This was too funny not to post. On the Daily Show last week, John Oliver posited that the explanation for Cheney’s seemingly contradictory positions is because he’s really a bunch of cyborgs. Whether or not you like or hate the current administration, you’ll probably find this funny. But enjoy it while it lasts, as it gets pulled from Comedy Central at the end of the month, and has already been pulled from YouTube. Truly, I’m sure that ongoing buzz and publicity is bad for a TV show so I certainly understand their desire to get this off the air quickly.
Strangely enough, the “Cheney as Cyborg” mantra seems to be picking up steam as we look around the web. There are pictures, lots of political posts, and even a comment from Scott Adams a number of years back. Hopefully this has more to do with his suspect intellect than just his body replacements. Then again, propping up Dick Cheney as an example of superior cyborg thinking isn’t going to endure the world to transhumanity, now is it?
Japan, the epicenter of cyborgs in anime, is also a leader in robotics. In the Tech News of the Day thread, r3plikazt47 provides this gem from CYBERDYNE, Inc. No, it’s not a Cyberdyne Systems model T-800 (that’s a different company); Yoshiyuki Sankai’s Hybrid Assistive Limb or “HAL” gives us the beginnings of a mecha type suit we see so often in animes. The proto-mecha suit that gives its wearer cyborg-like potential, including the ability to lift an extra 88 pounds or walk long distances without tiring (at least until the battery runs out).
Cyberdyne describes the method of movement enacted in their Cyberneic Voluntary Control system this way:
Cybernic Voluntary Control( Bio-Cybernic Control System)
When a person attempts to walk, for instance, the brain sends electrical impulses to muscles. when they arrive at muscles, faint bio-electrical signals appear on skin surfaces. HAL’s system works as described below:
the bio-electrical sensors attached to the skin read the signals
the computer immediately analyzes how much power the wearer intends to generate
calculates the adequate amount of power assist and command power units
power units generate torque and put limbs into action.
These process is completed a fraction of a second earlier than the muscles actually move…
Most interesting are is the multiple advances underway in attempting to “sense” the human nervous system. HAL isn’t an invasive approach to cyborg connectivity, but given the number of research efforts going on in this area, its only a matter of time before cyborg implants make their way into our society. The era of the posthuman will be arriving in the very near-future. More closer to this year though are the applications Cyberdyne already sees for its product:
… HAL is a robot suit which can expand and improve physical capabilities of human being. By wearing HAL-5, you can hold up to 40 kg load by arms and can increase the maximum weight of leg press from 100 kg to 180 kg.
Various applications for following purposes are expected.
Heavy physical labor supports at factories, plants
Rescue supports at disaster site
Care personnel supports
Entertainments
and more ….
We all know what the “and more..” part is - the hope that we too can become anime cyborg characters. From an entertainment standpoint, HAL adds a whole new dimension to Cosplay. I can’t wait to see the pictures!
In a a few short decades, we’ve gone from a normal industrialized society that supported people of all technology comforts to a society where people in the most essential of societal jobs need to be fluent in computers just to stay out of jail. Urshanabi brings us this article in the Techy News Picks of the Day thread where Julie Amero, a substitute teacher from the backwards-ass town of Norwich, Connecticut was convicted, and could be sentenced for up to 40 years for the misfortune of having spamware on her classroom computer. I say backwards-ass because any town that could find 12 jurors that would blame this action on a technophobe are as computer illiterate as Julie Amero. The story is as follows:
Julie Amero was convicted of four counts of ‘risking injury to a child’ and will face up to forty years in prison when she is sentenced in March. The conviction was handed down in the Norwich Superior Court. The story behind this and the facts used to convict her have many in the IT world gaping in shock.
The story behind the case starts in 2004. Amero was using a computer in a seventh grade class to email her husband. Before she sent the email, she left to use the restroom and came back into the classroom, finding students watching a hairstyle ad on the PC. This is where the trouble starts. Attempting to close the pop-up ad for the hairstyle promotion she was suddenly bombarded with an endless stream of pop-up ads for pornography related services and websites.
The computer and the pop-up ads continued to run all day long according to court reports and news interviews. Amero, a self-described ‘technophobe’ (someone who is afraid of or does not know how to use current technology) did not attempt to turn off the computer, or unplug it for two reasons. The first, she claims was because she did not know how to turn off the computer. The second is she was trained never to touch anything in another teacher’s classroom. She had only asked to send and email, and in her opinion, disabling the computer or unplugging it would have not been within the scope of what she was allowed to do.
She attempted to seek help, leaving the classroom to head to the teachers lounge. Later, because she failed to close and lock the classroom when she went to the lounge, this was added as proof of her irresponsible actions. In all, four children were exposed to the ads and images. During the trial, it was suggested that she spent too much time looking at the internet and that she intentionally surfed pornographic websites. If she is a ‘technophobe’ as claimed, it is likely sending email, is the only thing she knows how to do on a computer. Anything else and she would shy away from it. Her husband also confirmed that she is a ‘technophobe’ both at trial and in interviews.
The implications to society from this case are clear - technophobes are not only being left behind, they’re now considered to be criminally negligible. Academic skills such as a degree in education are now secondary to information proficiency. Forget figuring out how to program your VCR, if you don’t know the basics of computer pitfalls, your competence as a professional is shot. Even some letters to the local backwards-ass newspaper, the Norwich Bulletin, back this sentiment up.
If Amero had better competency, she would have unplugged the computer or covered it up until someone who knew how to remove the pop-ups could solve the problem.
If the school district and principal knew how to use the technology, they would have stood by their teacher.
The solution here is simple. Dismiss the criminal counts. Fire Amero from her job for her incompetent handling of the situation.
Welcome to 2004
George Orwell was a little off, but not by much. Technology has engulfed the average American at an alarming rate. To think that it is possible for the average layperson to understand all the ins and outs of how a computer works is just not reasonable. What’s worse, our employer’s don’t know any more than we do, and they rely on us to identify problems when they happen. If you are lucky, your employer will know what to do when a crisis happens with your system. If not you’ll end up like Julie arrested, ridiculed, demeaned and left with useless teacher’s degree in special education.
We can all mock Julie for being afraid to turn off the computer because she was “never told” she was allowed to do this, but most of us who have worked with technophobes know the drill - technophobes take as few actions as possible with the computer for fear of breaking something. When the inevitable breakdown occurs, their worst fears are realized and they tend to panic. We see this when new versions of office applications come out - technophobes fumble around trying to figure out how to now do what they used to do in the last version, while computer literate folk seek out all the new features. Worse, we all see this as a generational issue - that older folk are in danger of becoming irrelevant while the younger generation intuitively adapts to the new technology. But is this really so? How will today’s 30 something do with technology coming out 20 years from now?
So what are we left with? Clearly the case against Julie Amero is horribly flawed and will probably be overturned on appeal once it leaves the confines of Luddite-land, CT. But the larger point remains - the level of competence in information proficiency that people need in order to succeed in today’s world is far greater than it was 10 years ago. We have become a networked society. Internet addiction is becoming the norm among a huge percentage of the population. And the trend is clear - in ten years from now, the amount of knowledge needed to survive will be significantly greater than today. Will the scam artists be gone then? What about the future equivalent of spyware? Where then will technophobes like Julie be? The schism in society between those who “get it” and those who are technologically clueless will only get worse.
zephyrin_xirdal on xirdalium posted this Youtube Video on Web 2.0 that’s currently sweeping the web. It’s truly the best short on understanding the evolution toward Web 2.0 that I’ve seen. While I would recommend Wikinomics to those looking for a deeper understanding of how mass collaboration is changing the way we create and manage knowledge, this Youtube video by Professor Michael Wesch of the Kansas State Digital Ethnography project is just terrific. It really hits home the notion that mass collaboration leads to an emergent global intelligence that is more incredible than anything we could have planned.
Posted in the Techy News Picks of the Day thread in the Meatspace forums, Synapsis uncovers this little treat for us. It’s only a matter of time before most of the customer service jobs in the industrialized world are “outsourced” to androids. When androids are able to consistently recognize a person coming up to them, and have a clear set of subroutines for a proceduralized interaction such as the one we encounter at a fast food joint, the opportunity arises for a significant conversion of roles. As long as the android can recognize the proper currency (or possible there is a machine this is inserted into), and “knows” when to refer the encounter to a manager, there becomes little reason to include humans. Labor costs go down, and procedural consistency goes up!
The advances for prosthetics keeps on coming. Move over Jamie Summers - the first Bionic Woman is Claudia Mitchell. As the Washington Post states:
Mitchell, who lives in Ellicott City, is the fourth person — and first woman — to receive a “bionic” arm, which allows her to control parts of the device by her thoughts alone. The device, designed by physicians and engineers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, works by detecting the movements of a chest muscle that has been rewired to the stumps of nerves that once went to her now-missing limb.
Mitchell and the first person to get a bionic arm — a power-line technician who lost both arms to a severe electric shock — will demonstrate their prostheses today at a news event in Washington. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is part of a multi-lab effort, funded with nearly $50 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to create more useful and natural artificial limbs for amputees.
As I mentioned previously, if there is anything good to come out of the Iraqi conflict, its the massive dollars going into prosthetics research. The Washington Post reports that “as of July, 411 members of the military serving in Iraq, and 37 in Afghanistan, have suffered wounds requiring amputation of at least one limb.” Soldiers who have put their lives on the line only to lose a part of themselves are beginning to have options to lead normal lives again.
Jesse Sullivan has two prosthetic arms, but he can climb a ladder at his house and roll on a fresh coat of paint. He’s also good with a weed-whacker, bending his elbow and rotating his forearm to guide the machine. He’s even mastered a more sensitive maneuver _ hugging his grandchildren.
The motions are coordinated and smooth because his left arm is a bionic device controlled by his brain. He thinks, “Close hand,” and electrical signals sent through surgically re-routed nerves make it happen.
Jesse Sullivan demonstrates one of his prosthetic arms by using a paint roller on the side of his house, July 20, 2006, in Dayton, Tenn. His left arm is is a bionic device wired directly into his brain. Sullivan lost his arms in May 2001, working as a utility lineman. (AP Photo/Mark Gilliland)
Jesse Sullivan demonstrates one of his prosthetic arms by using a paint roller on the side of his house, July 20, 2006, in Dayton, Tenn. His left arm is is a bionic device wired directly into his brain. Sullivan lost his arms in May 2001, working as a utility lineman.
Doctors describe Sullivan as the first amputee with a thought-controlled artificial arm.
But it doesn’t stop at soldiers - in the short term, innovations with connecting prosthetics directly to the nervous system will benefit anyone who has lost a limb. People have started to have “JJ Arms” style prosthetics collections tailored toward the various tasks they engage in (different legs for running, walking, etc.). Unfortunately for most non-vets, insurance companies are not helping, but perhaps this too will be addressed. From a cyberpunked living standpoint, I contend that over time, this will march humanity closer to a post-human future - one in which people can begin experimenting with additional prosthetics - ones which don’t mimic our existing body type.
But it doesn’t stop there folks! There’s animals too. From three-legged cows in search of another hoof to now, even dolphins are getting into the act! The Sun Sentinel reports a story about a dolphin who’s tail got cut off is in line for a new tail!
The solution for Winter may be a prosthetic tail. If the logistics can be worked out, Winter’s prosthesis would be the first for a dolphin who lost its tail and the key joint that allows it to move in powerful up-and-down strokes. Another dolphin in Japan has a prosthesis, the first in the world, to replace a missing part of its tail.
When the satirical news sites start making up stories about prosthetics, you know its hit the mainstream. People are even nuking prosthetic penises to pass drug tests! I still remember as a wee little kid back in the early 70s being scared shitless when I saw a guy doing laundry with a fake arm in the shape of a hook. How we have advanced. Now, those with prosthetics barely merit a flick of the eye. People with prosthetics no longer hide them - in fact they are starting to celebrate them by displaying and personalizing them. In short, our view of a “normal person” is shifting to something far more encompassing. This is a great thing - times are a changin!
In the Meatspace, ETM posted this unintentionally hilarious (mis)use of the Matrix. American Micro Devices, in an attempt to create an online exhibit hall (as if we all enjoy going to exhibits when they aren’t giving out cheesy trinkets) has exceeded their level of creative expertise in creating an “immersive” experience for differentiating AMD chips from Intel.
Unfortunately, to see this, you’ll have to visit AMD’s wiz-bang trinketless flash-enabled exhibition site. I say unfortunately because the thing takes forever to download. To get to the matrix video, you need to click on the AMD booth (circled in red in this picture) and then click on the top of the chip (where the arrow points). You will then be treated to some unintentional hilarity not to be missed!
The part of Morpheus is played by a not-so-mysterious dude named “Hector” who doesn’t speak english all that well, but at least he backs up his performance with truly horrid acting. I’m hoping they just took random dudes from their office to make this, ’cause if they paid for actors, DAMN!!!
Unfortunately, the Neo substitute has chosen the wrong color mint, so he gets teleported to an Intel environment, which as you can see, is akin to hell on earth! It’s just so HOT!!! And all the cables keep exploding on him!!!
After almost dying in um, the real world, or whatever the Intel environment is supposed to represent, Hector takes the Neo substitute to the clean matrix loading program, which just happens to be powered by AMD. It’s just so clean!!! Too bad its just a loading program and is not real, or are we not supposed to take that thought away from this Matrix analogy?
In any event, If there were ever an arguement to buy Intel, this is it!!! One has to wonder if its possible that the same people who made this are actually competent at making good computer chips. Worse, apparently AMD is so impressed with their exhibition site, they’ve taken the time to spam IT discussion boards to advertise it. Way to go AMD!!
DOSE: The Gene Generation definitely appears to be a cult movie that’s going to appeal to the Gothic, Industrial and cyberpunk subcultures. Your background material, as I had the chance to see, has quite an involvement with H.R. Giger and Beksinski in terms of architectural and visual design, your musical work includes Combichrist and VNV Nation and as for the overall look of the characters, you couldn’t deny the effect of the Gothic and cyberpunk fashion. So how did this involvement with these subcultures start? Do you feel you belong to any subcultures and if so, did you touch more (and which ones) before ending up with one?
PRT: I prefer to coin the term counter culture. Only because subculture has a word that might infer we even belong as part of something. I like to think of the people and music that I love as an entirety to itself. Its about who we are and how we are different. We never work in society, but rather with society. We are a part of it rather than letting it control us. And I blame this thought process and influence on visionaries who have helped shaped our future with minds that dared to venture somewhere else. Its hard to actually say I belong into a counter culture only because I dont feel I belong to any one of them. Rather, I enjoy the idea of being around them so I can absorb a mood and certain ambience (as well as creativity) before these cultures actually influence me. You probably can tell I have a lot of different references to different things. In fact, I just love mixing things and seeing how beautiful it turns out. Something industrial, mixed with traditional cross cultural shock, makes me happy to see that no matter how different we are, in art, we can come together to make something beautiful. But the one constant, no doubt, is that I am extremely attracted to dark like-minded individuals such as the goth, industrial, EBM, cyberpunk scene. I find no inspiration is rappers, hip-hop scene or pop. In my opinion, I think they are mainly egotistical, and its all about the individual whereas the former definitely lends it style more because of taste and human emotive ideologies.
Still No Release Date for Gene Generation: Unfortunately, Pearry Reginald Teo still hasn’t finalized a distribution deal, so there’s no date on when this much anticipated film is coming out (did I mention I LOVE Bai Ling???):
DOSE: When can we expect screenings, release dates for DVD? Can you tell anything about the European distribution and screening opportunities?
PRT: As mentioned before, because we dont have a distributor yet, there is no right answer to it. Even though we have offers now, I really want people to see the final and polished product before anything else. But I can promise one thing, the European distribution avenue will probably be as big, if not bigger than in the US. Especially in Germany and UK. Hopefully, with enough Jedi mind powers, I can coax the distributor to have one opening premier in Germany, one of my favorite countries to be in.
Cyberpunk 101: Among many other cool features, including band interviews and awesome art shots, and hawt chick nude bondage scenes, the Dose has a Cyberpunk 101 section which lists some of the best animes, best extreme Japanese Cyberpunk movies, best cyberpunk albums, and best cyberpunk games. Hopefully we see more of this feature in the future.
William Gibson posted a pretty interesting Blog entry a few days ago on the mismatch between the US’s military approach with what actually seems to be the direction of modern warfare. The idea of fourth generation warfare is raised. Wikipedia defines fourth generation warfare as follows:
Fourth generation warface is used to describe warfare’s return to a decentralized form. In terms of generational modern warfare, the fourth generation signifies the nation states’ loss of their monopoly on combat forces, returning in a sense to the uncontrolled combat of pre-modern times. The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the major participants is not a state but rather a violent ideological network. Fourth Generation wars are characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and politics, soldier and civilian, peace and conflict, battlefield and safety. While this term is similar to terrorism and asymmetric warfare, it is much narrower. Classical examples, such as the slave uprising under Spartacus or the assassination of Julius Caesar by the Roman senate, predate the modern concept of warfare and are examples of the type of combat modern warfare sought to eliminate. As such, fourth generation warfare uses classical tactics—tactics deemed unacceptable by the preceding generations—to weaken the technologically advantaged opponent’s will to win.
Gibson uses Thomas Khun’s notion of a paradigm shift (yes, this is a completely overused word) to describe the the change in the nature of warfare that seems to be well underway and speculates as to why the US hasn’t recognized the shift. In the end, Gibsons states:
The bad news is that the policy-makers of the United States and Israel apparently (still) don’t get the new paradigm, and the bad news is that Hezbollah (et al, and by their very nature) do. Though that’s only bad (or double-plus-ungood) if you accept, as I do, that the new paradigm allows for a more effective understanding of reality. So if you still like to pause to appreciate the action of phlogiston when you strike a match, you may well be okay with current events. So many, God help us, evidently are.
Here the US has spent billions on creating the groundwork for proto-Skynet, and unfortunately it seems that our adversaries have already passed us by. While we waste close to a hundred billion acquiring the F-22, a supra-awesome dogfighting plane who’s utility vanished when the wall fell, our adversaries have already adapted to this 4th generation warfare paradigm. In practice, it’s as if we’re trying to squash a thousand ants with an oversized hammer, while trying to be careful not to hit the non-combatants standing right next to the terror-ants. The terrorist organizations recognize that when the “dominant” force kills civilians, they lose in the court of public opinion (never mind the beheadings - these don’t count, right?). Worse, when the weaker force merely survives, this now translates as a victory. All this seems to significantly weaken the power of the aggressor’s advantage.
This notion of decentralized warfare seems to go in line with a range of changes. In a networked society, perhaps the notion of centralization itself has become obselete. We see huge tensions now with invasions of privacy rights, supra-search engines scanning through everything and so forth - all signs of a centralized control system asserting its power. But you almost have to wonder if we’re really just seeing the equivalent of a rubber band stretching past its tolerance levels in an attempt to keep a hold on everything. The fear of course is it eventually breaks, and social order comes crumbling down with it.
So what’s a useful strategy for a dominant power to win in a 4th Generation War? Clearly, the conventional tools of domination have lost their importance. Perhaps the answer is to become decentralized as well - to fully embrace a net-centric method of warfare in a way that emphasizes one to one combat, but one which still utilizes the technological advantage. One can almost envision a cyberpunked mecha-force coming to fruition, where high-tech soldiers are encased in armor and become the equivelant of ultra-mobile tanks invading the battlefield. Then again, perhaps a better strategy for victory is more complex, more nuanced, and involves more sedate methods of control. I know engagement and diplomacy don’t seem very sexy, and rarely seem to amount to significant progress, but perhaps a “sexy veneer” can be added to make this alternative seem more enticing.
In any event, its not too hard to imagine a scenario where a continued course in the current direction has a strong possibility of creating a cyberpunked dystopia not unlike some of the movies on this site. While that’s probably good for business here at CyberpunkReview (that is, if I was attempting to generate revenue from this site), unfortunately, I’m guessing it would be somewhat detrimental for the society at large. Then again, what’s the cyberpunked version of that old expression? Ah yes, “Think Locally, Act Globally!” Good for business indeed.
UK scientists have developed technology that enables artificial limbs to be directly attached to a human skeleton.
The breakthrough, developed by researchers at University College London, allows the prosthesis to breach the skin without risk of infection. The team says early clinical trials have been “very promising”. It hopes the work - which is to be published in the Journal of Anatomy - may help survivors of the 7 July bombings, as well as other amputees.
The technique, called Intraosseous Transcutaneous Amputation Prosthesis (ITAP), involves securing a titanium rod directly into the bone. The metal implant passes through the skin and the artificial limb can be directly attached to it.
In essence they’ve imitated the method deer antlers use to resist infection while puncturing the skin. It’s rather amazing to track how medical research is moving humanity towards the post-human. Interestingly, post-humans may end up being more human than humans. In the case of those with missing limbs, this breakthrough is one more step toward giving them the ability to get back a semblance of what was once lost forever. This technology will make direct linkages with the nervous system that much more possible.
The work paves the way for bionic limbs which are controlled by the central nervous system.
Currently, artificial limbs are fixed or strapped to an amputee’s stump. Risk of infection, which could be caused by bacteria passing from the external limb through the rod to the bone, is avoided because the skin tissue meshes around the rod to form a seal…
The next stage, (Dr Paul Unwin, managing director of Stanmore Implants Worldwide) added, would be to carry out trials on upper and lower limb replacements. He said he expected victims of last year’s London bombing attacks who lost limbs to be involved. He said that the technology could be widely used for thumb and forefingers in a few years, and upper and lower limb replacements using this method could be in place in five years.
Truly amazing stuff. It seems like a suite of technologies are coming together to make cyborg technology a real possibility in the very near future.
