Mishkin Berteig - Just Some Random Geek.

My full name is Mishkin Ben-Garry Vyordan Berteig. I have another home page. About Me

20040827: We're selling our house in Elmvale. Listing at CA$219,000. If you're interested, email me :-) Should be on MLS soon.

I'm going to be studying for and taking the BEA Weblogic Portal certification test. Should be pretty easy.

I'm taking another week of vacation starting next week. I'm not planning on doing anything exciting, but I might get some work done on my SparceNSpace project that I am doing with Christian. We're basically creating a data structure for storing and manipulating multi-dimensional data. I also hope to write some small app for the Pilot.

20040816: The Singularity. In brief: technology surpasses our ability to control/understand it and we enter a post-human age. The most frightening path is through the nanotechnological grey-goo scenario, followed closely by the super-human artificial intelligence that becomes the prime species of the planet. Some thoughts: SETI - why haven't we found signs of alien civilizations going through singularity? Someone on Slashdot made this comment about the creation of a nano-assembler. The internet is the nano-assembler of information. Information doesn't just want to be free, it is free, only limited by bandwidth... as it always has been. Likewise, production of physical stuff is also free, only limited by "bandwidth" or build-time... as it always has been. Then the real question becomes: in the physical world, are we living in the ultimate nano-tech system (i.e. DNA, photosynthesis, etc.) or are we at a local maximum and nanotech offers us a way to jump to a "better" maximum (although conceivably still a local maximum itself). Similarly, in the information world, are we already living in the ultimate intelligence? Or are we human beings a local maximum of intelligence soon to be surpassed by "machine intelligence"? Entropy works real hard against higher levels of order. My final thought on the matter is the notion of intelligence amplification. I strongly believe that the Baha'i model of consultation is the ultimate intelligence amplification system and that the singularity has already occurred with the advent of the Baha'i Era. Our technological and scientific glut is a direct result of the impulse generated in the world through the revelation of Baha'u'llah:

Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth. All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word "Fashioner," issuing forth from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is released as can generate, through successive ages, all the manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is this resplendent word uttered, than its animating energies, stirring within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments whereby such arts can be produced and perfected. All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name. In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before. Thus hath it been decreed in the Tablets of God, and none can comprehend it except them whose sight is sharp. In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute "The Omniscient" issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty that the Revelation of every other Name is accompanied by a similar manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet. Well is it with them that apprehend this truth.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 141)

Our gradual recognition of our spiritual nature, and the implementation of that recognition into our day-to-day lives will produce a world that will in many characteristics appear to be like a post-singularity world. Who is to say that we do not already live in such a world? By what means would we test such an hypothesis? Would we recognize the signs? What if the founders of the great religions are in fact messengers from our Singularity? An apt name, "Singularity" since a central Baha'i belief is that God is One and that all the religions are from that One God.

About Me

I am a Baha'i. The Baha'i Faith was founded by Baha'u'llah. Baha'is believe that Christ has returned, and that the world is going through a tumultuous collective adolescence in preparation for maturity: World peace is not only possible, it is inevitable.

I am a husband to Melanie Andersen, and I am a father to Justice and Haifa and Verity. I love to spend time with all of them. Haifa is learning to read, Justice is learning Arabic, and Melanie and I are learning about home design.

I am an independent consultant with over 10 years of professional object-oriented technology experience primarily in Objective-C and Java. I'm also doing C# and .NET work. Here is my resume.

I am a co-founder of Oomind. Oomind is a community education system. Oomind works on some community principles similar to those at work in Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Wikipedia. Registered users can submit and rate Courselets, as well as submit, rate and answer quiz questions about Courselets. There are also facilities for instructors, recruiters and learners. Oomind is unfortunately suspended for the foreseeable future.

I also write electronic music, primarily using some freeware software called Buzz.

My favorite foods include Dim Sum at the Koi Palace, Sushi at Ino Sushi, and Persian at Yaas. Salmon is my favorite fish, and I no longer like Big Macs after reading "Fast Food Nation".

That logo at the top is my name "Mishkin" in very stylized Arabic calligraphy. I designed it myself.

I can be reached at mishkin@berteig.com if you feel like sending me something for some reason.

Older entries: October 2002, November 2002, December 2002, January 2003, February 2003, March 2003, April 2003, May 2003, June 2003, July 2003, August 2003, missed Sept., October 2003, November 2003, missed Dec., January 2004 , February 2004 , March 2004, missed Apr., May 2004, June 2004, July 2004, home

Top Sci-fi and Fantasy:

1. Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb)

2. Songmaster (Orson Scott Card)

3. The Real Story (Stephen R. Donaldson)

Top Software Development Books:

1. Agile Software Development (Alistair Cockburn)

2. Software Craftsmanship (Pete McBreen)

3. The Inmates are Running the Asylum (Alan Cooper)

Top Movies:

1. Run Lola Run (CA$) (with Franke Potente)

2. Strictly Ballroom (CA$) (by Baz Luhrmann)

3. Groundhog Day (CA$) (with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell)