60 Day Picture Challenge - Day 14: A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
My lovely, beautiful, and kind mother. There are no words to describe the gratitude and love that I feel for her, and everything that she does on a daily basis to keep me (and the rest of my family, actually) grounded. She's been the one to bring me coffee in the middle of the night when I was studying for exams, my shoulder to cry on when I've had my heart broken, my teacher of all things fashion (She rolled my hair up, put my lipstick on in the glass of her boudoir, hehe.) She is my rock and I don't think I would be the woman I am today without her constant love, attention, and support.
30 Day Song Challenge - Day 14: A song that no one would expect you to love.
I've always said that I'm not a huge fan of reggaeton. Yet somehow, this song is #19 in the Top 25 Most Played Songs list on my iTunes.
"Ay papi, ¿por qué me sucede esto a mí? Todo mi ser te extraña." Ay Dios mio. Just in case there were any remaining doubts about how Latin I really am...
Paris. Paris is a great beauty. As such it possesses all the qualities that one finds in any other beauty: chic, sexiness, grandeur, arrogance, and the absolute inability and refusal to listen to reason. So if you’re going there you would do well to remember this: no matter how politely or distinctly you ask a Parisian a question he will persist in answering you in French.
My spin on it:
Miami. Miami is a big hoe. As such it possesses all the qualities that one finds in any other hoe: tackiness (gold chains, large hoop earrings that usually have a name engraved in them), promiscuity (or "sexual openness" as hoes like to call it), delusions of grandeur, condescension (an inherent need to feel superior by putting others down), skimpy outfits (spaghetti strap tops that are one size too small, ultra-low rise jeans, and an omnipresent thong), a blatant urge to get attention by being loud and obnoxious, and the absolute inability and refusal to act with propriety. So if you’re going there you would do well to remember this: no matter how politely or distinctly you ask a Miamian a question he will persist in answering you in Cuban Spanish.
60 Day Picture Challenge - Day 13: A picture of your favorite band or artist
No surprise here. It was actually a really close call between Lady Gaga and Andrea Bocelli, but I went for Gaga simply because I checked my iTunes to see whose music I've played the most, and Gaga was the clear winner. Andrea Bocelli is great and all, but nobody helps me out at the gym like Gaga does. To be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of her first songs, like "Just Dance" or "Poker Face." I actually started to go goo-goo for Gaga when I heard her song "Paparazzi" on an episode of Gossip Girl. The song that really convinced me to turn into a Little Monster however, was "Bad Romance." Whatever you may say about the woman, you have to admit that she's talented - she plays the piano and sings better than most pop artists out there (ie, Britney Spears.) Also, she truly is a master at the art of fame. Sure, she may go to great lengths to keep people talking about her (meat dresses, naming a song "Judas," etc.), but that's been her intention all along, and she's never denied it. Her music is incredibly catchy and her new CD, which has been criticized by some for being too different from her first, is right up my alley (more electronic, with a darker influence.)
30 Day Song Challenge - Day 13: A song that is a guilty pleasure
This song was my anthem for most of the Fall 2010 semester. It used to crack me up so much, and to honest, the lyrics and melody are catchy! Either way, I'm not proud of it. A friend had even downloaded it on her iPhone just so that she could set it up as the ringtone for when I called. Everyone knows that for some unknown reason, I have a little black girl living inside of me. What can I say? It's called a guilty pleasure for a reason.
60 Day Picture Challenge - Day 12: A picture of something you love
I've been a proud iPhone user since 2008. I had the original iPhone and have kept on upgrading it until I bought the 3GS. I'm dying to get the iPhone 4S, but since I don't have a cell phone contract in the US anymore, I'd probably have to get an unlocked one, which would end up costing me about $800 (I'm spoiled, just not THAT spoiled.) When I move back to the US, which I expect will happen sometime next year, I'll make sure I get the latest iPhone, though. Maybe it's a shallow ambition, to have the latest iPhone, but it truly is an amazing gadget that's come to revolutionize the way we see phones. If I want to rule the world, I must have the best of the best, eh?
30 Day Song Challenge - Day 12: A song from a band you hate
Ugh, I hate Pearl Jam. I just never got into them. To be honest, I don't like most of the bands from the early 90's, nor did I ever appreciate all of their grunge-rock appeal.
What would you say to me if I told you that 2045 will be the year in which humans gain immortality? Some of you would ask me to elaborate on my statement, but I’m willing to bet that most of you would think that I’ve finally gone mad.
Now, what would you say if I added that such a prediction has actually been made by Ray Kurzweil, a famed American inventor and futurist responsible for most speech recognition technologies, as well as the creation of the first reading machine for the blind? Oh, and let me just add that Mr. Kurzweil has publicly (but most importantly, accurately) made similar predictions in the past, with the most important one probably being his prediction of the internet boom. You might say that regardless of who made the prediction, it’s still a pretty far-fetched one, which I would completely agree with. That said, I’d still like to further elaborate on his prophecy and see what implications it would have.
As an inventor, Kurzweil is interested in predicting when the timing for certain inventions would be right. He argues that many times inventions fail because the world is simply not ready for them, or because the groundwork for them is simply not there. For this reason, he took it upon himself to track the pace of technological progress and found that it has a predictable trajectory. Despite the fact that we as humans tend to predict things in a linear fashion, Kurzweil found that information technology experiences exponential growth. If you think about it, his findings make complete sense. Each technology builds on previous technologies to create something many times more efficient.
Just take a look at the history of the computer. The first computer was built in the 50s-60s, cost millions of dollars, weighed several tons, and took up an entire room. What about computers now? A Mac Book Air, for instance, only costs about a thousand dollars, weighs about 3 pounds, can fit in our laps, and is a thousand times more efficient and useful than its earliest predecessor. So, in a matter of just 50 years, the development of computers has greatly intensified and accelerated in such a way that its growth can be characterized as being undoubtedly exponential.
Taking this into account, along with the fact that DNA is essentially information (and therefore can be expected to follow an exponential growth curve), Kurzweil has identified 2029 as the year in which we will have finished the reverse engineering of the human brain. In other words, by 2029 we will have understood how every region of the human brain operates, allowing us to successfully simulate all of the human brain’s capabilities. Furthermore, he predicts that the computers of this time will be even more powerful than the human brain, and that therefore, we will be able to create machines that can replicate human intelligence.
The truth is that we’ve been hearing about artificial intelligence for a while now. The term was actually coined in 1956 by John McCarthy who defined it as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.” Anyone remember the 2001 movie “A.I.?” My family has always been very technologically-oriented, so I recall that we all went to the cinema to see “A.I.” and came out thinking that such a thing as artificial intelligence (as presented in the movie) was possible, but not something that we should expect to see in our lifetime. Now, only 10 years later, the idea of a highly advanced robot that has human capabilities doesn’t seem so far-fetched, at least not to me.
Carrying on, Kurzweil identified 2045 as the year in which man becomes immortal, or the year in which the human body, as we know it, becomes irrelevant. He called this point in time Singularity, a point by which technological changes will have accelerated so much that an entirely new set of problems and questions for mankind will have arisen. Kurzweil maintains that by the time we reach Singularity, we won’t be able to tell the difference between human and artificial consciousness.
And that is pretty much the gist of his predictions. If you’d like to know more about them, I encourage you to watch the documentary “Transcendent Man,” or to read Kurzweil’s book “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.”
Now, I’m not even going to attempt to tackle this from a religious standpoint, for the truth is, I’m not well versed in theological dogma. Whatever I say, I know someone will bring up the argument that attempting to essentially fuse man and machine in a way that makes them indiscernible from each other for the sake of achieving immortality would be like playing God. And these people would probably be right. In fact, Kurzweil argues that by the time we reach Singularity, both machines and humans will be godlike.
Either way, putting that aside, Kurzweil’s predictions have huge implications for the advancement of the human race. Imagine being able to sync your brain to the Internet and suddenly gaining access to all of the world’s vast wealth of knowledge. You all know that I’d personally love that. Concerning the issue of mortality, whatever your thoughts regarding death may be, you have to admit that death is a tragedy of both personal and universal proportions. I wonder what further contributions Einstein might’ve made to the world if he’d still be alive today and had access to our current levels of technology.
The fact remains that this is a highly controversial issue. If machines are expected to surpass human intelligence, there is no knowing what they would. Even if we tried our best to program computers to have our values and our needs in mind, there’s no denying that theoretically they could reprogram themselves in a way that will have adverse effects for humans. What if one day these machines were to realize just how inferior humans are, decided that we weren’t necessary anymore, and starting killing us off, similarly to how we squash cockroaches? For this reason, some people are completely against Kurzweil’s beliefs. And it really is a totally valid opinion.
Taking into account today’s social, economic, and political structure, I’m certain that even if these technologies were to become available, only the wealthy and powerful would have access to them, which would further deepen inequality. In which case, we wouldn’t be dealing with an advancement of the human race as a whole, but only of that of a select few.
Lastly, you’d have to question whether machines can really simulate ALL of human capabilities. It’s true that we still don’t have a complete understanding of how the human brain works, but surely there must be something else, something special that makes us US. What about the human soul? Is there such a thing as the human soul and if so, can it be replicated by machines? Again, I don’t want to get too much into the religious or philosophical implications of it all. (If I did, this post would end up being hundreds of pages long.) I’m just posing all of these questions as things to keep and mind, and if some of you are interested, as points to discuss over coffee.
Technology will keep on growing exponentially - this is something that I am certain of. Furthermore, I think that our understanding of the human body and of biological processes will also continue to grow. I do believe that there will come a point where humans will be greatly divided on the issue of whether to allow further technological advances (for the reasons I already mentioned) or not. What’ll really happen? I guess it’s anyone’s guess at this point. I used to be quite proud of the fact that at my mere 25 years of age, I’d already accepted the inevitability of death, and to a certain degree, that still holds. But what if we truly are all able to achieve immortality? I know I’d like to be around when that happens. Until next time…
60 Day Picture Challenge - Day 11: A picture of something you hate
I've always been, perhaps a bit irrationally, afraid of snakes. I just don't like them. I don't like how they can quietly sneak up on you, attack, and then just as quietly, slither away. I've had a few run-ins with snakes, so perhaps that's why my fear of them has been perpetuated. (In case you're wondering, nothing bad happened to me when I encountered snakes, I just freaked out more than any human should. Screaming like a mad person and running away faster than a Nigerian in a race.) So yea, a thing I hate: snakes, culebras, hebi, serpenti.
30 Day Song Challenge - Day 11: A song from your favorite band
My favorite band? Easy, that would be Muse. And before you ask, I didn't discover them because of Twilight! This song (Time is running out) was actually the first I ever heard from them. I actually remember the day perfectly: June 15, 2005. I was back in Honduras for the summer after having spent my first year at university (back then I was still enrolled at Tulane in New Orleans.) When I returned to the States for the fall semester, I actually traveled through Miami, where I spent a few days shopping and where I also bought Muse's CD at the Virgin Megastore in Sunset. After listening to the entire length of the album, I fell even more in love with them. Anyways, long story short, I simply adore Muse. What nerd wouldn't love a band whose style has been described as "space rock"?
And I know that this isn't part of the challenge, but I decided to add something extra today. Listen to a mash-up of Muse's "Time is running out" and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," two of my all-time favorites (EARGASM!)
60 Day Picture Challenge - Day 10: A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with (Partner in crime)
I don't know what classifies as "messed up," but I hardly consider that I'm the type of person who does "messed up" things. Therefore, I slightly modified this post to "Partner in Crime." Without a doubt, my biggest partner in crime is my younger brother, Erick. He was born 3 years after I was (he's 22) and our birthdays are only 12 days apart (mine is June 4th; his is the 16th.) Erick has been my partner in crime since we were toddlers - I'd play cars with him as long as he'd play Barbies with me (I know, he got the worst part of the deal, lol.) Even now, we hold each other's secrets, travel together, go out drinking together - you name it! I have a great relationship with my older brother, too. However, he's 5 years older than I am, so we're not always on the same wavelength. I'm really grateful for having an amazing relationship with all of the members of my family, for I truly don't know what I would do without them.
30 Day Song Challenge - Day 10: A song that makes you fall asleep.
If I had a song that would make me fall asleep, I wouldn't suffer from insomnia! So, I decided to modify this post a little bit, too. I posted Katherine Liner's "Floating," which is one of the songs that gets me to relax the most. I actually first heard it on Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy DVD and fell in love with it. Now, every time I'm feeling stressed or overly anxious, I turn off the lights, put some candles on and just lay on the bed listening to it. Trust me, it does the trick. :)
