Considering the power of brand in today’s economy, it’s no surprise that Wired predicts the next product to become nothing but brand is cellular service. MVNOs buy airtime wholesale from staid brands like Sprint or Verizon and resell it to consumers looking for a company that appeals to their lifestyle. Given the abysmal customer service and infuriating marketing practices of most big carriers, I’d jump to an MVNO in a minute if they just focused on treating their customers right.

Ray Kurzweil in a brief article for Scientific American sketches the near future landscape of drug development and medical treatments, deliberately designed and carefully engineered.

These Amnesty International outdoor advertisements create the illusion of transparency by juxtaposing scenes of torture onto bus stops and street scenes. It’s an interesting use of photo montage and an ironic reversal of the usual purpose of photoshop wizardy. Rather than retouching reality to insulate us from it, it manipulates reality to bring us into contact with it.

What a fun concept: the simmer stove (theoretical only, at this point) recesses the heating element in the countertop to improve efficiency and safety.

Jamais Cascio (of Worldchanging fame) has penned a list of the 12 things journalists should know when interviewing futurists. Lots of good cautionary advice for those of us who get dazzled by futuristic glitter.