Between OpenCo, the Quantified Self conference, and our visit to Google, it was a busy week for the book. From around the web: drones get the critical treatment, sensors develop new capabilities, the internet of things gets more connected, and our twitter streams start speaking for themselves.
As always, if you want to keep up with what we’re reading/thinking about on a weekly basis, the best way is to subscribe to the “else” feed, either as an email newsletter or through RSS.
At Drone Conference, Talk of Morals and Toys – NYTimes
Hobbyists and ethicists came together in New York to talk drones this weekend. The lineup ranged from aerial demos to policy debates.
The Latest Smartphones Could Turn Us All Into Activity Trackers – Wired
The M7 coprocessor in the new iPhone 5S brings low-battery consumption activity tracking to the masses, turning the device in your pocket into a tracker. But does that mean we’re all quantified selves when we as a cost of using smart phones?
MIT’s ‘Kinect of the future’ looks through walls with X-ray like vision – IT World
Simply using the reflections off the human body, this tool can pinpoint a body’s location within ten centimeters. Through a wall.
G.E.’s ‘Industrial Internet’ Goes Big – NYTimes
A big announcement plants more sensors in more places, with the promise of optimizing industries with more data.
Free Software Ties the Internet of Things Together – MIT Technology Review
OpenRemote offers the connections between smart devices, making it easier and cheap to manage a smart home.
Enough with the Trolley problem, already – Brad Ideas
After our ride in the self-driving car at Google last week, we’ve been thinking a lot about the ethics stories that get told. Brad Templeton is tired of the same, played out hypothetical.
A Twitter Account After One’s Own Tweets – The New Yorker
Twitter bots live on after @horse_ebooks with @tofu_product, an account that mimics the “flavor” of your own tweets.
Samsung Galaxy Gear: A Long Time Coming – YouTube
From Dick Tracy to the Power Rangers, Samsung’s ad for the Gear smart watch brings back our retro-futuristic nostalgia for calling base from our wrists.