I just watched a 60 Minutes segment discussing what I think is the most amazing use of computer technology I’ve ever seen. Neuroscientist have been able to capture electrons firing in the brain and allows a person to control electronic devices, such as computers, wheelchairs, and possibly robotic prosthetic. For me this is truly amazing.

One thing I thought was interesting, was the brain keeps firing electrons, whether the body can respond or not. It’s like a gun; you can keep pulling the trigger even if the gun has no bullets. It fires, but does nothing. Just like the brain.

I told my wife if I’m ever in a position where I’m locked in my body, please have these people install this device in my head. Immediately.

Looking at the new Linux flavored operating system; Ubuntu 8.10, the latest direction is towards the mobile user. It’s obvious more and more users are going the laptop route, and that has been an issue with operating systems like Ubuntu, possibly because of integrated or proprietary hardware.

I’ve been running Ubuntu on my HP laptop for about 7 months now. It has had issues, specifically with audio drivers and power management. The two issues I’m hoping the 8.10 release will fix are (1 and 2 are basically the same);

1. The auto detecting of my USB headset (affiliate link) when it’s plugged into the port
2. The volume control works with my USB headset
3. Manage my battery better. Ubuntu burns through a fully charged battery in under an hour. I should get 2+. It’s a new battery.

I’m installing the OS right now. I’ll run through my own set of tests and write up a secondary post letting you know how it goes.

By the way, my Ubuntu midnight release party was a bust. When the clock turned over, all I saw was Ubuntu 8.10 coming soon… disappointed. I couldn’t download for another 9 hours. Oh well, I have it now.

If you watch the TV show Chuck, undoubtedly you heard the Zune burn on last nights episode. To set the scene, Chuck is trying to figure out how to reach the Kill Screen on the video game Missile Command. Chuck realizes the sequence to win the game matches the Rush song Tom Sawyer. Chuck looks at Morgan, his trusty sidekick..

Chuck: “Morgan, hey, uh, buddy do we carry any rush cds in the store?”
Morgan: “No need I got’em all on my Zune”
Chuck: “You have a Zune?”
Morgan: “Are you kidding me, no, no, I’ll grab my iPod”

I was on the floor laughing for about 30 minutes. I had to rewind the TiVo so I could finish watching the rest of the show. It was great. Wonder how much Apple paid for that jab.

During this time of year political candidates feel like they are actually making an impact by putting a few signs around town, displaying their name and nothing else. When I see these types of signs I think what a waste of money. I don’t know this person, its presumptive I would know you only by name.

Here is an example of someone who paid a large sum of money for a political sign and failed. This sign had to be 5 feet wide by 3 or 4 feet high.

What’s he running for? What does he stand for? Where can I find more information?

Opposite this sign, on the same fence, was another sign, only it speaks a different tune.

This person has given me a couple of things, a slogan with some standard political rhetoric like leadership and change, a picture, but most important, he has his web address on the sign. Now I can look this person up on the Internet and see what he stands for and what his platform is.

If you are a political candidate and you have spent money on signs that tell me nothing you deserve to lose. People expect to be able to find you on line. They want to know what you stand for and why they should vote for you. It’s not good enough anymore to just pitch your name and hope I remember you on election day, because I won’t, and I hope no one else does either.

Does your personal brand make it easy for me to find you, or get to know you?

Today we reviewed the Sci-Fi book Accelerando.

If you’ve been reading current science fiction, and particularly if you’ve been reading the discussion around current science fiction, you’ve probably heard of the concept of the Singularity. If you haven’t, briefly, it’s the idea that technological development is an exponential curve, which means that technological change will keep getting faster and faster until it vertically spikes. This is the Singularity, since beyond this point whatever exists afterwards will probably be incomprehensible to those of us who live on this side of the spike.

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