School Cop Investigated for Porn Link on Friend’s MySpace Profile

Just a reminder of how ignorance, or blindly rabid prosecutors with a name to make, can misuse technology when it is out of our control.  The officer involved in this situation has absolutely no control over what his MySpace links are doing unless he constantly polices (pun intended) their pages.  A reason to be very careful in this day and age, as perception can often override the techno-magic so many don’t understand.

Bug Labs

From the site: “BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic
modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each
BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a
keyboard, a video output, etc.). You decide which functions to include
and BUG takes care of the rest, letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG
and the integrated programming environment/online community (BUGnet),
anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and
applications. We don’t define the final products – you do.”

Combining this technology with open source software and OS will allow all of us more freedom in what capabilities our tech will include.  The freedom to pair hardware parts to software to more hardware will open up our ability to create an environment to match our needs/wants. 

It will also mean we can select what type of inputs to provide our robots/house software/sex dolls.  It will also mean lawbreakers will possess a massive range of technologies to perpetrate crime.

Wireless Taser: Whole New Kind of Weapon

Danger Room has an excellent article on a round which discharges a jolt equal to a wired taser, making it possible to bring down an individual from a longer distance and by minimizing lethal force.  I won’t attempt to add to the article except to wonder how handy this will be when the ‘bots go error out and start hunting humans?  Might these eventually develop into EMP rounds?  Best bet to take the Terminator out in a single shot…

Vibrating vest could send alerts to soldiers – tech – 03 January 2007 – New Scientist Tech

Commands sent from the computer are translated into patterns
“displayed” – like Braille-on-the-back – by the vibrating motors. The
wearer’s back was chosen to receive messages because it is a relatively
large area that is also less likely to sustain damage.

This is brilliant. Utilizing a large region of skin to receive updates, leaving the ears and eyes to focus on the immediate environment. I’m not a soldier, but I have practiced martial arts for nearly 20 years and play games providing a first-person perspective. The first thing I normally do in any game is to turn off the narrative voice and dial down the ambient music. I prefer to receive an unfiltered version of my surroundings and, through a leap of intellect, I can see why soldiers would benefit from this type of technology.

My only question is, “When can we have these for gaming?”

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