Blogging in the Face of Adversity

I have lately been introduced to a use for blogs that I had not considered before. I have a friend who was involved in a serious accident recently. Her family and those who are very close to her have been keeping a blog about her progress, and updating it very regularly.
I am so glad they are doing this, and I can see its utility from more than one angle. From my point of view, I have been very concerned about my friend, and toward the beginning of the ordeal I felt like I was always asking people "what's happening now?" and "now?" and "any news in the last hour?" I was very concerned and really wanted a constant feed of information, but at the same time I felt guilty for asking because I don't want to make her family and friends dwell on it any more than they already are. Plus the answer to my questions has usually been "wait and see," and that can be hard. Now that I have access to the blog, I don't have to ask, I can just check the posts and keep up to date with recent developments.
I think this makes it easier on her family as well, because they don't have to keep answering the same tough questions over and over again, and they don't have to call everyone any time a bit of progress is made. And since we cannot currently send flowers, the opportunity to leave comments on the blog has provided concerned parties with a simple way to show their support for my friend and her family.
Also, the blog could serve as a record of sorts, if ever anyone would like to look back at this tough time and remember how it was overcome. Every day looks a little bit brighter.

Kindle?

I just discovered last night that I have an acquaintance who owns a Kindle, so hopefully soon I'll be able to see it! I have done some looking into them, and I have been very curious to see their e-ink technology. I hear people talk about them on many of my LIS discussion boards, and people always say the glare would be terrible, staring at a Kindle for a few hours would hurt my eyes, and so on, but if you do some reading about them, there is no backlighting, and supposedly no glare! Even in bright sunlight, they say it appears just like the page of a book. I would assume this means you can't read it in the dark. And according to my friend who has one, the display is truly amazing and doesn't hurt her eyes at all.
She has the Kindle I. I am so excited to see it. I will keep you all posted (ha).

The Singularity

I recently read an article in Rolling Stone about Ray Kurzweil, who seems like a very interesting character.  He is an inventor who pioneered enabling computers to read text and to translate it into speech.  He is in the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received the National Medal of Technology.  He is known for his ability to make accurate predictions about the future, and most interesting to me is his prediction of what he calls the Singularity, which he says will happen by 2045.  

The Singularity is the merging of humans and machines.  According to his predictions, in the 2030's, nanobots will course through our bloodstreams, eliminating disease and reversing aging.  They will be able to scan a person's brain and transfer it to a robot, so that if something happens to the body, the mind can live on.  After 2045, nanobots will replicate and spread throughout matter, stones, trees-- turning them into computers.  To quote Kurzweil, "the universe is not conscious, yet, but it will be."  

This "Singularity" is a very controversial topic.  There is fear that if computers become smarter than humans, they could get out of control.  Kurzweil says that an "out-of-control replicating nanobot" could destroy the Earth's biomass in only a couple of months.  

Many scientists are skeptical about Kurzweil's prediction, calling it a "new religion" (Kurzweil refers to believers as Singularitarians) and saying it is not likely to happen.  It does certainly seem quite a far cry from where we are right now.  Kurzweil refers to the exponential power of technology, saying that it is developing faster than we can imagine, but one virtual-reality pioneer says "the Singularity won't happen because software sucks."

Also interesting to note is the fact that after the Singularity comes into effect, Kurzweil plans to use technology to bring his dead father back to life.  He has been known for his amazingly accurate predictions in the past, but to me this one seems a little too far out there.  I don't know how anyone could say they know what life will be like that far down the road.  But it's definitely fun to think about.