Technology’s Promise

This week, like previous weeks, I’ve been asked to analyze predictions of the future in technology. Specifically, I’m reading “Technology’s Promise”, by William E. Hala. I’ll start this post with a quote from his book that I love, “Anticipating the future is more fascinating that marveling at the past.” (Hala, pg 146)


The prediction I would like to evaluate is what Hala calls “Crisis of Maturity”. In this prediction he says that the world will soon mature to industrialization. Here he’s talking about the second and third world countries catching up to where the US and other world powers are now. This will most likely be a fragile time in the future of humanity. If every nation in the world has the technology to destroy it (weapons of mass destruction) and pollution ravaging the Earth’s environment, we may find ourselves at a quick demise. Hala predicts this might be where the world is in the year 2030. That’s a very horrifying thought.

However, if we can unite as one species, Hala predicts a Global Order will arise from the fall out. I'd like to know what the rest of the world thinks about these predictions. Comment here

Eye-tracking technology for the next generation of e-readers.

The next generation of e-readers will offer up next generation technology that will make the reader seem even more like a book. This technology utilizes eye tracking technology that tracks when you stop reading, move the tablet, and more. This technology promises to enhance the traditional e-book flat mat screens to ease the user’s eye strain while reading.
I predict that as this technology will one day take over the book market. I know many online universities have moved to e-books, but I predict that this may become the trend with traditional colleges soon as well.

Read more here:
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-03/26/eye-tracking-tablets-and-the-promise-of-text-20.aspx

Animoto Security Predictions:

Check out my first Animoto Video on Security Predictions from Symantec. It's good education for everyone and it only lasts 30 seconds. (With some great music. )

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Gab Cast THIS!

Check out my latest pod cast below. Its a great review of what this blog is all about!

Gabcast! CS 855 #1 - Blogpost!

Check this out!

Futuring... the past, present and the future, maybe?

So this post here is to spark some conversation in the my Futuring and Innovation course. I was surffing to find the end of then Internet (nope I still haven’t found it), and I found this article from the GREAT ‘Wired Magazine’:


“Where’s the Future? Will Ferrell’s Tour of Tech That Never Took”

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_future_ferrell/all/1

Half way through the article I found this very interesting graph:

What We’ve Lost
The people, places, and things that were once the future—but vanished.

The thing that caught my eye! “Futurists” (I’m assuming this is the profession of) Has a dot on this graph, and Second Life! Both of these are located in the “Good Riddance” and “Boring” section. So my thought for everyone out there is: Have we really lost these great tools and were they really all that bad? The spark of new ideas from futurists and the first 3 dimentional web interface with customizable content, were great and if they are gone I’m sad to see them leave.

Cool Web 2.0 Tool #2

If you ever wanted to make your own webpage for professional or personal use, and never had the time to learn HTML or the many facets of PHP, CGI, FLASH etc…?!? Well then check out this great new Web 2.0 tool. The whole site is desing to allow drag and drop web site creation. It’s so simple I’m almost regretting all those hours I spent programming flash elements, java scripts and HTML for http://www.explorerstreasures.com/

My thought of the week:

Alexander Christakis's 'How People Harness their Collective Wisdom and Power to Construct the Future in Co-Laboratories of Democracy' uses what he describes as an SDP approach to a handful of case studies. The one that caught my attention was his 'Master Plan For New Product: Context for Drug Development'. The SDP approach utilizes key members of the project team to make decisions concerning the planning stages of the project.

The SDP approach allows managers to complete weeks of work in few workshops over a period of days. It also provided clinical information for health care practitioners and patients early in the process.

I was reading this article at PRleap.com and thought that many of the ideas proposed by the sight were very entertaining. The fourth prediction by futurists made way back in 2006 was:


Schools based on classrooms and a human teacher will dwindle over the next 25 years. Why sit in a classroom when you can visit virtual worlds and experience your subjects? An avatar, a personalized interactive guide, will answer all of your questions and help you pose new ones.

http://www.prleap.com/pr/60394/

This idea was novel almost six years ago, but it seems to be holding true from my point of view. I know I was taking a few online courses back then, but it really hadn’t become main stream as it is today. I believe it was just the other day when I heard an advertisement on the radio, here in Colorado Springs, that the state is sponsoring an e-class for high schools! That would have been unthinkable a few years back.

Web 2.0 Tools:

Zoho Chat is a great collaboration tool! This cool web tool lets you form group chats using your IM friends from many popular networks. (I.E. Google, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ, & Jabber etc…) Like many online collaboration tools there is the option to chat live and share your desktop, but you also have the functionality to create calendar events.


However, my favorite thing about this web tool was the extremely quick setup. The website asked me four questions: 1 Username, 2. Email, 3. Password, 4. Confirm Password. That’s it! As soon as I entered that information I was into the program and ready to rock and roll.

http://zohochat.com/

The Future (Horizon Report 2010)

I thought it was interesting to read the 2010 Horizon report. Apparently I'm not the only person in a higher education program that thinks that scholarly authoring, publishing and researching is behind the times. The Horizon report points out an interesting fact about how the new forms of publication (forms, blogs, and reader rating systems) have no official place in 'scholarly research. Someone please push the academic community into the 21st century!

As for the technology to watch, in the Horizon report the first thing they cite is Mobile computing. I couldn't agree more. It seems that these days I can forget my huge desk top (with exception of the occasional game) and do everything from my phone. I love it, and the public wants more of it. Heck, I authored this post from my Android. (Android is my personal favorite OS for the future of light weight operating systems.) Three cheers for open source technology taking control of the market place!

http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/

Augmented-reality Maps: Ted.com

Augmented-reality maps:
“Hyper Local Blogs” enter the quadrants for the entry of a blog entry to the blog.

The live broadcast of people in the market place work seamlessly into the map as on line users view from the mapping software. (Around minute 6)

This is an amazing 8 minute video detailing the resources that will be available to us shortly! Check it out.

First Post.....

This is just getting started, but look forward to great things in the future. I'm interested in internet security, and fuzzy logic. This first post if for credit in CS855 of my doctoral program.