In a recent piece in FastCompany, Jeremy Hsu discusses the pros and cons of a system called Shielded Students, which relies on a high-tech gun detection system to prevent shooters from getting into schools.
Vicky Mochama notes that the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has been using genetic testing to determine where to deport certain would-be migrants to Canada.
Kate Yoder of Grist reports that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering the matter of plant milk. More specifically, the US dairy industry is trying to get the agency to create regulation restricting the term "milk" to the product of lactation, e.g., cow's milk. Such a rule would ban the application of "milk" to plant-based liquids, e.g., almond milk.
The news came in quick succession this week. First, Toronto was considering adoption of the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system. Then, Toronto had decided to adopt it. As the latter article pointed out, after a spate
I had the pleasure to see The Incredibles 2 this weekend. It was an enjoyable movie and a worthy sequel to the original Incredibles, in spite of the 14 years it took to bring out. (Spoiler alert!)
As with the original movie, an important theme of the sequel is the relationship between technology and the self. The first film featured a conflict between superheroes and a hyper-technological villain named Syndrome.
There has been much uproar lately in Silicon Valley, April Glaser writes in an interesting piece in Slate. Employees at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, and others, have expressed disapproval of their companies' involvement with police surveillance, military technology, or refugee policy. Their efforts have apparently had an impact on corporate decisions.
An interesting piece by Sophie Werthan in Slate reports that Facebook is developing a tool to change pictures so that closed eyes appear to be open.
In technical terms, the tool employs an Artificial Intelligence technique that learns to insert realistic, open eyes where closed ones are detected in photos. The point is to help overcome disappointment when users blink in what would otherwise be a nice picture of them.
Barry Katz, professor of Industrial and Interaction Design at California College of the Arts, has written a book that, at 200 pages, conveys a worthy and instructive history of consumer design as it has applied and evolved in the famous Silicon Valley.
The book has two objectives, to survey the development of the design business in the Valley and to explain the development of Design as a professional discipline, one with its own particular knowledge and methods. In both respects, the book is a great success.
In a recent Wired post, Aarian Marshall makes the point that there are several ways of accomplishing the goal of making roadways safer for the people in them. Many jurisdictions have adopted "vision zero" plans to reduce traffic injuries. That is, they aspire to reducing traffic fatalities to none through various safety measures.
I recently had the opportunity to watch the latest instalment in the Marvel movie universe, that is, The Black Panther. The movie concerns the eponymous superhero, who hails from a hidden, high-tech kingdom in middle Africa, called Wakanda. After the death of his father, prince T'Challa must prove that he deserves to ascend the throne and to determine the future course for the kingdom.