I remember when I was  a teenager, dear reader: I was utterly fascinated with the whole cyberpunk movement, and as I grew older I always thought the technological-bound predictions of cyberpunk literature were indeed drawing forth to the real world.  You know what I’m talking, right? The kind of books such as Neuromancer and Blade Runner, where the relationship between human and machines tends to be closely scrutinized and stretched to the last consequences.

In this kind of literature depicting the regular sort of grim hopeless future, neural implants are usually pretty common as a way to interact with computers. And this is something I’ve always wondered about: how awesome it would be, communicating with a computer using nothing but the power of thought? Granted, the whole idea of getting a neural jack implanted in the back of my head never seemed particularly alluring… but you know what? It sure looks like reality has outperformed fiction, this time around:

Enter the Emotiv brain computer Interface, an apparently simple headset that allows the computer to pick up on brain activity and patterns, and to interpret commands directly from the brain of the user. And the best part? It seems to work like a charm, and personally I cannot wait to try this amazing interface. If this thing words as well as it seems, you can bet the next generation of videogames will start using this technology as a way of interfacing with the game’s virtual world.

It certainly looks awesome. And the best part is how it doesn’t require some kind of implants or robotic surgery. Using this technology, communicating with a computer looks as simple as wearing a headset and learning how to focus the mind appropriately. Rest assured, these Emotiv Brain Computer Interfaces will not read your mind; from what I’ve seen it looks like it just learns to pick up on specific brain patterns, not unlike the way that speech recognition works.

In practical terms, it means that you have to train the Interface to recognize your brain patterns. But from what I’m seeing in these videos, it looks as though it’s not so complicated. Maybe I’ll get one of these Emotiv headsets to make a detailed review… so if you’re interested in this topic stay tuned!

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To be honest? I’m not even a big fan of Google Chrome, the browser that was developed in-house by the big G and released to the public a few months ago. Granted, it’s an interesting project, but I already have a foxy browser to which I’m commited and fully satisfied, thankyou very much! Regardless, Chrome is still an interesting browser (much better than Internet Explorer, which I utterly despise) and there are progressively more people out there switching to this browser.

Well, as much as I’m not into Google Chrome, I could not help but notice they’ve released a wonderful technical documentation in comic book format, which is so good it made me want to use their browser for some time, back in the day. Whether or not you’re a Chrome adept, this is something you’ll want to check it. It was authored by comics visionaire Scott McCloud , a creator whom I very much admire (in fact I’ll make a follow up post on him soon enough) and in my opinion, it’s the single best piece of software documentation that ever saw the light of day! Here, check out the first page and click forward to read the whole 39 pages for free on the official website!

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Today is the birthday of one of my favorite historical figures: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (sometimes mispelt as Ghandi). If he was alive, Ghandi would be 140 years old today! And since in a way he’s very much alive in our hearts, I’ve gathered some of his most influential and inspiring quotes to make a celebratory post. If you’re not too familiar with Gandhi other than through his quotes, I recommend you watch the amazing 1982 Richard Attenborough movie starring Ben Kingsley as Gandhi:

This is the kind of movie that will change the way you look at the world, as well as making you consider just how influential you can be in changing things for the best. If you want to watch this movie legally over the Internet, you may want to check out this website. Now, onwards to the Ghandi Quotes:

if gandhi was alive, he'd say (and I quote):

* A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

* As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world — that is the myth of the atomic age — as in being able to remake ourselves.

* Be the change you want to see in the world.

* First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

* God is conscience. He is even the atheism of the atheist.

* Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

* If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior.

* No power on earth can subjugate you when you are armed with the sword of ahimsa. It ennobles both the victor and the vanquished.
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time for A-change

Just to make something clear: at the time I’m writing this there is still no word on the result of the Presidential Elections… so everything can happen. But you know what? America is such a huge place, and even though there is massive moronity (as demonstrated in the previous 2 elections), there is also much hope and willingness to make a better tomorrow… after all we’re talking about the global cauldron. If there’s no hope for America, there’s no hope for the world.Fortunately though, I’m very confident there is hope for America, as well as for the world.

I perceive positive change all around, and some things are changing indeed. Let’s take this Obama guy, for example… it has been a few years since I’ve first heard about him, and I always got a distinctive feeling there was something… different – in a good way – about him; and it turns out I’m not the only one to think so. Like I said, at the time I’m writing this there’s still no word on who the next president of the USA is going to be, but in my mind, the answer to that question has been quite clear for a long, long time (even when I once stated otherwise… but that was just to confuse the Republicans). And the answer is:

Change We Demanded.

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time paradox?

Don’t you love it when different things without much apparent connection suddenly strike you as some kind of awkward match? As though it was some kind of universal puzzle fitting in with itself? This morning I caught glimpse of the picture up there while leisurely strolling (do not confuse with “trolling”) the Internet. In case you don’t get it, the newspaper headline says “Woman spotted yesterday reading today’s paper”. Well, to be honest I thought it was a nice picture, but I didn’t spend much time with it. Just until a few minutes ago, while browsing the insanely cool Subnormality from Virus Comix, I found the following cartoon (which by the way reads ” Local man devoured by newspaper box“: Read the rest of this entry »

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