Unsought Input

The new book “The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It” by Jonathan Zittrain is about the history and development of the internet and looking towards the future were the internet is more controlled and regulated. The internet started just as its name implies as a network between users and their computers in which information was transmitted, using Zittrains analogy, like a person being passed around through a moss pit. In the past this was not much of a problem, but now that the internet had exploded in popularity safety concerns have arisen because of people that prey upon this free flow of information and try and use it for their own illegal purposes. Things like viruses, trojans and worms are commonplace now and it is worried that this fragile network might be in danger because of that.

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So yesterday our cars of the future article was on “Didn’t they do this already”. I think today’s category is “Wouldn’t be Caught Dead in This”. You can try to persuade me that people buy cars based on power and performance all you want but I am pretty sure that the look and style of the car is pretty important, too. Just like no one will ever want to be seen in the environmentally friendly Hummer, I can imagine the same will be said of most of these vehicles.

In third place we have the Ford Mercury Meta One.

You may argue that this car isn’t necessarily the ugliest car you have ever seen, in fact it’s okay. Work with me here for a minute, if you please. Think back to that movie about the cars that try to kill people. You know the one, the really bad Stephen King movie, Maximum Overdrive? This car will eat you. And your children. And then your neighbors and their families until it runs out of gas, which will take a little longer than a normal SUV since this runs on nice and clean ” hybrid transmission with a twin-turbocharged V-6 diesel engine calibrated to run on a bio-diesel blend”. You can see how I feel this is potentially hazardous to everyone, right? Just look into those headlight “eyes”. Those are the headlights of a killer. (more…)

So a recent article on yahoo.com’s main page is all about green concept cars. It has some of the main players and a lot of pretty pictures. Here are the cars listed with a brief description as to alleviate you having to go to another site to read all about them. I am saving you time, thus saving you money as well so you can save it up to buy one of these awesome cars when the time is right.

I am going to break these down into three categories: Drivable/hey that’s cool, Wouldn’t be caught dead in this, and Didn’t we already do this?

Um, Alex, I would like to start with Didn’t We Already Do This for 200 please.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you the 2010 VW Microbus, um I mean Chameleon. So, yeah, apparently the late 60’s are back and we are all going to be peace loving pot smoking patchouli smelling hippies. At least we have the perfect vehicle for it, I mean this “new” vehicle is all electricity powered with 10 count them 10 30v batteries in the floor to power the vehicle. Oh, the surf boards are thrown in free of charge, they are fitted with solar panels for recharging the batteries. This is the vehicle for those fifty somethings to relive their youth in a perfectly environmentally friendly manner. (more…)

Many movies have been made about the future and most of them have sucked. Usually they involve people in shiny suits and rocket cars. Or its some lame post-apocalyptic future where everybody wears football shoulder pads and drives dune buggies. However, there have been a few movies that have been so bad that they actually managed to get some things right. These movies all come from the 70’s so mind-altering drugs probably had something to do with it.

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We often complain about the future not being so futuristic. Where are the flying cars, the teleporters, the personal ray guns? These complaints are simply whininess. A mere look at your cell phone and bluetooth headset shows that the future is here.

Thus I speak of time travel merely through change of perspective.

The ability to get to the future can be done with righteous self-determination.

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