Living in a digital world

I watched an episode of 'The Big Bang Theory' a little while ago, in which Sheldon refused to leave his room and instead interacted with the world through a 'digital presence machine'.. basically just a monitor, webcam and speakers hooked up to a wi-fi connection and a tread system for movement. It got me thinking about how easy it would be to make a similar transition.

I live most of my life in a digital world anyway... very little of what I deal with on a day to day basis has any sort of physical reality attached to it (and if you're reading this blog, then that's probably true for you too): At work I deal with information and how to store and access it... all of it digital; I get payed in money, which hasn't been based on anything physical since the world stopped using a gold standard; I spend a lot of my leasure time in Azeroth... running around in a virtual world; and for a long time most of the interaction with my friends happened in a digital medium.

Now with Japanese coming up with holographic pop-stars (Thanks for the link Jonathan), and robotic actors (see the news section). I'm wondering if maybe we're all loosing track of the physical world...

Probably not.... but still it's something to keep an eye on.

In The News:

Gold nano-particles could transform trees into street lights - this is possibly the best looking piece of tech I've seen all year.

Robot actor makes debut in Japan - ... or should it be actress? what's the correct mode of address for a robot?

Stuxnet bot may have been targeted at nuclear programs - Fascinating! I knew digital warfare was happening, but I didn't know it could have this sort of physical effect... wow... I wonder which country started this off?

Video games can enhance visual attention - told you they were good for you ^^

LHC scientists create and capture anti-matter - they've proved it possible with anti-hydrogen... this could be the first step in a massive jump in energy science.

Word of the Week:

Intangible (adjective)
1. not tangible; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch; as incorporeal or immaterial things; impalpable
2. not definite or clear to the mind: intangible arguments.
3. (of an asset) existing only in connection with something else, as the goodwill of a business.



Thanks to all who read this blog. If you liked it, then please tell your friends to stop by. Post a comment if you have any opinion, comment or argument ^^
-Odd

"There are intangible realities which float near us, formless and without words; realities which no one has thought out, and which are excluded for lack of interpreters."
    -Natalie Clifford Barney

The Lamentable Limits of Language

I may have mentioned this before but I think it's an important point, so you'll have to bear with me.

Regular readers (all five of you), may have noticed a new section to my blog. Namely the 'Word of the Week', I'm doing this largely to highlight cool words that I find and to expand my own vocabulary. Why should I want to do such a thing? Well.... The English language, or any language for that matter, is a seriously flawed tool. We have words that sound the same but mean different things, or different words that mean the same thing... Frankly it's amasing that we can have any sort of meaningful communication.

However, until someone comes up with a technological means to share our thoughts directly; we're stuck using language with all it's little foibles and pit-falls. If you've ever tried to have a philosophical, religious or political argument with someone, then you've probably ended up arguing about the meaning of certain terms (like 'reality', 'god' or 'communism') instead of dealing with the issues themselves. A lot of this cannot be avoided: basic words  get co-opted as jargon by various disciplines, often meaning vastly different things depending on the context or who you're talking to.

Some of these troubles can be avoided if all participants in a discussion have a good grasp of the language they're using. If we have a large vocabulary to chose from, we can select the words that best encapsulate the subtle meanings and emphasis of the idea we're trying to convey.

So if you've found, heard or used a cool word recently, drop me a mail or post a comment and I'll share it here.

In The News:

A Robot In Every Korean Kindergarden By 2013 - I think that with the state of education in South Africa and the quality of teaching in rural schools, a slightly more advanced version of these things would be a massive boon to this country.

Real Time Holograms Beam Closer - So cool.... "Help me Obi-Wan Kinobi, you're my only hope".

50th Anniversary of SETI Commemorated With New Observing Project - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence has been running for 50 years... wow.

Implanted Retinal Chip Allows Blind People To See - a new wave of cyborgs are about to hit the street... cool.

Precognition study at Cornell University - and it's coming up positive...

Word of the Week:

Specificity (noun):
The quality of being specific rather than general
E.g.:  add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion
E.g.:  the specificity of the symptoms of the disease


I hope you enjoyed this weeks post, as always if you liked it: post a comment and tell your friends. See you next week.
-Odd

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water"
-Franklin P. Jones

Taking on the Big Boys

Even though I joined the evil Microsoft empire (resistance if futile), I do enjoy seeing somebody... anybody... take on this multinational goliath and win. So on the off chance that you don't know about them, this week I'm going to tell you about some easy alternatives to Microsoft products.

The first Microsoft product you should replace is your web browser. Even though IE9 is a lot better than it's earlier incarnations (I'm using the beta for work and it's pretty good), it still can't hope to hold a candle to Google's Chrome bowser, which is my personal favorite. Microsoft is under serious threat in the bowser market, so if you're still using IE, trade up to chrome and be prepared to be astonished by it's silky smooth operation and lightning speed.

Next in line is your Microsoft Office suite. You've probably already paid for this (unless you're a pirate, Aarrr!), without ever considering that there might be alternatives. There are alternatives... in fact, they're free! The first stop for me would be OpenOffice, even if they've recently lost 33 of their top developers to the new solution, LibreOffice... Either way you get a free product that does the exact same things as Microsoft Office.

If downloading and configuring your office product doesn't sound like your cup of tea, why not keep your head in the clouds and use Google's office solution: Google Docs. It runs right in your web browser, so you can access your files from anywhere at any time and with broadband and mobile internet in South Africa only set to improve, it's not a bad bet at all.

So expand your thinking a little, have a look at the incredible Open Source alternatives on the 'net and stop paying 'The Man' such a huge chunk of cash... unless you're paying me to do something Microsoft related... then it's necessary.

In the News:

Electric car recharges in 6 minutes - One of the greatest drawbacks to 'green' cars is being solved.

The Pope warns against a digital world - .... well... he would... wouldn't he?

Military "Laser Beams" getting closer to mass production - so they're still so big they have to be mounted on a  truck... who cares? they're Lasers!!! so cool.

NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized planets are common - and a good thing too, since we're close to befouling ours beyond hope of redemption.

NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Finds evidence of Subsurface water - so a colony on mars is possible... if you were offered a one-way ticket to the red planet... would you go? .... I think I would.

Kindle Allowing Chinese Unfettered Access To the Web - Awesome! go Amazon!!!!

Word of the Week:

Hypocrite (noun) -
1: A person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2: A person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings



Another week, another post... Thanks to everyone who gives my random scratchings a read... I do appreciate it. If you liked it (or disliked it), post a comment with the links below.... and I nearly forgot... check out my friend's blog Business Minds. :)
-Odd

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
   -Winston Churchill

Pre-Destiny

A few day's ago, I had an awesome argument about life, the universe and everything. I'm not quite sure how it got started, but the basic idea was that pre-destiny exists as a secular phenomenon. It was put forward that the  course of all life is predestined, not by a sentient god, but by ourselves; The combined effect of our actions combine to force a future course of events upon us.

This idea is fairly appealing at first glance, it fits quite nicely with the Buddhist concept of Karma and Newton's first law (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). With greater thought, however, I must reject it. 

Firstly, there are very few situations that we can get ourselves into and not out of in some way or another (even if avoiding our self made "fate" would mean a quick getaway, plastic surgery and changing your name to Jõsé). 

Second, and probably more compellingly, these consequences are the result of free action. Choices we have made ourselves. Any system of pre-destiny excludes free choice by definition; if something is destined to happen, then it will happen regardless of our choices or actions.

Still... it's an interesting little piece to think on ^^

In The News:

Power Failure Shuts Down US Nukes - ... and we thought we had problems with Eskom... wow.

Free e-books with a catch: Advertising - I'm all for free books... but I have seriously mixed feelings about this. My books are my last refuge against the massive marketing monster that stalks our lives... I don't know if I could handle Gandalft shouting "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!! ...oh, and go but a coke".

The Nature of Identity, with reference to androids - interesting piece... I'm very glad to see H+ back online.

Top 5 Reasons Transhumanism can eliminate suffering - sounds like a great idea, count me in...

Top 5 Transhumanist fantasies - ... but to be fair, they're not all gems.

Word of the Week:

Eloquent (adjective) - 

1: having or exercising the power of fluent, forceful, and appropriate speech. 

2: characterised by forceful and appropriate expression. 

3: movingly expressive.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the post. Catch you next week.

-Odd

"I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be"

-Douglas Adams

Quick post

I'm quite busy at the moment, so instead of a real post you get a partial site redesign, a background and a bunch of links :)

Here's your background:

I'd also like to send a shout-out to my boet J. It's awesome to have you in Joburg bru.

In the news:

The new face of warfare, Cyber attacks - a positively scary article about politically motivated cyber attacks

Space-Ship Two has a successful test flight - great news for the space tourism industry

What makes people play farmville - even though I used to play it, I still didn't know... but this article does make a lot of sense.

China Scouts Moon Landing Sites - if they don't find American footprints up there, then I'll believe all you people who say the original moon-landing was a hoax... not before.

Google's autonomous car drives through city - and they didn't even tell anyone... but it worked... woot! 

Suing the CIA - Don't know if I'd have the balls, but an IT firm is suing the CIA over the software used to run the Predator Drones.

Global commitment to space docking standards - I hadn't thought about this... but in hind-sight it's crazy that it took them so long.

Japanese digital pop-rock signer does live shows as a 3d hologram - only the Japanese would do something this cool.

NASA confirms water, gold and other elements on the moon - and while mining might not be cost efficient at the moment, this will at some point make it viable for us to have a real colony there... awesome.

Thanks for stopping past. I hope you enjoyed it.

-Odd

"Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday."

Cyborg me

As I alluded to in a post a few weeks ago, I consider a lot of us (especially people who would read a blog like this one) to be cyborgs. 

Wikipedia defines a cyborg as "a being with both biological and artificial parts." Most of us don't fit into the standard definition, with notable exceptions like Oscar Pistorius, but if we look at it with a little more insight then I think you'll agree with me.

While we don't have any physical enhancements, I think that the degree to which the internet as a whole and social media specifically have infiltrated our lives shows that we have grafted these non-physical artificial constructs to us as surely as if it were a robotic arm. 

Internet addiction is a recognised problem and even if you don't accept it to that extreme, I am sure you'll agree that getting completely disconnected would make the life you live at the moment impossible. 

So, yes, I'm a cyborg... but not a very cool one. I would enjoy being able to punch through a brick wall, or have a bullet-proof head, but more than anything else I want a H.U.D. It would be incredible to be able to pull up information about the people I see (I'm so bad with names), directions, a working compass, even warnings about incoming projectiles (food fight anyone?) and display it as an overlay over the world I see. There are some awesome people working towards this, and I can't wait till it hits commercial use.

In the News:

UN appoints space ambassador to greet alien visitors - About damn time... should have done this ages ago... unless you want the US military saying hello for you? ... no? ... didn't think so.

Hawking questions the "Theory of Everything" - in a surprising change of opinion, the worlds biggest brain now doubts that we will ever find one scientific theory that will explain everything

US Senate votes to turn down volume on TV commercials - now if we could only get them to do it here too...

First Potentially Habitable Exoplanet Found - Hopefully we won't wipe ourselves out before we can get there.

Exoskeletons advance human-robotic augmentation - cool article that sums up the field as it stands now... I'll start saving for my very own Gundam. 

Hope you enjoyed the post - if you liked it, tell your friends... and post a comment ^^

-Odd

"I find your lack of faith disturbing"

Top 5 reasons I don't use FaceBook

Earlier this year, I went from checking into my Facebook every 5 miniutes to maybe once every 2 months and here are the top 5 reasons why:

5. No more over-share - I don't want to know what you had for breakfast or how drunk you got last night. Nor do I need to listen to you fighting with your boy/girl-friend. Have some self respect will you?

4. Overloaded interface - when I started using facebook, it was actually useful. Now it's as filled with all the bands, causes, quizzes and assorted other random junk that stopped me ever getting into MySpace.

3. Being invited by "friends" - I no longer have to wrack my brain to remember whether or not I liked that person from primary school that just friended me and I don't have to feel unaccountably guilty when meeting someone for the second time because I rejected their friend request 5 months previously.

2. No more Hobo-Vampire-Farms - I used to spend a lot of time harvesting, feeding, attacking and such... then one day I thought to myself, "WTF and I doing!?!". (It would be a different story if I could actually grow Hobo-Vampires IRL)

1. FREEDOM!!!! - I've got so much extra time now. It's amasing! Seriously, count up the amount of time you spend being on MyTweetFace and then ask yourself  how much you actually get out of it... I think you'll find the result depressing.

I think the only thing my Facebook site is still used for is as a place to house is my relationship status and all those embarassing party photos. Quite frankly, I'm relieved to be out of it and if you need to contact me, send an email. If you don't have my email and don't see me often enough to ask for it... why do you need to talk to me?

In the News

Large Hadron Collider creates infant universe - pretty cool... begs the question of when they'll package it as the latest and greatest virtual pet.

Chernobyl plant life adapts to high radiation environment - Nature is truly amasing.

UFO's monitoring US nukes - I don't know what's more troubling... that ET is watching or that they let so many of these people work with nuklear weapons.

Panasonic announces new robots - from a hair-washer to a bed that folds into a wheel-chair... awesomeness!

Mexico to secure an entire city with biometric scanners - Maybe it's easier, safer and more convenient than carrying around ID, credit cards and bus passes... but if anyone tells me to have a Joy-joy day, I'll scream. (note: that was a movie reference)

I hope the five of you that read this blog are still enjoying it :) Tell your friends! post a comment! Peace.

-Odd

"Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun." 
- Pete Cashmore, Mashable CEO

Defining art

Art is an incredibly difficult concept to nut-shell. On one hand, I feel that anything that is produced as the result of someone's creative process should be considered art (even if it's bad art), but on the other I look at some examples of "modern" art and cringe. A lot of it seems to be more and exercise in marketing than creativity, random collections of objects that are post-rationalised by people trying very hard to sound esoteric and self-important

What got me onto this? Well, I don't know if you notised, but there's a new link on the right to a great site called Surviving the World. This is what has been termed a "Photo-comic", and there's a lot of debate about whether or not it classifies as a web-comic, a photo-blog or just a random collection of meaninglessness. Personally I think Dante is a literary genius and his unique presentation is something to be envied.

In the News:

Film Industry Hires Cyber Hitmen to take down Internet Pirates - ...and since this article, said Hit men have themselves been whacked by 4chan for their troubles. It's never a good idea to attack people on their home ground... Sun Tzu, Russia and now 4chan.

Kiribati makes huge sacrifices for future generations - I hope we can all follow in their visionary footsteps.

BP Seals Macondo Well Permanently - About bloody time!

Airbus to build a transparent plane - ... you think you had a fear of flying before? Try fly on one of these.

Water on Moon is bad news for China's lunar telescope - It's great news for a possible colony, but it will cause havoc for China's plans

Another week, another post. Tune in next week. Same geek time, Same geek place.

-Odd

"If free verse is considered poetry, then aren't we uttering stanzas with every sentence that we speak?" -Dante Shepherd, STW

Living in yesterday's SciFi

If you stop to think for a minute, you'll notice that we're all effectively (if not biologically) cyborgs. Technology has infiltrated our way of life to an extent at least equal to the hallowed stories golden age of SciFi books, even if not exactly in the way those writers predicted.

It's an exciting time to be sure, but I'm a trifle worried that we're picking the wrong books. We look to be leaning towards the stories that were about the dangers of technology, rather than the more Utopian visions of the future. We've got the scary proposition of any EU government being able to follow someone all across Europe with camera surveillance, and a group of scientists teaching robots to deceive us (which goes against Isaac Asimov's essential three laws of robotics).

I love SciFi stories, but that doesn't mean I want to live in a world ruled by the Terminator.... even if I think Arnie would make a good US president.

In the News:

Self-Assembling Photovoltaic Tech From MIT - Clean power is good. And machines building themselves is cool. 'nuf said.

Narcissists and people with low self-esteem love facebook - what a shocker...

Zombie 101 - A forward thinking institution of higher learning is giving a course in Zombies.... sign me up!

Mars organics may still be there - Turns out the  Mars rovers' method of collecting and testing material for signs of life may be killing off the very organisms they're testing for... but NASA has a plan.

Scientists Cut Greenland Ice Loss Estimate By Half - Good news! We've got a little more time before we drown ourselves.

Steve Jobs tries to smuggle Ninja Stars onto plane - wow... he's such a geek... ^^

There's another post. Hope you enjoyed it. If you come across any cool Tech news, please drop me a line.

-Odd

"Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd."  - Edith Sitwell

World Cup 2010 aftermath

I love seeing that many people here in South Africa are still proudly flying the flag. I think it's one of the most positive things to come out of the world cup. So I am in no way suggesting that we take them all down... but.... yes, there is always a but.

As I drive through our beautiful city, I see a lot of flags. Flags on cars. Flags on poles next to the road. Flags abound. But it's been a while since the world cup, and a lot of them are looking decidedly tacky. Are we going to keep these on our cars till they fall apart? Are our municipalities going to leave the flags up until they're so covered in grime and dirt that they're unrecognisable? 

I hope not. I think that we either need to refresh the flags or take them down... we can make our city as clean as we like (I wish) but as long as these flags are still up, it will look shabby.

In the News:

Wikipedia Reveals Secret of 'The Mousetrap' - As someone who's actually seen the play, I think this is a tragedy for thespians everywhere.

New Calculations May Lead To a Test For String Theory - the first real test has been developed for String Theory... this could be a major breakthrough in our understanding of the universe.

Changing one of natures constants - Science is constantly challenging everything we think we know about the how the world works... no pun intended.

4Chan decides to do something nice for a change - wow... I didn't think these guys had it in them... but well done to them /cheer

UK music calls truce with technology - about time the music companies woke up to the new world paradigm

Transition metal catalysts could be key to origin of life - more evidence for a scientific explanation of Life, the Universe and Everything.

Duke Nukem Forever demoed at PAX - The gaming worlds biggest Vaporware title is actually on track (apparently)... after 12 years in development, I can't wait to play it.

And there you have it. Another week, another post. If you enjoy the blog, please post a comment, tell your friends and I'll see you next time.

-Odd

"...like stubbing your toe, only you've stubbed your mind."

    -Tycho, Penny Arcade

Media Freedom

Our government's recent talk about limiting the press in South Africa has been waving a huge red flag in this country and abroad. Press freedom is a cornerstone of democracy and widely held to be a key weapon when fighting corruption.

We're constantly bemoaning the government, but our excuse for not doing anything is always "what can I do about it?" ... well, if nothing else you can do this:

Go to the Right To Know (http://www.r2k.org.za) website and add your name to the petition. Talk your boss into adding your company, tell your friends, tell your relatives, show your Granny how to log onto the Internet and sign up.

This is it folks... time to step up.

In the News:

NASA Buying Private Companies' Suborbital Rocket Flights - great news for the private space industry

'Imaginary' interface could replace the real thing - and I can't wait.

FBI Prioritizes Copyright Over Missing Persons - shows that there is something VERY wrong with our society

Scientists Develop Brain-Microchip Bridge - .... where can I get mine?

Human Tests of Mind-Controlled Artificial Arm To Begin - a serious, real, honest, SciFi-like Cyborg? pure distilled awesomeness.

The Hidden Security Risk of Geotags - yet another privacy worry in the Internet... who didn't see this one coming?

Two posts in one week (even if it is two different months)... it must be snowing.

-Odd

"The free press is the mother of all our liberties and of our progress under liberty."

   -Adlai R. Stevenson

Mother-nature is stronger than we thought....

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know all about BP's disaster in the gulf of mexico. Like me, you were probably wondering just how much of a natural disaster this would turn out to be. All those gallons and gallons of oil spilling into the ocean would start the scale at an Oceanic Chernobyl and end it at global apocalypse.

Then scientists discovered that a lot of that oil had simply disappeared... and after more testing concluded that some bacteria was eating it... saving the oceans, and us, from our all too human folly.

Great news, yes? I can hear the cries ringing from the corporate strongholds now, "mother-nature can look after herself! Nothing we do will matter!". Ya right.... if our planet can come up with a way to mitigate a disaster like that... how long do you think it will be before she comes up with a way to mitigate us?

I'd prefer to see this taken as a warning rather than an invitation to continue on our current, self-destructive, course.

In the News:

Richest Planetary System Discovered - we've found the most populous planetary system yet... cool stuff.

Video Adverts On the Printed Page - this is not the first place I thought this technological awesomeness would present itself.

Why the World Is Running Out of Helium - I find it hard to countenance that a group of supposedly educated people would be this short sighted.

Wheel Of Time Movie in 2011 (maybe) - if they do it well... this could be the most epic fantasy movie franchise ever!!!

Look For AI, Not Aliens - an insightful article about why SETI might be looking in the wrong place.

Tensions Rise Between Gamers and Game Companies Over DRM - I've mostly avoided adding my two cents to this debate. It's a touchy issue... Game companies have the right to protect their products from piracy... but what they seem to be doing is making it easier for consumers to use pirated games than real ones... weird. 

Germany To Grant Privacy At the Workplace - with the wave of proposed 'internet reforms' sweeping the planet, it does me good to see some countries trying to save the medium.

And that's it for this week... hope you enjoyed it. If you did, post a comment below (the link that says 'comments') and tell your friends to swing in and give it a look. Thanks.

-Odd

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. 

  - George F. Will

Great South Africans

I'd just like to take a little time to introduce all of you to an idea that we might not come across very often: There are AWESOME people in this country.

We've all heard about the mass municipal strike that's on the go, and while I can identify with their wishes for better pay, I can't condone the manner in which they've conducted this strike, nor the fact that essential personnel like doctors and nurses are on strike.

So where are these awesome people then? Everywhere, that where. Hospitals and Clinics have been flooded by volunteers. Regular South Africans who gave up (and are giving up) their time for free. To help out. To make sure that the most vulnerable members of our society (the sick, the old and all those who need medical care) are not left out in the cold.

Thank you! Thank you to everyone who volunteered. You are what keeps this country together, and what gives the rest of us lay-abouts hope and inspiration.

In the News:

NASA Set To Launch Solar NanoSail Into Space - so awesome to see such Sci-Fi tech getting a real airing.

7 Reasons A Zombie Outbreak Would Fail Quickly - hmm.... maybe... but I'll still keep my Zombiepocolypse kit handy, thanks.

SETI Success Within 25 Years - apparently ,we'll soon be picking up messages from E.T.

Khayelitsha Residents Stop Construction Of 100 Homes - .... unbelievable.... I can see how these people have a valid gripe with the government... but this is the most counter-productive act imaginable under the circumstances. It's as bad as when they burnt buses to protest poor transport... Madness!!

Town Gets Patent On Being the Center of Europe - aren't these patent things getting a little crazy? ... maybe I should patent breathing... or the colour blue.... 

Controversy Arises Over Taliban Option In Medal Of Honor - It may be in poor taste... but it is just a game... and if it's set in the modern conflict... who else would be the bad guy?

First 3-D IMAX Porn Movie Made In Hong Kong - WTF? I don't know about you... but I don't think I need to see a 3 story tall shlong in 3D.

I know, I missed a post last week.... *shrug* ... oops.

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.
 -Emo Phillips

Lead SA

702, along with all their sister and parent companies, have started a new program. I think this is a great idea - it's supposed to foster a new social paradigm in SA, and that is something that we desperately need.

How is it that tiny countries like Taiwan, Japan or Israel can be such political and economic giants? It's all down to attitude... and that attitude has to develop from the ground up. No government can instill a culture of hard work and ethical attitude in it's population, especially not ours, but it can work in reverse. If we can cultivate this culture, it will force the government to act in the same way.

So what are you doing to Lead SA? It doesn't have to be big... little changes can make a difference. For instance: I'm no longer throwing my cigarette butts out the window of my car... It might not seem like much, but if everyone followed suit, there would be little or no rubbish on South African streets.

I'll let you know what else I come up with as I come up with it... but please, drop me a message with your ideas, and support this project! It's your country too!

In The News:

Microsoft's new "game" Milo - a digitised little kid who reacts to your actions and speech through Kinect... very cool tech... but not much of a game.

New Chinese Rule Requires Real Name Online - if implimented world wide - this would kill all Internet trolls... so even though China is the evil empire of our time.... is this a bad thing?

Company Builds Fast Charging Station For Electric Cars - One more thing making the technology practical.

Willow Garage Robot Fetches Beer - I need one of these... and I'm sure most of you do too.

Rats Breath Air From Lungs Grown In Lab - So I can keep smoking and they can replace my lungs when they get tarred up? Awesome.

Catch you all next week

-Odd

What's the point of havin' a rapier wit if I can't use it to stab people?

           - Jeph Jacques

Educating South Africa

Education should be a major priority in this country, in any 3rd world country, but our programs seem to be plagued by a lack of proper management and, more importantly, a lack of quality teachers.

Fifty years ago the only way to combat a shortage of teaching skill was to train more teachers or increase class sizes (which also impacts on the quality of education received), but we now live in the digital age - isn't there another way?

Wouldn't it be possible to bring together the very best teachers in every subject and have them record their lessons? With (relatively) little capital expenditure, it would then be possible to provide the best possible lesson presentations to every single learner in the country.

Sure, in class-room teachers would still be needed to answer questions, discuss problems and advise students, but with this method every student would have access to the same level of quality teaching. No more inequality. No more complaints. Either learn or don't, it's entirely up to the student.

I'm sure that there are alot of holes in this plan, and I know it won't be the same as having a top-notch faculty in every school, but it's a plan, isn't it? wouldn't it be better than the current system?

In the News:

The Possibility of Paradox-Free Time Travel - OK... if anyone gets this to work, come back in time and meet me at my place, next Wednesday at 6.

Boeing Shows Off First Commercial Spacecraft - can't wait till I can afford a ticket to the moon holiday resort

Driverless Cars Begin 8000 Mile Trek - judging by the driving skills of the people I meet on the road everyday... this technology can't get here fast enough.

U.S. Navy Laser Weapon Shoots Down Drones in Test - "laser beams" ... so cool!!!!!!

Facebook User Satisfaction is "Abysmal" - As George Carlin once said, "I did not need you to tell me that...", I'll probably do a post sometime on how much Facebook has irritated me.

Whew... just managed to get the post in before the end of the week. Thanks to my gorgeous lady for reminding (reading kicking) me about it :) .... tune in next week for more of the same.

-Odd

In Sanskrit, the word "ethics" is shila, which is etymologized as meaning "attainment of coolness".

 - from Altruism and the Six Perfections - the XIVth Dalai Lama

Do you really want the excuses?

Yes, I know I haven't posted in ages... for the sake of brevity, lets just assume that you accept all my thoroughly convincing excuses and leave it at that, shall we?

This past weekend was ICON, Joburg's Comicbook/gaming/anime convention, and I geeked out for the whole weekend... it was awesome ^^. Besides playing a few magic games (damn you Sean with your bloody blue control) and buying magic cards, I actually managed to make some lasting purchases this year. I got all the boxes and bits I need for my Necomunda gang, and a new wave of motivation to finnish off the terrain board project (more on that in future posts). I also managed to get hold of some truly epic wall-scrolls from Samurai Camploo, Full Metal Alchemist and DeathNote.

I even got in a game of Settlers of Catan, which I have never played before (very Neo-Geek, i know, but I have now corrected this travisty, so you can sleep without worry from now on). Even though I made some very rookie mistakes during the setup round, it was great fun... I think I'll try the tournament next year.

All told, my only complaint for this year's ICON was a shortage of mugs... as all old hands know, you get free coffee all weekend if you have one of them, and this year's mug was particularly cool... so imagine my devesation when I was only able to get hold of mine on Sunday. Ah well... I suppose I don't really need to drink 3 cups an hour.

A big thank you to everyone who organised, visited or displayed at this years ICON, it was great fun... Thanks ^^

 

In The News:

Artificial Cornea To Reach Patients This Year - cool... I want cyborg eyes too!

Masten and Armadillo Perform First VTVL Restarts - the private space industry is rock(et)ing... and looking to have a much safer product than any state run institution.

Study Claims $41.5 Billion In Portable Game Piracy Losses Over Five Years - Aaarrr! shiver me digital timbers

Thermal Energy Storage Device For Directed Energy Weapons Tested - maybe Dr. Evil can get his "lazer beams" after all...

Japan Successfully Deploys First Solar Sail In Space - I love seeing the dreams of SciFi writers turned into actual, tangible, real-world technologies... it's too freaking awesome for words.

OK! there we go... and I will hopfully get back into my (kinda?) regular posting schedule from now on... I've got alot of news saved up... so if the above links are a little old... deal with it.

-Odd
"If it weren't for the last miniute, I wouldn't get anything done"

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger

This past week in technology has been bitter-sweet, with an undertone of the low-grade paranoia that arrives in the back of the scull as you're forced to consider whether or not we're counting down to 1984.

We have officially seen the last mission performed by the US Space Shuttle. And although the US has other plans, it marks are very significant pothole in the road to human space exploration. The old shuttle was in operation long past it's original designers' expectations and it is certainly time that we retired the intrepid machine, but failing to replace it with a modern incarnation is a tradegy when you consider how much our technology has advanced since the first fleet was built.

Onto scarier news, with the EU announcing that it wants to monitor all Internet searches. Yes, they have the very best of motives, but releasing the anonymity and freedom of the Internet to Big Brother for any reason strikes me as dangerous.

In the News:

Nano-Tech Audi - a car that can repair itself, or change it's colour when you like.... that's really cool.

Video Gamers Have Power Over Their Dreams - I've done this.... lots of fun ^^

Porting Digital Memory - an absolutely incredible article, exploring the advances towards blurring the line between the physical and digital realms, direct mental control of computers, and other assorted awesomeness.

Google Reportedly Ditching Windows - Google is (apparently) leaving the Microsoft platform over security issues...

Microsoft Talks Back to Google's Security claims - ...but Microsoft says it's got the best security around.

Chameleon-Like Behavior of Neutrino Confirmed - CERN has a quantum breakthrough.

30 000 quit Facebook in protest - I actually haven't been on Facebook for months (in case you haven't noticed)... still have a profile though...

And there we have it. I hope you've enjoyed it and as always, feel free to leave a comment. Tell your friends ^^

-Odd
"peace sells, but who's buying?"

Busy times...

Yes, I know that I didn't post the tutorial as  promised last week... I'm sure you're all massively disappointed. ^^ I've been working on getting the Forms Based Authentication working... and it's being difficult... so that will wait until I do get it working.

It's going to be a hectic week... but I'm not going to bore you with the details - this post is just a news reel, with maybe another post later in the week (see? I'm learning not to make promises I can't keep ^^)

In the news:

Matter-Antimatter Bias Seen In Fermilab Collisions - results from particle collision experiments are showing that there is a small but significant difference in the type of matter created in these experiments. Now scientists need to figure out why there's more matter than anti-matter being created... all our current theories suggest they should be in perfectly equal amounts.

AMD eyefinity 6 screen setup - so cool!!! I don't care if it's got issues... i want one!

Chinese Digital Warfare - Cool article, scary, scary, scary stuff...

Military Appoints General To Direct Cyber Warfare - ... and the Yanks agree, finally stepping up their commitment to online battles.

Beaming Laser Power - an emerging technology that is essential to the further growth of the technological human race.

Agni II Launched with success in India - India's got long range, nuclear capable missiles now... oh joy.

NASA Finds Cause of Voyager 2 Glitch - they finally worked out why the little robot went buggy... and no, it wasn't the Martian teenagers screwing with us.

Pakistan Court Orders Facebook Ban Over Mohammed Images - facebook gets banned in Pakistan

Scientists Implant Biofuel Cells Into Rats - living batteries... soon you'll be able to charge your cell phone by plugging it into your ear ^^

Microsoft's New Attempt To Dominate Robotics - Resistance is futile... ^^

Toyota Robot Violinist Wows At Shanghai Expo - how awesome is this?!?! watch the video.

Copernicus Reburied As Hero - I guess the church is improving...

And there you have it. I hope you're still finding this blog entertaining. Please feel free to leave a comment, and tell your friends.

-Odd

"The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots"

-Erich Fromm

Apologies...

So I finally did it... I finally missed a post. Frankly, I thought this would happen far sooner (even with the incredibly fast  and rigid update schedule that I run ^^), but even so I do owe you an apology... so... I'm sorry I missed a week... i guess ^^.

The reason that I didn't post last week was that I was at a training workshop on implementing SharePoint 2010 and was stuck in a lab without Internet access. It was pointed out to me that I have Internet access at home.... but who wants to take time out of their off-time to do something like this? ^^ (if my boss happens to be reading this, then I must stress that I do most of the research in my off-time, and I write the posts when I'm watching progress bars).

So... you guys are in for a real treat this week.... or maybe not. I'm going to do two posts, this one and another that shifts away from the geeky theme and into the nerd-realm with a tutorial on how to setup something or other in SharePoint 2010 - it'll probably be either cascading lookups in the OOTB InfoPath upload forms or content management through the Document Center... I'm sure you'll all be totally engrossed... ^^

In the news:

Israel's Value to Transhumanism - cool article... I hadn't realised that Israel were so technologically advanced... but in hindsight, it's the only way it could work.

Brain-like evolutionary bio-computer - these guys have created a biological based computer that can evolve itself to solve complex problems... sugoi!!!!

Every Tree is a Quantum Mechanic - studies into photosynthesis have shown that this natural process uses quantum tethering... cool.

NASA Planning Lunar Mining Tests, Other New Tech - the latest programs suggested by NASA

Wikipedia Is Not Amused By Entry for xkcd-Coined Word - so funny!!!!!

Website Sells Pubic Lice - no... it's not a typo... I only have one question.... why? For the love of all that is holy... WHY?!?!

Android Sales Surpass iPhone Sales - proof... that there is stuff cooler than an iPhone.

Thanks for stopping by, check back later in the week for that tutorial and I promise that I'll try avoid missing another update.

-Odd

"ye like dags?"

Winter sucks...

... and so does having to go to work when you're sick. Winter arrived with such speed and ferocity that I didn't have time to mentally prepare myself for it's rigors. As a result I've gotten a cold/flu/bubonic plaugue (whatever it is), and I'm feeling truely pitiful.

So here's to cold morings, rainy days and an industrial sized order of tissues and hot chocolate.

In the News:

Life's Building Blocks Found On Asteroid 24 Themis - biological compunds found on an asteroid provides some evidanece for the theory that says all life on earth is infact alien.

Should Gov't Pay For Injured Man's Wii? - a man on workers compensation is trying to claim a Wii after his doctor suggested he play Wii Sports for his rehab.

MechWarrior 4 Free Release Now Available - One of the coolest games ever made (definately the best ever by Microsoft) if you can organise a joystick, download this NOW!

Beaver Dam Visible From Space - those little rodents have been busy, Damn!

Austria Converts Phone Booths To EV Chargers - what a great idea, turn those obsolete phone booths into electric car chargers.

4 Arugments Against Imortality. 4 Arguments For Imortality - this page links to two artricles, one for and one against, cool stuff.

Japan's Brainwave Initiative: Mind-Reading Bot by 2020 - these dudes are serious... i can't wait.

And there you have it... expect more when I'm well enough to have thoughts that don't revolve around either curling up in bed with my girlfriend or shooting myself.

-Odd

“The pest of society are the egotist, they are dull and bright, sacred and profane, course and fine. It is a disease that like the flu falls on all constitutions.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Censorship Trend

We all know about how the Chinese government censors the Internet, and the problems it has caused for Google and by extension the US government. Only a terrible dictatorship like the Chinese could possibly want to filter the Internet, right? WRONG! It could be that they're the only ones who can pull it off.

Australia has been trying to push through a similar filtering scheme (although they probably won't stop words like freedom and democracy), but they've been forced to delay the implementation.

This should make us all wonder about our governments and what they have in mind for us. If they didn't tell us that they were filtering our Internet access, would we even notice?

In the News:

Japanese Consortium Projects a Humanoid Robot On the Moon By 2015 - That's just 5 years away.

Robots In Space - NASA has plans for a space robot... And they're calling it R2... I'm seriously geeking out... it's so cool!!!

FDA Approves Vaccine For Prostate Cancer - Not 100% effective... but it's certainly a start

More Energy in Less Space with New Ultracapasitor - power is always the biggest problem for small devices, this should help.

NASA Announces Wednesday Media Teleconference About Search For Extraterrestrial Life - wish I could attend ^^

UK Docs Perform First Remote-Control Heart Surgery - early days still... but it's a fully successful test of a technology that will let the top specialists to save lives all over the world.

Whew... just made it.... almost didn't get a post out this week... it's been hectic at work (despite the public holiday). But I did make it, and you're reading it... so it's all good ^^ Have a great weekend.

-Odd

Instrumental

WebComics vs. WebManga

You might not realise it, but there has been a debate raging around certain nodes of the internet. Namely: what is the difference between WebComics and WebManga. There have been panels about this at numerous conventions, blogs and rants by cartoonists, writers and fans... so what's it all about?

WebComics seem to follow a more western style, both in artwork and composition, something like the Sunday newspaper cartoons: each strip has a limited number of panels (usually 3 or 4), is usually self contained (doesn't have a story-line that must be read to understand the comic) and will most often provide one joke per strip. Some examples of WebComics would be ThreePanelSoul, MacHall, RealLife and AppleGeeks.

WebManga, on the other hand, follows more of a Japanese theme, with Manga-inspired artwork and a complex story line. This is where it gets a little confusing, because if we want to avoid a third category called WebGraphicNovels, we must add the comics with a western drawing style and complex stories to the WebManga group. Examples are stuff like MegaTokyo, the Order of the Stick or ErfWorld.

So that's my definition: WebComics are a joke a strip, while WebManga have more complicated stories... but that's just my two cents, what do you think?

In the News:

Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel - I'm sure you all know about this... it's insane what a huge effect it's had.... there are dinosaur extinction theories that start remarkably like this.

Using Your Thought-Controlled iPhone to Dial Home - sugoi!!!! told you it was coming.

China hackers stole key Google program - Google's single authentication code was stolen... supposedly by Chinese hackers... they've changed the code, but it's still a massive worry for your privacy.

Fatal Flaw Discovered In Invisibility Cloaks - aw... :( that sucks.

SETI To Release Data To the Public - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence tries crowd-sourcing... cool ^^

And there you have it, another week, another post. Tune in next week: Same geek time, same geek place.

-Odd

"You know what they call a quarter-pounder in France?"

Violent Video Games and human nature

Steve Napierski over at Dueling Analogs posted a strip this week about a report by the world health organisation saying that video games are a contributing factor in child obesity. Steve sees it as another extension of the bad press around video games, specifically violent ones. 

I've never really weighed in on the subject, so I thought I'd give you my two cents: Human beings are predators, we evolved with forward facing eyes and aggressive tendencies so that we could hunt our food. As Cormac McCarthy said, "War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner." We're a violent bunch, if we weren't playing video games then we'd be watching an action movie, boxing or going out the roman circus to see gladiatorial combat.

What I do find troubling is the small number of games that are creative rather than destructive. The few that are around, like Guitar Hero, Farmville or Tamagochi (remember those?) seem to do very well. Maybe we should be encouraging the positive games rather than declaring war on the negative ones... that would seem to be far more consistent to me.

In the news:

Book Review: The Warcraft Civilisation: Social Science in a Virtual World - sounds like a really cool book ^^

iPhone finally gets multi-tasking - it took you long enough....

Aussie Army Trains With Fleet of Robots On Segways - so cool! I want to have a run.

South Korea Announces Daily MMO Blackouts For Youths - very interesting since South Korea is one of the worlds  most technologically adoptive countries, and that they've got a HUGE market in neatly free MMO's. 

Power Beaming For UAVs and Space Elevators - it's getting closer and closer, the Stage1 prize was taken at last years Space Elevator Games, lets hope for some more breakthroughs at the competition this year.

NSA Develops USB Storage Device Detector - and big brother sees just a little bit more than he did before.

First Pulitzer Awarded To an Online News Site - welcome to the digital age....

My post last week was a little weak ^^.... so I've added a couple pics to it so that you can all get a glimpse of Matt and Ian's awesomeness. Hope you enjoyed the post, as usual - tell your friends ^^

-Odd

Zeus most glorious and most great, Thundercloud, throned in the heavens! Let not the sun go down and the darkness come, until I cast down headlong the citadel of Priam in flames, and burn his gates with blazing fire, and tear to rags the shirt upon Hectors breast! May many of his men fall about him prone in the dust and bite the earth! 
- Homer (The Illiad)