Produced and hosted by Jon Gordon, Future Tense brings you the latest technology topics in daily five-minute capsules. From electronic privacy and digital democracy to spam and computer worms, Future Tense keeps you up to date on the rapidly changing world of technology.
Future Tense is heard in the United States during broadcasts of the CBC's As It Happens.
Family and friends of soldiers who died or vanished in the Vietnam War can now pay their respects at a virtual version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Historical document site Footnote.com, along with the National Archives, has created an interactive, searchable version of the Memorial. Every name etched onto the physical wall is viewable online and linked to the veteran's service record.
More than 2,000 photos were taken of the Vietnam Memorial wall to create the online version.
March 27, 2008
New research shows benefits of computer games for young children
Researchers at the University of California Davis say computer games and other digital technologies can help foster a sense of community and improve thinking skills in very young students. In a recent study researchers observed kindergarten and first grade students who played computer games during their free time.
UC Davis Associate professor of education Cynthia Carter Ching says the games did not isolate the children. Rather, they found ways to play and strategize together.
Music search engines, such as Seeqpod and SkreemR, function like Google and Yahoo but they look for audio recordings. And they let you play the songs you're looking for.
Today we take a closer look at the Songza search engine.
Also today: You've been rickrolled!
March 25, 2008
E-voting most user-friendly, but error rates too high
Citizens would rather vote electronically than by paper ballots, according to a new study published by the Brookings Institution.
E-voting machines - especially the touch screen variety - have a higher degree of usability, but voters still make errors casting their ballots too often, according to study author Paul Herrnons, political science professor at the University of Maryland.
In many ways, Steve Jobs is Apple. So what happens to the company after its co-founder, chairman and CEO is gone? There's no indication the 53 year-old is slowing down or getting bored, but when a company is so closely tied to its leader, the succession question is worth asking. So I did - to Wired.com news editor Leander Kahney.
Kahney, who's covered Apple for a dozen years, is author of the forthcoming book Inside Steve's Brain.
March 21, 2008
Security expert: I can't recommend security software for Macs
Even though Macs have never been plagued by viruses, worms and other security headaches like Windows computers, cautious experts have long advised Mac users to install antivirus software on their machines just in case.
But Security expert Rich Mogull has a piece of advice that probably makes Windows users a little jealous: Mac owners probably shouldn't use extra security software for now. It's not needed for now, he says, and it tends to affect computer performance negatively.
In a big expansion of casual games, Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon and MTV, is investing $100 million dollars to add 1600 new titles to its lineup of Web sites that includes Nick.com, NickJR.com, Neopets.com and AddictingGames.com. Viacom is expanding the number of games to 6,000.
The casual game market is growing by about 20 percent year over year, according to the Casual Games Association.
Venture capitalist Sharon Wienbar, who invests in casual games companies, says the market is hot, but most players will not survive.
Just as some filmmakers, novelists, and poets seek to fight social ills like poverty and violence by highlighting those problems, computer game makers, too are beginning to use their medium to promote social and political change.
In a game called Peacemaker, players attempt to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by assuming assume the role of the Israeli prime minister or Palestinian president; Darfur is Dying is a web-based game designed to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Africa; Food Force teaches children about global hunger and humanitarian aid.
An news industry report says the the Internet has profoundly changed journalism, but not necessarily in ways that were predicted.
The annual Sate of the News Media report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism concludes the Internet has not reduced the audience for mainstream news outlets as some thought would happen. The project's director, Tom Rosenstiel, says mainstream media have successfully moved online, but the ad dollars are just not there.
Older Americans are often one step behind in technology adoption, but they still live an active online life, according to David Markus, chief product officer at social networking site TeeBeeDee.
March 14, 2008
Mobile communications take on larger role in lives of Americans
Many Americans apparently can't stand the thought of living without their mobile phones.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project says 51 percent of people it polled in a recent survey would rather give up the Internet, televisions and landline phones than their cells.
Pew Researcher John Horrigan says mobile phones are rising in importance for purposes other than talking.
March 13, 2008
Risk to defibrillators from hackers extremely low, but could grow
Researchers have demonstrated it's possible for hackers to manipulate newer heart defibrillators that wirelessly transmit medical data to a nearby device connected to the Internet. They say it's technically possible, though highly unlikely, for a hacker to stop a defibrillator from delivering a life saving shock to the heart, or steal personal and medical information as it's being transmitted.
However, the risk to patients is extremely low, according to William Maisell, director of the Medical Device Safety Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and one of the study's authors.
Researchers hacked into an implantable device made by Medtronic. Company spokesman Rob Clark said the risk of any "deliberate, malicious or unauthorized manipulation of a device is extremely low." And he says future versions capable of transmitting signals as far as 30 feet from a patient will incorporate stronger security.
Still, security expert Bruce Schneier says device makers should take the research seriously and urges them to think more about security as they're designing new devices.
Some futurists and designers believe keyboards and mice are endangered devices, to be replaced by interfaces that will allow users to control their computers in new ways. We've already seen a lot of that of course, from touch screens to new technology that promises to enable computer control with pure thought.
Islamic radicals have mastered the Internet as a tool to organize and communicate - amongst themselves and to the world at large. Now some moderates are attempting to spread a message of non-violence on sites such as Hadithuna and altmuslim.
I'll be reporting from the nerdfest known as South by Southwest Interactive over the weekend and into next week. You can follow my updates on Twitter, on wavLength and here on the Future Tense program site.
Here are some the SXSWi panels that pique my interest (sadly, many are concurrent):
-Kill Your Mouse: Kinetic Computing Arrives Main Stage
-What Teens Want Online & On Their Phones
-Just Over 50 and Not Dead Yet
-The Future of Virtual World & Game Development: Rise of the Indies
-The Suxorz: The Worst Ten Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007
-Online Extremism - And the Muslims Who Fight It
-Core Conversation: Adult Conversations: Sex, Intimacy & Online Relationships
-Go For IT! Attracting Girls to Technology
-Managing the Media Blur
-Core Conversation: 10 Easy Ways To Piss Off A Blogger (And Other Mistakes Marketers Make)
-Friend Me! Vote for Me! Donate Now!
-Textbooks of the Future: Free & Collaborative!
-The Real Dragon: Understanding the Web and Digital Media in China
-Core Conversation: "I'm Internet Famous": Status in Social Media
-Human and Property Rights in Virtual Worlds
-Core Conversation: Are You Smarter Than A Wired Teen?
-A Critical Look At OpenID
-Mobile Phones: International Devices of Mystery
-Judo Moves for Defending Your Reputation Online
-Transforming Hospital Systems: The Digital Future of Healthcare
Chinese government controls Internet by making it a hassle to use
In the March issue of the Atlantic, Beijing-based writer James Fallows explains how China's vast Internet censorship system works, and reports that it's quite easy to circumvent the Great Firewall using readily available tools such as proxy servers and virtual private networks. Fallows says those tools, however, are out of reach for most people in China.
"Whats more than clever about the Chinese government's approach is that it has made going outside the firewall just enough of a nuisance that most people won't bother," Fallows said.
New research at Carnegie Mellon University casts doubt on the effectiveness of of laws that require drivers to use hands-free devices when talking on cell phones.
Using brain imaging technology, researchers found listening to someone speak sharply diminishes activity in the parts of the brain used to control a car. Research subjects had the brains scanned on a driving simulator, and those listening to recorded sentences were much more likely to stray from their paths and hit virtual barriers.
Psychology professor Marcel Just says the driving simulation did not force drivers to react to dangerous situations, so his study probably underestimates the negative effects of talking while driving.
Trent Reznor's band Nine Inch Nails - which was released from a major-label recording contract last year - has posted a 36-track instrumental album on the Internet. Consumers can get the first nine tracks of Ghosts I-IV for free on the band's Web site and on BitTorrent sites; buy the entire album in a digital version for $5; or get physical copies with bonus merchandise in packages ranging from $10 to $300.
Last October, British group Radiohead released In Rainbows over the 'Net and allowed customers to choose their own price.
The new Nine Inch Nails album is available on the Amazon.com MP3 store. A company called TuneCore put it there.
For about $30, TuneCore will deliver anyone's songs and albums to iTunes and Amazon. Unlike traditional distribution companies, TuneCore does not take a cut of sales. Like FedEx, it charges just for delivery, not anything that happens after. TuneCore has worked with artists like Ziggy Marley, Public Enemy and Tapes n Tapes.
Lorraine Joplin, 94, lives in a nursing home in Maryland Heights, Missouri. As part of a recent study, she got to spend some quality time with a dog-like robot named AIBO.
"It was a sweet little dog," she said. "He would do tricks for us."
Joplin's friendship with AIBO was part of a small study by St. Louis University that found AIBO was as effective as a real dog in relieving loneliness and fostering emotional attachment.
March 3, 2008
Tech columnist: Transition to digital TV with converter boxes is easy
It's less than a year now when over-the-air analog TV stations will go dark, to be replaced by digital signals that will require consumers who own older TVs connected to antennas to buy either new digital TVs or converter boxes. The federal government is offering coupons that bring the cost of those boxes to about $20.
St Paul Pioneer Press technology writer Julio Ojeda-Zapata recently tested one of those converters.
