Missed the Taste

I somehow convinced Jennie to go to Chicago with me to check out the newest/latest tech stuff at the Wired NextFest at Navy Pier. It was basically a giant science fair with lots of hands-on exhibits, robots and vehicle prototypes. Probably my favorite part was a guy demonstrating a rain coat that made him "disappear". For the effect to work, you had to look through an optical piece of some sort; there was a line to do it. Equally entertaining was the model wearing the coat - he was dancing like it was 4 AM at a rave and he'd been at it all night.

The Philip K. Dick android got an "A" for concept (terrific irony) but a "D" for execution. The skin on its face looked great but did not cover his whole head. Some of its head movements were jerky - like a replicant with a short circuit. That was probably unintentional but pretty cool. The voice-recognition software was terrible. The object recognition software seemed to work, but if there's no consequence, it's not that impressive. So, the main interest was in the concept and the nice work they did on the "skin". More of a sculpture, really.

Not to get all political, either, but I'm a little concerned by what's happening lately. If I have my facts even remotely straight, we've lost a significant chunk of freedom on a few different fronts. First, freedom of religion has been interpreted to mean we should eschew any historical references to the impact religion has had on the law. I'm not sure how anyone is hurt or offended by being reminded that one should not kill, steal from their neighbor, or commit adultery.

I can see where the "shall not worship any other God" proviso would create a bit of an issue, but it didn't when this country was founded or we wouldn't be having this debate. Therefore, if for no other reason than historical significance, I don't see why this is being legislated. Especially in a society where merely mentioning sex or bodily functions can only be viewed as prurient and obscene and will result in either fines or jail time for anyone putting that content into the general media stream.

That's right, it's now against the law to tell fart jokes on the radio. Even clearly understood innuendo is illegal. Funding for public media and the arts almost went out the window. If you say something that falls under the vague description of "indecent" on the air, you can be fined and put in jail! What is happening here? For a while, I thought it was just Howard Stern working the ratings system by fending off "the man" until I heard Garrison Keillor talking about it just yesterday. (Ok, you caught me. I listen to NPR on the weekends.) I guess nobody is bothering to burn books because nobody reads anymore. Oh wait... http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat§ion=News&storyid=29416

Finally, I understand that the government can now claim land at will for private companies (not the railroads, either) to develop. That means that once the new Jewel arrives in Sugar Grove, if they determine that my house would be better off as a Quizno's, I may have no choice. WTF? I simply cannot believe that there are any citizens that would vote for any of these measures. Are our representatives asleep at the wheel? Can we re-establish art as important to our culture and get out of the occupation business?

Sorry for the rant.