While the government of the US continues to gnaw at he net neutrality knucklebone, UK experts are starting to panic – saying that if it doesn’t seriously upgrade its internet infrastructure, Britain risks falling behind in the information economy. I guess someone should let the BBC know, as they are planning to make over a million hours of public service broadcasting available in a free archive. In the meantime, those of you who still hanker for the good old frontier days of the information superhighway can bathe in the discordant nostalgia of the 56k modem emulator, courtesy of Bruce Sterling.
THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton
April’s story, “The Towers of St. Michael’s” from Futurismic alumnus David Walton is a pensive piece about the sensory world and the barriers between two people separated by sight. Check out David’s earlier “Diamond Dust” afterwards, if you haven’t already read it.
The Towers Of St. Michael’s
by David Walton
Paul watched Bartalan Varga slash egg-yellow paint across his canvas, adding a sparkle of reflected sunlight to a traffic scene from his native Budapest. On Paul’s fMRI screen, Bartalan’s visual cortex lit up, just as if he were seeing the colorful buildings and buses and pedestrians in his painting. But even a cursory glance at the stunted buds where his eyes should have been contradicted this. Bartalan Varga was totally blind. Continue reading THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton
Simulating brains, spray-on computers
One of the (many and conflicting) theories about AI is that we need to make computers that work more like an organic brain if we want to build machines that really think. Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm Computing, has written an article about Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM), which is “a platform for simulating neocortical activity” that he’s releasing freely for research purposes. Meanwhile, Warren Ellis draws our attention to a different deployment of technology called ‘speckled computing’ – spraying tiny match-head sized processors all over patients for medical diagnosis. Insert your own punchline here.
Theatre as brain fitness regime
Cognitive longevity is starting to become as popular an idea as its physical equivalent, and with that comes the inevitable research into what works best. It’s fairly accepted that learning new things is a good for your mind, but some things are better than others, it seems – for example, studying theatre for a while appears to significantly boost cognitive performance for some time afterwards. Perhaps treading the boards will become fashionable once again.
The internet reaches orbit
Internet connectivity is covering the world at an increasing pace, but stringing optic fibres or installing wireless repeaters is an inherently limiting process. The launch of the first space-borne internet router heralds a near future where remote communities may be able to get online with a shared satellite dish. Which is, like all technology, a double-edged sword – after all, if terrorist groups can hack a regular television broadcast satellite, it won’t take them long to ramp up to the next level.