When my friend Markus Fix twitted this poem, I knew I had to put it to music, and I did: "All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace", by Richard Brautigan.
( Read the original poem )

I had the privilege of reading a draft of Robin Hanson's upcoming book on ems: emulated brains, that with specialized hardware could possibly run thousands or millions of times faster than the actual brain they were once templated from. This got me thinking about what kind of programming languages these ems would use - though most arguments would ( Read more... )

At PorcFest 2011, people offered to accompany me on the guitar as I sang the "And a Pony" song. As a benefit, here is the score with chords.

You may download and print the PDF or get the Lilypond source. You can listen to a generated MIDI file, or you can go get the previously recorded MP3 (a cappella ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Dear Douglas,

I just read this interview of yours by Tal Cohen:
http://tal.forum2.org/hofstadter_interview

I quite agree with you when you claim ( Read more... )

Play it: And a Pony! in MP3 (take 3).
Music & Lyrics by Faré. Original insight by Gavin.

Écoutez-le: Et un poulain! en MP3.
Paroles et musique de Faré, d'après une idée originale de Gavin.
( Read the lyrics... / Lisez les paroles... )

My hands are in a sorry state that prevent much further typing, which partly explains my limited activity on this blog. As they get slightly better, however, I cannot avoid writing this essay, prompted by a recent debate on Utopia ( Read more... )

À l'occasion du débat sur l'opportunité des OGM, Liberté, j'écris ton nom, Les Libertariens, et quelques autres organisons une manifestation ce dimanche 2 novembre 2003 à 15h sur le Champ de Mars à Paris (Métro École Militaire, devant l'École). Le thème en sera la liberté et la responsabilité de la recherche ( Read more... )