While working at the library yesterday I helped out a cool dude trying to upload photos onto his blog. Library security is pretty tight so he couldn't preview what he was uploading.
Turned out him and his friends were biking across America. Last stop was Astoria, Oregon; where I lived for the last two years.
They're at the end of their journey and will be taking a train back. Sorry Heidi, they won't be heading your way ;]
So check out Zoo Across America and read their story. It's very interesting and very inspiring. Makes me want to check out the Grand Tetons at some point in my life :]
August 11, 2009
August 9, 2009
Dense Memories
Sony has released/leaked specs for a 2 terabyte memory card. Before I hype things up though, that doesn't mean that a 2 terabyte card will be out soon - that just means that they've figured it out and it might happen someday. The next step will be to release flash cards with high capacities like 64 GB and higher.
I used to have a PSP and over time I managed to collect quite a few of Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duos. It's pretty amazing holding a little piece of plastic thinner than a piece of cardboard and only a little larger than my thumbnail that also holds several movies, games, pictures, and music.
My PC's hard drive is only 250GB, I have another external hard drive that has another 250GB. Neither hard drive is full yet. The external hard drive has about 50GB worth of ebooks.
A 2 Terabyte flash card smaller than your thumb is moving into the realm of adding expansion to the mind. I don't think it's known how much 'hard drive' space the brain has but why would it matter when you can plug a few microsofts into your brain with an entire library built in? Forget memorizing books so you can recite them, just carry the library of congress with you!
Via SonyInsider
I used to have a PSP and over time I managed to collect quite a few of Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duos. It's pretty amazing holding a little piece of plastic thinner than a piece of cardboard and only a little larger than my thumbnail that also holds several movies, games, pictures, and music.
My PC's hard drive is only 250GB, I have another external hard drive that has another 250GB. Neither hard drive is full yet. The external hard drive has about 50GB worth of ebooks.
A 2 Terabyte flash card smaller than your thumb is moving into the realm of adding expansion to the mind. I don't think it's known how much 'hard drive' space the brain has but why would it matter when you can plug a few microsofts into your brain with an entire library built in? Forget memorizing books so you can recite them, just carry the library of congress with you!
Via SonyInsider
August 2, 2009
The Kindle Turns Books Into... Kindle?
Is this the future? Are books really finally disappearing?
A few years ago E-Readers were a novelty gadget. Nifty but not very common or useful. Suddenly, however, it seems as if every company is scrambling to get a piece of the cake. Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble, and others, are trying to get the biggest slice.
Newspapers are struggling with the growth of the internet and many may soon fade. Unfortunately it seems like journalism is entering an electronic era and newspaper stands are probably going to disappear. Internet TV is becoming more common with 'internet only' TV shows that will begin to put pressure on even television. TV killed the radio star? Maybe someday it will be the Internet killed the sitcom star.
The great thing about some of the newest ereaders is their internet capability. Sony missed out with their latest generation but Amazon is using the Sprint network and the PlasticLogic is using AT&T's network to bring you your very own hitchhiker's guide. Make sure you've bookmarked all your favorite wiki's and you've got no reason not to know something.
Continuing Amazon's attempt to burn paper media, you can get some newspapers delivered daily to your Kindle. Coupled with the ability to view blogs, a few thousand books... why should we keep printing on dead trees? E-readers are smooth, futuristic, and even green.
I doubt that ereaders will completely destroy printed media. We still have radio shows even though we've got television, and we've still got libraries even though books are cheap and mass produced now. We may begin to see more 'digitally exclusive' books soon though. I imagine novellas and short stories may become more common too. They can be turned out and distributed much faster than thick hardback novels. Just write it up, get an ISBN, and contact amazon to start distributing.
What Amazon REALLY meant by calling it the 'Kindle'
A few years ago E-Readers were a novelty gadget. Nifty but not very common or useful. Suddenly, however, it seems as if every company is scrambling to get a piece of the cake. Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble, and others, are trying to get the biggest slice.
Newspapers are struggling with the growth of the internet and many may soon fade. Unfortunately it seems like journalism is entering an electronic era and newspaper stands are probably going to disappear. Internet TV is becoming more common with 'internet only' TV shows that will begin to put pressure on even television. TV killed the radio star? Maybe someday it will be the Internet killed the sitcom star.
The great thing about some of the newest ereaders is their internet capability. Sony missed out with their latest generation but Amazon is using the Sprint network and the PlasticLogic is using AT&T's network to bring you your very own hitchhiker's guide. Make sure you've bookmarked all your favorite wiki's and you've got no reason not to know something.
Continuing Amazon's attempt to burn paper media, you can get some newspapers delivered daily to your Kindle. Coupled with the ability to view blogs, a few thousand books... why should we keep printing on dead trees? E-readers are smooth, futuristic, and even green.
I doubt that ereaders will completely destroy printed media. We still have radio shows even though we've got television, and we've still got libraries even though books are cheap and mass produced now. We may begin to see more 'digitally exclusive' books soon though. I imagine novellas and short stories may become more common too. They can be turned out and distributed much faster than thick hardback novels. Just write it up, get an ISBN, and contact amazon to start distributing.
What Amazon REALLY meant by calling it the 'Kindle'July 21, 2009
Back and with Robots!
I've been gone for awhile while I made some changes to the site and decided to wait to update until I was connected to mystblogs again.
So now that I'm back let's cut to the chase - robots.
The video suggests these life-like robots could be used as teachers in the future... I really don't see a practical application for teaching but definite use as entertainment!
Another great application of this would be more realistic robotic pets. Understanding human face muscles and subtleties are things humans are experts at. As we get better at making human-like robots we can expect to see the animal-like robots getting more realistic as well.
Plug in one of those laminated mouse brains and you've got a genuine pet!
And let's just be honest... the obvious real application for human-like robots is sexbots.
From Disturbingly Real Replicants via Digg
So now that I'm back let's cut to the chase - robots.
The video suggests these life-like robots could be used as teachers in the future... I really don't see a practical application for teaching but definite use as entertainment!
Another great application of this would be more realistic robotic pets. Understanding human face muscles and subtleties are things humans are experts at. As we get better at making human-like robots we can expect to see the animal-like robots getting more realistic as well.
Plug in one of those laminated mouse brains and you've got a genuine pet!
And let's just be honest... the obvious real application for human-like robots is sexbots.
From Disturbingly Real Replicants via Digg
June 17, 2009
Strange Future Roundup 1
Starting a new feature post today: Strange Future Roundup... I'll post several things I find interesting as opposed to the usual one topic.
First up: The Ratborg
My favorite cyborg engineer, Kevin Warwick is at it again. I've been very interested in his recent creations using brain cells to make 'artificially' intelligent robots. I say 'artificially' because they're not really artificial at all. They're natural rat brain cells they just live in a robotic body. This technology is very exciting because it means we could potentially host 'brains-in-a-jar' and give them bodies... or at the very least make really cool robotic robots.
Second up: Jet Drill
Apparently the goal of this is to bore down to where there is magma so we can create lots of geothermal hotspots for energy. This is in so many science fiction movies I can't even think of them all. Hopefully we won't break the planet apart or anything... since y'know... this is the only planet we have.
Third: The Prosthetic Limbs
One of my friends from college wants to get into this line of work. She once said she wants to create prosthetic limbs so good that "normal people will want to chop off their limbs to get one."
This video is actually very exciting. Just look at those freakin' robot arms! SEXY!
Of course I doubt those limbs are very strong... and of course without the ability to sense where your limb is or any sense of touch at all it's gotta feel a bit like you're controlling a puppet arm. But hell... this is an amazing step!
all found on Technovelgy
First up: The Ratborg
My favorite cyborg engineer, Kevin Warwick is at it again. I've been very interested in his recent creations using brain cells to make 'artificially' intelligent robots. I say 'artificially' because they're not really artificial at all. They're natural rat brain cells they just live in a robotic body. This technology is very exciting because it means we could potentially host 'brains-in-a-jar' and give them bodies... or at the very least make really cool robotic robots.
Second up: Jet Drill
Apparently the goal of this is to bore down to where there is magma so we can create lots of geothermal hotspots for energy. This is in so many science fiction movies I can't even think of them all. Hopefully we won't break the planet apart or anything... since y'know... this is the only planet we have.
Third: The Prosthetic Limbs
One of my friends from college wants to get into this line of work. She once said she wants to create prosthetic limbs so good that "normal people will want to chop off their limbs to get one."
This video is actually very exciting. Just look at those freakin' robot arms! SEXY!
Of course I doubt those limbs are very strong... and of course without the ability to sense where your limb is or any sense of touch at all it's gotta feel a bit like you're controlling a puppet arm. But hell... this is an amazing step!
all found on Technovelgy
June 11, 2009
Playing in Zero-G
Remember that... if you're ever on a space station and need to get somewhere fast, quickly give someone a high-five.
found on Technovelgy
June 8, 2009
Thank you Mr. Orwell
For inspiring politicians, governments, and scientists everywhere.
We've now invented the Telescreen.
Maybe next we can have a few world-spanning empires.
I honestly don't see a good enough reason for us to have this technology. I'm a huge supporter of all technology, good and evil, but this is one that should be buried and forgotten.
found on Technovelgy
We've now invented the Telescreen.
Maybe next we can have a few world-spanning empires.
I honestly don't see a good enough reason for us to have this technology. I'm a huge supporter of all technology, good and evil, but this is one that should be buried and forgotten.
found on Technovelgy
June 4, 2009
Atomic Bombships
Once upon a time the military said "We want to use nukes and go to Saturn." NASA said "No way."
So the military worked on doing it anyway.
The ship would have been as big as a skyscraper and would literally use thousands of nuclear bombs to propel it on its journey to Saturn.
As it looked more promising, NASA basically said 'lol this looks promising, let us take over from here' and then they canceled the program and tried to destroy it.
But what if they hadn't?
First of all, there were hundreds of hurtles for them to overcome before it would have even been possible. And even if they did, who in their right mind would volunteer to sit on top of a giant rocket that was about to get nuked a couple dozen times?
Still, if they had, it would've no doubt ushered in a new era of space exploration. To hell with the moon, we'd be able to explore our entire solar system in person. The massive spaceships would have been large enough to carry the equipment to build colonies, biodomes, terraforming equipment. They were close to doing it back then, with todays advances we could have probably become quite the spacefaring civilization by now.
Instead we're still stuck on one rock. I guess if we destroy this one there's always - oh wait. This is the only planet we have. Nevermind.
So the military worked on doing it anyway.
The ship would have been as big as a skyscraper and would literally use thousands of nuclear bombs to propel it on its journey to Saturn.
As it looked more promising, NASA basically said 'lol this looks promising, let us take over from here' and then they canceled the program and tried to destroy it.
But what if they hadn't?
First of all, there were hundreds of hurtles for them to overcome before it would have even been possible. And even if they did, who in their right mind would volunteer to sit on top of a giant rocket that was about to get nuked a couple dozen times?
Still, if they had, it would've no doubt ushered in a new era of space exploration. To hell with the moon, we'd be able to explore our entire solar system in person. The massive spaceships would have been large enough to carry the equipment to build colonies, biodomes, terraforming equipment. They were close to doing it back then, with todays advances we could have probably become quite the spacefaring civilization by now.
Instead we're still stuck on one rock. I guess if we destroy this one there's always - oh wait. This is the only planet we have. Nevermind.
June 3, 2009
May 31, 2009
A Facebook Story
I spent the last week or so telling a story through my facebook status. Sorry for the improper paragraphing, but it's how the story appeared as I told it.
There once was a man from the planet of Gargleforzpitt. He was a lonely old man with no relatives or friends. Every morning he'd wake up and eat a breakfast of Klare eggs and go tend to his garden of Cayren roots and hairy corn. For lunch he'd sip on a beer and eat a Elizard steak. Today his lunch was interrupted by a rude knock on his door.
The old man opened the door and was greeted by a young man with slicked back hair. The old man said 'I ought to slay you for interrupting my beer.' the young man apologized and explained, 'Mr. Ribbit, I'm sorry to inform you that your wife has passed away.' 'I never married.' 'I'm afraid you did, allow me to explain.'
the young man asked, 'You once visited the planet of Snottfaze did you not?' 'I did' 'Well, on that planet you once winked at a girl at a party, she sat next to you and whispered sweet nothings in your ear.' 'I vaguely remember that.' 'That was a wedding ceremony. Your wink was your proposal.' 'Damn.' 'Well sir, she left you her estate on Snottfaze.' 'Why?' 'I'll explain if you follow me.'
the young man led Mr. Ribbit to a vehicle and they drove all the way to the capital city of Gargleforzpitt. The young man explained that Mrs. Ribbit was all for a simple marriage and that she didn't fuss that her husband ignored her a lot. She had grown quite wealthy over the years when she inherited a tissue farm from her father. Unfortunately she succumbed to a dreadful disease...
'I'm sorry... what disease did you say it was?' 'Sinus infection.' 'She died from a sinus infection?' 'The worst kind of sinus infection!' 'So she left me her entire estate did she?' 'Well, er, yes.' 'You hesitated.' 'Yes she left you her entire estate... but...' 'But?' 'She wanted you to prove your love to her before you could receive it.'
The old man grasped at his thinning hair and shouted, 'I have to prove my love for a woman I didn't even know?' the young man nodded and smiled 'she had a very specific trial she wanted you to go through to prove your love' he opened the door to his office and approached his desk where he pulled out a box, carved to the top was 'TO MY LOVE: CHARLES RIBBIT
Mr. Ribbit held the ornate wooden box with trembling hands. 'What's inside?' he asked. 'They key to her estate.' the young man replied. He explained, 'To open the box you have to travel to the distant planet of Kreenflemm, and battle the eight elder giants for the key to the box. This is what she requires of you... will you do it?' Mr. Ribbit again looked down at the box...
Mr. Ribbit handed the box to the young man and said 'I didn't love her, and I don't need an estate. I've only got a few years left in my bones and I'd like to spend it drinking beer and tending to my garden. Thank you very much, this has been a fascinating evening.' and with that Mr. Ribbit went back to his old house and old farm and lived by himself happily ever after. The End.
There once was a man from the planet of Gargleforzpitt. He was a lonely old man with no relatives or friends. Every morning he'd wake up and eat a breakfast of Klare eggs and go tend to his garden of Cayren roots and hairy corn. For lunch he'd sip on a beer and eat a Elizard steak. Today his lunch was interrupted by a rude knock on his door.
The old man opened the door and was greeted by a young man with slicked back hair. The old man said 'I ought to slay you for interrupting my beer.' the young man apologized and explained, 'Mr. Ribbit, I'm sorry to inform you that your wife has passed away.' 'I never married.' 'I'm afraid you did, allow me to explain.'
the young man asked, 'You once visited the planet of Snottfaze did you not?' 'I did' 'Well, on that planet you once winked at a girl at a party, she sat next to you and whispered sweet nothings in your ear.' 'I vaguely remember that.' 'That was a wedding ceremony. Your wink was your proposal.' 'Damn.' 'Well sir, she left you her estate on Snottfaze.' 'Why?' 'I'll explain if you follow me.'
the young man led Mr. Ribbit to a vehicle and they drove all the way to the capital city of Gargleforzpitt. The young man explained that Mrs. Ribbit was all for a simple marriage and that she didn't fuss that her husband ignored her a lot. She had grown quite wealthy over the years when she inherited a tissue farm from her father. Unfortunately she succumbed to a dreadful disease...
'I'm sorry... what disease did you say it was?' 'Sinus infection.' 'She died from a sinus infection?' 'The worst kind of sinus infection!' 'So she left me her entire estate did she?' 'Well, er, yes.' 'You hesitated.' 'Yes she left you her entire estate... but...' 'But?' 'She wanted you to prove your love to her before you could receive it.'
The old man grasped at his thinning hair and shouted, 'I have to prove my love for a woman I didn't even know?' the young man nodded and smiled 'she had a very specific trial she wanted you to go through to prove your love' he opened the door to his office and approached his desk where he pulled out a box, carved to the top was 'TO MY LOVE: CHARLES RIBBIT
Mr. Ribbit held the ornate wooden box with trembling hands. 'What's inside?' he asked. 'They key to her estate.' the young man replied. He explained, 'To open the box you have to travel to the distant planet of Kreenflemm, and battle the eight elder giants for the key to the box. This is what she requires of you... will you do it?' Mr. Ribbit again looked down at the box...
Mr. Ribbit handed the box to the young man and said 'I didn't love her, and I don't need an estate. I've only got a few years left in my bones and I'd like to spend it drinking beer and tending to my garden. Thank you very much, this has been a fascinating evening.' and with that Mr. Ribbit went back to his old house and old farm and lived by himself happily ever after. The End.
May 30, 2009
Scavengers
I've been thinking lately about opening an e-bay business up. Entirely because the economy in my area is doing very poorly... nearly 20% unemployment in the county. I had been taking stuff to pawn shops so I could get a buck here and there and recently they all started refusing to give out cash. Credit only.
Scary times.
So maybe selling stuff on e-bay would be more fruitful? The only problem is, I'm starting to run low on things I'm willing to part with...
The good news?
My neighbors' house got repossessed and they left most of their crap in the backyard getting bleached by the sun. A few months passed and I decided to check out what was back there. Junk galore and some pretty cool action figures!
I wonder if Scavenging is becoming more popular in today's America. The recession doesn't seem to have an end in sight despite some idiots claiming it will end this year. Unfortunately it won't. America's got some deep running economic issues that will take time to sort out. Not to mention the millions of unemployed people right now. Can anyone honestly say they think 26 million people will get their jobs back before the year is over?
Scavenging could be good for Americans too! It would increase our recycling because people would be looking to re-use things that other Americans deemed as trash. All the trash would have the opportunity to be re-used once more either by the scavengers, or cleaned up and sold by the scavengers to thrifty Americans.
Plus the rotting food of landfills is likely to be chock full of wonderful probiotic bacteria! Landfill food just might be healthy for you. Eat that slightly moldy slice of pizza and you've got yummy bacteria in your body and you can boost your immune system.
So what do YOU think? Should we start scavenging a little more? Is there shame in digging in someone's trash? Would you chow down on some gnarly chinese food?
Here's some helpful links
Scavenging Dumps for Survival
Could YOU survive in a dump?
Scary times.
So maybe selling stuff on e-bay would be more fruitful? The only problem is, I'm starting to run low on things I'm willing to part with...
The good news?
My neighbors' house got repossessed and they left most of their crap in the backyard getting bleached by the sun. A few months passed and I decided to check out what was back there. Junk galore and some pretty cool action figures!
I wonder if Scavenging is becoming more popular in today's America. The recession doesn't seem to have an end in sight despite some idiots claiming it will end this year. Unfortunately it won't. America's got some deep running economic issues that will take time to sort out. Not to mention the millions of unemployed people right now. Can anyone honestly say they think 26 million people will get their jobs back before the year is over?
Scavenging could be good for Americans too! It would increase our recycling because people would be looking to re-use things that other Americans deemed as trash. All the trash would have the opportunity to be re-used once more either by the scavengers, or cleaned up and sold by the scavengers to thrifty Americans.
Plus the rotting food of landfills is likely to be chock full of wonderful probiotic bacteria! Landfill food just might be healthy for you. Eat that slightly moldy slice of pizza and you've got yummy bacteria in your body and you can boost your immune system.
So what do YOU think? Should we start scavenging a little more? Is there shame in digging in someone's trash? Would you chow down on some gnarly chinese food?
Here's some helpful links
Scavenging Dumps for Survival
Could YOU survive in a dump?
May 28, 2009
Immortality
Is it really wrong to desire immortality? The media often portrays it as something that a villain desires and something that corrupts.
But why? Why is it wrong to want to continue experiencing the world? Why must we submit to death? Why shouldn't we live forever?
But why? Why is it wrong to want to continue experiencing the world? Why must we submit to death? Why shouldn't we live forever?
May 26, 2009
Should we spread life?
I cringe every time people panic about possible contamination of Mars. Why is this bad?
What if we find out Mars is a sterile environment? Would we pout and ignore the barren wasteland?
We work hard to bring life to deserts, we plant trees where there are no trees, all over Earth we spread life and seem to infect everything with it. We touch otherwise pristine objects, covering it in bacteria and viruses. We spread life everywhere sometimes intentionally, sometimes on accident.
Why on another planet is this a bad thing? On our planet we've been fortunate to have perfect conditions for life to not only develop, but become staggeringly complex. I think we owe it to the universe to spread the gift of life to everything around us. We've become intelligent enough that we are beginning to scratch the surface of creating new life so why not engineer a couple of slime molds that would thrive on Mars? Why don't we create some nematodes that burrow deep into the moon? Why not create some bouyant life forms that can float through the gas giants?
What if we are alone in the universe? This shouldn't be depressing, it should be something exciting. We would have the opportunity to become the progenitors of all life everywhere. We might find planets that do have life but nothing intelligent... why not enlighten the planet?
If the universe is barren, I believe it is our duty to spread life throughout the cosmos.
What if we find out Mars is a sterile environment? Would we pout and ignore the barren wasteland?
We work hard to bring life to deserts, we plant trees where there are no trees, all over Earth we spread life and seem to infect everything with it. We touch otherwise pristine objects, covering it in bacteria and viruses. We spread life everywhere sometimes intentionally, sometimes on accident.
Why on another planet is this a bad thing? On our planet we've been fortunate to have perfect conditions for life to not only develop, but become staggeringly complex. I think we owe it to the universe to spread the gift of life to everything around us. We've become intelligent enough that we are beginning to scratch the surface of creating new life so why not engineer a couple of slime molds that would thrive on Mars? Why don't we create some nematodes that burrow deep into the moon? Why not create some bouyant life forms that can float through the gas giants?
What if we are alone in the universe? This shouldn't be depressing, it should be something exciting. We would have the opportunity to become the progenitors of all life everywhere. We might find planets that do have life but nothing intelligent... why not enlighten the planet?
If the universe is barren, I believe it is our duty to spread life throughout the cosmos.
May 24, 2009
May 13, 2009
Connecting to the Internet with Mindbullets
Today I was cooking porkchops with sauerkraut and I thought to myself, "I bet it's not hard to make sauerkraut by myself."
And then I tried to google search it. With my mind. Oops.
Stuff like that happens to me a lot... sometimes I'll be reading a book and glance to the corner to see what time it is, or imagine IM conversations in my head when I'm lonely... instead of imagining someone real like real crazy people do.
Someday I'm sure that won't be so crazy - in fact I'll probably be at an advantage by already trying to do it in my head.
I hope that someday I can have a chip implanted in my skull and next time I wonder how easy it is to cook something I'll just download a recipe into my head. I'll have all of the chef's knowledge at my fingert- no... all of the world's knowledge at my fingertips.
And I'll watch youtube poop in my head all day long, giggling to myself.
And then I tried to google search it. With my mind. Oops.
Stuff like that happens to me a lot... sometimes I'll be reading a book and glance to the corner to see what time it is, or imagine IM conversations in my head when I'm lonely... instead of imagining someone real like real crazy people do.
Someday I'm sure that won't be so crazy - in fact I'll probably be at an advantage by already trying to do it in my head.
I hope that someday I can have a chip implanted in my skull and next time I wonder how easy it is to cook something I'll just download a recipe into my head. I'll have all of the chef's knowledge at my fingert- no... all of the world's knowledge at my fingertips.
And I'll watch youtube poop in my head all day long, giggling to myself.
April 23, 2009
Under 290
I was supposed to update a few days ago when I reached the 290 mark but I guess I got lazy.
My parents bought a Wii last week with lots of exercise games. It's been pretty fun, I never thought the Wii was that great until I tried the Gold's Gym Cardio thing. It's actually just a glorified boxing sim, but it's pretty cool. It does get you working up a good sweat too.
While playing it earlier my mom made the comment "What will they come up with next that's better than this?"
If nintendo keeps going down this route, the next step would be something even more like virtual reality... but they really need to fix the sensitivity of the controllers. Sometimes I feel like I'm moving my fists at Dragonball Z speeds and the Wii only registers like three punches, or the punches aren't even going in the direction I am.
The next Wii should take advantage of head tracking, like this video shows:
or add some sensors for your feet or legs.
We're getting closer to holographic displays too:
http://www.io2technology.com/index
See you again at 280
My parents bought a Wii last week with lots of exercise games. It's been pretty fun, I never thought the Wii was that great until I tried the Gold's Gym Cardio thing. It's actually just a glorified boxing sim, but it's pretty cool. It does get you working up a good sweat too.
While playing it earlier my mom made the comment "What will they come up with next that's better than this?"
If nintendo keeps going down this route, the next step would be something even more like virtual reality... but they really need to fix the sensitivity of the controllers. Sometimes I feel like I'm moving my fists at Dragonball Z speeds and the Wii only registers like three punches, or the punches aren't even going in the direction I am.
The next Wii should take advantage of head tracking, like this video shows:
or add some sensors for your feet or legs.
We're getting closer to holographic displays too:
http://www.io2technology.com/index
See you again at 280
March 28, 2009
Under 300
Today officially marks the day that I am under 300 pounds for the first time in 2 years. To mark the occasion I decided to make another blog post. I figure this will be a good way to keep updating my blog.
Right now my current goal is to turn my new PSP into an ebook reader. I'm not that into handheld gaming... I think the last handheld console I owned was a Gameboy Color. The PSP has been out for a long time but I never felt inclined to buy it until I heard about bookr... a neat little app for 'homebrew' psp's that lets you read pdfs and txts on your psp.
I'm kind of an ebook addict, I've probably got a couple thousand ebooks stored on my hard drive in a folder called "The Library" I think I have more books than would be humanly possible to read in my entire lifetime... and some of them would probably bore the hell out of me. When will I read The Calculus Gallery Masterpieces from Newton to Lebesgue?
But I have read a few books under the ebook format... the Ringworld series, Ender's Game, Ian Kerner's "She Comes First"... y'know, all books I wouldn't want to be caught reading in public. It's great because most people think that I'm playing an MMO or chatting with friends or on myspace, but in truth I'm actually reading a book on my laptop.
There are lots of ebook readers out there right now. A very popular one at the moment is the Kindle which gives you unlimited free internet access, so you can go to websites like wikipedia. The fact that such a device was created and sells means that there's a market for it. I think more and more people will get used to reading books on little screens, especially if the devices feel like a book.
It's pretty exciting living in the future... I just expected it to have aliens... Why aren't we colonizing the Moon or Mars yet?
See you at 290 pounds!
Right now my current goal is to turn my new PSP into an ebook reader. I'm not that into handheld gaming... I think the last handheld console I owned was a Gameboy Color. The PSP has been out for a long time but I never felt inclined to buy it until I heard about bookr... a neat little app for 'homebrew' psp's that lets you read pdfs and txts on your psp.
I'm kind of an ebook addict, I've probably got a couple thousand ebooks stored on my hard drive in a folder called "The Library" I think I have more books than would be humanly possible to read in my entire lifetime... and some of them would probably bore the hell out of me. When will I read The Calculus Gallery Masterpieces from Newton to Lebesgue?
But I have read a few books under the ebook format... the Ringworld series, Ender's Game, Ian Kerner's "She Comes First"... y'know, all books I wouldn't want to be caught reading in public. It's great because most people think that I'm playing an MMO or chatting with friends or on myspace, but in truth I'm actually reading a book on my laptop.
There are lots of ebook readers out there right now. A very popular one at the moment is the Kindle which gives you unlimited free internet access, so you can go to websites like wikipedia. The fact that such a device was created and sells means that there's a market for it. I think more and more people will get used to reading books on little screens, especially if the devices feel like a book.
It's pretty exciting living in the future... I just expected it to have aliens... Why aren't we colonizing the Moon or Mars yet?
See you at 290 pounds!
January 30, 2009
Trapped on Earth
Sometimes I wonder if in a few million years some advanced alien race will show up at Earth. They had long ago filtered out all of the radio noise in the galaxy, narrowed down the planets likely to hold life, and finally set out to explore the galaxy.
As they neared our star system they would do some scans and find that the third planet from the sun had a good atmosphere, a warm climate that could support liquid water, and even - to their joy - it was surrounded by thousands of tiny bits of metal; manmade satellites.
They would try to hail us, but would receive no reply. They would come closer to our planet and notice a few man-made objects on Mars. Their stomachs [or whatever they have] would twist with excitement at their realization that we too had the power to leave our planet and travel in space.
They would reach earth and scan it. They would only find primitive cities, barbaric savages, and derelict automated machines trying desperately to fulfill their futile mission. These humanoid barbaric savages couldn't be the ones who built the satellites and the man-made objects on mars could they? Something must have happened to them. Who was that once proud race that once beamed messages into space and sent robots all throughout their star system?
I wonder if the human race will really amount to anything other than a fascinating line of rubble in the fossil record. We refuse to seek out alternative sources of energy, we are so territorial that we kill our own species, and people are even suggesting we should abandon sending people into space altogether.
We are overcrowding this planet, we're killing much of the life on it, and no one seems to be getting it through their thick skull that this is the only planet that we have. That's it. We fuck it up and we're dead. There is no escape hatch, no reset switch, no backup planet we can jump to.
We have to work hard to leave this planet and colonize other worlds. We should be treating other planets the way we treat other continents: take it over and breed like mad.
January 23, 2009
also, this:
I wish more women knew that about me. Unfortunately that bit about "Rare to Find" seems to be prevailing right now.
January 6, 2009
Life Will Find a Way
I drew this in my Basic Design class today during the lecture about how different macs are from windows. I already knew the differences so I loaded up photoshop and played with my tablet.
Someday I hope we really do clone some extinct animal. Scientists are getting closer and closer to being able to easily* clone a mammoth. However now the biggest hurdle seems to be coming up with a good enough reason to clone them. Besides studying them, there doesn't really seem to be a point.
In my nanowrimo novel, the colony on Mars has become a haven for genetic experiments that aren't allowed on Earth. The people of Mars needed a hardy animal that could survive in the harsh cold environment of Mars, be domesticated, and provide a lot of meat. They decided to bring back the Woolly Mammoth [with a few tweaks so it was better suited for the environment], and soon mammoth meat became the staple of Martian cuisine.
I think reviving Mammoths would be beneficial to the entire world. They could survive in harsh cold environments where little else grows [like Northern Canada, Alaska, or Russia] and would provide a lot of meat. They could stimulate the economy in those cold regions, provide food for the starving people of the Earth, and provide a great deal of wool. I'm sure they could probably be milked too.
Hell, we ate them into extinction too. They must taste pretty good.
*as easy as cloning an animal anyway.
January 1, 2009
New Years Predictions
Edit: Novah did one too.
Time for some new year's predictions :D
January
Obama will be sworn in. By the end of the month Republicans will already be blaming the country's problems on him.
February
Springlike weather will arrive early this year.
March
School shooting results in a federal ban on ammunition.
April
Steve Jobs will finally admit that he has declining health and may not live much longer.
May
Religious extremists bomb abortion clinics.
June
Scientists warn of drought and the hottest summer in recorded history.
Summer starts off with a "bang".
July
The LHC will be delayed due to another malfunction.
Some countries withdraw their support.
August
Severe drought will cause food and water shortages around the world.
Many die.
September
More threats of terrorism coming from some surprising sources.
October
A kid is killed in Alaska for dressing as a polar bear for Halloween.
November
Christmas decorations are put up near the beginning of the month instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving.
Even more "Black-Friday" violence that no one seems to react to.
December
Smaller holiday season this year with the economy still tanking downward.
No New Year's glasses are sold because no one can figure out where the eyes will go.
Time for some new year's predictions :D
January
Obama will be sworn in. By the end of the month Republicans will already be blaming the country's problems on him.
February
Springlike weather will arrive early this year.
March
School shooting results in a federal ban on ammunition.
April
Steve Jobs will finally admit that he has declining health and may not live much longer.
May
Religious extremists bomb abortion clinics.
June
Scientists warn of drought and the hottest summer in recorded history.
Summer starts off with a "bang".
July
The LHC will be delayed due to another malfunction.
Some countries withdraw their support.
August
Severe drought will cause food and water shortages around the world.
Many die.
September
More threats of terrorism coming from some surprising sources.
October
A kid is killed in Alaska for dressing as a polar bear for Halloween.
November
Christmas decorations are put up near the beginning of the month instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving.
Even more "Black-Friday" violence that no one seems to react to.
December
Smaller holiday season this year with the economy still tanking downward.
No New Year's glasses are sold because no one can figure out where the eyes will go.
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