Future Salon

Nice debunking of many medicine myths ...

The Guardian article reminds me of a similar book from the 80s: How Superstition Won and Science Lost from John C. Burnham. I only thumped through it once, but am very fascinated by the theme. Until I read the article I must admit, that I believed too, although without thinking very much about it, that we only use 10% of our brain (So may be in my case the 10% thing is true :-) Reality is though:  ' ... if you want proof in pictures, modern scans all show that the entire brain is active ...'   Bad Medicine could also be a good book for a future salon.

Osama bin Mitnick ...

To a packed Bay Area Futurist Salon Kevin Mitnick made the very convincing case, that John Markoff's sensational articles in the New York Times back in the early nineties, were the reason for a verdict against him, that was way out of proportion, if compared to the crimes that he had committed. (He always stresses that he is not denying having done unlawful things.)

Kevin jokingly said something like: "He made an Osama bin Mitnick out of me." New York Times fact checkers missing in action. Made me aware of the sensationalism in journalism. Looking at my header line I am doing a similar thing, it is just too tempting.

In addition John Markoff never disclosed, that he had previous dealings with Kevin, and that his refusal to sign a film contract was the reason that the whole project fell through. John probably could have made a six figure income from this movie. (See the lost chapter) 

Kevin is a great humorous story teller. He even admitted that he himself got tricked, ahem social engineered very recently by a journalist that he shouldn't have given an interview, but the guy knew the right names to drop, so Kevin trusted him.

He and his girlfriend were kind enough to join us for dinner afterwords. See him if you can, buy the book.

Full spectrum solar cell

Researchers found the following: "... a single system of alloys incorporating indium, gallium, and nitrogen can convert virtually the full spectrum of sunlight -- from the near infrared to the far ultraviolet -- to electrical current ..."

This makes a full spectrum solar cell possible which greatly improves the efficiency compared to current solar cells. (Thanks to Mike Linksvayer for the link)

Special guest Kevin Mitnick at this Fridays' Futurist Salon ...

The Commonwealth Club wanted him, but was not successful. It looks like this is the last time he will be in the Bay Area for the near future.   Join us at the Bay Area Futurist Salon when we host Special Guest Kevin Mitnick this Friday the 22nd of November, 7 pm. He will introduce his book: 'The Art of Deception'.    To get the most out of the evening you may want to read the 'lost chapter' that has not been included in the book. Wired wrote a story about it. Here is the direct link to the chapter itself. We will be able to ask him all about it. Where: Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Hillsdale Shopping Center just across of the San Mateo Caltrain Station. See the Map. (The star is a bit misleading. The shop is right at the El Camino across from the Caltrain station.) 11 West Hillsdale Blvd., Hillsdale Shopping Center San Mateo, CA 94403 650-341-5560   When: 7:00 to 9:00 pm. You may also join us for dinner afterwords next door at Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Gillette Buys Half a Billion...

Gillette Buys Half a Billion RFID Tags [Slashdot] RFID = Radio Frequency Identification. Take the article a bit with a grain of salt, after all the Gillette is one of the founding sponsors of Alien Technology the makers of these tags. Of course they have a financial interest in them succeeding. Interesting if you read the Slashdot comments is that the driving factor behind this may be that the Mach-III razor is stolen more often then any other product in a modern grocery shop.

Smart Mobs at the Commonwealth ...

Short summary of seeing Howard Rheingold being interviewed at the Commonwealth Club last Tuesday. First off I was surprised how modern, well like 80's modern, the Commonwealth Club rooms are. I expected from their behavior with hammering the session in and out that they would be surrounded by dark wood paneled walls, thick carpet and leather chairs ..., but non of that. It had more the feeling of a conference room in a library, which is perfectly fine, just different then expected.

The session was targeted toward the general radio audience which was obvious from the first question: "Can you tell us what does SMS Message stand for again?"

Nevertheless few things stuck with me: He is also of the opinion that there is a fight between open and closed systems (See: "Future of Ideas", Lawrence Lessig). The internet is only as successful as it is because of it's built in openness.

He took barcode as an example of a closed systems. Almost any products you buy has one. So far only large companies use them. But what happens if you connect a cheap barcode reader to a wireless device that does a Google query on the internet about the scanned product? He has the story on the Smartmobs website. All in a sudden it is an open system and gives me the possibility to check my trusted sources regarding fair trade, environmental record, labor practice, ... and I can vote with my wallet. Capitalism from the bottom up. I cannot wait for it.

The above picture, by the way was done by May Woo using her T-Mobile Sidekick. With it she instantly bloged the picture to Hiptop Nation. The next day Howard picked it up and posted it on Smartmobs too.

At he end I felt that there were many questions surrounding the topic of wireless devices and their social implications not asked. With only one hour there was not enough time. I told him about our Futurist Salon and invited him to come and introduce his book at one of our next sessions. He said that he is currently very busy, but will look into it. Hope it works out. I thumped through his book and it is very interesting, but first I want to finish the Mitnick one.  

Send someone's name on Mars ...

When I used to get on the nerves of my mother too much, she would say: "Dich koennte ich heute wieder auf den Mond schiessen." (I really would like to shoot you to the moon today) Well for the next two days you can shoot the names of people even further: To the Mars. (Via: Your name on Mars [bOing bOing] ID 3219908

Stop using Antibacterial Soap Today

A drug-resistant bacteria has been discovered in Detroit. "Some experts postulate that eventually, so many bacteria will develop resistance that antibiotics won't work and hospitals will be filled with people dying from infections, as they were in the 1920s." To stop the tide we have to refrain from using antibiotics if we only have a minor disease like a cold. We should also ban the feeding of antibiotics to animals. I could not find a scientific prove that the use of antibacterial soaps is also contributing to the bacterial resistance to antibiotics, but there is scientific proof that they are not better then regular soaps. Why take the risk? Just use regular soaps.

"Smart Mobs" Author's Bay Area Appearances ...

If you would like to see Howard Rheingold the Author of "Smart Mobs" here is his schedule:

Stanford Bookstore, November 11th, 7:00 p.m.

Commonwealth Club, November 12th, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. reception Reservations 415/597-6705/6705 or register online

Borders (San Rafael), November 14th

Booksmith (on Haight St.), November 19th, 7:00 p.m.

Cody's (Telegraph Ave.), November 21st, 7:30 p.m.

He has also been interviewed on KQED Forum last Friday and you can replay the whole show.

I have listened to the Commonwealth Club many times on the radio and want to check out how it is done. So I registered for a ticket for this Tuesday evening. Let me know if you join me.

Kevin Mitnick's 'Lost Chapter' Found ...

Well, it wasn't really lost, it was just not included in the final book. Here is the Wired story. Here is the link to the chapter itself.

At this moment (November 5th) the Google news feature has not picked this story up. May be they only track newspapers and not Wired, which does not make a lot of sense. (Update: November 8th, Google news picked up the Wired story.)

We will be able to ask Kevin Mitnick all about it, at our next Futurist Salon, when he will introduce his book "The Art of Deception" on the 22nd of November 7pm Barnes & Noble Hillsdale Shopping Center.