The second edition of Massively Networked: How the convergence of social media and technology is changing your life is being offered as a free Kindle download Saturday, March 9th through Monday, March 11th, 2013. Get your free Kindle copy now.
Read MoreImagine popping by your local neighborhood park, and finding a contemporary Garden of Eden. Cities from Portland, Oregon to Brooklyn, New York are experimenting with urban agriculture — whether they be farms on industrial rooftops or local parks turned into volunteer-tended community gardens. Seattle Times reports on a alternate to the standard vegetable garden: an urban edible forest. Glenn Herlihy, one of the urban food forest visioneers who studies permaculture envisions a forest of fruit and nut trees growing out of a carpet of berry shrubs and other annuals and perennial edible plants: ”All of these plants work together like a forest ecosystem,” Herlihy explains, “but they are edible.” The current plan is to turn two acres of grass on Seattle’s Beacon Hill into one such urban food forest. Ultimately, the Times writes, ”Herlihy envisions thick plots of nut trees, such
Read MoreOptimize your ecosystem, and we’ll all get more out of it. Recently I cleaned out old furniture and electronics from previous tenants. There was stuff that was old, but still useful. There was stuff that was recyclable. There was stuff that was broken beyond repair and not recyclable. Figuring out what to do with these first three piles – donate, recycle, and trash – was fairly easy. And then there was the stuff that worked, but that nobody wanted: technology like color televisions that would have been in high demand not long ago. With a simple analog-to-digital adaptor, these televisions would have worked as well as they had been designed. However, nobody wants them – and not because they don’t work. Nobody wants them because they don’t deliver the high-definition, surround-sound experience that even the cash-poorest of us now consider
Read MoreImagine how this will change your view of reality from something mostly outside yourself toward something more like a dream come to life: Innovega is working on a combination of contact lens and glasses that can overlay an immersive 3D experience on what you see and hear (assuming the glasses have earbuds attached). Check out the video below to learn how that will work. More interesting, perhaps, is imagining the combination of Innovega’s technology with mind-reading technology like Emotiv‘s. Emotiv’s headset has already been adapted for the iPhone so that you can think about calling, say, Dad, and your phone rings Dad’s number. I tried the Emotiv headset recently. After I put the headset on and the technician made sure the contact points were picking up my brainwaves, she told me to focus on a virtual floating cube on the
Read MoreWant to make antidepressant yogurt? Using a combination of DIY materials all easily accessible online, like the bacteria found in ordinary yogurt and genetic code from the bio parts registry, Tuur van Balen shows how easy it is to produce genetically modified yogurt.
Read MoreMaking Massively Networked available on Kindle has had many unexpected benefits – one of which being I can see the passages readers have highlighted most. Top 3 highlighted passages in Massively Networked: 1) Imagination is needed now more than ever if we want to create a more satisfying vision for how we want to enjoy our lives, especially as opportunities to do so accelerate 2) While science fiction writers do not predict the future, they very well may have a hand in creating it 3) Persuasive technology rests on the premise that technology plus social networks can change your behavior. Our massively networked world is so, well, meta meta
Read More“The pioneer scientist must have a vivid intuitive imagination, for new ideas are not generated by deduction, but by artistically creative imagination.” —Max Planck Practical advice for moving from reductive thinking to creative imagination is needed now more than ever. Michalko’s article breaks it down nicely… http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creative-thinkering/201201/how-the-mind-creates-ideas via +Scott Barry Kaufman How the Mind Creates Ideas | Psychology Today The correlation between creative consciousness and quantum physics. By Michael Michalko…
Read MoreHyperlocal food production is gaining traction as techniques for self-sustaining urban aquaculture (raising fish in a barrel) and indoor gardening ecosystems get better. Growing enough grain to satisfy your desire for oatmeal and tortillas is probably not realistic for the kitchen farmer, but raising fish and growing veggies are well within reach. See also: http://www.nextnature.net/2012/01/dumpster-fish-the-future-of-farming/ An Ecosystem For Growing Your Own Veggies At Home And Indoors | Co.Design Parasite farm includes a composting bin, with a cutting-board lid, and planters designed to fit into a standard bookshelf. The bin slides onto the kitchen table. Once you’re done chopping, simply …
Read MoreRemote-controlled brain implant makes sending commands from a computer program to a living brain much easier. Good to know. Startup Makes ‘Wireless Router for the Brain’ – Technology Review Kendall Research’s devices could make optogenetics research much more practical.
Read MoreMassively Networked is now the #1 Technology Bestseller on Amazon. Okay, #1 for the Kindle free version. Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio is still #1 for paid. Still, I’ll take it. Steve is tough competition.
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