X-Message-Number: 27348
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 21:11:03 -0500
From: Randolfe Wicker <>
Subject: My latest vlog about The Immortality Institute Conference
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Well, I managed to post Bruce's opening remarks at the Imminst Conference on my
videoblog http://www.randywickerreporting.blogspot.com/
Earlier, I had posted a description with the same title Waging War on Death .
I have to learn to resort to Microsoft Word to avoid silly mistakes like saying
nonotechnology instead of nanotechnology .
This is a Quicktime Movie. One has to have one of the free versions of
Quicktime in their computer to view this and other vlogs.
I have a lot of material to post. The problem is that vlogs supposedly are best
when they are only a minute or two long. Mine run close to five minutes. When
you click on a cable PC connection, you will notice that it takes about a full
two minutes to download the video.
I assume that DSL and dial-up is longer.
I don't understand the discussions about bit-torrent downloads. I'm not a
techie person. I'm more like an old dog trying to learn new tricks and master
new technologies.
I do believe that videoblogging, called vlogging , is going to be the next
media revolution. It is the blogging of the future. Images and video is much
more powerful than the written word.
I was handing out day-glo pink slips at the conference in Atlanta which said the
following:
JOIN THE NEW MEDIA REVOLUTION
Now, you can post your videos on the Internet and
become part of our societal archival history.
It is free! All you need is any kind of video camera,
a computer and access to the internet.
Find free videoblogging tutorials at:
http://www.FreeVlog.org
Twelve hundred vloggers share information at:
You can add vlogs to your blogs like I did:
http://www.randywickerreporting.blogspot.com/
Randolfe Wicker
I'm hoping more Immortalists will be joining those of us who are vlogging. This
simple sharing of Bruce's introductory remarks shows the power of our craft.
I'm going to mix some nonsense with the serious stuff. I'm fond of a few
minutes filmed with Imminst members sitting in a dark bar contemplating a
flashing Fruitrition badge.
If you really want to just access Bruce's remarks in the future without wading
through all the vlogs and written material I've posted since this date, that
video without the explanatory matter can be accessed by clicking this link:
http://www.blip.tv/file/4212
In case some viewers would like to know what I posted as written text, I'll
supply the following:
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Waging War on Death! The Immortality Institute's first conference 11/5/05.
The Immortality Institute's stated goal is "to overcome the blight of
involuntary death"( http://www.imminst.org)
On November 5,2005, one-hundred and fifty Immortalists gathered for their first
conference at Georgia Technology Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, to hear
visionaries outline how biotechnology, nanotechnology, cryonics, artificial
intelligence and computer science could enable human beings to become the
masters of their own fates.
Cynics might laugh. However, the credentials and past accomplishments of
several speakers commanded serious respect.
The announcement of the first $1,000,000.00 donation toward establishing a
scientific prize for extending longevity in mice was a historical landmark.
The most prominent speaker, Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D., Research Associate,
University of Cambridge-SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence)
outlined a detailed plan for curing human aging.
I had the opportunity of spending several hours with Dr. de Grey and two
interviews with him will be interspersed with other highlights videotaped during
this conference.
You can see the profiles of those who spoke by going to
http://www.imminst.org and looking under "speakers" in their "Conference
Project" area.
The conference's first speaker was Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A., who
was responsible for launching several sattlelite communications companies
including Sirius and Worldspace, who spoke on "The Legal Rights of Conscious
Computers".
Like most of those active at The Immortality Institute, I think for myself.
Personally, I've always been openly skeptical about such subjects as Artificial
Intelligence, The Singularity, uploading and downloading ourselves into
computers, etc.
However, I found Martine Rothblatt's arguments to be fascinating. They went to
the core of what individual identity is really all about.
Eliezer Yudowsky, Director, Singularity Intitute For Artificial Intelligence,
gave a presentation which caused me to view all the arguments about AI in a
totally new light.
One thing I have learned in life is that there are many more things I don't know
than those that i do know.
I'll be filing commentary with each posting. Hope you enjoy this series.
However, I will be interspersing other materials on diverse different subjects.
Stay tuned. Subscribe to my feed. Please leave comments.
Randolfe (Randy) Wicker
Videographer, Writer, Activist
Advisor: The Immortality Institute
Hoboken, NJ
http://www.randywickerreporting.blogspot.com/
201-656-3280
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