Friday, February 22, 2008

The Sky Is Falling And Other News

Despite the perfectly reasonable sounding explanations to the contrary, this is another big step toward the weaponization of space, not just missile defense. The data to be gleaned from this operation is invaluable, whether or not it correlates to an actual anti-missile mission.

And if this isn’t a thinly veiled threat, I don’t know what is. I mean, c’mon. Dallas?

And while I don’t usually fear change or new technologies, this one scares the shit out of me. I know it’s the future, but I also know there are real life comic book villains out there who see this and think, “Oh, a thermostat. Now we just need to build the HVAC system.”

5 comments:

Robin S. said...

I'd say they just need to fart in the kitchen. (Just thought I'd bring a little anal sunshine to your day, there, sport!)

Sarah Laurenson said...

Um, yeah. Dallas? In the south. With an African American presidential candidate? I have said that he and Clinton need to run as one ticket for self protection if nothing else. An assassin would have to take out both of them at the same time.

And there are plenty of nut jobs in America that would be happy to do it. Especially in the south.

As for the headset - my cousin has been working on that for years. But not for the gaming industry. I think he has a patent related to it.

PJD said...

Yes, technology does have a double blade. Frequent flyer programs are a great way to track a person's movements. (No, that was not an anal reference, Robin.) Supermarket "club" cards are a great way to track a person's buying, eating, shopping habits.

Personally, I love the idea of a game interface controlled by movement and thought. And I can imagine lots of great applications like hands-free driving. Plus, it would be a true accessibility coup if disabled people could use a thought interface instead of typing or speaking or blowing into tubes.

Remember Firefox? (The movie, not the browser.) If I recall correctly, it used a thought interface and Clint had to think in Russian to fire the weapons.

Hey! Maybe we'll require our elected officials to use a thought-based interface for everything they do. That would render most of them entirely incapacitated.

Now, if only I knew how to build that HVAC system...

Chris Eldin said...

I heard of that gaming technology a while back. Don't remember when or where, but it was in the context of aiding paralysis patients.
The missile story scares me. You know there must be a backstory to this. I wonder why it had to be conducted *now* What is going on that they're not telling us? Sounds paranoid, right? But I don't believe something this important happens randomly.

Blogless Troll said...

This is a little more than tracking movements and purchases, Pete. This is letting them behind the curtain. Sure, there will be a lot of great applications, but once the signal goes the other way, you've got true VR, and essentially Huxley's "feelies." Not that that's entirely bad, but...I dunno, we'll see.

Sarah, what industry?

Chris, I think the reasons given are true, and they're downplaying it as an anti-missile test because anti-missile tests scare the rest of the world, and really it's not an anti-missile test, but anti-missile defense wise, it's like having EE edit one of your continuations. Sure, it's just writing for writing sake, not part of your WIP, but you learn so much from seeing what happened to it that it will impact your WIP.

Robin, there are at least 4 buts in there. Just for you.