Author Archives: Scott C. Lemon

About Scott C. Lemon

I'm a techno futurist, interested in all aspects of humanity, sociology, community, identity, and technology. While we are all approaching the Singularity, I'm just having fun effecting the outcomes of the future!

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Microsoft, Blogs, Aggregators, and programming …
Microsoft seems to have taken an all-out effort to embrace and explore the possibilities of RSS and Weblogs. This article is a simple ASP.NET project to create an aggregator – an application that gathers news articles from a range of RSS feeds.

Outside of this article, it’s interesting to see how many Microsoft employees have begun to blog, and that they even are supporting the blogging of their various events such as their PDC conference next week.

When I was at Novell a couple of years ago (has it been that long?) I was proposing several possible ways that blogs would become important mechanisms for information dissemination. Seeing more and more RSS-oriented content coming from Microsoft tells me that they are looking at the same thing.

MSDN: Creating an RSS News Aggregator with ASP.NET. # [Scripting News]

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Good intentions with bad results …
I was listening to NPR yesterday and they were covering the recent events in Bolivia. The specific segment was about Indians that live up in the mountains, and their current situation. The reporter talked about the various recent events that have further damaged the economic conditions of the Indians.

The one comment that really hit me was that a large number of local textile plants have closed down recently, limiting the opportunities for work. And why did these plants close down? The reporter indicated that it was due to the tremendous influx of “used clothing” being donated from the United States!

So with all of the “good intentions” that we have as Americans by giving away our “used” possessions, it seems that we are creating some very bad results … putting companies in these countries out of business. I would have never thought about this as a possibility … and obviously the people donating their clothing and other possessions have not thought about this either.

The world is often far more complex than than people think … and we often over look the possible consequences of our actions.

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Issues embedded in the GPL …
This is a very good article that begins to explore some of the new issues that are arising out of Linux and the GPL. I want to be clear that I have nothing against Linux or the GPL … and I am actively following both of these due to interests in sociological impacts of both of these.

I love to see the innovation and progress being created by the Linux movement. At the same time, I am curious about the impacts of the GPL on the adoption of Linux for various applications. Besides the fact that the SCO lawsuit might impact Linux, it seems from this article – and other research that I have done – that the GPL can now begin to impact Linux.

My specific area of interest is “Where is the line drawn between Linux and the applications written for Linux?” In the case of this article, Cisco – via it’s Linksys acquisition – is being attacked by the FSF to release intellectual property and drivers that it has created on top of an embedded Linux offering. It seems that since they are shipping a hardware solution – an 802.11g Access Point and Router – that contains a Linux kernel, some other applications, and their own intellectual property, they must now release all of this into the Open Source? I am not actually sure about the exact details of what the FSF is asking for … since they are not releasing the details of their attacks and discussions into the public record. I have to guess, however, that they must be asking for something that they feel Cisco *must* give away due to using GPL software in their embedded product.

I am certain that this is going to be an interesting conversation between the many parties … and it is going to make a lot of other hardware and solution vendors reconsider using Linux. Someone, at some point, will begin to specifically outline the “fine line” of where software – that touches GPL’d software – must also be GPL’d. When this is well defined, I don’t think that many commercial entities are going to embrace Linux the way that they thought.

Unless they then embed their IP in silicon below the OS?

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New location coming! Emigration Market
We have a new 80211.net Internet Cafe coming on-line soon. The 802.11b wireless access is now up and operation, and we are completing the Ethernet wiring, and coupon sales system over the next week or so.

Emigration Market is located at 1700 East 1300 South, Salt Lake City, UT and is a complete grocery store, deli, and cafe. Customers will soon have the ability to enjoy high-speed Internet Access while sitting indoors, or out on their patio.

This new location adds to our existing locations in the Salt Lake City area –

A Cup of Joe (353 West 200 South)
SugarHouse Coffee (1100 East 2100 South)

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The Neuron-Silicon Interface and the Future of Neural Prosthetics
Ok … I have to admit that I really want to go to this Neuron-Silicon Interface conference. This is even beyond where the wearable computer research is going … however along the same path. At the upcoming IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers there are a number of very impressive presentations on where the wearable market is moving … however “Neuron-Silicon Interface” will take this concept even further.

When listening to Ray Kurzweil speak about the future, I see these types of discussions very enlightening on our progress in exploring the man-machine interfaces of the future. What is interesting is when you begin to think about the possibilities that will emerge as these neural implants become much more “mainstream”. Just as we are seeing a new culture of piercings, tatoos, and now “extreme body modifications“, I can see in the not-too-distant-future that our culture will embrace a wide range of neural enhancing technologies.

I love the wild ride that we are on … and look forward to what we can’t see over that next rise.

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The transparent society gets closer … or a closeup?
There is a merging of technologies, and the evolution of technologies, that is creating the possiblity of every person becoming a “sensor” that can be used by others. With the Internet, 802.11 wireless, wearable computers, cell phones with cameras, and now embedded cameras … we’ll soon be able to share and broker audible and visual information from anywhere.

This article shows what HP engineers have been up to with embedded cameras in glasses. When coupled with a small computer that has recording capabilities, GPS, and wireless connectivity, we could all be sharing recorded information about almost anything that we experience. If you have not read David Brin’s The Transparent Society … you ought to. We’re getting closer and closer …

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A New Idea for E-Paper
I was just talking with a friend about when E-Paper (ePaper?) is going to arrive. This article explains yet another possible way that we are going to see this occur. It involves oil and water, and a way to cause the water to be attracted and repelled by the individual pixels.

I’m not sure if I am as interested in this as a replacement for paper … which would be interesting … as much as for fashion, or other purposes. Imagine giving someone a gift wrapped in this paper! 😉

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Man and Machine merging …
I have continued to read about Kevin Warwick and his work with Cybernetics. He is becoming one of the earths first true Cyborgs. Along with Steve Mann (who I’ll post about in the next few days) they are leading the world with this type of research.

In this latest article called “No more talk … Just think” he is exploring an area that I have discussed with friends for quite some time. If the proper sensors were inserted into the brain, a simple application could be used to learn certain neural firing patterns as you thought, or thought of moving a muscle, etc. Once these patterns were learned, we could assign new ways to communicate the presence of these patterns. So now simply thinking about something could be detected by software, and then that software could trigger any type of action. This puts a very different type of spin on “my ears were burning” … I might think about my wife, which would trigger the software to send an instant message to my wife. Even further, it might send a message to her cyborg-implant, which would then activate a small heater implanted in her ear. 😉

With cyborg implants that have visible or non-visible (wireless) communciations you will have whole new ways of communicating … between humans, and between humans and machines.