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1. Recall the relevant class. Comment on Toxoplasma Gondii. What do you think??
   1. 1. 1. 1. • In an abstract sense, things affecting our psychology are nothing new. All of the effects of toxoplasma gondii can supposedly have on us can also be the result of psychological stimulation, like being on a sports team, or having an overbearing mother.
               • So, I’m not too shook up about it. Then again, I live with two cats (and have all my life). Who’s to say I’m not infected, and just being a mouth for the protozoa? If it were really as sinister and slippery as characterized, it would’ve long ago made me love my cats so much that I would defend our relationship no matter what.
               • Therefore, as a possible gondii-controlled human by cat proxy, I must recuse myself from the question!
2. Add more to your project. Put the new stuff in a new blog posting. Consider new material that has some connection to Toxoplasma Gondii. Alternatively, it could have a connection to some other parasite or disease, or parasites or diseases more generally. Or it might be about something completely different…your choice!
   • For my project, there’s not much that organisms (other than humans) factor in. So, I decided to read and take notes on the “Internet of Things,” also known as “object hyperlinking.”
   • There are a few ways to get this done. Either every device can be “smart” and carry its own addressability (identification), or one can overlay identification onto “dumb” objects, similar to asset tagging.
   • There have been recent rumors that Apple will put an RFID scanner into its 4th generation iPhone. This would truly bring this concept to the forefront in the US.
   • However, the Japanese market is already used to such convenience, using their RFID-enabled phones to interface with the ATM network, get on public transit, pay for parking, and hyper-local information retrieval.
   • Some other uses of RFID include:
     • Tracking of endangered species. Arizona’s Saguaro National Park is implanting RFID tags into cactii to be able to track when they’re stolen. Likewise, the New Delhi forest department requires that elephants get implants to prevent illegal trade.
     • For that matter, tracking non-endangered species like cattle can provide a chain of accountability for meat products.
     • Tracking things you don’t want to lose, like surgical sponges, car keys, pets, etc.
     • Authentication. The article mentions police badges, but I’ve also read that high-price, commonly-knocked-off luxury handbags will also be getting RFID chips, to prove authenticity. (For example, an RFID signed with Gucci’s public key inside a purse).
     • Tracking prisoners. This is kind of scary, but: “Forced to release prisoners due to overcrowding, Britain wants to chip them. Cops would know if, say, a felon enters a school.”
   • Hong Kong has had RFID-enabled payment cards since 1997 (Octopus Card). These cards were originally used for public transit, but now can be used at stores, vending machines, parking meters, and many other places, including in other parts of mainland China.
   • Another way, besides RFID, is the use of QR Codes to “tag” an object. These codes (2D bit matrices) can be generated and decoded easily in software, printed on a sticker, and stuck to an object. QR Code readers were some of the first applications to enter the App Store for iPhone. Now there are many 2D barcode readers available for iPhonee which use the built-in camera.

• • Up until recently, the view of most people was that interacting with the digital world would mean “jacking in” to some sort of fully-simulated virtual reality environment. However, a recent confluence of technologies is beginning to birth a new outlook on digital interaction: Augmented Reality.
  • Current iterations of AR technology are exemplified by the iPhone 3GS. This state-of-the-art phone combines ample storage space (up to 32 Gb), GPS location, compass, video camera, impressive processing and RAM capacity (for doing complex visual recognition), and touch-screen interaction. These integrated, high-quality elements make the iPhone a good platform for writing AR applications.
  • AR interfaces overlay digital information over our analog sight system (eyes) through technological mediation of some sort. This mediation can be in the form of images projected directly on the retina, through a loupe or other viewing device (such as a phone), and maybe one day through direct ocular prostheses.
  • Augmented Reality applications include a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, military and emergency-response, prospecting, architecture and other real-world design fields, sight-seeing, collaboration (usually with the name “mixed reality”), and entertainment.
  • Some existing examples of augmented reality for iPhone include:
    • Le Bar Guide, sponsored by Stella Artois, transforms the iPhone into a loupe: hold it up and turn, and it will tell you where the nearest Stella-serving bar is located, as well as give you reviews and indications of amenities.
    • Car Finder solves a minor annoyance that many people face; namely, the “where did I park” moment that people experience upon leaving a shopping center or other location with a large parking lot. Simply ping your location upon leaving your car, and when you’re ready to return, the application will guide you on the quickest path back to where you’ve parked.

1. Telepresence of witnesses to grant the order for intervening.
2. Quick laser cutting of a ball of wood.
3. Wood-grain hashing.
4. The tube that the wooden red ball comes down is quite anachronistic.
5. Human-Computer Interaction, including the stretching for three screens, time scrubbing, wipe-to-select, and lasso-and-grab.
6. Hyper-Cross-Referencing of different databases to find out the scene of the crime.
7. Precognition, including the dichotomy between “pre-meditated” and “passion” crimes, the erasing of memory, and the displaying of thoughts on the screen.
8. Flying police car and personal jetpacks.
9. The “Halo” restraint device.
10. Omni-surface screens, used for advertising a precrime PSA.
11. Drugs, including “Clarity” and “Neuroin.”
12. Voice Activated Mood for home (“I’m Home,” “Overhead”)
13. Transparent screen technology, with auxillary screens such as “Wall screen” and 3D projection.
14. Cars with no drivers and federated decision-making and traffic flow.
15. “Absolute Metaphysics.”
16. A paper warrant. (anachronistic)
17. “Optical Tomography”
18. Rapid Eye scanning.
19. Cryostorage for Jail.
20. Personalized advertisements while walking (futuristic Spam).
21. Live-Updating digital newspaper (USA Today)

Each of these poses interesting questions for “could it happen” and “what are the consequences,” which I hope to explore in my paper/presentation.

Review them on your blog. For example, what is each about, what about it is interesting, what about it is not interesting, what do you agree or disagree with, why should or shouldn’t someone study it, what questions does it leave you with, etc. (16 2/3 pts.)

In class, briefly summarize your review(s) orally. (We may or may not have time to do all three, we’ll just have to see.) (16 2/3 pts.)

• Cybernetics
  • In order to understand how to begin to build cybernetic technology, we need a deep understanding of how the brain works, and especially how our brains relate to our body image. VS Ramachandran is doing research into this topic, and this TED Talk video shows how little we really know about how it works.
  • An interesting look at the state of cybernetics can be viewed through the experiences of Aimee Mullins, an athlete and fashion model who—because of a genetic abnormality—had to have both legs amputated. In these TED Talks, she details the types of legs she has had.
  • A debate on the ethics of cybernetic implants is currently going on with the development of the Cochlear Implant. This device is not a hearing aid; instead, it directly stimulates auditory nerves leading to the brain. The question is, should they be implanted in children?
• What will the average human lifespan be in the US, in the year 2050?
  • Longevity Insurance: A Missing Market provides an overview of this insurance product which will be on the rise as the population greys.
  • Perhaps a future global shortage of food will entice people to adopt a Calorie-Restricted Diet, which will in turn increase longevity.
  • Ray Kurzweil is devoting a lot of resources to solving the longevity problem, including “a radical shift in diet, a heavy supplementation regimen (he takes 250 supplements a day), and regular checkups and rejuvenation treatments to slow the aging process as much as possible using today’s technology.”
• DNA database(s) of the future
  • 23andMe was one of the first public DNA testing companies. For $399 (originally $999), one can receive a kit to get their own genes assayed.
  • The Human Genome Project was the first program to successfully sequence an entire human genome.
  • Gene Therapy Clinical Trials from the US National Institutes for Health, list all the current US programs recruiting patients for cutting-edge clinical trials.

Apply TRIZ to your own topic. (10 pts) Pick a certain technology relevant to your topic. How could an implementation of it “branch out” and do other things? For example, pencils are a technology that “branched out” to also have erasers, storage bins for extra lead, clips for attaching it to a pocket, and so on. Cars now have air conditioners, play music, even have GPS devices for giving directions, etc. (40 pts) TRIZ also contains 40 principles for improving technologies. These are summarized in the course notes. Pick 10 and apply them to a technology relevant to your topic. What are 10 possible future advances you have discovered?

The topic of my research is the depiction of technology in popular entertainment, so in one sense, my topic is all about technology “branching out” and becoming more (especially how that is translated into popular fiction). For the purposes of this assignment, I would like to talk about driving. Not just cars, which are touched on in the prompt, but the experience of driving in general. For one, driving could branch out to become the destination instead of a journey: like we do with cruise ships, maybe we could have “cruise cars” which would provide most of the entertainment/accomodations in situ.

1. Prior Counteraction. Redirect traffic flow in response to changing travel conditions.
2. Rushing Through. On certain straightaways (such as Interstate 40 through the wastelands of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona), speed could be vastly increased, resulting in shorter drive times for travelers.
3. Composite Materials. Both roads and tires could be changed to increase friction (which decreases energy required to push a car forward).
4. Homogeneity. When all cars (or sufficiently most) are made of the same parts, it will be cheaper to replace them. Maybe a nationalized car company could produce this car.
5. Continuity of Useful Action. How many times have you been in a rush of traffic, and all of a sudden the whole group has to stop to let one car cross traffic perpendicular to the main flow? This has been ameliorated somewhat by use of weight pads instead of strict timers for traffic lights, but the process could be “smarter” by allowing the large groups of traffic to continue using the energy efficiently (acceleration) instead of inefficiently (braking).
6. Self-Service. “Driving drives itself.” Full auto-pilot could be the most efficient of all.
7. Use Strong Oxidizers. Regarding internal combustion: one problem with using recycled oil for fuel is that it has to be sufficiently warm in order to be viscous enough to pass through the engine. By using a stronger oxidizer, namely gasoline, as an additional fuel source, we can use just enough gasoline to start the engine and heat the vegetable oil, then switch to different energy for propulsion.
8. Inexpensive Short Life. If the lifecycle of a car were an order of magnitude shorter than now, advances in technology (safety, fuel efficiency, etc) could reach more people quicker.
9. Equipotentiality. Driving should be sufficiently automated so that any position in the car (manned by a licensed driver) could take over the monitoring and intervention of the route, perhaps through an embedded touch-control or joystick system, or a wireless pad.
10. Combination. If multiple cars have the same route for a sufficient period of time, physically link the vehicles to take advantage of possible fuel savings due to drag reduction. Picture cars joining in a “V” formation similar to birds.

• I have successfully signed up for an account at Intrade. My account number is 11391869.

2) (22.5 pts.) Find 10 prediction markets that you are interested in or know more about than most others. For example, you might pick the prediction market for whether 2009 will be one of the 5 hottest years on record, the prediction market for whether Michael Jackson’s death will result in homicide charges, and some other eight. In fact there are dozens and dozens if not hundreds of markets they have easily accessible from their Web site. Make a list of them.

• 2016.OLYMPICS.NTH.AMERICA. A venue in North America to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• US.GOVT.HEALTHPLAN.DEC09. A federal government run health insurance plan to be approved before midnight ET 31 Dec 2009.
• JACKSON.MURDER.DEC09. Person(s) to be charged with manslaughter, homicide or other unlawful killing of Michael Jackson.
• SCI.NEU.HUM.250. Humans will have Neural Implants that access the Internet by 2020.
• SCI.FUT.LOC.160. Location based Services to hit mainstream by 2010.
• SCI.YOU.YOU.875 Youtube to begin putting full length ads before all videos by end of 2009.
• SCI.STE.STE.36 Steve Jobs Dies by the end of 2009.
• EMANUAL.DEPART.EOT Rahm Emanuel to depart as White House Chief of Staff before end of first term.
• UIGEA.AMENDED.DEC10 Bill amending UIGEA to be passed by 31 Dec 2010 with Rep. Barney Frank as sponsor.
• US.RECESSION.09 The US Economy will go into Recession during 2009.

3) (22.5 pts) For each of the 10 markets, decide whether the current probability shown on the graph is higher or lower than your best judgment. List the ones for which you judge the current probability to be too low.

• 2016.OLYMPICS.NTH.AMERICA.
• SCI.NEU.HUM.250.
• US.GOVT.HEALTHPLAN.DEC09.

4) Invest your $1,000 in the ones you feel are currently too low, as follows.

• a. (3.5 pts.) Pick one of the markets. Say which one. I am picking the 2016 Olympics being picked to be in North America.
• b. (3.5 pts.) Figure out the price of a single contract (a contract is a little like a share of stock). That price is: (the probability in percentage points) x ($0.10). So if the probability on the graph is 65%=0.65, then a single contract will cost you 65 x $0.10, or $6.50, to buy. Give this price in your HW. The probability of the contract is 65.9%, so a single contract costs $6.59.
• c. (3.5 pts.) Decide how many contracts to buy (remember you have $1,000 but will want to spread that over a number of different markets). Note the number in your HW. I bought 50 contracts of the 2016 Olympics in North America, and 50 contracts of Humans having neural implants accessing the internet by 2020.
• d. (3.5 pts.) Figure out the total amount you are investing in this market. State this. $329 in the 2016 Olympics and $5 for Neural Implants (this is a just-started market).
• e. (8.5 pts.) Subtract that from $1,000 to find out how much you have left to invest in the other markets. Then go through the above steps again using another market. Repeat until you have invested all of the $1,000 in the markets you have chosen to invest in. They actually gave me $5000 of play money to invest.

5) (10 pts., to be assigned toward the end of the semester. 10 if you make money, but only 5 if you lose money, sorry!) You may sell any of your contracts at any time during the semester, and buy any new contracts you like with the money you got from selling (or just hang on to the money if you prefer). You are not required to do this, if you just want to keep the same contracts. To sell, just see what the contracts you have are worth, using the graphs at the company Web site, and pretend you’ve sold them. Keep track of what you do by editing your blog entry for this HW. Toward the end of the semester I will ask everyone to sell everything and we’ll see how much money you’ve made or lost!