The post social age is not the age built after the age of social media, it’s the age built on top of social media.
For more about Tac Anderson, (and my disclosures) go here.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Making Electronics More Human.
Something struck me about this article on e-skin. I’ve been fascinated with the work being done around prosthetics because the scifi geek in me thinks this puts the future of enhanced cyborgs, closer to reality.
But there’s another part of this. It’s not just about cyborgs or even just creating better prosthetics (which is cause enough in itself). It’s about making our technology more human. The more “human” our technology is, the easier it is for us to interface with.
The same technology could be used for either:
The material is also sensitive enough to detect the pressure of a handshake, whether that pressure be downward or flexing, meaning a prosthetic limb could detect the actual degree of bend in a joint. And coating electrical devices in this material could render those devices capable of getting electricity flowing again if they are damaged.
Bao’s team is now concentrating on the next goal: to make the material both stretchy and transparent, so that it could wrap around and overlay electronic devices or display screens.
We could be talking about creating technology that allows direct brain interface or even just a better conductive material between our skin and the “skin” of the device. Which could turn our mobile devices into even more of an “appendage” than they actually are.
Some of the best futuristic minds imagine the city of the future.
Go check out this site. Awesome!
UNDER TOMORROWS SKY IS A FICTIONAL, FUTURE CITY. SPECULATIVE ARCHITECT LIAM YOUNG OF THE LONDON BASED TOMORROWS THOUGHTS TODAY HAS ASSEMBLED A THINK TANK OF SCIENTISTS, TECHNOLOGISTS, FUTURISTS, ILLUSTRATORS, SCIENCE FICTION AUTHORS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS ARTISTS TO COLLECTIVELY DEVELOP THIS IMAGINARY PLACE, THE LANDSCAPES THAT SURROUND IT AND THE STORIES IT CONTAINS.
Technology is Never Fast Enough
Whatever it is, it’s not fast enough.
But don’t expect to find the new speed option on your next computer’s feature list. The standard, to be produced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), will likely reach data-transfer speeds between 400 gigabits per second and 1 terabit per second. For comparison, that latter speed would be enough to copy two-and-a-half full-length Blu-ray movies in a second.
The UK recently rejected NFC in their Tube pass system because it wasn’t fast enough.
“We have carried out tests on NFC in both 2008 and 2010,” Transport for London customer experience director Shashi Verma told GigaOM.
“Unfortunately, during both of these tests, we found that the technology was not fast enough to complete the transaction in under 500 milliseconds, which we would require.
“The concerns are only around NFC technology and not EMV. We are keen to see any progress the industry can make in this area.”
The speed of the Internet isn’t about how fast can we download movies, it’a about how fast does technology need to be to be completely seamless.
Blade Runner, Cyborg To Run In The Olympics
America used to only send college students to play in the Olympics. No professionals were allowed. And then something happened: the US lost at Basketball. We lost because other countries let their professional athletes play and we did not. We didn’t make that same mistake again. We put together the “Dream Team” and the Olympics have been different ever since.
This is a fascinating article not just because of the future implications to the Olympics, but because of even larger implications. But let’s just talk sports.
To be clear, I don’t use the term cyborg as a way of implying that Oscar is any less human because of hiss disability and I totally appreciate his desire to be considered a runner, not a disabled runner.
But this is why I use the term cyborg: because, with his prosthetics he is. Take this quote from Dr Bundle who published a study on Oscar:
“This is an intriguing moment in the history of the science of sports,” said Dr. Matt Bundle, a University of Montana professor who co-authored a study about Pistorius as part of the runner’s appeal after being banned from Olympic qualifying in 2007. “An individual is able to use a mechanical device in a way that surpasses the human leg. It’s an important time to note that that’s impressive.”
Compared to this from Wikipedia:
The term cyborg is often applied to an organism that has enhanced abilities due to technology, though this perhaps oversimplifies the necessity of feedback for regulating the subsystem. The more strict definition of Cyborg is almost always considered as increasing or enhancing normal capabilities.
While the article mentions that Oscar is not looking for technological enhancements as an advantage over other runners (and I really do believe him) it doesn’t mean that other’s won’t. And it’s not a stretch to image where this could go.
If drug enhancements are illegal but technological ones aren’t, what’s to stop people from “disabling” themselves in order to receive enhancement? Or countries who care little about their individual citizens <cough>China<cough> from “modifying” their Olympic hopeful children from an early age.
This is a historic event and it’s not going to be easy to sort out.
Harkaway on ‘the space behind the screen’, from The Blind Giant.
First self-recorded internet audio thingy I have ever done. Yeah, I know, that sounds weird to me too, but it’s true. Go figure. Surprisingly easy, so I will try to do some more…
(Do I sound like some kind of over-emphatic geography teacher? I have this image of myself in a really bad sweater and thick glasses, with chalkdust on my fingers. Yes, chalk. Yes, I am old. Hush now.)
How I Busted Out Of My Addictive Technology Loop
We’re creating technology faster than we can create ways to protect it. This is a little freaky.
I got into the car, put the digital key in the lock, and… nothing. The car was totally dead. Then my cell phone rang, and it was the head of security. In a teasing voice he told me I shouldn’t be surprised to find my car would not start. They had, after all, just hacked it.
