dire need of repair that we need a whole new design.
Others seem worried to death that the internet is being subdivided so a few companies can profit from the "pipes" they provide. If I were any of the companies that do provide the infrastructure for the internet, I would not let my contribution be made into a commodity but I would also not want to tread into antitrust territory by also providing the many other parts of the internet that make it what it is.
If any one company tries to vertically dominate the internet in terms of infrastructure, content, software, etc. they will eventually be taught a lesson in antitrust law and will get the MS-like backlash from all of those who hate to be dominated or bullied.

Analyzing Assumptions

2005-12-19T08:19:00.000-05:00

Success in innovation is determined by what we decide not to assume and our ability to temporarily assume. Deciding to momentarily not believe what we know or assume to be true and temporarily believing something is true that we are unsure of or have no proof of as yet. Extending beyond dictionary word meanings into connotations.
Stretching theory and conjecture to applications totally unrelated on the surface.
Divergent boundaries toward convergent new ideas.
New dimensions to old problems and new problems with traditionally accepted principles.
Not just thinking outside of the box but redefining the box as another shape altogether and then stepping outside of and through that new region to discover new purposes and novel design.

Web 3.0

2005-12-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

From the future:
Premier transmission services through telcos and cable providers.
Old fashion ISP connections for Joe Shmo controlled by mega site content dealers.
Free underground overlapping WiFi and satellite connections across the globe, unregulated and impossible to control for all those who don't like to have their information access sensored and don't like big brother or big business.

Materials That Repair Themselves

2005-12-07T07:13:00.000-05:00

Intelligent materials that repair themselves? Nissan has just come out with an automobile paint for its new X-Trail SUV that can heal itself of minor scratches. Imagine many other applications of this idea of "self-repair" to a multitude of other materials, situations, systems.

clothing
metals
home siding
flooring
glass, esp. windshields

Or extend the idea a little like the military is doing with future battlefield uniforms, to "repair" the thing contained by the materials. Future military uniforms may "respond" to rips and punctures by administering first aid compounds to help wounds clot or inject antidotes in case of chemical or biological attacks. And what about metal fatigue in aircraft bodies.

Nano Wars

2005-11-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

Imagine an arms race in nanotechnology. If and when nations begin to develop offensive nanotech devices and/or compounds, where will it end? My nanomachines against your nanomachines. Maybe it is a crazy thought but I think it is not that far fetched. Maybe we will just develop the technology then realize we can't use it safely without endangering our own troops. Maybe it will be to expensive. Maybe it will just be impossible because of the physics involved. Maybe.....

Techno Posse

2005-11-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

Imagine micro robots the size of ants. Now imagine that these robots can perform repeated simple DNA match test between a sample they carry and samples that they collect from their environment. Imagine that these Micro Laboratory Robots (MLR) can be manufactured cheaply.

Build a swarm of MLRs numbering in the tens of thousands and give them the ability to communicate with one another and a central "colony" host. Let them internally manufacture a compound from some readily available material in most environments and infuse it with nanotech driven signal devices. Let them "mark" the paths they travel with aforementioned compound and let the MLRs be able to detect the compound left by other MLRs.

Release the MLR swarm into a city where the perpetrator of some infamous crime is thought to be located and give them a DNA sample from said perpetrator. You get the idea.

Ideal Perspectives

2005-11-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

What if we all viewed one another the way a parent, a mom or dad, views their children?
For example:
What if we all wanted only what is best for one another?
What if we simply just wanted to see each other succeed?
What if we just wanted to see each other happy and fulfilled?
What if we would go hungry rather than see another go hungry?
What if we would rather be homeless rather than see another without shelter?
What if we would rather be cold than see another shivering without a coat?
What if we would rather give our life to save another's life if it came to it?

Words Ranked by number of Synonyms

2005-11-18T07:33:00.000-05:00

Using a simplified version of Google's page ranking logic, equating a synonym as a link between words, I conjectured that the more synonyms a word has, the more important or fundemental that word is in a language. See list at link.

On popflux

2005-11-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

If we spent more time thinking about all of the unsolved problems or open questions left to be answered or yet to be asked, then who would be the audience for the steady stream of media that tells us what we are all thinking about or what our opinions are or should be?
Blogging, books, category, Computers and Internet, Entertainment, Family, Food and Drink, Friends, Game, Health and wellness, hobbies, Journal, Musica, Media, Misc, Movies, Moblog, Musique, News and politics, Organizations, Philosophy, Ramblings, random, Travel, Votes, Work

Whatever........>>>>?????

Conjecture on number of synonyms, meaning, and complexity

2005-11-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

Conjecture:
The more synonyms and antonyms associated with a word , the more significant the concept represented by that word or else the more complex and many faceted.

Living Consciously

2005-11-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

List of rules for living. Choosing to think, even when thinking is difficult, versus remaining in ignorance.....

Multidimensional Data Analysis

2005-11-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

Methods for analyzing multidimensional data are still lacking. Multivariate data sets are all around us but methods that maintain the integrity of the data are still primitive. Systems or objects that are described with multiple interdependent variables are difficult to analyze without the reduction of dimensions but to reduce dimensions can lead to a reduction in accuracy.

The Movie in Your Head: SCIAM Mind Magazine

2005-11-02T07:19:00.000-05:00

This is a great article on theories about how the mind processes sensory input, especially visual input. Various experiments are discussed. Experiments mentioned focus on noninvasive methods of measuring brain activity. Very insightful.

Google Earth

2005-10-31T08:51:00.000-05:00

So far Google's expansion into many areas from email to advertising to library services etc. has gone on without causing to much of an uproar in the highly sarcastic world of software developers and sundry IT fields but everyone is watching. Hopefully Google will maintain the foresight it has shown so far without giving in to negative forces.

Feeds Feed Ideas

2005-10-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

With the rise of RSS and Atom feeds continuing at light speed, soon if not already, researchers in fields like computer science, information science, natural language studies, and others, will apply artificial intelligence and language processing algorithms to feed aggregators to perform such tasks as extrapolation and/or heuristic associative extension logic.

A Server in Every Home

2005-10-26T08:59:00.000-04:00

What would be the impact on the web if everyone online had their own http server? If everyone owned their own server possibly, probably, through a web hosting service like 1and1 or one of the many other services available for small fees, then a myriad of opportunities for entertainment, software development, and many other products and services, would be realistically possible. Everything needed for such a change to occur is already available except maybe training and/or documentation type resources, but that could be remedied fairly quickly.
What do you think?

Watching New Ideas Grow

2005-10-25T19:56:00.000-04:00

I cannot watch every piece of information, every day, on every subject I am interested in, but a new site called TransTheoretical.com will be watching some of the areas I want to know about. So far they have listed the following as areas they will be exploring:

Database of theories
Quantum cryptography
Optical computing
Meta-heuristics
Grid computing
Probabilistic resource allocation
Multidimensional data analysis
Multidimensional data visualization
Noninvasive neural-computer interfaces
Human cognition
Intersections of linguistics and artificial intelligence
Intelligent agent emergent behaviors
Nanotechnology and self-replication
Swarm intelligence and logic

I will be watching...

Knowledge Intersections

2005-10-18T08:38:00.000-04:00

Most of human knowledge is categorized in terms of objects of study or focus. What if human knowledge was divided according to actions or activities held in common among some group of such? In other words, what if knowledge was organized in terms of verbs instead of nouns? Just a thought.

Clear Thinking and Breathing

2005-10-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

"Want Clear Thinking? Relax" October 2005; by Charmaine Liebertz; 2 page(s) is a good short article on effective relaxation techniques that can be used on the job. I found one idea listed in connection with breathing control very useful. You basically imagine a small flaming candle in front of you a foot or so from your face. You then imagine breathing in such a way as to not blow out the candle.

The politics of Decision Support Systems

2005-10-13T08:16:00.000-04:00

The problem with developing really advanced Decision Support Systems is that one must not go so far as to replace the Decision Maker or else the system is no longer a support system but moves into the realm of artificial intelligence system or expert system. This can be a problem since the Decision Maker is usually also the customer and does not want to be replaced by software.

Swarm Intelligence or Net Centric Warfare in Military Strategy - Old Ideas

2005-10-12T02:05:00.000-04:00

The original architect of some of the main non-technological concepts associated with swarm intelligence, net centric warfare, and asymmetrical warfare is none other than the ancient Chinese strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu. The strategies and tactics described by Sun Tzu in “The Art of War” are as applicable today as ever. Indeed, the tactics and strategies described by Sun Tzu remind one of the those used in modern history by many of the enemies that the United States has faced who appear smaller or weaker in size or strength, but achieve devastating results. Two examples of such enemies are the Viet Cong/ North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war and the Islamic terrorists of present day. Also, some of these ideas seem to sound like parts and pieces from the Asian martial arts, which may be where Sun Tzu got some of his ideas or vice versa. The main point of commonality amongst these principles is the concept of not presenting your enemy with a large solid target or fooling him into thinking part of your forces are more substantial than they really are. The idea is to keep your enemy guessing so that he must spread his forces thinly or concentrate them incorrectly. Furthermore, there is an associated concept of developing the strategic ability to rapidly focus massive force upon a single objective from previously dispersed positions or else attack multiple points simultaneously from within enemy positions after first infiltrating fluidly in a dispersed amorphous fashion. What is new now is the scale with which we can execute the aforementioned strategies and tactics due to our communications and information technology. See "Foundations of Swarm Intelligence: From Principles to Practice" by Mark Fleischer.

Logical Cognition Part 2

2005-10-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

The interpretation of sensory input and the images they create is accomplished in individuals by many mechanisms. Contrast and comparison or difference and similarity are the underpinnings of most all human understanding and interpretive mechanisms. This is partly due to the way humans see and otherwise sense the world around them. Individuals see forms and color in terms of the quantity and angle of light reflected from objects. Human beings sense shadow and reflection or light and dark., hot and cold, rough and smooth, loudness and silence, odorlessness and pungency.
Therefore, individuals modify and extend the physiological mechanisms used to sense the external world, for use in the realm of thoughts, ideas, and mental images. However, the sources of illumination in the arena of thoughts are an individual’s past and present experiences, memories either perceived or imagined, and any attendant emotions and or desires, in that by comparison and contrast with these elements humans give form to new thoughts, including judgments about what is perceived through the senses.
Moreover, some of the sources of mental illumination or reflection that can lead to unhealthy thinking are:

Assumptions about causes.
Assumptions about effects or the future.
Miscategorizations.
Extreme:Guilt, Fear, Anger, Jealousy, Greed
Self-image/definition issues.

Logical Cognition Part 1

2005-10-07T01:01:00.000-04:00

Beliefs and assumptions act as filters through which thoughts and sensations pass before individuals make decisions or conclusions. Most often these filters concern either ideas about an individual’s identity or the exterior world. The source of many of these cognitive gates can be traced to childhood or other life experiences. These thought sentries can have either positive or negative effects.
Furthermore, many individuals operate on the basis of self-defined images that are associated with the “self” or the world. These images are continually referenced and compared to thoughts or sensory input. When conflicts arise between these “images” and definitions and other thoughts or input, then problems often arise. Much of mental illness and disorder is caused by the discontinuity of conceived reality versus perceived reality.
Conversely, an individual’s degree of mental health is tied to an ability to adapt conceptions about self and the external, to sensory perceptions. And, although there is nothing unhealthy about envisioning things differently than they are or appear to be, the capability of differentiating vision from concrete reality or empirically suggested frames of reference delineates dreams from delusion.
(more to follow)

Conscious Mission Part 3

2005-10-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

In contrast, control of the direction of self events does not insure certain results because of the lack of control of external events. Indeed, understanding that many externalities are by nature outside the control of an individual may be said to be a primary belief itself in the establishment of personal mental health. Furthermore, with some exceptions, certain beliefs may generally contribute to a healthier self. Moreover, all sorts of institutions have understood that to direct people's beliefs is to direct their whole persons. Additionally, appeal to the most basic human desires that spawn and support beliefs, has been used as a successful tactic to affect control over individuals. Thus, individuals may use some of the same methods that others have used from outside the person, to execute control over themselves. Also, individuals may look to the means the body uses physiologically to affect the self. Nevertheless, choosing a direction for the self or determining a personal mission can be a difficult process to begin, but may reveal much about a person's beliefs and assumptions. Currently, many organizations have found that a statement of mission or goals and purposes of existing, are essential to the initiation of changes in group behavior. Equally though, the application of a mission to the present can be daunting. The multiplicity of elements acting on an individual at any given time, demand that choices and eventually priorities be made and set. Choice implies control and therefore a source of control. Individuals can chose to be active in the choices that determine personal happiness and mental health or may wish to remain unconscious of the internal dynamics that shape who they are and how they feel.

Conscious Mission Part 2

2005-10-04T07:02:00.000-04:00

However, because of the quantity and speed of the interactions in an individual's self, and the fact that many interactions can occur randomly and or outside awareness, singular self events cannot realistically be continually affected by a person's conscious faculties. On the other hand, general patterns of events can be directed consciously. The most effective means for an individual to achieve some measure of control of the general patterns of internal self events is twofold. First, an individual must believe that conscious control of self is possible. Secondly, an individual must alter beliefs and direct personal exposure to outside stimuli which themselves contribute to the production of other self events so that such elements produce elements that agree with a chosen direction.
(More to follow tomorrow)

Conscious Mission Part 1

2005-10-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Conscious Mission Part 1

With competing “self” events or elements such as beliefs, emotions, thoughts, and ideas, individuals are forced to set priorities either consciously or unconsciously. A consciously directed set of priorities is a mission. Indeed, the degree to which an individual is presently aware of the elements that are acting on the “self” will determine an individual’s ability to make changes to the “self”. Although ignorance may be bliss, knowledge of “self” is health and ultimately, sustained happiness.
(More to follow tomorrow)

The Most Simple Creatures Can Be The Most Complex

2005-09-30T17:47:00.000-04:00

Social insect behavior such as is found in ant colonies serves as a powerful model to generate advanced algorithms in solutions to highly complex optimization problems. Some types or areas where this has been attempted with success include applications involving:

Sequential ordering problem
Parallel implementations
Quadratic assignment problem
Vehicle routing problem
Symmetric and asymmetric traveling salesman problem
Scheduling problems
Graph coloring problem
Partitioning problems
Telecommunications nets

Some of these solutions involve:

emergent behaviors
automata
collaborative elements

Universal Translator Automated

2005-09-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

The search is on by several groups in gov and academia to develop automated equipment that will perform on the fly two-way (bidirectional) language translations using speech recognition, speech synthesis, and other software (insert miracle here) . We may be a long way from something like "Star Trek" but at least for limited language families, we may soon be able to understand each other a little better.

INTROSPECTION - Descarte Say What

2005-09-26T07:54:00.000-04:00

Sentience or the knowledge of self is the primary prerequisite for intelligent life. The knowledge that one’s mind or person is composed of several parts that perform many kinds of operations on various types of materials is essential for intelligent life to have and maintain mental health. Intelligent people will not achieve their maximum potential or experience the fullness of human existence, unless they are conscious of the multifaceted nature of their persons.

Intelligent people can expand their sentience and become more comfortable with who they are, by understanding certain principles, having the right attitudes, and using several techniques. Once people learn to identify and observe the interactions that are continually occurring within their person, they will begin to understand and appreciate who they are more fully, and consequently, achieve greater mental health.

“I think, therefore I am”

The capacity to observe and question ones self determines the degree of mental health one achieves and maintains and is essential for personal growth.

New Level of the Web

2005-09-23T23:22:00.000-04:00

New article in Discover magazine:
Emerging Technology
Web 2.0 Arrives
Software upgrades promise to turn the Internet into a lush rain forest of information teeming with new life
By Steven Johnson
DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 10 October 2005
is very thought provoking and applicable to anyone trying to start a web based enterprise today.
Must read.

Power Web Searches

2005-09-23T08:09:00.000-04:00

Using intelligent agents or web crawlers is not new, but with recent increases in bandwidth and computing power for most people it is more feasible than ever for individuals to use their own agents to conduct web mining and data gathering.

Time Capsule - 2105

2005-09-14T08:49:00.000-04:00

How would our economy, our jobs, our society and culture, our daily lives, be altered if in the future all of the material needs of all mankind could cheaply and easily be met by developments in such technologies as nano-engineering and nuclear fusion? What if nobody had a corner on any form of knowledge or information? What would then be the motivation for careers? for our lives?

Developments in Cryptography and Invulnerable Security

2005-09-12T08:06:00.000-04:00

"Quantum Bit Commitment Protocol" (QBC) has been proven formally to be invulnerable to all attacks consistent with the laws of quantum mechanics."
What a statement.
Any organization involved in the application of quantum cryptography is on the cutting edge of communications security.
Companies that find innovative, efficient, and adaptable ways to implement and/or apply the principles of quantum cryptography to communications security should turn tremendous profits.
Moreover, non-security related applications of quantum technologies are sure to drive much future research and invention.

On the Creative Use of Analogy

2005-09-07T08:08:00.000-04:00

Using analogies is a great way to discover new ideas. If you can take some topic and reframe it in terms of an analogy, sometimes this can lead you to views of that topic which you would never have had otherwise.

New Orleans - To Rebuild or Not

2005-09-06T09:39:00.000-04:00

Should New Orleans be rebuilt exactly as it was?
Forgive me if this seems insensitive. I do not wish to minimize any loss of life, I think all human life is precious and deserving of respect and love, but for the future, Should New Orleans be rebuilt? Why not let part of the New Orleans resemble Venice?
Bolster the foundations in the lowest parts of the city and somehow let water, minus sewage, trash, and anything else negative, flow in the streets of those parts of the city. Give a little to mother nature and the Mississippi and let them have little pieces of the city such as described. Let the city become semi-porous to the waters that constantly push at its borders. Just a concept for exploration.

Patent Reform

2005-09-04T09:55:00.000-04:00

With all of the problems associated with the US patent process today comes the recurring debate over the purpose of patents.
One line of thought is that patents exist to protect the rights of inventors with, I guess, the main right being the ability to prevent anyone else from making a profit from an idea without the inventor's permission.
However, my question is, wouldn't people still invent even if they could not profit from their ideas?
Also, with the pretense that "necessity is the mother of invention" and the premise that "problems" normally equate to "necessities", what happens, in terms of inventing solutions to problems, when all of the best solutions have no potential for profit?

China Rising

2005-09-02T17:57:00.000-04:00

We should all start learning chinese. China's economic progress will fuel the world economy for the next two decades. With a population of almost 1.3 billion, it is in the interest of most businesses to make sure that they have a strategy that incorporates China.

On seeing and wisdom

2005-08-31T08:52:00.000-04:00

Why is wisdom associated with the owl?
Maybe because they are supposed to have large eyes and somehow wisdom is connected to sight. So if you can see more you have more wisdom. Indeed the early roots of the English word wisdom are related to watching and our current definition does have the connotation of seeing with the "mind's eye".
Wisdom and knowledge are connected to seeing past or beyond what is superficially apparent, seeing the real beneath or behind the visible or pulling out the abstract.

Researching Strategies

2005-08-30T08:07:00.000-04:00

One of the best strategist in history, be it military, business, or otherwise, was the ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu ca. 400 - 200 BC. "The Art Of War", written by this general more than 2000 years ago, seems as relevant today as ever. His ideas on being adaptive and "formless" are informative because as he notes, if your competition does not know where to defend or plan to defend against you, then he will have to distribute his resources thinly. You then can concentrate your resources against a single point, focusing action toward a single objective and succeed with a much higher probability.

The physics of human "wants"

2005-08-29T08:25:00.000-04:00

Some thoughts about the physics of desire or wanting.
Human desire denotes craving and points to a preference for a certain future event to occur or not occur. Also, human desire is a function of the arbitrary values individual's hold for objects. A person senses an object whether abstract or concrete, and places a value on either the use or possession of that object. The contrast between an individual's perception of the value of an object, with their perception of the likelihood of obtaining that value influences the degree of desire for that object.
Furthermore, most all desires have a motive of obtaining pleasure, avoiding pain, or insuring and or increasing the chance of survival of the individual or some other abstraction. Moreover, in some individuals, desires having to do with offspring or group survival issues, are tied to personal survival. Thus in many individuals the survival of offspring and or socio/cultural groups for which the individual feels connected, seems to supersede their personal survival instinct.
Equally significant, desire is related in some ways to individuals attempting to extend themselves or exercise control over something outside themselves. The human drive to control may be related to human being's structural makeup as well, in that the human body operates as a single organism by the nervous system exercising control over the body. Hence desire can be seen as an extension of an individual's internal control mechanisms.
Therefore, at a primitive level, the human consciousness makes no distinction between the internal self and the external world. The human "self" is predisposed to internalize and or personalize sensory input and continually reinterpret itself within the context of its perceived reality. The continual process of determining personal definition is related to a human being's sensory instincts that must constantly maintain a bearing as to its spatial orientation.
Additionally, curiosity is a manifestation of the control characteristics of human consciousness. The urge to know or understand the new or the unfamiliar is an example of the human consciousness attempting to find order and thereby exert control.
Lastly, hunger is an inborn human desire which may also feed all of the other types of desires as an emotional template or blueprint. Hunger is normally the first information that individuals try to communicate in the form of crying.
All in All, desire is the emotion produced along side of or as a result of an individual's natural attempts to exert control over everything from internal thoughts and physical processes to a myriad of externalities, both concrete and abstract. Pleasure, pain avoidance, and survival issues play roles in the mechanics of desire. The desire to define "self" and curiosity are examples of the human consciousness trying to determine its orientation.

Too Intelligent Marketing Concepts

2005-08-26T11:42:00.000-04:00

As advertisers and marketers try to get our attention through the roar of ads, movies, magazines, books, and commercials we are bombarded with continually, they increasingly try to "target" consumers by using knowledge about the consumers preferences, tastes, previous choices, etc. However, if and when this approach works, then our previous choices and/or preferences become self-reinforcing because we are shown more and more of what we "like" to see, we get trained or we train ourselves, depending on how you want to look at it.
This runs contrary to what we should do if we want to "explore" new ideas and concepts, if we want to create new ideas and concepts, because one of the main ingredients of exploration, by definition, is discovery, and discovery implies that something unknown to us becomes known.

Discover the unknown, solve the unsolved, define the undefined!
Concept Explore

Very useful site, EJournals

2005-08-25T08:21:00.000-04:00

Ejournals has many links to legit online scholarly journals, a wealth of info for free.

On Opportunities At Boundaries and Intersections

2005-08-24T15:38:00.000-04:00

The compartmentalization and specialization that defines academia is both its strength and weakness. However, weakness can be turned to opportunity if one recognizes such weakness as an opening or as a need begging to be filled. If an academic specialty, department, field of study, or discipline were to "miss" something in the area of knowledge that defines its focus, then a good candidate location to look for such a "miss" would probably be in those area that have overlap with other specialties or at boundaries not clearly defined between multiple fields of study. These are the kinds of subjects we are interested in at Concept Explore.

On Reading Your Mind

2005-08-23T07:59:00.000-04:00

It may not be long before sensors linked to computers will be able to read our thoughts. This is usually refered to as a neuro-interface.
One question I would like to investigate, related to research on neuro-interfaces and translating brain wave measurements into meaningful data for use in command and control systems is:
What is the difference between the brain waves created when we think about say something like "a new HDTV" and the brain waves produced when we simply speak the words "a new HDTV" silently to ourselves in our mind?

Urban-Suburban, Cram Together or Spread Out

2005-08-22T00:36:00.000-04:00

Written after reading article on sprawl and mixed use development in Washington Post today.

What is the opposite of suburban sprawl?
What is this conceptual uptopia that the opponents of suburban development have in mind as an alternative?
They say that they want denser development where people can live, dine, shop, and work all in the same location within walking distance or within the reach of mass transit. It seems that their assumption is that cars and the suburban land use made possible by cars are the roots of all evil, that environment is damaged by suburban development patterns, and that highly planned compact urban development is less harmful.
That said, the "new urbanists" and "smart growth" advocates ignore some simple human traits and practical concerns.

People don't always prefer and can't always afford to live where they work and/or perform all of the other activities of life.
People don't always prefer to live right on top of thousands of other people.
People love the freedom that their cars afford them.
Mass transit sucks in most areas of the US and usually can't always get you to your destination in a reasonable amount of time to within a reasonable distance.
People do other things on the way to and from work such as shop for groceries, take classes, etc. I can't see myself lugging 10-15 bags of groceries for my family while boarding buses and trains.

Beyond all that, just based on the population and land area of the US, if we were to all spread out evenly to the maximum extent possible, we would each occupy roughly 8 acres. On the other hand, if we all packed together at the density found in Manhattan, NY, we would collectively only occupy a patch of earth with an area of about 100 miles by 100 miles. So we have plenty of room in the US to spread out all that we want.

My take, my bottom line conclusion is that those who don't want "sprawl", don't want it because they are not in charge of it and/or no one is in charge of it, it is not "planned" enough for them, it is not always neat and optimized, it charges forth in error sometimes, it responds to market forces not academic studies, it is unbridled.

I say if you want to spread out then spread out. I say that dense urban development probably does just as much damage to the environment as suburban development, maybe more. I say that in some ways I like the sprawl, the boom town feel, the brand new everything, new malls, new homes, new roads, new schools, new parks, etc. etc.

On Perpetuating Problems and Hyping the Insignificant

2005-08-21T10:58:00.000-04:00

Government agencies and non-profit organizations established to fix some problem or shed light on some issue of "concern", no matter how worthy, all soon begin to exhibit self-survival behaviors just like every other living organism. It does not benefit them to solve the problem they were tasked to solve or fix because then they would no longer have a reason to exist.
News media tasked with providing a continual stream of information about something to us all, when short on "significant" information must make the insignificant seem significant, i.e. hype the trival or otherwise focus on some statistcally meaningless event or just get us all worried about something that might intrude in our lives with less probability than being hit by lightning. Usually, we are already aware of the things we should be worried about. Further, the most complex problems will never be solved by agencies because by definition agencies act for us and most important complex problems require our direct participation. We invent agencies to solve problems when we don't care about whether or when those problems are ever solved or not.

On More Research

2005-08-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

If we all spent as much time doing serious research, scientific or otherwise, as we spend researching the best HDTV, car, computer, etc. to buy, just imagine what we could accomplish.

Ideas and Profit

2005-08-19T10:23:00.000-04:00

Companies need two brains that talk to each other every once in a while. One brain should be the dreamer, NOT so worried about the deliverable, the practical, or the profitable. The other brain should be the doer, ALL about the execution, the implementation, and the cost-profit calcs. Most of us should not be given over to either brain exclusively or else we risk becoming stale. Further still, fresh profitable ideas come from brains that are not always concentrated on the profitable and those ideas do not become or remain fantasy so long as sharpened, worked and hammered into reality in the form of profitable solutions.

On Space-Time and the Universe

2005-08-19T08:03:00.000-04:00

If all of the electromagnetic radiation we can sense from space using various types of receivers, including the visible spectrum, actually represents views into the universe at different times based on the distance of an object to earth and the speed of light, then all that we know about huge parts of the universe is based on data that is thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years old. If we could see the universe instantaneously or at times near what we are accustomed to with close objects, what would we see? How different would our understanding of the universe be? Considering the magnitude of the distances between celestial bodies like galaxies, what is time when measured using human standards like days and years? For all we know, large portions of the universe will have been destroyed and reborn several times by the time we see the light from such areas. For that mater, if the universe began to end in some distant part relative to us, how long would it be before we were even aware of such?

Conceive Significant Actionable Concepts

2005-08-19T01:09:00.000-04:00

Millions of people have new ideas about important subjects all of the time but either do not act on them for a myriad of reasons or a vital connection is never made between the new idea or partial idea and other new or existing ideas. However, with a toolkit consisting of the internet, present information technology, and software, we should be able to make many more of the types of connections between partial or whole ideas necessary to conceive of complete significant actionable concepts. I say "should" because the only thing missing for all of this to come to fruition is for individuals and groups to invent or learn to use and implement processes that continually explore the assumptions, boundaries, and intersections of current knowledge sets from different perspectives under various contexts. I started Concept Explore to help people do just that.