Archive for 2010
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Technology Lends A Hand
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 24, 2010 by admin in Technology
Monday, May 24th, 2010A handy roundup of the latest in (ahem) digital technology.
I have a confession to make. I’ve never really enjoyed being an organic life form. The whole process is so dirty and oily and smelly and, well…ORGANIC. I’ve always assumed that I’ll live long enough to transfer my body to a plasteel replacement and live forever. So I’m always keeping an eye on robotic technology, and usually bitching about it. I was a little impressed by this BBC News video though, which demonstrates a hand that not only responds to the users intentions to move it, but provides tactile feedback as well. Called the SmartHand, and developed by a team of European, Israeli, and Icelandic scientists, the hand is expected to find wide use for those who have lost a hand and been forced to make do with the crude claws and prosthetics that were the only option available prior to the last couple of years. As I tried to get a finger on the pulse of robot hand technology in 2010, I realized there’s so much going on this field that it’s hard to get a grasp on all the recent developments. There are two distinct fields of development going on though; devices that are designed as prosthetics, like the SmartHand featured in that BBC link or the iLimb (made by BeBionic), or devices that are amazingly sophisticated, but certainly not something you’d stick on the end of your arm, like Ishikawa Komuro Labs’ amazing high speed robot hands, or Shadow Robot Company’s dainty CyberGlove. More clips below. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I’ll Probably Never Ask You To Marry Me
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 23, 2010 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010Oscar Wilde said that “Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence”. Me, I’m just waiting for Sandra Bullock to call.
  Some of us don’t have time for this crap. |
It was H.L. Mencken who said “Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?”, which may have something to do with my seemingly eternal unmarriedness. If – as I am – you’re over thirty-something and not married, there are two extreme poles that you may have gravitated toward. On the one hand, you may be forlorn and fill your evenings scouring Facebook for lost loves, and Match.com for new ones. On the other, you may be self-deluded into an ecstatic sort of glee with the freedoms you have, taking an irrational pride in your golf swing or bitchin’ pilates skills while you chuckle smugly at your grumpy married friends. I don’t meet too many people in between. Which seems to be one of the sad side effects of marriage in western culture. Thanks to decades of Disney and family television, many of us dream of a magical world in which you find romance and stability in the same partner, and in a very consumer-like fashion are eventually disappointed and return the product for a refund. But the fact is that our narrow perception of what marriage means is just that – a narrow perception. This Psychology today piece tidily rounds up the history of marriage in the west, and if you put the pieces together, it paints a pretty amusing picture wherein the wealthy historically got married for completely unromantic reasons and had all the real fun on the side, and then convinced the peasantry that marriage was sacred so they didn’t get too rowdy. Thank God we have such amazing technology at our fingertips these days, and may finally escape this con perpetrated for centuries by the ruling class. Yes, Facebook can predict who you’ll be dating next week, and mathematics can tell you when you’ll get divorced. If we can just find an algorithm for making the bit in between more fun, we’ll be all set. Me, I’ll get married if Sandra Bullock ever gets around to asking me, but for now, here are some quotes that sum up a lot of what I think about marriage… Read the rest of this entry »
Bell Gardens – Hangups Need Company
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on May 22, 2010 by admin in Music
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010Members of the groups Stars Of The Lid and Furry Things get together to form the immaculately anachronistic pop group Bell Gardens.
If you enjoy perusing the meandering sub-genres of current indy pop, you might be intrigued by Bell Gardens’ new EP “Hangups Need Company” (available on vinyl
Google Wants Your TV
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 21, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, May 21st, 2010Google TV is coming. Are you intrigued, or repulsed by the idea of Google reaching its tendrils even further into your daily life?
 Yeah, yeah. Bad joke, but unavoidable. |
Google TV’s pitch is “TV meets web. Web meets TV”. But wait. Didn’t this already happen back in 1997? Hard to believe that it’s been over ten years since Microsoft sunk $425,000,000 into this idea, and failed so miserably. Although they’re still around. Sort of. Obviously the availability of broadband and Google’s brawn and brains can bring something new to this realm, right? We all know the future holds some kind of convergence of your computer screen and your TV screen; it’s just a matter of who can pull the partnerships together. Or is it? This PC World piece asks some good questions, including “how probable is that you’ll want to use your television for Twitter or Instant messenger chats?” and then goes on to answer one of the only problems I see with Internet on the telly, by suggesting that maybe you could turn your Nexus One, iPhone, or even iPad into a visual remote. It will be interesting to see where this all goes, given the corporate partnerships with Intel, Sony, and Best Buy, among others. I personally won’t be too enthused if the service is dependent on a cable or satellite subscription. I’ve been happy without that much TV for years. None of the partners are talking dates for a launch yet, saying that would be premature, but Google wouldn’t be pitching it if they didn’t have SOME idea what they’re planning. Or is it a HOAX? If you haven’t tried watching TV on the web before and don’t want to wait until BoobTube is launched, you could check out our Best Sites For Watching TV On Line piece from last fall. How about you though – are you intrigued, or repulsed by the idea of Google reaching its tendrils even further into your daily life? Read the rest of this entry »
Spiritual Growth Through Politics
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 20, 2010 by admin in Politics
Thursday, May 20th, 2010Maybe change DOES come from within. It certainly doesn’t seem to come from Washington. But I wouldn’t mind if Obama still ACTED like it does.
 Maybe Small Change Is Good Too |
As one of the early supporters of Mr Hope and Change, I have to confess that the last two years have been a real exercise in personal and spiritual growth for me, often inspired by politics. I’ve learned to accept that people can be even greedier and more irrational than I imagined, and that change doesn’t happen overnight. I’m usually cynical enough to read between the lines of the kind of talk the president served up on the campaign trail, but was still moved by his words and the upswell of hope that he inspired across America and around the world. Now, not so much. Mostly because he doesn’t come across as the same person I voted for in 2008. Strangely, all I really want from the president right now is for him to talk like he’s campaigning! I don’t expect that after the recently approved finance reform legislation takes the beating policy always takes moving through congress that it will fare any better than the health care bill did; Washington is just far too awash in the self-interest of the affluent elite that live and work there. So stop being so damned modulated and reasonable, will you Mr President? I don’t think we’re getting anywhere, and now Teabaggers are co-opting your brand. I have a friend who – when a street person asks him for change – actually uses the old line “change comes from within, brother“. I’m now learning a new truth in that. It’s certainly not likely to come out of Washington in a hurry. Maybe I need to learn that small change is a good thing too.