Transforming Sphere-Bot – One Can Already Hear DARPA Knocking at the Door

Anthrobotic Originals

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  TERMINAL ANACHRONISM: The Traditional University System (ENDANGERED)

  The University is Dead. Welcome to the New Education Movement.

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  Technological Utopianism is Way Better than Technological Apocalypticism. Robots, Robots.

  Human employment is soon going to drastically & quickly change. For sure China’s in trouble, but on the whole is this good or bad? Here a young guy says we’re doomed, and an old guy says it’s all going to be cool. Weird, right?

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  Where the Human Ends & the Machine Begins: Getting Unclearer…

  What we conceptualize as our discrete Physical Self isn’t nearly as cut and dried as we might think, and the non-corporeal Mental Self seems to have some blurry boundaries as well. We’re Cyborgs, man. Philosophical Cyborgs.

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  Even a Broken Newt is Right Twice a Day. The U.S.A. Needs More Space in Politics.

  Heard this one? Newt Gingrich walks into a press conference… and drops the best idea to come out of a politician’s mouth in decades. This scandalous, hypocritical, disingenuous career politician is, in fact, totally correct.

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  Technology Will Eradicate Barbarians & Drum Circles and Fix Everything

  Technological utopianism might be just as foolish as vegan white people with dreadlocks or those with a super-spooky, vengeful, punishing father figure in the sky. But I kinda really seriously doubt it. (BOOK RECOMMENDATION)

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  Hello, China! Welcome to Capitalism. Ummm, You Might Not Like the Next Part…

  China, robots are coming to get your economy.

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  The Disabled Wage War Against the Wheelchair and Begin Test-Piloting Transhumanism

  Disabled pioneers are living examples of how technology is blurring the lines between what is considered practical, necessary augmentation and what, someday soon, might be just a nice alternative to flesh – a voluntary upgrade.

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  Adam Carolla & Louis C.K. – New Heroes of Entertainment Technology

  These two seemingly low-tech pasty white guys in their 40s are the unlikely heroes of contemporary entertainment technology – and the comedy entertainment industry’s version of The Man should be very, very scared.

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  Hey Grandpa, Ask Northern Africa about how Social Media is Ruining Our Brains, K?

  There are some things to which we’re all too connected – I’ll certainly admit that. But splashing out some junk science conjecture to broadly condemn the immensely powerful forces of social technology is just weak sauce.

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  Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens: Profound Philosophical Quandary! Ish…

  Contact lens with high-res capability could theoretically replace almost every screen we look at on a day-to-day basis. And totally molest our notions of reality, existence, and whether blue is really blue. What is “blue,” anyway?

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  The Brain During Orgasm: fMRI Knows Exactly How Women Feel

  What are people thinking in the lead-up to an orgasm? Could be a fascinating, lucrative, or a potentially horrifying reveal on human nature. A PhD candidate at Rutgers climbed into an MRI machine an rubbed one out for science. Go science, go!

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  Digital Privacy, Facial Recognition, and Streamlined Bar Hopping in the Windy City

  Anyone who moans and complains about Facebook privacy has got to be partially brain damaged. But faces are not something we can share selectively – well, unless we go all hijab on ourselves or something…

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  Google: Bettering Humanity for Fun and Profit?

  Google is pushing technology harder than probably any other private entity – and word to that. This brings to mind something a bit more interesting: Cutting-edge technological innovation shifting away from governmental entities.

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  ASIMO: Awesome Android or SuperTech Puppet?

  If ASIMO doesn’t keep improving, becoming more adaptive and autonomous, I see many late nights with a little white robot waking from a terrible nightmare screaming: “Help, Help! PETMAN is coming to get me!

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  Using Really Super Serious Lasers to Vivisection the Universe

  Some hardcore Euro-Scientists want to build the most powerful laser ever ever ever, fire it at the universe (aim that thing like… anywhere, yeah?), and then just, you know, see what happens. Pure science rules.

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  PETMAN: Boston Dynamics Stumbles (HA!) into the Humanoid Android Pole Position

  Most humanoid robots are just a set of legs balancing a dead-center torso in an awkward slow-mo hula dance. But watch this video. Really watch it. It’s like watching something being born.

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  The Intellectual vs. The Engineer: Ray Kurzweil Puts Paul Allen’s Cake Out in the Rain

  Paul Allen knows business & marketing, but when it comes to all things Singularity, he’s an armchair intellectual who hasn’t actually done anything of note in the field. Kurzweil was making computers compose original music in 1965. Oh snap?

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  My Logic is Better than Paul Allen’s: ¡Singularity Improbable! – Part 2!

  Perhaps unconsciously, Allen is asserting the primacy of human intelligence in our known universe – a cognitive barrier beyond which nothing can pass – because evolution made it… or something. Paul, an AI doesn’t have to be smart LIKE us, just as smart AS us. Namsayen?

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  Hello Apple My Old Friend, I’m Going to Talk to You Again.

  Now that Siri’s iOS integration is confirmed, just how intelligent will Apple’s new AI personal assistant be? Does Siri even merit the “AI” label?

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  iPhone 5 Hyper-Anticipation: I Don’t Think it Means What You Think it Means

  It’s just a thing – a product to be purchased. It is not a revolution nor renaissance. It’s an iteration – an artifact of late 2011. Ideas always trump artifacts, but at the moment, we’re fresh out.