You don't have to be autistic to work here but...

Hi,

Alot of the top IT engineers I have worked with have had major issues with their other kinds of intelligence (especially social).

When I found an article
investigating autism in IT workers I felt strangely vindicated and sad at the same time.

Where I work right now is a haven for IT engineers, and they placed at a large distance from their end customers.

We've definately created a good place for them to work and play to their strengths.

Playing to people's strengths is all part of managing them - but what happens when you take someone so far outside of their comfort area that they freak out?

Just saying "Do your job" doesn't cut it in my book.

NP out

But can science explain a Picasso?

Hi,

Soon for sure.

V S Ramachandra is definitely in my top 10 scientists of all time, and I had never heard of him before watching this presentation.

Anyone interested in the science of the brain, and art, should watch this video.

If you're of Indian heritage watch it twice :-)

I immediately mailed an artist friend of mine to ask if numbers evoked colours in her vision.

NP out

The Day after the Rapture

Hi,

Many fundamentalist Christians believe that before the end of the world all true believers will be lifted up to heaven to dwell with their god. This whole process is referred to as The Rapture.

Actual belief about when the Rapture will take place is divided. But most of these beliefs have the earth continuing in dire straights for some time afterwards.

A new web based service has started up to deal with the problems facing Christians caught up in the Rapture.

People can lodge documents and messages with the service which will only be released once the Rapture takes place.

Once you're lifted up to heaven you can put your legal affairs in order and say goodbye to loved ones who did not make the grade. Tricky legal positions will crop up - such as you will not have left a corpse so normal inheritance law will not apply. So you can lodge a power of attorney with this service which is enacted after you have been physically transported to heaven.

It is good to see web entrepreneurs finding and exploiting new religion driven markets. The site must be run by pagans to make sure that the service keeps running after all of the true believers have departed.

However I'm not so sure that fundamentalist Christians should be targeted so aggressively. They've got enough problems of their own to deal with.

Personally I won't waste my money on it - I'll be one of those left behind...

NP Out

Book Burning - Criminal or Cleansing?

Hi,

I've just finished reading a news story about an amazing pastor in the US who is encouraging the burning of violent computer games and music by his parishioners.

Normally I am against any kind of censorship for adults. In the past book burning has been associated with some very bad groups of people indeed.

After reading the article however I do not consider this burning exercise to be censorship. It is more akin to the burning of items during pagan cleansing rituals.

Burning items to cleanse yourself is still a part of modern culture. From the photos of old lovers through to burning your rejection slips from publishing houses.

The Pastor is encouraging his community to cast out influences which are damaging to them. He's engaging the young people in his community in a positive way through a negative act.

Read the whole article on him before you pass judgment.

Wow - it looks like I am actually agreeing to someone burning books, and they're Christian...

I wonder at what point I will start disagreeing with this move when it escalates.

NP Out

Another Giant Penis

Hi,

Well that title got your attention didn't it?

Previous posts have covered my love of practical jokes and fertility symbols. So I just had to blog about an excellent school prank perpetrated in US High school.

Overnight a "2008" made from desks on a school playing field morphed into a giant phallus.

Nice one kids.

The original article also has a quote from a student with the surname of Cummings. Which is as my US cousins would say "pure gravy".

NP out

Mortality - Death and Avoiding it

Hi,

There has been alot of press lately on death and cheating it.

In one startling case a man chose to commit suicide after his partner did. By drugging himself and then jumping in the mortuary freezer that her corpse lay in.

I kid you not...

The kind of place someones head has to be in to pull this kind of stunt is beyond me. It also goes to show you're better off killing yourself at home rather than in a public institution.

There are other more reliable ways of offing yourself of course. Quite a few of which include over indulging in something pleasurable.

I'm not surprised that a man overdosing on an aphrodisiac based on poisonous toad venom made the top news.

People cheating death have also been media noticeable in the last week and a bit.

From doctors misdiagnosing patients death, through to people overcoming huge odds to walk away from certain death.

The ebb and flow of media stories seemed quite mundane until I came across some intriguing articles about people who strive to postpone or overcome death itself - through many different kinds of augmentation.

Immortality questers like this have been documented since the middle ages. It's actually quite shocking about some of the key historical figures in the 20th century who have been a part of this diverse movement.

The big question here is not "would you commit suicide"- but "what would you do to prolong your life?"

Personally I can't even give up cigarettes...

NP Out

Reality was Great until the power went out

Hi,

You can walk around my place of work like a ghost some days. People are at their desks working at their PCs and listening to music. They don't even register someone passing their work space because they are too intent on a different landscape.

OK maybe not just working, but chatting, blogging, researching, networking and gaming.

Not too long ago we had a power cut at the office, along with the rest of the city, which lasted over 3 hours.

Cue alot of unreasonably angry and somewhat insecure people forced to relate to each other using old fashioned methods of communication.

This occurrence started me wondering about more extreme ways of creating artificial reality. I'm not talking about sci-fi VR such as Cronenberg's eXistenZ, but what is freely available right now on the open market.

Equipment like the Digital Escape mask being worked on by Frog Design really interest me. Its not there yet but will eventually allow the sight, sound and even sense of smell of the wearer to be under their own control.

Technology for projecting scents has come a long way recently, with new patents being lodged for all kind sof virtual smell appliances. My favourite is the smell gun.

Sensory suits have been around for a while, but have been beset by problems. Not least of all them being a bit rubbish.

Mass produced vests for use with computer games are hitting the market right now.

Did that guy shoot me in the back? Hell yeah my kidneys are complaining...

They also come in pink for the ladies.

But does all this equipment actually help to create a convincing virtual reality? The extra sensory inputs would no doubt help to impose a reality - but will it also be more restrictive than someone just using their imagination?

Maybe we're already there, and our minds are sophisticated enough to conjure our own reality without all the hardware.

Read a good book lately? They always have better special effects than their movie adaption.

NP Out