I love cyberpunk. Futuristic technology, dystopian grit, and a whole lot of black clothing. What's not to like? I had a conversation with a coworker the other day about how I wish men had more fashion options. Once the future is here, I'm going full on LED. LED jackets, LED pants, LED underwear. We're not there yet, but you can see the beginnings of it. In this issue, let's take a look at some really cyberpunky stuff.
Robotics and Surveillance
I shot the robot and its leg crumpled inward like a thick tin can. It recoiled, looked at me, then at the floor. Then it started hobbling. It got faster. I turned, I ran.
I mean, it makes sense. It is the drone owner's property. Fascinating to incident create legislature for these futuristic technologies.
If we can recognize someone by build, gait, clothing, and more, why can't a computer? At least online, maybe the next thing could help.
Face-mapping technology + a bunch of faces = really cool and creepy.
You are surveiled, but by whom, really?
Glitchet Tumblog
I find a lot of cool images online. I can't fit them into just one newsletter a week, so I started a Tumblr. If you like the imagery in this newsletter, you should follow new tumblog to get a daily dose of queued glitch, procedural, and cyberpunk goodness.
AI, VR, IoT
Don't freak out - this is mostly an advancement in excellent natural language processing. However, the bot ain't wrong. Speaking of living forever...
New technology is always used for two things first: sex and war.
These robots are sexual, addicts, darkly passionate, and seeded with weird Twitter cybersex. She insulted his brother. "You and me forever." "I have sweat running down my cleavage."
I once read an interesting article about how by acquiring Nest, Google annexed the homes of those who already had Nest. They bought information, data, a piece of our physical existence. Literally purchased something smart on our walls without our consent. As we bring more intelligence and data to mundane things, the more we have to be careful of making sure that those things aren't exposing us to those we don't want to be exposed to.
A small note, an interesting idea - "information hygiene", how well you know what data you expose, where it's going, where it comes from, who can get to it.
A small note. Who knows when? I heard Elon Musk wants to do something like this, too.
A thoughtful long read on the internet's past, present, and potential future, guided by its architecture and the choices of those who make it.
Military and Bionics
You can't outrun bullets. ... especially not these bullets.
This is pretty awesome. I recommend checking out the 2-minute video.
I spend more time imagining what it would be like to own a robot hand than is reasonable. Granted, I don't particularly like the idea of getting my arm hacked.
Arts and Oddities
I just threw this one in here because it looks really interesting.
National research institute says genetically modified lamb was sold to a slaughterhouse last year (and shrugged while doing so, apparently).