Love this article from i09.com, regarding Soviet concept vehicles from the past. Seems the U.S. wasn’t alone in coming up with some fanciful futuristic car -and other vehicle!- designs!
http://io9.com/these-soviet-concept-vehicles-are-clearly-from-an-alter-1597889367
Really liked this, the M-20 Pobeda Sport from 1950:
Looks like something that would fit really well on the old TV show UFO!
…and a pair of interesting articles regarding old and, in some cases, famous photographs.
First up, 21 Mind-Blowing True Back Stories of Famous Photographs:
http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_535_21-mind-blowing-true-backstories-famous-images/
They’re all pretty damn interesting, but be sure to check out the “winner” of the group, the very famous V-J Day “Kiss”, and see the progression of photos leading up to the very famous one of the sailor kissing the nurse at the end of WWII.
What seemed like such a tender, celebratory moment suddenly doesn’t look quite so innocent. Sexual assault, anyone?
And next up, 8 Ordinary Photos Hiding Mind Blowing Details:
http://www.cracked.com/article_19894_8-ordinary-photos-hiding-mind-blowing-details.html
Was particularly fascinated by image #3, the very first person ever photographed. Who was this long lost individual? We’ll never know, but its fascinating to see.
The 25 Best Types of Porn, at least according to Alexis Kleinman at Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/best-porn_n_5337066.html
How many of these apply to you?
I count twelve among my personal “porn” list…though I think they’re missing a couple of other porn possibilities.
Found this article today about Google’s new driverless prototype car, a tiny little thing capable of seating two and intended to be used as a constant motion “taxi”:
For those too lazy to click the link, here’s a little video (a perhaps too sugary one) of the new prototype:
I’ve been increasingly curious about Google’s work in the field of driverless cars, and have come to the conclusion that they’re about to create something that will indeed revolutionize the world…at least the moment this technology is given the OK and is put into (ahem) motion.
Imagine: Thanks to this particular technology, there may come a time people no longer will you have to actually own a car.
If you live in the city, you initiate an app on your smartphone/tablet/whathaveyou and it will signal your driverless vehicle to come pick you up wherever you are. You get into said vehicle (there could be hundreds of them buzzing around a city at any time), indicate where you want to go, then charge the ride on another app and sit back and read/watch/listen to whatever you have while the vehicle takes you to your destination.
True, you can do this with a taxi today, but this can be quite expensive. With these light, probably very fuel efficient mini-vehicles which have no driver to pay, I’m guessing the ride will wind up being quite cheap. If it costs in the neighborhood of the price of riding a bus, only you will get right to your destination and you don’t have to share your ride with anyone you don’t want to, then what’s not to love?
Once you reach your destination and get out of the vehicle, it will find the next closest “client” and continue its unending trip, person to person and place to place.
Amazing.
And scary.
Think about this, too: This technology will clearly impact the taxi and public transportation business. Taxis as we know them may go the way of the blacksmith. And, as this technology is more refined, what happens to other professional drivers? Could this technology not be used on transport trucks? Will there be a time the big rigs we see out there are driven by…no one? What of the auto insurance industry? If there comes a time when driverless cars are the norm and fewer and fewer people actually own their own car and instead use these mini-cars, what becomes of all the people in that particular business? Should we care?
Computer technology has had a staggering effect on society and the economy. We no longer have record stores and it looks like book stores may be a thing of the past as well. In fact, we buy more and more merchandise online each day. Now, with the very real possibility that driverless car technology is in our very near future, other changes are inevitable.
Stay tuned.
Linked below is an absolutely fascinating article by Sam Kean for Slate magazine regarding Phineas Gage, easily neuroscience’s “most famous” patient. Even those with a passing knowledge of issues regarding brain trauma have likely at least heard of Mr. Gage. Back in 1848, Mr. Gage had an injury which was as gruesome as it was bizarre, involving an iron rod blasted by gunpowder and hurled through his jaw and out the top of his head.
This injury was only the first part of Mr. Gage’s tale. What followed were stories of a changed man, one who was significantly different versus the man he was before the accident. A man who went from being “normal” to, following his traumatic brain injury, disheveled, foul mouthed, “animalistic”…
But was he? As with many things, has myth supplanted reality?
The article below offers a fascinating look at just how much is real and how much is myth regarding Mr. Gage post-accident life, and if you’re not familiar with Mr. Gage’s story, you will find it an incredible read:
Count me in on one of those who bought into the myth. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why we engage in mythical storytelling when reality is sometimes even more fascinating. The idea that Mr. Gage could return to a somewhat normal life following this incredible brain trauma is even more interesting than the “animalistic” changed life he supposedly had.
Fascinating, fascinating stuff.
…are they something we can expect to see in our near future?
Based on the above article and others I’ve read, the answer would seem to be a resounding “yes”.
I know there are those who enjoy driving and loathe the idea of giving up on doing so, but the reality is that there are probably even more people out there who would love to allow their cars to drive them to and from work each day and give them that time to read the paper or check their emails or make themselves up, etc. etc. and not have to burn a half-hour plus (and in some cases many more pluses) in the act of actually driving through rush hour gridlock.
And because we’re dealing with a computer driver, if many -if not most- vehicles on the highway wind up being self-driving cars, then I suspect that rush hour traffic will become lessened. No rubbernecking, fewer crashes.
While one can certainly envision perils (bad software, a defective scanner, etc) how is this not a good thing?
One day soon…
A collection of amusing photographs and videos from the sometimes distant past that purport to show evidence of “time travellers” among us:
http://www.purpleclover.com/life-reimagined/1303-out-time/
Of the ones presented, perhaps the most “famous” -at least to me- is the “modern day hipster in 1940” (Picture #4). For a while, that one seemed to get people’s interest, before being debunked and fading away.
Still, a fun link…provided you have my kind of sense of humor! 😉
A fascinating article by Michael Agresta for Salon.com regarding the above question: In this age of digital media, what will become of public libraries?
Perhaps the most fascinating quote of the article is this one:
A library without books was once unthinkable. Now it seems almost inevitable.
And the future marches on…
First, my apologies for the dearth of posts of late. Unfortunately, “real life” is pressing in on me, time-wise, and I simply don’t have the freedom to post as often as I have before. By the later parts of April, however, the things keeping me from the computer should resolve themselves and I’ll be back to posting more regularly.
Secondly, as of yesterday I finished my sixth full read and revision of my latest Corrosive Knights book and…the opening 80 percent of this book is just about done. All I could find in the first 150 of the 188 pages of the book (single spaced, 10 point) were small grammatical issues and a couple of examples of repetitious dialogue and/or descriptors. Nothing big.
Which leaves me with the final 38 or so pages.
Now, they’re pretty good, too, but after this latest reading I realized there was a little more work to be done here. This is the book’s climax and resolution and it needs to be as razor sharp as what preceded it and, at this moment, I’ve got a few reveals that need to be better timed as well as a couple of descriptive passages that need a little more work. I think two more drafts should do the trick.
Therefore my guesstimate for the release of this book is another two months at the very most.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
…at least according to Consumer Reports:
http://autos.aol.com/gallery/consumer-reports-best-worst-car-brands/
If you’re looking for a new vehicle, the above might prove informative, especially the links to the vehicles behind each brand.