dichotic noise

As I was just finalizing my perfect layout, based on a Fibonacci grid, inspired by both ‘The Ideal Web Site’ by Information Architects Japan and Siemens design guidelines and based on Robert Bringhurst’s bookThe Elements of Typographic Style, and it’s web companion; I encountered Blueprint (via Subtraction). Now I’m following their code, and I’m trying to see where to go from here. This is a complete CSS reset of my code. Isn’t this a kind of 侘寂?

“Apple’s forthcoming release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is the first BSD–based operating system to receive the UNIX 03 certification, placing the Mac maker among an elite group of official UNIX 03 vendors.” (via AppleInsider)

I just saw an article about how a brain pacemaker revived a man who was a ‘vegetable’ for 6 years. Previously deep brain stimulation (DBS) was used to treat Parkinson disease, clinical depression, etc. While brain stimulation as concept is around since 1940s, until now there was not enough knowledge and techniques to identify where in the brain confuse or abnormal signals are generated, nor how to implant at millimeter accuracy electrodes near these areas. Note that this is quite different as the historical brain stimulation, is not just to excite the brain, but to re-​tune and re-​modulate signals. As for the side effects, literature reports: apathy, hallucinations, compulsive gambling, hypersexuality, cognitive dysfunction and depression. If DBS could revive a vegetative human, it would be very interesting what it can do on a (clinical) normal human being, just think of:

• Penfield mood organ of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick
• Tek a computerised mind-​altering drug, from ‘TekWar’ by William Shatner
• memory implants as in ‘Johnny Mnemonic’ by William Gibson
• SimStim entertainment and cyberdeck consoles as in ‘Neuromancer’ also by William Gibson

If you think it will take ages to get there, just bypass the normal lengthy treatment adoption in western countries, get your electrodes implanted somewhere in Honk Kong, a smuggled brain pacemaker and load your favourite russian firmware on it. Once you have the electrodes the rest is just as Steve Jobs said about the iPhone and the iPod: “it is just software.” Oh, wait — be careful what you load on your brain, use a barrier maze to protect you from ghost hacking and beware of black ICE when you go online.