Remote Storage

 Tech  No Responses »
Jun 122013
 

If Dmitry Itskov gets his way, I’ll be uploading my consciousness to a robot avatar in another 30 years or so. This seems like another case of ridiculously-wealthy-Russian-entrepreneur-with-too-much-free-time, but the idea is intriguing. I could get into all sorts of misadventures with my avatar, but this assumes that I won’t be teetering on the precipice of senility by the time the technology is ready.

But if I had to bet on whether this or the sexbot will come first, my money is on the sexbot.

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Whistleblower

 Law  No Responses »
Jun 102013
 

I’m not sure I’m ready to label Edward Snowden a hero, but he deserves credit for initiating a robust discussion on how we should demarcate privacy rights in a digital age. We haven’t given much thought to the countless petabytes of data we are collectively generating every day and the extent to which that information should be available for national security purposes. It may be one thing for the government to mine metadata that shows whom we called or texted over a period of time. It may be something else entirely for the state to review e-mail or instant messages. We live in world of peril and we have powerful tools available to mitigate those perils, but those tools depend on our acquiescence to a certain amount of intrusion.

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Red Wedding Blues

 Geeking Out  No Responses »
Jun 062013
 

I finally got around to watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones–the one featuring the now-infamous Red Wedding scene. It’s a pivotal scene in the books and could have easily descend into melodrama in the hands of less capable television writers. But the scene is executed perfectly and achieves a visceral shock that few other episodes of serial television have rivaled. Even though I knew what would transpire, I still gasped when the sheer brutality of the scene unfolded before me. And judging from the reaction on the Internet, fans of the show who haven’t read the books were even more deeply affected. It’s a testament to both the quality of George R.R. Martin’s writing and the skill of those adapting it to the screen.

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The Future Goes Local

 Disability, Tech  No Responses »
Jun 052013
 

It’s no giant robot with laser cannons, but researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a brain-computer interface that can control a toy helicopter. They emphasize that the interface only requires a sensor cap; no implants are necessary. Here’s a video of the team demonstrating the technology:

So, how long before I can sign up with the Air Force for fighter pilot training? Or perhaps I could be a drone operator for some intelligence agency. I could even work from home!

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The Price Of Saying “No”

 Health Care, Wonkery  No Responses »
Jun 042013
 

Those Republican governors who still refuse to participate in the Medicaid expansion may be inflicting long-term financial damage on their states. A new RAND study finds that not only will these states will pay out nearly $1 billion more in uncompensated care and forfeit several billion more in federal Medicaid dollars, but they will also have more uninsured residents. Some conservative governors have concluded that expanding Medicaid is the best option for both their constituents and their budgets, but others (Texas Governor Rick Perry, for instance) remain committed to blocking the expansion on ideological grounds.

The RAND probably won’t persuade any of these leaders to change course. Not in the short term, anyway. But once 2014 arrives and other states implement the expansion without much fuss, the holdouts may decide the practical benefits of joining them may outweigh any political considerations. And if they don’t, their beleaguered local hospitals and medical providers will ramp up their lobbying efforts. That kind of political pressure may be difficult to resist.

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We’ll Always Have Fish Fingers And Custard

 Geeking Out  No Responses »
Jun 032013
 

Matt Smith announced that he will be leaving Doctor Who at the end of the year, sending fans into yet another perennial state of mourning. While I remain partial to the David Tennant iteration of the good Doctor, I enjoyed Smith’s goofy charm and bow tie fetish. Of course, I can’t refrain from some idle speculation about the next Doctor. I’d love to see Idris Elba in the role, but I suspect he’s gone a bit too Hollywood to be lured back into a weekly series. And while a female Doctor is long overdue, the writers may not be ready to move beyond the current dynamic of a reasonably handsome male Doctor paired with an attractive female companion. But I would be happy to be proven wrong.

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Critic At Large: Hannibal

 Pop Culture  No Responses »
May 312013
 

I’m pleased to see that NBC has renewed Hannibal for a second season. What first seemed like a desperate attempt to revive a 90’s-era pop culture phenomenon has turned out to be one of the most compelling network dramas since Lost (before Lost became too clever for its own good). Mads Mikkelsen plays Hannibal Lecter with a sophisticated air of menace that is missing from Anthony Hopkins’ iconic but scenery-chewing portrayal. And Hugh Dancy is brilliant as the borderline autistic criminal profiler Will Graham.

The show is uncompromising in its bleak vision and contains scenes of pretty horrifying violence, making it an unlikely candidate for a network primetime slot. Kudos to NBC for giving the series to develop and attract more of an audience. Let’s hope it lasts long enough for creator Bryan Fuller to realize his plans to bring in David Bowie as a guest star.

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The Personal Benefits Of Health Care Reform

 Health Care  No Responses »
May 302013
 

This is the time of year when I have to assemble the paperwork for my semiannual Medical Assistance renewal. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’ll only have to do this annually beginning next year. And eventually, I’ll be able to submit everything via the web. But right now, I have to find a pen and genuflect before the Altar of Bureaucracy.

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