Nice PR campaign to prepare the floor for a new generation of wearables / tracking & monitoring devices .. don't get me wrong, I like(LOVE) the technology, I just don't like the idea of becoming a self-sponsored spy pawn on me and everyone around .. focus on privacy, local/self hosted services first, hardened leak-free hw, cloud data encryption(with keys not leaving your devices) by default + 1000 of other privacy-related challenges that are being largely ignored .. and since this is not in the fin. interest of hw manuf./main sw houses .. the world is becoming a modern, more efficient, better organised version of orwel's 1984 and it looks like regardless of the amount of information confirming this disturbing development, people naively trade 15min of fame for privacy again and again(and it - will - turn against you even if you are protesting in front of the "right" embassy - well, activism of any kind is considered a threat these days so better stick to those kitty pictures and comments about the newest season of <insert your favorite tv-series> )
2014, maybe its about time. You just have to define your problem set correctly, and work with reality rather than an idealised version of it(goes especially for historical precedences). we are lazy, selfish - egocentric, opportunistic animals .. with some natural variations into - what could be considered extremes (altruism / full blown "sociapathism" as an example). Designing public institutions means designing systems those institutions will run on - means getting rid of the non-existent ideals we like to assign to our selves as a species and start working with the sorry-state reality of homo-sapiens-sapiens - hence, engineering challenge ( like designing machinery for a self-managed pig-farm - and yes I chose pigs as an example on purpose )
well, none of these are really implemented (yet) but here you go
SW Only
1) An all-in-one transport app. You'd have a single credit wallet you could re-charge on a monthly/weekly/as-needed basis. You set in your profile for how long you are willing to wait for a ride(lets say +/- 15min), and how far are you willing to walk from your current location(lets say r500m) + other criteria if you please(like ferraries-only:). Rates could be something like few cents/km for "civilian" drivers(standard car-sharing - could be problematic depending on the legislature/generated profit for the driver), few bucks/km for cabs, pub transport based on routes/times and - dynamic pub transport routes per km as well. Lets say there is a after-work beer with colleagues planned so you can't drive to work by your self. During breakfast you just choose a destination(predefined for freq. places), desired time and a "hitchhiker sign". All drivers doing the same/similar route(with criteria compatible with yours) would be notified .. a few "accept" clicks away/maybe a quick look at the drivers profile(badges/km driven/reviews etc) and your off to work. No drivers available? Your app would show you all public transport possibilities(color coded based on compatibility with your criteria) + cabs in your area - few clicks away and you're set(either buying a ticket or ordering a cab). Double-validation for payments based on transport type - no more waiting on a bus stop for 2 hours watching 100's of driver-only empty cars going your direction + a public API would mean that bus companies could also use small 6-8 passenger buses and dynamically create new/amend existing routes based on the demand(200 people heading to a business park across town(C) from destination A, 100 from B to D(which is near C) between 0800 - 0900 > change route via B .. if time intervals are met(like 1h from A - C) ) ++ all the data flowing your direction could also be used as a waze alternative for even better routing +++ you could profit by selling api data/on % from commercial transport partners) + have awards for car-share folks like free oil/filter changes after 10k km/free coffee after 20km between 2200 - 0600 etc..). If you are in EU, these projects are highly welcomed..
2) We need a distributed decentralized(p2p), no-authority write once read many storage solution for "our civilizations data" like news/general knowledge. It has to support versioning, encryption, deduplication, store synapses between relevant data, be self-healing, layered, nodes monitoring/promoting(demoting)/caranteening each other if needed, role-based - build on premise that all* of the nodes are/can become malicious actors(..). Everyone should be able to run a node on his nas @home/mobile device, assign roles to his devices etc .. general storage for all things public.. + it should support anonymous document uploads(lets say an indenpended journalist from syria wants to get his/her story published / someone working in a big-co comes across some very interesting public-interest documents he;d like to publish and doesn't trust honey-pot assange/media) - all big problems on their own .. regardless of the client app using the data(if you are running a auto-moto/pro-(enter political party) website, you may apply as much filtering as you wish), the user should still be able to get/contribute to the "publicly-generated" synaptic nw of a news story as stored on the backend + this is the bare minimum for other systems we desperately need to reform(the "no-trust" premise of it) so a good way to dive into this problematic
3) services on top of 2) .. and there are many ..
4) DNS, routing, ssl/alternative, smtp replacement! .. + ton of things you could do to make this world a better place.. please just don;t waste it on another twitter app
5) Clouds are here to stay, what has to change is the way we look at and work with data + connected with 2) + a few old concepts ms thought about pioneering a few years back, maybe its time for - yet another - linux distribution, combining best of today's storage array internals, embedded systems, containers/vm technology and security(..). In combination with some dedicated (hopefully usb-sized) hw .. could be a interesting time-waster
SW + HW
1) Easy-to-use/build RF-net kits for low-bandwidth applications(irc/messaging fe) - pick a protocol/design your own, design a hierarchical topology of clients, ap's, retransmitters, keep an eye on per-country rf encryption restrictions and hope you'll never have to use it as your primary means of communication(eg no "accidents" on our main optic backbone)
2) HW keys to your cloud data/apps - turning your PC into an accessory/treating it the same like a cloud service provider with computing/storage services available based on the pc-os setup .. maybe the x-server architecture could finally become applauded ..
"HW" Only
1) The idea of public work-places is great! soldering sets, measuring gear, 3d printers, tools for lease, benches for alu/wood work etc - would probably be a hit anywhere(+ that equipment costs too much/takes years to gather at home.. ) - there is a hobbyist in most of us + in combination with a caffee/"fun" area/library and city funding, you may even get into some green numbers
2) In combination with 1) - electronics tuning shop - if you like to get your hands dirty(building hw slider switches into phones/nbs, custom cases/hw customization - router fw's etc) - you could get some traction if you;d presented your self as something underground/anti-establishment .. these days..
3) bio and localized farming - huge opportunities, really bad business models(we;re talking about real bio producers struggling with the rising regulatory pressure lobbied by the big guys, not the so-called bio farmers selling out to those big-co's) - monthly payments with 2x/4x a month "basket" deliveries of seasonal food to your doorstep with some it tech in the mixture + insurance coverage for the farmer +++ .. ok I'm hungry - sry for this half-baked not thought through / naive / unfeasible list and good luck ..
Re SW 2 and 4: You might want to base this on http://named-data.net/ that builds an information-based alternative to the host-based IP protocol. AFAIK this work was started by Van Jacobson at PARC who is a central figure in the TCP/IP stack.
1) Genes do play a role but it's still an ongoing research on the real impact they have. The current upper estimate for general intelligence is around 7-10%[1] which leaves the median of the population unaffected(meaning, 1 in 10k people born in poverty may be able to escape a slam and be successful(with all the grey area this word entails) because if this random boost - but the median is what we should focus on when designing our social/educational system .. sooo
2) We're all different* in a way but its primarily our environment that stimulates our intellect. From early age - music, lego/toys boosting creativity, conversations promoting curiosity about the world around .. educated parents(with enough free time and financial/social security[2]) and good schools - mozart would not write a single note had he been born in a poor lumberjacks family(he might have been a pina always playing tunes with some wood laying around - but even this is probably not true since he wouldn't have been exposed to music during his early life(~3-5y) meaning his brain wouldn't wire itself sufficiently to enjoy music as much as to become suff. motivated to go through the hassle/it would be difficult to "grow" a reward cycle for this particular activity; and even if - even if he had understanding parents etc - if they couldn't afford to get him a music instrument/send him to music school he'd probably end up as a lumberjack anyway)
It's time to get our heads out of our as*s, throw away the sociopathic narcissism/individualism that is so blatantly being promoted these days and look at the reality: You can't really boost your egos looking from above on all the people living in poverty/homeless/lower class or those who just "didn't make it" - because you haven't had the same starting position( >1) ). It would be OK to feel "superior" - looking at your car-park/property list - and despise people below(well not really but lets forget about the implications for now) - if everyone would have the same opportunities as you had(pre-school - should filter out bad parenting as well - /school/uni/entry capital/enough social and financial security to be able to take the same risks ..). In such a world - with a working education system and social safety net - there would still be "losers", a lazy good-for-nothing percentage/large leisure-crowd but if one of them decided that - after 10y of doing nothing, with friends all making contributions to medicine/science/writing novels/doing art he'd want to do something with his life too(which is the default for most people - till our current education system won't beat this out of your head) - he should have an opportunity to start school/business/project without taking 2 jobs and putting his family on an emergency budget ..
BTW The Original Position by John Rawls is a good thought experiment for this discussion[3]
Well, not quite. I won't waste my time to point out all the atrocities, millions of lives taken, billions of lives that usa destroyed all over the world so a bunch of corporations could get their hands on resources, new markets, so you could strengthen your military and economical grip of the world. All empires commit atrocities, you can be assured that where ever power is concentrated, innocent lives will be destroyed. Regardless of your education, your background, the amount of hours you spend on economic conventions being brainwashed to believe you are entitled, enlightened-enough to do "unpopular" decisions - biologically we all are the same animals we were 100, 200, 500 or even 5000 years ago. if we won't sober up from our overconfidence and ideological world-view of our selves as humanity, all we can hope for are different types of oppressive regimes changing periodically. .. everyone is corruptible - its time to build governments and institutions that take this as a fact(as you might guess I'm advocating measures against power concentration, and - since we're all selfish egocentric pigs who won't care about public matters until we see a direct, clear link to our wallets/environments etc .. OK I went already waaay too far..)
Given today's murky geopolitical situation, its always good to cite history as correctly as possible:
"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) .. also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949."
"The Warsaw Pact was in part a Soviet military reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955, per the Paris Pacts of 1954 but was primarily motivated by Soviet desires to maintain control over military forces in Central and Eastern Europe"
OK I stand corrected, NATO was set up first and then the Soviets set up the Warsaw Pact in reaction to NATO. But that still proves my point that NATO was one side, unlike (say) the UN which had/has both sides.
