Position Vacant.

[Tex]

no positions left... here come the algorhythms... they took our jobs... In 30 or 40 years, we'll have microscopic machines traveling through our bodies, repairing damaged cells and organs, effectively wiping out diseases. The nanotechnology will also be used to back up our memories and personalities.
In an interview with Computerworld , author and futurist Ray Kurzweil said that anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine , as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood, he added.
That may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Kurzweil, a member of the Inventor's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal of Technology, says that research well underway today is leading to a time when a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology will wipe out cancer, Alzheimer's disease , obesity and diabetes .
It'll also be a time when humans will augment their natural cognitive powers and add years to their lives, Kurzweil said.
"It's radical life extension," Kurzweil said . "The full realization of nanobots will basically eliminate biological disease and aging. I think we'll see widespread use in 20 years of [nanotech] devices that perform certain functions for us. In 30 or 40 years, we will overcome disease and aging. The nanobots will scout out organs and cells that need repairs and simply fix them. It will lead to profound extensions of our health and longevity."
Of course, people will still be struck by lightning or hit by a bus, but much more trauma will be repairable. If nanobots swim in, or even replace, biological blood, then wounds could be healed almost instantly. Limbs could be regrown. Backed up memories and personalities could be accessed after a head trauma.
Today, researchers at MIT already are using nanoparticles to deliver killer genes that battle late-stage cancer. The university reported just last month the nano-based treatment killed ovarian cancer, which is considered to be one of the most deadly cancers, in mice.
And earlier this year, scientists at the University of London reported using nanotechnology to blast cancer cells in mice with "tumor busting" genes, giving new hope to patients with inoperable tumors. So far, tests have shown that the new technique leaves healthy cells undamaged.
With this kind of work going on now, Kurzweil says that by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."

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[Tex]

[Tex]

Babelverse is the first Real-time translation services using a crowdsourced community that pays translators

[OnlyTheFaithful]

points are key to comminication,and well if it provides jobs its good at least in someways.

[Tex]

1. Prediction: In the next 25 years, synthetic biology—the creation of life from nonliving chemicals designed on a computer—could produce thousands of synthetic genomes and life-forms not yet imagined.

Who: Jerome C. Glenn, director of The Millennium Project, extrapolating from the work of the J. Craig Venter Institute

Why Great: Scientists are expanding the tools available to solve a myriad of problems, from enhancing health to improving energy supplies.

BUT … If no one yet knows what can be created, neither can we know what mischief such creations could create.

Bottom Line: Technological development has always been a double-edged sword. Researchers who ignore potential side effects or the ethical implications of their work, and who do not govern their own activities, risk having government regulators (and public disdain) thwart any hope of achieving positive breakthroughs.

Source: “Global Situation and Prospects for the Future” by Jerome C. Glenn, in Moving from Vision to Action edited by Cynthia G. Wagner (World Future Society, 2011), page 8.

2. Prediction: Nano-engineered solar panels will free the world from fossil fuels by 2016.

Who: Ray Kurzweil, speaking to Lauren Feeney of the online environmental magazine "Grist" in February.

Why Great: At present, solar provides less than 1% of U.S. energy needs, despite its obvious merits over fossil fuels, nuclear power, and especially coal.

BUT... No matter how a solar panel is designed, no more than 70% of the sunlight that strikes it can be converted into energy, thanks to those pesky laws of thermodynamics. Also, assuming that the U.S. coal lobby still has money in five years, we'll still be using plenty of black rocks.

Bottom Line: You don't need a nano-engineered solar panel in order to ask your local utility how much of their energy comes from solar.

Read it: http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/20...ate-change

3. Prediction: “Computers” will cease to exist. We’ll access the Web through our contact lenses, going online in the blink of an eye—literally.

Who: Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku.

Background: Miniaturization of all things electronic will allow more technology to be embedded on the convenient contact lens.

Why Great: Imagine never having to say you’re sorry when you don’t remember your telecommuting colleague’s name or what project you’re supposed to be working on with her. The information you need will arrive discreetly and instantly on your contact lens in a 3-D display visible only to you. You’ll even get subtitles if your partner is speaking a different language.

BUT … Augmented reality has a way of taking over your life. If people can’t even text and walk at the same time, look out for those whose visual displays are distracting them.

Bottom Line: The long-term trend in communications technology has been toward integration and convenience. As cool as things like the iPad and other tablets are, they are still stuff and have to be handled and carried and cleaned and protected. Computer contacts will be seen as a great boon to many people, and not just the usual early-adopter gearheads.

Source: various individuals cited by Australian blogger James Adonis “Internet via contact lenses, as computers die out” (May 27, 2011), Work in Progress, Sydney Morning Herald

Read it: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/blo...z1Na4KelUf

4. Prediction: By 2020, the world could have a space ship capable of carrying human crews to other planets, says a NASA team. To build this ship, which the team dubs Nautilus-x, engineers would take the International Space Station and outfit it with artificial-gravity mechanisms, modules for supply storage, and hangars for landing vehicles. The whole project could be completed for a mere $4 billion.

Who: NASA’s Technology Applications Assessment Team

Why Great: Anything that could ferry humans to other planets for less than $4 billion would be a momentous development for humankind. This is the kind of cost-effective infrastructure that we would need if we are to ever break free of Earth. As an added plus, it would ensure a future for the International Space Station, which the U.S. government does not plan to fund beyond 2015.

BUT... Nautilus-x’s short timetable and scant budget both sound incredibly optimistic. They may be correct, but we will never find out unless the proponents can win over a lot of skeptics within NASA’s leadership circles. The timing is anything but auspicious. Not only is there an ongoing budget crunch that would discourage bold ideas such as this, but NASA is also already planning for Orion 6, a more compact (and more expensive) vehicle for human flight into deep space.

Bottom Line: Nautilus-x represents several great ideas: recycling old space modules for new, more challenging missions; harnessing the resources of many partner nations, not just one; and cutting spacecraft construction costs by building and testing them in space. These ideas have staying power and will probably be guiding principles in many future space missions, whether Nautilus-x is constructed or not.

Read it: Future in Space Operations Group, http://hobbyspace.com/nucleus/?itemid=26786

5. Prediction: Thanks to the Internet and social media, the rich and powerful will be forced to share authority with formerly disempowered individuals and groups by 2020.

Who: Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org, in a guest editorial on Wired.com.

Why Great: Newmark predicts that, by 2020, a “new equilibrium” will arise “between the traditional holders of power and unexpected influencers arising from the grassroots.” He explains, “This will be paralleled with major changes in the media landscape, as the formerly powerless exercise power influence via evolving media, which is undergoing simultaneous change with the political landscape.” Newmark points to recent examples of this trend to back up his claims.

BUT... Newmark is more than a little vague on where everything is heading. “The big changes are barely emerging, and will arise from unexpected quarters,” he writes. “It’ll involve centuries of change compressed to a few years.” But it appears to be anyone’s guess as to what those changes will be.

What to do about it: Either utilize Internet-mediated mass media and social media to effect real change or just sit back and watch leaderless grassroots groups self-organize spontaneously.

Bottom Line: “Mass media and politics evolve together, in inseparable ways,” writes Newmark.

Read it:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/c...y-newmark/

6. Prediction: Biofuel-powered hypersonic jets will shuttle passengers from London to Tokyo (and vice-versa) in less than two and a half hours by 2050.

Who: Airbus parent company EADS.

Why Great: High-speed international air travel that doesn’t generate air pollution would constitute a major achievement. The ZEHST (Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation) would travel over 3000 mph powered by a combination of hydrogen and oxygen derived from seaweed, emitting water vapor instead of carbon dioxide. Also, at cruising altitudes just above the atmosphere of the Earth, it’s almost like space travel.

BUT... Commercial flights won’t be available for 40 years. What’s more, it may not be commercially viable: The aircraft will only be able to handle 100 passengers at most, so tickets would be prohibitively expensive. (MSNBC reports that seats on the ZEHST “will likely cost in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $30,000, according to aerospace industry experts.”)

Bottom line: This ambitious project literally aims for the stratosphere.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011...90-minutes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...nnovation/

7. Prediction: By 2015, the majority of organizations that manage innovation processes will galvanize innovation by making a game out of it.

Who: Gartner, Inc.

Background: “Gamification”—applying game mechanics, such as scoreboards and rules of play, to non-game systems—is a well-known trend under way in IT, Web development, and many other types of businesses and organizations. Their management teams are all looking to increase customer feedback, employee engagement, and idea generation. They achieve all three by creating gamelike platforms that make the work of discussion and correspondence feel more like a game. For example, Great Britain’s Department for Work and Pensions created a social collaboration platform for its 120,000 personnel. Called Idea Street, it features points, leader boards, and a “buzz index.” In its first 48 months, approximately 4,500 users had registered and had generated 1,400 ideas, of which 63 had gone forward to implementation. The World Bank developed a similar application, called Evoke, which crowdsources ideas from players across the globe to solve social challenges.

Why Great: Plenty of adults, just like kids, enjoy friendly competition. The Department for Work and Pensions, the World Bank, and other organizations are clearly coming up with creative ways to channel grownups’ proclivities for games and, in the process, get higher volumes of serious work done. And who can argue with that?

BUT … No app is going to work magic. It is only as useful as the people who use it (or don’t use it). The two organizations above may have the dual benefits of an engaged population willing to contribute ideas and an open-minded leadership willing to receive new ideas. Both of these are important, and unfortunately, not every organization has them. Those that don’t will probably not see as much gain from gamification.

Bottom Line: Businesses and organizations are looking for, and often finding, highly productive ways to combine business and pleasure.

Source:http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1629214 http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1629214

8. Prediction: “Micro-multinationals” will dominate the planet (with a little assistance from cheap robots) by 2025.

Who: Hal Varian, chief economist for Google, in an article for Foreign Policy.

Why Great: Thanks largely to the Internet, “even the smallest company can now afford a communications and computational infrastructure that would have been the envy of a large corporation 15 years ago,” Varian writes. These small businesses, known as micro-multinationals, can distribute their products (especially those that are Web-based)—and hire employees—in virtually any country in the world. Varian points to Skype, based in Estonia, as a successful example of such a company. Micro-multinationals can help prevent “brain drains,” too, since employees can work remotely from anywhere in the world. And soon, according to Varian, inexpensive robotic devices will be available to boost these businesses. This technology, which previously only large companies could afford, will further level the playing field.

BUT... Varian adds that terrorists and others who seek to create disruption and chaos have also “benefited enormously from the same proliferation of information technology that has enabled micro-multinationals and robotics.” He further points out that any problems with the communications infrastructure itself could cause “catastrophes.” In addition, he mentions that legislative and regulatory issues, among others, could prevent the potential of inexpensive robotic technology from fully being realized.

Bottom line: In summing up. Varian says, “A simple way to forecast the future is to look at what rich people have today; middle-income people will have something equivalent in 10 years, and poor people will have it in an additional decade.” While this may come across as an overly simplistic (and overly optimistic) forecasting shortcut, it does seem applicable in the business world.

Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/20..._the_world

9. Prediction: It will be possible to feed everyone in the world—all 9 billion of us—by 2050.

Who: Two French organizations, the National Institute for Agricultural Research and the Centre for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development, in the joint report Agrimonde1.

Why Great: A report that finds there are viable ways to end world hunger is good news indeed. Also, the organizations report that Africa’s agricultural productivity doubled between 1961 and 2003. However, agricultural productivity either doubled or tripled in other continents as well. Thus, agricultural productivity in Africa is still the lowest in the world.

BUT... Many looming questions remain as to how best to address food shortages in a way that is sustainable over the long term.

Bottom line: The report examines two possible scenarios. The first emphasizes economic growth over environmental concerns and necessitates an 80% increase in agricultural production. The second takes global ecology into account, and requires only a 30% increase in agricultural production while necessitating a cutback in overall food consumption in developed countries. Subsequent reports will look more closely at other issues, such as changing standards of living, climate change, and land usage.

Source: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110112/f...11.14.html

10. Prediction: The cost to achieve indefinite life extension technology (the so-called “Methuselarity”) will only be in the trillions of dollars.

Who: Aubrey de Grey, in an interview with Ben Goertzel for H+ Magazine.

The Good News: De Grey believes that developing indefinite life extension technology could cost less than expected, due to projected advances in artificial general intelligence (AGI), which “will cut the cost of those later stages as well as of the early stages.” Goertzel argues that the trillions-of-dollars price tag is actually not prohibitively expensive, but in fact “quite affordable by society, given the massive amount we [the United States] spend on healthcare.”

BUT... The cost to develop artificial general intelligence isn’t exactly cheap, either. Also, de Grey isn’t entirely convinced that it’s possible to achieve AGI or to make it “safe” anytime soon.

Bottom line: Indefinite life extension remains a highly speculative area. Goertzel forecasts along two possible lines: that developed without AGI (the longer path) and that developed and enhanced by AGI (the shorter path). De Grey and Goertzel project that the “Methuselarity” could take anywhere from 20 to 50 years.

[Tex]

(07-10-2011 12:20 AM)Tex Wrote:  

"Playing God" is a web based software application for Human OS that allows users to create body part and bio Drug human applications. just like you download apps for your phone now you can make and inject Apps for you body and mind.
"Playing God" is a streamlined opensource P2P DNA Stem Cell collaborative workstation.
in essence Playing God allow you to play God! "does you garndfater have heart disease? then its time to Play God. plaese read on...

to get the most out of "Playing God" it is recomended to own a MakerBot robotic home surgen becuse once you torrent/code your favrite DNA App youll want to inject your cat and soon after that the temptation will be all to much and youll be injecting dieng grandfather. later your ugly sister, then probly yourself.

Your first application is free upon reciving your playgod starter kit you will recive a seringe, just inject Playing God into your blood stream and you will have full access to the streamlined opensource P2P DNA Stem Cell workstation interface. What did you think the program run on a computer? silly you.

so what are you waiting for call 555-TEX today our operators are standing by to place your order and if the line is busy please call back "Playing God" products are currently outselling apple coke and nike combined, one might say they are re engineering humanity.




Playing God is now hiring and we are esecially looking for:
Current Playing God community contributors and leaders,
Insightful observers of Playing God and other collaborative communities,
People with specialty skill sets (e.g. dragons, statistics, ethnography, and probably a lot other things we've never thought of),
People belonging to language communities of new and growing Playing God and other Playing God projects,
People with insight into reaching groups currently underrepresented in Playing God contributor communities.
Ideal candidates for positions at Playing God Foundation's Community Department:
Have a passion for online communities, self-organizing systems, open and collaborative enterprises, democratic and consensus based societies, and emergent and participatory governance structures -- and desperately want to see them succeed and prove the cynics wrong.
Have thought enough about this stuff to have their own opinions and theories on various problems and opportunities facing Playing God and other online communities.
Are equally strong dealing with qualitative and quantitative knowledge and research.
Are self-directed, self-motivated, efficient, upbeat, optimistic, and extremely good with people. Playing God Foundation staff face intense pressures in highly-demanding roles. While the Playing God Foundation team strives to be mutually supportive, it only works when each individual is self-driven to overcome the challenges they face.
Are knowledgeable about software development DNA and Stem Cell processes and with database and web technologies.
Are creative non-linear thinkers who will sometimes fight for seemingly crazy ideas by backing them up with logical argument and data.
Are systems-thinkers who love to think about workflow and technology systems inside organizations.
Are multilingual, especially in major world languages and languages with large or growing Playing God.
Have insights and experience reaching groups currently underrepresented in Playing God communities.

So call now 555-TEX and press 2 for careers

[Tex]

Shapeways is a 3D printing service start-up company based in New York City. Users upload design files, and Shapeways prints the objects for them or others.[1][2] Users can have objects printed from a variety of materials, including food-safe ceramics.[3]

link

*similar business model to Threadless

[Tex]

The race to the bottom

Let's not race to the bottom.

We know that industrialists seek to squeeze every penny out of every market. We know that competitors want to drive their costs to zero so that they will be the obvious commodity choice. And we know that many that seek to unearth natural resources want all of it, fast and cheap and now.

We can eliminate rules protecting clean water or consumer safety. We can extort workers to show up and work harder for less, in order to underbid a competitor. We can take advantage of less sophisticated consumers and trick them into consuming items for short-term satisfaction and long-term pain. These might be painful outcomes, but they're an direct path to follow. We know how to do this.

In our connected world, commodity producers are under intense pressure. The price of anything that's made to a spec, or that responds to an RFP, is instantly known by all buyers. That means that there's an argument made by big corporations for each country to charge corporations the lowest possible tax rate, to loosen environmental regulations down to zero, and to eliminate employee protections. All so that a country's commodity producers can be the cheapest ones.

I know we can do that. There's always the opportunity to cut a corner, sacrifice lifestyle quality and suck it up as we race to grab a little more market share.

But the problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win.

You might make a few more bucks for now, but not for long and not with pride. Someone will always find a way to be cheaper or more brutal than you.

The race to the top makes more sense to me. The race to the top is focused on design and respect and dignity and guts and innovation and sustainability and yes, generosity when it might be easier to be selfish. It's also risky, filled with difficult technical and emotional hurdles, and requires patience and effort and insight. The race to the top is the long-term path with the desirable outcome.

[Tex]

MARY has written extended essays on commerce but she is no business student. She has completed assignments on Chinese Tang dynasty poetry and Asian history but she is no lover of humanities.
Mary is an academic ghost writer who helps students cheat by doing their work. For the past three years Mary, 21, has written essays for other students in return for cash.
She started her underground trade as an international student in year 12 after leaving her home in China's Guangdong province.
A friend asked her to complete an assignment for a girl he liked from the year below. Mary wrote three essays for her customer and charged $150.
Advertisement
''It was quite easy for me to do year 11 work. I finished it in three or four hours,'' she says.
Although her customer misunderstood the task and subsequently failed, Mary loved earning quick money. She felt no guilt for her customer's failure. ''It was not my fault. I just did what she told me to.''
She has built her business steadily since starting university. Mary has completed about 20 assignments and plans to do more.
Dressed in a green poncho, jeans and a jade bangle, Mary is pretty and polite.
She speaks candidly in near perfect English about her work. A beige designer handbag sits at her feet.
Mary, who lives in the Melbourne CBD, is studying environmental science at a university in Melbourne. She will apply for permanent residency and plans to work in real estate after completing her degree.
Her unconventional childhood aspiration to become a brothel madam was inspired by powerful businesswomen portrayed in period dramas on Chinese television. She will still pursue this ambition if she is granted permanent residency.
She says many international students are paid $7 an hour working illegally in restaurants.
Mary refuses to work for such meagre wages while demand for her essays remains high.
She receives one or two requests a month each semester. This month, The Age revealed online essay mills were targeting international students in Australia through Chinese language social media sites.
Mary's customers find her through word of mouth. She has fielded requests from as far as the United States.
Customers pay about $150 for 1000 words but Mary charges more for a quick turnaround or if she is required to do extensive research.
The results, she says, are always pretty good. She averages about 70 per cent for other students' assignments but has scored above 90 per cent.
While cheating certainly takes place among domestic students, Mary works exclusively for Chinese students.
She has taken elaborate measures to avoid detection for fear of expulsion from university. She discusses her work only in person and on the phone, never in writing through email or text messages that can be traced to her.
Mary's customers transfer payment into a friend's bank account to cover the money trail. ''I try to be really careful. I never give my work to two different people.''
She said she would never pay someone to write an assignment for her. ''I don't trust other people. I think I would do better.''
Mary is a pseudonym.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education...z29VYuQyiJ

[Tex]

Hey part time taxi stooge, yes you.




some humans are considering smashing the virtual monopoly in the taxi industry as smartphone apps and new technology have emerged as popular — and in many cases superior — booking and payment methods.
Cabcharge's stock price would be 10 per cent of what it is now and that's why they're lobbying so hard because they've got an incredible amount to lose from us being successful.

Hamish Petrie, Ingogo
The apps including Ingogo and GoCatch are touted as more convenient, reliable and cheaper for consumers through lower transaction fees but the taxi industry says they are unsafe.

University of Sydney economist Peter Abelson said Premier and Cabcharge were so interlinked that "it's not really a duopoly, it's almost a monopoly and between them they control about 80 per cent of the cabs on Sydney streets".
Transport for NSW is reviewing taxi network regulation and in documents presented in the closed-door forum on October 16 revealed it was "considering whether mandatory network membership for taxis should be continued".
Network bookings represent about 20 per cent of hirings in Sydney and 65 per cent in country areas but Transport for NSW said customers distrusted these networks, did not feel in control of the process when told their taxi would be "first available" and would like greater transparency on wait times.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technol...z2B2dYvO2x

[Tex]

Time was, in the olden days, that in order to create a video game, or fund a film or album, or make a comic, you needed a generous and deep-pocketed patron, or a corporation behind you which thought there was something – profit, in other words – in it for them. There might have even been a grant from an arts body somewhere. Remember them?

Crowdfunding, where large numbers of people donate small sums of money to a project, has changed that. Kickstarter is not the first online funding site for creative projects – ArtistShare was launched in 2003 to enable musicians to bypass record labels, and was followed by other sites such as IndieGogo – but it has gained the most traction and attention.

Since the site launched in April 2009, more than 2.5 million people have helped to successfully back more than 30,000 creative projects. It has helped fund Oscar-nominated short films and put new products on the market. Earlier this year, the creators of a watch that can wirelessly connect to a smartphone raised more than $10m (£6m) on the site after being turned down by traditional investors. The singer Amanda Palmer raised $1.2m (£745,000) to record her album and tour; this week, the film director David Fincher reached his goal to fund part of an animated film. In October, a role-playing game developer raised nearly $4m (£2.5m) from more than 73,000 backers. The site estimates that around 10% of the films accepted into the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals this year were funded by Kickstarter.

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[sleepyy]

Lmao @ points 35 & 36

Great stuff tex!