Brain things going on inside my head

What if you could record your thoughts and dreams as movies?  Scientists from UC Berkeley have created new technology that may open up such possibilities.  Even though the technology is in its early stages, the demo is pretty impressive.  We’ve been seeing this sort of thing for quite some time in Sci-Fi movies and books, and it just amazes me to see it taking shape for real.  Check it out:

Patent Wars

Patent lawsuits are getting out of hand, and now Samsung is talking about getting the iPhone 5 banned in Korea.  The U.S. patent system is broken, and if the government doesn’t fix it soon, we will head down a long, hard path of mucky litigation where nobody wins and customers are the ultimate losers. Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion just to beef up its patent arsenal for protection in court (Wall Street Journal).  That money could have been used to innovate; instead it’s going down the drain.  All the money spent on patents and litigation will eventually end up costing customers.  Check out this graphic published by Newsweek last spring that gives us an idea of how bad it is.  Each line represents a lawsuit:

Phone Fight!, Newsweek

Steve Jobs’s legacy

Now that Steve Jobs has stepped down as the CEO of Apple, I reflect on the one thing that he did better than anybody else: give us devices we love but never knew we wanted.  He didn’t just improve on existing technologies, giving into the demands of the masses.  He ignored the masses and gave us gadgets that were new and inventive.   Steve Jobs himself said, “It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them" (Wired).  With an eye for simplicity and a discipline of prototyping, throwing the prototype away, and then prototyping some more, Jobs mastered the art of innovation.  Let’s just hope his legacy lives on with even more innovations from his successors.  

Kids and video games: what's the right approach?

I think a lot about how much is too much when it comes to video games and my 8-year-old son.  Playing video games is one of his favorite things to do, and I worry that he may develop an addiction.  I can relate to him because I had a similar draw to the original Nintendo games when I was his age.  Even though I don't play very many video games now, I think it's important that my son know that I understand the desire to play all the time.  So, here is my plan so far: (1) talk to him a lot about the pros and cons of video games and why it's not a good idea to do any one thing too much, (2) set time limits on video games and computer usage, and (3) play video games with him on a regular basis.  I feel like as long as he is comfortable talking to me and playing with me, I'll always know enough about what's going on to make informed parenting decisions.

Watch "Parenting in Cyberspace"