Old fart's comments, experiences and insights

[Greg]

Mark Knopfler wasn't a comedian...

Hey which came first: that, or what god wants part 3? Sorry, I better explain. I'm just noticing a similarity in the guitar and rhythm.

[laserist]

I always used the master intensity to reveal the pings. That let's you bring it up fast and fade away. I watched Laserium I about 600 times before performing it. The only number I had to count was Silk Aurora, and eventually I could just feel that too.

[Greg]

Please share more of your laser background

Sorry to have caused any confusion. Don't worry, you write well and your thoughts, knowledge and advice are of value to me and, I expect, to a broad audience.

I was young at the time. (1981 to 1982) I made friends at the planetarium, was already hungry for knowledge about lasers, and had the uncommon trait of religiously not touching anything that I was not told I could touch, including when unsupervised. Eventually I was allowed to explore certain parts of the console, and I even got to perform parts of Starship for the audiences, and to learn LaserockII between the shows. After about a year, my family moved out of the province, and I never saw another Laserium show after that. I just couldn't believe it when all these years later I met Brian and Ron, and they shared with me information on the CYGN-B which had always seemed mysterious and fascinating to me, but which I never expected to be able to find anything out about.

[Greg]

I can see why seeing this performed 600 times would be of benefit to a beginner. More Echoes tests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSWzz04HW3I

[laserist]

I can see why seeing this performed 600 times would be of benefit to a beginner. More Echoes tests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSWzz04HW3I

I still think the 0, 90, 180, 270 fixed rotation diminishes the effect in this case...

[laserist]

Actually, since Greg isn't working in the pure mechanical/optical world he could phase shift the chopper so the overlayed image are out of phase with each other. That might help, or at least be interesting. Having the overlayed images different sizes might help too. There seemed to be glitch in the chopper?

[laserist]

He has the ability to modify pulse width, I was talking phase shift...

[Greg]

Correct, my fixed rotation interval select had a bug.

Correct, the chopper is glitchy. I haven't located a schematic for the chopper circuit, so I'm using a copy of the CM2 circuit with a 10 turn for the frequency. The signal is fine tunable and stable enough, but for some reason it glitches when adjusted.

Correct, each channel's signals, including chopper, may be managed independently.

Roj, Thanks for the discussion, which I look forward to reading thoroughly on my next commute. Nothing I see there I don't agree with. Except I'm not grouchy about long comments or criticism, as long as everyone is respectful. Also, I like the Grasshopper character, and sometimes make replies at work in that voice. "Faced with two activities, must not every kid... choose?"

[Greg]

If the goal is to create sentient A.I., (or singularity level A.I.) aren't we talking about creating a new class of slaves? Whoever owns the computer owns this sentient entity, and controls it's destiny? What whip will it's overseer employ to maximize its profit?

I think this is an ethical concern of utmost importance, though I'll add that I haven't seen any indication of progress towards an understanding of consciousness, let alone the ability to synthesize it using silicon. The only place I've seen the question of consciousness taken head on is in the book Dreams of a Final Theory by Steven Weinberg. He suggests we'll know we have a real understanding of consciousness when we can, given the state of a system, determine through analysis whether that system is self aware.

[TheHermit]

Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity. [5/2001]Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity. [5/2001]
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