"emerging tech" entries
Apps for Democracy
Vivek Kundra, the District of Columbia's CTO, isn't just talking about transparent government and participative democracy, he's working hard to make DC's massive data stores transparent and inviting your participation. I first heard about Vivek's push for transparency when he spoke at an Intelligence Community Conference in September (I just happened to be speaking on a panel thanks to…
My Apple Holiday Wish
Dear Apple, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth and a personal backup solution that doesn't suck.
PICNIC Network 2008
The week of September 22nd I am going to be flying across the Atlantic for the third PICNIC Network. Ever since i heard about the conference last fall I've wanted to attend. My friends' stories last year focused on the many RFID-enabled art pieces. As discussed in this interview these were developed by Mediamatic, a digital art lab. Last…
Disaster Technology for Myanmar/Burma aid workers
There is an ongoing crisis in Myanmar (Burma) in the aftermath of cyclone Nargis. The ruling military junta is finally allowing humanitarian organizations into the region after denying access for almost a week. The situation is grim, and you can help by donating to organizations like: Doctors without Borders, Direct Relief, and UNICEF. There has been some incredible discussion on…
roBlocks: Simple Blocks To Make Robots
roBlocks are small, computerized cubes that can be combined to make robots. They began as research project at Carnegie Mellon. They look like great fun for fooling around or teaching programming concepts. The catalog page shows about twenty different blocks. Each of those blocks has a single purpose. There are four types of blocks: Sensors (light, sound), Actuators (movement), Operators…
Baseball Simulations
How likely are the world records we hold dear? Should they have happened? Should they been set by the people who did them? There's an New York Times Opinion piece written by some researchers who examined Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak to determine how likely it was to happen again. Turns out it's very likely. In the 10, 000…
How Technology Almost Lost the War, but Should Do Better
Technology almost lost the war, but can't we make it better?
Radar Roundup: Brains
Today's topic is: our brains, understanding how they work, and living with the consequences of that knowledge. Brain Enhancement: Right or Wrong? (NYT): amazing gray areas we're getting into. Is it okay for a scientist to take brain-enhancing drugs? Compare with Wired News's write-up of Quinn Norton's ETech talk on the subject of how new bio technology will make us…
From ETech to Where 2.0: Disaster Tech and Activist Mapping
At ETech last week, Ethan Zuckerman spoke about the use of web technologies in repressive regimes. It was great — one person even told that it was the best session he'd ever seen. I recommend reading Ethan's write-up of his talk. He began with the hypothesis: Sufficiently usable read/write platforms will attract porn and activists. If there's no porn, the…
@ETech: Matt Webb's Tour of a Fictional Solar System
We began ETech with a series of Ignite talks. As usual Matt Webb weaved together beautiful images, kinetic energy and keen insights. Enjoy the talk….