Bleeding Edge Futureworks

All good things...

2011-07-27T17:31:00.003-04:00

And so, everything else. This format isn't working for me. I'm microblogging and I don't want to feel pressured to write more than I should. I'm moving here. See you there.

Mind the gap.

Transhumanism; a 'secular spirituality'?

2011-07-17T11:45:00.003-04:00

For those who are uninitiated, Transhumanism(>H, H+) is a movement rooted in the concept of lengthening, improving, and eventually transcending humanity through the pursuits of science and technology. This includes virtual and augmented reality which can eventually be used to digitize consciousness, gene therapy, cryonics and designer drugs to extend the human life span, and a dazzling array of techniques that are on the bleeding edge and are being pushed every day to the limits of imagination.

It sounds like a Gibsonesque sci-fi plot, but it's every day science, and it's growing.
Now, I'm Christian, and region not being a trait very common in any room full of Western scientists, atheism gets tossed in my face quite often. I, however, have to admit that the concept of a godless, faithless spirituality is quite interesting, if not appealing. What do you think?

Read up.

Mind the gap.

A sixth sense that has nothing to do with dead people.

2011-07-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

Granted, the human 'five senses' are a misnomer, as there are more like thirty, but for the sake of the article- and my terrible joke, just let is slide this time, alright?

Okay, transhumanists. You looking for a poor man's magnetoception? Now's the time to get an implanted magnet to provide you with a limited 'magnetic sense'. This will provide a range of sensations as they detect electromagnetic fields inside their finger.

I'm getting one. How about you? Story at Wired.

Mind the gap.

Nano, nano...

2011-06-25T09:14:00.005-04:00

And if you weren't a child of the 80's you wouldn't get that joke.

In this short article from the Australia National University, Doctors Simon Ruffell, Madhu Bhaskaran, and Sharath Sriram are working on using a blend of piezoelectrics and nanotech to create a near-infinite power source derived from the particular device's user.

Your hands, dummy. Welcome to the future, bitch

-Mind the gap

What is 'beatjazz"?

2011-06-17T14:22:00.003-04:00

The product of Onyx Ashanti (quite possibly the blackest name since Darkie McBlackface), BeatJazz is his invention which combines a HUD, two button interfaces that allow for gesticular control, and an input mouthpiece. The combination of devices allow for a type of improvisational performance never before possible. Are you ready for six minutes of the future in music?

One of my biggest peeves with sci-fi is their depiction of music of the future. It always ruins it for me when the writer comes up with something trite. Not now. Oh this is a very good day for me. Damn good day.

BeatJazz. Remember that you heard it here first.

-Mind the gap

Detroit steel just got stronger

2011-06-11T13:48:00.001-04:00

Check this out, This guy Gary Cola came up with a process for strengthening steel to the level of most common titanium alloys in a matter of seconds in a manner that could make it stronger, lighter, and less expensive. Detroit, 1.

Here’s the whole story from Science Daily.

-Mind the gap

Technorati Tags: steel,Detriot,Gary Cola,science,technology

The Oatmeal/FunnyJunk relationship stops being funny.

2011-06-02T12:41:00.003-04:00

To bring you up to speed, Matthew Inman is funny and produces The Oatmeal, a webcomic mostly about absurd or geeky stuff(it's hilarious. Do yourself a favor and check it out), and he posts it online free to air. The problem is that Funnyjunk(whom I refuse to link to) posts it on their site as their own content and refuse to even give him the benefit of a credit for his work.

I'm all about the free sharing of information, but not at the cost of the creator. Give him his credit, or you don't get to share his content.

After taking it on the chin for months, he took a stand.

(un)Funnyjunk calls him a 'fag' and continues to steal his content.

Here is the ongoing story as told by Ars Technica.

Flashpoint DC comics gives me cause over pants.

2011-06-01T20:42:00.004-04:00

Miniskirts and bikinis are no longer part of superhero attire in DC comics.

Finally.

I had a reader once confuse my bewilderment at someone in swimwear and stiletto heels fighting crime with an attack at women's sexuality.

To set the record straight I don't care what you wear, but don't call me an idiot by trying to convince me that anyone can perform any of these martial arts techniques dressed like 1990's Black Canary without slicing themselves in half.

That said, my inner pre-adolescent will miss Power Girl's costume.

Care to guess why?

-Mind the gap.

Bet you didn't see this coming.

2011-05-31T17:51:00.002-04:00

Ho-kay, so it seems that DC Comics is tired of playing second fiddle to Marvel, and opted to wrest the number one spot from them with a one-two marketing that involves renumbering their entire catalog back to #1 and changing everyone's costumes. Again. Because this time it'll work. There is little chatter of improving the content of the stories, making the characters richer and deeper, making the peril ring true, or just more stories that really resonate with the reader.

I'm so excited that I am practically bursting at the seams.

Just a lot of talk of #1's and new costumes; it's 1995 all over again, thank you Mr. Lee.

That was sarcasm.

See you this summer. Oh, yeah, you'll see me at the comic shop every Wednesday, but I'll be the guy getting the newest release from Avatar Press or Dynamite.

Click here for the whole story from the horse's mouth.

-Mind the gap

Yes, another Warren Ellis post

2011-05-26T14:16:00.003-04:00

I was thinking about where my ideas come from, because for better or worse, they keep coming- and then I thought back to a couple of years ago to a post that Warren Ellis made on his site about the same thing. He makes a lot of really far-flung statements, and most of which made him sound a little masturbatory and quite insane. That was two years ago. I revisited the same post today, and his rantings of feeling like he could understand what would happen if "Einstein’s brain was placed into the body of a young tyrannosaur, stuffed full of amphetamines and suffused with Sex Radiation" made TOTAL sense.

I know that feeling. I know what it is like to step back from the computer, and realizing that I did a week's work in two hours and haven't eaten all day, and my brain is FIRE. My thoughts can strangle you from across the room and make you plead with me for more. That is the greatest high, and the only drug that I need. To fill my brain with data and engulf the world with the flames behind my eyes. There is nothing that comes close to that. I will do this forever, and I will make you watch.

You will love me for it.
Here's Warren's post

-Mind the gap

There is nothing not awesome about this.

2011-05-23T11:55:00.004-04:00

-click to see the image-
Blowin' your mind like the Big Bang.

Robots talk to each other

2011-05-23T09:10:00.007-04:00

Yes, science is awesome, but sometimes, it's a little shortsighted. Apparently, nobody at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology has seen a Terminator movie, because if they did, they may have thought twice about making robots capable of creating their own language and speaking to one another.

Not a big deal?

Think back at high school when the Brazilian exchange students were tittering in the back of class, pointing at you and whispering in Portuguese and you hadn't a clue what they were talking about, because even your Spanish chupa'd.

Now imagine that same feeling of dread and uncertainty, then multiply it by a factor of any number that you can count to, because the two hot Brazilian chicks? They are now titanium-plated roving dreadnoughts and armed to the eyeballs with rockets and can smell your fear.

Shown: The appropriate response.

Seriously, this is a great day for science, and one step closer to truly understanding the human condition through machines.

Or is it?

What's the worst that can happen?

-Mind the gap

Everything comes down to poo!

2011-05-20T14:25:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, science gets icky. Such as right now. E. coli can now be genetically modified used to change the color of your ca-ca to test your insides for toxins and contaminants.

Here's the story(and some pics of pooh-pooh).
No, I am not posting pics of the poly-chromatic poo. So I'll just post one of Turk and JD.

"Cuz the answer's not in your head, my dear- it's in your butt!"

-Mind the gap... and wash your hands.

Paraplegic man now moving!

2011-05-20T13:47:00.003-04:00

How? NEUROSCIENCE!

I heard this story on NPR this morning. Truly amazing stuff.

Now, to get a Robospine™ and a MechaFist™ to go with my ZombieHand™

RIP Randy "The Macho Man" Savage

2011-05-20T13:41:00.002-04:00

My favorite pro wrestler from when I was a kid, Macho Man, died today of a heart attack. He was 58.

Here for the full story

I'm off to get some Slim Jims and try not to cry in public.

-Mind the gap, you guys.

Kickin some Shell!!

2011-05-20T09:38:00.005-04:00

So apparently, IDW is relaunching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and if these images mean anything, they are going back to their roots.

My girlfriend has a thing for Donatello. Me? Pff. We all know who is the baddest, raddest Turtle.

Shell yeah.

Hitting stands in August FULL COLOR. I can't wait! For good measure, check out Fight the Foot, a test trailer by Richard Krause

-Mind the gap.

Someone pass me a chainsaw-

2011-05-19T00:10:00.003-04:00

Because I'm getting new hands!! This kid lost control of his left hand after a work accident, and got it amputated, then UPGRADED.

I want a matching set.

You know you want one, too.

-Mind the gap

Ooh, a shameless plug!

2011-05-16T11:28:00.004-04:00

My girlfriend, for the longest time, reeled in horror if anyone called her a geek, even while she was in the middle of doing geeky shit. Then she started playing Magic: The Gathering. Then there was the video games, oh, and comics.

Lord, does she love comics.

I feel bad, because it's my fault. She was such a cute little undercover geek (that watches the IT Crowd... and gets the jokes), and now she lets her freak flag fly.

Just recently, she has crossed over into the realm of the... wait for it... hollllld...
uber-geeky. She writes a geeky blog about geeky shit. I know that I'm biased, but she's funny as hell, and has a really fresh insight.

I find it refreshing to see what someone who is relatively new to sci-fi and fantasy and manga and comics and such has to say about them from not being immersed in them their whole lives. Check it out.

That, and she makes a mean snickerdoodle.

-Mind the gap.

Bleeding Edge Book Club!

2011-05-15T13:56:00.001-04:00

I read a lot, but I want more, and there is little that I hate more than a bad book. Hence, the Bleeding Edge Book Club! I have a few books that I have read and love and recommend all the time, and I will write mini reviews for them, but don't be shy, I need suggestions for new books to read and review all the time. So gimmie. Fire up those Nooks and Kindles, kids.

Here is the short list of titles that I am recommending.

Altered Carbon Richard K. Morgan
Futureland   Walter Mosley
Neuromancer   William Gibson
Ender's Game   Orson Scott Card
Transmetropolitan   Warren Ellis
Starship Troopers   Robert A. Heinlein
Guns of the South   Harry Turtledove
Lightning   Dean Koontz
Dune   Frank Herbert

Oh, and don’t forget-

-Mind the gap.

Technorati Tags: Bleeding Edge Book Club,Books,sci-fi,science fiction,technology,tech,reading,Warren Ellis

This is science at it’s most naked and beautiful.

2011-05-15T13:04:00.001-04:00

Last night, I was having some difficulty sleeping, and I foolishly thought that watching TED talks would help. Fast-forward another hour, and I’ve consumed more than my share of science and tech and ideas, and then I stumbled upon something that made a small part of me shriek in glee.

Here is a TED talk from 2009 with Pranav Mistry and his SixthSense device.

-Mind the gap

Technorati Tags: technology,tech,science,sixthsense,Pranav Mistry,cool tech,TED,India,futuretech

Science comes through again!

2011-05-13T23:20:00.000-04:00

I am actually too excited to read this story before I post it, so I am just going to say that I am excited that science is finally on track crack one of the biggest issues of the human condition: a possible cure for HIV/AIDS.

Here is the story!

Next, cancer and male pattern baldness!

Wonder Woman cancelled.

2011-05-13T17:08:00.001-04:00

That's a shame. I really wanted a decent superhero television show, and despite Warner Bros' protest(if you remember in 2007, the 'rumor' that they will no longer pursue movies with female leads), they were pushing it, but in my opinion, it's for the best. I'd rather they kill it early and avoid what was appearing to be another Bionic Woman. I loved Bionic Woman, and the lead was hotter than a pistol, but the show's plots were stupid, and there were key points that bugged me. Similar points that I immediately noted with Wonder Woman. First of all was the costuming. WW's not bedecked in something that translates well to three dimensions, and I have had issues with every attempt.

Her classic costume looks like this.

There are a billion versions, but it's typically a tiara, a bustier, bikini bottom, vambraces and high heel boots. Good luck making that look like crime fighting gear on anyone.

Then look at the first attempt for a television show. However popular it was, I always considered it a failure.

This is the second try. There were apparently three costumes made for the show, and these were garish and silly. She looks like a Power Ranger.

This one is interesting as it reminds me of Wonder Woman when she goes home to Themiscyra and dresses as the DC comic’s Amazons do..

Shame. The best of the three, and I hate the Xena, Warrior Princess/starry-eyed underpants look. With the skirt attached, it’s more believable.

If you can recall the idiotic outrage of talking heads whining about a comic book character who is not only fictional, but also Greek, removing American stars from her underpants, DC recently redesigned her costume completely, and it looks like a mid-nineties mess, but it seemed to be an attempt to match her costume to her television counterpart. Now that the show is axed, I bet that it will revert before the end of the year.

There are a wealth of female characters to produce strong leads in a television show, and I hope that this doesn't ruin the chances in the future.

Gods, remember Birds of Prey?

-Mind the gap.

Technorati Tags: Wonder Woman,television show,NBC,comics,comic books,costume,DC comics

Guess how much this microcomputer is?

2011-05-07T17:57:00.001-04:00

Wait for it! Game dev David Braben has a microPC that runs Linux and is the size of a key fob, and all for 25 bones.

Here's the specs from the Raspberry Pi website

Provisional specification:

700MHz ARM11
128MB of SDRAM
OpenGL ES 2.0
1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
Composite and HDMI video output
USB 2.0
SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
General-purpose I/O
Open software (Ubuntu, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)

Here's the Geek.com article as well.

Witness the future of microcomputing right now.

-Mind the gap, bitches.

Get some!

2011-05-07T17:18:00.000-04:00

Free comics!

I love Free Comic Book Day. It's like Christmas. It's like the 'come to Jesus'. If you haven't been making the effort to grab the latest titles, then you get the perfect opportunity.

I am getting caught up on The Boys with the 'Highland Laddie' arc, and my girlfriend got some Sin City and I am showing her the best Iron Man arc on Netflix streaming; 'Extremis'. Of course, a Warren Ellis joint. If you haven't read it or seen it, Extremis is one of my favorite stories in any comic, and I found it to be really inspiring and fun.

Okay, I'm not going to keep you any longer, because you gotta go get your damned comics.

-Mind the gap, bitches.

Your parents are deaaaaaaad!!!

2011-05-06T07:50:00.000-04:00

I love The Gutters.
It can be a little on the obscure at times, but other times, it's right on the money.