An interesting presentation titled Hyperpolitics, American Style given at Personal Democracy Forum on June 24, 2008, provides some interesting factoids about human networking, past, present and future. Full video below, but first some interesting data shared during the presentation:
Here’s the video:
I came across this article about a company using a microwave ray gun to beam noises directly into peoples’ heads and it stopped me cold. I mean after reading these paragraphs tell me you can’t think of some amazing applications for this technology:
A US company claims it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people’s heads.
The
device – dubbed MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) –
exploits the microwave audio effect, in which short microwave pulses
rapidly heat tissue, causing a shockwave inside the skull that can be
detected by the ears. A series of pulses can be transmitted to produce
recognisable sounds.
The device is aimed for military or crowd-control applications, but may have other uses.
Lev
Sadovnik of the Sierra Nevada Corporation in the US is working on the
system, having started work on a US navy research contract. The navy’s report states that the effect was shown to be effective…Sadovnik says the technology could have non-military applications.
Birds seem to be highly sensitive to microwave audio, he says, so it
might be used to scare away unwanted flocks.
Sadovnik
has also experimented with transmitting microwave audio to people with
outer ear problems that impair their normal hearing.
I’m sure that many people would instantly think of noble uses for this technology, for instance helping the hearing impaired. Me? The first thought I had was how much fun it would be to mess with people with this thing. Have a boss you can’t stand? Think of the turmoil you could cause him by beaming things like, "This is God. I am preparing to smote thee for being such a jerk to fill in your name and anyone else you like at work. Your only chance at redemption is giving them annual 20% raises. Oh, and I’m thinking of another flood so I need you to head to Home Depot to start your ark preparations." If you do this a couple of times a day for a week you’ll either be rid of the jerk after he checks himself into the hospital or you’ll have a much fatter pay check.
Lest you think I’m truly disturbed I won’t tell you the things I thought of that I could beam to my kids.
I’ve been watching one incredible tennis match for the last few hours. The Wimbledon final features Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and it’s shaping into an epic. Nadal one the first two sets after Federer uncharacteristically allowed his serve to be broken twice consecutively in the second set, but he rebounded to win the third and fourth sets in tiebreakers, and he faced match point in the fourth set tiebreaker only to hit an unbelievable backhand passing shot (maybe his first of the match) to save it and then hit a string of winners to win the set.
Best of all for any tennis fan is that seemingly every game and point of every set has been high quality and hotly contested. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a match like this in my life. Incredible.
Unfortunately they just called the second rain delay of the match (the first was in the third set) with the score 2-2 and Federer serving at deuce in the fifth. With only an hour of daylight left in London I suspect they’ll be playing the end of the match tomorrow. Next year Wimbledon will have a high-tech, retractable roof they can close over Center Court, so they won’t have this problem again. Too bad we don’t have it this year.
Update: They’re back on the court and Federer just held serve for 7-6. No tiebreaker in the fifth set so they might still run out of light.
Update 2: Nadal finally broke Federer and held serve despite Federer hitting one more incredible backhand to save one championship point and push it back to deuce. Longest Wimbledon championship match in history and definitely the greatest I’ve ever seen, even better than Borg’s last championship.
If you didn’t already know that the current economy is blech, you could probably gather as much from the following two headlines that appeared yesterday:
It’s amazing what that $4.00, lo-fat, no-whip, peppermint mocha will get you at a dollar store. Of course that peppermint mocha could also get the latte set about 12 miles down the road in their not-quite-as-cool-as-they-once-were Lexus LX. Choices, choices: premium coffee, a gallon of gas or a pack of clothes hangers + a jar of generic peanut butter + a can of Comet + a bag of six water pistols?
Rumor I heard at the kids’ swim meet on Tuesday: South by Southwest, a great little restaurant on S. Marshall Street in Winston-Salem, is closing its doors. Not sure if it’s true, and if it is I’m not sure what the reason is, but I will say that if it’s true I’m really bummed. I loved their fish tacos.
If you have any info on this please feel free to leave it in the comments of this post or email it to me at jon.lowder AT gmail.com.
First a warning: the video below is NOT family friendly (bad language and a disturbing array of desktop icons). It is, however, hysterical to anyone who’s worked in a company with a tech support dude who deals with technophobic sales people. Enjoy.
Befuddled 