The Future is soon to be wholesale
 Two stories of interest:
[1] According to a United Nations survey, robots should become common household items by 2007, taking over tasks like vacuuming, mowing the lawn, cleaning pools and washing windows, as well as becoming our new pets. Aibos, Sony's breed of voice-recognition dog-robots, had increased sales this year. Some people are already blogging about their Aibos pets.
Not everyone is enthused about the prospect. Take Dave Hands of Birmingham, UK, for instance:
Since the introduction of labour-saving devices there has been a noticeable increase in mental illness, silly ideas, depression, stress and anxiety. Arguably this is due to the amount of time we now have to sit around wondering what to do. I don't mean that we should return to the days of endless hard work just getting the washing done/house cleaned. But there is a limit. More machines means more isolation which in turn will lead to more illness, more depression and more anxiety. One wonders whether we will live to see a "bonfire of the micro chips", when people burn their computers, robots, mobile phones etc in an attempt to get their privacy and minds back?
Others, such as Paul Clarke of the UK, have already jumped at the idea:
I already have several small robots around my house. We have an i-Cybie to entertain the younger kids, a Robosapien for the older one and kit built one as an experiment. I think robots can be invaluable tools for learning but could also be used for dangerous jobs that really help save human lives.
As for me, since I'm allergic to pets, vacuuming and human beings, I can't wait until they become proficient and affordable.
[2] According to Wired, researchers are having success in constructing chips to enhance memory:
Professor Theodore W. Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, is creating a silicon chip implant that mimics the hippocampus, an area of the brain known for creating memories. If successful, the artificial brain prosthesis could replace its biological counterpart, enabling people who suffer from memory disorders to regain the ability to store new memories.
And it's no longer a question of "if" but "when." The six teams involved in the multi-laboratory effort, including USC, the University of Kentucky and Wake Forest University, have been working together on different components of the neural prosthetic for nearly a decade. They will present the results of their efforts at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego, which begins Saturday.
While they haven't tested the microchip in live rats yet, their research using slices of rat brain indicates the chip functions with 95 percent accuracy. It's a result that's got the scientific community excited.
"It's a new direction in neural prosthesis," said Howard Eichenbaum, director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neurobiology at Boston University. "The Berger enterprise is ambitious, aiming to provide a prosthesis for memory. The need is high, because of the prevalence of memory disorder in aging and disease associated with loss of function in the hippocampus."
Although the ostensive goal of the research is to treat memory disorders, I long for the day when chips will be used for memory enhancement. For example, how about implanting a new language into the brain before travelling to a foreign country? And, hey, why stop at memory disorders when you can also eliminate bad memories and install good ones? I always wanted to be an All-American LB -- how about purchasing the relevant memory chip on the Internet?
[Via Coast to Coast AM]
4:31:54 PM 
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