rofl!

Here’s the best damn site on the internet.

#23 +(1349)

<Guilty> Oh god I just changed my pw and instantly forgot it

#514353 +(6720)

<Insomniak`> Stupid fucking Google
<Insomniak`> “The” is a common word, and was not included in your search
<Insomniak`> “Who” is a common word, and was not included in your search

#2999 +(6722)

<kyourek> There was a 23% drop in temperature.
<nappyjallapy> That’s almost 25%!
<kyourek> … That was one of the most worthless comments I’ve ever heard.

#574642 +(6746)

* Porter is now known as PorterWITHGIRLFRIENDWHOISHOT
<Strayed> he shot his girlfriend?

#583977 +(6934)

<DannyB> some girl on the street asked if i was saved yet
<DannyB> i told her i saved at the checkpoint a couple minutes back
<DannyB> and can reload from there if i die
<DannyB> she was confused

#39 +(2365)

<FuNGiSiDE> ftp
<FuNGiSiDE> er wtf

From Bash.org

Brain Computer Interface – TI conference

I just saw an ad in the times for a Texas Instruments Developers conference. From what I make of the ad I think they will be showcasing Brain computer interfaces (BCI) for the control of external devices directly through the brain. This procedure is non invasive and has recently created a storm of interest worldwide. See my colection of videos on BCI here.

The event is scheduled between the 29 – 30th of this month at the Leela Palace Bangalore (Airport Road). Tickets are being sold at Rs. 3500 per participant. Last day to register is the 23rd of Nov. Go to www.ti.com/tidcindia07 to register or call Vijitha at +91 98807 87651 (Reproduced from the ad /TOI/ 22-11-2007.)

Neuroesthetics – The brain-aesthetic correlate

Does appreciation of aesthetics come from upbringing or is it inherent? If it is then what are the corresponding neuronal connections? At what point is beauty perceived? Welcome to neuroesthetics, a study of aesthetics from a neurological point of view. New research indicates that artists have an inherent sense of the spatial schema and other measurable image statistics found in nature, and artists ‘apply these insights’ in their work!

Speaking from the artist’s point of view, we do learn certain spatial rules and applications such as the golden mean and the grid as a part of art study. But what is of interest is the softer learning. I mean this in the sense of conscious-tactile (I’m aware of my bodily sensation of pressure of pencil on paper and the immediate recognition of a line I prefer over one that I don’t when i’m ‘moulding’ the rough drawing.) Any artist will tell you that such learning occurs during those years of constant sketching and drawing. You pick up minuscule bits of information (as feedback from when you’re drawing) that no art school can teach although it’s difficult to verbalize these learnings.

In a charcoal life study for example there are the obvious perspective and foreshortening errors that we consciously correct.  There are other decisions we make but there are split-second decisions and therefore go largely unnoticed when we re-tell or document the process later. An example may be how we choose lines when we scribble out a form. While the art teacher teaches line delineation, we are also learning a subtler skill. We are learning to introduce ‘character’ into the sketch. This occurs through not just recreating natural features of the subject’, but also the body language, facial expression and then something more. Often the more experienced artists are able to catch subtle nuances that beginners can never get.

There was an urban legend floating around Malleshwaram that the cinema hoarding painters near Malleshwaram, Bangalore never taught their chelas how to infuse life into the painting until he is completely initiated. The legend is that the guru then teaches the chela how to paint the iris and get the character to literally look into you.

The Institute of Neuroesthetics has some papers on the subject.

The VODPOD resource

Work has been killing what with the holiday season and all. I haven’t been able to blog much, but there is tons of stuff you can look at. My vodpod account now has a collection of over 75 videos on brain-mind sciences. I’ve tried to categorise it so use the tags on the left to pick a subject.

Open Laboratory 2008

If you remember OL2006, then you’ll want to participate in the 2007 run up. Go through the list of the final runners up to decide which posts go into the anthology this year.

Free will, but only after

Marcus Menezoid and myself sat late into the night talking about a bunch of things. Free will turned up into the picture with Marcus threatening to go get the kitchen knife, chop my finger off and offer to show me that it’s free will and real. This post narrates the line of thought I took to pooh-pooh the knife threat. And Marcus, here are some videos that explain how this works…

Neuroscience 2nd Century BCE

Last night this book called Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra was at hand, and I picked it up absentmindedly and opened a page that described the time lag between perception and cognition. Specifically verse 9 of the Vibhuti Pada. I’ll skip the sanskrit verse and straight to Taimini’s translation:

Nirodha Parinama is that transformation of the mind in which it becomes progressively permeated by that condition of Nirodha which intervenes momentarily between an impression which is disappearing and the impression which is taking place.

Nirodha = restraint+suppression / Parinama = transformation+result

Now this kind of bounced me, because I’m fresh from reading about Dr. David Eagleman’s research on Time perception and I immediately recognised the connect that it had to the last part of the sutra.

… intervenes momentarily between an impression which is disappearing and the impression which is taking place.

See a video by Eagleman labs about how the brain dilates time.

Patanjali is discussing perception, and he’s plainly making the distinction between mediate and immediate perception as well as pointing out the serial order of the impressions. Now, I know that the rest of the book is about modifying the mind to learn how to integrate it’s falsely conceived dualism, and Patanjali in the very begining makes the distinction between the atheist and the theist by claiming that you could either use a deity or not to practise yoga. Just so we know that religion isn’t being pushed in the name of science here.

Discovering Synesthetic Abstraction

I studied design in an art college. If you have a background in design education, you know how frustrating that can be. An art college views design from the point of view of applied art, or ‘applying art to commerce’. It doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that the educators are all out of work painters, perspective artists and poets. While philosophy was abundant, there was absolutely no rationale or logic, business or otherwise. Design approval was arbitrary.

After the first 2 years of art college education, I began to feel irritated with the lack of accurate feedback. The internet wasn’t available to me at the time, and our college library only had art books. British library was ok, but I couldn’t decipher head or tail of the science books there because popular books on neuro-science weren’t as widely available. It was frustrating because, like any student I developed theories of my own on why some visuals appealed to some and not to others. Some worked and did what they had to, others fell flat, and there was no way of objectively verifying my theories…