4 posts from April 2008

Taking GMO to the next level, PETA is offering 1 Million dollars for the development of a meat replacement.

A link to the print article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/21meat.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

I'm not sure what to think of this, but like GM crops it will probably be controversial. In any case I can't imagine eating it today. I'll post some more later.

GPS navigation is still a immature technology in the consumer market. Considering it is a military project, it makes sense that the most complex and technical use of of GPS is to guide our troops and munitions.

"Without corn, there is no country"

This is the slogan of activist groups in Mexico who are against Genetically Modified (GM) imports from the United States and instead want native maize grown.

Genetically modified foods are still confusing to me today. On one hand the development of GM crops means that humanity has the capability in the 21st century to sustain our growing population of billions. Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace prize for his work in Mexico developing GM wheat. Mexico became a exporter of wheat after the development because the crop was so successful. So much in fact that India and China also adopted GM foods to feed their citizens. GM foods not only are resistant to disease, drought, and chemicals, but can be engineered to contain vitamins that would otherwise be lacking.

On the other hand however there are massive protests against GM foods because of the unknown consequences of blasting new genes into the DNA of a crop. Some studies have shown new allergies occurring due to GM soybeans. And the possibility that GM crops would wipe out all naturally occurring crops, and thus lessen the genetic diversity of the planet.

There is also the issue of cross pollination between crops, mixing GM crops with non-GM crops. The Monsanto corporation has already sued many other farmers for using their brand of GM corn without licensing. The farmers claim that their non-GM crop was cross pollinated and thus Monsanto is illegally preying on farmers. One thing is for sure, that Monsanto is a shady corporation that is always buying out politicians. You have to wonder why.

And then there is the European Union which requires all GM food to be labeled. The US has no such guidelines, and most of the food you get in the Market probably has GM food in it. Many other countries will flat out refuse GM food, even in the form of aid for starving people.

Is GM a technology that changed the world? Yes. But for the better?

Here is my proposal for a device for my user interface design class:

1. Problem: Gamers, while growing in numbers, still lack a way to find each other geographically considering that most console and pc gaming occurs on an immobile computer platform (the desktop computer).

2. Target Audience: Younger generation of gamers as well as the older facebook/myspace generation who is used to the idea of social networking, though no social networking gaming platform exists yet.

3. Using Bluetooth and RFID technology your mobile phone can transmit Gamer Tag identification to users who are geographically near your phone during any given moment. Gamer Tag's consist of screenames (which act as links) to popular gaming services, such as Steampowered.com and Xbox Live, which already store information about the user. The interface also allows users of the application in a local area to list their purchased games, and in the case of mobile platform gaming the application can initiate chat and network gaming with others who share the game. Most cell phones also have built in GPS or Wifi service that can be used to triangulate the position of the Gamer Tags as they are passively scanned in an environment. Thus a daily map can be created of encounters with other people with a Gamer Tag transmitting device. This allows you to meet people locally and then schedule events like LAN parties. Privacy options are available to control the flow of information. Also, all previous user ids can be combined into a single Gamer Tag that keeps track of your entire gaming history in one convenient location.

4. No previous attempts have been made to create a application specifically for Gamers, but the leaders in social networking such as Myspace are already moving into the mobile market. BusinessWeek recently did an article on it.
Bluetooth technology is already available in most phones, and RFID is another technology that offers a similar function. The platform could be built upon Google's Android SDK which aims to support a wide range of mobile devices using open source software.

Here is a video of Google Android: