Deeply woven webs, changes and interactions.

Cities Are the Future of Human Evolution

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:57:54 -0400

Humans began to live in urban settlements about 7 thousand years ago. As humans continued to evolve over the millennia, so too did our cities.

Now that the majority of humans live in cities, we’re going to be confronting a new set of problems in urban life. For one thing, natural disasters in cities can cause much greater numbers of fatalities than in sparse, rural communities. So the cities of tomorrow will need to be robust against many kinds of disaster, from earthquakes and floods, to radiation bombardment. It’s possible that many cities will built partly under ground, and partly under water. They might even be built inside a single building surrounded by farms. Not only will such structures allow us to conserve space, but layers of earth and water are excellent protection against radiation.

Many future-minded designers and architects believe that cities of the future will survive these kinds of disasters partly by changing the materials we use to build. Instead of dead trees, we’ll use living ones, combined with genetically modified algae and other plants that could purify water and air, as well as provide energy. In a recent book,Rachel Armstrong has described what she calls “living architecture,” where cities are built with semi-living materials that can repair their own cracks and heal themselves when damaged by a quake or just regular wear and tear. She proposes rescuing Venice from drowning by engineering a living reef underneath the city. It would be made with calcium-extruding protocells that latch onto the city’s existing piles, strengthening them and attracting living creatures whose shells will eventually turn into a true ocean reef.

See on io9.com

UAS Attracting Interest From New Users but Still Prompt Worries, Speakers Say

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:07:35 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

AUVSI President and CEO Michael Toscano appeared alongside MIT’s Missy Cummings to discuss the state of the technology. Integrating unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System will create more than 100,000 jobs, particularly in agriculture, Toscano said, and Cummings said the issue with integration is now more about psychological than technological barriers.

A commercial revolution will take place in agriculture, Cummings said, and the United States is already behind.

“Japan basically does all its crop dusting with UAVs. An entire country,” Cummings said.

She predicted that another revolution, that of unmanned cargo delivery, is already taking shape in Afghanistan in the form of the K-Max unmanned helicopter, which now supplies cargo to deployed soldiers and Marines.

….

Another ongoing and growing use of unmanned aircraft is for monitoring wildlife, their habitats and the poachers who are killing some of them in record numbers, said Carter Roberts, the president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund.

Groups like the WWF simply don’t always have good information about what’s happening on the ground in remote locations and have started using UAS to track animals, discover poachers and then follow them back to their traders.

Privacy issues rarely come into play, because the areas are so remote and the systems help give a small technological edge against the poachers, who are better funded and better equipped, the said.

“We do not want to document the demise of nature,” but instead use these systems to get real-time information into the hands of governments who can help the wildlife, Roberts said.

See on auvsi.org

Functionalism and mental boundaries

Mon, 06 May 2013 05:48:36 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Consciousness

According to extended cognitivists, the mind’s location is only partly in the head. In addition, extended cognitivists have argued, the mind is located in parts of the world outside the body.

Moreover, the possibility of extended cognition suggests new lines of research within the domain of social cognition. If minds extend, the boundaries that define the units of social interaction become less certain. Perhaps minds overlap. If, as some extended cognitivists believe, features of the environment comprise parts of a cognitive system, then a single piece of the world might constitute a piece of distinct cognitive systems. More dramatically, perhaps parts of a mind of one individual may be located within the mind of another. Insofar as extended cognition can make such possibilities plausible, social psychologists will need to re-interpret the nature of social interaction, will need to re-examine how the motivations and emotions of a single agent can influence an extended cognitive system, and so on.

See on manwithoutqualities.com

Drones, Ethics, and the rising tide of U.S. Technological Imperialism

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:29:30 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

Warfare is no stranger to world history. It has become a byproduct of life itself, though is becoming less of a presence as greater activities emerge, i.e. new developing markets, scientific research, and exponentially growing technologies.

U.S. anti-war activists and stockholders of Boeing have joined forces in opposition to the company’s construction of drones being used for imperialist war mongering. In their show of opposition, they pointed out not only the thousands of lives being decimated as a result of drone strikes from Yemen to Afghanistan, but also the millions of dollars being wasted in the construction of these killer drones, rather than being spent on more important things like our education system.

Hundreds of U.K. citizens have taken up the cause against drone warfare as well. Recently over 600 activists came together and marched in opposition to what they deemed as “drone sharing” between the U.K. and U.S. governments and military. Not to mention opposition to their own govt’s role in drone strikes throughout the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

B. J. Murphy
Ethical Technology
Posted: May 3, 2013

See on ieet.org

China emerging as new force in drone warfare

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:15:58 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

Chinese aerospace firms have developed dozens of drones. Analysts say that although China still trails the U.S.

“China is following the precedent set by the U.S. The thinking is that, `If the U.S. can do it, so can we. They’re a big country with security interests and so are we’,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at the arms transfers program at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, or SIPRI. “The justification for an attack would be that Beijing too has a responsibility for the safety of its citizens. There needs to be agreement on what the limits are,” he said.

See on stripes.com

Game of Drones

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:03:47 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

The debate over the use of drones falls into three paradigms: legal, practical and moral. The panel hosted on Wednesday by the Bi-Partisan Policy Center (BPC) followed this pattern.

A crucial problem is lack of transparency. The Obama administration needs to prove that what they are doing is lawful. So far they have not succeeded. Who is making the decisions? What are the legal standards? Who are the targets and why? Restricted access to White House legal memos on the drone program inhibits Congress from constructing an adequate legal framework and from conducting oversight.

No other nation has publicly agreed with our drone program. To others, the US appears indifferent to civilian casualties. The perception of America as ruthless undermines our legitimacy as a world power.

See on peacefare.net

A Brief Guide to Embodied Cognition: Why You Are Not Your Brain

Sun, 05 May 2013 05:55:34 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Consciousness

Embodied cognition, the idea that the mind is not only connected to the body but that the body influences the mind, is one of the more counter-intuitive ideas in cognitive science. In sharp contrast is dualism, a theory of mind famously put forth by Rene Descartes in the 17th century when he claimed that “there is a great difference between mind and body, inasmuch as body is by nature always divisible, and the mind is entirely indivisible… the mind or soul of man is entirely different from the body.” In the proceeding centuries, the notion of the disembodied mind flourished. From it, western thought developed two basic ideas: reason is disembodied because the mind is disembodied and reason is transcendent and universal. However, as George Lakoff and Rafeal Núñez explain:

Cognitive science calls this entire philosophical worldview into serious question on empirical grounds… [the mind] arises from the nature of our brains, bodies, and bodily experiences. This is not just the innocuous and obvious claim that we need a body to reason; rather, it is the striking claim that the very structure of reason itself comes from the details of our embodiment… Thus, to understand reason we must understand the details of our visual system, our motor system, and the general mechanism of neural binding.

What exactly does this mean? It means that our cognition isn’t confined to our cortices. That is, our cognition is influenced, perhaps determined by, our experiences in the physical world. This is why we say that something is “over our heads” to express the idea that we do not understand; we are drawing upon the physical inability to not see something over our heads and the mental feeling of uncertainty. Or why we understand warmth with affection; as infants and children the subjective judgment of affection almost always corresponded with the sensation of warmth, thus giving way to metaphors such as “I’m warming up to her.”

See on blogs.scientificamerican.com

Brighton & Hove is world's first One Planet Living City

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:56:09 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Arrival Cities

Brighton & Hove became the world’s first designated One Planet City on 18 April 2013 when the city’s Sustainability Action Plan officially received independent accreditation from BioRegional for its plans to enable residents to live well within a fairer share of the earth’s resources. BioRegional is an award winning charity with an international reputation for developing sustainable solutions.

See on bioregional.com

Would You Move To A Shrinking City If It Paid Off Your Loans?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:54:17 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Arrival Cities

“That’s the plan of New York’s Niagra Falls. In the hopes of staunching its population decline and bringing a new generation of engaged youth, the city is accepting applications for urban pioneers willing to move in exchange for a little debt relief.”

See on fastcoexist.com

‘Skywalker’: aeronautical technology to improve maize yields in Zimbabwe

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:19:58 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

To improve maize yields

Skywalker is a complex aerial phenotyping platform, a remote-controlled plane provided with an advance flight system which do not require previous knowledge of aeromodelism. Spectral (visible and near infrared) reflectance and thermal imagery cameras were fitted to the wings; they allow evaluating crops’ growth, temperature and available soil water of large numbers of maize varieties in only a few minutes. This data will be used to improve the efficiency of maize breeding and speed up the development of drought and low nitrogen tolerant maize varieties for some of the poorest farmers in the world.

The plane ranges from 30 to 45 minutes, and can fly at over fly at over 600-meter with an average speed of 45 kilometres per hour. Take-off and landing, as well as flight plan (way, height, etc.), can be automatically programmed previously.

See on suasnews.com

Laser-based UAV sensor payload for detecting beach mines to be designed by BAE Systems

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:18:03 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Rise of the Drones

Electro-optics designers at the BAE Systems Spectral Solutions segment in Honolulu are developing a prototype laser-based mine- and obstacle-detection system to help Navy and Marine Corps forces avoid threats on invasion beaches.

BAE Systems is developing the laser sensor for mine-detection prototype under terms of a $20 million contact announced Monday from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va.

BAE Systems is developing an advanced prototype system to detect mines and obstacles in the near-shore waters for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The laser-based systems will provide 24-hour capability.

ddrrnt’s insight:

Would be nice if there were drones that could identify landmines and remove them from places like Laos. Mines are horrible weapons. Actually, imo, all weapons are horrible, which most drones, regreatably.

See on suasnews.com

Here, There, Everywhere: Rugged Computers Enable True Workforce Mobility

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:11:03 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

So what are today’s forward-thinking professionals doing with this new technology?

They’re finding that work is a whole lot simpler, faster and more enjoyable with data devices that can sort, synthesize and analyze data as well as collect it, and that can work seamlessly with both worksite machinery and advanced office hardware.

Take the public works sector: Government agencies and private companies across the world are using rugged technology for a wide range of tracking, monitoring, reporting and scheduling tasks essential to city maintenance — all while saving time and improving the accuracy of their data.

For example, GPS-enabled devices can tag along worry-free for messy catch-basin cleanup runs and sewer line repairs, and dashboard-mounted tablets with tracking software can simplify data collection on street-sweeping and waste-collection routes, without ill effects from constant road vibrations.

The data these computers collect can be stored, organized, charted, transmitted wirelessly to office locations, and formed into customized reports. Simple manual and sensor-based data input reduces human error and increases accuracy for record-keeping and important reporting, such as for governmental regulations or grant compliance.

See on mbtmag.com

Adopting IPv6 is a Corporate Business Issue

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:04:23 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Along with many groups Internet pioneer Vint Cerf has persistently warned of the imminent exhaustion of IPv4 Internet addresses (see clips from 2010, 2011 and 2012), to largely frustrating effect. The time for warnings is over.

“IPv6 adoption is currently perceived as all cost and no value. So organisations are maximising the remaining elbow room in the current IPv4 environment, by, for example, squeezing more out of Network Address Translation (NAT) which allows a network to use minimal addresses, or by renumbering redundant addresses, or by other means such as deploying private networks.

And when it comes to the Internet of Things there is a chorus from some technical but influential people in organisations actively urging restraint on IPv6 adoption.They see IPv6 as a Layer 3 network issue, not an Internet of Things issue. One argument is that IPv6 is just one element towards interoperability in an Internet of Things environment and not the be-all and end-all. It points to inherent dangers in equating IPv6 with getting value from the Internet of Things saying, for example, that the thousands of sensor devices around a hub don’t necessarily need IPv6. It is only the hub itself that does.”

— Dr John Riley

See on blogs.computerworlduk.com

Om Malik: What the internet of things can learn from Minecraft and Lemmings

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:01:46 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Once we have a home full of connected devices do we really want to individually manage all of them? Mike Kuniavsky, a principal in the Innovation Services Group at PARC, explains in this weeks podcast how we’re going to have to think differently about programming devices for the internet of things. Devices will need to know what they contain and how those elements might contribute to a certain scenario in the home.

For example when you want to watch a movie, you shouldn’t have to program 6 different devices in your home to tell them what they should do when you toggle on your movie setting, your devices should have some sense of what they are capable of and how to enter a set mode. As he did in his chat in February at our San Francisco Internet of Things meetup, Kuniavsky, likened this device behavior to video games like Minecraft or Lemmings, where preset general behaviors determines how the game unfolded as opposed to rigid and specific actions. He explains all this and more in the podcast. Check it out.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/gigaom/MIKE_KUNIAVSKY.mp3

See on newsfactor.com

Using Visual Recognition to Tap into the Consumer Mindset

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:57:53 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

“Marketers have been trying to capture that magic moment when a potential consumer is actually looking to interact with your brand.”

…

“Current smartphone technology allows for nearly infinitely granular targeting based on behavior, third party data, contextual data like location, and universal sign-in profiles. All of these allow increasingly relevant interactions to follow a consumer across apps and the mobile web, all while waiting for the right moment. While interesting, however, this is not what I am talking about. This is just a refinement of existing approaches to targeting. It’s nothing new.”

“What I’m talking about is giving consumers control, a tool that allows them to quickly and easily learn something about a specific product or service. I’m talking using our smartphones to create intuitive gateways that bridge the real world with related digital experiences. Whether you call it Web 3.0 or the “internet of things,” this is what mobile is all about and I believe visual recognition technology will play a key role in making it happen.”

See on business2community.com

The internet of things: an elephant in the room that threatens to squash us

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:49:32 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Andy Hobsbawm’s (one of the founders of the business EVRYTHNG) business gives me a headache quite quickly as I struggle to imagine the implications of the humungous data generated by everything we touch. And then there’s the data generated by mixing up the data with other data in order to create more data that predicts the future and reshapes our existence. Got that? Just a little scary, yes?

I don’t mind my bike or my fridge talking about my habits but the implications of underwear or individual deodorants having their own Facebook page, or the web-of-things equivalent, is mind-boggling. What if - oh dear, how embarrassing - you don’t appear to have a deodorant life? Too much information or not enough, either way as we become even more defined by our consumption this could get vicious. I can sense a lobby forming to say our rights are being eroded in ways that go way beyond what Google’s done to us so far.

See on thedrum.com

Cisco’s Lew Tucker On The Internet Of Everything And The Tie To An App-Centric World

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:44:57 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Cisco’s Lew Tucker stood onstage today at Cloud Connect and pitched the networking giant’s “Internet of Everything,” an app-centric world that will be worth $14.5 trillion over the next couple of years. Whereas the Internet of Things is all the objects in our world, Tucker says the IoE is the smart grids and, really, the entire supply chain and its transformation.

Big enterprise companies are good at this kind of thing. They talk about huge market opportunities and great futures with tremendous upside, but it’s a question of how nimble they can be with startups innovating so fast. Tucker, however, gets credit for explaining how an app-centric world ties in with software-defined networking (SDN) and the switch from traditional, heavyweight systems of records (ERP, CRM) to systems of engagement (apps, lightweight services that provide feedback loops).

Tucker, citing Cisco’s own study, says there is $4.9 trillion in immediate opportunity through the development of such things as smart grids, smart factories, smart buildings and smart cities.

…

The IoE also provides a context for the ways we interact with this deep fabric of connected things. An ERP system will become less relevant for companies. Instead, systems of engagement will put us right in the center of a feedback loop that allows us to measure our own selves and in the process connect to all the other smart aspects of our life. That might be in the city of San Francisco when trying to find a parking spot or the smart factory where we order our data-generated personal things.

See on techcrunch.com

Weightless finalizes its white spaces networking standard for the internet of things

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:41:59 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

The Weightless SIG claims the new standard will allow for ultra-low-power transmissions at long-range and at a cheap manufacturing cost. If true, that would make the technology ideal for M2M communications.

See on gigaom.com

4 Myths about the Internet of Things

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:40:35 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Interesting read Kishore Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at Accenture, on the possibilities of the Internet of Things and the myths of the things that are stopping the thing called the Internet of things happening.

Myth 1: IoT is a Technology. IoT is a concept, not a technology you would buy. (See also: http://thebln.com/2013/04/the-internet-of-things-a-definition-according-to-cisco/).

Myth 2: IoT is the next wave of the Internet. The closest some devices will get to the Internet is using TCP/IP protocols.

Myth 3: Regulations on data privacy is a critical enabler of the IoT. Privacy concerns might give rise to more innovative business models, but that is no reason to hold off on understanding what the IoT means for businesses.

Myth 4: IoT needs device communication standards. Standards never hurt but most devices will be communicating for specialist and limited reasons.

See on thebln.com

The real breakthrough of Google Glass: controlling the internet of things

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:32:27 -0400

See on Scoop.it - Web of Things

Many of the first apps for Google Glass will be about consuming and sharing content on the go. But what if Google Glass could unlock control over the world of the Internet of Things both inside and outside the home?

“Picture arriving home from work, and the door of your house automatically unlocks to let you in as you walk up to it. Inside, your NPR app comes on the glasses screen and you can tune in or change the channel while you fiddle with turning on the connected sprinkler system for your lawn. Your Nest thermostat app then pops up on your Google Glass screen to let you know that you’ve been good this week and saved a lot of energy, but with a wink you override the conservation mode and crank up the heat.

The scenario isn’t as crazy as it sounds and all the basic technology is there. There are mobile apps that already do all of these things. Essentially you’d just be moving the control function from the cell phone touch screen and your fingertips to the screen in front of your eye and either a facial gesture or hand movement. All devices in the home that would benefit from having connectivity and control are getting it, and there will be a variety of remotes that will control them — why not one on your face?”

See on gigaom.com