It has been observed that the most profound technologies are those that disappear (Mark Weiser, 1991). They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it, and are notable only by their absence.

The feat of reticulating clean potable water into every house, so that it is constantly accessible at the turn of a tap, is a great example of the outcome of large scale civil engineering projects, combining with metallurgy, hydrology, chemistry and physics. But we never notice it until it is no longer there. Similarly, the adoption of household items such as the refrigerator, washing machine and stove. And of course let's not forget the feat of the domestic electricity supply grid. Prior to the construction of national grid systems, electricity's customers were entire communities and the service role was in lighting the town's public spaces at night. Domestic electricity was an unaffordable luxury for most households. Today we simply take it for granted.

Computers are also disappearing. Today's car has more than 100 million lines of code, running in more than 100 microprocessor control modules. What we see in the car is not these devices, but instead we have cars with anti-lock brakes, traction control, cruise control, automatic wipers and seat belt alarms. Each of the car's underlying control systems are essentially invisible, and about all we get to see is the car's human interface system. This visible system, essentially an entertainment controller and navigation service, is currently the space where both Apple and Google are jostling for position with the auto makers, while all the other microprocessor systems in the car remain unremarked and little noticed.

So how should we regard the Internet? Is it like large scale electricity power generators: a technology feat that is quickly taken for granted and largely ignored? Are we increasingly seeing the Internet in terms of the applications and services that sit upon it and just ignoring how the underlying systems are constructed?

What about the most recent Internet revolution, the massive rise of the mobile "smart" phone? Will the use of a personal mobile computing device be a long lasting artefact, or will it be superseded in turn by a myriad of ever smaller and ever more embedded devices?

What should we make of the mobile smart phone industry? Is this all-in-one device headed down the same path of future technology obsolescence as the mainframe computer, the laptop and even the browser?

Or are these devices going to be here to stay?

How did we get here?

One way to answer this question is to look at the evolution of the computer itself. Computing is a very new industry. Sure, there was Baggage's analytical engine in the 19th century, but the first computers appeared in the mid 20th century as programmable numerical calculators. These were massive feats of electrical engineering, built at a cost that only nation states could afford, and were of a size and fragility that they required their own building, power and conditioned environment. Valves are large, require high levels of power and are fragile. For the early computers, such as ENIAC, a small cadre of folk were taught how to program them and a far larger team of specialists were employed to keep these behemoths running. This model of computing was one that was only accessible for a few, and at a cost that was completely unaffordable for most.

The invention of the transistor changed everything. Transistors were far more robust, used far less power and could be produced at far lower cost, leading to the advent of the commercial computer in the 1960. These units, such as the ubiquitous IBM System 360, were used in large corporates and in universities and research institutions as well as in public agencies. They still required dedicated facilities and a team of operators dedicated to keep them running, but now they branched out from being numerical calculators into information storage and manipulation devices. These computers could store and manipulate text as well as numbers. At the time computers were seen as the device itself and the giants of the industry were manufacturers whose logo was stamped on the hardware. The value of the unit was the hardware: by comparison the residual value placed on the software was almost incidental.

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The Mobile Internet

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My coffee maker is texting me again. It's scheduled to make coffee tomorrow, the message says, but I need to refill its water tank. Welcome to the future.

The Mr. Coffee Smart Optimal Brew Coffeemaker with WeMo yes, that is its official name is just one of many household appliances being remade to connect to the Internet and take care of themselves. There are thermostats, smoke alarms, washing machines and even $1,000 Bluetooth-connected toilets.

A Google subsidiary, Nest, which makes smart appliances, likes to talk about turning "unloved products" into "simple, beautiful, thoughtful things." And the company's chief, Tony Fadell, has predicted that in 10 years, "everything will have data in it."

That's not difficult to imagine anymore. Computers are cheap and tiny. Wireless Internet is nearly everywhere, so technologists are looking to implant some computing power in nearly everything.

I will admit. This can feel silly. I mean, who needs a coffee machine that texts him? Is that really necessary?

"The egg carton tells the fridge it's empty, which puts eggs into the list for a shopping app, which then delivers those things to your door. Meanwhile, the smart front-door lock knows the delivery person is coming and opens itself automatically when he arrives."

- Alexis Madrigal

Clearly it's not. For years, I've used a simple French press. It does not have sensors, nor does it connect through my wireless network to nag me about its needs. All my simple French press does is make delicious coffee that's a bit better than what my supersmart Wi-Fi-enabled drip maker can manage. And yet, who does not want to hit the "brew coffee" button from bed? I, at least, wanted to know what that felt like. And it felt good.

Read more here:
The World Loves The Smartphone. So How About A Smart Home?

The Australian Defence Force is set to help survey cyclone-hit towns in central Queensland today as the region begins counting the cost of Cyclone Marcia.

The fierce category 5 system made landfall near Shoalwater Bay on Friday morning before grazing Yeppoon and passing over Rockhampton.

Leanne Smith, whose daughter and two grandchildren, aged 7 and 11, were evacuated from their Yeppoon home, said she couldn't believe what was left when she returned to survey the damage.

"I was actually really emotionally affected by it," Ms Smith told AAP.

"It's just not something you can really explain to people, it's actually quite devastating."

Miraculously, the family's goldfish survived the storm and was found swimming around in its small tank surrounded by the home's fallen walls.

"It was called Pig, but my grandson Tarn has renamed it Superfish after this," she laughed.

The system was gradually downgraded to a category 3 cyclone as it tracked down the coast, leaving a trail of destruction with many homes having roofs torn off.

FOLLOW 7NEWS METEOROLOGIST TONY AUDEN FOR LIVE UPDATES

Rockhampton local Phil Tout was inside his home when the roof was torn off.

Read the rest here:
Cyclone Marcia: Qld lashed by category five cyclone

The Australian Defence Force is set to help survey cyclone-hit towns in central Queensland today as the region begins counting the cost of Cyclone Marcia.

The fierce category 5 system made landfall near Shoalwater Bay on Friday morning before grazing Yeppoon and passing over Rockhampton.

Leanne Smith, whose daughter and two grandchildren, aged 7 and 11, were evacuated from their Yeppoon home, said she couldn't believe what was left when she returned to survey the damage.

"I was actually really emotionally affected by it," Ms Smith told AAP.

"It's just not something you can really explain to people, it's actually quite devastating."

Miraculously, the family's goldfish survived the storm and was found swimming around in its small tank surrounded by the home's fallen walls.

"It was called Pig, but my grandson Tarn has renamed it Superfish after this," she laughed.

The system was gradually downgraded to a category 3 cyclone as it tracked down the coast, leaving a trail of destruction with many homes having roofs torn off.

FOLLOW 7NEWS METEOROLOGIST TONY AUDEN FOR LIVE UPDATES

Rockhampton local Phil Tout was inside his home when the roof was torn off.

Read more:
Qld smashed by Cyclone Marcia

The Australian Defence Force is set to help survey cyclone-hit towns in central Queensland today as the region begins counting the cost of Cyclone Marcia.

The fierce category 5 system made landfall near Shoalwater Bay on Friday morning before grazing Yeppoon and passing over Rockhampton.

Leanne Smith, whose daughter and two grandchildren, aged 7 and 11, were evacuated from their Yeppoon home, said she couldn't believe what was left when she returned to survey the damage.

"I was actually really emotionally affected by it," Ms Smith told AAP.

"It's just not something you can really explain to people, it's actually quite devastating."

Miraculously, the family's goldfish survived the storm and was found swimming around in its small tank surrounded by the home's fallen walls.

"It was called Pig, but my grandson Tarn has renamed it Superfish after this," she laughed.

The system was gradually downgraded to a category 3 cyclone as it tracked down the coast, leaving a trail of destruction with many homes having roofs torn off.

FOLLOW 7NEWS METEOROLOGIST TONY AUDEN FOR LIVE UPDATES

Rockhampton local Phil Tout was inside his home when the roof was torn off.

Link:
Clean up begins after Cyclone Marcia's destruction

The Australian Defence Force is set to help survey cyclone-hit towns in central Queensland today as the region begins counting the cost of Cyclone Marcia.

The fierce category 5 system made landfall near Shoalwater Bay on Friday morning before grazing Yeppoon and passing over Rockhampton.

Leanne Smith, whose daughter and two grandchildren, aged 7 and 11, were evacuated from their Yeppoon home, said she couldn't believe what was left when she returned to survey the damage.

"I was actually really emotionally affected by it," Ms Smith told AAP.

"It's just not something you can really explain to people, it's actually quite devastating."

Miraculously, the family's goldfish survived the storm and was found swimming around in its small tank surrounded by the home's fallen walls.

"It was called Pig, but my grandson Tarn has renamed it Superfish after this," she laughed.

The system was gradually downgraded to a category 3 cyclone as it tracked down the coast, leaving a trail of destruction with many homes having roofs torn off.

FOLLOW 7NEWS METEOROLOGIST TONY AUDEN FOR LIVE UPDATES

Rockhampton local Phil Tout was inside his home when the roof was torn off.

Read the original here:
Communities rally for clean-up after Cyclone Marcia

With the downtown homeless camp rapidly expanding, both in numbers and territory, the city has filed an appeal seeking to overturn a court order officials say blocks them from doing anything about it.

On Friday, Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin filed an appeal in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco asking the court to review the December injunction in U.S. District Court in Tucson that blocked the city from interfering with camp residents free speech protest rights.

The city argues that U.S. District Judge David C. Bury erred in determining the protest could continue at all hours as long as five feet of the sidewalk along Church Avenue in front of Veinte de Agosto Park were left clear for pedestrian traffic.

As of Thursday, the encampment, which homeless occupants have dubbed Safe Park, had grown to more than 40 occupied crates, tents and other quasi-structures lining segments of Congress, Broadway and Church Avenue, in addition to those simply piling up belongings and sleeping bags on the sidewalks.

Under the District Courts reasoning, just as the City cannot enforce (Tucson City codes) in the face of the sit/lie exception, the City would also be precluded from enforcing its sidewalk parking ordinances against a car parked on the sidewalk, as long as the magic five feet are left open and unimpeded and the car is somehow associated with expressive conduct, Rankin wrote.

Rankin said the activities of the homeless people in the park and on the sidewalks do not appear to fit the accepted interpretation of protected speech under the First Amendment.

Tucson respectfully requests that this Court carefully parse the question of whether property used to support a 24-hour occupation is used for expressive purposes, and answer the question whether sleeping or sitting as part of a 24-hour encampment is expressive activity, Rankin wrote.

Rankin also wrote the judges decision was made in error because city code does not permit anyone, even if exercising First Amendment rights, to block the sidewalks at all hours of the day or night with objects boxes, crates, hay, grain, any merchandise, bedrolls, blankets, backpacks, ice chests, bicycles, couches, storage lockers, tents, shopping carts, covered wagons, and piles and piles of blankets.

Since the December ruling the crates, which occupants call dream pods, and other housing units have moved beyond the area Bury designated in his ruling.

Jon McLane, one of the homeless activists behind the movement and lawsuit, said he anticipates the 9th Circuit to reject the citys arguments.

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Tucson goes to 9th Circuit as homeless camp grows

Graduate students at the Department of Communication and Journalism are collaborating with Fathers Building Futures, an Albuquerque business, to help felons integrate into their families after incarcerations.

Tema Milstein, associate professor at the Department of Communication and Journalism, said the students from a PhD professional seminar class are collaborating with PB&J, a nonprofit organization working for the rights of children, and specifically with Fathers Building Futures.

This unit of the class in which we are collaborating is focused on using research and teaching to help bring about positive change, Milstein said. We really wanted to engage our graduate students, who are going to be future professors, in understanding how they can bring about positive change in their work.

Fathers Building Futures is an initiative of PB&J Family Services that provides hands-on service and skill-oriented training to previously incarcerated people in auto detailing, mobile power washing and customized woodworking, according to the PB&J website.

Fathers Building Futures aims to connect formerly incarcerated fathers with their professional and civic promises while providing affordable, meaningful and useful services to the community, a PB&J press release states. In the process, child recidivism is cut by close to 50 percent, and children benefit from a father who is not role modeling behind bars.

Fathers Building Futures is working to protect the futures of children as well as their parents, said Dean Maayan, director of PB&J Family Services Development & Strategic Initiatives.

In the majority of cases fathers are returning to jails not because they committed a new crime, but because they failed to secure housing or employment which translates to their Probation Officer as a violation of their parole plan, Maayan said. Creating a business to employ them as they leave prison was our solution to the tremendous problems these fathers face: not being able to get hired despite their talent and desire to work.

She said that many Fathers Building Futures graduates have found employment in other organizations.

This workforce development project of PB&J Family Services has been funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Family Assistance, through its Responsible Fatherhood community-based pilot project grant.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, children of prisoners are 10 times more likely to partake in criminal behavior than children with non-incarcerated parents.

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Grad students help prisoner dads reconnect

An earthquake has rattled residents in the small Queensland town of Eidsvold, with tremors also felt in Brisbane, 430km to the south.

The 5.2 magnitude quake occurred about 2am (AEST) on Monday.

It was followed by an aftershock measuring 2.9 about 45 minutes later.

Callers to ABC radio have reported waking to rattling windows and shaking houses.

Dorothy, from Mundubbera just south of Eidsvold, said it was a strong tremor.

"The whole house shook, it just felt like the washing machine was off balance," she said.

"It shook and woke us up.

"We've been through it once before in the late 1980s. At that time the bed moved across the room but this time, well, it's not on wheels any more but it shook the whole house."

The quake was also felt as far north as Rockhampton, 322km away, and across the Sunshine Coast.

Authorities are warning of more aftershocks in coming days.

Excerpt from:
Quake rattles parts of Queensland