Philosopher: 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation August 16, 2007
Posted by Wade Rockett in Games, Geek, Life, Technology, What.add a comment
From the New York Times:
Dr. Bostrom assumes that technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or “posthumans,” could run “ancestor simulations” of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.
…There would be no way for any of these ancestors to know for sure whether they were virtual or real, because the sights and feelings they’d experience would be indistinguishable. But since there would be so many more virtual ancestors, any individual could figure that the odds made it nearly certain that he or she was living in a virtual world.
…“My gut feeling, and it’s nothing more than that,” he says, “is that there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation.”
Via Buzz Out Loud
Unearthed notes on SXSWi gaming panel at The New Marketing May 25, 2007
Posted by Wade Rockett in Games, SXSWi.add a comment
While weeding old messages from my Outlook inbox at work, I came across a set of notes from SXSWi that I didn’t know I took! Note-taking was dodgy there because my laptop battery was all but dead, but apparently I managed to dash these off and mail them to myself. (And then promptly forget about them.)
It’s Joi Ito and Justin Hall dropping science on “Online Games: Beyond Play and Fantasy”. I posted the notes on The New Marketing if’n you’re interested.
Rockett Science Store updated, or: “Oh my God you have to read/hear/watch/try this!” February 2, 2007
Posted by Wade Rockett in Books, Games, Miscellany, Music, Technology, Webmastery.add a comment
The Rockett Science shop is my own small corner of Amazon.com, where I post links to good books that I’m reading, CDs that I’m listening to, movies that I’ve seen recently, and anything else that I think is nifty. If you buy any of these items using the links in my store, I get a few cents’ worth of credit at Amazon. Everybody wins! And by “everybody” I mean “mostly Amazon”!
I hadn’t dusted the shelves in a while, so I went in the other day and updated everything. The new front section (Latest and Greatest) has the most recent things that I’ve been digging, while the Tried and True section collects the stuff that’s stood the test of time for me.
I’m making an effort to keep the “Currently Digging” section of my sidebar up to date with things that I am indeed currently digging, such as Cory Doctorow’s short story collection Overclocked.
Toys for Tots at Phoenix Games October 27, 2006
Posted by Wade Rockett in Games.Tags: charity
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Phoenix Games in Lynnwood is now an official Toys For Tots Holiday Toy Drive drop off location! It’s a good cause and a great store, so if you live around here and plan to participate in the toy drive, consider bringing your donation of a heavily armed Cabbage Patch Kid there. And while you’re in the store, say hey to Brian, the owner, and check out their great selection of games.
