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"In the opening passage of Do Machines Make History (1967), Robert Heilbroner argues that technology has a direct bearing on the human drama of history-but it does not make all of history. The challenge he identifies is whether something systematic can be said about the matter. In this piece, I briefly evaluate the degree to which technological change shapes historical change. I leave discussion on reasons why technologies change for other debates-instead focusing on the effects of technology, irrespective of their determinants. I suggest that while historical change depends on more than just technology, technology plays an unignorable role. Technology expands the range of actions for history-makers, exerts political influence (whether reflecting or independent of the intent of its makers), and can invite a cascade of further technological change."

"Facebook is making strides towards becoming a multi-media communication juggernaut, its head of Messenger David Marcus announced today at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Out of Messenger's one-billion users, 300 million people use its audio and video calling features each month. That's around the size of Skype's entire user base. Facebook is uniquely well-suited to disrupting traditional home and mobile phone voice calling and their successor, video calling. It has the most complete social graph of family, friends, and acquaintances - going beyond what's in most people's phone contacts. It has a one-billion user chat app where people are already spending tons of time. And it has the technology infrastructure to support high-bandwidth transmissions."

Is this as disruptive to all wireless carriers as I think it is?

Japanese researchers have unveiled the AquaTop display, which consists of a screen projected onto the surface of water, controlled by interacting with the liquid. The creators engineered the system to use the water surface as an integral part of its control - for example, one action is carried out when users dip their fingertips to interact with a screen object, and another when they approach the item from underneath the water. On-screen items also react to the movement of the water, meaning that they can be moved or changed by simply disrupting the surface with a splash, or scooping up the water and placing it elsewhere.

The goal of technology and innovation is to go unnoticed and to play in the background of your life. Similar to the tech behind ABS (as per this article). You put your foot on the brake but the real work is done afterwards.

Damn, "graphene can take one photon and make multiple electrons" when compared to silicon

The largest media content platform creates no content.