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Articles about technology and science
This
article is a critique of a technology forecast based on a seminar
hosted by Singularity University. That forecast is predictably
consistent with SU's major tenet that, sooner rather than later,
artificial intelligence will grow without bound and make our lives much
better. But it is much broader than just AI. My critique agrees with
much that is said. But I question the time frame of some of the
predictions; we aren't nearly ready to move ahead with them. I also
throw in some caveats about societal implications of the forecast.
Technology forecasting itself is a "vocational skill", which
involves being able to apply some well-understood principles. Here are
some of the ways a professional forecaster looks at things.
I
just got a smartphone. I didn't get it as a phone, though of course it
has that capability. I got it as a computer! In my first couple of
hours of playing with it, I was struck with the realization that this
tiny gadget is the current heir to the computing legacy I have watched
and lived since I was a teenager -- and I was astounded how far we have
come.
I
finally gave in and got a smartphone. Here's why it took me so long. It
was not that I was a Luddite or technophobe. (We all know better.) It
was a matter of principle. But I finally wore down.
Every so often I get a panicked email from a relative, with an
attachment
that somebody sent her in an email. "Is this true? It's really scary!"
That is an improvement from previous years, when she would pass it
along as gospel. Hey, not everything you read on the Internet is true.
Here are some ways to figure out what's true and what's not.
The Supreme
Court just announced a decision in a legal battle between Google and
Oracle. The Court ruled that Google's implementation of an Oracle API
was legal -- not a copyright infringement. In this article, I explain
what an API is, and why I feel this was a good and necessary decision.
I use a non-programming analogy so that non-programmers can understand
it better.
I
enjoy going to yard sales, and town-wide yard sale days are the best.
But in order to go to them, I have to know about them! And I have to
know who the participants are. Too many times, a town-wide yard sale
loses a lot of customers like me because whoever is in charge of
publicizing it on the internet misses something important. Here's how
to do it right.
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