Our Future: Thoughts

Video Games as Art: Little Big Planet

2009-01-06T19:21:00.003-06:00

Finally there is hope again for the video game. For too long we have suffered the first person shooter with its lack of social value and contempt for anything worthy of technology and the action adventure horror flicks and rehashed and tiresome tricks of video wizardry. Now Media Molecule and Sony have brought us the highly stylized and completely unique "Little Big Planet". There have been few moments like this in recent years for video games. Now the gamers are allowed to express themselves in ways never before seen in an environment that is not only easy to use but suprisingly capable of complex works of art and social commentary as well as some good old tricky gameplay.

The unfortunate part of the game so far is that many users lack imagination, or at least the players that choose which levels are the most popular lack imagination. There are plenty of people who try to emulate existing games or re-make their favorite movies within the game which may be a sad commentary on our current pop culture driven world. Even Sony has played to this by selling add-ons to the game based on previous games. We should all stand up and say "Stop It"...let this be something untainted by what is and let it be what it was meant to be which is a place of dreams and imagination. Save the Sackboys and Sackgirls from the drudgery of our corporate spoonfed world. Let the artist and creator within you out of the dark place where you have hidden it away from the light of day and let it play within the world given to us by the masters of cool at Media Molecule.

This is a call out to anyone who creates levels on "Little Big Planet". If you have a level or know of a level that you feel is artistic and/or offers some sort of cultural value then post it here and discuss with others.

On the web:
http://www.mediamolecule.com

Here Comes Tesla

2008-09-17T09:46:00.008-05:00

Tesla Motors has just announced that they will build a factory in Northern California. The company will build at this location its 5 passenger Model S all electric car that will go 225 miles on a single charge. It makes you wonder if this is the end of the decrepit American auto industry as we have known it.

Instead of talking of bailing out the obviously non-innovative and oil industry entrenched auto industry of old, the government should send that money to companies such as this to get these types of cars into production faster. Ford, GM and the likes are not moving fast enough to bring us alternative vehicles. These companies are too entangled with unions that they are unable to deliver us from the gas guzzling behemoths as quickly as another company might be able to. With all the talk of delivering us from our oil dependence it appears that politicians are ignoring the new and trying very hard to hang on to the old. I guess the old can afford more lobbyists.

And if you think electric cars have to be dorky, look at some of the vehicles Tesla has been putting out:

Tesla Motors Website

God Must Hate Bush

2008-09-15T16:12:00.008-05:00

Shortly after hurricane Katrina many a christian and conservative stated that God was punishing New Orleans because the city was evil much like the biblical cities Sodom and Gommorah. Every christian knows that God controls the weather and the weather during the Bush administration has been very nasty. Either God hates Bush or he hates the American people because he keeps slamming the south (populated mostly by conservative christians) with these devestating storms, and he doesn't seem to just have his sites aimed on New Orleans. Ike has just slammed into Galveston, and I am sure has hit some pretty nice people that love God just fine and live good lives. It seems as if these storms are just aimed at whatever location God chooses.

In addition to devestating hurricanes, God has also cursed Bush with a bad economy that is getting worse as we speak as Merill Lynch sales off and Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. Bush was cursed with faulty intelligence with the weapons of mass destruction, the horrible events of 9/11 and two long drawn out wars.

The high gas prices also seem to be hitting Bush rather hard. Not only are they hitting bush hard, but they are hitting the pickup truck and SUV driving south hard as well. Again, God seems to be focusing so much negativity towards the south, but with the economic woes the way they are, everyone is starting to feel the pain of Gods hatred for Bush.

I think God is sending us a message that maybe conservatives are making him mad and their way of life is not the direction he would like us to move.

Maybe God wants us to live better. Maybe we should take better care of the Earth and work harder to retain our Allies abroad while dealing with enemies where they are and not where we lie about them being. Maybe we should buy what we can afford and stop living above our means. Maybe some of us should realize that we have conflicting beliefs floating around our brains that are making us a nation that appears slightly insane to the rest of the world.

We must assume that God really hates Bush; otherwise, he would have granted him a next to flawless 8 years. I again state, maybe God wasn't punishing New Orleans during Katrina or Galveston during Ike, he might have been punishing Bush.

Let's hope he likes the next president better.

The Left and Right: Same Goals Different Views

2008-08-08T20:51:00.004-05:00

There's a strange co-mingling of ideas coming from the far right and the left and landing squarely all over America. The other day I saw an add on TV talking about rampant consumerism and how it is bad for everyone. It wasn't an anti-consumerist or environmental group flipping the bill for the add, it was a Southern Baptist Church. Now the probable reason for the church running the add is that they would rather see you donate your dwindling funds to the church (the recession has to be hurting them too) instead of buying that new pair of pants, but the message is still the same. In these hard economic times it appears as if America is awakening from a long slumber of 30 years and discovering something new. We don't have to buy everything we can get our hands on to be happy, family and community is more rewarding than a big screen TV. If we do buy everything within our reach, we're starting to realize that it isn't necessarily a sustainable practice and one day we may actually run out of the core stuff needed to make a bunch of not only useless stuff, but much needed stuff as well.

Not only can you see a convergence in thought when it comes to the lack of need in consuming large amounts of goods, but you may also see an amazing coming together in the areas of fossil fuels and the need for alternative energy as well. As fuel prices go up we see people ditching their SUVs and Trucks at an increasing rate. The losses posted by the U.S. auto manufacturers is proof as they are finding it hard selling their large inventories of gas guzzling behemoths. The message that our dependency on oil is not only funding terrorists, but is putting us at risk as the wells start to dry up. Not to mention, all that carbon spewing into the atmosphere is not all that great for us all either. People are buying more fuel efficient vehicles now just as they did in the 70's. The difference now is that we have technologies that are better and even more capable of delivering us from the dark ages of moving material around and putting us into a brighter cleaner future. In the green movement of the seventies, people had to give up their lifestyles in order to be truly green. Now with technology it is an easier and more logical move to change a few habits and a few light bulbs to save your self some money while inadvertently changing the world.

We have oil men (T. Boone Pickens) putting up wind mills and Southern Baptist Churches advertising the woes of unchained consumerism. We have retailers (Wal-Mart) and suppliers (Milk Produces and Toy Companies) changing packaging and their core products to reduce waste while still delivering low cost products. It is a changing world and the converts are growing at an alarming rate. It is highly possible that we are truly awakening into a new age where we think before we purchase and want to live less wasteful and more fulfilling lives. It will be nice to see further adoption of sustainable ideas by various groups regardless of their ultimate reasons. As long as we all see the same thing regardless of point of view and are willing to tackle it, then we will all benefit and be a stronger nation and world because of it.

The terrorists may have inadvertently created a stronger America. We now have a common direction that is driven mainly by the desire to drop the oil and the need to save money. Our incompetent president may have inadvertently set us up for success through recession. Without the high prices of gas and the dire economy, people may not be so willing to embrace more sustainable lives. Even though the left and the right are obviously charged and at opposite ends of the spectrum at the moment, they may actually have more in common than they think. The things they have in common are beautiful and is something that our nation should latch on to and use to keep us moving forward into the future. Reducing our need for oil will make us stronger and less resistant to foreign control. Our reduction of waste will change the way less wasteful countries see us. Sustainable energy and sustainable communities will give us stronger brighter futures and make us a healthier happier nation.

Talk to your friends and neighbors and discuss ideas on how to save money. Chances are, by saving money, you are also saving valuable resources that our country can use to propel us into the future. If we all started talking about saving money and coupled that with saving the planet we could find common grounds that will bring about the goals of everyone (except for the terrorists).

Trusting Those that Promise to Cure Us

2008-04-16T20:48:00.016-05:00

Two articles have just been released (see links below) providing further evidence that pharmaceutical companies are in business to make money and are willing to take risks to raise profits even if it means killing a few customers in the process. You usually trust your doctor, but when he hands you samples for a drug and a slip of paper containing a prescription you have to wonder if he truly believes that it is the best drug for you. Is he basing his decision on his own research or has he been psychologically persuaded to dish out the drugs because some beautiful twenty-something pharmaceutical sales rep took him out to dinner and gave him a bunch of documentation on the drug that is slanted in favor of the company that manufactures the drug?

It seems that Baxter International was selling Heparin to people that contained a "heparin like" substance that was cheaper to produce. Now, Baxter says you can't blame them. They didn't intentionally alter the formula, it was their Chinese manufacturers that decided to taint the drug to make a profit. This raises a valid question. Should we trust a company that hires a factory in a foreign country to provide medicinal components to the drugs we take on a daily basis? We're already told to be weary of lead tainted toys, now we have to worry about the medicine that we may rely on to keep us alive. Where are the labels on our prescription bottles stating "Made in China"? The consumer has a right to know if their medicine is being off shored in order to cut costs for the producer of the drugs. When you think of China made goods, you think of cheap labor and often substandard materials. These two ideas are not what we should be equating with our prescription drugs.

Another appalling example of the direction drug manufacturers are taking is the case brought forth against Merc and their drug VIOXX. It seems that Merc hired outside "professional writers" to write what they provided as "solid academic research". This "professionally written" material was delivered to doctors as valid scientific information. These for profit pharmaceutical companies are hiring for profit writing firms to produce material that is marketed towards your medical provider in the hope that he/she can be manipulated into prescribing the medication to you. It is in the best interest of the pharmaceutical company to sell the drug. They market medications as if they are marketing a pair of shoes or a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee or a pair of shoes won't necessarily kill you, but a drug manufactured and marketed based on lies could.

The government is not helping regulate this to the extent that it should. It seems that our capitalistic system lets the consumer down hard when it comes to health. Drug companies should not finance studies into their own products. Doctors should research medicines and should not allow pharmaceutical sales reps into their offices, no matter how pretty they are and how many baseball tickets they offer or how many free lunches they provide the staff. The concept of ethics has deteriorated all the way around.

Visit the Google health news feed for at least a year and take note of the news stories there. You may come to the conclusion that things are good for you one week and bad for you the next. Breakthroughs are mentioned and then never heard of again. It seems that health news is hard to put your trust into because the medical field has lost its way. The truth is that these economic powers are wrestling to keep you buying what they have to sell. It appears that they don't care if it is good for you or not. They market to you and manipulate you and in the end they say it was your decision to take the medicine or to smoke the cigarette or to drink the soft drink. It's hard to make your own decisions when you have been brainwashed since your youth while you innocently watched your Saturday morning cartoons along with the heavy dose of commercials pushing goods in order to build brand recognition in your developing sense of self. We are just fodder for the systems we have developed. We are a renewable resource that feeds the non-sustainable consumerism machines.

One must be paranoid when it comes to health and trusting the "system". We must all wonder if we are given drugs to just simply "maintain" our illnesses. If a cure for something is discovered, then the pharmaceutical companies lose. They don't want to lose. They sell drugs and want to continue selling those drugs. It is in their best interest to develop drugs that offer a way of providing relief without providing a cure. It may sound sinister, but it is basic economics.

Further reading:
Hired Writers, not Scientists, Create Information for Doctors
Drug Altered for Profit
Fighting the Drug (Ad) Wars

Garbage Warrior....Sustainable Housing

2008-04-05T11:09:00.010-05:00

The "Garbage Warrior" is a man named Michael Reynolds. Michael is a non-traditional architect who has been making houses out of non-traditional materials with his rag tag team of workers for the past 30 years in Taos New Mexico. He makes you question why we have been building houses roughly the same for the past hundred years.

The problem with being a radical thinker, like Michael, is that people often want to stick their fingers in their ears and not hear from you and some want to shut you up completely by barring your every move. The houses that Michael and his crew have built have been evolving in complexity over the past several decades and are self contained habitats that collect their own water, generate their own energy, provide food and process their own waste. With any evolving process, there are mistakes that must be learned from and used to produce a better next step. These mistakes nearly shut Michael down completely.

The people that worked for Michael built their own homes while other experimental homes were sold to people looking for something different in life. In the late 90's the Taos County government didn't like this. They stated that as a developer Michael had to provide electricity from the grid to these houses. They stated that he needed to provide water. He had to build roads. He also had to divide the lots up and sell them appropriately. It seems that bureaucrats are unable to see outside of the box and think about the future needs of humanity. In 2000 Michael gave up his New Mexico architecture and construction licenses because the State Architects Board of New Mexico moved to take his credentials from him.

Building houses out of trash such as used tires and beer cans seems just a little strange, so it is no wonder that stodgy old politician puppets of established industry would fight Michael's every move. It wasn't until the tsunami of 2004 that Michael and his team received his chance to make a difference and to prove his methods.

A small island that was all but destroyed by the tsunami requested that Michael and his team travel there and help them rebuild. The island had approximately 30,000 residents prior to the tsunami. After the tsunami they had roughly 7,000 inhabitants. The people were living in shanty towns and the government had to ship water to the residents. Michael and his team came in and built one of their sustainable houses out of the debris that was laying all over the island. The local people helped build the house and the knowledge of doing so was not only transferred to them, but to area architects and builders as well.

A fantastic documentary was made by Oliver Hodge showcasing this great thinker and architect of our modern times. The film helps demonstrate that in this rapidly changing world we need to listen to radical thinking people that are able to show us different ways of living. If we let governments and the systems we have built get in the way of experimenting and we dismiss people like Michael Reynolds, then we just may doom the human race. We need to embrace these people instead of trying to shut them up. This emotionally moving film proves that one person, no matter how unconventional, can make a positive difference in our world. Visit the Garbage Warrior film website. Visit Michael's company here. See a preview of the film below and a piece produced by CNN. You may just be amazed at how luxurious a house built out of garbage can be.

Have you Lost your Poetry?

2008-03-21T23:17:00.004-05:00

In this 40 hour a week world where we plan our lives around our work, it is hard to gather our thoughts and take stock of our deepest emotions. It seems that a third of our lives is work, another third is sleep. The remaining third is fragmented between personal time and the work that we have to do to keep our households in order. Deep within us all is a pure human spirit that wishes to express itself. If you find yourself, on your free time, watching prime-time television as if you were a zombie controlled by some greater thought process, maybe you should break free.

Think about expressing yourself. Look deep inside your spirit and bring forward your own imagination. Stop mindlessly watching what others want you to watch. Go out there and make your own world. Take control of your environment, stop being scared of your surroundings. We all have the power to be greater than what we are told we are. You can be the positive influence you wish to be. Stop falling prey to the mass entertainment. You have one life to live and this is your opportunity to make a difference in the world. Go out there and do what you can to make this a better place for us all to live.

So, many of us fall into the trap of being simple pieces of some other reality instead of being a force to drive that reality in the ways that we wish it to move. Express yourself. In a world where we are all being forced into behaving the way that our employers wish us to behave, it is becoming harder to be ourselves. Before you fully drink the kool-aid, think about who you want to be. When you buy into the corporate world, you should understand that you are at risk of being cut free after you find yourself totally indebted. No matter how much you love the company you work for, they are in business to make money. You are just a piece of the machinery that will be rejected whenever the need arises. One day, you may be let go...the company will move on, and you will be left alone.

In the free time you have, take the time to be you. Reach deep within yourself and pull the creativity out of your inner self. Don't waste your evening hours watching prime time TV. How many of us find ourselves wasting precious hours of free time watching mindless entertainment? If you spend your night watching television to just go to sleep in order to wake up to go to work and then to watch tv later that next night, then you need to think about your life. You are more than your training and current circumstances. Think about your daily events. Are you just doing what everyone expects of you...do you feel empty? It's not about goofing off and not participating in the world, it's about being an agent of change and being yourself. Expression is the most important part of the environment we are now in. Do not fall prey to trying to fit in with the latest fads and styles...if you do, then you may be at risk of being manipulated by the people that are falling prey to the "group think" that is prominent in our culture. We all need to now think about being truly original and only come together as a whole when our deepest needs and desires are at risk of being destroyed.

The most important part of being human in the twenty first century is being yourself. Never let media control who you are. Take the lessons taught by your parents, your closest friends, and your own deepest feelings and move with those. Be honest to yourself and others. Do not listen to what you see in advertisement, on television, or what you hear on the radio, the Internet, or other forms of advertisement. Do not fall prey to the tactics of the mass media effect.

The most import thing is to think of your life. Are you yourself or are you becoming what your job expects of you? Take that and think of yourself again. Who are you? Are you your job, or are you something greater? We all have something more to give than what our jobs expect of us. If we go farther than what our jobs expect, then we will find that we are more fulfilled within our lives. When you die, what do you want to look back upon? What do you want your life to stand for?

As the song writer Bright Eyes writes: "Don't be a criminal in this police state, you better shop and eat and procreate. You got vacation days, and you might escape to a condo on the coast." The condo will last you about five years or so as you deteriorate and lose your mind in your continuing mental decline of old age retirement. Bright Eyes also writes: "To the deepest part of the human heart, the fear of death expands. Till we crack the code, we will always know, but could never understand...on a circuit board we will soon be born again and again and again." We spend our lives working to be left alone at the end as we wither alone and wishing that we had done more to bring meaning to our lives. If we all stand up and do more now, when we are young, then the world will be a better place for us all. Regardless of the future that technology holds for us, we are the generations that will create the next step. We should all strive to make the future an environment that is pleasing for all inhabitants. We need to make this a place of enrichment and fulfillment. Humans should have the ability to discover their own abilities without being used as pieces of a greater machine. Don't be part of a machine...go out there and make your world.

DARPA Funds Artificial Limb Research

2008-03-21T16:23:00.004-05:00

DARPA is funding research into artificial limbs. These artificial limbs would be connected directly to the nerves of the muscles and controlled naturally through the brain. The researchers at John Hopkins are working towards bionic arms and legs that allow the user to feel the objects they are holding as well as the temperature of the object. This is part of a four year program that should end in 2009. The goal is to have limbs that can be controlled subconsciously by the user as natural limbs are. With the number of amputees on the rise due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this is a much needed technology. Not to mention, the future cyborg soldier would benefit from this early adopter group.

Full Story Here

Nanotechnology used to Control Tumor Growth

2008-03-21T11:49:00.009-05:00

Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute have developed a method utilizing nanotechnology to control the growth of tumors. The technique that they devised reduced the growth of tumors by up to 45% after just one week. This new technology utilizes radioactive gold composite nanodevices (CNDs) to target the cancer. There were no adverse affects detected in the subjects after the treatment.

Advancements such as this outweigh much of the criticism put upon the field of nanotechnology. If used properly, nanotechnology holds a lot of promise for humanity.

Lead Researchers:

Lajos P. Balogh, PhD, Director of Nanotechnology Research and Mohamed K. Khan, MD, PhD, Associate Director of Translational Research and a physician in the Department of Radiation Medicine at Roswell Park.

Source:

Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Like Big Trucks? Don't Like Big Gas Prices?

2008-03-20T18:03:00.005-05:00

News coverage is full of people complaining about gas prices and complaining about the fact that no one is doing anything to make it easier on them to drive their duallies and SUV's. It seems that the high gas prices are hitting people pretty hard. There are things that can be done about it to somewhat soften the blow, but it requires tough consumer decisions that may impact how "cool" you are. It seems that saving money, especially if you have a family, is more important than perceived status and coolness. Sell your SUV and get a smaller car. Unless you own a ranch, farm or other business that requires the use of a truck. If you own a truck and drive to a job where you just park your truck while you work, chances are you really don't need a truck.

Too often you hear guys saying something like "A Prius is for sissy's." It is this mentality that is driving people and our economy into a rut and causing us to run out of gas. This is a common complaint, but still; how many times do you see a mom drop her kid off at school in a Suburban, or some other overgrown vehicle, and then drive herself to work miles and miles away? Beside her and all around on the highway are similar vehicles sucking gas away from the rest of us and wasting our future.

Our vehicles in America have become our coffins. We spend hours on end in them. The average U.S. driver spends over 80 minutes a day in the car, stopping and going in a long line of large vehicles streaming along and spewing out deadly pollutants. The majority of these vehicles could transport four or more people, but often they only transport one. The average American owned vehicle gets roughly 23mpg...some "shade tree" mechanics have hacked their Prius' to get over 110 miles to the gallon. A standard Honda Civic Hybrid gets roughly 45 miles to the gallon.

Sixty percent of the city landscape is taken up and designed specifically for the car. Never ending roads twisting through and separating green space and seas of bare concrete parking lots generating heat scar our cities. American's love their cars, and years ago we scrapped the train for the freedom of the open road and in many cities we neglected mass transit infrastructure.

No where is the lack of mass transit more apparent than in New Orleans and Houston when hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped through the region destroying lives and homes. The endless lines of cars flowing from Houston and the rush to try to get buses to New Orleans made apparent that a train system could have been utilized to more efficiently move these people out of harms way.

Consumers and the 'American Dream' have put us at great risk. We want to have the best at the detriment to our families. We put immediate status above our futures. We have become short sighted and shallow. Excessive use of fuel should no longer be seen as a luxury...it should be seen as a sin. When you feel the pain at the pump as you spend a hundred dollars for a few days worth of travel, think about the "freedom" and status your vehicle has given you. Is it freedom, or are you really chained to the reality that you can not afford to drive to work and pay your bills and daily needs with the paltry remains of your pay check? Have you ever thought that maybe it would be better to have a more fuel efficient vehicle?

Gas prices are not going to drop, they are going to continue the trend of rising. The oil is running out at a time when countries like China and India are starting to consume more of it. There's not enough to go around. We all need to wake up and quickly make the drastic changes to come out of this as unscathed as possible.

Male Eggs and Female Sperm

2008-03-17T19:12:00.010-05:00

Yes, it is becoming a reality. Genetic material from a man could one day be used to generate a human egg that could be placed inside a female donor. Sperm could then be generated from a women and then introduced inside of the female donor and a child could be born with a male mother and a female father. Odd as it may seem, scientists are coming closer and closer to this ability with the use of stem cells taken from bone marrow. We could soon see same sex parent having children of their own. We could even see a child created from mixing numerous individuals together thus giving rise to a child with more than two biological parents.

This tantalizing technology is being touted as an equalizer for same sex families. Two men or two women can, in the foreseeable future, have children together. Unfortunately for these couples, this technology is still in its infancy and is prone to high rates of failure and problematic offspring. Until the technology and know how of scientists increase and ethical fears subside, we will have to wait longer to see the first same sex love child.

Further Reading:
Male Eggs
Female Sperm

The Death of Actors and Models

2008-03-15T19:30:00.016-05:00

Technology is an amazing thing. Computers allow us the ability to recreate worlds that amaze and dazzle the senses in various ways. A trend that has been growing even before "Roger Rabbit" and "Toy Story" is finally coming of age and is on the verge of affecting real life people who depend on their looks and acting abilities to make a living. It seems that it may be easier to create a virtual person that works for a lot cheaper and for longer hours than it is to hire a real life human. A graphic artist just may be able to create a sexy icon faster and cheaper than a sexy icon of organic birth can be found and "grown" into stardom.

Computer technology has come to a point where it is possible to capture the entire human form in three dimensions including facial features and skin texture and store it for later use by a graphic artist. With movies such as "Beowulf" that digitize actors and with technologies coming along from Mova that promise Volumetric Cinematography we can see the demise of the individual human performance. There are other technologies out there that allow for the complete digitizing of a persons voice to be later played back and modified to fit the needs of the script that is being read. There is no future for real people in the entertainment industry as we know it today. Graphic artists will create attractive people with attractive voices, or villians who are just right to insert within movies to meet whatever needs the story has. This is the future of movies and games. If you are in this industry as talent, you need to pay attention and believe this. It has been coming for over fifteen years and is now upon us. Your beauty and abilities are no longer needed.

Computer technology will allow directors and producers the ability to get rid of the actors who demand millions upon millions of dollars. The movie "Simone" was not a fantasy. Computers and the people who know how to use them are learning how to remove real people from entertainment. Models of fashion are in the same boat.

If you are a model, you need to realize that you can be recreated within a computer and then modified to allow for a perfect human form. Photo and graphic technology has come to a point where any person can be created within a computer and displayed inside a magazine as a real person without the need of an organic person to take the pictures. If you are banking on your looks to get you through life, you need to think again. Providing real unique thoughts is the only future for humans. Looks are only good for procreating and sexual gratification.

In the next few years we will see more and more use of virtual actors either derived from actual people or created from scratch using the latest technologies. The purchaser of this entertainment will probably not mind one bit. The human may just be removed from entertainment. The only remaining question is, what will the tabloids do then?

There will become a time when people stop caring about individual stars. No one will care if a certain celebrity is pregnant or if someone is doing drugs. No longer will we put people upon pedestals that they were never worthy of being put upon in the first place.

Digitizing Actors
Beowulf and Lack of Emotions

Individuality in a Consumerism Age

2008-03-15T18:23:00.018-05:00

There's a trend that is sweeping this consumer driven world. It seems that individual people are tired of following trends that were decided upon by others last year. They want their trends now, and if they don't like what they see, they will set these trends themselves. Being unique is truly in fashion and there is an unlimited supply of products out there to allow you to be you. If you can't find them, then you can create them yourself. The consumer is in power more than ever before.

With the advent of instant communication around the globe, it no longer takes months and months for fashion to spread. It can now be an instant phenomenon. Price itself doesn't even seem to matter any more. Who cares if you have the latest designer name of some outfit or purse? The designers have realized that they can make tons of money by "slumming" it in discount stores. Designers are making great amounts of money selling to the masses instead of a social trendy elite. These designers will start feeling the competition from the "average at home designer" soon. Technology is always advancing and no profession is safe from the democratizing of product creation. It's becoming too easy to beat the "who you know matters" system and get out there and make a name for yourself.

In our time we are seeing the ability of a consumer to customize the products they are buying to meet their own personality and needs. Nike now lets you customize shoes on-line with your own color choices, graphics and wording. M&M's allows you to order the candy with your own saying on it. For years now we have been able to order numerous products sporting our favorite photographs. We can even publish our own books now without having to worry about rejection from a publishing house. When "at home 3d printing" goes mainstream then all bets will be off. When products can be designed in a persons living room and manufactured within someone else's via the Internet then the whole of the economy will change. In the age of individually created products targeting a highly individualized niche, the big players will be feeling the pain.

In a world where traditional advertising is in direct competition with widespread "word of mouth", blogs and opinions by single individuals who have the power to change large numbers of consumer's choices, the landscape of marketing goods has changed. We are on the verge of a radical change in the way that retail works. Products will be designed more and more by people at their homes and sold to niche markets that fit within the personality type of the creator. No longer will mass media or conglomerate marketing sway culture.....individuals and complex interaction of unique minds will truly generate the landscape of society.

Create your own Nike product
Future Thoughts On-Line Store
Custom M&M's
3D Printing - Ready to go Main Stream

Having a Deaf Child - On Purpose

2008-03-14T19:14:00.005-05:00

In a strange twist of IVF (In Vetro Fertilization) parents in the UK wish to have a child that is deaf like they are. The reason they say is because they are not ashamed of who they are and they are not handicapped and they want their child to be like them. The debate of designer babies has been about enhancing the offspring to be more dominate in some fashion over the average child or taking away a deformity.

It is odd to think that someone would want to restrict an ability that gives their child an advantage in the world. Deafness is a fact of life for many and many people overcome it and live happy lives, but it should be seen as a disability that if possible, should be eradicated. In no way should deaf people be treated poorly and the utmost respect should be given to them, but these two parents are wrong to purposely rob their child of one of the five senses that billions of people have been born with just because of their pride in their language.

Being deaf is a disability regardless of the strength of those who have it. Purposely creating a child that is robbed of the ability to have one of the five senses that we should all have is wrong.

Read full story here

Mechanical Nanocomputers

2008-03-14T18:33:00.003-05:00

DARPA is funding research into nanomechanical chips that are hoped to be more rugged than traditional silicon based chips. These new chips would be used in toys, weapons, space equipment and in car engines to name just a few. These new chips would also reduce the power usage of computers because they require less cooling and suck less energy off of the grid. The team is also working on nanomechanical memory......

Further Reading

BananaSlug - Long Tail Search Engine

2008-03-14T18:21:00.005-05:00

This is new to me, but may not be to others. This is an interesting concept for a search engine. It provides some randomness in your searches to give you fresh new results that you may not have thought of. Seems like a good way to find new information.

A search on "Implants" and a random seed using an animal name returned the following link along with many others:

JSTOR: Effect of Mandibular Organ Implants upon the Spider Crab Ovary

A search on "Cosmology" and a random seed using an "archetype" returned the following link along with many others:

The Inverse Gambler's Fallacy and Cosmology — A Reply to Hacking

Search Engine Here

Bio-Electronic Implant

2008-03-14T18:06:00.004-05:00

Researchers at MIT that are part of the "Boston Retinal Implant Project" are confident that they will have an implant that is capable of restoring partial sight to victims of age-related macular degeneration and other forms of sight loss within a few years. This implant will be the width of a human hair and sits behind the retina. The implant is made of titanium and is capable of "surviving" within the corrosive environment of the salty fluid within the eye. Only people that have living optic nerves are candidates for the device.

Further Reading

Terry Pratchett: Alzheimer's

2008-03-12T20:24:00.007-05:00

Fans who have yet to hear the news will be shocked to know that the creative genius and author of the Discworld series of books has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Terry Pratchett has pledged to donate 1 million dollars to fund research in developing treatments for the disease. This is a sad disease for anyone afflicted with it and is doubly so for someone who has given so much creativeness to the world in the form of the amazing stories. To lose Terry to this disease will be a tragedy and we should all hope, pray, and wish that something can be done for him and the millions of others who have dementia. It is said just as many people suffer from dementia as they do cancer, but dementia only receives one third the funding for research as cancer.

"Part of me lives in a world of new age remedies and science, and some of the science is a little like voodoo but science was never an exact science, and personally I'd eat the arse out of a dead mole if it offered a fighting chance." - Terry Pratchett on his diagnosed illness.

TerryPratchettBooks

Reef Balls

2008-03-12T18:34:00.008-05:00

Artificial Reefs are nothing new, but the fact that they are in such high demand is. Given the amount of destruction taking place in the ocean due to climate change and human activities it is no wonder. These reef "balls" created by the Reef Ball Foundation are made of concrete and don't further harm the ocean environment like tires or sunken ships and planes have done in the past. The foundation creates two different types of reefs through a patented process that generates large amounts of natural space for sea creatures of all sizes. The image to the left is the "ball" and then there is another type as seen recently on Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" that is more of a tiered structure complete with embedded shells for the tiniest of fish to hide and live within. The foundation is a non-profit organization and has been involved in reef rebuilding projects all over the world including a project to help rebuild reefs damaged in the 2004 tsunami. This is a much better and natural alternative to sinking our garbage and hoping that it helps.

The foundation offers other services around the world including coral propagation and planting systems, estuary restoration, red mangrove plantings, oyster reef restoration and erosion control. You can even create a memorial reef with the cremated remains of a loved one.

See video and websites below.....

Reef Ball Foundation
Eternal Reefs - Cremation Memorial

The Age of Intelligent Cameras

2008-03-11T19:31:00.007-05:00

The abilities to capture light and display a moment of time has come a long way since the camera obscura was discovered by Ibn al-Haytham around 1000 CE. The technology has gone through much iteration from the ability to display a scene with a pinhole camera to permanently recording the scene to be viewed later. Most recently, and after a century of using film and chemicals to process images inside of a dark room, we have moved the technology forward into the 21st century through the advent of digital photography. Just over the past few years camera companies have begun to fully utilize the power of computer hardware and software. The age-old technology of picture taking is going to take another grand step. It seems the law of accelerating returns is working well in the camera world.

In the past, filtering and general image modification was performed on the computer sitting on your desk long after the photo was taken. Software such as Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro had opened up a completely new world to photographers and digital artists but that was pretty much it for major advancements for many years. The hardware and software of the camera itself has remained mostly the same except for changes in interfaces, the ability to capture images at an increasingly higher quality and the ever-shrinking device. This is changing though and we are going to see some great new technologies over the next several years.

The newest Sony Cybershot H50 has the ability, as do other new cameras, to recognize the faces of people in the shot and focus on all of them to make for a great group photo. The camera also has the ability to detect a smile and wait until then to snap the photo. The ability of this camera to recognize faces is one-step away from being able to learn whose faces it is recognizing and storing that information within the file so you can later search your digital image archive for people and possibly for objects in the scene. Not only will they be able to do this in the near future, but they will be able to digitally read text within the scene and store it for searching on later as well.

Cameras are even coming with the ability to communicate with GPS devices so that you can geo reference your photos and overlay the information on top of a digital map such as Google maps. This means you can now store within the EXIF data the four dimensions along with technical information of the photograph itself. What's coming next? Automatic temperature and general weather information stored with the photo along with a description of the atmosphere? Counting how many people are in the picture and what they are wearing?

The camera of the future won't just be taking pictures of the scene in front of it; it will also be taking snapshots of your iris and embedding that information within the picture itself. Canon has a patent for a camera "add-on" that gives the camera the ability to tag photographs with this biometric information to later identify the photographer. According to Canon, the camera would be able to identify multiple users of a single camera.

With the speed of processors and software, cameras are gaining some wonderful abilities such as rapid picture taking without blurring as well as the ability to capture the scene with multiple settings to allow you more control over the finished product. One of the neatest abilities that are in the works is the "multiple focus" capabilities that are being looked into. Cameras of the near future will "auto focus" on multiple points when they take a picture so that you can later "move through" the focus to fine tune the depth of field of the image after the act of taking it. Images will no longer be "flat"; they will have multiple layers built within them to give even more power in the post production process. Another such technique developed by Adobe is a series of lenses, much like the eye of a fly, that capture multiple angles of a scene giving the image depth of field as well as the ability to change angles after the image is taken. These multiple angles then can be managed within Photo Shop to further manipulate the focus of different elements within the image through the use of a "3d" brush. See the video below for a demo of the new Adobe lens.

All these current and future technologies will further "dumb down" photography making it easier and easier for the everyday armchair photographer the ability to take remarkable photographs. This will come at the ire of hardcore photographers who insist that theirs is an art that only they can perform. Now if cameras can learn aesthetic rules such as the rule of thirds and beep at you when you are taking a picture that is not framed just right then we will truly have the ability for every man, women and child to take great photographs. No more "chopping of heads" and pictures of feet....you will have to set the camera to manual if you want to do that.

Further Reading:
Sony Cybershot H50
Adobe "Computational Photography"

The Future of the Average Office

2008-03-08T22:43:00.009-06:00

Parody: The size of the average office has shrunk in the past few decades to the point that many ask "how far can they go with this?". Taking into account the law of accelerating returns, cost of office space, and the drive to miniaturize everything, we have created a road map of the possible future of office spaces. Click on the image above to see the future of the average office. If you are going to spend one third of your life at work, you should at least know how you are going to experience it.

We Need New Truck Designs

2008-03-08T20:20:00.015-06:00

Over 20 years ago designer Luigi Colani had a vision to make the horribly aerodynamically deficient 18-wheeler a better looking and streamlined machine. Luigi was able to design a truck back then that was 25% more fuel-efficient. His latest concept truck is 50% more fuel-efficient than existing tractor trailers on the roads today and that is without changing the engine. Trucking companies that drive boxy machines that haven't changed much over the past few decades are wasting large amounts of money for no valid reason except for they haven't demanded innovation from the companies that provide the trucks. Most of the goods in the world are delivered from ports to distribution centers and then on to the local store where you shell out additional amounts of your own money to pay for the fuel wasted by the modern trucks that haul the goods. There are large enough corporations out there that rely heavily on trucking and have to pass the cost of fuel and fuel taxes on to consumers that should have the power to change this inefficiency in the supply chain. If someone was able to design a truck over 20 years ago that was 25% more fuel efficient based on body shape alone, why haven't we adopted the designs on a large scale? When that same designer creates a truck, that is 50% more fuel-efficient and we still do not take notice then something is wrong. How much more expensive does fuel have to get before someone stands up and says "Hey, wait a minute...18-wheelers aren't aerodynamic! Maybe we should design them better."? These concept trucks should be handled differently than concept cars. With concept cars, the "out there" thinking is slowly brought into the designs of actual models because the consumer isn't always ready to make such drastic changes in their purchasing decisions. The trucking companies shouldn't car about how "manly" or "cool" a truck looks, they should care only about the fuel efficiency. Luigi Colani's designs should be taken seriously and used in developing trucks that are not so damaging to the environment and to the consumers wallet.

Luigi Colani Website
City Of Sound Luigi Colani Exhibit
Future Car Video

How to Raise your Cyborg Child: A Self Help Article

2008-03-07T18:35:00.014-06:00

Back at the turn of the millennium kids were still organic, except for a few odd chemicals floating through their bodies that they had picked up from their food and the environment. Those extra chemicals generally didn't count as un-natural until the Chicken Nugget incident of 2015 when over three hundred thousand fast food patrons concocted a rare form of modified protein syndrome from the GM chicken they consumed. From that time on, being 100% all natural meant that you were probably a follower of the Vegan Luddites or one of the very rare inhabitants of some lost forgotten tribe of happy people. Yes, things surely changed when the government decided to label and track you as to how organic you truly were. Now in 2027 it's hard to imagine a time when we didn't have muscle implants and memory managers. Back when we had to communicate strictly through the written word and voice communications things were so different than they are today. Kids now don't even remember what it was like to have to type on a keyboard and use a mouse to navigate around the Internet. They can't imagine a world where your music wasn't sent wirelessly to your brain, complete with syneasthetic visuals. They can't imagine a world where they didn't constantly become physically and emotionally part of technology.

Yes, kids back in those blissful days were still mushy little things that ate and slept like other life forms on the planet once did before the Grey Goo incident of 2019. Kids talked, walked, and got in trouble much like they had for thousands upon thousands of years before. As we know, times change, it seems just like last week that kids didn't even have interfaces between their uLife devices and their central nervous systems. Now they are all connected and sending each other their latest downloaded sensations.

As parents who grew up prior to "The Emergence" it is hard to understand these new higher life forms we call our kids. It's hard to give them any kind of valued information on how to live their lives when our own experiences have been so far removed from what they are now going through. History is no longer a valid measure of the present situations in which we find ourselves. Our offspring are on their own, living their lives to their own creation off of the cultures and technologies we have built. In a world where technology is changing on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, how do you manage to grow and nurture the life you brought into the world? Unfortunately those of us who have been left behind and managed to fall at a generation where having organic infants is normal, it seems we are at a loss. We are the "left-behinds", those that are less important than our children. Technology is teaching our kids how to live and we are often just sideline observational lower life forms.

Luckily this archaic form of communication, known as blogging, is here for you. As a parent of a child that is on the verge of the upcoming Technological Singularity we all may be wondering what is ahead of us. Within the next decade or so we are going to experience shifts in human life that not all of us will be able to join in. We are not all biologically or technologically compatible with the requirements of the Singularity. Some of us will be left behind to carry on the lower life form that is the organic human. No one knows what relationships will be like between the upper and lower minds that will develop after this time. Many of us will have children that move forward and we should all be prepared to let them go from this reality that we all share. Hopefully when our children move forward we will still be loved by them. There is no doubt that they will be smarter than us. They will know and understand things beyond our feeble comprehension. Will they still love and take care of us? In the past, before all these technological advancements, children often grew beyond and looked down upon their parents because of the differences in their generations. Will this reality be magnified by progress? It is at these times you should hope that you raised your children with strong morals and a desire to protect the family. At these times when your children are no longer biological, you should hope that they still love the lesser parts of themselves.

Sarah McOnagh (not her real name) has a seven year old that has already taken an implant for interspersed knowledge and has mastered the ability to communicate with the corporate AIs. Sarah claims that her son has now decided that minds below that of the corporate personal entity are not allowed to communicate with him. Sarah has been cut off from her juvenile child. Not able to understand the corporate entities Sarah feels alone and unable to help her child. Sarah, the only thing you can do is let go. Your child has already progressed and has surpassed your abilities to understand. If you are one of the incompatible, it is best for you to just move out of your current cubicle and migrate out to the wild to live with the Luddites. Don't fear, you will be taken care of by the fortunate others that are dispersed amongst the atoms.

John Derick has a teenage daughter who has merged completely with the virtual pop world of the Furry Lateral Transies. He talks to her on occasion, but has a hard time getting used to the fact that her physical body is now dead and buried at the local cemetery and she only speaks to him through his uLife player. He says that she is different now. Being a doctor of biologicals he claims that the chemical interactions of the brain and the interactions of the physical world can not be completely re-created within the virtual world. Unfortunately, John's daughter was an early adopter. She thought that the singularity was here and decided to move forward. Her true self was forever lost and only an "image" of her is left behind. She is forever a simulation that will only grow within an artificial world that is not a valid representation of the world she left behind. If you are like John, you should mourn the loss of your child and move on toward whatever reality technology has in store for you.

Robert and Leslie Dupre have an "idiot savant" child that has been able to create a virtual world full of musical realities that have made them billions. Robert quit his job as a day laborer within the stem cell farms of Northern Ontario to further his desire of creating an on-line immersive world where elderly pre-cog men can have constant sex with young nubile women. The family is now worth several trillions and they are in control of the third dorm world of Lorrington. If you have a child that shows any kind of unique abilities, you should take immediate action and move them into the right direction that will allow them complete power over their lives and give you a comfortable existence in yours. Worlds are easy to create, wealth isn't so easy. The future is power, your special organic children are worth money.

Jarod and Natalie Daniels have a son who is the co-creator of the first recognized self sufficient universe that is completely cut off from ours. The inhabitants of this universe are already becoming self aware. Enough processing power and memory has been allocated to them so that they may create their own universes within the computer system that they reside. John Daniel has declared himself a god and has moved completely into his own digital world where he can overlook his creation and help grow it to its full potential. Robert, the father of John, asks "how the hell did this happen?" He never thought deeper than the reality of the 20Th century and couldn't imagine the world in which we live. Unfortunately Robert and Natalie are so far removed from their son that they can no longer effectively communicate with him.

Young people are getting implants at an alarming rate. Some kids are already 80% merged with other worlds while a few vehemently reject the merging. If you are a parent of a child that refuses to become a part of the future of humanity, what should you do? Well, if you are along with them in their beliefs, then it is an easy decision. You simply need to take your family out of the city and live in the wilderness and die a natural death like the lesser beings of the organic past. If you are someone who thinks that your child is wrong and you need help in forcing them into understanding, then there are plenty of places to turn towards. The "Human Inclusion Agency" is always willing to help consume your child into the next step of ascension. Don't let their fears of rebirth get in the way of their moving forward. As a parent there are tough choices to make, and at these times it is important for you to make the right decisions. Don't let your children fall behind and die a natural death. Let them live forever and be part of the worlds that will move throughout the Universe. Let us all be part of the whole.

The main thing in this day and age is to realize that you as a parent no longer have any valuable input into your child's life. You are archaic and out of date. You should ask for help on-line with the many transient organizations that are there to help you and your family in the transition from the wet and old to the new and shiny world that awaits us all in a blissful merging of all intelligent life on the planet Earth. When we are all one and move out at the speed of light, then we will truly be happy and feel complete. There is no need to fear life, there is no need for stress. It is only together as one where we are all equal and working towards a common goal that we will be happy. Let us all move forward and learn as one.

RoboSwift: Shape-shifting Plane is like a Bird

2008-03-07T16:52:00.004-06:00

This robotic propeller driven plane has wings like a chimney swift which gives it the ability to dive and maneuver like no other plane of it's type. Don't get your hopes up though...this is not an aircraft for people, it is a small reconnaissance plane that is a little larger than the bird it mimics. The plane has three on-board cameras and can perform a one hour mission. The wings can be moved during flight in order to adjust for the wind conditions giving it better flight characteristics. The plane maneuvers by adjusting one wing at a time in order to turn.

The team that built the plane is from the Delft University of Technology and the Department of Experimental Zoology of Wageningen University in The Netherlands.

See the full story here.

Painting on the Solar Cells

2008-03-07T16:17:00.007-06:00

Swansea University of the United Kingdom and steel Manufacturer Corus are working on developing a steel sheet coated with paint based on dye-sensitised solar cells. This material is less efficient at converting energy than existing solar panels, but the fact that it is cheaper and can be applied to the entire surface of a structure and is more durable means that it is a great addition to the family of up and coming solar power products.

Team leader David Worsley and doctoral student Maarten Wijdekop claim this technology should be available within the next three years. Mark Ratner of the Northwestern University in Chicago is skeptical but still impressed by the groups efforts. Mark believes that getting electrons back into the dye will be difficult.

Being able to apply paint that can capture the energy to the sun on cars, buildings, fences, airplanes, ships, etc. would be a great leap forward for sustainable energy.

Give the Gift of "Green"

2008-03-07T09:45:00.015-06:00

If you feel the need to purchase something for someones birthday, Christmas, valentines, etc. or just want to pick up something for yourself you should take a look at the sustainable products that have been emerging in the market place at an alarming pace.

Below are some items I found on the web that weren't around just a few seasons ago. The links will take you to the appropriate on-line stores of the retailers. If you know of any more, please post a comment. I will add them to the list.

There are many LED lights that are on the market that fit into a standard socket. LED lights are even more efficient and generate a lot less heat than standard bulbs or even the newer CFL lights. The light featured here comes with a remote that allows you to change the color that is emitted. Pretty cool. $50. Buy it here: ThinkGeek and get other great LED lights that can replace your mercury filled CFL's here: ThinkGeek

Live in a place where the wind blows? Supplement your power with this 400 watt wind generator that is recommended for small cottages, remote locations, backup power and hobbyists. This light weight wind turbine shuts down when the batteries are fully charged in order to minimize wear and tear. Comes with a three year warranty. $600. Buy it here: Sam's Club

Rechargeable batteries are great, except they take an extra adapter which isn't always convenient. These recharchable batteries have a USB adapter built into them so you can charge them directly from your computer. This is a neat and useful gift for the gadget freak in the family. $20. Buy it here: ThinkGeek

Get your family the gift of chemical free cleaning. Don't pollute your home when you cleanse it of the germs we fear so much. This 16 ounce bottle of Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate mixes with water to create up to 48 gallons of cleaner. The cleaner is non-toxic, all natural, doubly concentrated, and completely biodegradable. Save some plastic and some dough. $10-$12. Buy it here: Shaklee. This company offers numerous green natural cleaning products to keep your home clean and chemical free.

If you or a special someone carries a backpack for school, work or recreation and have gadgets such as cellphones, iPods and cameras, then this may be the gift for you. This backpack has built in solar panels that can recharge numerous devices. The backpack even includes a battery that stores energy for those "rainy days". USB and various other "common" power adapters are built in. $230. Buy it here: GreenHome.

A staple free stapler? What? It really does exist and supposedly works. Save money and metal with this friendly stapler that promises to end the use of those little shards of metal that get in the way of our everyday work life. $6. Buy it here: ThinkGeek

HydroPak: Water-Activated Fuel-Cell Generator

2008-03-06T18:49:00.003-06:00

This little baby takes a $20 disposable cartridge and a dose of water in order to churn out enough energy to recharge a notebook computer up to ten times or to run emergency lights, hand-held gadgets, or portable TVs. The HydroPak costs $400 and is manufactured by Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell. This portable fuel cell unit will generate 25 watts of energy.

Millennium Cell
Horizon Fuel Cell

Enviropig - Part E.Coli, Part Mouse...All Wrong?

2008-03-05T22:39:00.008-06:00

Scientists in Canada have spliced E.Coli genes and mice genes with pigs to produce a pig that releases fewer phosphates into the ground water through their waste. This has been done to offer a possible solution to the pollution introduced by sewage generated by industrial pig farms. These new pigs have the ability to better break down "phytase" which is rich in phosphorous and is found in the intestinal tract. Phosphorous is the leading cause of algae blooms and fish kills in water systems as they are related to modern farming practices.

It is interesting that we are working so hard to solve an environmental issue that we are causing with a "solution" that could trigger other environmental issues. Why don't we just stop eating so many pigs and find better food sources to meet the growing demand of humans while trying our damnedest to stay in a balance with nature? Well, I guess we don't do it because pigs are so tasty and we would rather have pork than fresh and salt water fish.

There is no evidence that an "enviropig" is bad for the environment in any way, it is just another example of our desire to play around with nature and see what we can do.

More of the story

Our Own Island of "Monsters"

2008-03-05T20:45:00.012-06:00

We talk a lot about science and technology and where we are going with hardware and software, but we rarely discuss the future possibility of creating new life forms from existing organisms. We are quickly grasping the concepts needed to manipulate life at the genetic level and control the resultant forms that arise from our experimenting. We currently have goats that produce spider silk enzymes in their milk, glow in the dark rats, supposed tomatoes sporting crab genes and various other cross breeds. We are just starting to glimpse this brave new world of wetware hacking and genetic pollution, and like we were at the beginning of the industrial age, we don't fully know what we are getting ourselves into. There are a few people shouting foul at the sidelines, but competition and exploration are winning out over caution. The video below shows one person who visually grasps and fully comprehends emotional aspects of the direction we are moving and has taken this vision and incorporated it into her art. There's some great stuff here. Patricia Piccinini has true vision and amazing talents.

You may think that the creatures that pop out of Patricia's mind could never exist. Governments are already putting restrictions into place that bars a lot of this kind of experimentation and altering of biology; however, other governments will freely allow it. If one country does it and the other does not, then the one that does will win superiority. That in combination with monetary gains will ensure that this becomes a reality one way or another. Competition will see to that.

Patricia's Site

Digitize Your Daily Life - Brave New Frontiers

2008-03-03T22:43:00.017-06:00

Talk about a high-tech diary. Put these goggles, created by the University of Tokyo, on your head and go about your daily business recording and cataloging everything you see and hear. Right now the device has the ability to identify known objects in real-time and the ability to store the information and later search through the video for those objects using keywords supplied by the user.

In the near future you may be able to a lot with this type of technology. Of course the usual privacy issues all arise from everyone going around recording everything they do all day long, but hey, this is the future. Let's delve into the possibilities further than just remembering where you left your keys...

Imagine sitting in your physics or history class in the near future with a pair of these babies strapped to your head. You wouldn't need paper and pen anymore, just stair blankly at the professor and the blackboard, as you normally would, and let the device record everything. Better yet, imagine if the device had character recognition built in and was able to convert the text it saw into editable text you could use later. How cool would that be to walk around all day long and have a running log created of all the text you looked at so that you could recall it at a later time.

Police officers could where these devices and have a wireless link back to the squad car to record events that may happen out of the sight of traditional dashboard cameras. This would further the use of video footage as evidence in crimes. If the video was streamed over the web to police headquarters then the dispatchers could react quicker to the needs of the police officer.

Viewers of a historic event such as the assassination of JFK or Dick Cheney shooting someone in the face could record the events taking place from different vantage points. The amounts of digital data to be searched through and analyzed would be tremendous.

Take the power of facial recognition and combine it with one of these devices and a whole new world of tracking is opened. If people wore these and had them all linked up to a central computer network, such as the Internet, and it was all tied into a main system that searched and tracked known, or possible, "bad guys" the ability to find fugitives could increase dramatically. Capturing of illegal or other newsworthy events would happen quite a bit. Reality TV ratings would shoot through the roof with all the different angles they could get from people.

Requiring people to wear these on specific jobs would be great for businesses. Making people explain "gaps" in the recording and watching or simply searching the video for keywords could determine if the employee was doing what they should or not.

Now imagine taking one of these and combining it with the Emotiv game controller that will soon be available. You could record your visual experiences as well as your brainwaves and then later compare how you were feeling when you saw a certain thing or heard a certain noise....Oh the possibilities.

Solar Powered Gadget Charger/Battery

2008-03-03T20:31:00.009-06:00

A new solar powered charger/battery can run an iPod for 18 hours and a PDA for up to 22 hours on a single charge. Just pop it back in the sun for a bit and it charges right back up again. Solar Technology of the United Kingdom developed this multipurpose battery/charger for a variety of devices and can be purchased for 29.99 pounds. These nifty pocket sized batteries come in a variety of colors including pink and silver. The companies solar products are specially designed to work well in cloudy conditions such as those seen in Europe.

Just imagine, even if the world's societies collapse and the power infrastructure fails, your can still listen to you 90's music on your iPod as long as the sun still burns in the sky. Even if society doesn't collapse and hangs around a bit longer you can still save some carbon by soaking in some rays.

Pretty neat. See the website below.

FreeLoader Solar Battery

18-Wheelers as Energy Collectors?

2008-03-02T15:38:00.007-06:00

Our country went in the wrong direction when we ripped up our rail infrastructure and moved to carrying goods across country in vehicles that are less efficient, require more people to be involved and increase the risks on the roadways. Now the trucking industry does provide jobs for many people that need work and the pay is not bad for someone lacking an education, but the truth of the matter is, this is not a sustainable industry in the long run. With fuel prices continuing to rise and transportation passing the cost on to consumers it would seem that the more efficient train should be making a comeback. The problem, as mentioned above, is that we have chosen to remove a lot of the existing railways thus forcing us to keep the trucks for a bit longer.

There is one possible good thing that may come out of the trucking industry and that is in the fact that 18-Wheelers are mobile, they are often in the sun without shade, and they have big flat surfaces on top of their trailers that are prime for placing the more efficient solar panels that are being developed today. Usually solar panels require a mechanism that tracks the sun and keeps the panel facing the energy source. This would not be feasible on a flat surface traveling at 70 miles an hour that needs to be somewhat aerodynamic. Luckily a company named Prism Solar has created solar panels that use holographic techniques to direct the light to the collectors thus eliminating the need for moving parts that traditional control the panels.

Now what would you do with a truck that had solar panels on the top of its trailer? Well, you would drive it around as you normally would and collect and store the suns energy inside of on-board batteries. This energy could be used by the driver at night to run the cab electronics or to further feed the power needs of the vehicle during normal operation. A further use could be "dumping" the power at distribution centers or feeding the energy into the grid at truck stops.

If you think of the number of tractor trailers on the highway all driving in the sun. If you take all those trucks and imagine them together as a whole there could be a great amount of energy that could be obtained from this untapped mobile "real estate" on the highway. If nothing else, it would at least lower the carbon footprint of the transportation industry.

Holographic Solar Panels

Mova's Contour: Volumetric Cinematography

2008-03-02T14:09:00.009-06:00

The President of Mova and inventor of QuickTime, Steve Perlman has been working hard on digitizing the world and providing a new paradigm shift that will move us from traditional "POV Cinematography" into a realm where the actor provides a performance that can then be modified completely in post production. The technology will even allow other actors faces to be placed over the original actors performance. This camera and digitizing technology also allows for greater control over angles and closeups that have predominently been the realm of pure 3d animated films. The technology can be seen in the videos below and further referenced at the Mova website; however in this post we are going to explore some of what this will do to the industries where your looks and acting abilities are your key to success.

This technology would allow you to scan a naked super model's body in complete photo realistic detail and then dress the digitized version in any clothes you want and place it in any pose you want within any environment you want. You could also have the digital body interact in a digital environment and thus "act" out whatever the director wished. Now, what does this mean for the super model? Does she or he get paid large amounts up front and then have rights to get paid any time the digital version is used in media? What does this do to the photographers? Do they lose their jobs to desk jocky graphic artists? Make-up people would need to learn to apply digital makeup to digital people on a computer screen instead of getting touchy feely with the real flesh and blood person. Think of the sustainability and remote working opportunities. You wouldn't have to build real sets or use all the lighting and other materials usually needed. People wouldn't have to drive or fly to the photo shoot because they could all do their jobs at home on their computers.

Now imagine the movie industry which has been stuck for over a hundred years with the same point of view world. Now directors and editors can change the angle of the camera at will and if they don't like the lighting, they can shift it around. Good bye grips and gaffers. If you think the acting was a bit off and you weren't getting the facial expression you wanted, you could tweek the over 100,000 individual 3d points that are captured on the actors face and digitized within the computer. If you wanted them to smile instead of smirk, that would be within your abilities.

Actors and models would provide the basic "humanity" from which to build upon and tweak. Their digital bodies could be used in various ways throughout the production of the film even if they were, say, in a car accident and died. The digital version could continue on with the help of other computer technologies that are coming up that are able to recreate the sound of a persons voice through text to speech software.

Now the darker side of this would be in the news and other areas where truth is becoming harder and harder to discern from fiction. It would be easier with this technology for reality to be shifted to the point of view of someone who wanted to sway the public into believing in something that didn't really occur. And could you imagine the president being too busy to make an announcement to the people so they just throw his digital representation up on the screen and let him talk to the little folks while he does something else in person? Could you imagine the fun that tabloids would have with this if they were able to get a digital version of Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt?

Anyways.....look for this to be yet another world changing technology.

How Science Fiction Changed the World

2008-03-01T18:46:00.029-06:00

Some may think that science fiction is simply just fantasy to be read by geeks and nerds and is not a force that plays a role in shaping the world in which we live. This kind of thinking is flawed. Using the most influential Science Fiction ever created we will find through this post that the world we live in now was inspired by the imaginations of writers and brought to reality by scientists, doctors and engineers who are continuing to bring to life the fiction they grew up on. To think that one lone Los Angeles police officer and former WWII bomber pilot could have such an impact on the world is amazing.

Star Trek as created by Gene Roddenberry has inspired two generations to strive to bring forth into existence what they watched as children on television and read in novels and fan magazines. The space program is full of "Trekkies" who have named space ships after the ships on the show while others such as Mark D. Rayman, Chief Propulsion Engineer at NASA's JPL, was inspired to develop Ion Propulsion because of Star Trek and is continuing with the dream that was created by science fiction. It is hard to find someone at NASA who is not a fan of this science fiction phenomenon.

It's not just the space program that contains these folks inspired by science fiction. Martin Cooper, the inventor of the cell phone, claims he was inspired by the communicator he saw being used on Star Trek while he was the Chief Engineer at Motorola in the 70's. It is because of Martin and, in part Star Trek, that we now have iPhones. The creation of the iPhone owes its existence to Star Trek even more than the inspiration it gave to one engineer. It seems that early computer nerds were inspired by Star Trek and used this inspiration to make their favorite fiction just a bit more real and ended up developing the gadgets we hold dear today.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the first Apple computer after playing with the Altair computer kit. The Altair was named after a solar system in the original Star Trek universe. While the two "Steves" were busy creating an Apple computer, another great computer geek was busy creating a massive empire. This computer geek was Bill Gates who wrote Altair Basic and from there made some good business decisions which allowed him to later become the richest man in the world.

We're not talking about Microsoft right now though, we we're talking about the iPod. It seems that in 1987 another Apple Computer geek was watching Star Trek and was inspired by seeing Data (the Android on Star Trek the Next Generation) playing music over the computer and pulling up his favorite songs at will. This was an impossibility at the time, but Steve Perlman took this idea, ran with it, and soon created QuickTime, which has led to MP3 music, iPods, even our favorite YouTube, and the demise of the music industry, as we know it. Steve Perlman is now a millionaire and is the president of his own company Mova where he hopes to one day make Star Trek's fiction of a holodeck a reality. Now let's move back to Microsoft.

While Bill Gates was becoming a billionaire, he brought many people up with him and in doing so has altered the world. Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates and he has used his billions to create the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, which pays homage to science fiction greats such as Star Trek and Planet of the Apes. Paul Allen does a lot with his money and intelligence. It seems Paul Allen has also created a company named "Vulcan Inc." which successfully launched the first privately funded space ship named "Space Ship One". Now it appears that a new commercial space program has started and "Virgin Galactic" has been born in part by the imaginations of science fiction writers. Just in case you are not a Star Trek fan, "Vulcan" is a species of highly intelligent aliens in the Star Trek universe. It would appear that Paul Allen has been greatly inspired by science fiction and is taking the influences of his early life and making drastic changes in the world with those influences.

Science fiction hasn't just inspired computer geeks; it seems that good old Bones McCoy and his non-invasive medical technologies have altered the world of medicine. Professor John Adler claims he was inspired by Star Trek to invent the "Cyberknife". This robotic device uses lasers to deliver radiation directly to cancer tumors without cutting into the patient. In the 1960's Star Trek doctors were scanning people without cutting them up and because of this many claim that they were inspired to create technologies that allowed non-invasive scanning that is used in today's medicine.

Professor Lawrence Krauss of Case Western University was inspired by Star Trek to get into the field of physics. He is the author of "The Physics of Star Trek" which can be purchased here. Lawrence claims that Star Trek and Science have been linked.

Other notable people who were inspired and had their lives changed by science fiction are Rob Haitani who is a product designer at PalmOne and Dr. Seth Shostak who works for the SETI Institute. Dr. Mae C. Jemison was the first African American in space and a woman claims that the fictional character Uhura drove her desire to be who she became. She started all her communication with Earth with the following words: "All Hailing Frequencies Opened" which came from a science fiction show she watched as a child.

After the death of Gene Roddenberry and with the help of writers and future producers such as Ira Steven Behr, Star Trek was changed forever and instead of being the "Happy Clappy" version of technology and the future we grew to love it became the darker and more sinister version of the future we are more than likely going to encounter. Within these new shows, we were introduced to the Borg and to faulty space stations such as Deep Space Nine and lost in space crews like the poor Voyager folks marooned in a distant part of the galaxy. It would seem that Star Trek "grew up" and was predicting something similar to the "Technological Singularity" where people merged with technology and thus lost what made them human.

People haven't taken so kindly to these new shows, which is apparent in the low ratings and failures of the darker "flash back" Enterprise series. We all wish that the future holds bright and happy utopian realities, but as we move forward, it is apparent that we just may lose ourselves to the technology we are creating. We may become more than the Borg could have ever imagined, and we may do so much faster than predicted through science fiction. We are quickly gaining technology far vaster than ever "predicted" in Star Trek with the exception of space travel. We may find ourselves forgoing space travel all together as we delve deeper into the universes that we create within cyberspace. This makes you wonder if that the reason for the flash back series Enterprise and the the new movie that flashes back to Spock's and Kirk's first adventures together is because the writers could no longer think of a positive future that fit with current thoughts on technology and were unable to think beyond the technologies they projected in Star Trek The Next Generation. The future writers imagine may no longer be a happy one.

It may not be the "job" of science fiction to dictate the future, but it is often the effect of good science fiction that helps generate the realities that we all later share. Even if scientists are in a sense creating a "self-fulfilling prophecy" in bringing to light the worlds in which they saw in science fiction, they are still being driven by the imaginations of the science fiction writers. Science fiction writers have historically created the prophesies while the "nerds" do the fulfilling through their abilities to create worlds that were previously living only within the dreams and imagination of writers.

The information in this post came from a show on the History Channel, which stated the following: "Star Trek had the power to make intelligent people devote their lives to making it true." You can buy the documentary here. The documentary is entitled "How William Shatner Changed the World" and is a tongue in cheek exploration of the power of Star Trek and it's ability to shape the modern world. Play the video below for a short "preview" of the documentary. This documentary is highly entertaining and is a must for anyone who loves William Shatner. If you do not have the History Channel and cannot catch this as a repeat, it is highly recommended that you purchase the video.

Further Reading........
Websites that may not have existed without science fiction:
Mova
Paul Allen's Website
Vulcan Inc.
Cyberknife
Dr. Mae C. Jemison
Seth Shostak
Virgin Galactic
NASA Creating "Star Trek Like" Computer
Network Worlds Top Ten Star Trek Inventions

Helium-3 the New Fuel?

2008-02-28T23:08:00.014-06:00

From what many people say, all we need is Helium-3 and we have an answer to the energy crises; unfortunately, this particular isotope of common helium is rare on the Earth, but there is a close neighbor with enough of it to equal thousands of Saudi Arabian oil fields. The use of Helium-3 as a viable fuel in fusion reactors is questioned by many because of the cost and amount of material needed, but it will undoubtedly be a welcomed alternative if and when the oil runs out. We haven't been to the moon in a while, but it seems that people are starting to take an interest. Google is offering money up (Google Lunar X Prize) to the first commercial venture to land a robotic mission on the surface while countries such as Russia and China are claiming that they are ready to start their own programs to land there. This activity has started NASA on a new mission to get to the moon again as well. NASA has just released detailed maps of the lunar south pole detailing Shackleton Crater which is one of the targets for a future moon mission and the possible sights for a manned base on the moon. In addition to Helium-3, the moon has oxygen and hydrogen locked within its rocks. The rocks could be mined and used for the creation of water and oxygen for the moon dwellers to live upon. The riches on the Moon are starting to be desired by countries around the world and by individual companies within those countries. Within our lives, we can see a new "gold rush" that will take place on a celestial body other than the Earth.

The moon is off limits to claims of ownership by nations just as the polar regions of the Earth, but as power shifts and fuel sources dry up, the potential for this to change is high. There could be a new land grab within the next fifty years and the battles may be fought above our heads on the cold dry terrain of the moon. It's not too far of a stretch to imagine a future where moon colonies declare their independence from the Earth and start lobbing bombs at us from space. If they control resources needed on the Earth, then they will have an upper hand.

For those who have purchased land on the moon through services such as this you may soon be surprised by the fact that you were ripped off.

Wikipedia - Helium-3
Nasa and the Moon

Google Lunar X Prize Teams:
Odyssey Moon
Astrobotic
Team Microspace
FredNet

Terra Preta: Soils from the Past

2008-02-28T22:19:00.009-06:00

Recent archaeological studies have brought to light the fact that ancient cultures learned how to live in harmony with their environment by creating nutrient rich soils that could promote and nourish agricultural surpluses capable of sustaining large numbers of people. The ancient cultures of South America, it appears, had an understanding that modern inhabitants of the area lack. This understanding states clearly that you should "slash and char" instead of "slash and burn". From research done it is clear that ancient cultures would burn the trees to a point that they would leave charred wood behind instead of just ash. It is apparent from analysis done in the region that ash is quickly washed away by rain while charred wood is left behind to be integrated into the soil and thus is generated into nutrients that are desired in agriculture. The South American soil is predominantly infertile except for in the areas that researchers have discovered were inhabited by ancient civilizations. While current farmers just cut the rain forest down and destroy it's potential, the ancestors of these farmers knew that they could regenerate the soil and provide food for their people. Modern farmers just move along to the next available plot while destroying untold amounts of valuable organic information that could be used in medicine, biology, or other areas of human growth potential.

Additional Links:
Terra Preta "Home"
Wikipedia Article

Projectors in your Phone by 2012?

2008-02-27T18:55:00.001-06:00

"Pico" or "Micro" projectors are expected by analysts to be in large use inside of hand held devices by 2012. The "miniature display market" is about to take off as companies around the globe claim they are ready to play against each other to provide this additional functionality in the ever increasing "all-in-one" devices. These projectors could even find their way into your Video iPod providing an additional way to watch your video content and share it with others. At the 2008 Consumer Electronics Trade Show many devices were unveiled with some being expected in the commercial realm by the end of the year though most of these will be separate small devices that will have to be carried in addition to the phone or other media device. These devices use small mirrors and/or laser light to project the image.

Now these will be great if you have somewhere to project the image and they are bright enough to work in lighted areas. It's hard to imagine riding a train or sitting in a break room during lunch trying to watch a video with one of these.

Link:
MicroVision

Fun with Ferrofluid

2008-02-25T21:01:00.005-06:00

Ferrofluid is a liquid comprised of very small magnetic particles suspended within an oil. When a magnetic field is placed nearby the material and moved around, very interesting things happen. Ferrofluids are used in medicine, aerospace, construction and in the hard-drive within your computer. If you want to play with some yourself, you can purchase it for about $16 for 2 fluid ounces. See video below.

Nokia Morph - Flexible Electronics

2008-02-25T19:07:00.009-06:00

Below is a video of Nokia's new concept for hand held devices. Nokia is developing this product, which uses nanotechnology, in a partnership with Cambridge University. The device, when developed, will bend and "morph" in different ways to make it usable in different situations.

This self cleaning, self powering, bendable, stretchable marvel of almost here tech is pretty snazzy. Though as we are well aware, concepts are one thing, what is created for commercial sale is different. Regardless, this is an exciting looking device that would definitely trump the iPhone. It looks like something from Anime.

Are Men Obsolete?

2008-02-25T05:43:00.001-06:00

<---- Buy the "Girl Power" t-shirt at the Future Thoughts on-line store. Let the Geek out.

Warning....A lot of stereotyping is to follow: What are men good for? Really now, what does the human race need a bunch of men for...to fight wars and help in procreation? We all know from watching TV over the past few years that most men are immature sex loving idiots who would rather watch a football game than create something worthwhile. We also know from the commercials played between sitcoms and reality shows that men are somewhat stupid and need their women to tell them what to do all the time. Yes, it seems that men have grown useless in our society. Men have used their strength for thousands of years to keep women in check....to keep the women from learning, from voting, from expressing themselves. Women have done all the house chores and reared the children while the men went out and about and made decisions that changed the course of humanity. Now wives and children everywhere just pity the poor father and shake their heads in dismay at his ineptitude. Yes, we know that women can be rather nagging to their lesser halves, but a lot of times they do have valid opinions. Many men believe that women are annoying when they are ordering food at restaurants, never just taking what is on the menu but instead creating a menu of their own. As we all know they also talk incessantly and are always wanting to discuss things related to relationships and such, and to the pain of many a man they have the annoying ability to remember every detail about everything you ever did or said. Yes, they also have the ability to do a lot of things at once and organize themselves and others. You may find it sad to think that all of these skills are valuable in this world in which we live....all of them except maybe the food ordering disorder that they seem to all possess.

It is becoming a rare event where a man is in a more powerful position than a women within a domestic situation, at least on TV. In these events where men are actually more powerful it is commonly in a lower income and less educated coupling environment. If the man is able to keep the woman at home and unable to get an education, then he is in a winning position where he will get his thirst for power and control that he needs because his life is usually small and he has very little control over his destiny. Satisfied by controlling his woman, the uneducated and lower level male is often kept in check within society; otherwise, he may explode and cause some sort of event that is frowned upon by the masses. So, as long as the women gives in to his sexual desires and cooks his food and cleans his house and raises strong strapping boys, then life is all good and he feels complete.

Now the above is biased and not appropriately politically correct for you see not all women are controlled by lowly paid football watching men. Some women are controlled by men who make a lot of money and have a lot of power....but it is these men who are a dying breed. Though the fact of the matter is a lot of women happily live in this type of environment letting the man think he is in power as she gallivants around shopping and getting her nails done and takes tennis lessons.

Women are proving themselves in areas that used to be the strict social domains of men. Women are capable of managing businesses, are able to play sports, survive on the field of battle, becoming great scientists, being police officers, artists, politicians, doctors and every other role that a male has traditionally filled. You know what else they can do....the one thing that men can not? Woman can have babies. Now you may say that you have to have a man for a woman to have a baby, but you would be wrong.

The great work of man is starting to culminate into an exponential growth of understanding and advancement. During the march at greater and greater control over nature and the "betterment of humanity" we have learned how to manipulate the very components that make us who we are. Stem cell and cloning technologies have given us the ability to merge species, to create beings that never existed and to copy those that do. It is within our ability to take two females and combine their DNA together to allow the two to have a unique human baby without the help of a human man. When a penis and its happy sperm are no longer needed, what value does a man bring to the world? Now, there will be a lot of women out there who will still lust after a hard body, but even that can be simulated enough to satisfy.

It is truly a sad time to be a male human. No longer are we able to express our sexual needs and desires. No longer are we able to fully demonstrate our needs for power and assertiveness. We are losing out genetically and socially to the female of our species. In a work environment it is alright for a female to tout her sexuality, but men are told to curtail theirs. Men don't even know if they are supposed to hold the door open for a woman or if the woman is supposed to hold the door open for the man.......our advancement of social equality has grown faster than our biological evolution and we are all confused about the whole thing.

Woman are confused as well with all of the stuff that has happened to our society. Women want strong and capable men, but they want to be able to control them (not all, but a large number of them). Society is creating women who demand equal power in society, but they often report that they want their men to be strong and sexually dominant in bed. Men sometimes find it hard to be sexually dominant with socially dominant women. The only true power men have left is sex and that is a quickly fading power. Brute force and aggressive testosterone arrogance is needed less and less in our advanced times. Intelligence and the ability to work socially with others is most important....multi-tasking is valuable as well and woman have all these abilities.

Is this all a bad thing? Do we need to worry about this? The only thing we need to worry about is our reliance upon technology. If men are ever rendered extinct and there are only women to carry on the species, then we are extremely dependent upon "unnatural" human made reproductive technologies. It is unfortunately true that men are not needed to carry forward the species. Having sex has always been a man's ultimate aim and desire unless he was a devout religious man or a strict scientific nerd...something women can do now.

As men we shall now face the fact that women hold the power in society. They have the bodies we as men crave. They have the power to move up the corporate ladders using both their abilities of intellect as well as their beauty. They are capable of doing what we do and they don't really need us to succeed. In fact, they often complain that we get in the way.

What are men to do?

As stated in a recent TV show: "Men are becoming the new women." Except men can't have babies and are usually bad at keeping house.

Flatland: The Official Movie

2008-02-24T22:56:00.005-06:00

Fans of the book may or may not be aware of the movie version of the classic piece of fiction. It's a great geometry, political and religious commentary that still works in today's world even though it was written in the 1800's. A great tale of oppression in a strict society and of the worlds beyond our understanding. The movie stars the voice talent of Martin Sheen, Kristen Bell, Tony Hale, Michael York, and Joe Estevez. Visit the Official Movie Website

Should Consciousness be Considered Another Dimension?

2008-02-24T17:49:00.001-06:00

Just a thought.....

Humans have the ability to manipulate and use the first three dimensions through science, art and our everyday interactions with the world. We have a limited ability to manipulate time (the fourth dimension) because we seem to only be able to physically move "forward" within it, but that doesn't mean we can't move mentally through it. When you think of imagination as an agent of creation and the ability of the human mind to remember the past and plan for and anticipate future events you get the feeling that there may be more to thought than science traditionally thinks.

The brain is the most complex structure known within the universe besides the universe itself. Knowing this and understanding the power of the imagination of the human species and its ability to manipulate the environment and control other dimensions (if just by thought alone on the fourth one). Could it be that at least one of the "curled up" dimensions that theories such as "String Theory" predict is stuck within our heads?

I'm not a scientist, so this may sound ridiculous, but it is still something to think about.

Is Interest in Technology and Science Declining?

2008-02-23T18:58:00.000-06:00

Google offers many interesting tools including one they've had out for a while called "Google Trends" which allows you to view trends in search keywords over the years for all regions of the world. Below are several searches on the search history stored by Google. The results are disappointing. Keep in mind that these results include the entire worlds searches through Google.

Here is a graph of a search on the keywords: "Technology", "Science", "Biology" and "Genetics". This graph shows a slow decline in searching on these keywords.

Here is the same search with the keyword "Sex" included. Shows you what is on peoples minds the most. Trying this search with the word "God" shows that abstinence, at least virtually is not working:

And again with "American Idol" as an additional keyword:

At least it is refreshing that American Idol only trumps science and technology at the peek of the shows climax. An interesting note though is that while the search traffic is down, the news references are up which may mean that people are getting their science and technology "fix" from traditional news sources.....which in itself may or may not be a good thing.

Re-Make: The Death of Television and Film

2008-02-23T00:41:00.000-06:00

Lately there have been a lot of re-hashed stories pulled from years back and made up with prettier colors and fancier animations and a complete lack of any kind of imagination. Terminator is now a TV series, so is Knight Rider and if you look around you can find more coming up. Transformers was a movie, GI-Joe will be one soon as well. Lost In Space, The Fog, King Kong, The Manchurian Candidate, Oceans Eleven, Planet of the Apes, Solaris, War of the Worlds, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Dukes of Hazzard, Bewitched and on and on we can go. And come on, how many Invasion of the Body Snatcheresque type movies do we really need...the latest one of those was Invasion staring Nichole Kidman on the big screen and the failed TV series of the same name in 2005. We just aren't scared of or even mildly entertained by alien invasions any more...its been done before.

There seems to be several things going on here. First of all, Hollywood and Television is selling us our youth by making the kick-ass movies we always dreamed of as kids, namely Transformers. The second thing that seems to be going on and is more visible in Television is the lack of imagination by the writers and directors. This is most notable in the influx of "reality" shows on the "little big screen" and the ever growing popularity of the low resolution "mini screen" of YouTube. People are thirsting for something new and real or at least something unique.

The "something unique" is why "Lost" on ABC has done so well. Lost provides a story that envelopes the viewer and engages their minds. Unfortunately for the viewers it appears as if the "Lost" producers have written themselves into several corners by not explaining things and dropping a lot of key portions of the story (the black smoke, the numbers, several side stories of characters that left too early). Many fear that "Lost" will end up being a big let down like the rest of television. It may be beyond the scope of television to provide long term complex stories in the manner that they are required so viewers opt for the other part they desire which is the reality. Reality TV is able to provide quick satisfaction, but is itself becoming boring and predictable. There's only so many times you can watch someone ridiculed in front of millions because they can't sing or watch someone become friends with someone else so they can stab them in the back for money before you realize that you are wasting your time on filth and becoming shallower because of it.

Predictability and lack of imagination are killing the passive viewing industry. It seems that the stories have all been told before. The only way to make it in the industry is to have highly complex characters like that played by Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" or to deliver something mind bending like "The Matrix" or "Lost". Then the key is to follow through with the promises you make to the customer. In regards to "The Matrix" trilogy the fans had highly complex theories that were far better than what was created. The same can be said about "Lost". It seems if the fans in the chat rooms are saying anything near to what the writer were thinking then the writers feel the need to go into a totally different direction which in the end just ruins things and makes fans disgruntled.

All this ranting to say that people, especially the younger ones, see the traditional movies and television as old fashioned and boring. They would rather spend their time playing video games or watching someone's home videos on-line. We are about to lose the silver screen and the one-eyed-god and they won't be going down in a blaze of glory, they will just wither away and die. Then maybe we can get off our couches more or at least be more involved in our entertainment.

Solar-to-Grid Energy Conversion Record Set

2008-02-22T21:44:00.001-06:00

Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and Stirling Energy Systems have set a world record in converting sunlight to energy and sending it into the energy grid. The 31.25 percent efficiency achieved is a 2 point increase from previous systems. This advancement brings large scale affordable power closer to reality.

Emotiv and the Emotional Character

2008-02-22T20:11:00.000-06:00

Dr. Demetri Terzopoulos of the University of New York's Courant Institute would like to create a Matrix like environment that is fully immersable and populated by virtual people capable of emotions and the ability to read emotions in others. He dreams of a day when we are able to physically plug into this environment and experience different worlds that look and fill natural. His research along with his former student's, UCLA's Dr. Petros Faloutsos, research in real time animation and CGI character generation are creating environments where CGI characters (mainly fish and intelligent subway occupants at the moment) interact in complex ways and display properties that many would call intelligent. It is the hope that as the technology grows the movie and game industries will benefit by being able to have intelligent characters that are capable of dangerous and highly interactive behaviors typically performed by stunt men and actors. The game industry will really benefit by having more intelligent and naturally behaving characters, which brings us to the next section...The Emotiv game controller.

A small startup company named "Emotiv" plans to release a special game controller later this year that you wear like a helmet. The controller is reported to be able to read facial expressions and brain activity occurring between neurons from which it is capable of controlling objects or activities on the computer. If this controller is truly capable of what news reports claim it is, then this will be a breakthrough in computer technology bigger than the mouse and will open up a whole new world in interaction with the computers we have fallen so in love with. The first and most important use of this controller will be the use of it to control the facial expressions of avatars in virtual worlds like 2nd Life. If you can control your emotions and mind really well, you will be able to do a whole lot more with it than just operate a more expressive avatar.

Now taking virtual characters that can understand emotion and coupling them with a device that can read your emotions and basic brain activity moves us one step closer to a Matrix like environment. Imagine playing games where your ability to act and control your thoughts and emotions determine the outcome of the game. Imagine how this "mental training" could alter your personality. All this play could very well change the structure of your brain and your personality could shift in ways similar to actors who get into their roles a little too much and take a part of their characters with them after the final cut.

More Information:
Magix Projects UCLA
Dr. Demetri Terzopoulos
Emotiv

Goats to Produce Pharmaceuticals

2008-02-22T17:01:00.000-06:00

Image Use Information

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania led by Ina Dobrinksi Dr.med.vet., M.V.Sc., Ph.D. are experimenting with breeding goats with modified genes to produce proteins in their milk. These goats will allow for cheaper drugs such as insulin and medicines used in fighting cancer. It is also thought that knowledge gained from these experiments could result in the development of livestock that is resistant to diseases that currently plague stock yards. The idea, if ethical issues aren't raised, is to use this technique on humans to eliminate many genetic diseases.

The team was able to kill off large numbers of germ cells (cells that produce sperm) and using a virus commonly used in gene therapy they injected the remaining ones with a gene specifically designed to generate the desired protein in the offspring's milk. The offspring then are capable of passing the new genes on to their offspring. The results of this are organic pharmaceutical generating machines.

The problem associated with this is if the offspring makes it into the general population of goats and suddenly we find ourselves with genetically modified goats producing medicine meant for the general population just as there are fears of GM crops cross breeding with natural crops.

It's amazing how much press Dolly the Sheep got and then news such as this and sperm from bone marrow get largely overlooked. The amazing is now commonplace.

More Information

Earth Hour: Let the Earth Go Dark

2008-02-22T00:04:00.000-06:00

The future of our most needed resources is unknown and the outlook is bleak. Dwindling supplies of metals and precious fossil fuels are causing a dramatic shift in the way people think. On March 29th many cities, companies and individuals around the world will join in on "Earth Hour" when between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00p.m. those committed to the cause will turn of all non-essential electronic devices and lights. The event was first started in Australia and has grown this year to a worldwide movement. The event is sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation.

To find out more information:
http://www.earthhour.org/

My Free Implants

2008-02-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

Social networking has taken on another dimension on a website set up by a guy in California that raises money for women who want breast implants but can't afford them. The creator of the website claims that over 80 women have received enough money from donations made through the website to get the implants that they desire. Over 20,000 men send messages to the women and donate a dollar for each message. When all the messages add up, a women can get a new confidence that she may have been lacking.

Many people believe that it is important that before you consider getting implants that you talk to a therapist. If you do not mind your breast size and are only considering it because you are being pressured by a boyfriend or a husband....consider getting a new boyfriend or husband. Breast implants are moderately safe now that they have been "installed" for over three decades, but it is important to research surgeons. The most common need, other than purely cosmetic, for getting breast implants is because of a mastectomy, genetic deformities, or for gender reassignment. Most recipients report that they are very happy with the outcome of the surgery and show improvements in self-esteem.

An interesting note is that attempts have been made to create breast implants since the late 1800's. People have tried shoving all kinds of material into women's chests such as paraffin wax, glass, ivory, sponges, and ground up rubber with disastrous results.

Now the question we should be asking is: "Where is the 'my free penis enlargement' website"?

Getting new boobs?....put them in a new t-shirt: Here

My Free Implants Website

Where has all the Sci-Fi gone?

2008-02-21T15:04:00.001-06:00

Where has all the science fiction gone? Well, it would appear that we are living in it. Many futurists such as Ray Kurzweil believe that fiction writers are no longer able to think beyond the predicted "technological singularity" that many believe will occur in or around 2030. That is to say that the human mind can no longer comprehend how life could be beyond the next thirty years when taking into account the advancements we have made in the past few decades. Think back to the sci-fi greats of the past and how most of the technology seems antiquated and obsolete now. Even Star Trek, arguably the biggest science fiction phenomenon of all time, seems to have missed the mark by several hundred years in its predictive power. The thing is though that the writers were off because a lot of the technology came about faster than they predicted not because they were not imaginative. The fact that many technologies predicted by Science Fiction to be hundreds of years out is now with us is due in large part to the law of accelerating returns which states the following:

An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity -- technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.

- Ray Kurzweil

So it would seem as we move forward in time our advancements and leaps in thought are building upon each other and producing even more profound changes in our understanding. If you have ever wondered what it is we are working towards, the answer is in the ideas outlined by the greatest futurists of today. Science Fiction writers and those who predict the future through analyzing trends have a mixed success rate and the blunders are often laughed at by people in the future. It's the predictions that were "spot on" that often are ignored and no one remembers.

Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were both the first science fiction writers. Jules, the senior of the two, used more scientific fact and was generally more positive about the future of humankind while Wells was more of a free thinker who often showed the dark side of progress. Both men made startling predictions that came true decades after they wrote them. Verne most notably made predictions about sea and space travel while Wells predicted the nuclear bomb and the nature of warfare in the 2oth century. At the times of these predictions, many people laughed at some of the "outlandish" ideas, but still bought the books for entertainment purposes. It is said that after seeing the US bomb Japan with nuclear weapons the writer remarked that his epitaph should read "God damn you all I told you so."

Looking back now at the first two sci-fi writers we can see the impact that they had on future generations of scientists, engineers and technology professionals. In a sense, these two created the fictional worlds in which they wrote about by making people think about possibilities. Modern subs are built very similar to Verne's descriptions, the Apollo space capsule and mission and even its launch point are accurately depicted within his books. Wells predicted the aerial bombing of London, time as the fourth dimension, and even coined the term "atomic bomb". Robert Oppenheimer even claimed that he was inspired by H.G. Wells' book "The World Set Free". H.G. Wells wrote another book that predicts another up and coming event in our world that will change the creatures that live within it: "The Island of Dr. Moreau".

So here we are today with dwindling supplies of science fiction and more "fantasy" novels taking up bookstore shelf space. We see standard sci-fi topics such as cybernetic implants, mind reading, cloning, hybridization of species, commercial space travel, space stations, robotic explorers and helpers, instant communication around the world, cars that can drive themselves, clothes that can make you invisible, virtual reality, augmented reality, pilotless fighter aircraft, creation of alternative energy, and on and on in the daily news as reality. It is happening all at once it seems. If technology is accelerating at the rate predicted then the next twenty years will be amazingly brilliant and frightening at the same time. Our generation’s children may have to make the decision to stay human, or to evolve beyond what they were born with.

Further Readings:
The Death of Television and Film
H.G. Wells Anticipations: Predictions of his future
H.G. Wells free e-books
Ray Kurzweil
The Last "Great" Science Fiction Writer?

And Then "Boom" They All Retired

2008-02-21T00:14:00.000-06:00

Baby boomer's take up a lot of the upper levels of companies not only filling in as managers and executives but also taking up a large area of the business analyst and technical expert roles and other "brain drain" prone portions of the business as well. Coming up behind them are what social experts say are the disillusioned and selfish x and y generations. It seems that the "up and coming" generations show little loyalty to business because they grew up as latch key children being neglected by parents who worked very hard then were later laid off and were likely to get divorced. The new generations show more family loyalty and are willing to relocate and switch jobs not just for more pay, but also for the opportunity for more leisure time.

This is all disconcerting to baby boomer managers who do not understand the generation of children that they helped raise. Baby Boomers are typically the ones that have lost jobs, been loyal to their jobs more than themselves and their families. It is this hard working sacrificing group that is about to reach their holy grail in life which is retirement. It will be the leisure seeking younger people who will have to fill in the gaps of middle and upper management. The question is, how will this transform business in America at a time when loyalty is needed and strong business knowledge is necessary? The result could be businesses that focus more on their people at the expense of competitiveness and cost cutting.

Regardless of what happens during and after the big exodus of the retiring boomer's we know that government social programs will be hit hard and businesses will lose a large amount of the knowledge holders and the torch will be passed on to those who will not seem as worthy. It is a great time to be an X and Y generation occupant who is looking for upward career movement. There will be plenty of spots to take...though the gaps you leave behind yourself will be sorely missed.

This should make job-hopping more common and will theoretically raise the competitive wages of highly sought after jobs.

Further reading:
Baby Boomer Versus Generation X
Boomer's vs. X'rs

MARV and the Hoppers

2008-02-20T21:22:00.001-06:00

At the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico swarms of robots are hopping and rolling about the laboratory grounds communicating and coordinating actions amongst each other while sniffing out chemical plumes, photographing "secret" targets and setting up adhoc wireless communications stations.

These robots range from about a foot wide down to several millimeters wide. The hoppers are the largest ones and move about by leaping into the air over and over again while moving towards their goal. The hoppers can jump up to fifty feet high and go up to five miles on a tank of gas. They are packed with sensors, cameras, location and directional finders, and an assortment of other electronic "brains". When they land they are weighted so that the piston that propels them is always facing towards the ground and the internal sensors move the robot so that it is always facing in the direction of its target. Mostly envisioned for use in military and police work, these robots are also being looked at for space missions to Mars and other planets. The lightweight and low cost make them ideal candidates for launching in large numbers onto the surface of an alien world.

M.A.R.V.'s or Mini Autonomous Robotic Vehicles are arguably the smallest autonomous robots ever created. In an effort to pack as many sensors into ever smaller and smaller moving machines the researchers have created these bots that can "turn on a dime and park on a nickel". These robots are so tiny that they can move virtually undetected through buildings on hard floors and carpets. Through further miniaturization the group is working on adding cameras and other communications equipment to the tiny machines. The biggest restriction on making the robots even smaller is the size of the batteries that run them. As power supplies shrink the machines will shrink as well making them even harder to see as the swarm around the room a room collecting information.

Search for Emotions and Shapes

2008-02-17T22:03:00.001-06:00

On-line music and video will soon start to be tagged so that search engines and other software can gather more information about the sound and "meaning" within the audio of the file itself. You may be soon able to search for songs that sound like other songs you enjoy and search for audio files that sound like, for example, a cheetah and get audio files that meet that criteria. Or if you want, you can search video that may evoke the same emotions as listening to Bethoven's 5th.

This new technology could revolutionize sound effects generation and open up a whole new realm within the digital music and musical instrument industry as well as finally providing a way to properly search through audio and video content in a standardized way. Having the ability to tag exact points within audio and video files and to reference moving objects and attach emotional and spatial meaning and such to them will provide a whole new generation of tools for the professional and the everyday user of multimedia content. Sights like YouTube and tools such as iTunes will benefit greatly from this new technology.

A few search examples as taken from the link at the bottom of this post:

· Play a few notes on a keyboard and retrieve a list of musical pieces similar to the required tune, or images matching the notes in a certain way, e.g. in terms of emotions.
· Draw a few lines on a screen and find a set of images containing similar graphics, logos, ideograms,...
· Define objects, including color patches or textures and retrieve examples among which you select the interesting objects to compose your design.
· On a given set of multimedia objects, describe movements and relations between objects and so search for animations fulfilling the described temporal and spatial relations.
· Describe actions and get a list of scenarios containing such actions.
· Using an excerpt of Pavarotti’s voice, obtaining a list of Pavarotti’s records, video clips where Pavarotti is singing and photographic material portraying Pavarotti.

Technical Information:
MPEG7 Overview

Our Future Creations - Genetic Pollution

2008-02-17T16:12:00.000-06:00

It seems that evolution is just not evolving fast enough to survive in the environment that we have constructed for ourselves. We pollute and consume at such a fast rate that other living organisms can not adapt to the changing world around them. Luckily, we are here to help evolution a bit and give it the boost that it needs to stay current and keep its creations capable of breathing and procreating. It is not very hard to do now that we have begun to get a good idea of what is going on inside of the biological organisms that we have been granted power over.

Now, this is not saying that we can save existing creatures from going extinct, but we are learning how to mix a few genes here and there to get something new that can survive. Right now we are just experimenting mainly with plants on a large scale and on a smaller scale playing around with making animals glow in the dark and such. Some scientists are engineering plants that can produce plastics, while others are mixing fish and tomatoes together to make a more shippable fruit and playing around with making "Roundup Ready" corn while even others have been working on creating genetically engineered plants that can clean up contaminated soil.

In a world destined for fossil fuel shortages, the ingredient of plastics, a plant that naturally produces the needed materials would be a great addition to the "life family" here on our planet. These plants would provide us with a great source of raw material to use in our soft drink bottles, plastic bags, toothbrushes, microwaveable packaging, toys and all those important things in life. Now seeing that the consumption of plastic is sky rocketing along with the need for farmland to grow the world's food, some tough decisions may have to be made if we are going to grow these plastic producing plants on a large scale. Where will these plants be grown and what other crops will we have to give up in order to have them? There is research on using natural soy plants for producing plastic but it is unlikely that they will be able to be used to manufacture all the different kinds of plastics needed for various materials.

Genetically modified food has been in the news for a long time now and has many activists rattling their protest signs and computer keyboards. In an effort to feed the masses and to provide a "pretty" and "hardy" product industrial farms would happily produce and deliver to you a modified plant with new features you may not be aware of. The benefits both commercially and to the overall consumption "needs" of humanity are now considered greater than the possible ill effects that could come from mass-producing modified plants that can easily cross contaminate neighboring fields and wild versions of the plant. If an unknown negative effect was released unto the entire population of corn or some other staple food such as rice or soybean the future of humanity could be put at risk. Man's knowledge and ability to comprehend the complexity of natural selection and the interaction between species has been shown repeatedly to be limited to the point of ignorance. Though we are making great strides in seeing the "bigger picture" of species interactions, we should proceed with caution if we are to proceed at all. Next up: Prozac Enabled Corn and Ritalin Rice?

Genetically modified plants that clean the soil through phytoremediation sounds like a great idea. There is a definite need to remove harmful pollutants from the environment, especially those that cause cancer and soon we may have fields full of modified Poplars happily soaking up natural and man made pollutants from the ground and breaking them down into less harmful substances and either expelling them out into the air or utilizing them within their roots, stems or foliage. There is nothing more beautiful than using nature to clean up a man made mess, but there are risks involved. The scientists leading the research are acting diligently to stop these brave new breeds of trees from reaching the population outside of the lab. When these trees are first placed in the world outside the test tube we will see if we have learned from previous mistakes with plants jumping the barriers that we put in place and breeding in the wild.

Further Reading:
A Future Visionary: Patricia Piccinini
Cash Crop of the Future
Cleaning the Soil with Modified Plants
Roundup Ready Corn
Invasive Species

Memory Spot (Can you see it?)

2008-02-17T15:36:00.000-06:00

It is very tiny, but it may be bigger than you think. The pencils in the image to the left are pointing to a very small dot that is capable of holding video, pictures, audio, documents and whatever else that can be stored digitally. So what? You may be thinking that this isn't all that great, and it wouldn't be except for the fact that this little bit of memory can be written to and read from wirelessly from a short distance. The chip requires no batteries and is powered remotely through "inductive coupling" from the read/write device. This memory was unveiled in 2006 by HP and is now starting to be looked at commercially in the "real world". The chip provides communication speeds 10 times faster than Bluetooth and is as fast as modern wi-fi speeds. This means that you can read and write to this memory spot extremely fast with any device that has a reader-writer built into it (cell phone, laptop, MP3 player, camera, etc...). It is half the size of a grain of rice and can be stuck inside of a sheet of paper; embedded in a credit card, attached to a can of Coke or placed within anything you purchase providing media rich content or instructive information. The small device can hold up to 4mb of data with larger storage capacities undoubtedly soon to follow. This technology is poised to overtake RFID in the world of tagging real world objects for the benefit of tracking.

RevoPower: Bicycle Wheel Motor

2008-02-09T20:52:00.000-06:00

A company named RevoPower has created a motorized bike wheel that fits most bikes that use a standard 26in wheel and allows you to travel up to 200 miles per gallon (depending on load and terrain) of your standard gas and oil mixture at a nice pedaling free 20mph. The Wheel is a 23cc, two-stroke internal combustion engine that requires no physical modifications to bikes. The wheel replaces the existing front wheel of the bike and a throttle control is clamped to the handle bars. The one quart fuel tank is placed within the bike's water bottle holder and is attached to the engine through a tube.

This invention was first discussed in Popular Science magazine in 2006 and has since been discussed in various other publications and on TV, but it is still not available to buy. "The Wheel" should be available at authorized dealers this year and is estimated to cost approximately $599. A bit cheaper than a moped and definitely cheaper than a Segway. The engine makes cool looking bikes even cooler and shouldn't have the stigma attached to other alternative modes of transportation of this type. The great thing is that if you run out of gas, all you have to do is just start pedaling.

RevoPower Company Site

Home Fabrication (3d Printing)

2008-02-08T23:16:00.003-06:00

So much goes into the creation of your everyday plastic toy. Hundreds of people and tons of resources across the globe go into making the toy you buy on the shelf. This all may be coming to an end, and if so, it may be one of the greatest disruptive technologies yet seen. Will retail go the way of the music industry?

The way it is done today:
The goods of today are designed and marketed by teams of people within product development companies. These companies try to sell their ideas to retail companies in the hope of turning a profit. The buyers for the retail companies decide if they want to purchase the item in such a large amount that it takes giant factories churning through numerous materials and toiling hands of factory workers to create. Once the items are made to order then they are loaded onto trucks and trains by laborers and then sent to a shipping facility where they are then loaded onto ships by other laborers and sent across the ocean on ships manned by merchant marines. Once the ocean voyage is over the goods are processed at docks and then sent to distribution centers where other laborers place them on trucks to be sent to single stores across a given country. At the stores, stockers unload and stock the items hoping that you will drive from your home and make your way to the item and then purchase it through traditional retail processes. This resource intensive scenario may begin to dim for retailers in various areas within the next five years. According to several analysts the at home fabrication era is about to hit and as you can see above, many jobs will be impacted once this technology matures.

The way it will be done tomorrow?
Imagine a 13 year old named Joe sitting at home with his computer and 3d rendering software his parents purchased for under $1000. He plays around a bit with the software and creates a detailed 3d Model of his favorite Second Life avatar and enhances it to provide higher resolution and a few extra accessories. He prints his creation out in physical form on his new 3d printer from the Desktop Factory 3d printer company. His friends like what they see and he prints a few of their characters out for them as well. Suddenly Joe is in business. He is taking orders and with little effort is creating physical representations of on-line avatars and creating additional characters out of his own imagination and shipping them around the world to paying customers.

Soon though his business starts to die off because other people get involved. Everyone it seems has a 3d Printer in their homes and they could care less about having items shipped to them over conventional carriers. Now people want to just download the design created by others on sites like CafePress over the web and print it themselves. It's not just toys they are downloading. They are downloading dishes, decorative objects, basic tools and even complex electronics such as remote controls using newer "Ink Jet" 3d Printers that combine layers of alloys and polymers to create solid state electronic devices.

Suddenly the manufactures of the objects we crave are in direct competition with the everyday citizen who may not have an education, but tons of creativity and various on-line outlets to display it and make money from it. Where are the retail stores left in all of this? They are left with ever shrinking selections on their shelves as they start to lose market share and are no longer needed as the middle man in the sale of various products. The grocery stores may be the only ones left.

The customer in this environment is the winner because they can either create on their own or find highly customized products created by others. Commercialism and consumerism at this point will have been set free and democratized in many areas. This is truly a highly disruptive technology and it is one that should be taken seriously and understood by many corporations.

A lesson should be learned by the failure of the music industry to recognize progress and cultural changes that have significant impact on the core business. Any organization that wishes to survive will learn to exploit this inevitable and beneficial shift in our way of creating and delivering goods. Not every company will survive. The change will be great and will require that people use their brains in ever increasing creative ways. This will further the decline of uneducated low skilled jobs as technology and machines quickly grasp the basic abilities of humans.

What jobs could be changed or eliminated due to this technological shift (small sample)?

Professional Designers
Professional Engineers
Buyers
Merchandisers
Dock Workers
Retail Workers
Truckers
Merchant Marines
Factory Workers
etc.....all throughout the supply chain.

Resources:
Wikipedia Entry
Desktop Factory
Z Corp: Rapid Prototyping
The Fabricators are Coming
Printing Your Shoes

3d TV without the Glasses

2008-02-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

Philips has created a television that is capable of displaying 3D images without the need for the viewer to wear glasses. This new technology is WOWvx and it is marketed towards advertising agencies to be used in any place where a flat screen TV and possible consumers may come together. You may start to see these special televisions in department stores, subways, display windows and restaurants in the near future. Though promotional material released by Philips states that these TV's will break the boundaries of video games and movies as well, it may be some time before you have one of these in your home, and it won't necessarily be the price that is the deal breaker. Most viewers who stare at the screens for longer than your average run of commercials (3 or 4 minutes) state that the TV "messes" with their eyes. This could simply be because our brains aren't used to seeing 3D pop out of a flat panel without the aid of special glasses, which is actually rather cool, or maybe it is the method employed in creating the 3D image that bothers them. Maybe we just need to get accustomed to this new way of seeing things.

How Does it Work?:
WOWvx works by tricking the brain, which is becoming easier and easier to do. In front of the pixels of the screen is a sheet of transparent lenses that deflect the light at nine different angles ensuring that the left and right eyes see slightly different versions of the same image. The brain reconstructs these different 2d images into one single 3d one and creates a "Three Dimensional Visual Experience". Because the images are being projected at different angles and because each viewer may have slightly different spacing between their eyes, an "optimal" viewing distance is required. The stated optimal distance is ten to twelve feet. Changing the angle of view causes a slight distortion in the image as you move, but once you stop, the image comes back together as designed. This "new" technology is pretty much the same as that used with those stereoscopic or auto stereogram posters that were popular in the late nineties and early turn of the century. This is not much different than your favorite "View-Master" you had as a kid, which by the way is 65 years old now. Visit an antique store and you may find a late century (late 1800's that is) 3d viewer made of wood. This technology has been around for a while, Philip's has just been able to make it enjoyable by a crowd instead of one person.

What do we do with this?:
Humans love novelty and this new TV fulfills that need. This technology will be used for mainly commercial purposes and mainly in advertisement. The appeal may wear off as other 3D technologies arise to replace the mundane television screen all together, but there may actually be a bit of life in this for the next few years. If the technology no longer "messes" with peoples eyes, it may become mainstream. Many futurists think that one day we will interface directly with the computers and our brains which will render our eyes useless along with our archaic televisions. Until then though, 3D TV's may very well be used to draw in susceptible consumers and in some form (as long as we get used to it) will be viewable in video games, cell phones, and on our everyday television. No matter where it is used, it will be eye catching, and to some, eye aching.

The Living Room of the Future (1978) How close is it to today?

Surface Computing

2008-02-06T10:26:00.001-06:00

I had the opportunity to play with a "Surface Computer" today and sensed an excitement about a new technology that I haven't felt in a long time. This is truly a world changing piece of equipment that we will start to see throughout businesses over the next year. Within the next five years you will have it in your home. It may not be as big as the Internet, but it will soon change the way that we all interact with the world around us. These computers will change the way many businesses work and will deliver a richer experience for us all. The "Surface Computer" is an innovative creation of Microsoft Corporation and is simply (if you could call it that) a 30 inch computer screen built into a table and hooked up to a computer hidden within. The power comes in the use of sophisticated software and a series of cameras built under the screen that sense user movement and touch. It all sounds rather boring until you think about the ability of multiple devices to communicate through wireless connections with other devices and how that can translate into new ways of interacting with computers and especially flat surfaces. Read the scenarios below and you will get a small glimpse of what these new computers are capable of...

Scenario 1: You have friends and family over to the house and you are wanting to look at pictures of the latest family vacation. You all sit around your "coffee table" which is littered, not with physical pictures, but with digital images projected on the surface of the table. Anyone at anytime can drag a picture around the screen and resize it or rotate it using natural gestures with their fingers moving along the screen. If Granny want's to order a print, she simply holds her finger on a picture, and a menu pops up with different options, or she can order the prints by dragging the image to her credit card which is sitting on the table. If she has a storage device sitting on the table, that is recognized by the table, she can just "drag" the image there and take the image with her when she leaves. Ok, viewing images is over and you all want to put together a puzzle as you talk. This is not a normal puzzle. You take plastic squares and place them on the screen and suddenly each square is alive with portions of a family video or maybe a favorite movie. This is a video puzzle, and if you want, you can flip the plastic over to get the mirror image of the video section set to that square of plastic. Move the plastic squares along the screen and place them together to create the complete video. Puzzles are no longer static images, but are now vibrant moving videos that are chopped into different pieces. You start talking about your favorite song that you just bought and everyone is interested in hearing it. You touch the table and open your music collection and pick the song from the album of your favorite rock band. The song starts playing from the table. Your friend Kevin loves the song and would like to purchase it for his MP3 player...he lays his player on the table and drags the song to it...and now he has the song. No longer are computers a solitary device used in homes by individuals, but are truly interactive devices that can bring families and friends together in a rich interactive world. And again here, we have barely scratched the surface of all the possibilities.

Scenario 2: Imagine sitting at a restaurant with your four year old and someone you are doing business with at the same time. Today this would be a rather stressfull, or entertaining depending on your personality, situation. Well, if the table you were sitting at was a "Surface Computer", you could set your credit card down, and your business associate could do the same, and you could order food by dragging menu items onto your cards...say good bye to splitting the bill at the end of the meal. Let's say your four year old (that you had to bring along because they were sick and couldn't go to day care) was bored and was whining...well, just turn on the drawing section of the table and let them draw pictures on the screen, or play video games while you conduct business. While discussing business you need to browse the web to show your lunch guest some new product or maybe a website design. Instead of lugging along your laptop, or using the tiny screen of your cell phone, just simply open a screen in front of the two of you on the table itself and start browsing the web. Is your drink empty? Don't worry, just click on a button on the screen and the waiter will be alerted to the situation. Want to swap contact information with your new found business prospect? You both lay your cell phones down on the table and drag your information from one phone to another. The possibilities here are limitless, and will be mainstream as the prices of the "Surface Computer" come down. You will be seeing this in the near future because it offers such a great competitive edge for so many types of businesses. Companies will be scrambling to offer these devices as a way to drive customer traffic. Oh by the way, ever get annoyed while waiting for the waiter to come and get your credit card when you are ready to leave just to be annoyed further while waiting for them to process it? In the near future this will no longer be an issue because you can simply pay at the table yourself and leave when you are ready, not when your waiter finally gets around to serving you. Thank you Microsoft.

The two scenarios above are just hints of the ways these new computers will impact our lives. From hotel rooms to photo kiosks in retail stores to your living room and the classroom, these types of computers will be everywhere. The trend has been to go smaller and smaller and more mobile with electronics and the market for such devices is getting over saturated. Microsoft has been able to be innovative enough to realize that there is a complete world out there that has been untapped. Don't listen to the nay sayers, they are probably Apple enthusiasts that are upset that Microsoft was able to deliver such a cool blend of art and technology in one piece of equipment. The iPhone is just a toy compared to what surface computing technology will end up being thought of over the next few years. The end of one computing era is over and a beautiful new one is just beginning....get ready to lose your mouse and keyboard and let the "touchy feely" computing era begin.

The Cat Genie (Self Flushing Litter Box)

2008-02-03T22:46:00.000-06:00

It has arrived....the savior of those who love cats but hate the smelly crap and chore of scooping poop and clumped cat pee. The Cat Genie is a robotic litter box that scoops the waste left by your cat and processes it and disposes of it through your toilet or down your utility room drain. The utility room option is much better than the bathroom installation because it does not require you to flush the waste....all you have to do is press a button and walk away.

This is how it works.....

The Genie uses special re-usable cat litter that is made out of plastic. This litter is placed within the Cat Genie and is used as usual by your cats. When you are ready to clean the litter, you press a button and the "magic" starts. The bowl starts turning as a litter scooping arm dips into the litter and the solid waste is collected. The arm disposes of the waste several times during the process. The urine is either collected at the bottom of the bowl or is later cleaned during the last phases of the process. After the solids are scooped and deposited within a special receptacle. The washing cycle begins and water is sent into the spinning bowl and the litter is washed and the solid waste is chopped up, liquefied and disposed of through the tube that is either going to your toilet bowl or to your washer outlet line. After the cleansing has been completed the re-usable litter is dried by a built in blow dryer and ready to be re-used by your cat(s).

If you have one cat then you clean once a day if you have two then it is recommended that you clean twice a day. Two or more then you clean more often.

Now this is a pretty neat device that is really useful for those of us too lazy to clean the litter on a regular basis....though it isn't perfect. The Cat Genie doesn't always get all the solid waste and when it doesn't, the smell is a little annoying when you clean again. This is easily overcome though by helping out a bit if this occurs. The Cat Genie is much better than the Litter Maid automatic cat box and is cleaner and easier to work with.

They say the Cat Genie is more environmentally friendly than regular litter boxes because the cat litter is re-usable; however, over time you will have to replace the re-usable litter because some of it is lost during the scooping and some of it is lost when cat's kick it out of the bowl. The Cat Genie requires a sanitizing solution that comes in a plastic container in order to work. When you take into account the electricity and water used in combination with the plastics used to generate the litter and the solution container it's questionable whether this is a more sustainable solution than just a regular litter box. It would be nice to see the company that created the Cat Genie offer more information about the true environmental impact or benefit of their product.

The Fractal Nature of Nature

2008-02-01T23:11:00.000-06:00

This is just an observation and not a held belief. Have you ever noticed how the maps of the universe that are being created seem oddly similar to the patterns that are seen in the structure of the brain?

Seeing that nature is fractal, is it possible that the universe is a large brain? Was the big bang the creation of a life form that was born and is growing and expanding as we see in our observations?

This is an odd thought, but interesting none the less. There is an infinity within us and outside of us. We may hold a universe inside of our heads and at the same time we may be the creations of a "greater brain" that is our universe. It could go on forever in all directions. What many believe to be God may actually be the universe and he may be within a larger universe that it is barely capable of understanding. We may just be part of something not much different than us....just a bit larger.

If there is to be a technological singularity that will propel human thought throughout the universe, could it be that it has happened before and we are some sort of creation from that event?

See an example of images here at the New York Times.

What the Bleep is the Secret?

2008-01-31T18:32:00.000-06:00

Science and religion are being hijacked by paranormal pseudo science "fruit loops" with some really good things to say.....even if they may be mostly wrong are these really good messages they are sending? Movies like "What the Bleep do we Know" and books like "The Secret" would like us to think that this is our universe to control and we have the power to think things into existence just through the power of our thoughts and desires. This is a fanciful thought, but there is truth to it that we should all embrace in our lives. Out of the two, the movie "What the Bleep do we Know?" has more to say about who we are and the power we truly have than "The Secret" does. The core of the "Bleep" movie seems to have more to do with personal development while the "Secret" movie seems to focus on wishing for more money which as we should all know truly does not bring happiness though it does bring power.

It is true that you have power over the future. If you wake up each morning and start it all off with positive thoughts and work hard at erasing the negative from your life then your life will truly be better. If you think positive things and surround yourself with positive people, you will naturally work towards positive things. If you have a goal in your life and have the confidence to work for it then you are more inclined to make it happen. Think about a better relationship, making more money, think of a better career and think it into existence, you will more than likely take the steps necessary to bring it into your life. If you recognize the negative in your life and work at removing it, then you can truly have power over your future and grow as a person and as a contributor to the society in which we live. Not only do positive thoughts have a positive impact on your life, but they also have a positive impact on your physical health. If you have depression and negative thoughts then you impact your physical health and start a downward spiral that is hard to move back up. Always strive to move up and avoid that which brings you down.

Now having said that, let's look into the illogical parts of these new movements. You can wish and think positively for money all you want, but it's not going to come to you if you don't go and get it in a positive way. Thinking and saying positive things to water as it is freezing does not make prettier ice crystals just as thinking and saying negative things does not make the crystal formations uglier. Many things come into play when water freezes and it has never been scientifically proven that your thoughts and feelings have anything to do with it. Please heavily research Dr. Masaru Emoto before taking these things as truth for he specifically chooses the images to fit the results he is looking for. Some peoples' "universes" may be more powerful than yours no matter how positive you are with your thoughts. The universe is a chaotic and complex system that you have little power over. You can only positively control your immediate realm of existence and from that you do create minor fluctuations in the larger system.

Do listen to the core messages of these movies and books, but do not let them blur your understanding or willingness to understand the world as it is.

R.I.P. Santa Claus

2008-01-25T22:48:00.000-06:00

Well, it's happened. The fabled North West passage is now open for the first time in recorded history and countries are scrambling to lay claim to the open waters and the riches that lay below, but what about the cultural loss that this brings about? What of Santa Claus?

Yes, it seems that in the next few Christmas's we will have to break the news to our children that Santa is now sleeping with the mercury infected fishes of the arctic ocean along with several seals, polar bears and a few native Inuit. It seems that the North Pole is no longer able to stay frozen enough to allow any man made structures to stand upon it. You see, at some point the ice thawed and Santa's Workshop slipped forever beneath the cold but slowly warming depth's of the waters of the north. Little elf bodies floated on the surface as the people of the world held their fingers in their ears and pretended that nothing important was going on.

The debate rages on as to what actually caused the death of Santa Claus, but most intelligent people believe that it had something to do with some sort of human activity on the planet. Other's claim that a deity of sorts that floats "out there" somewhere does what he wants and we have no power to stop him. Other's claim that it is a cycle that comes and goes and we should just live with it. Then there are some that think that nothing is happening at all. Regardless of the mind set that you fall within it is apparent that many people do not notice the changes in the environment that have taken place since they were children.

Maybe it was all Santa's fault.....he kept sending us all these gifts that we really didn't need. He kept us wanting more and more and more until we just polluted the world so much with his factories that kept consuming more and more resources. Not only did Santa deliver stuff that wasn't needed, but it seems that family members bought stuff for other family members who bought stuff for other family members and none of these people really needed the stuff that they received. When one person buys something for fifteen dollars and another family member buys something for fifteen dollars and they give each other these gifts that neither person really wants, then a lot of energy and material resources are wasted.

What should we do now? What should the human race say?

Good bye Santa Claus....you have destroyed our world enough. Now that you are gone, maybe we will learn that the best gifts to give are not associated with holidays and come at random times and are appropriate and needed by the recipients that we love. Yes, it is sad that we can no longer look forward to the overly fed man in red giving us gifts that we really don't need, but is it really all that sad that you are dead? The hollowness that you brought to us all as we did our duty buying stuff no one needed is no longer needed. We should all look to the north and see the shining sea that is before us and know that we should do something different. As your rotting corpse sits at the bottom of the ocean, maybe we can learn how to set things right and start being responsible with the beautiful world that we are fortunate enough to live in.

All My Circuits

2008-01-24T20:11:00.000-06:00

Our Roomba “died” a few months ago and my daughter was devastated. As she cried and caressed the little robot as it lay in the box waiting to go back to the store for a replacement she asked why it had died. We explained that it just stopped working and that we were going to get a new one. She said she did not want a new one; she wanted her “Cutie” (she had named it) and didn’t want to lose him. We replaced the robot with a new better model and my daughter does not want anything to do with it.

This makes me wonder as the robot industry grows and pervades our lives as projected will the younger generations see these mere machines as being as worthy as the family pet? Will they eventually see them as being better than us? Will the line blur separating organic and silicon\plastic faster than anticipated by leading futurists? If the next or future generations find robots to be living sentient beings and raise them up to that level, will organic life be brought down in any way to meet them during their rise in status? It is very plausible that as the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics continue to grow these machines will continue to rise in intelligence and abilities and could quickly, according to moore’s law, well surpass our level of understanding and intelligence within the next 20 years by thousands of times.

You can now see complex movements thought to be only the domain of human beings performed by robots such as the Honda “Asimo”. Robotic vehicles are now able to drive themselves through complex courses in the real world in challenges put on by the military. The NASA Mars rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" are able to make decisions on their own to allow them to better survive the harsh environment of the red planet. The company Ugobe has created an amazing “pet replacing” dinosaur pet robot named "Pleo" which is one of the most complex and emotional consumer robots available. And of course, the most successful robots sold by iRobot are capable of doing a pretty good job vacuuming your floors and scrubbing them as well.

The robots are coming and we need to start thinking of what we are going to do when they become smarter than us and start making decisions for us. We already rely on computers to make life and death decisions in various fields, but we still have control. One day we just may give it up all together and create the gods that we seem so desperate to have.

*Moore’s law: The power of microprocessor technology doubles and its costs of production fall in half every 18 months.

Roomba technology in the past:

No More Tears

Honda’s Asimo:

http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/

Ugobe Pleo:

http://www.pleoworld.com/

Darpa’s challenge:

http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/