Educational video regarding one type of gene sequencing

This YouTube video describes how Helicos BioSciences's (HLCS) gene sequencer works. (For some reason, this was the basis of a Wired article.) HLCS stock is currently not doing so well, though...




-gregg

portraits from dominoes, alphabets, seashells...

Hi -

We've been doing a lot of image processing at work lately, so I guess I have Fourier transforms on the mind. If you got a kick out of my weird halftone portraits a few posts below, here is some art by people who take that sort of portraiture very seriously:

• Knowlton Mosaics: Computer Assisted Portrait Art
• Domino Artwork: the Opt Art page is neat

Obligatory video of alphabet rap with creative motion graphics:



-G

History of Optical Print Display Hologram - Meeting (Boston area)

FYI -

The New England Section of the Optical Society of America will host MIT Media Lab alumnus Steven Smith for his talk, "A history of the optical print display hologram" this Thursday, Oct. 16 in Waltham, MA.

See the full meeting announcement at the NES/OSA website. Remember to RSVP. It is too late to sign up for dinner, but if you're interested, contact the organizers to see if they can get you in anyway. This is a great way to meet local optical engineers.

-Gregg (an NES/OSA Councilor)

So where are we financially, really...?

Wonder how various aspects of the economy are doing in comparison to booms and busts in the past?

This "slideshare" by a new Sequoia Capital partner (a veteran from Stanford's endowment) has a lot of people talking - it is a call to action for its portfolio companies to batten down the hatches, save money, etc. etc. However, it is a wide compilation of graphs and financial data that could put things into perspective for you: housing prices, mortgage-types, the use of derivatives, etc.

Get full-screen mode with the icon in the lower right.

Sequoia Capital on startups and the economic downturn

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: depression recession)

-g

Virtual schadenfreude

Hi -

Sure, this is just a video of an algorithm "learning" how to optimize a stick-figure's motions in a physics simulation so as to jump as high as possible.

But I have to admit I caught myself enjoying watching the little dude fall, even if he's just the result of a genetic algorithm.

The soundtrack is what really does it:


By the way, one physics simulation environment for GAs is "Breve." Here's a 2007 paper by Lassabe (et al) describing one way to use it.

Another video:



-g

CTRL-ALT-DEL of my debate-watching soul

I wonder if my uttering this tag-cloud will be suitably cathartic:

"nucular" maverick Ahmadinejad O'Biden doggone six-pack Main Street tax break six billion surge resurgence same-sex "nucular" "nucular"

Nope.

-g

ps Hmm, how about this video?



Ah! That helped.