Matrix

matrix

Did you know? Matrices in Java are also referred to as 2D arrays. Well, this is because the same components displayed on an array are organized in rows and columns in a matrix that forms a rectangular structure. Usually, the matrices are used for storing all the complex digits within a program that are further used for carrying out arithmetic applications such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and more. Sometimes, the programmers are also required to set all the values of a particular matrix to 0. This in other terms is known as the problem. set matrix zeroes This is one of the most highly discussed problems in coding and technical interviews. Hence, if you are preparing for a coding interview and would like to learn a few simple approaches for setting a matrix value to 0, then keep reading. What Does It Mean to Set Matrix Zeroes in Java? Have you ever noticed how the numbers in a Sudoku are arranged in rows and columns of equal numbers of characters, making it a perfect square? Well, the structure of a matrix in the context of computer programming resembles similar characteristics to a sudoku square with the only difference being that the shape of a matrix is rectangular. Matrices are used for arranging the entries or the elements of data that usually represent a mathematical object. So basically, a matrix can essentially be defined as a set of numbers that are arranged in columns and rows in order to form a rectangular shape. So, what would a zero-column matrix represent? Well, the Matrices containing a zero column would signify that all of its elements or entries are equal to zero. In other terms, such matrices are also referred to as zero matrices in computer programming. Did you know? Like all the other data structures, you can also manipulate the matrices (such as setting them to zero value) using different logic. The Set Matrix zeroes problem is the discussion we shall be having next in the following column. Let's find out the approaches that will help you effectively set the values to zero within a matrix. Which Algorithms Can Be Used to Set Matrices to Zero? The set Matrix zero problems are one of the top coding questions asked in almost every coding interview. From Brute Force to HashMaps, the set Matrix zero problems in programming can be solved using only two programming approaches If you are not acquainted with these methods, check out a quick overview of their definitions. **Brute Force Approach Brute Force is a simple function that focuses on approaching the problem by dividing the input into several subarrays and seeking every single input individually. In the context of setting the matrix to zero, we will be using the auxiliary space and the nested loops to their optimal efficiency. The nested loops are ideal for dividing the problem into subproblems by inserting the elements of the input into loops that can be traversed later. **Using Hash Table A HashMap is essentially a structure of rows and columns that are used for storing the entries so that the efficiency of finding the solution becomes relatively easier. The contents of the array or the entries are iterated on a HashMap. Hence, in this approach, we will be using the Hash Table in order to store the status of the rows and columns. Using In-Place Hashing In-place hashing is a more in-depth method where the hash is used to store the values of the elements or entries within the first line of the rows and columns of the matrix. We will be employing two different variables for storing the elements in the first row and column namely: and . For a more in-depth analysis of the working mechanism of the algorithms for these approaches, check out the next section of this blog. firstRow firstColumn How to Apply the Algorithms That Set Matrices to Zero in Java As discussed in the previous section, the set Matrix zero problems can be tackled by simply using the Brute Force Approach and by implementing a Hash Table. Let's discuss the in-depth analysis of the algorithms for these approaches and you can decide for yourself how their time complexities compare to one another. Method 1: Using Brute Force Approach Here's how the algorithm for Brute Force shall be implemented: Start with creating a temporary matrix and name it as m*n. Initialize the elements of this matrix with 1. Now, travel to the first matrix that you were initially provided as an input and set the positions of its elements into row 1 and column j along with 0 in the newly created matrix. Finally, you can proceed and continue to copy all the elements as such in the temporary matrix from the initial matrix and print the program once the process is completed.\ Method 2: Using Hash Table The algorithm for the Hash Table would look something as follows: Start with creating two different Hash Tables. Next up, you will have to initialize the value of the rows and columns of the table to false. Further, you may iterate on the initial matrix and set all the values to 0. Complete the entire process until all the values return 0 input.\ Method 3: Using In-Place Hashing Here's how you can implement the in-place hashing algorithm: Start by defining the two variables i.e firstRow and firstColumn. Set both variables to false. Using the Hash Table to store all the false values from the rows and columns Finally, update the value of the first row and column on the Hash Map.

Setting a Matrix to Zero in Java

Disclaimers: Image credit Twitter user: @IrenaBuzarewicz This story is not a movie review. There are NO SPOILERS. When the first Matrix came out, I was still studying. Wannabe or soon-to-be graduates are all the same all over the globe. Lost to be found in the "Bermuda Triangle" between exams, dreams, and loves. A bunch of selfless idealists who are always ready to do good deeds. I remember that we were among the first in line as blood donors. One day it was a bit different. Our local hospital got a new and expensive machine for HIV testing. The medical staff asked for volunteers to test it. Sure, a drop here or there. What difference does it make for us as long as it's for the greater good? We laughed and teased each other on our way out. They told us to get back tomorrow for the test results. The Night of Movie Magic It's not easy to take a test, any kind of test, and wait for results. "What if" questions hit me hard in the evening. I didn't feel like going home. "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead." A shortlist of available options. I saw a movie poster for "The Matrix." I had no clue what the movie was about. I needed to get my mind off the test. The movie ticket price was a small price to pay. Until that special night, I didn't buy any of those cheesy stories about the so-called "movie magic." For two hours, I was living in the Matrix physically, emotionally, and intellectually. I totally forgot about the HIV test itself. I had one of the calmest nights in my life. I didn't sleep like a baby; more like The Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize(d). In the morning, I found out that I was HIV negative, and I realized that I was Matrix Universe positive. That movie should've been prescribed as a tranquilizer. Fast forward twenty years, give it or take, I had a deja vu. The Pandemic Rhymes With Tragic I had to take another test. Again, I had to wait for the results, but this time with my wife. It was a comical Grey's Anatomy situation where we both looked at my lungs' x-ray images. What do you make of this? I don't know. I don't smoke. My wife already had COVID. This is how I found that we had an impressive collection of perfumes in our home. Our teenage daughter was an experienced and patient "perfumist," who wanted to make sure my sense of smell was still operational. What do men know about perfumes? They're all the same, except for the price. Right? I thought that my wife would return a favor and volunteer to be a food tester, the Gladiator-movie-style. Nope! Her post-COVID diet came first. So, I was COVID symptoms-free, which made my test more than just a "formality" and a "simple" confirmation. How to kill time, this time? HBO came to the rescue. I thought, The Matrix Resurrections to my satisfaction. Here we go again! oh lucky me, what were the odds? More than two hours. Plus, coffee breaks, phone calls, and email checks. It was a long day with a double negative outcome. The result was negative, and the movie too. It failed to help me forget and "transcend." So much for the "movie magic." I thought that rewatching the first Matrix (for the hundredth time, give it or take) would make things better. Nope! It became even worse. I had to take a real tranquilizer. No red and blue Morpheus pills; this one was - pale pink. Twitter Rhymes With Bitter In a state of complete despair, I went on Twitter. This is how I stumbled upon a picture you see at the beginning of my story. I know what you want to ask me. Why bother writing a story when the four-part picture is worth more than my words? Well, writing makes you feel good. Writing for Noonies is like watching good old movies! Do you know what can make me feel even better? Your vote for my nomination. And, what about Matrix 2 and Matrix 3? They are, they are, good. Critical Thinker Noonies Award

The Matrix Resurrections: Between Expectations and Imperfections

The Matrix: Resurrections was released last week, but the reviews split between those who loved it and those who didn't. In this slogging thread, our community discusses the Matrix saga and their expectations for the new movie. This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Teri Eyenike, Sara Pinto, Limarc Ambalina, Linh Smooke, Abeer and Jack Boreham occurred in slogging's official #pop-culture channel, and has been edited for readability. Mónica Freitas Dec 27, 2021, 4:14 PM was released last week, but the reviews split between those who loved it and those who didn't. Are you interested in seeing this new matrix movie? Do you think it makes sense to have a sequel after so long? What's your favorite thing about The Matrix movies? The Matrix: Resurrections Teri Eyenike Dec 27, 2021, 4:26 PM I'm indifferent at the moment whether I want to see the movie. It's been a long time I saw the Matrix in my teen years, and I will have to watch it again to relive the memories. Let me see the preview of the resurrections, and I may change my verdict 😂 🔥 1 Sara Pinto Dec 27, 2021, 4:28 PM Mónica Freitas So... I've tried. I really did try to watch  The Matrix, but I just fail at it every time. I guess it's too much fiction for me. I need someone to convince me otherwise, haha. Limarc Ambalina Dec 28, 2021, 2:59 AM I actually dropped off from the Matrix after the first film. I watched the other but was confused or just uninterested. Limarc Ambalina Dec 28, 2021, 2:59 AM I'd watch this one just to support Keanu Reaves though 😄 Mónica Freitas Dec 28, 2021, 11:23 AM Teri Eyenike Same. It's been a long time since I saw the Matrix - actually in a philosophy class back in high school - and I loved it then but haven't rewatched ever since. I'll have to do that before this new movie though I'm not sure why we're having this movie now... Let me know what you think if you decide to watch it. 👍 1 Mónica Freitas Dec 28, 2021, 11:24 AM Sara Pinto, just focus on Keanu! He's the reason, ahahah. 😂 1 Mónica Freitas Dec 28, 2021, 11:25 AM Limarc Ambalina, same, at this point, I would only watch it for Keanu. His recent interviews about the movie have been golden! Mónica Freitas Dec 28, 2021, 11:26 AM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZM5Fb-9dto Linh Smooke Dec 30, 2021, 6:50 PM Ah, let me and David try to watch it this weekend (hard to schedule with a toddler at home ha) and give y’all a review!! 💚 1 Mónica Freitas Dec 31, 2021, 11:18 AM Linh Smooke, Yes! Let us know what you think of it 🙏 Linh Smooke Dec 31, 2021, 6:29 PM OK. lots of feels. I don’t know how well people remember the matrix, but for someone who doesn't remember it that well - it was very refreshing to get a movie with so many callbacks and plot explainers, lol. I personally like the fanservice-y  meta-commentary and breaking the 4th world aspect of it…and love the cast (which, apart from the amazing Keanu Reeves and some other white actors like NPH who I adore, is super, super diverse — and I love that!) Reading online though it seems superfans don't appreciate the lack of actions and some of the lame plot choices but who cares. As someone who watches it casually, I love the movie! I’m known to always sleep in movies and for this one, I only sleep for 10 mins so that’s a definite win 😂 😂 2 💚 1 Mónica Freitas Jan 3, 2022, 2:27 PM Linh Smooke, so, it's a movie suitable even for those who haven't seen the first movies? Mónica Freitas Jan 3, 2022, 2:27 PM Linh Smooke, about the lack of action, did you find it a slow film with a lot of explanation and not a lot of plot? Mónica Freitas Jan 3, 2022, 2:27 PM Linh Smooke, only 10 minutes?! ahaha a record? 😂 1 Linh Smooke Jan 3, 2022, 3:22 PM Not necessarily slow, just a bit dragged out towards the end. I watched the first one so I do understand some. But I bet if you haven't you still can enjoy it. Maybe you'll enjoy it even more haha? But who hasn't watched the matrix at this point 🤔 Mónica Freitas Jan 4, 2022, 11:21 AM Linh Smooke, hum I see. After your review, I got a bit of my hope back for this movie, ahah. I think I'm giving it a go. If for nothing else, then just to see Keanu in a letter jacket 😂 😂 1 🙌 1 Mónica Freitas Jan 5, 2022, 3:13 PM Abeer Jack, Boreham, what are your thoughts on the new Matrix movie? Abeer Jan 5, 2022, 5:59 PM Mónica Freitas, I haven’t seen it yet. To be honest, I haven’t really seen anything past Matrix Reloaded. I have been considering catching up and watching it just for Keanu though 😂 Jack Boreham Jan 6, 2022, 10:49 AM Mónica Freitas, I am, but is it just as complex as the others? If it is, I might give it a miss, haha Mónica Freitas Jan 6, 2022, 11:25 AM Abeer Keanu is truly our "God", hahaha. If you do watch it, leave us a review. 😂 1 Mónica Freitas Jan 6, 2022, 11:27 AM Jack Boreham, not a fan? I'll revoke your nerd card now 😂 Jack Boreham Jan 6, 2022, 1:52 PM Mónica Freitas, wait noooo, don't do that. How can I prove my nerdyness? Mónica Freitas Jan 6, 2022, 2:21 PM Jack Boreham, guess you'd have to name 5 matrix characters without googling it or watch the first movie, ahaha.

Is The Matrix Resurrections Worth Watching? (Slogging Insights)

Image via techacute.com Is Lumen pioneering a fashion movement away from fast fashion? Fast fashion is something that despite being horrible for the planet is not going away any time soon. Fast fashion for a plethora of reasons is a fashion system that continues to be supported by consumers despite the ongoing growth in textile waste. Fast fashion has its pros but an excessive amount of cons. In recent times, Canadian fashion brand Lumen Couture has developed technology and fashion that can cater to the pros of fast fashion while actively eliminating the cons. This is what the Matrix Collection embodies. What is Lumen Couture? In 2012, Lumen Couture was founded by Canadian CEO Chelsea Kluklas. Lumen Couture is a brand that is part of the Canadian Initiative Make Fashion. Lumen Couture creates runway garments to focus on conceptual prototypes of innovative fashion, pushing the boundaries of creativity and technological capabilities. Lumen Couture seeks to redefine the industry and address its pollutant crisis by developing technology to further sustainable and ready-to-wear garments. Lumen Couture is widely known to host events such as their annual MakeFashion runway gala in Calgary, Alberta. At this gala, Lumen Couture presents prototypes that display futuristic garment capabilities to their audience which provokes thoughts on how fashion can evolve with technology. The Iconic Dua Who’s Pushing the Boundaries A brand as innovative and creative as Lumen Couture comes equipped with a pair of brilliant and creative minds who share a common drive in evolving the fashion industry through technology to be sustainable. Chelsea KIuklas and Chris Corner are the brains behind this wonderful fashion venture that’s transforming how we look in our clothes. Chris Corner is a telecom engineer, and entrepreneur who plays a vital role in connecting businesses like Lumen Couture to their desired consumer. Comer is the CEO of his own telecommunications company where he strategically converts these connections into sales. Chelsea Kluklas is the creative and technological powerhouse behind Lumen Couture. She has an impressive resume that goes beyond her role as CEO for Lumen Couture and Makes Fashion. Kluklas has been linked to companies like Facebook and Oculus VR. The University of Calgary alumni has been able to produce designs that have been globally consumed and recognized in places such as New York and Rome. The Matrix Collection Lumen Couture’s Matrix collection is unlike the average trendy fashion collection. The Matrix collection is particularly special due to its unique ability to adapt to whatever the wearer desires. With panels made of thin LED lights and technology that gives you the capability to alter the design of a garment with the touch of a smartphone. This technology allows the wearer to connect via Bluetooth and alter colors, prints, and even video through their phone. Why Is This So Important? The Matrix collection and Lumen Couture’s fashion garments are significant game-changers in the current day of fashion. In the last decade, fast fashion has continuously contributed to the decay of our ozone layer and so many other elements of our earth. Fast fashion changes and evolves with trends at a rate that has been proven to be incredibly unsustainable. With the Matrix collection, consumers can reject the harmful need to end the lifecycle of their garments prematurely by investing into the Matrix collection where they will be able to alter the appearance of their clothing through the use of LED panels and Bluetooth technology. The Collection Aside from the groundbreaking technology used to craft this special collection, the Matrix collection has more to offer beyond the boundaries of futuristic technology. It offers unique and minimal silhouette designs as well as accessories that offer plenty of versatility. The collection currently consists of the following six pieces: The LED Matrix Choker The LED matrix choker is an accessory fit for any outfit. The choker has an equalizer mode feature that allows the lights to respond to the beat in any design you choose from the app. This includes writing text, drawing your own pattern, or choosing from a library of presets uniquely designed for clothing provided by Lumen Couture. The LED Matrix Facemask If there is one accessory everyone in 2021, it’s the obligatory facemask. With the pandemic still impacting our everyday essentials. A fun opportunity to add some dimension to this essential item would be the LED Matrix facemask, where similar to all the other pieces in the collection, you have the ability to change the style of the mask through your phone. Most importantly, the mask has the ability to remove the LED panel and battery to allow for proper sanitation and to optimize breathing capabilities. These facemasks also served a charitable purpose as the sales made in the months of April, May and June went towards the WHO Covid-19 Relief fund, which raised a total of $4,500. The LED Matrix Hoodie Graphic clothing is always a fun and casual way to add personality to your wardrobe. Graphic t-shirts and hoodies have become the average consumer’s obsession over the last decade and one just can never seem to collect enough. That changes with the LED Matrix Hoodie. This hoodie gives you the opportunity to combine all those desired graphics onto one piece of clothing through the use of your phone! The Matrix Skirt Concluding the Matrix collection is the Matrix Skirt. The Matrix Skirt features the option of a sheer overlay to add some extra dimension and movement to the classic-fitting pencil skirt. Similar to all the previously mentioned pieces in the Matrix Collection the Matrix skirt comes in black and is accompanied by white LED panel lighting. What Does this Mean for the Future? Trends and artistic expression are not leaving the fashion industry anytime soon. In fact it could be argued that they are an essential part of the fashion system itself where the industry would crumble with its absence. With the technology behind Lumen Couture’s Matrix Collection, the possibility to indulge in the ever changing fashion trends in the industry while not actually buying and discarding a surplus amount of clothes for once actually seems plausible.

The Matrix Collection Lets You Alter Garment Designs with the Touch of a Smartphone

SPOILER ALERT: Reading this article in advance might impact your actual Coinwink Matrix experience and you’ll receive a lower level of satisfaction. Similarly, like someone spoils a movie for you by telling how it ends. That is why we strongly suggest first to experience the Matrix, and then return here to read the article. In your Coinwink account , switch from Classic to Matrix, and you’ll see how deep the rabbit hole goes. The CSS Wonderland During the last month, a lot of front-end updates were made for Coinwink. The previous CSS styles file was a big mess. Started almost 4 years ago, many styles were inlined or randomly smashed together with overwrites and without a structure. !important To fix such a chaotic styles file it takes quite a lot of time. These are little fixes but they are time-consuming, and when they’re done, it seems that nothing has changed. Why so? Because the changes are behind-the-scenes. For example, a bigger invisible click/tap area for buttons. The user doesn’t see or think that there is a difference, but she feels it intuitively. “What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it.” ― Morpheus All together, these little changes create a slick and smooth experience and make the web-app feel more like a native app. What are these app-like changes, you might ask? - Disable zooming on mobile devices - Disable text/element selection on mobile devices - Create bigger invisible touch areas for clickable elements - Separate and states on desktop and mobile devices - Minimize flickering - App icon for mobile devices, web app manifest, theme color etc. - Create custom form elements (inputs, drop-downs, buttons, checkboxes, etc.) with consistent style across all browsers - Styling scrollbars :hover :active And a few more tweaks here and there. Some of these things are implemented “out of the box” in most CSS frameworks, but Coinwink is not using a framework because similar frameworks often result in generic feel or enforce a specific style, and also increase the size of the app more than the custom CSS. Additionally, during the recent updates, significant structural front-end changes were made. When looking from the outside, they are also invisible. The new structure allows us to easily change styles, build new front-end features, and we can now create themes. Introducing the new Matrix theme The first theme built on the new Coinwink front-end structure is the Matrix. “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room.” ― Morpheus From the conceptual point of view, the Matrix is another dimension of reality, or a simulation (if the reality itself is not a simulation). The concept has deep meanings across different cultures, and this infuses the Matrix theme with the story and symbolism. “You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” ― Morpheus A switch to Coinwink Matrix theme is animated and not instant. It creates the effect of a transition into a different dimension. To experience the Matrix, switch the theme in your Coinwink . account Screenshots: Crypto Alert, Portfolio and Watchlist views Similar to other recent updates, Coinwink Matrix theme is extremely lightweight. When activated, it adds only around 20KB of size. It’s the first theme – a showcase of new possibilities. The dynamic background is now probably too active, so in the near future, it will be possible to turn it off or make it less prominent. More themes are planned for the future. Above are presented Coinwink app mobile views. Coinwink works equally well on both desktop and mobile devices. The newest source code will be available soon on our . GitHub As usual, your feedback is appreciated! Let us know what do you think about the new Matrix theme? What other themes and features you’d like to see in the future? Coinwink is a cryptocurrency price alerts, watchlist and portfolio tracking app for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other 2500+ crypto coins and tokens. Don’t waste time watching crypto prices, use Coinwink .

Step Into The Matrix With Our New Update

Many problems, especially in scientific computing, end up being formulated as matrix operations. This can be anything from PDE-solvers (PDE - Partial Differential Equation) up to image-processing or ML-algorithms. The list is endless. Usually one has written on paper some final equations which describe your model or whatever it is, and it involves some matrix algebra like this: A = B + C Okay, looks quite easy on paper. Now, when it comes to implementation of this in JavaScript, whatever technique you are going to use (for-loops, iterators, ...), your code won't resemble above easy to read line. There is a huge amount of good matrix-libraries available, and usually they let you write something like this: A = B.add(C) This still looks not quite different from our paper version, but imagine our paper version would be this: A = (B * (C + D)) * (E + F) To put this into one line by using the '.add' notation might hurt a little and one would tend to split the code into multiple lines. Though, due to all these parenthesis, readability would be destroyed: H1 = E.add(F); H2 = C.add(D); H3 = B.multiply(H2); A = H3.multiply(H1); const const const const If we were in context of a language like C++, we can give sense to expressions involving mathematical operators between any custom types - a concept called Operator Overloading. At the time of writing, JavaScript is lacking this nice feature though. We can find some resort if we take a look at 'Tagged Templates' (see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals). In essence they give us a way to interpret a given string together with value filled placeholders: A: Matrix = ...; B: Matrix = ...; C: Matrix = calc ; const const const ` + ` ${A} ${B} Here 'Matrix'  shall be some type representing a matrix. The 'calc' is a tagged template function, written by us, and it will be called with all string parts and values for given placeholders. In other words we somewhere define a function like this: { } ( ) function calc stringParts: TemplateStringsArray, ...values: any[] '1.) parse the expression
         2.) calculate it by using given   
             placeholder-values
	 3.) return the result' Our main task remains to implement the 'calc' function such that it can cope with any kind of expression from matrix-algebra. You can do it on your own, it is quite a learning-full experience, or you can use my package provided here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@applied.math.coding/lina With this at hand you can write expressions like these: calc ;

A = calc ;

calc ; ` = 3 * - ` ${A} ${B} ${C} `3 * - ` ${B} ${C} `pow( , 5)` ${A} The library also supports some form of slicing which becomes very handy in some occasions: calc ; ` )` ${A.slice( , , , ) =   
  cos(${B.slice( , , , )} 1 1 5 5 1 1 5 5 It also has some support of creating a matrix-type from given array: A = mat([[ , ],
               [ , ]]); const 1 2 3 4 Or just create a new instance of some dimensions and with all values set to 0: A = zeros( , ); const 10 10 calc ; ` =sqrt(abs( )) + 7` ${A} ${A} Note: when you add or multiply a number with a matrix-type, as in above example, the parser is handling this by element-wise applying the operation to the matrix. And finally our initial example would look like this: calc ; ` = ( * ( + )) * ( + )` ${A} ${B} ${C} ${D} ${E} ${F} For more you can look into its docs or tests. Please keep the following in mind: The library is not intended for use in computation intensive environments. It rather should be used for educational purposes or for presentation of some computations on a web-page. I used it successfully in some small project which intended to explain the solution procedure of a PDE. I hope this helps or contributes to getting new ideas!

Solving Matrix Algebra in JavaScript [An Overview]

Science and the Simulation Hypothesis point to many reasons we may already be in the Matrix When came out, the idea of living in a video game was squarely in the realm of science fiction. Today, the simulation hypothesis is debated seriously by computer scientists, philosophers, physicists and others. The reason this argument is taken more seriously now is two-fold: the Matrix the philosophical “simulation argument”, put forward by Oxford’s Nick Bostrom, and the “video game simulation argument”, about the rapid development of video games, put forth by, among others, Elon Musk. Two Major Developments The first was when Oxford professor Nick Bostrom published his 2003 paper, “ ” Bostrom didn’t say much about video games; instead he made a clever statistical argument. Bostrom theorized that if a civilization ever got the Simulation Point, it would create many ancestor simulations, each with large numbers (billions or trillions?) of simulated beings. Since the number of simulated beings would vastly outnumber the number of real beings, any beings (including us!) were more likely to be living inside a simulation than outside of it! Other scientists, including physicists have taken up this argument. Are You Living in a Simulation? In the video game version of this argument, we have the rapid advancement of graphics technology. Elon Musk, speaking at the Code Conference in 2016, asserted that 40 years ago, we had pong, which was essentially two lines and a dot. Today we have VR and AR and MMORPGs — all based on 3D technology. If the pace of video game development continues, in a few decades we would have hyper-realistic games, indistinguishable from reality. I call this point the Simulation Point, and in my new book, The Simulation Hypothesis, one part is dedicated towards the stages of technology needed to reach this point. It’s much easier to see a path from today’s VR to something like than it was in 1999 when the movie was released. With games like and having millions of online players interacting in a shared online world, the idea that we might actually be in a shared connected simulated world doesn’t seem so far-fetched as it might have in 1999. The Matrix Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends In this article, we go beyond Bostrom’s and Musk’s simulation arguments to explore some of the reasons why science might be telling us we are in a simulated reality, like the Matrix. 1. Pixels, Resolution, Virtual and Augmented Reality Today we are already seeing with Virtual Reality that “full immersion” is possible. Anyone who has played a convincing VR game will realize that it’s possible to forget about the real world and “believe” the world you are seeing is real. As a great example, I was playing a prototype of a Ping Pong VR game last year (built by Free Range Games), and even though it wasn’t realistic resolution, I lost myself and thought I was playing ping pong for real. So much so that I set the paddle on the ping pong “table” and leaned against the table. Of course, it was a VR table so it didn’t really exist — I ended up dropping the paddle (actually the Vive controller) onto the floor. As I leaned into the “table” I almost fell over before realizing that there was no table. In other words, to quote from , there is no spoon. The Matrix The immersion comes not just from the number of pixels, but from the controls and responsiveness that VR is able to achieve. In the novel (and Steve Spielberg film) , which was about a VR world called the OASIS, users had lightweight glasses and wore haptic suits and walked on omnidirectional treadmills to add realism. In that world, the OASIS was preferable to real life. Ready Player One The fact that 3D models can be used to create realistic looking objects in films(a glance at movies like Blade Runner 2049 will convince you that we have enough pixel resolution to create realistic looking objects), and that 3D printers can be used to “print” physical objects shows that the physical world can be represented by information, a key part of the simulation hypothesis. Where does the responsiveness and fidelity come from? The limitations today are in real-time rendering and in they way that objects interact with each other inside the world. Most games have a and a . The physics engine is never fully realistic (otherwise it would take you too long to go from one part of the game to the other), and the rendering engine is what’s responsible for making you “see” what the world looks like by deciding what color pixels go where. We can easily see that full immersion may be possible in a few years time. physics engine rendering engine 2. Pixels, Quanta, and Zeno’s Paradox Speaking of pixels, could it be that what we call the physical world also consists of pixels? I recall late nights at MIT during my undergrad years where I had philosophical debates with my classmates about the nature of reality. This was the first time I’d heard of Zeno’s paradox, who presented it in terms of Achilles and a Tortoise. If Achilles was behind the tortoise, and he always had to make up half the distance, how could he ever get there? Zeno’s parado involved Achilles and the Tortoise. Lurking underneath this paradox is the question of whether space is quantized or if it is continuous. The idea was that if space was continuous, like numbers are (you can always find an infinite number of numbers in between any two numbers), how is it possible to touch an object such as the wall? You would always have to cover half the distance and never get there. quite This was my first hint that space might be quantized. Today’s physicists generally acknowledge the Planck length as being the smallest amount of space that can be measured. Below that length, the quantum fluctuations make it impossible to measure anything with any reliability. For all practical purposes, the Planck length is our minimal addressable “pixel” of space. Moreover, physicists tell us that most of what we think of as a solid object is actually 99% empty space, especially if you look inside the atom. The quanta in quantum physics consists of discrete quantities — of energies or “states” that a particle can exist in. Newton’s equations assumed a continuous amount of space; it turns out the universe may be more quantized than we thought. A related question is whether time is quantized? In all computer simulations, there is the idea of “generation” or “steps” in the simulation. These are some multiple of the processor clock-speed, which is the minimum speed at which something could be measured for any simulation running on that processor. Whether time is quantized in the real world is an open question, though there are some that suggest it is, and planck’s time constant (the amount of time it takes the speed of light to travel the planck length) is the minimum quantied time. If so, this would be more evidence that we live in a computation based reality. 3. The Collapse of the Probability Wave, Quantum Indeterminacy In quantum physics one of the most intriguing ideas is the probability matrix, which is an interpretation of how subatomic particles can exhibit properties of both a wave and a solid particle at the same time. At the level of an electron or a photon, the wave is interpreted as a set of probabilities of where the particle might be at any given time. When we observe a particular possibility, then the probability wave is said to “collapse” and we see a single particle in a particular location. This is called Quantum Indeterminacy. How does the probability wave collapse? This is one of the biggest mysteries in physics. The best answer physicists have come up with is that consciousness somehow determines the collapse. Max Planck once wrote, “I consider consciousness as fundamental and matter as derivative”. An even bigger mystery is why does the universe work this way? The simulation hypothesis provides a pretty good answer. The reason that video games have advanced so far in a few decades is because of optimization techniques. It would be impossible even for today’s computers to render in real time all the pixels of a single 3D world — instead, information is stored as 3D models outside the rendered world and then only what a particular character can see from a certain angle is rendered. The golden rule of video game rendering engines is: render only that which can be observed! Many adherents of the simulation hypothesis think that quantum indeterminacy is an optimization technique with the same basic idea: only render that which is being observed. The most famous example of this is Schrodinger’s cat, the poor feline who is trapped in a box with radioactive material. After an hour, the probability is that hte cat is either dead or alive. Common sense tells us that the cat is already either dead or alive, and when we open the box we are merely finding out what happened. Quantum physics tells us this is wrong: until we are there to obeserve it, the cat is actually both alive and dead at the same time — what’s called a quantum superposition! 4. Future Selves, and Parallel Universes Another related aspect of Quantum Physics that sounds like science fiction is the Parallel Universes theory, where we branch into different “universes” when we make decisions. If that’s true, then there is a directed graph of multiple universes that are branching out each time we make a decision, resulting in different timelines (in fact, the parallel universes theory was put forward to solve the grandfather paradox of time travel). Which of those universes do we branch into? this may have to do with the one that is most “optimal” — meaning these universes may or may not exist as actual physical realities. The Minimax algorithm looks at possible futures, calculating which one is the most optimal for a video game. Physicist Fred Alan Wolf, for example, says that information from these possible futures is coming to us in the present and that we send out an “offer wave” into the future, which is interacting with the “offer waves” coming from the future to the present. Which possible future we navigate to depends on which choices we make, and how these two waves super-pose on each other (or cancel each other out). These are startling results. Future probable selves are sending back information to the present, and we are consciously choosing which path to follow. This reminded me of the very first video game I made back at MIT. The way that the computer chose the next move was to project the possible futures, and then use a certain algorithm to “rank” those futures, and then bring those values back to the present and then the AI would choose the path to follow. Did the possible futures we were calculating in our game actually exist? Or were they just probabilities? I realized that this isn’t too much different from what’s happening at the quantum level, except that in existing games like chess or checkers, we use a simple function (based on the rules of the game) to decide which of the paths is most optimal. We used the “minimax” algorithm in game design, trying to maximize our score and minimize our opponents score at each “turn of the future”. Physicist Thomas Campbell, in his 2003 book, (Theory of Everything) also proposes that there is a fundamental function and that we are essential in a computatiuonal universe that branches off possibilities and uses an evaluation function, just like a video game! He and a team from Caltech raised funds in 2018 on kickstarter for a series of experiements to try to prove this! My Big TOE 5. The Speed of light Another big mystery is why the speed of light is one of the few constants, one of the few fundamental values in physics. In fact, all matter has been equated with energy, and energy may be a derivative of light itself. While other things change, including gravity and space-time, Einstein found that the speed of light remains fixed. Why would the speed of electromagnetic waves be the same speed at which information can travel through the universe? In video games, it turns out that pixels are based on light — they are illuminated for a temporary period, and all communication happens between computers at the speed of light. Just as in relativity where simultaneity cannot really be guaranteed, the same is true video games — each player is working off of his computer and responding to information about the game, which is being sent to cloud servers outside the rendered world. The cloud serve is doing its best to respect simultaneity and order the events, but it may actually be impossible. Conclusion Along with the statistical simulation argument and the advance in video game technology, these are some of the reasons why scientists are starting to take the simulation hypothesis seriously. In fact, many physicists and biologists are starting to realize that underneath the physical objects they are studying, the universe is actually information. Famous physicist John Wheeler in his autobiography wrote “it from bit” — meaning that bits, not matter, are the fundamental “thing in the universe”. In fact, he said physics went through three phases in his career and each phase was an evoluation of our understanding of the universe. The fist phase was that “everything was a particle” (material, newtonian model), then “everything was a field” (quantum probability model), and finally, “everything is information” or bits. If everything was information, or bits, then this would not only be consistent with a video game simulation like that in , it would explain some of the big unanswered questions in science — why does it work this way? The Matrix While we aren’t able to duplicate at this stage of our technology, our computer science and video games have gotten far enough along that we are well on the road to the Simulation Point. The Matrix Buy Rizwan Virk’s book The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics, and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are In a Video Game , or find out more at www.zenentrepreneur.com Originally published at scientificinquirer.com on March 22, 2019.

Are We Already in the Matrix?

Today You Started a Business By . James Alctucher Originally published on JamesAltucher.com A friend of mine left his corporate job yesterday after 23 years of being trapped in the Matrix. I hate it because I’m envious of that moment. The day I left a corporate job to be on my own for the first time. Suddenly you go from managing a cubicle from the hours of 9 to 5 to having to manage ALL OF TIME AND SPACE. The holograph screens that altered the universe around you peel away to show you what the real world looks like. The extra colors and intensity that had been hidden from you behind tinted-black glass windows and fluorescent lights. I wish I had done it differently. I wish I had known what I know now. I was working at HBO. I had a cubicle on the 6th Floor of 1100 Sixth Avenue. My boss was down the hall. His boss was in the room next to his. His boss was in the room next to that. And the real boss (the top guy’s secretary) was in front of all of their offices. I had a view of the McDonalds at Sixth Avenue which is now the big Bank of America building. (I did the website for seasons 1–3 of Sex and the City) Work in the corporate world is like a hazy drug dream to me now. You could get in at 10am. Everyone took breaks downstairs to smoke. I didn’t smoke so I took licorice with me. Then at noon, LUNCH! And then after lunch, chess in Bryant Park. Then my boss left to catch his train at 4:15. So I would leave at 4:16. Before I had my own business on the side I’d take the subway to Astoria and go to Steinway Billiards. Everyone there was Greek. We’d all sit and play backgammon and chess and drink thick Greek coffee until about two in the morning. Sometimes my friends from HBO would come with me and it would be like . And I loved all the girls in the place but not a single one ever talked to me or looked at me no matter how many two dollar bills I tipped with. a party every night There were goals and deadlines at work. Except for the summer. There was never anything to do in the summer. And all other times the deadlines were mild. Like if you missed one then it just meant a meeting was rescheduled. Nobody would get fired. The saying was, “if you want to get fired you have to stand on Albie’s desk and pee on him.” That was the boss’s boss’s boss. As part of my job I got to go to San Francisco for the first time, Los Angeles, and sunny Orlando (to make the website for the series “From the Earth to the Moon” which was shot right in Disneyworld.) And then I quit. I had to. I was running a business on the side. We had clients, some of whom were even competitors to HBO. We had employees. I had payroll to meet. And I felt myself stagnating at my job. I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I stopped enjoying the meager things I was doing. And I thought I could handle the psychology of being on my own. What could be different, I thought. I wanted to spread my wings even though I had no idea how to fly. I cried twice the first day on my own. First time, at lunch with one of my partners, Randy. It suddenly hit me that I didn’t have a multi billion media empire as my backstop. I was on my own. I felt alone. Which is another way of saying, if I fucked up I had nobody to blame. Like we all did in corporate America. So over pizza I cried. “Are you ok?” Randy said. Poking at my weakness. “Yeah,” I said. Then later at dinner with all my ex-employees and friends at HBO. I ordered pasta AND fries. Everyone started to laugh at what I had ordered and I wasn’t sure why. I felt like a four year old in a room filled with laughing adults. I had no idea what I was or what I was supposed to be. That made me cry again but nobody noticed. I had been anchored close to shore with Time Warner as the dock. Now I was in deep waters. Too deep to anchor. I had to fish now. I had to find food. I had to get water. I had to feed a lot of people. I had to kill or be killed. I learned a lot in the next few months: If you blame others, you go out of business. Take responsibility for your problems and fix them or move on. A) It was always my fault when things went wrong. If you hide from customers, they will fire you. If you hide from employees they lose respect for you. If you hide from investors, they sue you. B) I had to communicate to people. I had to help customers feel their jobs were about to get a lot easier because now I was in their lives. I had to learn to reward people. I wanted everyone around me to feel good about it. To spread the word that I was someone to work with, to be around. C) I had to help employees feel good about their jobs. We were a web design company but we considered being a tea company, a rap label, a magazine, a TV show, a cable channel, and a social network for dead people. A porn site. A software company. An ad agency. And a dozen other things. We just wanted to make money. We were in the business of business. D) Every idea was fair game. . I was robbed by customers, by employees, by friends, by partners, and twice by random criminals including one guy who just walked into our office and started unscrewing lightbulbs until he was chased out. E) People steal You demonstrate credibility when you teach your employees and when you teach your customers. Where do you get your knowledge? You have to get to the destination before everyone else. You have to read everything. You have to have spies. An important side effect of educating people is that you build presence, you build charisma, you exude confidence that is earned. F) I had to educate. The candles are always lit in the modern age. The day never has to end. But if it doesn’t, you lose track of the map and find yourself adrift with no horizon in any direction. G) I had to learn when the day ended. When you run things, 50% of your decisions will still be bad. Good opportunities sometimes spring from bad decisions. But you have to forgive yourself first as the first process in learning from your mistakes. H) I had to forgive myself. I couldn’t complain to my boss. I had to fire people. Fire customers. Make decisions that might be right or wrong about people. Making decisions is directly correlated to building your idea muscle until you are an idea machine. I) I had to make tough decisions. I never had to do that before. I would hire people specifically to help me network because I was so bad at it but I got better. Your value goes up exponentially depending on the number of people in your network. Keith Ferrazzi hits the nail on the head in his book “Never Eat Alone”. You need to not only consciously arrange to meet people but also put yourself in many situations where you are going to randomly collide with people. My most random collisions often made me the most money. J) I had to network. When web design was being taught in junior high school classes I knew that 3 page websites being built for $75,000 was going to be a thing of the past. Knowing when to sell is just as important as knowing when to start a business. Selling a business gives you the greatest gift of all — freedom to start another business. K) I had to sell the company. (did the website for The Matrix) Most importantly, I had to build a discipline of every day, every hour, seeking out opportunities. Either opportunities for the business, or even for myself. My own improvement became vital to the improvement of the business, to my customers, and to employees. I cried the first day, and many many days after that. And looking back, I can’t really tell you if it was worth it or not. Who really knows? So many things have worked out and so many things have failed. Maybe I’m , best case. mediocre as an entrepreneur But I do feel like I’ve escaped the Matrix of corporate slavery that first day. Eventually I realized that there was yet another matrix outside of that matrix. Like Russian nesting dolls, each matrix is a creation of the matrix outside of it. On and on, forever. Each day another escape but only if I’m brave enough. ➤ for my newsletter. You’ll get a daily email of my latest content! Sign up ➤ Or visit my to read my FREE blog content website ➤ Do you have a question? Ask me on …I answer questions daily! Quora James Altucher is the author of the bestselling book Choose Yourself, editor at The Altucher Report and host of the popular podcast, The James Altucher Show , which takes you beyond business and entrepreneurship by exploring what it means to be human and achieve well-being in a world that is increasingly complicated.

After 23 years of Being Trapped in the Matrix

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license.
Authors:
(1) Nicolas Bernal, New York University Abu Dhabi;
(2) Partha Konar, Physical Research Laboratory;
(3) Sudipta Show, Physical Research Laboratory. Table of Links Abstract and Intro
S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences
Dark Matter Annihilation and Unitarity Bound
Low-temperature Reheating
Freeze-out with a Low-temperature Reheating
Summary and Conclusion
Acknowledgments and References 2. S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences For the sake of simplicity, here we will focus on the collisions of nonidentical spin-0 particles. However, the case of other spins can be generalized simply by using Refs. [13, 114]. We carry out the basis transformation from the momentum eigenstates to a general basis state by using rotational invariance. Now, we derive the total cross section, the sum of the elastic and inelastic cross sections, in the channel n with the help of the optical theorem in Eq. (2.1) and the general expression of the matrix element in Eq. (2.2) Then, one can easily obtain the inelastic cross section by subtracting the elastic in Eq. (2.3) from the total cross sections in Eq. (2.4) Finally, we note that for a collision among identical particles, an additional multiplicative factor of 2 in the cross section is required to avoid double counting [114]. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Nicolas Bernal, New York University Abu Dhabi; (2) Partha Konar, Physical Research Laboratory; (3) Sudipta Show, Physical Research Laboratory. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: Authors: (1) Nicolas Bernal, New York University Abu Dhabi; (2) Partha Konar, Physical Research Laboratory; (3) Sudipta Show, Physical Research Laboratory. Table of Links Abstract and Intro S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences Dark Matter Annihilation and Unitarity Bound Low-temperature Reheating Freeze-out with a Low-temperature Reheating Summary and Conclusion Acknowledgments and References Abstract and Intro Abstract and Intro S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences Dark Matter Annihilation and Unitarity Bound Dark Matter Annihilation and Unitarity Bound Low-temperature Reheating Low-temperature Reheating Freeze-out with a Low-temperature Reheating Freeze-out with a Low-temperature Reheating Summary and Conclusion Summary and Conclusion Acknowledgments and References Acknowledgments and References 2. S-matrix: Unitarity and its Consequences For the sake of simplicity, here we will focus on the collisions of nonidentical spin-0 particles. However, the case of other spins can be generalized simply by using Refs. [13, 114]. We carry out the basis transformation from the momentum eigenstates to a general basis state by using rotational invariance. Now, we derive the total cross section, the sum of the elastic and inelastic cross sections, in the channel n with the help of the optical theorem in Eq. (2.1) and the general expression of the matrix element in Eq. (2.2) Then, one can easily obtain the inelastic cross section by subtracting the elastic in Eq. (2.3) from the total cross sections in Eq. (2.4) Finally, we note that for a collision among identical particles, an additional multiplicative factor of 2 in the cross section is required to avoid double counting [114].

Unitarity Bound on Dark Matter: S-matrix - Unitarity and its Consequences

ডার্ক ম্যাটারে একতা আবদ্ধ: এস-ম্যাট্রিক্স - একতা এবং এর পরিণতি

Unitaritätsgrenze für Dunkle Materie: S-Matrix - Unitarität und ihre Konsequenzen

La unitaridad unida a la materia oscura: S-matrix - La unitaridad y sus consecuencias

L'Unitarité liée à la matière noire : matrice S - L'Unitarité et ses conséquences

डार्क मैटर पर यूनिटैरिटी बाउंड: एस-मैट्रिक्स - यूनिटैरिटी और इसके परिणाम

暗黒物質のユニタリー性限界: S 行列 - ユニタリー性とその結果

암흑 물질에 결합된 단일성: S-행렬 - 단일성과 그 결과

Unitariedade vinculada à matéria escura: matriz S - Unitariedade e suas consequências

Унитарность, связанная с темной материей: S-матрица - Унитарность и ее последствия

Karanlık Maddeye Bağlı Birlik: S-matrisi - Birlik ve Sonuçları

Tính đơn nhất bị ràng buộc trên vật chất tối: Ma trận S - Tính đơn nhất và hệ quả của nó

暗物质的幺正性界限：S 矩阵 - 幺正性及其后果

Virtual reality allows us to rebuild a more human society from the ground up - from financial systems to governance and the very concept of “state". "System" says the metaverse is the wrong way for humanity. It resists its development and tries to stop its popularity. In my opinion, rebuilding the existing world and its "system" is impossible. But it is possible in virtual reality. Consider this, we can create a world without bureaucracy, institutions, and an authoritarian legacy. With this article, I opt out of a current "system" built in our real world and encourage people not to fear metaverses as they are our future. I believe that virtual worlds should never be considered as a way to escape from reality - they are just as real and can be lived in. "The Matrix" and science fiction classics: can we consider these works suitable metaverse examples? Every writer is a kind of philosopher because every science fiction work is a mental experiment. The author makes some assumptions like the existence of intelligent machines or completely virtual reality, and on this basis, models the possible development of events. Philosophers do approximately the same thing. science fiction Stanisław Herman Lem is outstanding in this respect. Many of his ideas of the middle of the last century then passed into philosophy. Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski in "The Matrix" also worked out some ideas and problems quite well, but I disagree with them on one of the main points. The main characters of "The Matrix" talk about the feeling of unreality of the world created by machines. They say this feeling appears because of some trifles and starts to drive them crazy. I am sure a human cannot distinguish a quality virtual reality from the real world. And in principle, there is no need for that. So there's no way we can tell we're living in a virtual world instead of the real one? Perhaps we can if the simulation turns out to be imperfect. For example, objects sometimes fall through surfaces. Or if the creators start communicating with us and showing us all sorts of unrealistic miracles, such as turning the Statue of Liberty upside down or moving the waters of the sea. However, I doubt even that would convince all people of the world's unreality. The hardest case is a perfect simulation completely indistinguishable from reality, in which the creators do not interfere. Then, it is not clear how we could test its artificiality. Any experiments would proceed exactly as they would in reality. It is difficult even to imagine what could be the proof of virtuality of such a world. Science is powerless here, leaving pure philosophy with no way to test hypotheses. We know that simulations can be created with computers. In 50 or 100 years, we will surely be able to create a virtual reality that is completely indistinguishable from the real world. The question then arises: how can we be sure that we ourselves are living in the real world and not in one of the simulations? Especially if we ourselves do not notice any difference. If there is no difference, it probably doesn't matter, does it? Let's imagine that tomorrow, we somehow reliably learn that our world is a computer simulation like the Matrix. I think it would shock people at first. Some people will think their whole life has been an illusion and a lie. They will feel terrible. But I think, little by little, people will get used to it and move on because the feeling of the reality of the world is not connected with what the world is made of. Subjective sensations will not become less real to us, nor will our experiences become less valuable if we learn that we live in a simulation. The Earth will continue to revolve around the Sun, friends will remain friends, and we will still need to do something to live. It will turn out that trees, buildings, and our own bodies are made up of bits rather than atoms - but what will that change for a particular person? In a sense, we already know that we live in a simulation. The world people think is real is merely the result of our bodies. We do not perceive physical reality directly; we only receive a model created by our eyes, ears, skin, and brain. Directly, we can perceive only our subjective experience: sensations, emotions, thoughts, and so on. And any external world is infinitely distant from us. That is why I tend to draw the line not between the real and the virtual but between the corporeal and the virtual. All worlds outside the human body (or, rather, outside the human mind) are virtual to a certain extent, including "real" physical reality. But no one seems to be confused by the fact that our human vision of reality has little to do with quantum mechanics, which shows the true structure of reality. We are not really interested in what the world around us is made of. The main thing is that it works according to certain rules. That is, it's all about a person's willingness to recognize the world as real and to behave as if everything around them has some significance. None of us think, "Everything around us is made of strange, incomprehensible atoms, so it's all an illusion". We're just living. Then why should we think this way about zeros and ones? Then what does it mean to be real? What is a person ready to recognize as real? First of all, the world must be objective; it must exist beyond our mind and beyond our will so that objects are stable and the spoon does not bend even when we think it is not there. Cause and effect relationships must work in this world so that people's actions lead to some changes, and those changes lead to the next change. This has to do with the way our brains work. It has long been thought that it receives undistorted information from the senses. In fact, the brain filters it to suit its expectations, which are influenced by previous experiences. Everything that enters the brain mixes with episodes of its memory - as if anticipating a picture of what is happening. This mechanism works already at the level of vision. Apparently, it is impossible to get rid of this peculiarity of the brain in principle because it was evolutionarily developed as a "prediction machine", which very much dislikes being wrong in expectations. Therefore, objectivity, causality, and predictability should be at the core of any virtual reality that wants to be human-friendly. Also, the world should not restrict people from interacting with each other. It is the contacts between people that weave together a shared reality, so a living virtual world is hardly possible without people's freedom to do both wonderful and terrible things together. Aren't the technical aspects important? The resolution and color of the picture, the presence of touch... It's all important, but in my opinion, it's secondary. Simply because we already have examples of virtual realities that are technically bad, but people are still willing to spend a lot of time in them to live their whole lives. Look at Second Life. It has outdated graphics with no real three-dimensionality. Users still sit in front of their monitors and see a flat picture. But that doesn't really bother them. Second Life, for almost 20 years of history, has become a prototype of the meta-universe - concerts and interviews with famous people take place in this virtual world. On the other hand, there are worlds with full-fledged VR, like VRChat and Rec Room, and none of them have been as successful as Second Life. So, people don't care so much about technical specs. The generation of 50-year-olds tends to think of games and other virtual worlds as something second-rate to mainstream reality. I don't think it has to do with their technical scarcity. Rather, they consider games meaningless, empty pastimes that do not impact real life. But this perception is outdated. Digital worlds have their own economies, people use them to solve social and political problems, and virtual realities have become more than just self-sufficient. They are already influencing the main, "real" reality. Virtual worlds should not be seen as a means of escapism, an escape from reality. Virtual worlds extend the physical world, and building a meaningful life in them is also possible. However, the technical aspects are important in terms of mass appeal: the worse a virtual world covers the human senses, the more potential users it scares away. Few people want to play computer games without sound, but a whole virtual world without sounds would probably seem like a completely unacceptable option. When will virtual reality become indistinguishable from the physical world? Right now, virtual worlds in the form of games and meta-universe are facing "childish" problems like the inconvenience of VR headsets. Of course, living a fulfilling life in a virtual reality with only pictures, sounds, dizziness, and neck pain is hard. I think it will take us 20 or 30 years just to start covering vision and hearing perfectly. Maybe partially cover touch, too. Virtual reality will become truly mainstream when it can simulate the smells, tastes, and bodily sensations of eating, drinking, and sex. It's unlikely to do this without a full-fledged neural interface that connects directly to the central nerves, as in "The Matrix". And it seems to me that such an interface will appear only by the end of the century. With the development of technical means, even the external difference between real and virtual worlds will become increasingly blurred until simulation becomes completely indistinguishable from physical reality. The virtual world does not have to copy the real world completely. The simulation can be completely fantastic, even fairy-tale-like - the main thing is that it remains fundamentally understandable and familiar to humans.

Self-Sovereignty in Virtual Reality: Humans Won’t Know They’re in the Matrix, and They Don’t Need To

Authors: (1) Eugene Y. S. Chua, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology; (2) Eddy Keming Chen, ‡Department of Philosophy, University of California. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Decoherence and Branching The Born Rule Discussion Conclusion and References 4 Discussion In the previous sections, we’ve generalized the standard defenses for the Born rule to DMRE. In addition to answering a technical question that has been neglected in the literature, we take our results to have several conceptual implications. First, in order to set up the stage for the generalized arguments, we were required to contemplate, without presupposing a universal pure state, the ontological structure of the Everettian multiverse. For EQM to allow both WFR and DMR, the story about decoherence and branching should apply to both without prejudice. As we’ve seen, that is indeed the case. This leads us to see that the essence of the Everettian story about the emergence of a branching multiverse is not a universal wave function that gives rise to many branches represented by wave functions, but a universal density matrix (which can be pure or mixed) that gives rise to many branches represented by density matrices. According to the perspective of DMRE, a pure-state multiverse is a very special case. Second, with DMRE, Everettians can explore new theoretical possibilities of DMR. For example, we can consider a unified treatment of ‘classical’ and ‘quantum’ probabilities in EQM. In WFRE, there are two sources of probabilities: the quantum probability of finding ourselves in a particular branch (or betting preferences in the decisiontheoretic framework), associated with the weight of the branch in the multiverse, and the classical probability of the particular multiverse, associated with a density matrix representing our ignorance of the underlying universal pure state. Their justifications are very different. The latter is not understood in terms of self-locating uncertainties or betting preferences. Instead, it may have a statistical mechanical origin, corresponding to a probability distribution over initial universal quantum states, the so-called Statistical Postulate (Albert 2000). In DMRE, however, the two can be reduced to a single notion of probability, that of finding ourselves in a particular branch (or betting preferences given the actual quantum state), albeit in a more expansive multiverse. Whichever ρ is used by defenders of WFRE to represent their ignorance of the fundamental pure state of the multiverse, defenders of DMRE can regard that ρ as the fundamental mixed state. Insofar as classical and quantum probabilities in EQM can be reduced to a single source, they also can be justified in the same way. A theory on which we can apply this strategy is the Everettian Wentaculus (Chen 2021, Chen 2022c). This version of DMRE proposes a simple and unique choice of the initial density matrix of the multiverse (as a version of the Past Hypothesis) and regards it as the only nomological possibility. As a matter of physical laws, the history of the Everettian multiverse could not have been different. There is no longer a choice of the fundamental density matrix, beyond the choice of the physical law, because the actual one is nomologically necessary. It is an instance of “strong determinism.” Both classical (statistical mechanical) and quantum probabilities can be understood as branch weights of the Everettian Wentaculus multiverse, represented by a mixed-state density matrix. With the possibility of a unified treatment of probabilities (among other things), the generalization from WFRE to DMRE is theoretically attractive. [5] Finally, we’ve derived the Born rule in DMRE in essentially the same ways as in WFRE, by appealing to the same epistemic principles (separability, symmetry, decision theoretic axioms) and metaphysical foundations (decoherence and branching). The two theories are empirically equivalent, not just in a mathematical sense, but also conceptually. They give us the same empirical predictions, not just in terms of equal probabilities of measurement outcomes, but also the same kind of probabilities (selflocating uncertainties or betting preferences). We suggest that Everettians, by their own lights, should regard DMRE as a genuine rival to WFRE. Everettians, then, face the question which version of EQM they should accept. What can be the grounds for deciding? It cannot be settled by experiments because of the empirical equivalence. It cannot be based on the insistence that the universal quantum state must be pure, because that would beg the question. It cannot be based on the incompleteness of justifications for DMRE, for the solutions to the ontology problem and the probability problem in WFRE readily extend to DMRE. [6] [5] Two remarks here: (1) Saunders (2021) has proposed that we can understand quantum probabilities in terms of “branch-counting.” His considerations are analogous to the counting arguments of Boltzmann in the foundations of statistical mechanics. When applied to the Everettian Wentaculus, Saunders’s proposal, if correct, would allow us to justify both classical and quantum probabilities by counting branches in a natural way. (2) For more discussions about the elimination of classical probability in the Wentaculus theories and other theoretical advantages, see Chen (2021, 2020). For two other proposals of eliminating the Statistical Postulate, see Albert (2000, §7) and Wallace (2012, §9). [6] This adds an interesting wrinkle to the debate about scientific realism and the issues raised by Wallace (2022). Even if Wallace is right that EQM is the only way to make sense of why sky is blue, there is a further question about which version of EQM is correct. Quantum mechanics still leads to in-principle empirical underdetermination. This paper is under CC 4.0 license. available on arxiv

Wave Function Realism vs. Density Matrix Realism in Everettian Quantum Mechanics

Go, Rust Haskell, Clojure, Perl, Ada Python and Java coexisting in a strange computational future fever dream of modern sofware development. Mastering the Art of Language Architecture: In the world of software development, selecting the right programming language is crucial, and not always an easy upfront choice. The Language Architecture Matrix is your strategic ally, guiding you through the myriad choices with insights into each language's core traits, architectural decisions, and their implications for your projects. The matrix below covers the following for each major language: Memory-Safe Language Key Trait Memory Safety Traits Architectural Decisions Weaknesses Tips & Tricks Resources Additional Info Commonly Converted From Reason for Conversion Why I made this: Ever wondered how the choice of a programming language can shape the destiny of your entire project? If you’ve been around computers in the last decade, you’ve probably already been a part of the memory safety revolution, but have you really taken a step back to thing about how that’s affecting the ? convergant evolution of software language design If that’s a curiosity you’d like to chase, then welcome to a journey through the Language Architecture Matrix – not just a chart, but a key to unlocking the architectural essence of programming languages. This adventure is more than making choices; it's about discovering the DNA of coding languages and how they've evolved to meet the challenges of the digital age. How It Helps in Thinking Architecturally Across Languages: The matrix is more than a tool; it's a mindset shift. It encourages you to think multilingually in the global city of software development, understanding the cultural, structural, and functional aspects of each language. This approach fosters informed, architecturally sound choices, essential for any seasoned developer. Let’s Get Started: At the bottom, you’ll find a matrix to play with. Here’s a few things you can use the matrix to understand from historical examples: The Great Language Escapades: Historical Stories to Explore the Chart: Explore Java's rise from C++'s shadow in enterprise applications. What made Java the go-to language for large-scale projects? Java's Enterprise Odyssey: Delve into how Swift's memory safety and modern syntax dethroned Objective-C in the realm of iOS development. Swift's iOS Revolution: Investigate Python's ascent over Perl in scripting. What features propelled Python to the forefront? Python Slithering away from Perl: Using the Matrix to Understand Memory Safety: Identify the shift from memory-unsafe to memory-safe languages. What drove these pivotal changes? Memory Safety Quest: Compare two languages and uncover how their design decisions impact their application areas. Architectural Detective Work: Forecast the future trajectory of a language based on its current path in the matrix. Predictive Language Analysis: Oh, and note that once you get down to Haskell, only real tip is to “ ”, which we might dive into more this year. I hope you enjoy this matrix, and I’d welcome contributors to it! Scroll down to the very bottom of this article for a Dungeons and Dragons matrix of these same languages, it might be even more useful. Embrace monadic design patterns Images produced by the , matrix produced by years 10+ years of just trying to build the best thing possible, no matter what. DALL·E 2 prompt Memory-Safe Language Key Trait Memory Safety Traits Architectural Decisions Weaknesses Tips & Tricks Resources Additional Info Commonly Converted From Reason for Conversion Java Most used in enterprise applications Garbage Collection, Object-Oriented JVM provides a sandboxed execution environment Null references; Manual array bounds checking Use to avoid nulls; Favor immutability Optional , Java Tutorials Effective Java Modern versions have enhanced security features C, C++, COBOL Java offers a platform-independent JVM, making it a popular choice for enterprise applications transitioning from legacy systems. C# Primary language for Windows development Garbage Collection, Object-Oriented .NET framework provides a vast library Null references; Unsafe code blocks Use for resource management; Favor LINQ for data manipulation using , .NET Docs C# Station Modern versions support nullable reference types Visual Basic, C++ .NET framework provides a vast library and modern features, making it a natural choice for Windows-based applications transitioning from older languages. Kotlin Modern alternative to Java for Android Null safety, Smart casts Interoperable with Java; Coroutines for concurrency Still possible to have null pointer exceptions Use , , and other scope functions; Understand vs let apply val var , Kotlin Docs Kotlin for Java Developers Officially supported by Android Java Kotlin is fully interoperable with Java but offers more concise syntax and modern features, making it a popular choice for Android development. Scala Hybrid of functional and object-oriented paradigms Option and Either types, Immutable collections Mix of object-oriented and functional paradigms Complexity due to hybrid nature; JVM startup time Use pattern matching extensively; Favor immutability , Scala Docs Scala Exercises Runs on the JVM Java Scala offers both object-oriented and functional paradigms, making it appealing for Java applications looking to adopt functional programming. Swift Modern language for iOS development Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), Optionals Protocol-oriented programming; Value semantics Bridging to Objective-C can introduce unsafety Use optionals ( ) to handle potential nil values; Favor value types over reference types ? , Swift Docs Hacking with Swift Interoperable with Objective-C Objective-C Swift offers a more modern and safer syntax than Objective-C, making it the primary choice for iOS development. Python Most popular scripting language Dynamic typing, Garbage Collection Dynamic nature allows for flexible coding patterns Slower execution; Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) Use for resource management; Avoid using mutable default arguments with , Python Docs Python Patterns GIL can be a bottleneck for multi-threaded applications Perl, PHP Python's simplicity and vast libraries make it a popular choice for web and scripting tasks transitioning from older scripting languages. Rust Best for memory safety without garbage collection Ownership, Borrowing, Lifetimes Ownership system prevents data races Steeper learning curve due to strict compiler Use the borrow checker to your advantage; Understand vs String &str , Rust Book Rust by Example Safe concurrency without a garbage collector C, C++ Rust's memory safety features without a garbage collector make it appealing for systems programming tasks that require performance and safety. Go Known for simplicity and concurrency Garbage Collection, Static Typing Simple and efficient concurrency model No generics; Manual memory management in some cases Use goroutines and channels for concurrency; Understand zero values , Go Tour Effective Go Emphasizes simplicity and efficiency C, C++ Go's simplicity and built-in concurrency make it a choice for backend services transitioning from C/C++ while wanting to maintain performance. Elixir Modern syntax on the Erlang VM Immutable data, Lightweight process model Built on the Erlang VM (BEAM); Metaprogramming capabilities Limited libraries for certain domains Use for project management; Understand the importance of processes and messages mix , Elixir School Elixir Docs Phoenix framework for web development Ruby, Erlang Elixir offers a modern syntax on the Erlang VM, making it appealing for scalable, fault-tolerant systems, especially those transitioning from Ruby on Rails. Erlang Designed for fault-tolerant systems Lightweight processes, Message-passing Built for distributed, fault-tolerant systems Not as efficient for computation-heavy tasks Understand the actor model; Use pattern matching in function heads , Erlang Docs Learn You Some Erlang OTP framework provides design principles for building applications Prolog, older telecom languages Erlang's design for fault-tolerant and distributed systems makes it a choice for telecom and messaging systems. Clojure Functional programming on the JVM Immutability, Functional Runs on JVM, emphasizes immutability JVM startup time; Slower than statically-typed languages Use transducers for efficient data transformation; Understand persistent data structures , Clojure for the Brave and True Clojure Docs *this book teaches you how to love coding, not just Clojure Emphasizes concurrency without locks Java Clojure offers functional programming on the JVM, making it a choice for Java applications looking to adopt functional paradigms. Haskell Pure functional language Pure functions, Immutability Lazy evaluation, strong static typing Complexity due to pure functional paradigm; Lazy evaluation can introduce space leaks Use strictness annotations to control evaluation; Embrace monadic design patterns , Learn You a Haskell Real World Haskell Popular in academic and theoretical computing Imperative and object-oriented languages (e.g., Java, C++) Chosen for its strong emphasis on pure functional programming, leading to more predictable and maintainable code in complex algorithmic development. Ada Emphasizes high-reliability Strong typing, Tasking for concurrency Designed for large, long-lived applications with stringent reliability requirements Verbose syntax; Steeper learning curve Use the package and tasking model effectively; Employ the SPARK subset for high-assurance systems , AdaCore University Ada Programming Wikibook Widely used in aerospace and defense industries Lower-level languages (e.g., Assembly, C) Preferred for its emphasis on safety and reliability in safety-critical applications, such as aerospace and defense, where failure is not an option. But wait, there’s one last thing: I want you to consider one more thing when you choose a language. There’s memory safety, then there’s the people you make memories with. Below is the only AI generated part of our original last year: a Dungeons and Dragons matrix that completely validated my personal thoughts on perl. Gadfly Open Source Zine Alright go have fun. Build something beautiful this year.

Memory Safe Strategy: Mastering the Language Architecture Matrix

Web3 era opens the doorway to Decentralized Identity (DID), a potential game-changer in data sovereignty and digital reputation. This new technology brings an unprecedented shift, placing control back into the users' hands. Unlike the Web2 world where centralized entities dictate identities. In the existing digital landscape, one's reputation, curated by centralized institutions, impacts the interaction dynamics, opportunities, and trust levels within online platforms. However, the disregard for privacy and user control within this system highlights the need for a significant paradigm shift to create a . new reputation economy Web3's decentralization ushers in DIDs, shifting from centralized to self-sovereign identity management. Despite the excitement around this revolution, it presents unique challenges that need thorough exploration and understanding for the effective integration of DIDs into the Web3 space. The Rise of Web3 and the Necessity of Robust Identity Systems The advent of heralds a new age of interconnectedness, where reputation isn't just a casual assessment but a digitally-encoded consensus. The reputation in this decentralized cosmos guides interactions, underlines authority, and empowers negotiations, significantly impacting a user's overall experience. Web3 Web3 marks the transition from centralized identities, inherently flawed with privacy concerns and monopolistic control, to self-sovereign DIDs. hand over the reins of identity management to the users, liberating them from the confined structures of Web2 and opening up a realm of opportunities. DIDs DIDs, in this context, play a pivotal role, especially in DAOs, asset exchanges, and diverse interactions. In a space where trust is a premium and identity becomes a passport to new experiences, DIDs foster a sense of community and equality, crucial for Web3's robust advancement. Current Challenges in DID and Reputation Adoption As DID architecture blossoms, it brings with it a unique set of challenges. On-chain and off-chain data are fragmented, creating a patchwork of information that is difficult to navigate. The disconnected data points shroud an individual's full spectrum identity, posing significant obstacles to DID integration. In an era where personal data has become incredibly valuable, privacy concerns are paramount. The absence of user consent and control over personal data in existing structures dramatically undermines the ideal of self-sovereign identity, highlighting a pressing need for more refined data governance strategies. Arguably, the most complex challenge lies in utilizing reputation effectively within the decentralized realm. Current systems falter in accurately gauging reputation, a critical factor influencing trust, authority, and access to opportunities. The answer lies not just in better technology, but in understanding the human aspect of reputation. The Way Forward: Next-Gen Reputation and Trust Protocols Advanced protocols emerge as vital players in the Web3 domain, carrying a mandate to orchestrate identity and reputation within a decentralized framework. The core of their function lies in translating intricate dynamics of trust into accessible and actionable metrics, helping users navigate the decentralized waters effectively. They strive to unify fragmented on-chain and off-chain data, collating valuable information into comprehensive reputation proofs. This process aids in understanding the complexity of an entity's behavior, reputation, and influence within a network, effectively transforming raw data into intelligence and actionable insights. Moreover, Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) constitute a key pillar within these forward-looking protocols. They serve as the foundations on which users build and project their self-sovereign digital identities, bridging the gap between privacy preservation and data accessibility. Their application in advanced protocols underscores the importance of individual autonomy. Practical Application of Advanced Reputation Protocols for DIDs In the realm of dApp development, advanced reputation protocols are bringing significant value to DID utility. By acting as a middleware, these protocols offer dApp creators the ability to utilize existing models or configure their own, significantly enhancing user interactions and system functionality. A notable feature of these protocols is the facilitation of self-sovereign reputation management for Web3 citizens. Users are empowered to manage and authenticate reputation claims, linking on-chain, off-chain, and in-app data to their DIDs, strengthening their digital presence while preserving privacy. A promising application of these protocols lies in the creation of reputation NFTs. Such tokens allow for the tangible representation of a user's reputation within a network, unlocking new opportunities for status validation, access to services, and participation in digital communities. Individual Use Cases for DID and Reputation Tooling Within the world of DeFi, DAO, and SocialFi, the integration of advanced reputation protocols and DIDs has started to reveal transformative use cases. From enhancing user segmentation in DeFi projects to promoting more equitable voting mechanisms in DAOs, are fostering innovation and inclusion. decentralized reputation tools The intersection of reputation and DIDs reveals compelling scenarios across digital networks. For instance, these elements can play a critical role in granting entry into specific systems, measuring participation, and assessing creditworthiness, establishing a balance between user autonomy and system security. Moreover, the role of advanced reputation protocols and DIDs becomes especially pronounced in content recommendation within SocialFi platforms. The utilization of user-generated data, from token holding to participation in DeFi activities, allows for a more personalized, engaging user experience. As the Web3 ecosystem continues to evolve, the integration of advanced reputation protocols with Decentralized Identifiers is set to profoundly reshape online interactions. By facilitating a more seamless and secure user experience, these tools are paving the way toward a fully decentralized internet. The evolution of DIDs and reputation-based protocols carries immense potential. Looking ahead, these advanced systems will likely serve as the bedrock for further innovation within the decentralized landscape, birthing more robust, user-centric platforms that harmoniously balance privacy with active participation in the digital commons.

Mastering Your Own Matrix: Decentralized Identity (DID) and Reputation in Web3

portrays a grim future in which people’s minds are trapped in a computer-generated simulation while their bodies are harvested for electricity to power robotic metropolises. The Matrix Similarly, modern society’s dependence on technology is not only tangible — our reliance on mechanized means of production for our sustenance and standards of living — but also intangible. Indeed, our growing dependence on digital mediums for subsistence and leisure makes the dystopian future portrayed in bear an increasing resemblance to our reality. The Matrix The deepening human-machine dependence From electricity and refrigeration to transportation and medicine, modern standards of living depend on machines. Similarly, in , the residents of Zion — humankind’s last surviving colony on what remains of Earth after sentient robots usurped control — rely heavily on machinery to survive. As Hamann, a senior council member, notes during a conversation with Neo, “I like to be reminded that this city survives because of these machines.”¹ He gestures toward the vast underground apparatus recycling Zion’s air and water supply, “I think about all those people still plugged into the Matrix and when I look at these machines, I can’t help thinking that in a way, we are plugged into them.”² The Matrix Neo challenges Hamann’s characterization of the human-machine relationship, “We control these machines, they don’t control us…If we wanted, we could shut [them] down.”³ While it is true that the machines keeping Zion alive are created and operated by humans and are no more sentient than our kitchen appliances, turning them off is not a viable option. Zion’s survival depends on the machinery just as much as the machinery depends on Zion for its continued operation. The parallels between the survivors living in Zion and modern society are undeniable but hardly surprising: they both share the same basic needs and necessities such as air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. More striking are the parallels between our reality and the Matrix-conjured virtual world and its inhabitants. From online dating to remote work, success in our personal and professional lives increasingly hinges on what happens on-screen. As the boundary between the digital and analog worlds becomes increasingly blurred, these similarities are growing stronger. We have come to rely on the Internet for navigation, banking, communication, and more. Moreover, from online dating to remote work, success in our personal and professional lives increasingly hinges on what happens on-screen. Even our idle time is spent online: streaming shows on Netflix, watching short-form videos on TikTok, listening to music on Spotify, and countless other forms of digital entertainment. Leisure time used to be active, involving physical interactions with others or with our environment — in the ‘real’ world. Now, however, much of our interactions are digital, taking place in a virtual world. According to a study by Nielsen, the average American adult spent almost 12 hours on-screen in 2019⁴ — nearly three-quarters of their waking hours. More recent studies suggest that screen time has continued to increase around the world, partly due to the lasting effects of the Covid-19 lockdowns. As a result, we have become more passive — a culture of readers rather than speakers, spectators rather than direct participants. This shift is a natural consequence of having much of what we do, think, and feel transpire via a digital medium, such as our smartphones. We might as well be plugged into those devices like the unwitting masses in . The Matrix More than science fiction The parallels between our reality and Wachowskis’ imagination are more than figurative. Every product catering to our digital cravings runs on vast data centers, each consuming as much electricity as a small town. In the United States alone, data centers account for approximately 2% of the country’s total electricity usage,⁵ equivalent to the energy consumption of almost 7 million people.⁶ It is the users’ time and attention — hours of their lives every day — that pays for the data centers’ maintenance and energy bills. We call them “server farms,” but it is the users whose time and data are harvested, making screen-glued netizens eerily reminiscent of the Matrix-plugged souls serving as robotic batteries. The human-machine dependence is mutual — in the movie and the real world alike. Though subjugated, humankind in becomes the lifeblood of the robotic world. Machines grow, harvest, and recycle human bodies in vast dystopian farms as their sole source of electricity. Humans are to machines as agriculture is to humankind. Agent Smith, a sentient program designed by the Machines to keep order in the Matrix, even refers to humans as “crops.”⁷ The Matrix We call them “server farms,” but it is the users whose time and data are harvested, making screen-glued netizens eerily reminiscent of the Matrix-plugged souls serving as robotic batteries. Modern society’s digital pastimes have a similar dependence on their users. The more time we spend interacting with digital entertainment products, the better they get at catering to our cravings. Netflix learns to recommend the types of shows we prefer; TikTok fine-tunes its videos to match our fancy; Spotify adapts its playlists to mirror our music taste. The data we produce through our interactions is the fodder for the recommendation algorithms powering these platforms. The user base of digital platforms is vital not only to their proper functioning but also to their very survival. There would be no or without subscribers and no TikTok or Instagram without the ad revenue made possible by their vast audiences. The history of the Internet, however brief, is littered with corpses of former social media giants that suffocated as their user base dwindled: MySpace, Friendster, Vine, and many more met such untimely demise. Those that survived, such as Yahoo or AOL, are mere shadows of their former selves. Netflix Spotify The Machines operating the Matrix are comparably reliant on their ‘userbase.’ When human crop yields declined in the wake of the ceasefire Neo made possible, it caused an energy shortage so large that Machines turned on each other. General Niobe, humankind’s new leader, retells the events following the human-machine truce: “Nothing can breed violence like scarcity. For the first time, we saw Machines at war with one another.”⁸ The strife for survival in the face of scarce resources echoes the fierce competition among digital giants for our time and attention. Red pill or blue pill? To maximize user engagement, the Internet is shaped by our desire for instant gratification and sensationalism over meaningful, in-depth content. It is a mirror of our desires, not aspirations. Sensationalist, clickbait headlines attract more eyeballs than balanced, long-form journalism. Users’ attention is drawn to tabloid, tragedy, and mindless content such as cat or dance videos in an endless dopamine-driven feedback loop. Similarly, the Matrix is created not as an ideal world — free of war, famine, and disease — but as one its inhabitants desired, with all the good and the bad that comes with the human condition. Agent Smith observes, “I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from.”⁹ Comparing Smith’s observation to the kind of online content that draws the most views and the highest engagement, it is clear that it applies equally to the present-day Internet. It is a reminder that we must be mindful of the content we consume and the role it plays in shaping not only our online spaces but also our perception of reality and each other. Unlike the denizens of the Matrix, who are connected to the digital simulation unknowingly and without consent, we have a great deal of agency over how we spend our time. No one forces us to download TikTok or watch Netflix; we do so by choice. We choose to engage in passive consumption, often over reconnecting with old friends, going to the gym, or doing any number of other activities we, deep down, know we should be doing instead. In the near future, technologies under active development today may bring humanity ever closer to . Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, makes no secret of his company’s ambition to create a ‘metaverse’ where many of our real-world interactions would be made possible through virtual reality with ever-increasing fidelity.¹⁰ That we would enter those worlds by donning a virtual reality headset rather than by plugging a cable into our nape like Neo or Trinity would become an increasingly meaningless distinction. The Matrix As technology continues to penetrate ever deeper into our lives, we must reflect on our digital habits and consider the implications of our increasing dependence on our devices. Screen time should enhance our lives, not hinder them. Like Neo confronted by Morpheus in ’s most iconic scene — a colorful pill in each hand — the choice is ultimately ours. The Matrix Lead image generated with stable diffusion. Prompt: Illustrate characters from the Matrix This article first appeared here. References [1] (2003), directed by Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski. The Matrix Reloaded [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] (2019), The Nielsen Company. The Nielsen Total Audience Report [5] (2023), Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Data Centers and Servers [6] Based on compiled by the . statistics U.S. Department of Energy [7] (1999), directed by Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski. The Matrix [8] (2021), directed by Lana Wachowski. Matrix Resurrections [9] (1999), directed by Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski. The Matrix [10] K. Wagner, “ ” (2021), . Zuckerberg Says Facebook’s Future Lies in Virtual Metaverse Bloomberg

From Sci-Fi to Reality: The Matrix as a Mirror of Our Screen-Centric World

সাই-ফাই থেকে বাস্তবে: আমাদের স্ক্রিন-কেন্দ্রিক বিশ্বের আয়না হিসাবে ম্যাট্রিক্স

Von Science-Fiction zur Realität: Die Matrix als Spiegel unserer bildschirmzentrierten Welt

De la ciencia ficción a la realidad: Matrix como espejo de nuestro mundo centrado en la pantalla

De la science-fiction à la réalité : la matrice comme miroir de notre monde centré sur l'écran

विज्ञान-कथा से वास्तविकता तक: हमारी स्क्रीन-केंद्रित दुनिया के दर्पण के रूप में मैट्रिक्स

SF から現実へ: スクリーン中心の世界の鏡としてのマトリックス

공상과학에서 현실까지: 화면 중심 세계를 반영하는 매트릭스

Da ficção científica à realidade: Matrix como um espelho de nosso mundo centrado na tela

Bilim Kurgudan Gerçeğe: Ekran Merkezli Dünyamızın Aynası Olarak Matrix

Từ khoa học viễn tưởng đến hiện thực: Ma trận như một tấm gương phản chiếu thế giới lấy màn hình làm trung tâm của chúng ta

从科幻到现实：矩阵作为我们以屏幕为中心的世界的镜子

As you are getting older and not necessarily wiser, your perception and interpretation of The Matrix changes dramatically. When I was still studying, The Matrix used to be a great SF movie for me. Nothing more. Then I got my first job and Matrix became a philosophical movie with a deeper meaning. Now, as a freelancer, Matrix is a horror movie for me. Why? Please, Take Me Back to The 9-to-5 Matrix When I look myself in the mirror, I see Morpheus. He’s laughing at me. You know what? He’s right. I got you, didn’t I? Back then, Neo used to be our hero. A few years later, that guy Cypher makes perfect sense to me. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? It’s that scene where Cypher and Agent Smith discuss the curse of the red pill. https://youtu.be/OLv6ycYcpGI?embedable=true Is there a freelancer who didn’t want to go back, even for a moment? The security of the 9-to-5 work zone and the beauty of regular paychecks. Sometimes, I really miss those days. Cypher got it right. Ignorance is truly bliss. The “Double Agents” Don’t Need Red and Blue Pills I have frenemies. I call them double agents. They call me — stupid. They’re pragmatic. I’m proud. They can exist in both worlds at the same time. They have their regular jobs and they freelance at night. Some of them jump in and out. They spend some time in an office. Then, they take a break and freelance full-time. Then, they get back, and so on and so forth. It works for them. The Nebuchadnezzar crew could learn a lot from these double agents. There’s no need to wage a war against the machines. You spend some time in the Matrix. When you get tired of the virtual world, you explore the real world with Morpheus. You don’t rub the machines and Agent Smith the wrong way. Everybody is happy. This could have worked just fine for both parties, but no, they wanted and eventually succeeded in destroying a perfect illusion. Should I become a cyber-double-agent? I just can’t. I won’t. I guess that makes me Neo who has a Cypher’s dilemma from time to time. Freedom is the most expensive word in freelancing. Dear Agent Smith, I would like to cancel our appointment. Let’s just stay in touch for the time being. Regarding your polite request to get you the number of the woman in the red dress, I have to respectfully decline it. She prefers a real relationship if you know what I mean. Thank you for your time and understanding. Yours sincerely, Neo Cypher

Agent Smith, Take Me Back to The 9-to-5 Matrix

Agente Smith, llévame de vuelta a la matriz de 9 a 5

Agent Smith, ramenez-moi à la matrice 9-à-5

एजेंट स्मिथ, मुझे 9-टू-5 मैट्रिक्स पर वापस ले जाएं

エージェント スミス、私を 9 対 5 のマトリックスに戻してください

Agente Smith, leve-me de volta à matriz das 9 às 5

Đặc vụ Smith, Đưa tôi trở lại Ma trận 9 ăn 5

特工史密斯，带我回到朝九晚五的矩阵

shows that 86% of employees believe ineffective communication is the underlying reason for workplace failures. At , we understood this from the inside. A study Eagle Genomics The company was rapidly growing and hiring new employees from different countries and time zones to work remotely. So, we faced a new challenge — miscommunication which caused chaos — not everyone knew their tasks. We had to solve this problem before it got worse, and the RACI matrix was a great method to do that. Let me explain why. What Is the RACI Matrix? RACI is a framework that helps to clarify who does what in a project. It makes it simple to discuss roles and responsibilities within the company and make sure you have all the necessary people to start a project. Another thing: employees should understand not only their roles but their colleagues` as well. The RACI acronym means: Responsible: the person who does the work. Accountable: the boss who delegates the work, but ultimately is responsible for the final result to higher-ups, clients, or other relevant parties. Consulted: the people who give advice and help before the work is done. Informed: the people you keep updated on the progress. Here's our example of the RACI matrix at the project start with the use of the Miro sample: It takes a maximum of 20 minutes to define roles as we had decided to make the matrix separately for each team. On the y-axis, we listed project tasks, and on the x-axis — roles. Positive Changes We Got at the End 1. Improved communication between employees The RACI matrix is useful in the whole project cycle, not just at the beginning of it. It helps to talk to the right people at the right time — no need to involve every team member in every decision. As a result, this makes it easier to communicate and make decisions quickly. 2. Avoided overloads on the project I have often seen situations when managers take on a lot of responsibility and cover multiple roles in a project. In the end, they just burn out or even have some health problems. The RACI chart, on the contrary, lets managers delegate tasks and reach set goals without bad consequences. 3. Could oversee issues with the lack of roles The matrix helps to ensure everyone is working towards the same goals and that their actions are aligned with the overall project objectives. Pitfalls We Faced and How to Avoid Them At the first glance, the benefits seem amazing. Nevertheless, there was a place for mistakes as well. Here's a list of them to consider and make the RACI work: 1. Thinking big It is a bad practice to implement the matrix immediately at the company level if the business is big. I work in quite a big company with 100+ employees, 15 various teams, and areas they specialize in. As a result, we spent more than 2 months only on building the RACI chart. That's how we aimed to blow: Solution: Start with small teams and scale further to the whole company — do it little by little. 2. Involving everyone from the start In my case, we wanted everyone to take part in building the matrix. But it didn't work well — we were struggling with coming to the optimal solutions as everyone had different opinions or even hardly knew what the RACI matrix is. Solution: Form a group of company “evangelists” from all areas of work, and build the matrix with them. Only after getting it ready involve other employees — explain how it will work, and start using it. 3. Being too abstract To generalize the process, we included all the possible consultative and responsive roles — you can clearly see it in the picture below by the number of roles in circles for different tasks. In theory, it seemed good, but in practice, it turned out differently. The teams did not understand their responsibilities, got confused, and started making their own RACI matrix version. Solution: Be specific — don't generalize by including all the possible roles for the task. Better to make sure everyone knows exactly what they need to do and can use the tool without any confusion or delays. 4. Creating an overly complicated RACI Some companies put too many tasks on the RACI matrix, which makes it difficult for their employees to understand where to start. As a result, they just get overwhelmed and can't manage the workload. Solution: Focus on 8-10 most critical activities. If needed, break the plan into several separate RACI charts. 5. Not explaining to the workers why you are using RACI You can come across the issue that some workers have not heard about the RACI matrix and its approach. If so, it would be a challenge for them to use it. Besides, it is not the best communication approach to let people think they are imposed from the above. Solution: Plan a meeting where you tell your colleagues about the RACI matrix, its benefits, and which specific problem you want to prevent by implementing it. A good thing is to use a short presentation — workers will be able to look through it from time to time to understand the method better.

What You Should Know Before Using the RACI Matrix: Benefits and Lessons Learned From Mistakes

Urgent vs Important: How To Fix Your Priorities Thanks to a study called ' ', we finally have evidence behind a bad habit most of us are guilty of: prioritizing urgent tasks over important ones. The Mere Urgency Effect We're more likely to focus on time-sensitive tasks even if they're not as value-driving as other tasks. Are you confused by the two adjectives I just compared? 'Urgent' and 'important' mean the same thing – don't they? Not quite. If you spend your days putting out fires and never feeling fulfilled by the tasks you get done, you're likely prioritizing urgent tasks – aka, those with deadlines – over important tasks that deliver more value in the long run. Enter the Eisenhower Matrix, an easy-to-understand and highly effective way of organizing tasks so that you can focus on what really matters in life. Let's take a closer look. Urgent and Important Are Not the Same Urgent tasks have a funny way of feeling much more important than they actually are. Whether it's the deadline associated with them, the pressure from a colleague to get it done, or simply their sense of immediacy, urgent tasks can seem like they're the be-all and end-all. They take so much of our attention, in fact, that we forget about the important tasks – things that help us reach our long-term goals; things that have a higher payout than smaller urgent tasks. Are You Prioritizing Low-Value Tasks? I'm going to pose a scenario to you. See if you can relate: It's 8 am on Monday morning. This week, your goal is to upgrade the onboarding pipeline for new users. Making it smoother and more intuitive will bring a lot more clients on board and increase your company's profits substantially. You plan on spending the first two hours of each day working toward this goal. Upon opening your laptop, however, you're immediately bombarded with emails requesting small changes to existing web pages. You can clearly see that the updates will make a difference, but they won't move the needle on your onboarding project. But... they're urgent. And your colleagues clearly need them done ASAP. By the time you're finished implementing these small changes, your two hours are up, and you need to move on to your other daily responsibilities. You haven't had a chance to work on the onboarding project. Sound Familiar? What often happens in this situation is we're so driven by the need to meet deadlines (official or self-imposed) that we skip the process of assessing which task is more valuable. Believe it or not, someone in history who deeply understood this fallacy – and worked to resolve it in his own life – was the 34th US president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He said: "Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future." Eisenhower believed that urgent tasks aren't always important and that important tasks aren't always urgent. And – thanks to Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – we can now understand exactly what he meant. The Eisenhower Matrix Covey created the Eisenhower Matrix to help the everyday hero prioritize tasks and projects. I personally live by this approach because, like many of you, my life as an entrepreneur is filled to the brim with 'urgent' tasks. The Matrix is simple; it sorts your tasks into one of four squares, all of which correspond to a different plan of attack. Visualize it as a two-by-two grid with 'urgent' and 'not urgent' on the x-axis and 'important' and 'not important' on the y-axis. Here's a breakdown of each square. 1. Urgent and Important Here, the time-sensitive and the high-value tasks collide. These are the tasks that need to be handled immediately. They'll require your full attention and should be taken care of as soon as possible. For example, I'd consider these to be both urgent and important: An emergency meeting with a large client who is considering leaving your business. It's urgent because they're just moments away from walking out the door, and it's important because a successful negotiation could mean maintained profits in the long run. A website bug fix that is driving away customers. You are literally losing money with each passing minute – so of course, you must fix this issue as soon as possible. Offboarding a disgruntled client. While there isn't an immediate financial consequence, it's still important to handle this quickly before any further damage is done. You can't predict how this client will react to the termination of their contract or whether they will attempt to sabotage your business in some way. To accurately determine which tasks are 'urgent and important', this needs to be a very intentional planning process – or your brain will default to prioritizing all tasks based on urgency alone. 2. Urgent, But Not Important These are tasks that require your attention but do not have a significant impact on the bottom line. You can safely delegate these to other team members (and you should, as soon as possible). I'm referring to tasks like: Submitting projects to clients. You're abiding by a pre-determined deadline, but it's a low-skill task that does not require your personal attention. Get someone else to take care of submissions. Proofreading this week's company e-newsletter. Even if you're committed to sending these out on the same day every week, you don't personally need to take care of the proofreading. That's what editors are for. Answering customer inquiries that don't relate to urgent orders or complaints. These can be handled by your support team without any additional involvement from you. Delegation is one of the most powerful skills you can master. (I'll cover that in a later newsletter, don't worry!) 3. Not Urgent, but Important Here, things get interesting. These are the tasks that can easily be pushed to the bottom of your priorities list because they don't appear urgent – but they should never be ignored. These are the tasks that will have a long-term or preventative impact on your business: Developing new marketing strategies for acquiring customers in competitive markets. This requires research and brainstorming, and it will take some time. But it's important to stay ahead of the competition and acquire customers in a way that is both cost-effective and long-lasting. Conducting team training sessions. L&D may not seem urgent, but high morale is essential for any business – and you can't expect your team members to be well-versed in their roles without proper training sessions. Gathering feedback from customers. Feedback is the best way to ensure that your products and services are meeting their needs. And, it's important for understanding what you can do better in the future. So that you don't forget about these tasks or push them down your list for too long, they need to be scheduled. Set up a recurring task in your calendar to work on these 'not urgent, but important' tasks. 4. Not Urgent, and Not Important Finally, let's talk about the delete pile. (Trust me – you don't need to think twice about these.) If you've got tasks on your list that are unimportant and not at all timebound, they're quite simply a waste of your time. A few examples include: Going down the LinkedIn rabbit hole. You might disguise this as 'competitor research', but let's be honest – all it does is dampen your confidence and make you compare your progress to other comparable startups. Attending events that have no purpose. Networking is an excellent thing to do. If you're simply attending something for a good social media post, however, it's a waste of your time. Updating company job listings. Are you happy with your current team? Have new applicants been flowing in? If so, doing things like updating job descriptions is not progress; it's procrastination. Some of these tasks can be eliminated altogether, while others can be safely forgotten about until a later date. Build an Eisenhower Habit As the study I mentioned earlier confirmed, we humans are impulsive with our prioritization. We're going to default to the tasks that feel most urgent. That is, unless we intentionally build a habit of using the Eisenhower Matrix. Carve out a few minutes each morning to review your task list and categorize each one according to the matrix. You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll start to see a difference in the way you prioritize your tasks – and, as a result, get more done. Good luck!

How to Fix Your Priorities Using the Eisenhower Matrix

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At , we said over and over that web scraping is getting more complex. Anti-bot software requires more advanced solutions, leading to higher computing and memory costs. The Web Scraping Club There’s also a less visible cost, which is the complexity of the web scraping infrastructure: since there's no silver bullet or magic solution that fits every case, the modern web scraper needs a full array of tools in his belt to tackle different cases. In this post, we’ll see some of the tools I’m using daily to tackle the most common anti-bot solutions and how, through a quick test, they behave against them. The Chosen Tools As a python developer, basically my potential toolset of headful browsers is restricted to: Selenium Undetected Chromedriver Playwright (in different sauces) Pyppeteer + stealth And that’s the reason why you won’t find puppeteer or cheerio in the following tests. Selenium Given that, you won’t find Selenium: in my opinion, it has lost some appeal in the latest years, specifically from when Playwright has been released. It relies on standard web drivers which are not meant to be used for web scraping and can be easily detected by anti-bot software. Undetected Chromedriver On the other hand, you can get a better result at a fraction of the complexity using the undetected_chromedriver python package. In this case, you’re still using a web driver, but one that is modified and compiled with the final purpose to be used in web scraping projects. Playwright Playwright was released in 2020, and at the moment, it’s my favorite tool because of its flexibility and ease of usage. After the installation (via pip), you can start right with 3 different browsers, both in headful or headless mode. And if you need more, you can install other clients like Chrome (instead of the chromium bundled) or some compatible anti-detect browser like GoLogin, to get more options for your scrapers. Even Playwright is not meant for web scraping, and there was a plugin for customizing the bundled browsers, but it's not been updated for a too long time and is no more effective. But playing around with the right combo of browser and settings, to me, it’s my first choice. Pyppeteer It’s an unofficial porting in Python of Puppeteer, the original project of browser automation from where Playright took “inspiration”. I don’t find any reason actually to prefer it to Playwright, but it’s another option worth mentioning. It has a stealth module but, at least in these tests, it didn’t work as expected. The Tested Antibots In this post, we’ll see how the tools mentioned before perform against the most well-known anti-bot solutions. We will perform a generic page load test on 5 different websites, one per solution. It cannot be an exhaustive test, since every website can have a different setup and different rules to block or not suspicious traffic. On top of that, by loading only one page, we cannot test if the behavior of a spider written using one of the tools could be marked as a bot. And, last but not least, there will be cases where some sections of websites (like the login pages) would be protected by stricter rules than the home page. Given that, our test could be a good starting point to understand which tool is more convenient to start with. Cloudflare Cloudflare Bot Management solution utilizes a combination of signature-based detection and machine learning algorithms to accurately identify and classify bot traffic. The solution also offers rate-limiting, CAPTCHA challenges, and JavaScript challenges to mitigate the impact of bots on a website's security, performance, and user experience. It’s one of the most used and strongest solutions to bypass if configured in a strict way. PerimeterX PerimeterX uses real-time behavior analysis and machine learning to detect and block bots in real time while allowing legitimate traffic to pass through. Compared to Cloudflare Bot Management, PerimeterX also focuses on real-time behavior analysis and machine learning, including, at the same time, the ability to detect advanced bots that use techniques like IP hopping, browser fingerprinting, and headless browsing. In our tests, we’ll see it will be the easiest to bypass, at least for the website we considered. Datadome Datadome is another anti-bot solution with all the features mentioned before; for our tests, it was the hardest to consistently bypass. Typically, we could load the target page for the first time with every solution, but if we try to test it for a second time from the same IP, the load will fail. Kasada I think it’s the youngest solution on the market between the ones tested here, and it’s the most recognizable. When loading inside your browser a website protected with Kasada for the first time, you should notice in the network tab of the developers’ tool window a 429 error. This is the “challenge” that Kasada sends to the browser and, if it is solved, then you get redirected to the target website. It is called a zero-trust security policy. F5 In my filter bubble (fashion e-commerces), I don’t see many F5-protected websites, but when configured strictly, it’s not that easy to bypass. It seems to rely heavily on AI to detect strange behavior in the users, but even loading a single page of our testing website was not simple. Loading... The Tests Results The last image says almost everything, but if you want more, you can continue reading on the full article. The Web Scraping Club Also published here

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