We have come a long way since 1996

Since 1996,the WayBack Machine site has been archiving about 85 billion web pages. I've gone in and looked at the history of my site ... boy, have I come a long way too. :-)

Over at this site someone went in and looked as some big brand names like MacDonalds, CocaCola, Pepsi and Lego. It's "interesting" to see how primitve websites were back then in what we seen now as the stone age of the Internet (but which very exciting and cutting edge at the time.)

Party over at google's place

Who would be on the invite list if there was a party at Google's place? See if you can recognize them all.

Link through Flabber.

Dumb moves on facebook

Imagine telling your boss you're off for a family emergency.
Imagine going to a halloween party instead.
Imagine posting a picture of you at the party on facebook.
Imagine your boss also being on facebook.
you can imagine the result here.

Was the Matrix wrong?

Troed made an interesting comment yesterday: statistically there is a high probability that we are all avatars. Welcome to our self-chosen Matrix... Read all about the debate on the simulation argument website

The site is a debate about the possibility that we may be living in a simulation. A brief introduction is in order. The paper on the site argues that at least one of the following propositions is true:

i. It is possible that a civilization could create a computer simulation which contains individuals with artificial intelligence.

ii. Such a civilization would likely run many – say billions – of these simulations (just for fun; for research, etc.)

iii. A simulated individual inside the simulation wouldn’t know that it’s inside a simulation – it’s just going about its daily business in what it considers the “real world”.

Then the ultimate question is – if one accepts that points 1-2-3 are at least possible, which of the following is more likely?

a. We are the one civilization out there in the universe that will eventually develop the ability to run AI simulations? Or,

b. We are one of the billions of simulations that has run? (Remember point iii.)

While you're at it, take some time to read the simulated reality wiki.

I did get a funny feeling when reading Troeds post on the Matrix ... I don't think I would want to spend my life in a pod, no matter how good the reality. I think I'd end up taking the red pill. But then again ... how would I know? (Remember point iii.)

WiFi Positioning systems

Today I came across Skyhook's Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). It' s a "location platform" that uses the native 802.11 radio in your PC (or even your smartphone) to deliver accurate positioning.

After installing the Loki plugin from the loki.com site (actually a product of Skyhook Wireless), my laptop is now able to find its position thanks to a triangulation using WiFi access points around me (provided that the region has been mapped by Skyhook), and I can use it for driving directions or finding businesses in my surroundings. No hardware needed, just a plugin for the browser. And ... it works indoors and outdoors, handy when you're sitting in an office or a hotel room and trying to find your way around.

Skyhook calls it a "metro-area positioning system" that leverages Wi-Fi instead of satellites or cell towers to deliver precise location data supporting the growing market for location-based services.

What is on the bookshelf today

Thanks to iBert, I came across Shelfari, a virtual bookshelf where you can share with the world what you're reading, and at the same time see who else is reading the same books and what they think of it.

Here's my bookshelf.