« World's Largest Crossword Puzzle | Home | Button Bowl »
November 26, 2005
Über–Mathematician Stephen Wolfram Breaks It Down — For Your Cell Phone
Just out from the mighty mind of Mathematica creator Stephen Wolfram are Wolfram Tones — custom, one–of–a–kind ring tones for your phone.
Matt Brady wrote, in the current (December) issue of Wired magazine:
- Start by selecting a musical style (rock, hip hop, classical), then specify secondary parameters, such as pitch or specific instruments.
Wolfram's algorithms will spin your composition into a unique beat, complete with a visual representation of its computational makeup (cellular automaton pattern, in Wolfram-speak).
The price per download: two bucks.
Who knew computational irreducibility could be so funky?
********************
No, Benoit Mandelbrot, last I heard, has no plans to market fractal
ringtones — at least, he hadn't up till now.
Once he sees Wolfram cleaning up
he might well change his mind.
November 26, 2005 at 02:01 PM | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5dea53ef00d83462e5bc53ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Über–Mathematician Stephen Wolfram Breaks It Down — For Your Cell Phone:
Comments
I did some research on Wolfram's ringtones in September and the most interesting part of the story to me was that Wolfram developed the program because he wanted a unique ringtone for his own program. (I, coincidentally, have "Scooby Dooby Doo, Where Are You?" as my ring. I can honestly say I have never heard it used anywhere else...yet. And it impresses the hell out of my son.)
After finding simple, algorithmic answers to many questions that remain unexplained by traditional theories, Wolfram self-published the results of his work in a book, A New Kind of Science (2002). Since publishing the book, Wolfram has been pondering the almost limitless applications he sees for NKS. He tells Otis Port in BusinessWeek (Oct. 3, 2005), "Look at almost any area - nanotechnology or drug design or network routing or all sorts of other things - and NKS can provide fascinating insights and new technologies."
He used the Wolfram ringtones program to prove his point.
If you're interested in reading more about the book, he offers some sample pages online: http://www.wolframscience.com/preview/
Posted by: Shawn Lea | Nov 28, 2005 3:57:14 PM
I had an idea once of having your sweeties voice as the ringtone. Like, when your phone rings, instead of the ring you hear,
"Hi baby, its me, Joey"
I think its a great idea I just don't know how it could be done. I am sure some puter geek will know and take it to the bank. Once again, thanking bookofjoe for the idea.
Posted by: justanothermillion | Nov 27, 2005 12:21:27 AM
Thanks Joe! I'm into different cell tones - the one I have now, folks say sounds like a door bell. This site will give me a unique and hopefully pleasant tone.
Posted by: mattp9 | Nov 26, 2005 6:04:59 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
