11.01.2007

Lampooner of Worlds

You know I thought Bored with Boing Boing was a funny idea. So many people read Boingx2, I thought that a little cerebral satire would do the world good. Okay it made laugh. Maybe at the expense of the hard working folk at that site. But funny just the same. The author known only as "The Advocate" was wacky, zany, and from left field. In a good way. But alas it was a "FIPS". Flash In the Pan Site. So I bid you a dieu, and hope all is well in your freaky little world, and while you are likely on your way to important stuff; don't forget us here ion the interwebs.

10.08.2007

Screens Screens Everywhere in your Glasses and in the Air


Many moons ago I blogged about a Seattle start-up that claimed it's new eye-glass monitor would replace all video monitors. The folks at Futursimic have dug up this from Scaler by way of the Pink Tentacle claiming that "in few years" they will be as ubiquitous as earbuds. Hmnnn. I predict rocket packs, eyeglass screens, and watch phones will converge simultaneously when Steve Jobs wants them to. Boom! Your teenagers flying through the air watching videos and talking to thier wrists.

Seriously though, we get it, in the future everything is a display, a processor, connected via internet. Everyman is an engineer, movie maker, journalist, and broadcaster.

New Online Trust Exposes Rotten Neighbors


I expected to hear the standard "Crack Addict" or "Domestic Violence" lables. What I read on the site seemed a little gossipy, and tell all.

Although the use of Googlemaps with pins that say things like "White Trash With Loud Dogs: Beer bottles in the yard, trash strewn about, 12 year olds smoking on the front porch. These people are ridiculous" seems interesting.

I think if I was going to purchase a home I would check the map for bad whuffie.

via therawfeed

10.07.2007

Tron and Logan's Run To be Remade!

Hollywood Reporter sez Joseph Kosinski is slated to do remakes of both Tron circa 1982 and the 1976 film Logan's Run.

Readers of this blog know that I post as often as possible about one of my all time favorite sci-fi flicks and have mentioned previously that Logan's Run is a favorite too.

Now if "they" would only make a movie from Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom, I could die and go to heaven. (BTW- if your are an Orwell fan you will know the book title to be a call out to Orwell's first book Down and Out in Paris and London.) It would need to be dark- maybe David Lynch? Jules should be played by Jack Black okay maybe Edward Norton or Johnny Depp.

Let's see: Matt Damon or Ben Stiller as Tron, Clive Owen or Luke Wilson as Kevin Flinn. Jim Carey as Ram. John Travolta as Sark or maybe William Shatner or Al Gore.

Jo Ko' is a great choice. Preview the videos below (Run Runner- run!) that he produced and decide for yourself.
Saab video


10.06.2007

Cell Phone Monitor's Health


MyWay reports Japanese company DoCoMo Inc. is protyping a cell phone that monitors your health. The phone has a "sensor that can tell whether you're walking, running, climbing stairs, or resting, and counts the calories accordingly to tally daily totals".

10.03.2007

Quote: Federal Witness Intimidation at Port Authority

"I felt like a character in a Philip K. Dick novel who wakes up and has had his identity completely replaced with a hardened criminal’s and everyone knows but himself."

from post about an encounter while waiting for the subway at I am Not Lying blog

10.02.2007

Blog Silence For Liberty In Burma


George Orwell (Eric Blair) was a member of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma 80 years ago. Today the country continues to under dictorian rule. (Below China in between India and Thailand)

Despite our human failures, democracy is still desired amongst those who love freedom.

Do something with your money that matters, I did. Support the the people.

The Burmese Refugee Project.

The Halocaust


Dystopian mocumentary about the future of gaming.

via TooMuchNick

Woophy



Woophy is a Social Networking photo map from the Netherlands.

Sounds like "whuffie" but stands for "World Of Photgraphy".

"The goal of Woophy's founders is to create an accessible, visual, current, democratic and collective work of art comprised of a database picturing our remarkable world."

Kinda fun to look at photos from your area.

10.01.2007

Sony to release Ultra flatscreen


The former tech leader is looking to re-open the market with the new OLED technology 3-9MM flatscreens. The one drawback is they do not work at large screen sizes.

"My screen is flatter then yours-" "oh yeah well mine is invisible." (John Anderton.)

Deadheading: Man Wakes Up from 19 Year Coma


This video above below depicts recovering coma victim after 19 years of sleep.
Sun Article

Also read about Zolpidem (commonly known as Ambien) sleeping pill that wakes up comatose patients. Could discoveries like this open the pathway for purposeful "deadheading" or self induced comas as a legal alternative to suicide? What are the moral implications of this type of thing. Exactly the groundbreaking material Cory Doctorow broached in his book "Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom". (Of course, as I recall, in the story folks did not simply check out by self induced coma, they would download all of their memories into a hard drive and upload them into a clone of themselves- which raised the hairs of yet other moral oddities.)

9.24.2007

Rocket Propelled Swarming Micro Camera's

From Mike
Elgan at The Raw Feed:


"The single-winged device would pack a tiny two-stage rocket thruster along with telemetry, communications, navigation, imaging sensors and a power source." The tiny rocket could be blasted in clusters over war zones." full story at Sci Am

Gee wiz' I just put down Crichton's "Prey" about bio-engineered swarming micro camera's gone amuck. The article says the
Lockheed Martin Corp (Or should I say Xymos) project nano air vehicle, or NAV could be used to sense bio hazzrds as well as "organized swarms to fly low over a disaster area, the NAV sensors could detect human body heat and signs of breathing" Can you say Red Dawn?

UN Wants Whuffie to Talk to Bloggers


"The U.N. would like to pretend it doesn't understand blogging. Last night, over drinks and dinner, members of U.N. organizations asked us about blogging and internet publishing, stressing their desire to participate in the conversation, but only if it didn't waste their time. "How do we tell who is legit and who is a looney?" asked Stephane Dujarric, Deputy Communications Director, Office of the Secretary General. Pretty much all the bloggers assembled reminded him that without actually getting to know the writers in question, you really don't—just like with mainstream outlets."

Pasted from BoingBoing's new 'gadget' section

World leaders hungry for social reputation. Hmnnn.

9.23.2007

New DVD like disc from Isreal holds 1-5 terabytes of data








See the details.

Thus hastening the "See this grain of rice it has everything I ever saw, and I got it from Bestbuy on clearance for ten bucks." syndrome.

stumbled via ken

9.22.2007

Danger In The New Space Frontier: China?

It appears that China shot down one of it's own satellites, in an unprecedented display of power. Read the choice quotes below from the full story from Defense Tech.

"...Wynne said the shoot-down of a 1990's-era Chinese weather satellite in polar orbit has forced astronauts aboard the international space station to avoid the debris field scattered in the intercept, and he concluded that China now claims space as a legitimate battlefield...

..The test put at risk the assets of all space faring nations and posed dangers to human space flight due to the creation of an unprecedented amount of debris," the report stated. "The direct ascent ASAT system is one component of a multi-dimensional program to generate the capability to deny others access to outer space."

9.20.2007

Huge Japanese Indoor Ocean


Follow this link to view more images to vacation getaway "Ocean Dome" featuring retractable roof and erupting volcano.

Reminds me of Westworld or Futureworld. I wonder if they have robotic sharks?






Speaking of virtual worlds go on and gander at this indoor ski resort in United Arab Emerites' "Dubai".

Spy Drones: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You!

While the British continue to profess their concern over an Orwellian society we on the otherside of the pond suspect denial when 20% of the world's camera's are being used to scope private citizen's at a rate of one camera per 13 persons on their island.

Wired reports that the new Microdrone released officially in April has been undergoing sucessful tests (video above). Note the German company's promo depicts the drone peering into residential windows and zooming in on female sunbathers, not exactly police business perhaps?

DefenseTech recently reported the first 'kill' by an Army drone. While I understand the military needs to woot' it's successes I am not sure if death, even of bad guys, is something to celebrate. Although the loss of life serves as a notch in the bedpost for the embattled branch as noted earlier on this blog.

The idea of an all seeing God zapping evil doers with lightning bolts may yet become life imitating art.

Good Social Networks Amplify Individuality

The power of the social network is in the individual.

Example: a network of vampires benefits the un-dead and threatens the blood supply of the living by creating conformity. But a one of those vampires having mad tap dance skills, now that's something.