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I think the web can be taken to the next level with a simple design for distributed secure identity I call XID (eXtensible IDentity).

An XID looks just like an email address: name@domain (e.g. david@lucifer.com or lucifer@xid.neuronaut.com). The difference is what you can do with it. The key to the whole system is a very simple convention: given ( Read more... )

While researching the strange relation between random matrix theory (quantum mechanics) and the Riemann Hypothesis (pure mathematics) I stumbled across another unexpected relation. I would wager that math prof Nina Snaith and electronica musician Caribou (fka Manitoba) are siblings. My evidence:

• in her thesis Nina thanks NSERC for support and her ( Read more... )

On 26 Apr 2001, Keith Henson was convicted of "interfering with a religion", a misdemeanor under California law, for picketing outside Scientology's heavily-armed, razor-wire enclosed base outside Hemet, CA. Fearing death threats he fled the US to Canada but was unable to acquire official refugee status has been on the run ever since. In the #virus ( Read more... )

Skinny Puppy's latest Mythmaker is a seamless continuation of The Greater Wrong of the Right. Dark and complex, it is sure to please old and new fans alike. Most excellent.

2 movies: Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth
and one RSS feed aggregator: Google Reader. You can share stories.

vector:
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I was wondering about the probability of finding a message somewhere in the digits of Pi.

The probability of finding a message in a random bitstring depends only on the lengths of the message and random string.

A is a specific string of length N bits
B is a random string of length M bits

What is the probability that A appears somewhere in B?

B ( Read more... )

I was pleasantly surprised to discover two Extropian colleagues quoted in (relatively) mainstream media.

In the December Wired (p. 46) Robin Hanson answers the Ping question "Is collective intelligence really more intelligent?"
Companies often wonder: Should we consult a broad opinion poll or a blue-ribbon committee? Prediction markets offer a better ( Read more... )