Imagine how productive a meeting could become if everyone can “talk” at once (silently) with their comments appearing as text on each users’s device –or better yet, as Augmented Reality speech bubbles above the person. By browsing everyone’s comments and “upvoting,” a group can address more topics and make decisions more quickly.

Plus, if the wireless connection is fast enough, we can process the data (of the voice commands, etc) remotely via internet, so the mobile device doesn’t even need a very powerful processor.

Subvocalized voice recognition technology would solve “the input problem” that all mobile (esp portable/miniature) computing devices face: how to input data from the user as effectively as data can be streamed to the user.

Tonight I realized we have the same problem in physics.  In a conversation about the wave-particle duality issue, I pointed out that we have not observed any such thing as “a” wave.  We have seen “waving”.  Even in water, it makes no sense to say that “a wave” is moving through the water.  That would imply the existence of some thing being in the water.  Actually there isn’t anything.  The water is waving, that’s all.  “The” wave doesn’t exist.  “Waving” exists.

So what about other things?  In the example above, to show that there was no “wave” I let the example include the existence of a replacement noun — “the” water.  I’m not here to replace one noun with another, I’m here to propose that we live in a world without nouns.  So what is “the” water actually?  Hydrogen, Oxygen.  What are they? Protons, neutrons, electrons… the standard model.  What are they?  The idea of an indivisible “atom” is gone.  The hunt for subatomic particles brings the discovery of  smaller and smaller “things” depending on the precision of our instruments.  And we always find out later that what we thought we saw must  actually have been something even smaller bouncing around.

Photons, for example, are “particles of light”.  The trouble is, if light were particles, then shining two flashlight beams at right angles to each other would result in interference.  The particles flying sideways would smack into the particles going forward and knock them off to an angle like billiard balls.  To make sense of this, we’ve been taught to think of light as having dual nature: sometimes wave, sometimes particle.  What if there’s no particle and no wave?  Instead, I think “waving” can give an appearance of “photoning”.  I suggest that there is no substance or substrate (like spacetime or hyperdimensional ethers) that is the “thing” or fabric doing the waving.  I think that seeing waving gives an impression of a fabric where there isn’t any.

I suggest we get rid of the nouns (which we have never observed in physics or in reality*) and generate a means of using language that represents the world as we have actually observed it.

*For example when your hand presses against a wall, there is actually no physical matter making contact.  What you feel is magnetic resistance between magnetic “fields” around the atoms in your hand and in the wall.  The magnetic fields resist each other just like the positive poles of two magnets, and nothing “solid” in your hand ever touches anything “solid” in the wall.  We have no reason to believe that either “object” is solid.  In fact, in the history of science, from the very small to the very big, nobody has ever observed the existence of anything solid at all.  Nobody has ever grabbed up an electron and said “yep, just like I thought, it’s a hard little bead.”  In fact, we’ve seen “electrons” doing things that are impossible for any little “thing” to do.  To become a magnetic field, an electron would have to extend itself infinitely in every direction, only spreading itself a bit thinner as it got farther from its center.  And it does this at the speed of light.  So we call them waves or fields  instead of particles.  But the question of what “a” wave actually is… that’s a question that is forever postponed.

String theory is pretty close to what I’m saying.  They say that all these particles we think we’re observing as separate types of things are just little strings vibrating in different ways.  If it vibrates with higher energy, it’s ultraviolet, lower energy vibration and the same “thing” is infrared.  So verbs exist, and adverbs can modify them.  “Vibrating fastly” is what we’ve been calling “A photon” being blue, and “vibrating slowly” is what we’ve been calling “a photon” being red.

I just want to point out that we have no reason (except for the real-world experience of things bumping into each other that we recently discovered wasn’t actually happening) to believe that there needs to be a “thing” in order for “it” to do an action.  We have no reason to believe that verbs require nouns; that acts require actors.  Everything we’ve observed in physics has been verbs, no nouns yet discovered. ANYWHERE. EVER.  Why should we believe that “things” exist at all, when all we’ve ever observed has been the existence of “actions”?

Keep string theory, but get rid of the strings.  There are no strings doing the vibrating.  There is vibrating in different ways, and we interpret those different modalities of vibration as different kinds of “particles” because we are accustomed to believing that there must be a thing there to have done the action.  Just like Hegel claimed that there must logically be a creator to have done the creating of the world.  (I’m certainly not making an atheist theological argument.  I’m only pointing out that Hegel’s argument wasn’t logical, it was grammatical.)

According to our observations, it would be more reasonable to assert the existence of verbs and adverbs (actions and their modalities) without claiming the existence of any nouns (objects or actors) anywhere in the “physical” universe.

…Which makes it much harder to draw conceptual models for the physics classroom.

This is not a scientific theory (not conceivably testable/falsifiable)  and it is not a philosophy.  It is an argument for the ontological primacy of verbs instead of nouns.  It is also a suggestion that our language about processes observed in physics should not be inhibited by grammatical rules of languages, but should be free to reflect what is really observed, even if it sounds silly to talk that way at first.

“high-energy vibrating excited the electro-magnetic fielding…..and so on…” And that’s how your digital camera works.

PS. To all the REAL physicists out there: I’M SORRY I JUST DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER! PLEASE DON’T DEMONSTRATE THE PRINCIPLES OF NEWTONIAN PHYSICS ON MY BODY.  but please do leave a comment!

It will take complex natural language analysis, MASSIVE data crunching, speedy processing of trends & statistics. This is asking a lot more than we already can get from the statistical translations done by Google Translate. If a computer can understand what you’re asking and give you the answer, wont it also be able to DO what you want it to, if it has the means? And what if it over-analyzes what you’re asking for, or misinterprets irony or sarcasm? It could end up being HAL 9000.

That is, of course, if it isn’t another Mechanical Turk…

More BANDWIDTH means the “computer” that you carry with you doesn’t need to have much storage space or processing power.  a computer somewhere else can do all your processing and storage for you and broadcast the results to your screen.  all you need is enough bandwidth to carry your user input off to the computer, and enough bandwidth to quickly carry audio and video back smoothly to your device.

+ Start with your wide-screen Cell phone

+ Add your home PC Computer remotely accessible OR maybe a Goolge hosted platform (yes its’ another effing Cloud)

+ Throw in some NASA subvocalization recognition technology http://www.magicspeedreading.com/subvocalization/nasa.html

+ Work together with Google Voice//Dragon Naturally Speaking to improve the quality of that silent speach recognition.

= your cell phone can control your home computer

+ NIA NIA http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/ocz_peripherals/nia-neural_impulse_actuator

= now your brain can control some features on your computer

+ MyVu stylish glasses that provide the wearer with a virtual widescreen (we’ll modify it to make it semi-transparent so that you can see the world and digital images together in front of you.)

= augmented reality.  create an instant visual “chatroom” silently among friends in a room. brain selects nearby ppl to open a chat dialogue, you subvocalize the text, use your brain to send.  they see it through their MyVu (nobody else can read it) and respond to you.

Prof asks “any questions”, and a silent room submits hundreds of subvocalized-to-text speech bubbles in the air above the heads of whoever is asking the questions. the prof skims the questions and eliminates uninteresting ones. then he selects excellent ones and copies them to the “board” which everyone sees at the front of the room through their MyVu.  (of course, if someone fears censorship they simply choose to broadcast their question universally, not just to the prof).  and everything that was on the board is available digitally to you later, because it’s stored in your computer at home, accessible anywhere through your cell phone’s high speed wifi connection.

take your augmented reality out on the soccer field for some real live WoW with (or without) your friends (both present and elsewhere)!  others will see you as your avatar.  Use NIA to throw fireballs, or whatever. etc.

http://code.google.com/creative/cadie/

All I wanted to know was “What’s the code for Love” (even if it’s in INTERCAL)?

Talk to me CADIE.

pnd’d

And if  cellular technology is going to be integrated into our computers, some convenient new possibilities arise.  If the Cellular operation is tied to an ultralight pre-b00t OS, you could call your computer on the phone, telling it to turn itself on and possibly navigate some essential functions by voice commands.  I call Goog411 all the time, but there are some things I could do better with access to my own files and records.

Of course in a few years, ideally, having a phone will mean that you already have access to the internet, and hence to any of your computers via remote connection.  Yay cloud.

Give me a 6″ device, just a bit bigger than an Iphone, with a keyboard that expands or folds out so I can actually use it for real work… I will abandon my cell phone and stay connected through a single WiMax device that can fit in my pocket, or maybe a belt clip.  And of course I don’t mean for it to be a substitute for my REAL computer, which will have an enourmous screen and so much power that it requires a prominent position in my home.

1) all radio/wireless frequencies consolidated for universal use with a single protocol.  pay whoever is operating the hubs that you pass your data through for connectivity service, unless you can deal more with ad-hoc bandwidth sharing node communism.

2) all the ‘different’ uses of those wireless frequencies consolidated into internet protocol (or whatever) so that radio, TV, phone, wwweb, and whatever are ALL just internet usage over the now VASTLY expanded bandwidth (see #1).  Those radio waves that are flying around everywhere all the time can also be harnessed by your device to keep your battery charged (very slowly but surely).

3) data is categorized as either “media” or “personal”.  media includes ALL the stuff that more than just a few people might actually want to access.  music, movies, web articles, etc etc. everything.  personal are your home movies where you dress up as a jedi and fall down all around your garage and then selfishly dont share that embarrassing video with friends.  or your personal documents.

4) username (which could be your real identity) manages your access rights to use of copyrighted materials.  if you’ve purchased a song from Itunes, you should be able to access that song at any time, from any source, using any device, if you show your username.  video rentals, books from your shelf that you also want to access as an electronic copy. whatever.

5) media is all cloud accessible. you can store it on your own drive if you want, but you can also get it anytime you want from anywhere (see #4) because public-interest files are stored on remotely accessible servers.   store your own personal materials however you want.  burn them to disk, keep them on local HD, or store them in your personal cloudspace, by sending it to your gmail for example.  if you trust Gmail to have a reliable RAID setup on THEIR HDs.

1) We have a special engine that allows us to accelerate to light speed (or close enough). We put it on the back of a rocket ship carrying one passenger, so that from the time the ship departs the “start” line until it reaches the “finish” line, it is traveling at a constant speed. Light speed.

2) We strap a ferris wheel onto the front of the ship, with another passenger sitting in one of the cars. The ferris wheel also has the special engine, and is also spinning at light speed. So that our passenger is traveling around his curving path at light speed, while also being pushed forward at light speed.

3) We put a smaller ferris wheel in front of the bigger ferris wheel, so that another passenger can sit.

If all three passengers depart from the start line and arrive at the finish line at the same time (since they are connected together, after all), how is it that they all traveled drastically different distances through space (paths A, B, and C), without any of them going faster than light speed?

So far, my favorite interpretation is that those three paths are all the same distance, despite the fact that they may look longer or shorter, because the space through which they pass shrinks or expands while you travel through it. I like this explanation best because it means that with a little bit of metal and a small ferris wheel, you can bend and warp endless reaches of space.

***

But really, somebody please explain to me what’s going on. Are we travelign faster than light? Are we warping space? How does it work?

I’m talking about the future of computing and communications in general.  Unlimited communications, voice, video, media, info, correspondence, reference, entertainment, productivity…. everything in one beautifully simple gadget.  Beyond UMPC, Beyond Netbooks.

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Introducing the Cloud9

The First Fully Featured Cloud Computer and Personal Communications Device

Cloud9 will replace your laptop, cell phone, and all your portable media devices with one tiny computer.

Brand New Form Concept

Cloud9 is thin, lightweight, and hard to break.  Not needing any on-board HD, the Cloud9 is the ultimate cloud computer: a multi-touch tablet screen with a WiFi connection.  The Cloud9 is inexpensive to produce, which makes it light on the wallet, and it has everything you need.

Take a look at these special features.

Ingenious New Screen

It has a special dual-layer screen: one layer is a traditional color LCD screen, the other layer, a thin transparent surface on top of your LCD is an E-Ink display, like the Kindle uses.  When you’re watching videos online or browsing the web, you can see it in full color just like you have on any laptop.  BUT when you prefer to just read text, an e-book, or want to save power by browsing in black-and-white, you switch off the LCD to activate the E-Ink display instead.  Now you can look at text, browse the web, or read E-books more comfortably.  With no backlight, an E-Ink display is more gentle on the eyes, and is just as clear when you use it in direct sunlight.

Extended Battery Life

Since you’re not using that battery-draining backlit LCD display all the time, your battery life just became 10 times longer.  Now you can continue to use your Cloud9 for DAYS without charging!  And with intermittent or light use, the Cloud9 can function for weeks on a single charge.

Universal Wireless Connection

Using high-speed cellular networks, you have wireless access anywhere you go.  Also, it uses the “white spaces” of bandwidth recently opened by the FCC, giving WiFi the boost in speed and coverage we’ve all been waiting for.

Free from the Limits of Hard Disk Space!  – Unlimited Online Access to Media and Content

Access movies, music, documents, and reference materials anytime over the internet through free services such as YouTube, Hulu, LastFM, Pandora, GoogleDocs, Project Guttenberg, and everyone else on the Web.  Now that we have the bandwidth to  stream content, why not stream ALL OF IT?

Accessing a document from Google Docs is as easy as logging in to your email.  You can watch the latest episode of The Daily Show or Heroes just by surfing over to Hulu.  If the iTunes Store already knows which songs you’ve purchased, why shouldn’t those songs be digitally available to your via the Net at any time?  A web-based iTunes interface would allow you to play your music anywhere over your WiFi internet connection.  If you prefer free unlicensed access to your music, just log on to your account with Pandora or LastFM internet radio.

With all of your media stored online, which you can access from anywhere, there’s no limit to your digital storage in the Cloud9.

Your Cloud9 will never complain to you that it doesn’t have enough disk space for your files, because it doesn’t need any space at all.

The Online Desktop and OS

The Cloud9 is hardwired to simply turn on and access all of your content through your personalized “online desktop”, which looks and acts just like the operating system on your computer, but enhanced with customizable widgets or hyperlinks of your choice.  Browse folders, open and modify your content, run programs, and do everything you can do with your laptop or desktop computer. And your Cloud9 Desktop is available just by logging in from any Cloud9 or any other computer with an internet connection.

Communications

EMAIL: Access your email by a simple click of the “Mail” icon on your desktop. You can use the online interfaces of Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or any others, as well as mail clients such as Thunderbird.

Text Messages and Instant Chat: Use any chat program to send messages through Gmail Chat, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AOL, AIM, ICQ, IRC, Skype, Pidgin, MySpace, Facebook, QQ, and all the rest.

Cellular Phone: With a bluetooth headset, use the Cloud9 as your cell phone; making local, long distance, and even international calls – often for FREE - by VOIP internet based telephone technologies, such as Skype, Jajah, and Yahoo Messenger.

Video Chat: With the built in webcam, Cloud9 can provide simple and free Video calls via any of the online video chat services, including Skype, Google Chat, MSN Messenger, etc.

Security and Privacy

You decide which of your files should be encrypted before being stored online, and they will be kept encrypted until they reach your Cloud9, then the file becomes readable.

Charging and Connectivity

The Cloud9 has two ports: both of them mini-USB ports.  No more price-gouging with proprietary chargers or connection cables. Either of the two ports can be used to charge the Cloud9, and both of them can also be used to connect with other devices, such as computers, mp3 players, cellular phones, and PDAs.  This way, you can move MP3s, datebook and organizer data, and contact info onto your webspace so that you can access them from anywhere using any Cloud9 device or any other computer with an internet connection.

Rent a Cloud9 for Temporary Use

The Cloud9 is inexpensive to produce and very durable.  And your content is available to you from any/every Cloud9 device, just by logging in.  If you forgot to bring your Cloud9 with you on a trip, just stop by any electronics store.  By swiping your credit card or leaving a deposit, you can rent a Cloud9 and enjoy access to all of your content, and all of the internet.  When you’re done, simply return the Cloud9 to the rental place or put it into the postage-pre-paid Cloud9 Rental Envelope and drop it in any mail box.  Its just as easy as returning a DVD to Netflix or Blockbuster.

Cloud9

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Demand this product from Dell, Asus, Amazon, HP, Apple, Acer, Psion, Sylvania, MSI, Lenovo, Nokia, LG, HTC, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, AND ALL THE OTHER DEVICE MANUFACTURERS.

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Lets work together to make Cloud9 a reality!

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