Malcolm Micallef's Blog » Future

A lot has happened since the last time I posted

Malcolm Micallef — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:27:46 +0000

It’s been around 2 months since I last posted a post on this site.

So the world is still around. Nothing much has changed. I am officially a 23 year old and having back problems. That has more to do with the horrible chairs at work than my age but I am still going strong. My half life 3 announcement was completely wrong but hopefully it will still happen since its one of my favourite FPS games of all time.

The buzz word in technology is 3D has I predicted in a post some time ago. It seems that one in every 4 or 5 movies can be seen in 3D at the cinemas. So far the only good 3D movie I have seen is Avatar. It was obvious that for Clash of the Titans the 3D version was just added to try encourage people go to the cinema. Right now I will always prefer HD over 3D.

Though the next 3D movie I will watch will be Piranha 3D. It will probably be a stupid movie with a very bad story line but I expect it to be full of funny scary scenes so it might be worth watching it in 3D. The nudity and all the bikinis are just an extra positive (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT1XUWMqQq0).

When the porn industry backs a technology that is when the technology becomes mainstream. Happened recently with Bluray disks and now 3D has their backing. This is bad news for Flash because they are embracing HTML5 but that is a whole other story. Probably right now I seem like a porn addict.

3D is also popping out in the wild. Samsung and Panasonic pushing their very expensive 3D home solutions which require glasses. Nintendo releasing their new DS which is 3D, requires no glasses and most importantly affordable. You do not need to sell and organ or your first born to buy this gadget. The screens have a poor viewing angle but that is not a problem since to play you need to look directly at the screen. The screens the DS uses is produced by Sharp. Sharp realised that they are leading the way with this technology and hence are now releasing the first 3D smartphone by the end of this year.

Chelsea just lost against Manchester United in the Community Shield so not the best start of this year season but it could be worse and there was a spark from the Chelsea team not like the other boring games from preseason. They should be able to beat WBA next week. Even Sky now are showing the games in 3D. Maybe the next TV I buy will be a 3D flat screen…

Once work dies down I can start working on my side projects again

Electric and hybrid cars in Malta can work forever thanks to this device…

Malcolm Micallef — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:56:42 +0000

Electric cars and hybrid cars are gaining popularity in Malta or else I am noticing them more. Either way we cannot continue using petrol and diesel in the rate we are using it. It will either finish or we won’t be able to afford it. In this rate we won’t be able to afford it soon.

Some young boffins had the great idea of using the wasted energy from shock absorbers (car’s suspension) to generate electricity, named Levant Power’s GenShock. All hybrid cars generate power when the driver brakes. Instead of using brake pads (or together not sure) the electric motor is used to slow down the car and by doing so it generates electricity. This electricity is stored in a battery for later. It’s a good idea to do so because in normal cars braking just produces heat.

With the state of our roads in Malta if an electric car owner had to place this device on their suspension the car would generate enough power to continue going forever. Ok I don’t know how much power it would produce but if you are driving on some bad roads I am sure the battery would charge. This would bring a whole new transport situation in Malta. We would start seeing people making more holes in the roads, adding more speed bumps, etc. Malta would be the first country in the world to have their transportation system petrol and diesel free.

This makes me even want to get an electric car.

If you know anyone who has an electric or hybrid car do the right thing and give them this link.

Everyone should watch this video at the start of their day

Malcolm Micallef — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:36:13 +0000

The video above is a real eye opener. If everyone in the world had to wake up listening to this video I really believe the planet would be a better place to live in.

The speech is an excerpt from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. It talks about the photo of the same name “Pale Blue Dot” taken by Voyager I on February 14, 1990 just before it passed Saturn.

For those who can’t watch or listen to the video here is the speech going on during the video:

The spacecraft was a long way from home.

I thought it would be a good idea, just after Saturn, to have them take one last glance homeward. From Saturn, the Earth would appear too small for Voyager to make out any detail. Our planet would be just a point of light, a lonely pixel hardly distinguishable from the other points of light Voyager would see: nearby planets, far off suns. But precisely because of the obscurity of our world thus revealed, such a picture might be worth having.

It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast, encompassing cosmos—but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last for decades to come.

So, here they are: a mosaic of squares laid down on top of the planets in a background smattering of more distant stars. Because of the reflection of sunlight off the spacecraft, the Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special significance to this small world; but it’s just an accident of geometry and optics. There is no sign of humans in this picture: not our reworking of the Earth’s surface; not our machines; not ourselves. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalisms is nowhere in evidence. We are too small. On the scale of worlds, humans are inconsequential: a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal.

Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; hopeful child; inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings; how eager they are to kill one another; how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity—in all this vastness—there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we’ve ever known.

The Pale Blue Dot.

The Future is Cordless

Malcolm Micallef — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:36:29 +0000

The first step of making devices truly wireless was creating a wireless network capable of pushing data to the device. Using WIFI and 3G any device can be connected to the internet and from there they can do an infinite amount of different activities. This technology is not limited to computers or mobile devices but it is becoming a standard feature for televisions to support WIFI and allow you to check your Facebook account and also YouTube video.

The next step of making a television completely cordless is allowing the television set to receive full HD videos and sound wirelessly. This too has been done. All that is really required for this is for the protocols to become standardized and by doing some television manufacturers will start building the technology straight into the TV. This means that your new laptop or blue ray player will only need to be plugged into the mains and everything and your television will automatically detect this new video source and all will be done.

The last step in making the device completely wireless is cutting the power cord. Researchers have been working on techniques to transmit power wirelessly to other devices. Charging your mobile phone without plugging it in is becoming mainstream. Technology has already moved onto its second generation gadgets.

PowerMat first generation gadgets involved changing either the back plate of your mobile phone or using a mobile cover. When the phone was placed on their specially designed mat the device would start charging. Other devices could be charged by using adapters (purchased separately). These devices would just plug into your PSP for example and have a small box at the end. When this small box was placed on the mat your PSP would charge.

Their second generation technology is much more impressive. Their second generation places the tech needed to charge your phone built straight into the battery. This means that your phone will look standard. If device manufacturers had to start implementing this themselves into the battery this would mean that all gadgets can be charged wirelessly.

This technology won’t only be used on small gadgets. In the future everything will be powered wirelessly. Below is a video showing of a presentation at TED demonstrating this technology at its best. If you just want to see the demo of this tech just go forward to around 7 minutes mark.

The end game of this technology would be powering your electric car while you are driving your car. They are also working on placing solar farms in space and transmitting the power wirelessly back to earth. This power will then be placed in the grid for everyone to use. Solar panels are more efficient in space because the light is not weakened by any kind of atmosphere.

They could also use the solar panels to create a huge laser beam which would be like a kid with a magnifying glass and a sunny day. Except we would be the ants…

I can’t wait for this technology to become more effecient and more mainstream. It would mean I can stop praticing my knot tieing and knot undoing skills. Another benefit is that there won’t be any more cables to get your feet tied up and need to call for help (again).

Was that the last Computer/Console you will ever purchase?

Malcolm Micallef — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:50:35 +0000

Recently I have ran into a new technology being developed by Unlimited Detail which is such a great leap in technology it is hard to imagine. If this company has their way not only do they stand to make an unimaginable amount of money but they would have changed the game graphics forever.

Below are two videos which show case and explain the situation with computer graphics. In my opinion it’s a great demo and explanation of the pitfalls of polygons. If you have no understanding of how computer graphics work and you care how your games will look in the future you will still understand the video and get a good vision to the future.

I don’t think this technology can be over looked for long. Could you imagine a Nintendo Wii playing games which have better quality graphics than a PS3 or XBOX360. They solved the problem using search engine techniques. Humans have developed very powerful search techniques. The best example of these techniques would be Google. They are capable of going through a ridiculous amount of data in a very short time.

Only problem there is with this solution would be that if it had to be implemented on current technology it would mean that the console or gaming rig you just bought will be your last one. This obviously is not bad for us but bad for the hardware manufacturers who depend on the sales of these products.

The only thing that would improve the graphics of this system would be buying a monitor which can support a higher resolution (higher than FULL HD). Currently I believe that some hardware giant (might be Panasonic) released a television which supports 4000×2000 resolution. They developed techniques which receive full HD feeds and up scales them to the required size.

Video Games might never be the same again

Malcolm Micallef — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:06:37 +0000

On the 17th of June a new service will go live allowing poeple to play high end games on any PC or TV in the world with any kind of computer. Imagine playing a full HD game on your 6 year old PC. Imagine playing the latest version of Halo on your PC without having to buy the console.

This technological wizardry might change how video games are played in the future and even maybe cut down on piracy. The OnLive streaming game service takes console and PC games, renders them server-side, and then streams it to your MAC or PC. This service costs 15 US dollars a month.

Here comes the bad news. Since we live in Malta I highly doubt that we can use this service. One reason would because of bandwidth limitations of the connections . However, I think the biggest problem would be the latency issues. For the ones that understand what I just said here is a quick explanation.

The game is being played on a machine somewhere in the world (most likely USA), the video feed of the game is then being sent to you through the net, like a youtube video. You view the video feed and play the game on your own computer. Your controller movements are sent to the computer playing the game. This data takes time to travel across the net. This time delay would ruin your gaming experience. Hence this service will probably not work in Malta unless the servers are moved closer or just set up here. Maybe they get an office in SmartCity Malta.

From what I have read about the service it seems that the service is working well in USA.

Looks like even video games are moving into the cloud. Save games would be stored on their servers, and multiplayer should be easier. Your game would be available to you anywhere in the world where you have internet access.

The Future of Games? I Hope So

Malcolm Micallef — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:23:42 +0000

The video shows a setup of augmented reality kit and a guy playing it. Now augmented reality has mostly been used for advertising purposes and an interesting case of giving cars super powers (superman’s x-ray vision).

If this setup existed I would wear it to go everywhere. Driving will never be the same. And your weekly drink with your buddies at your favourite bar can turn into a coop between the patrons to protect the bar from the Nazi zombie’s trying to invade the bar and take away your precious booze.

Another possible use would be playing history games in real life places. Call of duty’s Caen map comes to my mind.

Unfortunately this setup is a fake. It is a fictional clip from a TV show. However, I still fell in love with the concept and I want one; even if I have to make it myself. I would never take it off. I’m preparing dinner for myself and next thing I know a SWAT team comes in to arrest me and I have to fight my way out.

It will keep me on my toes and make everything seem so much more interesting. Now all they have to do is remove the helmet and replace it with the LCD contact lenses and run all the processing on a smart phone (maybe the N900). Someone get me a patent officer. A vest which gives you a slight shock everytime you are hit.

The End of an Era, but what a Way to Go

Malcolm Micallef — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:20:12 +0000

I can’t remember a time of not being obsessed by space. I still remember building space ships with Lego and spending hours playing with my brother using the ships we just built. Till this day I still love most games involving space. Descent is one of my favourite games of all time. I recently managed to find a copy of the game and after some playing around I managed to play it on a Windows 7 machine.

Today was the end of an era. This morning NASA launched the last shuttle mission to the ISS (International Space Station) and as a parting gift decided to launch it at night. Click read more to read more about the mission and to view the shuttle launch in glorious HD.

Endeavour carries the final module for the space station. This module is called Tranquility. It’s a 21foot long and 14 foot module and will be facing Earth. It will provide an additional docking port for space shuttles (which are being canned) and I assume other space crafts. Well other space crafts have to go up to send up get down the old crew and send new ones up. The most interesting part of this module is the attachment called Cupola. Cupola is a huge view port with seven windows (6 on the sides and one on top). NASA just provided the astronauts the ultimate window view to shag against. I can’t even image a view more magnificent than that.

I always thought they should place a High Definition web cam pointing towards Earth and one posting space wards on the ISS. I would probably watch that feed 24/7. Maybe as an animated desktop background though the people of work would probably not be amused by my drop in productivity.

Forget About Solar and Wind Power

Malcolm Micallef — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:48:13 +0000

The planet is heating up there is no doubt about it. The only way to stop this is from burning fossil fuels and releasing more CO2 gases into the atmosphere. The future however won’t be saved by solar or wind power the future is football.

Soccket is aimed for developing countries which depend only on renewable sources of energy for power. The Soccket is a football that generates and stores electricity during play. The ball works by capturing kinectic energy through an inductive coil mechanism, it draws a magnet through a coil. Creating current that is stored in a battery.

Child labour would have a completely new meaning when this ball becomes mainstream in Africa. Whenever you want to make a phone call or use use a torch you can just get the local village children to go have a kick around.

The designers say that the ball weight little more than a standard football, and that 15 minutes of play produces enough energy to illuminate a small LED for three hours. The designers also say this ball will be sold on a buy one give one model. Similar two the OLPC laptop. This device will allow people to move away from dangerous Kerosene Lamps to a safer and cleaner light source.

Source [1, 2]

The future of mobiles and our pockets…

Malcolm Micallef — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:44:22 +0000

All this iPad, Droid, Nexus and N900 talk made me start thinking today about the future of mobile phones. In this post I attached two videos.

Check out the videos after the jump.

The first video is from one of my favourite sites of all time, TED (a small nonprofit organization who’s motto is “Ideas worth spreading”). For those that don’t know TED is a site which organizes conferences where speeches are performed by celebrities or geniuses. If you have some free time go check the site out. The speeches are about many topics not just science and technology. I especially liked the way Fabian Hemmert finished off his speech: “Humans shouldn’t get more technical in the future. Rather technology a bit more human”. However, I do believe that printers already suffer from PMS.

The second is a slightly older video but is much ahead of its time. The video is from Nokia R&D department and is pretty impressive. However, I am not sure if we will see anything like that in our life time. Though they are making steps forward in some of the tech they talk about.