My daughter got a Kindle about 1 year ago for Christmas. She used it some especially during the summer break but is too busy to use it much during the school year in high school. So I asked if I could borrow it because I haven't bought myself one or had one given to me. So, I read a little of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" in book form because I had enjoyed both the Swedish original movie called over there " "Män som hatar kvinnor" (Men Who Hate Women) with English Subtitles also known here in the U.S. as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in both Swedish and the American version.
I had asked my son if a Kindle could speak a book to me and asked him to demonstrate it. He said, "It sounds sort of robotic but here I'll show you how it works. So, I listened and the somewhat robotic voice didn't sound that bad to me as I have heard much worse robotic phonics than that. But today, I looked for a book I wanted to listen to called "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. It is one of my favorite Science Fiction books of all time and won the Hugo Nebula award in 1970 for science fiction. But I noticed that they wanted 17.95 for it and I asked him about that because it was pretty steep. He said that this is a voice book that a real person reads. I said, "Oh. You mean a Kindle can play voice books too?" He said, "Yes." So, I went to Audiobooks in Kindle and they said that if I was joining audiobooks I could get one book for free there. So, I downloaded my first audiobook for free of Ringworld by Larry Niven. My wife thought that this actually was a pretty good deal even if I had to pay 17.95 for it because you would likely pay 50 dollars or more for CD's of a book like that otherwise. And this way it just downloaded for free through my wifi in my home. Pretty neat!
I generally don't read books much just because it usually hurts my eyes to read that long if it isn't a magazine or computer. Usually the print is too small for my eyes to feel comfortable too. I used to have perfect vision for most of my life until my very late 40s and my brain had a hard time adjusting to reading glasses so this has harmed me in regard to reading books without getting a headache with reading glasses. However, if I read a larger magazine or stuff on a larger computer terminal at 15 inches or above my eyes don't hurt and I don't get headaches. But it is hard for me not reading books made of paper much anymore because of headaches and nausea if I read for more than 1/2 hour or so. However, I use reading glasses to watch TV on my 52 inch Flat Screen in HD and enjoy it a lot, especially now we got a Tivo Elite that can record 300 hours in HD programming at a time. So, if you want to read or be informed just don't give up if you have problems like I have had regarding nausea or headaches when you have to start wearing glasses. Eventually, you start to find ways around whatever the problems are. So Stay adaptable and stay alive!
Note: Today is Sunday May 6th. I noticed about a month after I got the free audiobook that a charge that I think was around $14.95 showed up on my checking account records from them. I asked them what this charge was and got no answer. So, I'm thinking that this was the charge to join Audiobooks and I'm not sure if it is a one time charge or a yearly charge or what. But if I am charged that again I'll have to contact them to see if I can get a reply this time.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Advice from World's Richest Man
begin quote from Forbes Magazine. Carlos Slim is on the cover of the March 26th 2012 magazine:
Amid the threat of a Greek debt default and a recession in Europe, Carlos Slim Helú has some words of advice for political leaders: You’re doing it wrong. end 1st quote.
next quote:
Given this history, it’s not surprising that privatization of state-owned assets is Slim’s first suggestion for struggling European economies. “Let’s talk about Spain. It has a lot of highways, and they are all free,” he says. “They should charge users and sell [the highways] to the private sector.” The government can use the money from selling the highways to avoid making big cuts in social programs, Slim advises.
Unemployment must also be addressed, he says. “The problem is that people have no jobs and no hope.” When I suggest that creating jobs takes time, he disagrees. “Some investments create a lot of jobs and other investments don’t.” His counsel: Invest in small and medium-size businesses, the engines of job creation, in labor-intensive industries such as tourism, health care, education and entertainment.
Turning to the U.S., Slim sees a pressing need for better regulation of the banking system, including the requirement that risky derivatives be carried on financial institutions’ books. He reminds me that he founded his financial group, Inbursa, as a brokerage in 1965. It has since expanded to include a bank and an insurance company, and sports a market capitalization of $14 billion. “We’ve had growth for 47 years. We have never lost money, even in the worst times of our country,” he boasts, noting that Inbursa never needed the government’s help. “We don’t look for size. We look for quality.” Take that, Citigroup.
Carlos Slim appears to be the Warren Buffet of Mexico and the world because of his wealth.
Amid the threat of a Greek debt default and a recession in Europe, Carlos Slim Helú has some words of advice for political leaders: You’re doing it wrong. end 1st quote.
next quote:
Given this history, it’s not surprising that privatization of state-owned assets is Slim’s first suggestion for struggling European economies. “Let’s talk about Spain. It has a lot of highways, and they are all free,” he says. “They should charge users and sell [the highways] to the private sector.” The government can use the money from selling the highways to avoid making big cuts in social programs, Slim advises.
Unemployment must also be addressed, he says. “The problem is that people have no jobs and no hope.” When I suggest that creating jobs takes time, he disagrees. “Some investments create a lot of jobs and other investments don’t.” His counsel: Invest in small and medium-size businesses, the engines of job creation, in labor-intensive industries such as tourism, health care, education and entertainment.
Turning to the U.S., Slim sees a pressing need for better regulation of the banking system, including the requirement that risky derivatives be carried on financial institutions’ books. He reminds me that he founded his financial group, Inbursa, as a brokerage in 1965. It has since expanded to include a bank and an insurance company, and sports a market capitalization of $14 billion. “We’ve had growth for 47 years. We have never lost money, even in the worst times of our country,” he boasts, noting that Inbursa never needed the government’s help. “We don’t look for size. We look for quality.” Take that, Citigroup.
Carlos Slim appears to be the Warren Buffet of Mexico and the world because of his wealth.
Carlos Slim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim
Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who, as of 2011, is the richest person in the world, for the second year in a row. He is the ...Warren Buffett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
end quotes.
Regarding Carlos Slim's idea of selling the Highways in Spain for example, I think that a whole lot of Spanish Government rules about how much can be charged (adjusted for inflation) per person per mile or per vehicle per mile otherwise this idea wouldn't work. But, if the people were protected from being gouged by the new owners of the Hiways it could work.
But, in regard to buying or creating small to medium sized businesses so people would have jobs this could work in any country right now to employ everyone that wants to be employed. The main problem with this would be: "Would government owned small and large businesses be unfair competition to other non-government owned businesses?" Once this issue was worked out with unions, and trade groups likely this could work. However, since problems worldwide are the opposite of any serious problems we have had since the Great Depression, unions and other interested parties might need to make way for jobs for the starving people or perhaps their unions would have to change or be no more. So, when world economic dynamics reverse, temporary or permanent chaos can ensue until people take to the streets and create some new system or to modify their present system so all people can better survive whatever comes.
In regard to banking regulations regarding derivatives, it is like a guillotine hanging over everyone's head in the U.S. Until they are regulated there is no reason we can't have another Great Recession or another Great Depression. Not dealing with proper regulations for our banks could financially permanently end our country at some time during the next 50 years.
China Does not Understand U.S. Values
- If you read the above Article on the Chinese point of view, it is easy to see that China must not understand basic U.S. values of freedom of speech and freedom of choice and freedom of religion and of just how important those things are along with human rights to Americans. I think Chinese who have visited here or gone to school in college here or who have spent time here might better understand, but it is not about building trust on Taiwan and Tibet, it is about understanding that there are some American values that will never change. I have been watching college students and friends put, "Free Tibet" bumper stickers on their cars for 30 or 40 years now and that likely will never change. I think it is less about Tibet being a separate country from China now and more about allowing Tibetans to worship as they wish so Tibetan monks don't keep setting themselves on fire in protest. I think most Chinese must not understand how Americans feel and believe about basic Human Rights and how we will never change those very basic values.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Soul Travel and Generating Compassion
I spent about ten years time learning to soul travel as an adult after God gave me permission to do so. I had begun to pray to God as a child to soul travel so I could be with God and function as one of his angels throughout our Galaxy. So, this was my experience of soul traveling in my twenties as I traveled first all over earth in my soul and then all over the Galaxy when God permitted me to. But then when I went out beyond the Galaxy I was afraid because I didn't understand until I met a Tibetan Lama who because he understood I became capable of understanding too, and then I could not only travel this Galaxy but others as well.
In the previous article, "Generating Compassion" I mentioned a beginning Buddhist prayer that I love which is:
May All Beings attain Bliss and the Cause of Bliss
May All beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering
May all Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free from
All near and far all Grasping and Aversion
I was looking at the last line, "May All Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free from All near and far all Grasping and Aversion"
What this line means to me is basically from my own experiences at realization: "By attaining the Supreme Bliss and Supreme realization you will see that near and far don't really exist at all and then you will see that Bliss or God is everywhere and so are you."
So, I guess what I'm saying is that through soul traveling the Galaxy and beyond I learned that the physical universe isn't ultimately real. But since Being which is what all souls are is real but not time and space there is only one being in the universe and that being could be called God or Buddha or Bliss or Ultimate realization or even "The true nature of the universe". But when you experience this, Bliss can become permanent as well as God, Buddha and "The True nature of the universe."
In the previous article, "Generating Compassion" I mentioned a beginning Buddhist prayer that I love which is:
May All Beings attain Bliss and the Cause of Bliss
May All beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering
May all Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free from
All near and far all Grasping and Aversion
I was looking at the last line, "May All Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free from All near and far all Grasping and Aversion"
What this line means to me is basically from my own experiences at realization: "By attaining the Supreme Bliss and Supreme realization you will see that near and far don't really exist at all and then you will see that Bliss or God is everywhere and so are you."
So, I guess what I'm saying is that through soul traveling the Galaxy and beyond I learned that the physical universe isn't ultimately real. But since Being which is what all souls are is real but not time and space there is only one being in the universe and that being could be called God or Buddha or Bliss or Ultimate realization or even "The true nature of the universe". But when you experience this, Bliss can become permanent as well as God, Buddha and "The True nature of the universe."
Generating Compassion
When I first started learning to generate compassion as a life choice I met my first Tibetan Lama and realized that a compassionate path was the right path for me and my soul. I was 32 at the time of this realization. Part of what convinced me of this was that I saw that every thing that I thought or felt affected me in my spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health first. So, it was in my enlightened self interest to have compassion for all life in the universe in all time and space because experiencing this would heal me first in every way while also healing all life in the universe in all time and space along the way. I have never regretted this decision once. This was in 1980.
So, I owe this decision to having experiences like: Blue Medicine Buddha and his Healing Dragon
and many others that I write about as a direct result. So, what happens as one learns to generate compassion. The first realization is that generating compassion is a conscious choice. It is sort of like putting money in a savings account for when you need it. But instead of money you are putting compassion into your subconscious mind and aura and field of awareness. So, your bank is you and your health and life experiences. So, you are sort of taking responsibility for your own mental and physical health by choosing to think thoughts that will make you more compassionate towards yourself and all beings in the universe. So, how did I start?
For me, I held onto a beginning prayer in Tibetan Buddhism that I found I really love. I find myself often waking up saying it to myself in my mind and sometimes I go to sleep saying it over and over to myself in my mind. But, it isn't saying it that is important to me, it is experiencing the truth of it throughout the universe in every time and space that is important to me. It is experiencing all life in the universe in every time and space saying this and experiencing this with me that is important. For some people this would be scary because they might not understand the nature of the mind or subconscious. A subconscious is a lot like a computer, if you put garbage into it you only get garbage back out. But if you only put really good stuff into it, you only get really good stuff back out into your life and the lives of everyone else. So, then this is the prayer that I started with and still do when I feel like doing it.
May all beings attain bliss and the cause of bliss
May all beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering
May all beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free
from all near and far all grasping and aversion
To say it is one thing, to constantly experience all beings in the universe saying and experiencing this with you is extremely powerful.
What I also found interesting is that Buddhism to a Christian is not a religion but a philosophy instead. So, often Christians including priests and ministers are doing the same thing I am and have been doing for 32 years now as it helps them generate compassion and forgiveness towards all beings. This is the exact opposite of feeling hatred or anger towards other parts of life.
Another thing that might be useful for you to know about. As an intuitive and precognitive psychic I see what creates fights and murders and cruelty towards others in a supernatural way. And it is mostly just uncontrolled hatred and anger. And this anger from many millions of people joins together and creates fights, wars, cruelty and mass deaths that often creates wars.
So, if you want to create Peace then generate compassion as a spiritually responsible person. How I do it is one way that is compatible with not only Christianity but most other religions as well. In this way you spiritually help create peace instead of war. When war manifest millions of people suffer and die horribly as in World War II. But by generating compassion you are generating world Peace and your own peace and health as well.
So, I owe this decision to having experiences like: Blue Medicine Buddha and his Healing Dragon
and many others that I write about as a direct result. So, what happens as one learns to generate compassion. The first realization is that generating compassion is a conscious choice. It is sort of like putting money in a savings account for when you need it. But instead of money you are putting compassion into your subconscious mind and aura and field of awareness. So, your bank is you and your health and life experiences. So, you are sort of taking responsibility for your own mental and physical health by choosing to think thoughts that will make you more compassionate towards yourself and all beings in the universe. So, how did I start?
For me, I held onto a beginning prayer in Tibetan Buddhism that I found I really love. I find myself often waking up saying it to myself in my mind and sometimes I go to sleep saying it over and over to myself in my mind. But, it isn't saying it that is important to me, it is experiencing the truth of it throughout the universe in every time and space that is important to me. It is experiencing all life in the universe in every time and space saying this and experiencing this with me that is important. For some people this would be scary because they might not understand the nature of the mind or subconscious. A subconscious is a lot like a computer, if you put garbage into it you only get garbage back out. But if you only put really good stuff into it, you only get really good stuff back out into your life and the lives of everyone else. So, then this is the prayer that I started with and still do when I feel like doing it.
May all beings attain bliss and the cause of bliss
May all beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering
May all beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is free
from all near and far all grasping and aversion
To say it is one thing, to constantly experience all beings in the universe saying and experiencing this with you is extremely powerful.
What I also found interesting is that Buddhism to a Christian is not a religion but a philosophy instead. So, often Christians including priests and ministers are doing the same thing I am and have been doing for 32 years now as it helps them generate compassion and forgiveness towards all beings. This is the exact opposite of feeling hatred or anger towards other parts of life.
Another thing that might be useful for you to know about. As an intuitive and precognitive psychic I see what creates fights and murders and cruelty towards others in a supernatural way. And it is mostly just uncontrolled hatred and anger. And this anger from many millions of people joins together and creates fights, wars, cruelty and mass deaths that often creates wars.
So, if you want to create Peace then generate compassion as a spiritually responsible person. How I do it is one way that is compatible with not only Christianity but most other religions as well. In this way you spiritually help create peace instead of war. When war manifest millions of people suffer and die horribly as in World War II. But by generating compassion you are generating world Peace and your own peace and health as well.
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com
For me, the fact that schools tend to robotize children and turn them all into factory automatons (which is what most primary and secondary schools were originally created to do during the industrial revolution), makes a strong argument for home schooling and independent schooling with social groups forming for kids so they also learn to interact better. Because of online education now available for all ranges of children through college this becomes easier every day. But it is also important to think about your child or children's social education because without a social education they will not be able to function and survive as they move into and through society as adults.
Steve Jobs talk on: How to live before you die
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html
TED Talks At his Stanford University commencement ...
If you click on the steve jobs button above or paste the full internet address above that you will hear an amazing commencement speech by Steve Jobs.
Though I was not adopted I had in many ways a similar experience with college that Steve Jobs had. I found myself sort of confused with life between the ages of 18 and 21 and felt sort of overwhelmed by the whole adulthood thing. So, I had a hard time visualizing who I was going to turn out to be in the end. So I, like Steve Jobs found myself taking courses that interested me rather than simply following a general education curriculum because what personally stimulated me moved me forward both externally and internally in truly innovative and amazing ways. Though my parents didn't always understand what I was doing I developed a life long style of loving to learn and to be innovative and to love life in all sorts of ways and maybe in every way. This made much more sense to me than trying to fit a square peg (me) into a round hole. Looking back my experiences then set a pattern that allowed me to become infinitely adaptable and to still be going strong and interested and happy with my life now at age 63 and able to travel the world with my family as I wish to learn about whoever and whatever I want to and to share that with you and whoever I meet along the way. So, it isn't hard for me to imagine myself at age 100 or 200 or even 300 or even passing on tomorrow. Either way I have had a truly amazing life! I think this is what Steve Jobs was also trying to say to young people: Don't be afraid to explore yourself and all life everywhere! You might be really amazed at what you find and amazed at what happens in your future!
Later: I was thinking about what worked for me in my life the best. I found as long as I always put people first and when I became an entrepreneur to always "Give your customers exactly what they want if it is possible" that not only are all the people you know or meet more happy with you in every way, oftentimes you become successful in all or most ways too.
Steve Jobs: How to live before ...
TED Talks At his Stanford University commencement ...
If you click on the steve jobs button above or paste the full internet address above that you will hear an amazing commencement speech by Steve Jobs.
Though I was not adopted I had in many ways a similar experience with college that Steve Jobs had. I found myself sort of confused with life between the ages of 18 and 21 and felt sort of overwhelmed by the whole adulthood thing. So, I had a hard time visualizing who I was going to turn out to be in the end. So I, like Steve Jobs found myself taking courses that interested me rather than simply following a general education curriculum because what personally stimulated me moved me forward both externally and internally in truly innovative and amazing ways. Though my parents didn't always understand what I was doing I developed a life long style of loving to learn and to be innovative and to love life in all sorts of ways and maybe in every way. This made much more sense to me than trying to fit a square peg (me) into a round hole. Looking back my experiences then set a pattern that allowed me to become infinitely adaptable and to still be going strong and interested and happy with my life now at age 63 and able to travel the world with my family as I wish to learn about whoever and whatever I want to and to share that with you and whoever I meet along the way. So, it isn't hard for me to imagine myself at age 100 or 200 or even 300 or even passing on tomorrow. Either way I have had a truly amazing life! I think this is what Steve Jobs was also trying to say to young people: Don't be afraid to explore yourself and all life everywhere! You might be really amazed at what you find and amazed at what happens in your future!
Later: I was thinking about what worked for me in my life the best. I found as long as I always put people first and when I became an entrepreneur to always "Give your customers exactly what they want if it is possible" that not only are all the people you know or meet more happy with you in every way, oftentimes you become successful in all or most ways too.
One way to never lose your home
The easiest way to "Potentially" never lose your home is to pay cash for the land and then never ever put a mortgage on in for ANY reason and then you and your family build the house yourselves OR pay cash for a motor home, trailer or double wide that you install or have installed on your land also for cash. If you choose to build a house for yourself be sure the local building codes in your county or country allow you to do this legally. Otherwise, they will Red Tag whatever you build or install and you will be forced to tear it down or to move or drive it off your property. But if you follow the rules and get the necessary permits to build or install whatever you are going to, and you pay your property taxes ongoing into perpetuity there is no reason to ever lose your home. Another way to protect your home in some states is to Homestead it. By doing this it makes it very difficult for anyone to take away your home for any reason unless it is for something like a freeway bypass or new aqueduct or bridge or something like that. However, be careful with this homesteading because I think legally you are only allowed to do this once in your lifetime for one property. So, in these ways it is possible to never lose your home once you buy the land for cash and build or install whatever you want to live in legally without ever getting any kind of mortgage on your home or property.
So, unless you are very or fairly rich, the more expensive a property you buy the more likely you will be forced to get a mortgage, the more likely you will find yourself losing all the money you put down on it as well as the home and the property itself and if this happens most of the time you will be forced by law and circumstance into a Chapter 13 or a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. And all of the time with a Chapter 7 you will likely lose your land and maybe even your car as well. But with a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy a person usually has to have an income and so often the car, the land and even the house can be saved if the person has enough of an income. In Chapter 13 usually you are paying back 10 cents to 20 cents on the dollar of all your debts over around a 5 year period of time and this includes payments to your bankruptcy lawyer.
Note: Because the economic downturn in the U.S. , Europe and most of the world has been so long (2007 or 2008 until 2012) with very little letup nationwide, there has never been a time that I can remember like this in my lifetime when unemployment keeps slowly dropping right along with the values of most housing nationwide. So, even if you buy property for cash you have to expect the property and whatever you build or bring onto it to lose value. So then, at least in the short term you purpose is to own your own home so you and your spouse and your kids always have a place to live no matter what happens in the world ongoing. But the monetary value of the home and property cannot be the most important thing (at least in the short run of the next 10 years or so).
Much Later note: I was thinking that in the end not losing your land is the whole thing. So, even if you lost your motor home or trailer or doublewide mobile home you still wouldn't lose your land if you had paid cash for it and kept paying the taxes on the land ongoing and kept up your utility payments as long as you had them connected of water, power, natural gas and the like. As long as you own the land because it is paid for and you pay the taxes on that land you will ALWAYS have that land to come back to and you will never be homeless.
So, unless you are very or fairly rich, the more expensive a property you buy the more likely you will be forced to get a mortgage, the more likely you will find yourself losing all the money you put down on it as well as the home and the property itself and if this happens most of the time you will be forced by law and circumstance into a Chapter 13 or a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. And all of the time with a Chapter 7 you will likely lose your land and maybe even your car as well. But with a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy a person usually has to have an income and so often the car, the land and even the house can be saved if the person has enough of an income. In Chapter 13 usually you are paying back 10 cents to 20 cents on the dollar of all your debts over around a 5 year period of time and this includes payments to your bankruptcy lawyer.
Note: Because the economic downturn in the U.S. , Europe and most of the world has been so long (2007 or 2008 until 2012) with very little letup nationwide, there has never been a time that I can remember like this in my lifetime when unemployment keeps slowly dropping right along with the values of most housing nationwide. So, even if you buy property for cash you have to expect the property and whatever you build or bring onto it to lose value. So then, at least in the short term you purpose is to own your own home so you and your spouse and your kids always have a place to live no matter what happens in the world ongoing. But the monetary value of the home and property cannot be the most important thing (at least in the short run of the next 10 years or so).
Much Later note: I was thinking that in the end not losing your land is the whole thing. So, even if you lost your motor home or trailer or doublewide mobile home you still wouldn't lose your land if you had paid cash for it and kept paying the taxes on the land ongoing and kept up your utility payments as long as you had them connected of water, power, natural gas and the like. As long as you own the land because it is paid for and you pay the taxes on that land you will ALWAYS have that land to come back to and you will never be homeless.
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
Facebook. Twitter. SecondLife. “Smart” phones. Robotic pets. Robotic lovers. Thirty years ago we asked what we would use computers for. Now the question is what don’t we use them for. Now, through technology, we create, navigate, and perform our emotional lives.
We shape our buildings, Winston Churchill argued, then they shape us. The same is true of our digital technologies. Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we face a moment of temptation. Drawn by the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy, we conduct “risk free” affairs on Second Life and confuse the scattershot postings on a Facebook wall with authentic communication. And now, we are promised “sociable robots” that will marry companionship with convenience.
I have not read this book but I found a button for it within a quote regarding:
Minature Flying Robots: Pretty Amazing
which is an article I quoted and then commented upon. There is also a video there at cnn.com through a button on this article regarding the miniature flying robots that is very excellent. I also found out about ted.com which fosters new and innovative and informative ideas.
In regard to the ideas in this book I have not read it but what comes to mind is that since the "Wildness of Nature" is disappearing mankind is caught or "lost" or adapting to life within it's own creations of buildings, gardens, ideas etc. When nature was more truly alive while I was growing up in the 1950s people drew their lives more from nature, but even then it was all changing into something we considered "more ominous". Whereas now one by one all the animal and insect and bird and fish species are going extinct one by one and humans likely are going to be left alone with vegetables, trees and plants they like to cultivate to eat and to be with like Roses etc. with only a few pets and farmyard animals left. So, the basic concept of "Alone Together" might be something our children and Grandchildren and so on will have to learn to live with. This will make mankind something different than they ever were before in human history because of literally everyone learning to live without wild places with only a few parks here and there around the world like Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park and places like Central Park in New York City and Griffith Park in Los Angeles left for people to recreate themselves with nature.
For example, when I was 14 in 1962 bears came and visited us in our cars looking for handouts in Yellowstone. So, I could see 50 bears within a couple of blocks in real time. But now, because many doors of cars have been ripped off for bears to get at your food, this isn't allowed anymore there. So, it is now possible to go to Yellowstone and never see a bear. When I was 14 this was not possible because they were on the roads begging for food everywhere. This is just one of the many changes in parks around the world.
The Problem with Soul Travel
The problem with Soul travel is that in some ways it is sort of like becoming a professional artist. It can be all consuming of an individual. In some ways it reminds me of learning to drive a car. If you are the only one who can drive and have a car in your group of friends or associates, you might always be helping them to get to where they need to because they don't have a car and can't drive themselves.
And to make matters even stranger absolutely everyone soul travels, they just don't understand that they do usually. For example, no one can even think any thought without soul traveling. So, for example if you think about someone you care about or love you go to them, or more precisely you share consciousness with them. This isn't necessarily done in real time and space unless you are physically with them. But since in reality physicality isn't ultimately real, one goes in consciousness to where they are.
From the point of view of someone like myself who has experienced what reality actually is, since there is only Being and souls at an ultimately real level of consciousness, whatever you think about you share consciousness with. Now you can see why, "What you put your attention upon you become." If you are going to become a soul traveler it is very important to understand this law.
So then, most of what a soul traveler is everyone already is. However, most people don't know that they are soul traveling every time they think anything or dream (day dreaming or night dreaming). Also, Soul Traveling also can result when one becomes a physical master after learning this for many lifetimes, in becoming able to not only travel as a soul but also to manifest an actual physical body that is just as real as the one you live in now, anywhere in time and space that it can breathe air and that it is safe to be. For example, in my soul or mind body I have been into the sun and I didn't burn up because a soul doesn't burn up in the sun. But I'm not stupid enough to think that my physical body wouldn't burn up if I took it into the sun.
So, the first real problem one can encounter is to realize that everyone is soul traveling all the time just by thinking and dreaming. By understanding this I find it very helpful to help others as I pass by when I am either waking or dreaming myself.
For me, the most useful peaceful state of mind after learning that I was everywhere along with all other beings was to experience being everywhere in the universe with God. This is the most peaceful experience imaginable once you allow yourself to do this. At first, it was counterintuitive to me to do this because I was taught as a child to put up a forcefield in my parents religion and to within that forcefield to keep everything out and to keep sacred flame cleansing me inside of this forcefield all the time. And here is the paradox. I began to notice as I met Eastern Masters that they wore their auras sometimes as big as a county or country or larger. And I started to watch how their auras affected even the weather when they were within 30 to 50 miles of me. And it made me start to think that, "Why Am I staying protected inside this forcefield when real masters extend their auras out for miles and sometimes hundreds of miles or around the whole planet Earth? So, I began, carefully at first during my 20s to extend my aura in compassion to all life around me so that at times it went out 1/4 acre and then the size of a city block and then finally if I was out in the country in a place like Mt. Shasta I would extend my aura out to surround the whole mountain and surrounding forests and I watched what happened. What happened was often absolutely incredible. Yes. It is true that sometimes things get difficult for one reason or another and you might pull in your aura and set up your forcefield because you need to do that. But over the years I found that extending my aura out eventually until it encompassed the whole universe was okay with God and actually preferable to him if I did it right. And when I did this I noticed I felt completely at peace because I was completely with God and everything was all right.
And to make matters even stranger absolutely everyone soul travels, they just don't understand that they do usually. For example, no one can even think any thought without soul traveling. So, for example if you think about someone you care about or love you go to them, or more precisely you share consciousness with them. This isn't necessarily done in real time and space unless you are physically with them. But since in reality physicality isn't ultimately real, one goes in consciousness to where they are.
From the point of view of someone like myself who has experienced what reality actually is, since there is only Being and souls at an ultimately real level of consciousness, whatever you think about you share consciousness with. Now you can see why, "What you put your attention upon you become." If you are going to become a soul traveler it is very important to understand this law.
So then, most of what a soul traveler is everyone already is. However, most people don't know that they are soul traveling every time they think anything or dream (day dreaming or night dreaming). Also, Soul Traveling also can result when one becomes a physical master after learning this for many lifetimes, in becoming able to not only travel as a soul but also to manifest an actual physical body that is just as real as the one you live in now, anywhere in time and space that it can breathe air and that it is safe to be. For example, in my soul or mind body I have been into the sun and I didn't burn up because a soul doesn't burn up in the sun. But I'm not stupid enough to think that my physical body wouldn't burn up if I took it into the sun.
So, the first real problem one can encounter is to realize that everyone is soul traveling all the time just by thinking and dreaming. By understanding this I find it very helpful to help others as I pass by when I am either waking or dreaming myself.
For me, the most useful peaceful state of mind after learning that I was everywhere along with all other beings was to experience being everywhere in the universe with God. This is the most peaceful experience imaginable once you allow yourself to do this. At first, it was counterintuitive to me to do this because I was taught as a child to put up a forcefield in my parents religion and to within that forcefield to keep everything out and to keep sacred flame cleansing me inside of this forcefield all the time. And here is the paradox. I began to notice as I met Eastern Masters that they wore their auras sometimes as big as a county or country or larger. And I started to watch how their auras affected even the weather when they were within 30 to 50 miles of me. And it made me start to think that, "Why Am I staying protected inside this forcefield when real masters extend their auras out for miles and sometimes hundreds of miles or around the whole planet Earth? So, I began, carefully at first during my 20s to extend my aura in compassion to all life around me so that at times it went out 1/4 acre and then the size of a city block and then finally if I was out in the country in a place like Mt. Shasta I would extend my aura out to surround the whole mountain and surrounding forests and I watched what happened. What happened was often absolutely incredible. Yes. It is true that sometimes things get difficult for one reason or another and you might pull in your aura and set up your forcefield because you need to do that. But over the years I found that extending my aura out eventually until it encompassed the whole universe was okay with God and actually preferable to him if I did it right. And when I did this I noticed I felt completely at peace because I was completely with God and everything was all right.
Monday, March 5, 2012
My Experience of Soul Travel
I have written about this many times before over the years and each time I approach it from a slightly different angle. Because likely anyone who souls travels just like anyone who surfs on a surfboard in the ocean has a slightly different experience.
Once I had had a "Breakthrough Experience" where I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die and I found myself trying to walk to the bathroom at about 2 am in the morning and realized when my arm went through the wall instead of turning on the lights that I was out of my body unexpectedly and this terrified me at the time because I was completely unprepared sort of like getting up out of your bed and falling off a cliff and falling into the ocean when you don't expect it. So, I walked? back into the room where I was sleeping alone and laid down into my body like I had read one does and just shook so much that I decided to get into my VW Bug then around 1970 and drive home to Rancho Bernardo where I lived while going to college back then. This "Breakthrough experience" set the stage for a complete paradigm shift which was necessary for me to "Consciously Soul Travel". So, after feeling like I was going to have a heart attack and asking God for a "Better experience" so I didn't die, God gave me one. A couple of months after my first experience I woke up and sat up out of my body while I was asleep. I was still connected at the hips but I looked back at my upper body snoring while I was sitting up in another body out of the first one. Then another me (all three of us were wearing the same pajamas) walked into the room with a completely angelic look on its face and laid down into me. This time God had succeeded with me and I said, "Thank you, God!" because I knew I had just permanently shifted paradigms from believing in souls to experiencing my own soul and therefore I could now soul travel when God allowed me to. The other advantage of what God had done for me is that if anyone told me after that that souls don't exist I could either choose to laugh at them out loud or to laugh internally at them ever after. Because they were so severely limited by not understanding that souls are real.
So, I tend to see people like this now as unawakened children who think they are adults. However, the realistic other side of this is that people who don't believe in souls or God or Angels if they were forced to be suddenly aware of God or souls or Angels they might just have a panic attack which would trigger a heart attack and then they would die. So, if you are gifted if you force someone to see God or Angels or Soul you might kill them and then that Karma would be on your head. So, just like with little children you have to be careful what you share in reality with people. I have heard of gifted people doing this with really evil people so they don't hurt or torture people but I have a feeling the karma still might not be good for most people. There may be masters that are able to do this without karma like Padmasambhava, the Mahasiddha did when he killed a thief that was preparing to drug and kill everyone on a dhow, a type of river boat. But one wonders about such stories as to whether they were really true or not.
For example, people can either believe (because they have had their own experiences) or not because they haven't. Either way, I'm not forcing them to experience God or Angels because they are souls with Free Will and I am not a jerk enough to injure souls in that way. When I almost died from my own paradigm shift I had prayed to God for exactly what happened to me. Except that I didn't know what it would do to me and that it could kill me because I was young. But luckily my heart was strong and I lived to soul travel ever since on the behest of God's wishes.
So, for many years I soul traveled when God allowed me to and learned about inner space and outer space and even traveled around the planet in my soul body and explored. But since my primary goal was to be with God I soon went off planet "Looking for God to be with Him". I thought because I was young and naive that I would find God in the Center of the Galaxy. First of all, there is what we call a Big Black Hole there but that isn't how they see it. My personal experience of it would be that it is an entrance to an Anti-Matter Galaxy that is the polar complement to this one. It seems like no galaxy can exist without an Anti-matter Galaxy dimensionally in complement with it in an adjoining anti-matter universe. The beings that Create Galaxies and who also rule this one don't breathe air, or eat food, or drink water, instead they feed upon energy as it goes from anti-matter to matter and back again. So, that is why they create galaxies because it helps them feed. Mostly they are as big as stars and nebula or bigger, the beings who create Galaxies as a species. They also can become human and live millions of human lives at once on millions of planets at once if they want which reminds me a lot of the Greek and Norse Pantheon about Odin and Thor and Zeus and all the half God half men or half God half Women around. Anyway, this might seem pretty out there to you if you haven't experienced it first hand like I have. I found all this out before I was 23 or 24. By about 25 or 26 I tried to go out past the edge of the galaxy and I became terrified because of the void. It would be like being dropped from a helicopter naked in the middle of the Pacific ocean with no one there at midnight without a moon. It was pretty scary for me and I was so very terrified I consciously chose to never soul travel again unless I was rescuing someone in grave danger until I met my first Tibetan Lama. Often Tibetan Lamas if they are Tulkus (Living Buddhas) who consciously reincarnate understand about soul travel because they remember thousands of lives like I do. So, after being around Tibetan Lamas in California, Oregon, India and Nepal I started to not be afraid of the void anymore and found I could go anywhere or anytime even to other galaxies.
Along the way after being able to soul travel about 10 or more years sometime in my 30s I finally realized experientially that neither time nor space are ultimately real. Only being which is the nature of all souls is real. Even earth is not ultimately real or the galaxy or any galaxy but only our souls are real. So, even heavens it turns out are our shared dreams before and after we pass on out of this body for the last time. This is my experience. However, you are welcome to your own. This is how it has been for me.
So, when I started I thought that the earth was real and that the Galaxy was real when I was in my early 20s. I thought that there was a Point A and a Point B or a starting point and a point I was going to so I believed that effort was needed to get from Point A to Point B. However, after about 10 years of soul traveling I discovered that there is really no Point A or Point B and no effort at all is required to go anywhere as a soul because I was already there and you are already there. So, since no effort is required all one really needed to do was to fully believe and experience that they were there in order to be there (in any galaxy or dimension and in any time or space). However, as a caveat it isn't always safe as a soul to do certain things until you are experienced enough or grown up enough to handle it. For the same exact reason that we don't give out driver's licenses to 5 year olds to drive cars. So, even though at core I understand and have experienced all this I still pretend to believe that earth and human bodies are real. If I didn't pretend to believe this it would scare other people and I must not scare others just because I can because then I would not be worthy of what I have learned. So, when God gives me permission I now do whatever needs to be done in any time or space by God's Grace.
Once I had had a "Breakthrough Experience" where I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die and I found myself trying to walk to the bathroom at about 2 am in the morning and realized when my arm went through the wall instead of turning on the lights that I was out of my body unexpectedly and this terrified me at the time because I was completely unprepared sort of like getting up out of your bed and falling off a cliff and falling into the ocean when you don't expect it. So, I walked? back into the room where I was sleeping alone and laid down into my body like I had read one does and just shook so much that I decided to get into my VW Bug then around 1970 and drive home to Rancho Bernardo where I lived while going to college back then. This "Breakthrough experience" set the stage for a complete paradigm shift which was necessary for me to "Consciously Soul Travel". So, after feeling like I was going to have a heart attack and asking God for a "Better experience" so I didn't die, God gave me one. A couple of months after my first experience I woke up and sat up out of my body while I was asleep. I was still connected at the hips but I looked back at my upper body snoring while I was sitting up in another body out of the first one. Then another me (all three of us were wearing the same pajamas) walked into the room with a completely angelic look on its face and laid down into me. This time God had succeeded with me and I said, "Thank you, God!" because I knew I had just permanently shifted paradigms from believing in souls to experiencing my own soul and therefore I could now soul travel when God allowed me to. The other advantage of what God had done for me is that if anyone told me after that that souls don't exist I could either choose to laugh at them out loud or to laugh internally at them ever after. Because they were so severely limited by not understanding that souls are real.
So, I tend to see people like this now as unawakened children who think they are adults. However, the realistic other side of this is that people who don't believe in souls or God or Angels if they were forced to be suddenly aware of God or souls or Angels they might just have a panic attack which would trigger a heart attack and then they would die. So, if you are gifted if you force someone to see God or Angels or Soul you might kill them and then that Karma would be on your head. So, just like with little children you have to be careful what you share in reality with people. I have heard of gifted people doing this with really evil people so they don't hurt or torture people but I have a feeling the karma still might not be good for most people. There may be masters that are able to do this without karma like Padmasambhava, the Mahasiddha did when he killed a thief that was preparing to drug and kill everyone on a dhow, a type of river boat. But one wonders about such stories as to whether they were really true or not.
For example, people can either believe (because they have had their own experiences) or not because they haven't. Either way, I'm not forcing them to experience God or Angels because they are souls with Free Will and I am not a jerk enough to injure souls in that way. When I almost died from my own paradigm shift I had prayed to God for exactly what happened to me. Except that I didn't know what it would do to me and that it could kill me because I was young. But luckily my heart was strong and I lived to soul travel ever since on the behest of God's wishes.
So, for many years I soul traveled when God allowed me to and learned about inner space and outer space and even traveled around the planet in my soul body and explored. But since my primary goal was to be with God I soon went off planet "Looking for God to be with Him". I thought because I was young and naive that I would find God in the Center of the Galaxy. First of all, there is what we call a Big Black Hole there but that isn't how they see it. My personal experience of it would be that it is an entrance to an Anti-Matter Galaxy that is the polar complement to this one. It seems like no galaxy can exist without an Anti-matter Galaxy dimensionally in complement with it in an adjoining anti-matter universe. The beings that Create Galaxies and who also rule this one don't breathe air, or eat food, or drink water, instead they feed upon energy as it goes from anti-matter to matter and back again. So, that is why they create galaxies because it helps them feed. Mostly they are as big as stars and nebula or bigger, the beings who create Galaxies as a species. They also can become human and live millions of human lives at once on millions of planets at once if they want which reminds me a lot of the Greek and Norse Pantheon about Odin and Thor and Zeus and all the half God half men or half God half Women around. Anyway, this might seem pretty out there to you if you haven't experienced it first hand like I have. I found all this out before I was 23 or 24. By about 25 or 26 I tried to go out past the edge of the galaxy and I became terrified because of the void. It would be like being dropped from a helicopter naked in the middle of the Pacific ocean with no one there at midnight without a moon. It was pretty scary for me and I was so very terrified I consciously chose to never soul travel again unless I was rescuing someone in grave danger until I met my first Tibetan Lama. Often Tibetan Lamas if they are Tulkus (Living Buddhas) who consciously reincarnate understand about soul travel because they remember thousands of lives like I do. So, after being around Tibetan Lamas in California, Oregon, India and Nepal I started to not be afraid of the void anymore and found I could go anywhere or anytime even to other galaxies.
Along the way after being able to soul travel about 10 or more years sometime in my 30s I finally realized experientially that neither time nor space are ultimately real. Only being which is the nature of all souls is real. Even earth is not ultimately real or the galaxy or any galaxy but only our souls are real. So, even heavens it turns out are our shared dreams before and after we pass on out of this body for the last time. This is my experience. However, you are welcome to your own. This is how it has been for me.
So, when I started I thought that the earth was real and that the Galaxy was real when I was in my early 20s. I thought that there was a Point A and a Point B or a starting point and a point I was going to so I believed that effort was needed to get from Point A to Point B. However, after about 10 years of soul traveling I discovered that there is really no Point A or Point B and no effort at all is required to go anywhere as a soul because I was already there and you are already there. So, since no effort is required all one really needed to do was to fully believe and experience that they were there in order to be there (in any galaxy or dimension and in any time or space). However, as a caveat it isn't always safe as a soul to do certain things until you are experienced enough or grown up enough to handle it. For the same exact reason that we don't give out driver's licenses to 5 year olds to drive cars. So, even though at core I understand and have experienced all this I still pretend to believe that earth and human bodies are real. If I didn't pretend to believe this it would scare other people and I must not scare others just because I can because then I would not be worthy of what I have learned. So, when God gives me permission I now do whatever needs to be done in any time or space by God's Grace.
Tornado Alley
I have given a lot of thought to this. It appears more and more because of the ongoing increasing effects of Global Climate change that as the world temperatures slowly increase this century (about 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit worldwide so far since the 1980s) that winds are predictably going to increase also in windstorms, rainstorms, tornadoes and Hurricanes and all wind events. Also, this year since the ice cap melted off so severely in the summer in and fall of 2011 it made the arctic temperatures drop down into Russia, Europe and North Africa and somewhere between 500 and 1000 people died and countless others got frostbite from below zero temperatures where they normally don't occur. The other effect is a much drier warmer winter this year in the U.S. and Canada.
But I was thinking about Tornado Alley in the U.S. and how if one looked over the next 50 to 100 years it is not longer if a tornado hits your house it is likely when during the next 50 to 100 years in Tornado Alley. It is hard to say what size the tornado will be that hits you or if your house will blow down but it is now becoming likely that anyone in Tornado Alley will see some tornado hit their house, property, Church, school, or place of work. So, as time goes on because of all these factors the number of people will steadily increase who die or are injured. I was thinking living in Tornado Alley during the now ever increasing tornado season is sort of like riding a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle on the Freeway about 70 mph in ongoing risk during the Tornado Season.
Now, since I live in California you might say to me, "What about Earthquakes?" But what is really strange is that no one has died in California because of an Earthquake since 2003 which is pretty amazing in itself. So, as of now it is more likely to die in a traffic accident, or burn up in a fire or be killed in an avalanche than to die in an Earthquake if you live in California. However, just like if you live in Tornado Alley you are sure to see Tornadoes, likewise if you live in California you are going to experience earthquakes. What is unknown is how big those earthquakes will be. So, for example, I have lived mostly in different parts of California since 1952 when I was 4 years old. I have been in one earthquake that was literally so bad I thought I was going to die for several minutes and many people died in that quake in California. I have also been in many quakes that literally scared the stuffing out of me but I knew I wasn't going to die I was just startled and banged my head on the wall as I was thrown about and stuff like that. Then there are the smaller ones that you feel that send pictures off the wall and send chandeliers swinging for about 1/2 hour or so. But just like if you live in tornado alley you will experience tornadoes, if you live in California sooner or later you are going to feel and experience earthquakes. It's just a given. So then, the question becomes what can you live with and be okay? Everyone must ask themselves this question anywhere they choose to live on earth.
But I was thinking about Tornado Alley in the U.S. and how if one looked over the next 50 to 100 years it is not longer if a tornado hits your house it is likely when during the next 50 to 100 years in Tornado Alley. It is hard to say what size the tornado will be that hits you or if your house will blow down but it is now becoming likely that anyone in Tornado Alley will see some tornado hit their house, property, Church, school, or place of work. So, as time goes on because of all these factors the number of people will steadily increase who die or are injured. I was thinking living in Tornado Alley during the now ever increasing tornado season is sort of like riding a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle on the Freeway about 70 mph in ongoing risk during the Tornado Season.
Now, since I live in California you might say to me, "What about Earthquakes?" But what is really strange is that no one has died in California because of an Earthquake since 2003 which is pretty amazing in itself. So, as of now it is more likely to die in a traffic accident, or burn up in a fire or be killed in an avalanche than to die in an Earthquake if you live in California. However, just like if you live in Tornado Alley you are sure to see Tornadoes, likewise if you live in California you are going to experience earthquakes. What is unknown is how big those earthquakes will be. So, for example, I have lived mostly in different parts of California since 1952 when I was 4 years old. I have been in one earthquake that was literally so bad I thought I was going to die for several minutes and many people died in that quake in California. I have also been in many quakes that literally scared the stuffing out of me but I knew I wasn't going to die I was just startled and banged my head on the wall as I was thrown about and stuff like that. Then there are the smaller ones that you feel that send pictures off the wall and send chandeliers swinging for about 1/2 hour or so. But just like if you live in tornado alley you will experience tornadoes, if you live in California sooner or later you are going to feel and experience earthquakes. It's just a given. So then, the question becomes what can you live with and be okay? Everyone must ask themselves this question anywhere they choose to live on earth.
Smart Meter Removed
It took about 1 week after calling to have our Smart Meter removed and agreeing to pay $75 to have it done and $10 a month to have someone come and read our meter. Our nutritionist said she had hers removed too. I'm meeting more people every day that say either their Smart Meter was making them sick or they couldn't get their wifi to work right or cell phone to work right while it was there or their Tivo kept crashing after their Smart Meter was installed. So, for us and many others we have met there was no usefulness to the Smart meters, only ill health, electronic transmission problems of all kinds and concern about having our utility accounts hacked online and higher utility bills as a result almost every month. So, we are very grateful not to have to worry about this anymore at our house.
Note: If you don't know what a Smart Meter is: I live in Northern California where Pacific Gas and Electric or P, G& E is the main utility provider for Natural Gas and electricity. In the last year they installed without asking any of their customers permission what is called a Smart Meter. The problem with it is that it is much more powerful interactive radio transmitter receiver that communicates with all the other smart meters in your area and is also connected to the Internet. This sounds really great except that if your bedroom is on the other side of the wall where you are located you will likely get sick very soon. If your living room wall is next to where your smart meter is outside your house you might get sick. If you have a Wifi it is likely going to harm or interfere or completely blow out your router or modem. If you have a Tivo it will periodically blow it offline and you might lose programming or I suppose your Tivo or other DVR might shut down permanently. If you are using any phones land line or cell phones in your home they might not always work because of transmission interference. Also, since a smart meter takes your utility records online your bills can get hacked for information or you could be overcharged by large amounts. Because of all these reasons and more thousands of people in Northern California are paying $75 to have their smart meters removed and $10 a month to give the meter reader his or her job back.
Note: If you don't know what a Smart Meter is: I live in Northern California where Pacific Gas and Electric or P, G& E is the main utility provider for Natural Gas and electricity. In the last year they installed without asking any of their customers permission what is called a Smart Meter. The problem with it is that it is much more powerful interactive radio transmitter receiver that communicates with all the other smart meters in your area and is also connected to the Internet. This sounds really great except that if your bedroom is on the other side of the wall where you are located you will likely get sick very soon. If your living room wall is next to where your smart meter is outside your house you might get sick. If you have a Wifi it is likely going to harm or interfere or completely blow out your router or modem. If you have a Tivo it will periodically blow it offline and you might lose programming or I suppose your Tivo or other DVR might shut down permanently. If you are using any phones land line or cell phones in your home they might not always work because of transmission interference. Also, since a smart meter takes your utility records online your bills can get hacked for information or you could be overcharged by large amounts. Because of all these reasons and more thousands of people in Northern California are paying $75 to have their smart meters removed and $10 a month to give the meter reader his or her job back.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Minature Flying Robots: Pretty Amazing
To go to CNN Video Site with excellent video click "Ted Talk:---" below
TED Talk: Invasion of the flying robots
Invasion of the flying robots
updated 10:12 AM EST, Sun March 4, 2012
Vijay Kumar: Robots that fly and team up
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Vijay Kumar demonstrated fleets of flying robots that could revolutionize industries
- Kumar spoke at the TED2012 conference, "Full Spectrum," in California
- Talks highlighted the contrast between technological progress and social issues
- Technology has improved health, lifespan, productivity, yet it poses challenges, speakers said
Vijay Kumar, an engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania, showed the more than 1,300 attendees at last week's TED conference several videos in which fleets of tiny flying robots performed a series of intricate manuevers, working together on tasks without colliding or interfering with each others' flightworthiness.
It seemed that, at least for some in the audience, a bridge had been crossed into a new era of technology, one that could change the way we think about robots and their application to such fields as construction, shipping and responding to emergencies.
Kumar's devices (he calls them "Autonomous Agile Aerial Robots") cooperated on building simple structures and showed they were capable of entering a building for the first time and quickly constructing a map that would allow for assessment and response to a structural collapse or fire.
He held up one robot, designed by his students Daniel Mellinger and Alex Kushleyev, which weighs a little more than a tenth of a pound and is about 8 inches in diameter. The device has four rotors; when they spin at the same speed, the robot hovers. If you increase the speed, Kumar explained, the robot flies up. Spinning one rotor faster than the one opposite it causes the robot to tilt. It also can flip over multiple times without losing its ability to fly and can recover its stability when thrown into the air.
The robots are capable of learning trajectories and manueuvers that can enable them to literally fly through hoops -- and other confined spaces.
When the robots are formed into a flotilla, they calculate (a hundred times a second) and maintain a safe distance between them. He showed a video of 20 robots flying in a variety of formations -- and moving through obstacles -- inches from each other without interfering with the stability of their neighbors.
To cap his presentation, he showed a video, created by his students in three days, of nine flying robots playing the James Bond theme on musical instruments.
TED began in the 1980s with the intention of focusing on "Technology, entertainment and design," and its conferences typically are sold out, attracting an audience of high achievers willing to pay $7,500 to attend. TED, a nonprofit, makes many of the talks freely available on its site. (CNN has a partnership with TED in which it regularly publishes selected TED Talks).
TED aims to feature cutting-edge technology at its conferences, and this year's event, labeled "Full Spectrum," was no exception. Yet the uneasy balance between technology and the social issues it spawns seemed to be highlighted more than ever as speakers took the stage to give their talks (and be filmed by eight high-def cameras for eventual viewing on the web).
In the first session Tuesday, a sharp contrast was drawn between the unbounding optimism that a technological solution could be found for every one of the Earth's problems and a vision of a planet headed for doom due to mankind's inability to control its inventions and its consumption.
Paul Gilding, former head of Greenpeace, declared "the Earth is full, full of us, full of our stuff, full of our waste and full of our demands," and warned of harsh and potentially violent disruption ahead as the reckoning comes for a planet living beyond its means. The idea that the planet can sustain 9 billion people without making disruptive changes is wrong, he said.
The Earth is full, full of us, full of our stuff, full of our waste and full of our demands.
Paul Gilding
Paul Gilding
"Technology is a resource-liberating force," he said, maintaining that a planet bathed in solar energy and covered with water won't lack the ingredients for a productive life.
For every tech evangelist, though, there was a cautionary note sounded by other speakers.
NASA scientist James Hansen, one of the leading voices warning of global climate change due to carbon emissions, presented an urgent case for taking action to deal with the effects of economic activity before ice caps melt and cities get inundated by dramatic rises in sea level.
But an MIT professor, Donald Sadoway, offered reason to hope that the use of non-carbon-emitting solar and wind power could become much more widespread through a new battery technology he and his students are developing to store power for use at times when the wind stops and the sun sets. Sadoway, whose work has attracted an investment from Bill Gates, said successful use of his "liquid metal battery" could reduce the need for new fossil-fuel burning power plants.
Technology is a resource-liberating force.
Peter Diamandis
Peter Diamandis
TED.com: Susan Cain on the power of introverts
And yet technology didn't seem to have a solution for the problems highlighted by Bryan Stevenson, director of the Equal Justice Initiative. He talked of the rise in the number of imprisoned Americans from 300,000 40 years ago to 2.3 million today, the large number of black Americans who have been permanently deprived of their ability to vote due to prosecution on low-level drug offenses and the question he said is posed by the death penalty -- not whether criminals deserve to die, but whether America as a society, deserves to kill.
Stevenson's talk drew a standing ovation -- and the following day, after TED curator Chris Anderson appealed for funds, Anderson said $1.12 million had been raised for Stevenson's nonprofit on the spot.
A longtime enthusiast for digital technology, MIT professor Sherry Turkle, spoke of being on the cover of Wired magazine when her book "Life on the Screen" was published in the 1990s. In her new and darker book, "Alone Together," she writes of everyday family and social relationships put at risk by the compulsion to interact constantly with mobile devices as a substitute for face-to-face interaction.
People text during board meetings, shop and text during class, and even text during funerals, she said. Technology gives us the illusion of being constantly in touch with people, yet we shirk the real demands of friendship. And Turkle pointed out that Japanese researchers are developing robots to provide care to the elderly and to children.
As if to emphasize her point, a day after her talk, Danish scientist Henrik Scharfe demo'ed Geminoid-DK, a shockingly realistic robot version of himself. While its movement and speech is limited, the robot's technology is likely to evolve quickly.
And so it seemed that it wasn't only in jest that Scharfe said, "Ten years from now, I'll be at home having a beer in Denmark and the robot will come to TED to give a talk."
Scharfe said after his talk that he recognized the dangers Turkle talked about, but he thought developing the robot was well worth doing.
"This can never be about replacing the human being," he said in his talk, "but about using technology to understand the full spectrum of being human."
For more amazing talks like this on other subjects:
TED: Ideas worth spreading
end quote from cnn.com
I really enjoyed watching this video because it also showed these multi-rotor robots flying in very small spaces and even calculating how to fly through a hula hoop thrown into the air and how to turn sideways to make it through something that it couldn't fit through horizontally. It calculates motor commands 600 times a second in order to do all this. a group of these robots even play a song at the end on multiple instruments all interfacing on multiple levels. Pretty impressive.
However, there is one thing that really bothers me about robots this maneuverable and this is when I imagine about 100 of these robots on a battlefield, each with a fragmentation grenade as a payload that they could drop on unsuspecting soldiers with pinpoint accuracy where they would explode at eye level. At this point the whole idea becomes pretty horrific to think about. I think if it gets to this point that human soldiers would be replaced by robots entirely and human soldiers wouldn't be used in ordinary warfare. So, you might see something like wars being fought like the 1st Star Wars movie with Liam Neeson as:
Qui-Gon Jinn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui-Gon_Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn, portrayed by Liam Neeson, is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is the main protagonist of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom ... end quote from Google and Wikipedia.However, you also might see human soldiers with electronic jammers or portable small EMP generators that fry all electronic circuitry within a few blocks or more. However, if you were firing off EMPs once every 30 seconds to one miniute at intervals I'm pretty sure it wouldn't help the electrical circuitry in human brains or nerves that run muscles either unless it was specifically designed to fry certain electrical or electronic ranges. Otherwise anything electronic that human soldiers carried would fry too along with their brains and nerves.
A previous quoted article with comments by me on a slightly larger group of flying robots that are used by companies to take aerial videos in places like Beverly Hills and other U.S. localities for selling expensive properties is here: Drones For Hire
The Thing About the Future
The thing about the future is that it can be basically whatever we make it both individually and collectively. What the future becomes for you specifically is within your control. However, being brave enough to take your own future and to shape it in the way you actually want it to be is something else again. Just because the future can be created by you doesn't mean it will be easy. The easiest thing is to move away from a place you don't want to be physically or internally, but then what do you do? Usually, the problem with going some place else is that "You are there." Because wherever you go there you are. And if you don't like yourself wherever you are living now, you also might not like yourself wherever you go to on earth or whoever you are with on earth. So, maybe understanding this is more important than you originally thought.
Maybe the clue is watching Buddhist monks set themselves on fire. Why are they doing this? They are saying that whatever is happening where they are is not acceptable but they refuse to harm anyone else. So, they set themselves on fire as ultimate protest. They are taking full responsibility for what is happening both around them and inside of themselves without blaming anyone else. They are simply saying, "This is not acceptable but I will not harm or kill another even though this is not acceptable.
So, maybe taking responsibility for all your thoughts and emotions and feelings and spirit is the beginning to something really great in your life. By taking responsibility for your life you stop blaming others for whatever has happened or will happen in your life. And so you can then both internally and externally go and do whatever you need to. Because the ultimate dis-empowerment is blaming others for all your problems. My favorite statement in regard to this is: "There are no problems only opportunities." If you don't blame anyone including yourself you can then look at the opportunities inside ANY situation. If you are alone you can create a new relationship. If you don't have a job you can see what to do with your time until you get another job. If you need food, you can go find some. If you need friends you can go make some. If you need a place to stay you can go find a place to stay. Life is full of opportunities if there is no blame on anyone including yourself. "There are NO problems. There are ONLY opportunities. So, therefore the FUTURE is ONLY infinite opportunities. NOthing else!
Maybe the clue is watching Buddhist monks set themselves on fire. Why are they doing this? They are saying that whatever is happening where they are is not acceptable but they refuse to harm anyone else. So, they set themselves on fire as ultimate protest. They are taking full responsibility for what is happening both around them and inside of themselves without blaming anyone else. They are simply saying, "This is not acceptable but I will not harm or kill another even though this is not acceptable.
So, maybe taking responsibility for all your thoughts and emotions and feelings and spirit is the beginning to something really great in your life. By taking responsibility for your life you stop blaming others for whatever has happened or will happen in your life. And so you can then both internally and externally go and do whatever you need to. Because the ultimate dis-empowerment is blaming others for all your problems. My favorite statement in regard to this is: "There are no problems only opportunities." If you don't blame anyone including yourself you can then look at the opportunities inside ANY situation. If you are alone you can create a new relationship. If you don't have a job you can see what to do with your time until you get another job. If you need food, you can go find some. If you need friends you can go make some. If you need a place to stay you can go find a place to stay. Life is full of opportunities if there is no blame on anyone including yourself. "There are NO problems. There are ONLY opportunities. So, therefore the FUTURE is ONLY infinite opportunities. NOthing else!
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