Computing, 2016: What Won’t Be Possible? - New York Times

Computing, 2016: What Won’t Be Possible? - New York Times: "Social networks, noted Jon Kleinberg, a professor at Cornell, are pre-technological creations that sociologists have been analyzing for decades. A classic example, he noted, was the work of Stanley Milgram of Harvard, who in the 1960’s asked each of several volunteers in the Midwest to get a letter to a stranger in Boston. But the path was not direct: under the rules of the experiment, participants could send a letter only to someone they knew. The median number of intermediaries was six — hence, the term “six degrees of separation.” "

I'd heard of the "Six Degrees of Separation" idea for a long time, but I never knew the origins.

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: DNA Computer Plays Complete Game of Tic-Tac-Toe

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: DNA Computer Plays Complete Game of Tic-Tac-Toe

The human body, hell, even a bacterium, has computing capacity so vast that it makes our current level of computer power seem more like a pocket calculator from the 1980s. Our neurons, cells and even intracellular material have, in computer hardware contexts, tiny footprints and incomparable versatility. However none of this has been accessible to engineers, because while you can get a huge button the size of a finger (like those on your computer keyboard) to connect to a smaller wire, to connect to a smaller circuit (and so on (and so on (and so on))) until you pass the clicking of that button down to the smallest "circuitry" that is the stuff of DNA, no one has figured out a way to create or use collections of DNA in any way comparable to the structures of our current silicon "gates", which make up the foundation of our computer technology.

I have been following articles researching the use of this basic stuff of life for computer purposes for a few years. This article shows what appears to be a milestone in this arena. They have managed to get little puddles of DNA strands to play Tic-Tac-Toe, and win or draw every time.

This should force the vernacular to change the definition of "software". Or maybe they'll call it "squishware", though I haven't ever actually touched a puddle of DNA before.

Discovery Channel :: News - Technology :: 'Cloak of Invisibility' Made Real

Discovery Channel :: News - Technology :: 'Cloak of Invisibility' Made Real

David Copperfield is going to have to find a new trick after this technology matures.

They are only working on microwaves, right now, but this articles speaks to the possibility of using this technology to make things invisible to other ranges of light, including visible light, and (oddly enough, to my mind) other non-light things like acoustic waves to protect from vibrations (!!).

Wired 14.10: Posts

Wired 14.10: Posts

I think people underrate just how integrated we are with computers today. Take a look at this article. Notice that in the scenario the actual attacks were one bomb, and a few well-placed hacks. The hospital's drug computer ended up incorrectly distributing drugs. The city was thrown in chaos. The infrastructure of warning systems and communication systems was clogged.

It strikes me that "cyberterrorism" is not about simply keeping an honest company from making a buck for a day. And it's not about keeping people from viewing their news or their porn or their YouTube video of the day.

One day, on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson supposedly had a faux news item that there was a national shortage of toilet paper. The next day, so many people went shopping for toilet paper in response that there was... a national shortage of toilet paper. The media of Radio, TV and now the Internet amplifies. Colbert tells people to vote him the the winner of the Hungarian Bridge contest, and he wins. If some media event tells people to flush their toilets at exactly some time, and a fire is lit just a bit before, would there be a massive water shortage?

I'm all for technological innovation. I'm a geek. I want a house that is automated, and I want to start a company that gets bought by Google for billions, just like the next guy.

But I'm not exactly comfortable with some of the vulnerabilities we have.