Post-course linkdump and things that make me smile and breathe:
Here is the TED video I snuck in at the end of the previous post. It is just way too amazing to miss.Pranav Mistry from India explains the amazing potential of the “Sixth Sense” interactive media device. No psychics involved, I promise.
Reading with an iPod You're doing it wrong
It could well soon be the world we live in.
A world without electrical shocks and stomach burns may be another story for another day.
I will admit to a love/hate relationship with paper over the last 25 years. For the pursuit of drawings, doodles, story writing, schoolwork, reports, certificates, laboratory notes, my thesis, and, yes, I’ll even admit pen and paper roleplaying games, countless forests have been sacrificed , and in my shame I have been loathe to just throw them away. At my mother’s there still remains a suitcase filled with 3 years worth of undergraduate biomed notes and study guides that I have yet to throw away, because ‘I went to all that trouble’ and ‘maybe it will be of use one day’.
I blame my mother for not buying me a computer and exposing me to digital media. These days I have been making progress in keeping my teacher-in-the-making resources more digitally based (powerpoints, activity pdfs, and lists of links) – but I still have a growing colony of paper sheets that I have had to recently sanction a humanitarian cull of over the Easter weekend. The new heater screen and my ipod touch will try and keep my digital honour intact. Read the rest of this entry »
The big wide world of the future looms ever closer with every passing moment.
Every time some one reminds me that June, practicals, and then graduations are only “a few months away” I sense it.
Thankfully some stress can fade away this week, as I have finally gotten away my application to Education Queensland. Hopefully they will see it within in their graciousness to bequeath upon me some kind of position to tide me over until my sister’s wedding next year, and the money to reach Canada for it.
In the pre-service teacher careers seminar I attended the EQ representative did say that “early February” was a good time to submit applications to maximise the chance of mid-year appointment. Perhaps I am a little late. But, given this seminar occurred in late February, I am not sure quite what I was expected to do about that. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s break off from our Pharming exploits to look at some Farming exploits.
With more evidence that the future is now, Japan is looking to set up domestic “vegetable factories” to provide clean, safe and nutritious food for all.
The boom in intensive hydroponics has been attributed to fear of tainted imported fresh foods in the wake a of a few scandals.
Some industries you wouldn’t expect are even getting in on the act (the BBC video may look irrelevant but it’s not)
[I've popped the video below the line because for some reason it is stuck on autoplay] Read the rest of this entry »
Google Wave looks like the OCD nightmare of social networking and privacy invasion – but some of the minor features are pretty cool, like live-keystroke messaging, simultaneous wiki editing, and the intuitive spell-check-corrector.
The future is now!
Check out this awesome video of Microsoft showcasing the Natal at this week’s E3 press conference.
A list of 7 Living Artifacts
Technology that is dead, but just won’t admit it yet. Except maybe old media (radio and newsprint), which has made a somewhat delayed entry into the digital era with blogs and podcasts.
I think it’s rather sad sometimes that people are unable to easily let go of past technology. You would think that by now, people would be able to accept that as technology improves old technologies will become obsolete.
It’s almost an enigma that society on one hand accepts planned obsolescence but still fears disruptive technology. That is capitalist consumerism for you. While planned obsolescence keeps people employed and the economy going – disruptive technology can eliminate labour forces and require extensive retraining for manufacturers and consumers alike.
Is progress becoming obsolete?
The writer of article puts it well:
It should never be a surprise to anyone when new technologies replace a previous generation of less efficient tools. Yet the business world and our society itself are for some reason afraid of change … We can’t keep operating in this manner. We should instead encourage innovation to create better, more efficient ways of doing things and work together to achieve the results
Things change. Deal.
All right. Stop. Collaborate and listen,
Ice is back with my brand new invention
The Cryotranz™ concept (which will capture market share over the Kold Kitty Karrier) would allow safe, stress-free, and easy travel for pets. Or small children. Same diff.
Cryogenics rests on the border between impossibly crazy and almost plausible. While tissue and cellular integrity tend not to fare up well during the freezing and unfreezing processes – natural cryptobiosis adaptions allow some animals to survive prolonged cold-induced torpor.
The minds at work behind the thought experiment have considered some possibilities – using a chemicals (proprietary knowledge of course) to slow down kitty metabolism and prevent cellular damage. Perhaps derived from sub-antarctic marine life and cryptobiosis frogs?
The vacuum though? Possibly not the best environment. A fluid would definitely be preferred. While an inert gas (apparently oxygen is “corrosive”) sounds sensible – like a light globe. I think a goop (with a low melting point) of some kind that keeps the animal hydrated (along with important membranes) – but might remove some of the, “no mess, no fuss”, aspects.
more cold kittehs
I live in the future now (Something my parents need to recognise when they call me).
You would think other people native to futureland would be a little smarter. Perhaps not.
see more pwn and owned pictures
The sad thing is this is not the first time I have seen the global warming – daylight savings link put up before. It is rather more depressing when its in a news publication, if only in the letters segment.
(Telegraph) The best Japanese PM, like, ever, Koizumi-san has backed leadership-hopeful Yuriko Koike to become next leader of the LDP (and by default, PM of Japan, all your base belong to LDP).
This support is thought to be a pretty big boost.
But some skeptics think Koizumi would need to do more than just words though to actually make a difference.
“Koizumi just expressing his support of Koike is not enough in the given situation, where (current leading candidate Taro) Aso has momentum” – Shujiro Kato, Tokyo Daigaku
Strongly conservative elements in Japan have moved very strongly to avoid having a female sit on the Chrysanthenum Throne. Will they care quite so much about the real power base?
I don’t think I have seen a better science fiction film than GATTACA for the pure fact that it gets the science so spot on.
ERV brings up the emergence of Genetic Medicine as a serious consideration, and there is also a feature on DNA-based diets in this month’s Australasian Science.
Hack the Planet. Sequence Everything!* – I whole heartedly agree. The race-based approach of recent past is seriously flawed, even to a dangerous degree. Genetic medicine will require individualised sequenced genomes, which is approaching as a realistic proposition.
Sequencing is largely automated these days, so it is simply a matter of getting investors interested. Early trendsetters are jumping on the sequencing bandwagon (GTG Australia). I think the publlics interest in tailored working diets will probably be the major motivator to look out for.
With genetic screening tests also coming a true reality, and fertility treatments proving more and more popular, will GATTACA become the prophecy. Will we see a future where your children’s children’s future is set by their genetic framework? Can the dystopia be avoided?
*I want a T-shirt
|
iReads
Blah Blah Blah