Tag: tech
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We, the data
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Dissolved into data, we produce a feast of trackable interactions. They are the editors as much as much we are the authors. While we create everything, they produce nothing, yet the internet still owns our words. The attention merchants munch on the aggregate and peel off the niches into targeted prey. Our eyeballs are the oil,…
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Freedom is slowing down
It’s a canard to think that you must use an electronic device for everything productive. A computer is a doing machine, not a thinking machine. Your best thoughts happen when you’re disconnected, in the shower or on a walk. They also happen when you slow down, pen in hand letting each idea match the pace…
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How to rest and reflect in the age of speed
As digital technology colonizes our minds, self-reflection is becoming ever more critical. But not just any reflection. We think best through slices of boredom, gratitude, and mental processing. Boredom No one ever died sitting and doing nothing or staring out into space. Quiet moments permit the mind to wander, dance with fear, and revel in…
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Underground bicycle parking systems in Japan
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The robotic system, called the Eco Cycle, stores bikes 36 feet underground. It can store 204 bikes at a time. To use it, you need to attach a chip to the front wheel of your bike that links to your Eco Cycle parking account. When you pull up to the Eco Cycle, it will recognize…
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The gutless algorithm
In today’s age, you get picked (and judged) by algorithms and your number of social media fans. No matter your unique talent, it is the statistics that predetermine your success. But the element of surprise is not over. John Hammond discovered Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan at the clubs. As a staunch…
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Meet the Godfather of AI
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If you want to understand a complicated device like a brain, you should build one…The brain’s a big neural network. Geoff Hinton has been trying to make computers think like humans for over 40 years. In our time, before our time, Hinton the pariah kept pushing the idea that computers could think. The 21st-century…
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We have reached peak screen
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The smartphone hypnotizes us into screen glaring addicts. We have zero control of our attention and it makes us feel like we’re losing our mind. Writes Farhad Manjoo in his piece We Have Reached Peek Screen: Screens are insatiable. At a cognitive level, they are voracious vampires for your attention, and as soon as you…
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A special kind of permeable concrete system to prevent floods
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This is neat. There’s a special kind of concrete called Topmix Permeable that acts like a giant sponge to soak up as much as 880 gallons of water per minute. The material permits water to drain through the voids to prevent the puddles you’d see created on ordinary concrete. It seems like a practicable solution…
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Off the grid
In the age of constantly connected fantastical devices, getting lost is the dream of man. Everyone wants their Walden moment, a chance to detach from the rapidity of tech’s connectedness. Ironically, we are more lonely than ever before because we are having less intimate connections. We also get stuck outside ourselves, lost in a false…