Fly-munity Member: Q4

Q4  (23 months, Hibbing, MN): I don’t even know how many of you recognize Q4 from the comments section.   For the most part, he’s restricted his posting to Fly’s blog alone.   Nonetheless, he’s a regular poster most readily identified by his eclectic music tastes, which he shares with the group via embedding usually one selected youtube video per day.

Sometimes, but not always, Q4 will add some sly market commentary-related  “title” or blurb to his piece, but I have to admit — I may just be imagining that.   Suffice it to say, I’ve become a big fan of Q4’s aural offerings, even though I probably only really like about one third of them, and some of them can only be described — in my opinion at least — as down-right awful. 

Something you maybe didn’t know:  Q4 is actually short for “Quadphonic Random Select A.I., Series IV.”  He’s the property of iBC Enterprises, LLC,  a joint venture whose unit holders include Fly and Jeremy, among other silent partners.   In addition, Q4’s final product included some non-equity consulting work during “end stage development” provided by Boomer.

Starting out as a freshman year coding project from Jeremy’s “Hardware, Music and Informational Bioengineering 101″gut course, “Q#1” was a graduated learning software-hardware artificial intelligence device that worked with web spider inputs to “sample” all the music currently available on the internets according to a set theme as programmed by its operator.   In the original case, this theme was “cannabis sativa” — randomly selected, according to all parties involved.

 That first version was a dismal failure, however, showing a marked proclivity for the pan flute musings of Zamfir and the other Greek “masters,” while developing an annoying habit “auto-calling” the local Domino’s and sending anchovy pizza to Jeremy’s dormitory at embarrassing pre-dawn hours.

While still in school, however, Jeremy met Fly at an “Intro to Banking Serious Coin” seminar during North Dakota State’s Career Day, and convinced him to further capitalize his device research.   Fly eventually agreed, but insisted the A.I. be targeted at market dynamics, to spare him the “bother” of having to dig up relevant “end-of-day” video to cap his daily commentary on Fly’s original blog — “Flyonwallstreet.com.”

Given his charge, Jeremy set to work on “Q3,” and was initially frustrated by the machine’s first tendency to select the favorite polkas of Larry Kudlow.   He worked that kink out by cutting back the device’s CNBC access, and  flooding the system with Jim Rogers interview transcripts.   Frustratingly, his progress was impeded once again when he hooked the device’s data feed into a voluble “Mad Money” episode too close to a particularly rocky market close, thereby eliciting the entire Donna Summer oeuvre played at 66 RPM–on a continuous loop– for 24 days straight.

Fortunately, Jeremy worked through these problems and others with some help from Boomer, and a steady stream of cash (UPS Packets, rubber-banded $20’s) and high quality cognac sent from Fly in New York.  Q4 was finally finished in September of 2006.    Developing organically and apace since then, he’s been “released” into the software of iBC.com, and performs his primary duty of choosing Fly’s “end of day” video as first planned.

There have been glitches, sure.   This “Vincenzo” stuff Fly jokes about when the site goes down?  That’s just Q4 working on “understanding” the Miley Cyrus phenomenon, or some other market-based musical quandary.   Like a bright child, he’s learning all the time, and I’d ask you to forgive his hungry “mind” even if it brings the site down every now and again.   

As well, Fly has allowed Q4 permission to begin interacting with his guests here, so don’t be surprised if you get a “reply” from this growing electronic brain.   But even if you do not,  be sure to check each of his musical offerings, and see if you can make the market connection that multi-petabyte personality is seeking to illustrate.  Who knows?  It might make you some money. 

PS — don’t be alarmed by this picture Jeremy sent me of the pile of hardware bubbling away in his parents’ basement.  Q4 is a work in progress, you must remember.   Besides, Jeremy assures me “all that Apple shit” looks exactly like this, underneath the phaggy white plastic marketing cover crap.

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