Author Archives: Billy

Carbon Debt

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Billy

We was just playing in the woods. Me and Sal had an old phone that didn’t have no minutes but still had good batteries and some stuff in it. We was just taking pictures of leaves and flowers and having … Continue reading →

Posted in Techno-biological | Leave a comment

Unemployment and a Spirit of Service

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Billy

This is still a half-formed thought, and I need some help finishing it: What is the connection between unemployment, economic productivity, fair distribution of wealth, and a spirit of service? I’ve been thinking about it for a long, long time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, The World | Leave a comment

1994: Robot Sheepdog

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Billy

Here’s a video I’ve wanted to post for a long time. It was a project for a college class in 1994, taught by one of MIT’s most understanding professors, Donald Troxel. Carlton Mills digitized the old VHS copy of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Techno-biological | 2 Comments

Baker Family Animated Special

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Billy

Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, required that only his own artwork be used for his comic strip, which, when you boil it down, means no more new Peanuts holiday specials. The following (which Bahiyyih also posted a few days … Continue reading →

Posted in Bedtime Story | 4 Comments

Two Scoops

Posted on November 25, 2010 by Billy

Once upon a time, there were two scoops of ice cream at the top of a hill.

One scoop, which was chocolate, said to the other, “Hey Vanilla, want to race?” Continue reading →

Posted in Bedtime Story | 3 Comments

Rocks vs. Frogs

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Billy

Teresa on game design (inspired by a lesson on alive and not alive at school today, in which rocks and frogs were compared): What if there was a game called rocks versus frogs? If the frog sits on top of … Continue reading →

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Bedtime Story: “Hey, watch what I can do,” said the Skunk

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Billy

“Hey,” said Skunk, “watch what I can do.”

“Okay,” said Rabbit and Deer, and turned to watch. Continue reading →

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Return Fluids to User

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Billy

Every user interface has to handle error conditions, even blood apheresis machines. Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Techno-biological | 3 Comments

Smart Pill to help children get through Puberty?

Posted on March 20, 2010 by Billy

This looks like a “tip of the iceberg” type of article: Smart pill that helps children through puberty. To summarize, During adolescence, a specific brain development makes it harder for you to learn. I remember going from being able to … Continue reading →

Posted in Techno-biological | 1 Comment

Keeping computers from ending science’s reproducibility

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Billy

Here’s a really good description of one of the key things that the people I work with are wrestling with right now: Ars Technica: Keeping computers from ending science’s reproducibility Basically, scientific exploration is relying more and more on computation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment