Maker Culture

Makers are the technology world's masters of the Do It Yourself (DIY) movement. This is a subculture obsessed with innovation, invention and prototyping. They identify and/or invent new uses for existing technology, or they blend different sources to create new solutions.

The entire subculture emphasizes learning-by-doing. They are all about learning by failure and then sharing their experiences with one another online. As opposed to the historic example of the garage tinker who worked alone to invent something he could patent, the Makers are more likely to license their discoveries under Creative Commons. Makers are the people in the trenches of the STEM fields of study.

All across the world, Maker Spaces are opening their doors. These brick and mortar facilities are gathering places for those willing to learn and share their knowledge. The better funded locations may also include 3d printers, CNC, metalworking and electronics tools. A simple search online will help you find a Maker Space near you.

These are the modern hobbyists. They are the natural extension of early ham radio operators and the Homebrew Computer Club which brought together the founders of Apple Computer. It is within this subculture that will birth the next generation of business moguls. These are the people on the forefront of modern innovation.

Are you a Maker? Tell me about it.

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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The Ghost in the Machine? It's You.

I joined BHF for dinner before we performed server maintenance for one of our customers. We started talking about science fiction troupes. Once that line of discussion started, it was only a matter of time before we talked about The Ghost in the Machine -- we both agree we hate the term, but we are starting to see some of its fingerprints.

By Victor Habbick

In science fiction, this troupe is all about a machine becoming self-aware and questioning whether it has a soul. Some of the greatest stories in scifi center around a self-aware computer that helps or destroys humanity. Naturally, we think it's complete nonsense.

Instead of scifi's emerging self-awareness, we believe it is more like a mass digital swarming Zeitgeist. With every tweet, comment, like, poke, friend request, review and data point we feed the ghost, it collects another piece of the human psyche. Slowly we are accumulating all the joy and hate, pain and pleasure, fear and hope of the human race into a digital format. The collective human psyche now has a mighty digital mirror.

Since all tech strives to become invisible and we are on a convergence course towards one another, soon we will merge with digital technology and make it part of ourselves. At that point, we are the machines. We become technology and it becomes us. The machine won't wake up -- we will.

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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Homo Evolutis

Eventually humans will control evolution, not just through DNA tinkering but also by merging with our technology.

Tech-Philosopher Kevin Kelly postulates that as technology becomes ubiquitous, it disappears from sight. As digital computers shrink towards the nano scale, it is inevitable that humans will implant these as augmentations. Just last month, DARPA announced a program to develop a digital brain implant to help augment human memory as a treatment for various brain disorders.

In April of this year, scientists tested a new DNA-based nano robot that can release medications in highly targeted and controlled ways. Very soon, we will be able to eradicate cancer with targeted treatments which only attack cancerous cells. Current chemo-therapies will be remembered as nothing more than witch doctor medicine. How soon till we are all walking around with nanobots embedded in our bloodstream?

Science continues to push the boundaries of the human genome. Very soon, every baby born will have her genome sequenced as part of her medical file. Doctors will become truly proactive at protecting against genetic illnesses before they become a danger. Eventually, we will be able to genetically engineer out these weaknesses and improve the human animal. Imagine a world without  hemophilia, autism or all the other genetic diseases. It can all happen once we can engineer the human genome.

This is a critical convergence point.

When we can tinker with our own DNA to make changes, and we can control that process via nanobots, we stop being Homo Sapiens and cross the threshold into Homo Evolutis. At that point we become the masters of our own evolution and the human animal will explode into a dizzying array of variations and permutations.

Suddenly, you can sport pink hair for that fancy dinner party and then change it back before work on Monday. You can tinker with your DNA to adjust your weight or even your height, within certain limits. Who knows? Maybe we could even geneer (gene + engineer) humans capable to withstanding hard vacuum or even those who can breathe CO2 instead of O2. The limits of current humanity end and a whole new human race begins.

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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The Convergence Revolution

Scientific convergences cause socio-economic revolutions. As the sciences arrive at a unified understanding of nature, new fields of human study are born. As we solve the old problems, we discover new problems that require their own fields of inquiry. Eventually those new fields become their own recognized, independent sciences which delve deeper into the mysteries of reality. The sciences diverge and expand into new areas until once again they contract and converge. It is the rhythmic breathing of human innovation. 

The greater the convergence, the more sweeping the economic change that results. The way we work and make our living impacts every aspect of our society, even our culture. The driving social forces of the 20th Century revolved around the antagonism between labor and capital. This is why social organizations that brought people together, like unions and churches, rose to such prominence and power. They were a critical component in the social structures that helped us communicate, share and gave us the important feeling of belonging to something greater than ourselves.

During the next economic period, we will see moves towards borderless organizations, like NGOs. We will witness the birth of the first cohorts who eschew classic nationalism in favor of a humanist perspective. They will see themselves as citizens of the Earth and not of one particular nation-state. The old lines of division will fall away in favor of new divisions, largely based on how much they have embraced life altering technologies.

All of these changes will dramatically impact how we conduct business. Everything from how we find customers to how we deliver products and services will be redefined in the next 20 years. Don't wait until it's too late! Contact us today so you can futureproof your business.

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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Building the New Foundation

I've spent the greater part of the last few months mulling ideas and trying to coax them into something I can write about. I leave it up to my readers to decide if I have been successful.

It is abundantly clear to me that we are on the cusp of a new revolution in how we work, live and play. New technologies have created new opportunities. However, some technologies have significantly more impact than others. These so called "foundational technologies" are critical because they enable significant expansions in innovation.

A foundational technology provides the platform for a whole new range of possibilities. As more people tinker with the new foundations, they build alternative solutions to existing problems. The controlling interests in any foundational technology love all these offshoots because they make their product/service that much more useful. In essence, they create an ecosystem based around their foundational technology which inspires further innovation. This is the network effect but on a much larger, more diverse scale.

Let's start with the most well known foundational technology in modern life -- electrification.

Starting in the 1880's, industrialists in the United States and Great Britain began to build electrical power plants and massive copper wire networks to sell electrical power. Over time, electrical utilities spread throughout the advanced world, bringing light and power to their customers. This sparked the birth of the electrical appliance industries -- dishwashers, dryers, blenders, ceiling fans, and so forth. Today everything seems to come with a power cord. Electrification is the foundational technology of the modern world.

More recently, we have seen how digital computing has become a foundational technology, not just the computers themselves, but the internet as a whole. Computers and the internet have enabled new methods for working, sharing, living and playing. They have also provided the platform for the creation of new businesses and lifestyles. Like a pyramid, electrification led to digital computers which led to the internet. Each one builds upon the other but the child cannot exist without the parent -- a computer without electricity is an expensive paperweight.

I contend that this current convergence will create a host of new foundational technologies which will rewrite society.

For example, 3d printing will be a major foundational technology. A direct offshoot of digital computing, 3d printing will create a platform for dramatically altering the future. The impacts of 3d printing will be seen in every field of human endeavor. From medicine to logistics, 3d printing is making a significant impact, and it is still in it's infancy.

What happens when 3d printers become ubiquitous? What happens when every one has cheap, immediate access to 3d printers capable of converting computer bytes into molecules? How does the world (and your business!) change when anyone, anywhere can manufacture anything they imagine?

Call us today for these (and many more) answers to help you navigate the future. There is no time to waste! These science fiction dreams will become reality within the next decade. (305) 423-9574

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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The Great Convergence

Some time ago I wrote about the looming scientific convergence.  These rare events happen when different sciences all arrive at a unified understanding of a pivotal truth about life, the universe and everything. Each of these different sciences, using different tools and fields of knowledge, all run smack into a unified understanding of reality that causes everything to change dramatically.

The Industrial Revolution was born with the steam engine. But the steam engine was born from the convergence of Newton's laws, advances in metallurgy and applied pneumatics. Then followed all the incredible leaps in science, technology, productivity, work, society, business, governments and economics which we call the Industrial Revolution.

Convergences in science are exciting to witness. You should know because we are seeing one happen now. I am convinced we are living at the very beginning of a rapid series of multiple convergences.

I'm not sure what that next revolution should be called. Instinctively I want to call it the Digital Revolution, because so much of it will be caused by the application of digital technology. However, I cannot ignore the enormous part to be played by biotechnology, nanotech, robotics, new materials and good old physics.

Right now, we are living in the Information Age, born from the transistor, which came from the convergence of materials sciences and information theory. The Information Age is the precursor to the Next Revolution. And just like the Industrial Revolution changed everything about life, work, war, business and economics, so too will this Next Revolution change everything.

At this point, I understand your skepticism. "We just finished having everything change with computers and the Internet, Lou. How much more change can there be?"

Trust me. I have wrestled with the same question. But the facts remain, sciences are converging every day:

• Digital computer printers are making human organs. 
• Green houses are cleaning industrial waste water. 
• Miniaturization is advancing. 
• Battery technology is improving. 
• Materials sciences are delivering newer, more amazing materials at a faster clip. 
• Gesture control of computers is improving.
• Stunning advances in mind control of computers. 
• Nano-tech medicines are being tested.  

Any time when many different fields of scientific study come together, something amazing happens. Everywhere I look, I see signs of that happening right now. We are at the beginning of an unbelievable transformation of society, culture, governments, business, economics, war, technology, productivity, work, efficiency and science. Life will change completely during the Next Revolution.

Are you ready for it? Want to learn how to ensure your business thrives instead of dies? (305) 423-9574

R-Squared Computing | Lou RG | Nearly Free IT | Firm Wisdom

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A Looming Convergence

Recently on Facebook, I posted a TED Talk by Stephen Wolfram. This is one of those TED Talks that's had me thinking for the past two weeks. Here's the talk:



I think I know what caught my attention. Wolfram talks about how computation is giving insights into the Standard Model of physics. He has started using his software tools to model multiple universes with properties similar to ours. What is impressive is that he has achieved models that account for much of modern physics starting with simple components.

For the last 100 years, physicists have been searching for the Grand Unified Theory which will bring together all the different, incompatible theories of physics. String theory, super gravity, M-theory are all attempts to resolve this dilemma -- with varying results. Now, Wolfram is working on the same thing but from a completely different direction.

I think we are on the verge of a massive scientific convergence. These rare events always bring about incredible social, political and economic changes.

Convergence is when multiple sciences come to a unified understanding of a pivotal truth -- from their unique and different directions. Every major tech revolution has been brought about by convergence. The theories of one field are applied to the processes of another to arrive at a new physical understanding.

For example, the Industrial Revolution came about because of the convergence of Newtonian physics, metallurgy and pneumatics -- to name just the Top 3. Isaac Newton figured out his famous "1 Inch Formulas" that describe motion and forces. They formed the "language" that made the Industrial Revolution possible. Metallurgy created new steel alloys which could contain the forces calculated by Newton's laws. And pneumatics tied them all together to create the steam engine.

We are heading towards another major convergence. Our understanding of the physical world is growing by leaps and bounds. The discoveries made in particle accelerators and quantum mechanics are enabling advances in nano technology. Computers are working around the clock to break down and understand organic processes, like DNA mapping. Our technology is being applied across scientific fields with staggering results.

This next convergence is coming on the heels of the Information Revolution. This will cause a massive change in every aspect of our lives -- so much that it is impossible to predict what will happen. I'm not necessarily talking about Ray Kurweil's Singularity, but something big is coming.

And it's coming soon.

The looming convergence is going to rewrite the rules. Again. Get used to it. Change is coming faster than ever before. Those businesses designed for agility and a willingness to adapt to change will survive. The rest will fail.

Are you ready for tomorrow? Get futureproof with R-Squared Computing.

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