siliconia @@@

in the name of central processing unit, motherboard and hard drive... enter
Mar 11
Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - An empirical test of ideas proposed by Martin Heidegger shows the great German philosopher to be correct: Everyday tools really do become part of ourselves.Read more @ Wired - Your Computer Really Is a Part of Youtnx 2 Dare, lpd

An empirical test of ideas proposed by Martin Heidegger shows the great German philosopher to be correct: Everyday tools really do become part of ourselves.

Read more @ Wired - Your Computer Really Is a Part of You

tnx 2 Dare, lpd

Feb 25
Siliconia - Permalink
Feb 24
Siliconia - Permalink

Massive Attack-Splitting the Atom

Feb 22
Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - Ad against prostitution - The Israel Women’s Network: Prostitution (via 9gag)

Ad against prostitution - The Israel Women’s Network: Prostitution (via 9gag)

Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - xkcd - Devotion to Duty

xkcd - Devotion to Duty

Feb 21
Siliconia - Permalink
Feb 20
Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - A model of Daimler race car in the wind tunnel of Aerodynamischen Versuchsanstalt, Goettingen (1923) (via Dieselpunk < redb < twink)

A model of Daimler race car in the wind tunnel of Aerodynamischen Versuchsanstalt, Goettingen (1923) (via Dieselpunk < redb < twink)

Siliconia - Permalink

Google and Facebook’s entire business model is based on the notion of “monetizing” our privacy. To succeed they must slowly change the notion of privacy itself—the “social norm,” as Facebook puts it—so that what we’re giving up doesn’t seem so valuable. Then they must gain our trust. Thus each new erosion of privacy comes delivered, paradoxically, with rhetoric about how Company X really cares about privacy. I’m not sure whether Orwell would be appalled or impressed. And who knew Big Brother would be not a big government agency, but a bunch of kids in Silicon Valley?

The problem with buying things with your privacy is you really don’t know how much you’re paying. With money, five bucks is five bucks. But what is the value of your list of friends? If it’s not worth much, your membership on Facebook may be the deal of a lifetime. If it’s incredibly valuable, you’re getting massively ripped off. Only the techies know how much your info is worth, and they’re not telling. But the fact that they’d rather get your data than your dollars tells you all you need to know.

Feb 19
Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - The CodeOrgan analyses the &#8220;body&#8221; content of any web page and translates that content into music. The CodeOrgan uses a complex algorithm to define the key, synth style and drum pattern most appropriate to the page content.Firstly, the CodeOrgan scans the page content and removes all characters not found in the musical scale (A to G), and then analyses the remaining characters to find the most commonly used &#8220;note&#8221;. If this is an even number the page is translated into the major pentatonic scale of that particular note, it becomes minor if there is an uneven number.Secondly, the CodeOrgan defines which synthesizer to use. This is based upon the total number characters used on the webpage - there are currently 10 synthesizer effects and the one chosen is picked based upon the percentage of content.Lastly, the CodeOrgan selects a drum loop based upon the ratio of characters on the page versus the number of characters that are actually musical notes - there are currently 10 different drum loops to pick from. (via MeFi)By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody

The CodeOrgan analyses the “body” content of any web page and translates that content into music. The CodeOrgan uses a complex algorithm to define the key, synth style and drum pattern most appropriate to the page content.

Firstly, the CodeOrgan scans the page content and removes all characters not found in the musical scale (A to G), and then analyses the remaining characters to find the most commonly used “note”. If this is an even number the page is translated into the major pentatonic scale of that particular note, it becomes minor if there is an uneven number.

Secondly, the CodeOrgan defines which synthesizer to use. This is based upon the total number characters used on the webpage - there are currently 10 synthesizer effects and the one chosen is picked based upon the percentage of content.

Lastly, the CodeOrgan selects a drum loop based upon the ratio of characters on the page versus the number of characters that are actually musical notes - there are currently 10 different drum loops to pick from. (via MeFi)

By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody

Feb 18
Siliconia - Permalink
Siliconia - Wired - Feb. 18, 1838: Physicist Machs His EntranceMach explained his understandings of supersonic flow in a paper published in 1887. The paper included an incredible photograph, the first showing the shock waves that form when an object is moving at supersonic speeds.The photo is remarkable because it is of a bullet, and was made long before high-speed photography made such images relatively easy. The image was created using a shadowgraph.

Wired - Feb. 18, 1838: Physicist Machs His Entrance

Mach explained his understandings of supersonic flow in a paper published in 1887. The paper included an incredible photograph, the first showing the shock waves that form when an object is moving at supersonic speeds.

The photo is remarkable because it is of a bullet, and was made long before high-speed photography made such images relatively easy. The image was created using a shadowgraph.