Wednesday, March 16, 2011

TRS-80 - I Am Energy

Research indicates that high tempo auditory clicks increase the operating frequency of the neurosystem, evidenced by a measurable improvement in reaction time. Along with that fact, this song is awezingly amasome (yes, totally sic).


I've been pushing Pandora to produce a station of really high tempo music along these lines and the results have been rather enjoyable. One theme of mine thought lately has been that we may need to increase the temporal performance of consciousness in order to keep up with technology; it is already becoming clear that the shear breadth of generally useful and potentially necessary information exceeds the capacity for education in the time provided by the typical four year undergraduate track.

Related in only the most nuanced and tenuous way: the bicycle featured on the cover seems to be a 70's Schwinn Collegiate. 1965 to 1975 hosted the most recent bike boom, where sales dramatically increased; as Wikipedia says, "At the height of the boom, in 1972, 1973, and 1974, more bicycles than automobiles were sold in the U.S." That so many were made is one reason the 70's Schwinns are recognizable. Things seem to be shaping up for another bike boom, and for the sake of Life on Earth I hope it's permanent this time.

Friday, March 4, 2011

While Life Proceeds Obliviously Below

Google has a tendency to do what they say they might, and thus it was with a mixture of surprise and expectation that I noticed the Google Maps aerial view of Salt Lake have been updated to include UAV footage, clearly higher resolution as individual people can be discerned. The colors are also much better. Zoom all the way in on this map to see for yourself.