The grey goo that fuelled, fed, and fixed the world

The history of science fiction is replete with technology big and, over time, increasingly small. Some of the most recognised recent work has been, like Neal Stephenson's steam-punk/cyber-punk crossover The Diamond Age, fundamentally a story about nanotechnology and it's potential uses, with the "grey goo" argument replaced by lung-threatening grey dust when nanobots war with each other.

Bioengineering has not, in my admittedly limited experience, been treated nearly as well. In fact, with the exception of the odd throw-away setup like a branch of homo sapiens engineered for heavy gravity worlds (Anne McAffrey), most of the interesting biological discussions happened decades away with Frank Herbert (across most of his books, not just the Dune epic) and Isacc Asimov.

Which leads me neatly to where I was intending to go: Asimov constructed a world in which the Earth is essentially a giant metal sphere, all living done in built-up catacombs because there's no space on the surface left, and all food produced by - wait for it - yeast beds. Yeast as food found other expression in several of Asimov's books and short stories, including one in which a chef introduced actual garlic into a culinary competition instead of using the several hundred flavoured varieties of yeast available, and was ostracised when he announced it (N.B.: If this wasn't actually Asimov, please correct me).

The problem is that, despite the obvious potential for micro-organisms, which are so efficient at turning food materials into themselves when they don't have to build supporting structures and internal organs that are difficult to make productive (unless they get fed back into the process as food materials, hello prion diseases...), their potential appears to have been neglected by the science fiction community. Maybe the idea isn't sexy or shiny enough.

Actual science, however, now there's another thing entirely! Observe: 10 Ways Genetically Engineered Microbes Could Help Humanity (Discover Magazine). Ten ways is a bit of a stretch - there are four different ways of fighting disease alone - but this is seriously cool science. Constructing microbes to produce medicines is good but not particularly surprising. Engineering yeast that is much better at producing ethanol is interesting and has serious commercial potential in the current climate, and producing petroleum products instead of the corrosive and inefficient ethanol is much cooler again (we can get biodiesel straight from palms and rapeseed [that's Canola, in case you weren't aware] and hemp seeds, can we get biodiesel from random organic material via microbes? Please?)

But I think that my favourite from the entire list is the last one. Microbes have been enginered that can produce proteins that can attach to metals at stress points. I repeat, that attach to metals at stress points. This is seriously cool. A merging of organic and inorganic like this, bio-metallurgy if you will, is much more exciting than doing the same thing with nanomachines, and not much less exciting than producing nanomachines that can detect stress points on airplane wings in flight and enact running repairs in sub-zero temperatures and constantly fluctuating stresses.

Keep it up, I say, keep it up.

Design 1: Content 0.

I am not a big fan of ABC's online news site. They just don't seem to understand the Internet: No external links is the big one, even on stories which are trumpeting a big new free online public health initiative which readers then have to go and find for themselves. They can even spend a page talking a free telephone service without once mentioning the number. All of which is not only a failure to understand online journalism, it's a failure of basic good journalism. The best they do is link to their own related content, including multimedia. Which is a start.

But, although the journalists and editors might be a bit slack, someone clearly has a good idea or two. I just hit the "Print" link on one story with an embedded photo, and got a little dialogue "Print Options: Include Photo" with a check-box and an OK and a Cancel. Which is a rather nice touch. Well done the web developer.

Now can the content developers catch up, please?

Link to ABC News Online

Gadget freaks have a wonky sense of priority

Courtesy of a friend borrowing my car, today I am riding his motorbike. It's a Yamaha TDM900, so I'm not a complete stranger to the bike, having ridden my girlfriend's TDM. But that was a while ago, and every time I get on one of these it takes me a while to get used to the more sensitive throttle, the bigger power, the different engine characteristics, the touchier front brake and, most significantly, the height and the width across the handlebars of an adventure-tourer.

So what is my thought as I'm sliding up the side of crawling traffic, comfortable with the height because it's so stable, used to the throttle and getting used to running the engine at the best RPM?

"Cool, it's got a clock!"

Not necessary, just really annoying

The things that can be done using different technologies available to website designers are incredible. They were incredible with just Java, and with DHTML, but then came Flash (http://www.dontclick.it/ is still my favourite all-time coolness demonstration for Flash, and one fo the few Flash-only websites I will suffer to not be thrown into the fiery lake of torment when the revolution comes), and JavaScript grew up, and now they're not just building online window-manager demonstrations and email clients and chat clients, but online office suites and even image editing programs. And this is really cool.

But,I would like to point out, it's not necessarily good.

In fact, if I ever go to a website that says "There's a lot to load but it's worth the wait!" Then I know for certain that you, Sony-Ericsson, have failed. If I have a fairly recent installation of most things and, a week after the latest Flash version has been updated, I go to a major company's website and it tells me to upgrade Flash, then I will know that you are a rude pack of incompetent bastards who care more about appearance than providing a service to potential customers.

And if I go to a website looking for basic, simple, textual information and I get a drop-down in my the-bastards-made-me-use-it Internet Explorer saying "The following website wants to install ", I will probably beat my head on the desk trying to work out why, in the name of all that is unholy, it was necessary to exceed basic HTML with CSS, and maybe JavaScript, in order to build a website that is basically a Wiki.

People really do try things for the sake of it or because they don't have to think as much, they really do.

A quick plea to promoters

If you are designing a poster, or flyer, or handout, or any damn thing, please, please, please, don't do it in all-lowercase. It doesn't make you look funky, it makes you look incompetent, childish and annoying.

And particularly if you are advertising works skills courses, including affiliations with national, federally-funded training organisations, you really should be able to do a more professional job.

Hey, that's neat...

So, it seems that Samsung have been trying to redeem themselves and be builders of desirable high-end phones instead of desirable looking phones that, like a slightly dim girl blessed with natural good looks and a scholarship to a finishing school, disappoints you halfway through the date by giving you a confused look and saying "Huh?" in their original accent.

Behold the first 8, that's eight, I repeat eight megapixel camera phone, the (oh dear) Innov8. Top marks for the design and the hardware, but honestly guys? It's a lot safer to just do a Nokia and stick with numbers.

It's got fancy camera software, and built-in GPS, and everything else, and normally I would be saying "Yeah, yeah, it's better than my phone, so what, it's new" and moving on. But this thing has an optical mouse. I have commented before that I really wish the next sweeping change in mobile design would be Blackberry's trackball, which Samsung, the design tarts that they are, have played with. Well, this phone goes one better. In the same way that mice moved from lint-attracting balls to optical sensors, there is an optical pad which serves the same function as a trackball, but is cooler. 

Earth calling Nokia: Copy this.

Link to All About Symbian review.

What I want from a motorcycle, revisited

At about this time last year (although that really is purely coincidental), I put down my thinking-as-I-go list of what I'd like my next motorbike to be like. At the time I said that I had "at least two years". Oh, to laugh hysterically. Probably, realistically, a little bit longer than that.

But I thought it would be intriguing to revisit the topic and see how my opinions had changed or, alternatively, not.

So, here goes:

Two cylinders. This one remains. I still don't like four-cylinder bikes. They're good for racing, but on the road they don't seem to be the most useful solution. And they don't sound as nice. Or feel as nice. And are less fuel-efficient.

Triples still sound good, but the Triumph Tiger feels weird to sit on and frankly there are better looking weird-looking bikes out there. The Benelli Tre-K (get it?) is exotic, but honestly? A Benelli? I've got more sense than that. Which means that a twin it is, by default.

Heated grips. I'm still not going to argue about this, so don't even bother trying. If the bike I end up choosing doesn't come with them stock, I will be getting an after-market kit.

More power. Well, yes. As if it's even possible to get less power than a Seca II these days.

A comfortable riding position. Yep, still current. There just really doesn't seem to be any point to sacrifice a bit of comfort for a bit of speed unless you race. Anything else is just wankery.

A good range. Again, still current. Current financial situation curtails the weekend jaunts a bit, but a good day's ride, or overnight camp, is made a bit tedious by having to fill up three times between home and destination.

Flexibility. To reiterate: Must be able to go hard. Must be able to go far. Must be comfortable. Must be easy at slow speeds and stop-start traffic. Why compromise? This is now even less necessary as technology marches inexorably onwards.

Rough road ability. Yeah, still a handy idea. Not only does this make the occasional dirt road and more interesting camping trip possible, but it also comes with the consequence of tougher tyres and rims. Which is handy.

Adjustable suspension. Well, actually, I can't be bothered any more. The changes of me fecking it up are, in all honesty, better than the chances of me making any improvement to the way a factory-standard bike behaves with my riding ability.

Luggage. Better to say: "Luggage attachment points". Right now, if you get a Yamaha TDM, an excellent base for long-distance, most-of-Australia tourer, you can get factory luggage for it at nearly $1,000 per pannier and, to add insult to insury, $300 for the mounting hardware. Ditto for a top-box. Or, you could drill through the existing rack to mount a top-box, or buy from Givi or Hepco & Becker or even Rjays and save yourself about 300%. Realistically I'm not going to get a bike with nice universal attachment points. That's not how the gouge-the-bastards accessories market works. But it'd be nice, is all.

A bit of design flair or passion. I repeat: Why the hell else do you buy a bike? Even BMWs are getting a bit interesting these days, and this is still as good a reason as any to not buy a Honda.

Clever. See above, but this is probably going to be the most likely point of compromise, given probably price points.

Semi-faired. I still don't like fully-faired bikes, and I still don't like naked bikes. Luckily, most of the interesting ones, and most of the adventure tourers, pretty much fit the bill. I'll also add to this a decent windscreen.

A power outlet. Yes, still handy. It means I could use my mobile phone as a GPS tracker and not have it go flat halfway through the ride.

Oh, and one more thing: An easy way of adjusting the drive system and checking the oil. Realistically I'm unlikely to be able to afford a bike with a shaft drive, only Harleys (and Buells) and the F800 come with belt drives, and the only "easy" way to adjust a chain is with a well-designed single-sided swingarm that won't let you fuck up the alignment. But even they all need the right amount of oil, which, without a on-side-stand-only check system which I have never heard of, needs the bike to be level. What this really all boils down to is: Put a centrestand on more bikes, you tight-arse bastards.

Anything else? Well, since it can be done simply and cheaply with aftermarket bits and bobs, how about Tyre pressure monitoring. While we're on the subject of wild leaps into the known, I'll add fuel consumption monitoring on cheap trip computers on cheaper bikes.

But I'm getting away from myself.

That is actually a disappointingly not-very-revised list. Only a couple of modifications of priority, but... Am I really that predictable, or did I make the right decisions first time around, or do I desperately need to get out and test-ride bikes on a flimsy pretence? Hmmm, that sounds like fun...

Link to the original post.