Bring me your mind-children
Dec. 27th, 2006 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomus
I'm on deadline for my next Wired News column, the first of 2007, and I thought I'd broach the subject of fantasy technology. Then I thought I'd ask you to add your ideas to the suggestions I'll be making myself.Basically, what inventions would you like to see emerge during 2007? Can you describe one? Maybe start from your actual needs and extrapolate a piece of technology (give it a silly name if you like) that doesn't exist right now, but could plausibly be invented. Obviously these mind-children are going to be somewhat frivolous. If you really think up something brilliant, don't share it with me and the readers of Wired News -- just go ahead and patent it.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 12:59 pm (UTC)(I've had my best men on this one for a while, but we're happy to accept assistance).
balb
Date: 2006-12-27 01:23 pm (UTC)Alexandre P.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-29 06:16 am (UTC)I see Maggie Gyllenhall and Naomi Watts as the genome techs that stumble on the discovery. Edward Norton as the hapless boyfriend that falls in love with his own girlfriends "re-generation"
Maggie: "How can you be more in love with her...she's me for God's sake!"
Edward: "She's more you than you are and she hasn't any doubts. She knows she loves me...you only think you do." Music rises....cut to Naomi Watts back at the lab destroying everything.
Two weeks before the Academy Awards are handed out Jay Leno will crack wise in his monologue: "Did you see where Maggie Gyllenhall is up for best actress in that movie where her character is re-generated?
I personally think her second generation should get the best supporting actress"
There is no satire anymore. Life is just too weird.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 01:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 01:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 01:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 02:34 pm (UTC)I know that some cities are getting "WiMax" service, but the telecoms are fighting hard against it. Like the ones in my city. So, just stepping outside with your web-enabled device isn't going to work.
I know that the Internet has greatly enriched my life in many ways, and I cannot imagine life without it now. Making it ubiquitous would be a good thing.
And a remote control cat-feeder would be cool, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 02:50 pm (UTC)i've written/talked alot about this over the years!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 05:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-29 08:28 pm (UTC)travel tech
Date: 2006-12-27 03:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 03:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 04:20 pm (UTC)remote-controlled ice cream
prank HD digital cameras (they squirt water from the lens)
shoes that musicate your steps with random, yet agreeable, notes
"Smart Lamps" that illuminate only one color in their range
electric tights
Whisper Amps
bottled water impregnated with naturally vitamin-rich algae
Sustainable Peyote
Traveling Landmarks (eliminating God-related turf battles)
a new kind of tea
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 04:27 pm (UTC)Mundane suggestion
Date: 2006-12-27 04:27 pm (UTC)I found I loved the cane, a $15 USD metallic, collapsible contraption that I could tuck into my bag when my leg was feeling robust enough to do without.
But when wielding the cane on busy sidewalks, people would look at me, see a somewhat young person on a cane ("poor thing!"), and GET OUT OF MY WAY. It was like the sidewalk was magically cleared for me to get on with my business! I loved it, and sometimes was guilty of pulling it out even when I didn't need it.
I started to think, wow, this contraption would be super handy if it had an umbrella and sharp knife built into its extensible array!
So that's what I want. A collapsible cane with an umbrella and weapon built right in. See what you can do for me, okay?
best,
harriet
Oh and...
Date: 2006-12-27 04:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 06:22 pm (UTC)Thomas Scott.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 07:06 pm (UTC)2. A Cell-Out. A pocket-size device that automatically knocks out the cell phone service of anyone talking on one within my earshot, or within 100 feet of me while driving.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 07:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 07:47 pm (UTC)Eidetic Memory? Nevs.
Date: 2006-12-27 09:10 pm (UTC)I would also prefer to avoid my role as agent, shackled to the browser as linking tool. Link Link stop. Old stuff, networking linearly, I want to see a visual-spatial-wiki.
Relation of forms and color, moods, even. I suppose this would just be an AI program, a funky set of algorithms, but with some allowances for errors, a human touch. A brain, maybe. Give us a brain Momus. A process, a toy that one can tumble about, to play in the dirt with, to day dream with more than what is around us. Instantly relate and respond to its visual context, a diddling tool that responds to all previous reference points, but is not limited by what is in that head of yours, or mine.
Something I can take outside.
Supertoys for someone in the future.
Vêtements répartiteurs de chaleur (calotte calorifique) et récupérateur d'énergie (ex ipso corp
Date: 2006-12-27 09:42 pm (UTC)Et puis j'aimerais que mes vêtements changent de couleur en même temps que mon humeur i.e. détection des connexions qui se font sous ma boîte cranienne créant des motifs changeants et renouvelés. Ma foi, pas une idée sympa pour les créateurs de mode :-p
Surtout il faut trouver un moyen de récupérer l'énergie partout où elle se trouve : capteur solaire à insérer dans les manteaux et vestes puis aussi dynamo qui transforme les frottements en énergie pour alimenter baladeur, portables, bref : tous les objets mobiles gourmands en piles/batteries polluantes...
Bon je ne suis pas physicienne alors au boulot les autres ! :-)
Hope you don't need a translation device...
Caroline
attention surchauffe !
Date: 2006-12-27 09:58 pm (UTC)Alors par contre je me demande : celui qui chauffe particulièrement dans certains points très centraux risquera t-il (elle) une surchauffe ? Pas mal dans ce cas, sélection naturelle fort plaisante ;-))
Tiens ajoutons un régulateur du cortex qui saurait expertiser d'où vient la-dite calor et renvoyer proportionnellment un gel températeur de comportements, pas mal non ?
Ciao mates ! xxx
Re: attention surchauffe !
Date: 2006-12-27 10:35 pm (UTC)I should have thought about the anti-babel device !
Well, well, well let's not forget the reading mind bidule too.
Beam me up ;-)
Calorine
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 09:58 pm (UTC)inventers can do it
Date: 2006-12-27 10:34 pm (UTC)Re: inventers can do it
Date: 2006-12-27 11:00 pm (UTC)Re: inventers can do it
Date: 2006-12-28 02:43 am (UTC)Re: inventers can do it
Date: 2006-12-28 09:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 10:23 pm (UTC)project darkness project
Date: 2006-12-27 10:29 pm (UTC)William
http://www.squirm.com
department of redundancy department
Date: 2006-12-28 12:19 am (UTC)When you squeezed it a certain way it would light up. One night he was having trouble getting it to light. He said "sometimes it's hard to get the dark out of it".
Re: department of redundancy department
Date: 2006-12-28 12:01 pm (UTC)william
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 10:33 pm (UTC)Clear spheres that can be placed over the heads of crying children on planes that will mute incessant crying without cutting off oxygen.
A secular holy book that would displace popular fundamentalisms.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 10:48 pm (UTC)(Did that sound bitchy?) ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-28 02:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-27 10:56 pm (UTC)1. Some sort of inexpensive touch-screen surface that you can attach to walls. The amount of pressure you push on it will decide which color comes out. I imagine this on building walls, classroom desks, bus shelters... I think it would help cut down on shitty graffiti, although you'll still have cats who'll paint on these surfaces or etch their names into them, so ideally these surfaces should be scratch-proof and able to be easily cleaned.
2. Inexpensive LED surfaces that synchronize with music. Imagine the whole inside of your car with Winamp effects. With the popularity of "pimping out your ride" these days, I think this is soon on its way. I'm actually waiting for something like this to appear in Second Life, if it already hasn't... entire clubs pulsing in tune with the DJ's input.
3. Some sort of pen that leaves an invisible trace on objects or in the sky, which you'll be able to see with special goggles. Leave special messages for your friends, which they can see if they're tuned to the right frequency like a radio dial.
also...
Date: 2006-12-27 11:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-28 12:02 am (UTC)This invention was inspired by my younger self watching too many forensic and criminal programs on the television. I noticed that murderers commonly used knives to kill their prey and I thought up the idea of a mechanized knife. It is somewhat like the stage knives that retract when it hits a hard object, but with a much sharper blade. Basically there would be a camera or a sensor on the handle that detects whether or not there will be skin nearing the blade. When it senses that there is indeed skin approaching the blade, it retracts into its handle until it is safe to cut again.
Now, if only I can think of a way to use this with guns...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-28 12:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-28 05:10 am (UTC)Of course if it's fantasy that you want:
1. I'll get a better tool that can record my meetings and auto-nag folks when they don't deliver on their action items - umm... well that will sort of put my job as the chief whip cracker at risk, but I can live with that
2. The OLPC project will finally have the plug pulled on it.
i'll go with the practical and inevitable
Date: 2006-12-28 09:12 am (UTC)Mind Children
Date: 2006-12-28 01:38 pm (UTC)A woman got out of her car and was walking into the market when several of the fellows began talking to her. She was clearly troubled by the intrusive nature of their comport. It occurred to me that if they were unable to be certain she was a woman or a man, they may withhold certain behaviors. So perhaps something of an "Anonymity Outfit" would be in order.
This early 21st Century artifact would enable the wearer to mingle comfortably in urban areas. The best suits would disguise sex and have a helmet or some device that would help to hold in question which sex or for that manor which race the wearer is.
Yes. You are quite correct. Not unlike putting ones first initial in the telephone book....these ridiculous garments would simply advertise that we are either weak, old, female or all of the above. Soon empty outfits would litter the streets. It will take a few years of litigation, and legislating before the necessary "modifications" are legal, but, given the recklessness that the top 1% of the population has treated the rest of the nation...it should be only five to ten years before they realize that in order for "Maria" or "Consuela" to get to their home to do what it is they do there...they are going to need to survive life back in the hellish abandon that makes up the "non" gated community that is urban America.
This in mind Congress will allow the suits to be outfitted with some fairly damaging offense/defense mechanisms. The makers of this outfit will be good friends with the military as well. "Peacetime war" and "Collateral Menace Neutralization" or some such Madison Ave. terms will spring up. Basically what we will be thrown is a bone for surviving the effects of being pushed to the outside of the heard.
Once upon a time a gal would save to buy a home. Now she'll first save to purchase the latest form of survival gear. If she can afford to stay alive long enough to save enough money to buy her way into a gated community...and the security agency that monitors her codes and locks is free of desperate types yearning to sell her information to the highest bidder....she may get to watch reruns of Three's Company and pet her cats in relative safety.
But not probably.
Doc
Re: Mind Children
Date: 2006-12-28 09:14 pm (UTC)Ever read or watch A SCANNER DARKLY?
Re: Mind Children
Date: 2006-12-29 05:50 am (UTC)some clutter in my studio and I ran across a promotional "button" advertising "Through a Scanner Darkly". It had Woody Harrelson's likeness on it.
I believe you are correct. The glossing over of a problem with technology is a "path of least resistance" type of habit. One that we as a society have long confused with remedial dynamics. The homework and sacrifice involved in "fixing societies values" is laden with character building hard work. Before you fix a value it must be examined and agreed upon to be in need of repair. The coalitions and special interest groups will gather before the press and spin. Before our eyes we will see why it is best to fix what ever may be wrong with society...ourselves. Beginning in our homes please.
At a personal level and in an advisory capacity, willingness to embrace change and to support progressive and inclusive ideas about energy, commerce, transportation and housing will allow the shift, the zeitgeist if you will, to "log in" as it were, to the collective over-soul.
Have you ever read Childhood's End by Arthur C.Clarke?
Doc
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-28 11:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-29 04:52 am (UTC)