Ray Kurzweil and exponential health technology

This really hits my sweet spot — health and sci-fi technology. I stumbled across this report and got hooked.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/07/disappearing-dead-economic-optimism-about-immortality.html

There are 3 online video extras about Ray from this report. This page holds the 3rd, and has links to the other two.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/07/ray-kurzweil-on-bringing-back-the-dead-and-a-viewer-question-when-is-paul-solman-going-to-retire.html

And Singularity University, which he cofounded to advance technology for good:
http://singularityu.org/

And this is his online nutrition store:
http://www.rayandterry.com/

Hello

This is a new version of my site, and a work in progress, with new content being added throughout November and December. I’ve brought over all my old blog posts, but photos and formatting still need adjustments. Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your understanding if something doesn’t look 100% right, because I’d rather work on my clients’ sites than my own.

A shameless plug for compassion

Are you concerned about the environment, water pollution, soil loss, rainforest cutting, worker rights, antibiotic overuse, world hunger, obesity and diabetes, bird flu and drug-resistant super-bugs? Are you against violence without reason? Do you want a sustainable future for your children? Do you want to avoid high cholesterol and heart disease? Do you think Michael Vick was wrong, and do you love your cat or dog? Will you cry when s/he dies? Then in your heart, you know what it is to be vegan. Now, it is actually a simple matter to align your actions with your beliefs.

Try eating a vegan breakfast for a few weeks. Then try eating vegan for lunch a few days a week, then maybe every day. Then slowly start having vegan evening meals. Eat fruit for snacks. Try vegan desserts — there are a lot of options these days. Without trying very hard, you could be 80% vegan or more in a matter of weeks. The other 20% will come in it’s own time or it won’t, but for whatever changes you do implement, your soul will be lighter and your health will be better. Your heart will be more open. Eventually you’ll wonder why you ever thought it would be hard.

Notes from the last Oprah show

I watched the last Oprah show today. Did you? And I took notes, because she is a teacher.

My notes from the last Oprah show:

Ask yourself:

  • Is this where I am supposed to be? If not, where should I be, what situation should I be in to support my growth? And how can my growth serve the greater good?
  • What am I called to do? Everybody has a calling.
  • What situation allows me to shine best?
  • How can I be of service?

More advice:

  • Show people exactly who you are. Don’t hide. (Show up, and bring yourself.)
  • Determine your mission and carry your mission forward.
  • Put a sign up: “Please take responsibility for the energy you bring to this space.”
  • If we don’t feel worthy enough, we can’t accept or recognize success / praise / love. But simply being alive makes you worthy.*
  • Everybody wants to be heard. And validated. I see you. I hear you. I value you as I wish to be valued.
  • You are never alone. The energy of the universe surrounds you and supports you. You can feel it if you listen.
  • Life speaks in a whisper, then a shout. Practice listening to the whisper.

Edit 5-26-11:
Something else I learned over many seasons: The world is a giant classroom. We are here to learn and grow. Every experience, good and bad, has a lesson to teach you, if you are open and let it. Always try to ask yourself: what lesson can I take from this?

* this speaks to me as an ethical vegan too. All living things deserve respect — not just other humans.

East vs West

View from Dana Point
My entire life, I’ve lived on the East coast, where driving to the ocean means heading East, and driving inland means heading West. If the ocean was on my right, I knew I was driving North. On my left? I must be headed South. It was a universal truth, like gravity, or knowing my left from my right, or that the first Star Wars movie is actually the 4th in the series. Now that I am on the West coast, I have become navigationally dyslexic. At highway on-ramps, when looking at written directions, even when gazing at the beautiful Pacific ocean, I have to consciously remind myself what direction I am physically pointed in, what I have to do to get where I’m going, and I repeat like a mantra “West to the ocean, East is inland”.

I’ve made this mistake at least a dozen times. Just yesterday, when driving South from LA to San Diego, I decided to turn off the GPS, get off the 5 and onto the Pacific Coast Highway (“the PCH”), so I could drive along the ocean and see some of the coastal towns. I ended up driving North for a few minutes, until I realized “wait a second, the ocean in on my left — what’s going on?” Luckily, a Starbucks appeared in front of me at that moment, and I was able to pull in, get a grande decaf soy latte, and reorient myself. Also, I was surrounded by such natural beauty that I was glad for the detour. It gave me a chance to stop at a scenic overlook, where a gazebo and benches had been thoughtfully provided.

The benefit of getting lost here is that I discover new places, so I won’t worry about ditching my bossy GPS and winging it occasionally. It’s a chance to explore this new, beautiful world I’ve landed in.

I drove past a feedlot yesterday.

It was pretty gross. As I approached, I didn’t know it was there — I thought it was a dust storm on the horizon, so I closed my vents. As I approached, I started to see the cattle. It went on for over a mile. What struck me most was the smell, despite my SUV being on “recirculate”, the smell was powerful. It was not the smell of manure. It smelled like decaying flesh, like death. Acrid, sour, foul, penetrating. It also made me think of the proposed law in FL that would make photographing a feedlot from the road a felony. Agribusiness doesn’t want you to know where your food comes from. My camera wasn’t handy or I’d have taken a shot, since it’s still legal to do so for the time being. 

I am driving cross-country!

So you can ignore my old post (way down the page) that says I have stopped updating my blog. I’m about to start again. Really. This time for sure. I just need to stop driving long enough to write things down. Stay tuned…

This could be your future

The operator of a teleconferencing robot from anybots.com uses it to fetch himself a scone, with the help of a cellular wifi hotspot stuck to the robot.

Of course I like the idea of anything that makes telepresence more palatable. I also like the idea of a personal real-world avatar that can fetch me a scone.

Best Boston-based portrait photographer

If you need a really good corporate portrait photographer, check out Boston Corporate Portraits.

Douglas MacArthur on war

These quotes have been timely ever since they were recorded, decades ago.

“It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.”
–Douglas MacArthur

“Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor – with the cry of grave national emergency.”
–Douglas MacArthur