Futurist

There are 391 posts filed in Futurist (this is page 35 of 40).

Coming of age in America

I have often thought that in America we do a lousy job at bestowing adulthood upon our children. Coming of age rituals for Americans are all over the map, with no rhyme or reason. Instead, we have several milestones scattered throughout various years in a way that leaves kids wondering when they’re officially grown up.

The first big milestone is becoming able to drive. Even that varies in age from state to state but definitely by the age of 16. After one gets one’s driver’s license, there’s another two years before one gains the right to vote and be drafted into the military.
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Free media streaming, solved!

On a happier note, tonight I figured out the last piece of the puzzle of my free media streaming project! I have paired the red5 Flash media server with Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder to create stunning live video, all ad-free. The total cost of my software: $0. It’s just what I’ve been looking for.

I began by downloading and compiling the red5 software on my hosted CentOS server. This involved running a few “yum” commands to install the necessary Java dependencies but that was little challenge. Then I walked away from the project for a bit and when I returned I could not remember how to start red5. After a few more Googles, I discovered red5 had to be started from the /usr/lib/red5 directory on my server.
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Cutting the cable

A friend of mine, fed up with the high cost, just canceled his cable television service after another friend showed him how he could watch his shows on the Internet or through streaming services like Netflix. Another friend got a Netflix-streaming Blu-Ray player for Christmas and is considering doing the same. They both will likely save a bunch of money.

Netflix reported yesterday that they’ve reached the 20 million subscriber mark. They have a $10 billion market value: more than some Hollywood studios. Netflix’s stock jumped over $16 to close just shy of $200 a share on the news.

As I’ve been saying many times, cable television is going through a sea change in how it does business. If cable doesn’t offer a-la-carte programming, people (formerly known as “consumers”) will get it through Netflix or through other Internet sources.

Telemedicine at the dentist

A crown I had put in 11 years ago began to ache over the last few days so I made the first appointment I could to see my dentist. An x-ray was called for, so the dentist positioned the x-ray emitter at my mouth. This time, though, instead of the usual bite wing he placed a bite wing with a cable on it in my mouth.

After snapping the x-ray, I turned to face the dentist and was surprised to see my x-ray was already displayed on the screen. Cool! No more waiting around for the x-ray to be developed. The dentist could view the problem immediately, too, which means he can put more patients in the chair each day.
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The coming oil crisis

After thinking over yesterday’s announcement that Southwest is changing it’s Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program, I was reminded of Southwest’s savvy negotiating of its oil contracts. Its keen ability to manage its fuel costs helped Southwest remain profitable through our last recession while its rivals collapsed into bankruptcy.

I also thought of last week’s analysis saying the surging worldwide demand for oil, driven by China’s voracious energy appetite, would likely result in nearly doubled gasoline prices by 2012. This is after gasoline prices doubled over the past two years. This week the average price of a gallon of gasoline on the East Coast is $3.07, whereas the price two years ago was $1.65 (and yes, I am fully aware that these prices will one day seem hilariously low).
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Another CFL bulb bites the dust

I was not happy Thursday when I learned another CFL bulb in our home had met an untimely demise. We’ve gone through a spate of them dying far too early. It had gotten to the point where I began to write the date of purchase on each bulb so that I could track how long they were lasting.

The one that died Thursday made it 12 months. Pathetic! That’s the worst-performing bulb in the house. It would be a short life for even an incandescent bulb!
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Highlights of 2010: Social media

This year I will once again celebrate my blog highlights, but also will give a nod to the other social media sites.

On the blog front, MT.Net collected 1.73 million hits over this year, translating to 260,000 unique visits. That’s an average of 711 visits per day and about 30% traffic growth from the year before. It’s been a good year, traffic-wise. On the posting side, I estimate I’ve written about 450 new posts this year.

I’m always amused at what brings people to my site, too. I’m still one of the top search results for the Sugarhill Gang’s epic rap song, Rapper’s Delight. I’m also still collecting plenty of web hits for Jefferson’s Bank Quote. I also draw web searchers looking for Bradley Manning, 1Gb Internet, 99% of people can’t watch this video more than 25 seconds, free iPad scam, and TSA cavity search.
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Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity

Truly fascinating.

A finger bone from Siberia now reveals that a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals.

Bizarrely, the DNA from these extinct Siberians seems unusually similar to that of Pacific Islanders from tropical Melanesia.

The 30,000-year-old fossil was found in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia in 2008, a bone fragment that likely came from a fingertip of a young girl. It was discovered along with microblades (small stone blades used as tools), body ornaments of polished stone, and a molar shaped very differently from those of Neanderthals and modern humans, resembling that of much older human species, such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus. (The tooth and the finger bone apparently came from different members of the same population.)

via Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity – Technology & science – Science – msnbc.com.