Masterrocky's Blog

DNA possibilities

Rocky — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:01:57 +0000

I found a very interesting BBC documentary “How to build a human”. It’s about what are the possibilities of discovery of DNA.

This is the first series:

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 1/6

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 2/6

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 3/6

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 4/6

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 5/6

BBC How to Build a Human 1of4 – Creation Part 6/6

things that make me think

Rocky — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:59:13 +0000

Since I started my MA I have change my dissertation subject many times, because I am interested in many different things. I wanted to write about managing personal knowledge, information exchange and organisation, productivity and efficiency for individuals and groups, does technology make us happy?, brain mystery – how it works? how we remember and associate things?, semantic web and quantum physics. Finally I decided to write about the impact of future technologies (nanotechnology, DNA, biochemistry, quantum physics) on the society. Do we really want the technology to develop a we are aiming to? I chose this subject because I was inspired by 3-part documentary on the BBC hosted by Michio Kaku, called Visions of the Future:
Visions Of The Future (1 of 3) The Intelligence Revolution

Visions of the Future (2 of 3) The Biotech Revolution

Visions Of The Future (3 of 3) The Quantum Revolution

Unfortunately I had to narrow down my subject to one technology, I stuck between nanotechnology and DNA. I decided to do some research. I watched many documentaries not necessary related to DNA and nanotechnology, because I didn’t want to narrow my research yet. I have watched The Incredible Human Body (National Geographic), BBC Planet Earth The Future, BBC Documentary – Stupidity, Anthropology – Mysterious Origins Of Man. Forbidden Archeology – Charlton Heston 1996, Documentary – Bbc Horizon – The Bermuda Triangle, Unlocking the Mystery of Life (Intelligent Design), Paranormal – Unexplained Mysteries – Scariest Places On Earth.

Out of all those documentaries the most inspirational was Unlocking the Mystery of Life (Intelligent Design). This documentary is about Darwin’s theory of evolution, DNA, and origins of life. I noticed many similarities between DNA and nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. It made me think, that DNA could be a very clever algorithm that allows to produce new organisms, body parts, proteins etc in a creative way – it doesn’t always reproduce already existing cells, it constantly evolves. Scientists are trying to create artificial intelligence based on intelligent algorithms and create machines that would create self-replicated materials. In other words scientist are trying to create technology that would self-evolve. It would be possible to create a replica of our world but in miniature. But what if scientists physically bigger than us created a mini version of the world they are living in? That would explain Intelligent design. It all comes back to a question: how did it all begin? What was at the beginning? Nothing could be created from nothing.

Maybe I should write about similarities and differences of DNA and nanotechnology? Or many the impact of DNA evolution on other technologies? I don’t know I need to do some more research.

Interface controlled by mind

Rocky — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:00:29 +0000

Brainloop is an interactive performance platform that utilizes a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system which allows a subject to operate devices merely by imagining specific motor commands.

for more information click here

Jeff Hawkins: Brain science is about to fundamentally change computing

Rocky — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:51:33 +0000

another interesting TED talk about brains

Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight

Rocky — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:48:38 +0000

very interesting TED talk about brain

TFM&A – Technology for Marketing & Advertising

Rocky — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:13:42 +0000

Last week I attended TFM&A- Technology for Marketing & Advertising exhibition. I was extremely lucky (I had to queue up for up to an hour to get to some keynote sessions) to go very inspirational keynote sessions: Facebook, How consumers will re-shape the way brands and marketers use the web and Falling in love 2.0: relationship marketing for the Facebook generation as well as Google University and AdWords Academy I was also lucky because we started a project on Monday (the day before the first day of TFM&A) about social networking and I am responsible for marketing. Thanks to that I found out lots of information (business, collaboration, social networking, technology, marketing, advertising, SEO) related to our topic and I could share that information with my fellow students the next day. I highly recommend Digital Training Academy website and the videos they posted, this is one of them:

a few interesting quotes about good design, creativity and technology

Rocky — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:41:54 +0000

Process: “To create good designs, you have to understand people – what they need, want and enjoy, as well as how they think and behave.” (“Designing Interactions”, p.725)

Designing New Version: “The chance to set a precedent with something completely new is rare. In most cases you are designing a new version of something that is already there, so you can research what has been done before, learn the lessons from previous attempts, discover guiding principles, and extract knowledge from precedents.” (“Designing Interactions”, p.727)

Brainstorming rules: “defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on the ideas of others, stay focused on the topic, and keep one conversation at a time.” (“Designing Interactions”, p.733)

“If there is consensus among team members that a new idea has value, it is usually worth stepping back from the process and going back to first principles to help decide what to do next”. (“Designing Interactions”, p.733)

“A good motto for designing interactions is to evaluate early, often, and as late as possible”. (“Designing Interactions”, p.734)

“Human biology and psychology do not change much with time: society and culture change very slowly. Technology changes rapidly.” (“The Design of Everyday Things”, p.xiv)

smart advertising

Rocky — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:36:43 +0000

Great things don’t need to be advertised. The best products are those spread through the word of mouth. People hate adverts but like clever, engaging advertising. Smart advertising shows a good idea, is not just trying to sell a product. Creative advertising should be encouraged. Advertising with a purpose of selling something is a waste of money. We don’t like adverts unless they are fun and/or intelligent and engaging! Stop selling, encourage creativity! Perfect advertising is creative and associates a good idea with a product. People talk about great adverts like about good stories or jokes; therefore it has a bigger impact on society. It is better to invest money on a brilliant, 6-month commercial than to spend the same amount of money on 6 one-month commercials with no creative value!

IDEO

Rocky — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:14:00 +0000

After reading “IDEO:Masters of Innovation” by Jeremy Myerson and listening Miguel Cabra from IDEO, who recently gave a great lecture at LCC, I summarized all great information:

1. A company works best as an organism – groups of 25-30
2. People are sharing random ideas between groups
3. Understand-Observe-Visualize-Evaluate-Implement
4. Future: innovating businesses
5. company like a classroom – brainstorm, chaos, try
6. learn (be humble but curious) –create (inspire) – try (build, check in context and try on extreme users) – communicate (tell a story)
7. FLOSS:
F – Failure (don’t be afraid of risk)
L – Left-handed (not every user is the same)
O – out there (don’t just sit behind your desk)
S – Sloppy (prototypes don’t need to be perfect)
S – Stupid (no one expects you to know everything)
8. Curiosity is more important than a talent!
9. No hierarchy – work team! Earn respect of your peers!
10. Try many times to succeed, don’t be afraid of failure.
11. “Experience is a dynamic, complex and subjective phenomenon.”
12. “Design is not about pretty shapes but about function.”
13. “goods are standardized, services customized, but experiences are personal”
14. “goods have features, services have benefits, but experiences have sensations”

Welcome

Rocky — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:52:43 +0000

Welcome to my first ever blog. I will be talking mainly about interactivity, technology, innovation and all other geeky stuff. I will try to keep everything short and informative. Enjoy my thoughts and feel free to interact!