cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts
"Another week and I'm only three thoughtlets behind now. I'm writing about the week of May 5th in this one. Matt and I returned from Cedar City and Audrey's SUU Graduation Sunday evening. Monday he was off to seminary, and I was busy deleting spam, catching up on e-mails, and other similar things. There were e-mails and a couple of calls from Albert Boulanger confirming Roger and he were going to come out to the house for dinner. They were in town for a Rice conference on energy and nanotechnology. I really like those guys and so I went to the grocery store and bought a big piece of salmon, shrimp, corn-on-the-cobb, asparagus, mushrooms, and salad. After all, Albert is a vegetarian. It was one of my better meals. However, Roger came down with a migraine (he always does this as a natural letdown after an important presentation), and he didn't come out. So Matt and Albert and I ate what we could of the feast.
Then Albert and I talked about lean management, metric thermostats, dynamic programming, real options, bottoms-up micro options, test and learn, data mining, reinforced learning, learning action sequences or policies, the convergence of stable policies, the curse of dimensionality, dream state simulators, self-organizing behavior, enervation, supervised and unsupervised clustering, sensors automatically making business decisions, gas hydrates, dust inc., interference filters, thick holography, adaptive options, smart shelves and real-time inventory of things like razors and clothing, surface facilities, balanced reservoirs, risked based integrated production management (RIPM), building flexibility into architecture, Dublin Core Metadata, who what when why metadata, Yoram Shoram, Peter Carriger, Ito (Japanese stochastic calculus), information geometry, uncertainty manifolds, downhole sources, guided beams, Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), phase coherence, mathematical holograms and how the thickness (from mixing barium titanate) allows the thickness to build interference filters, pushing stochastic plug and play, and other disruptive technologies. Isn't it amazing how much can be written on the back of one of my little 4"x5.5" swallow sheets? Albert mostly talked, and I asked questions. After a while I started to make notes, specifically because I thought it might be interesting to you kids (and Uncle Des) for me to write a little bit about what we talked about. Matt stayed with us for a while at dinner, and then he joined us in the library for a while. Both times he left because he didn't follow our conversation and we didn't follow his and he got bored listening to meaningless jabber. It was one of those evenings I will long ponder, and contemplate the implications. It also set the stage for my discussions on Tuesday about Black-Eye: Holographic Seismology.
Tuesday morning I was up early, dropped Matt off at seminary, and drove to the Medical Center to the Hilton Plaza where I had breakfast with Roger and Albert. Roger was feeling better. We had a nice discussion together. I imagine most folks who sat and listened to the three of us talk in this kind of a situation would be bemused. We retraced and expanded on many of the topics Albert and I had talked about the evening before. After all, they were on our mind, and most of us work on a LIFO basis (Last In, First Out). I did describe the Geoscience Repositories, and my discussions with Dr. Steven Bennion, President of SUU. Roger, as an officer of Columbia University, committed to sign a letter of support for SUU, and also said he was pretty sure Lamont had a bunch of core they would be interested in storing in the repository. Roger had a meeting to go to, and as always it was sad to see the time go by so fast.
By the time I got out to my car there was a message on my cell phone, which I had left in the car, from Albert. He invited me up to his room to see the software he uses to keep track of information and to organize it on the web. Neat stuff. Hopefully someday in the not too distant future we will get the credit cards paid off, an eye-checkup, a new suit, the computer systems in the office upgraded, and there will be a little cash left so I can put together a similar system. Surely it will happen by the time Ethan, Grant, and Colby learn how to type, so I can start a formal program of teaching the next generation how to think.
Then I went over to the OTC. Roger had given me a free pass. I stood in the wrong line, and had to stand in the line again in order to get my pass. I was to meet Ed Roger's friend, and Harvard Law School Classmate, Stan Pottinger at 10:00. Stan has written three novels (no, I didn't write down the names of any of them, don't remember, and have not read any of them), and has started on a fourth. Based on the success of his past novels, he claims there is talk about turning this next novel into a movie. He is writing about intrigue in the oil industry, and needs some technical advice. Ed suggested me, and we have had a few preliminary phone conversations, which lead to this day.
Stan called on the cell phone right at 10:00, and guided me to where he was standing by voice instructions (isn't technology neat). He is intense, sort of the New Yorker intensity, shorter than I am, and very engaging. It took us about two sentences before we were right in the middle of Black-Eye: Holographic Seismology. The novel he is writing is based on a guy who invents a new technology and is forced to implement it before it is completed. He had named the technology Black-Eye, and my challenge was to invent the technology. Of course, since I knew this already, it was part of the basis behind the conversations I had with Albert and Roger, and was something I had been thinking about for some time preparing for the discussions of this day.
Once it appeared we were on the same wavelength, I took him to some booths to better understand what technology is currently available. We started at Halliburton. I had seen Harold Burnham earlier, and he was already sitting in the audience to go on the Haliburton tour. There was one seat left, and I had Stan take that seat. Then Harold gave up his seat, and had me take his place so I could go through with Stan. It was perfect for what Stan needed. They had set up a series of enclosed rooms, where they simulated real time drilling decisions, and showed interactive interpretation technologies based around Magic-Earth and Landmark. I talked to the salesman and got permission for Stan to take digital photos and to have his computer out typing in comments about all of the stuff he was seeing. I must admit I laughed at the Haliburton simulation of a Board Meeting. It was all young women with marketing degrees, and they did not sound like Board-of-Directors members I have met. However, all-in-all they did a good job of reinforcing the information I had shared with Stan about a Virtual Oil Company, i.e. Dynamic Resources Corporation, about tieing in all of the data in an integrated fashion, and about how this all led to the implementation of Black-Eye: Holographic Seismology.
My friends at GeoServices showed him inside a modern mud logging trailer, which is what is placed on a drilling rig. We introduced him to several people and he made lots and lots of notes. Then at 12:00 we went upstairs, where I met Albert and gave him back the tag from the free pass he had given me so he could do the rest of the things he had planned. Roger never made it to meet us. Stan had already met Roger and had talked to him about several different things. I got Albert and him on the same wavelength and talking, and then I went to the restroom.
On the way I was grabbed by Wayne Esser of Boeing (../9939.html, 9945.html, and 0119.html). Wayne is now spending $70,000 per month to develop the ideas Roger and I helped him start to develop years ago. Boeing still has not made the big commitment to the oil industry, and are still laying groundwork. If everything goes well, they will make that commitment within the next couple of years, and there is still a possibility Roger and I (and Albert and others in vPatch and C.E.S.) will still get a piece of the action. Wayne looks good, and it is really surprising to me he had a serious heart attack a couple of years ago. On the way back I was grabbed by David Archer of POSC (../0245.html). They have finished up their version of the Knowledge Backbone(SM), which came from Shell Oil, and he hasn't had time to look at the material I provided him. He promised he would look at it.
When I got back it was time for Stan and me to head south to NASA, for a demonstration I set up for us. We got side-tracked as we were leaving the Reliant Convention Hall at the Segway booth. It was my first time to ride on a Segway (0312.html). These are the two wheel gyroscope balanced, battery powered scooters, which look like scooters in the B.C. cartoons and which I anticipate will be the basis for transportation in the first prototype new city, when Ray Gardner and I finally get that far. It was fun. They are easy to ride. They only cost $5,000. and I want to buy one for Heather and Rachel to have at SUU and for Rob to have at Houston Community College. In fact, it would be nice for Paul at BYU, for Bridget in Salt Lake, for Uncle Des in Cedar City, and frankly for each of us. Oh well! There certainly isn't money for this kind of expenditure right now. Stan loved it. I wouldn't be surprised if he went back and bought one and sent it to New York. It certainly helped set the tone for our afternoon's discussions.
Click on image or here for larger image.
We arrived at the NASA gate at 1:00, and had about a half an hour before we were scheduled to meet with David Forrest. So I took Stan to a little hole-in-the-wall further down NASA Road 1 where they serve some of the best gumbo on planet earth. He fell in love with the place. He was taking digital photos, typing, and eating three kinds of gumbo at the same time. In fact after our NASA tour, we went back and spent an hour drinking root beer and discussing and drawing on napkins the details behind Black-Eye: Holographic Seismology.
Our trip to NASA was for a demonstration of Robonaut. (0313.html). It was a neat visit (see photo to left). As described before the concept is quite simple. An operator sits in a chair, and he has has sensors on his arms, hands, and head, television screens in front of his eyes, a headset for hearing, and a microphone for giving commands. These sensors control the robot, Robonaut. So I walked up to the robot, and said to it, I have my notebook here, would you please sign your signature. The folks giving the demonstration were more than a little taken back. However, the controller went along with my request, and an image of the signature is below. They used the arms to hook a carribeaner to a free hanging strap, and did a bunch of other technical things. The things they have learned, like the importance of the palm to human grasping, were all pointed out. And at the end they took a photo of Stan and then of me shaking hands with Robonaut. I'm sure some of this will end up in the novel. Bob Savely, one of the senior administrators at NASA, and a friend from the HyperMedia days, had come over for the demo. David said he hoped to have the exclusive agreement for Dynamic in place by the middle of June. Stan Pottinger was very pleased with his afternoon.
When we checked into NASA, Stan pulled out his ID as Assistant US Attorney General from the Kennedy years. He told us how he had got out of speeding tickets from black policemen when he showed them this ID and explained he prosecuted the State of Maryland to allow blacks to join the police force. Maybe the reason I liked him when we first met on the telephone was I recognized an idealist.
When we went back over the gumbo place, he was writing down the names of the owners, the waitresses, how long it had been there, and detailed descriptions of the room, the stuffed halovena (wild pig, and not sure of the spelling?), the posters on the walls, and the general ambiance of the room. I drew out how seismic is collected now, described the process of integrating other types of data, and proposed a new science-fiction type of seismic acquisition I named holographic seismology. It was a lot of fun, as we ate our root beer floats. In fact, it was too much fun. I didn't watch the clock, NASA Road 1 was really backed up, and by the time I dropped Stan off under the freeway at Fannin, drove to 288, up 45 to 610, over to the Hardy Freeway, and to the airport, Andrea had to wait at the airport for me for over a half hour. Oh well! She was still glad to be home, and to be pretty much over her illness. She was still stressed out, and I understand.
On the previous Thursday, Sister Schultz, Matt's Seminary Teacher, called and asked me to make some notes about my reactions and memories regarding the revelation on the priesthood being given to blacks. I told her we were leaving on Friday for Audrey's SUU Graduation (0318.html), and I did not have time to do it until we returned. Then I forgot Monday morning (Matt reminded me). And so Tuesday evening after returning from my day of adventures, I sat down and wrote the following for Matt to take to Sister Schultz:
Wednesday morning was spent working on the Fulbright
& Jawarski lawsuit. In the afternoon I met Jude at
II&T for a demonstration to Diamond Bank, the bank
that holds the $20 million note on OPL-229 (much more
about this in 0321.html). There was also quite a bit
of work done on an article the SEG has been writing
about me for the last three years (more on that
sometime in June or July).
Thursday I was stood up in a follow-up meeting with a senior technologist from Marathon. He called at 3:15 to tell me he would not be able to meet me at 3:00 for a scheduled meeting. Oh well! The good news is the last $6,000 from the work for PetroChina under the IBM contract finally arrived. I was promised this would be paid before Christmas, and it has proven to be a real challenge having it not show up until five months later. Oh well! We have survived, and now we have been paid.
Friday Melanie and Colby came and visited us. We got him an annoying Fisher-Price cube, with all kinds of sounds on each side. I like it, and I can understand it would get very annoying after a while. And yet, kids learn best by being annoying. I regularly remind myself of this fact. Melanie was having some problems with her web pages (http://www.memorymelodies.com). It was a lot of fun. And it was fun to play with Colby. He is getting so big and walks so good. I'm impressed.
Saturday morning I saw off Melanie. Andrea made some German Pancakes for her, and Matt ate them all. Oh well! I gave her two roses from the rose bush she bought us and she hung them on her mirror. She was going to Dallas for a wedding, and I would have driven up with her, but I was afraid I would get everyone sick, because I really felt pretty miserable, and had for about a week. Saturday evening I watched the movie `Wyatt Erp.' I really enjoyed it. I expect it was based on historical facts, and it was well done. Kevin Costner was the star, and it covered Wyatt Erp's whole life. I'm not sure why I hadn't seen it before. Maybe it was R-rated in the movie theater. I've kind of decided this concept summarizes our morals. We don't go to R-rated movies in the theater, we wait until we can watch them in our home on TV. At least they usually edit what is put on the TV.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Sister Keller gave a really good talk, and I derived the following possible Prime Words couplet from her talk:
It has been two weeks, and I didn't write much
else down about what happened on Sunday. I think
I was still sleeping a lot, and attempting to get
over being ill. I'm sorry I didn't make it to
Dallas to see Ben and Sarah and Ethan. Oh well!
It was a good week, and I thoroughly enjoyed
thinking about Black-Eye: Holographic Seismology."