The road to wisdom

The road to wisdom?
— Well, it’s plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.

• Piet Hein

100-word utopias

Several years ago Kevin Kelly challenged people to [describe a desirable and believable future world in 100 words](https://kk.org/thetechnium/a-desirable-future-haiku/). I didn’t get my submission in at the time but just found it again in my inbox:

> Ahmad Rosencrantz skated across the sky bridge toward the empathygrove. The flowers were glowing softly as they effused dharmabiotics to be carried into the city by the morning breeze. He took a deep breath, and his sympathetic twinges sensed that his wife was happily playing with his daughter up the hill to the right. Ahmad leaned back and his shoes’ nanowheels slowed him enough to take a bite from the nearest chocolate tree. He winked to capture a VR360 of the beautiful scene as his shoes skated him uphill. “Hi guys!” he telepathed to his family.

Still interesting to me, though I might dial down the “tech” aspects in favor of more mindful experiences if I wrote it today.

Machine fashion

Computers are great at generating lots of options…not so great at choosing the best ones. So you can guess what happens [when they start generating novelty t-shirt ideas](https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?srs=16325482011&rh=i%3Aspecialty-aps%2Ck%3Acola&keywords=cola&ie=UTF8&qid=1502249965).

Five years ago this would be in a science fiction movie

The FAA has made a PSA about drones at the Super Bowl.

Calvin, rapid prototyper

[](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2015/01/26)

The problem with the future

[](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2011/01/02/#.U9moAHZhtmQ)

Framing the problem

[Heard this one in a presentation today](http://blog.kiwicreative.net/2011/01/25/how-many-art-directors-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/):

> Q: How many product designers does it take to change a light bulb?

> A: Does it have to be a light bulb?

Heh.

Drive your Google to the Google

This comment has stuck in my head for years…and seems to become truer each day:

> With Google branching into so many fields, one day you’ll [drive your Google](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car) to [the Google](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17VHr6rsPAw) to buy some Google to eat while you [watch Google](http://www.youtube.com) on [your Google](http://www.google.com/tv/). – [TheGatekeeper on Slashdot, 2004](http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=126072&cid=10555532)

Guess we’ve got to get cracking on that edible Google.

Baby contraptions

La ci darem la mano – jazz style!

An [amazing version](http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/syndicate.php?name=phc/2012/11/10/phc_20121110_128&starttime=00:34:44.0&endtime=00:37:25.0) of the most influential song in my life:

The Muppets also did it pretty well!