Stephen Euin Cobb's Blog, page 29

The Future And You -- June 1, 2011

Nancy Kress (award winning science fiction author) is our featured guest.

Topics: how genetic engineering is used as a fake issue to manipulate international trade and promote French isolationism; why she disagrees with Greenpeace on genetic engineering; and the massive life-saving achieved by producing insulin far more cheaply through genetic engineering than was possible using the former method of extraction from the pancreas of slaughtered animals. Also: her involvement in Sigma (the science fiction think tank); her years at an advertising agency; and her secret identity (and why she has one). 

Nancy Kress is a science fiction author who tends to write technically realistic stories set in a fairly near future. Her fiction often involves genetic engineering, and, to a lesser degree, artificial intelligence. She has written more than 20 books and several hundred short stories. Her work has won four Nebula awards and two Hugos. She participated in the 2006 annual meeting of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency in San Diego. And she has appeared on TV shows on Fox and the Discovery Channel concerning the future of the human race.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 1, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes].

The Future And You -- May 25, 2011

This is the 200th episode of The Future And You.

Over a hundred never before heard predictions about the future from dozens of past guests, a few possible future guests, several listeners and an assortment of people actively building the future we are all going to live in.

Predictions and Congratulations from: Larry Niven, Joe Haldeman, Frederik Pohl, Catherine Asaro, Harry Turtledove, Gregory Benford, John Varley, Extropia DaSilva, CJ Cherryh, CJ Henderson, David Orban, Dave Freer, Giulio Prisco, Mike Resnick, Michael Anissimov, David Brin, Barry Hayworth, Paul Fischer, Cathe Smith, Michael D'Ambrosio, Tim Bolgeo (AKA: Uncle Timmy), Bryan Bishop, James Maxey, Robert Hooker, David Drake, Charlie Stross, Nancy Kress, Hildy Silverman, Michael Vassar, Randal L. Schwartz, David B. Coe, R.U. Sirius, Kevin J. Anderson, Amara D. Angelica, Gail Z. Martin, Philippe Van Nedervelde, Dale Baker, Vernor Vinge, Wayne Rooney, Larry Bowman, Joseph Sullivan, Charlie Kam, Dr. Anders Sandberg, Davey Beauchamp, Timothy Zahn, Sarah A. Hoyt, and Podcasting's Rich Sigfrit.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 25, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 88 minutes].

The Future And You -- May 18, 2011

Michael A. Stackpole  (New York Times best selling author) is today's featured guest.

Topics: why print publishing is now in a severe crisis; how some literary agents have taken on a conflict of interest in their attempt to help their clients benefit from electronic rights; how the big book publishers will no longer publish any physical book if they can't get the far more lucrative electronic rights; when it is to an author's advantage to skip having physical books made at all, and just go with the more profitable ebooks; how much his agent gets from his ebooks; and his warning for writers about ridiculously bad ebook deals. He also gives book cover tips, and describes the Zapptek Legend Maker.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 18, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes]. 

Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. Begining in 1977, he worked as a designer of role-playing games for various gaming companies. In the 1980s he began designing computer games for Coleco and Interplay Productions, such as Bard's Tale III, Wasteland, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. He also created the role-playing game Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, which provided the game mechanics for Wasteland. In 1987 he began writing novels set in the BattleTech universe, and became one of the most popular authors in that genre. He was then selected to write a number of novels in the Star Wars universe. He is also a popular pocaster, essayist, speaker and has an asteroid named after him. 

Special Announcement: The 200th episode of The Future And You is only one week away. To commemorate this milestone I (your host) am asking every listener who will, to sit down and email me something I can read into the 200th episode.  

You can also email to me (as an attachment) an audio file.  This will be less work for me since I can just drop it into the show, and it will let everyone hear you speaking in your own voice.  If you do send an audio file as an attachment, please keep it short--no more than two minutes. 

Please send me: your prediction of what is to come in the future; or a trend you have observed which you think others have missed; or your assessment of what is good or bad about this show; or your notion of who was the best interview I've ever recorded and why. Or send me something I wouldn't even think to ask for, but you are certain everyone would like to know. 

Send it soon, because I start production of each episode several days before it goes public.  If you send it later than May 21, 2011 it might not be included. Send all these emails to: stepheneuincobb@gmail.com  Or you can message me through my facebook account.

The Future And You -- May 11, 2011

Nathan P. Butler (a professional educator with eight years of teaching experience) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Practical verses theoretical matters in the classroom based on his years of experience as a teacher in public schools. Also: anecdotes from the early days of Internet radio, as well as some behind the scenes stuff from StarWarsFanworks and ChronoRadio.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 11, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes]. 

Nathan P. Butler holds a 'Masters in Education with a Specialization in Integrating Technology in the Classroom.' He is also a groundbreaking podcaster, having been a podcaster years before podcasting had a name or a standardized means of distribution. He is also a mover and shaker in Star Wars Fandom through his work in with ChronoRadio and StarWarsFanworks, and for having written an exhaustive thousand-page-long chronology of the Star Wars universe which is titled 'Star Wars Timeline Gold.'

Special Announcement: The 200th episode of The Future And You is only two weeks away. To commemorate this milestone I (your host) am asking every listener who will, to sit down and email me something I can read into the 200th episode.  

You can also email to me (as an attachment) an audio file.  This will be less work for me since I can just drop it into the show, and it will let everyone hear you speaking in your own voice.  If you do send an audio file as an attachment, please keep it short--no more than two minutes. 

Please send me: your prediction of what is to come in the future; or a trend you have observed which you think others have missed; or your assessment of what is good or bad about this show; or your notion of who was the best interview I've ever recorded and why. Or send me something I wouldn't even think to ask for, but you are certain everyone would like to know. 

Send it soon, because I start production of each episode several days before it goes public.  If you send it later than May 20, 2011 it might not be included. 

Send all these emails to: me@stevecobb.com

The Future And You -- May 4, 2011

Stephen Euin Cobb (author, futurist, magazine writer--and your host) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Progressive Auto Insurance Company now offers lower rates--if they can place a device in your car to spy on you; a new robotic seagull developed for aerial spying; a new system which can test 10,000 chemicals for toxicity in a single move; the rapidly growing number of universities in the US which offer degrees in robotics; an artificial pancreas for controlling blood sugar for type 1 diabetics has completed its first successful tests in human patients (great news for The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, chaired by Mary Tyler Moore, which has been pushing this project for years); and a new treatment for high blood pressure requires only a one-time dose of radio waves delivered by catheter, for some patients it can completely eliminate prescription medicines.

Also: why investing in diamonds is catastrophically threatened by our ability to manufacture ever larger, ever cheaper, and ever more flawless artificial diamonds; why De Beers and the entire natural diamond industry is so scared of this that it is pouring huge quantities of money into the invention of detectors which can identify the synthetic from the natural stones; and research that these synthetic diamond detectors don't actually work. 

Note: Diamonds made in the earth and diamonds made by humans are both exactly the same chemical substance; just as water made in the lab and water that falls from clouds is the same chemical substance. Only the origin is different. (Granted, natural diamonds often have pretty colors due to impurities from nature which is a naturally impure system, but if desired we can always add a little dirt in the lab, instead of trying to make them as perfect as possible.)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 4, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 28 minutes]. 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist and host of the award-winning podcast The Future and You. He was a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine for three years; and has written for Robot Magazine, H+ Magazine, Grim Couture Magazine, and Space and Time Magazine. He is also a game designer, artist, essayist, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation.

The Future And You -- April 27, 2011

Noel Patton (founder of T.A. Sciences) is today's featured guest.

This is the second half of our interview begun in last week's episode.

Topic: The snowballing research which supports the effectiveness of a substance which may allow you to extend your healthy years and maybe extend your life. Examples of this research include: a study published on the 12th of this month in the peer-review journal Aging Cell, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study released in February of this year.

Skepticism is an essential component of science, but after thousands of years of uncountable fakers this area of research gets more skepticism than any other--and justifiably so. Fortunately, science is founded on the ultimate tool for deciding who is right: Experiment. It's the ultimate put-up or shut-up. Skeptics and proponents can duke it out all they want, but arguments will not decide this dispute. Results will decide. Clinical and reproducible. In this interview we explore just how much research has been completed for that conclusive result, and just how much more needs yet to be done.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 27, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes]. This is the second half of our interview recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on April 16, 2011.

Noel Patton is the founder of T.A. SCIENCES®. He graduated Indiana University with an Honors Degree in Philosophy. He furthered his studies on the East Coast and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. His interest in Telomere Biology began in 1999, when upon learning about telomeres he contacted leading edge California biotech company Geron. He and his wife Eve became Geron investors and were on hand when Geron and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong discovered the cellular rejuvenation properties of the single molecule which is now called TA-65. In 2002 Noel and Eve secured exclusive worldwide rights to Geron's Telomerase Activation (TA) technology for nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products and in 2007, after 5 years of development and safety testing, opened the T.A. Sciences office in New York City.

The Future And You -- April 20, 2011

Noel Patton (founder of T.A. Sciences) is today's featured guest.

Topic: The snowballing research which supports the effectiveness of a substance which may allow you to extend your healthy years and maybe extend your life. Examples of this research include: a study published on the 12th of this month in the peer-review journal Aging Cell, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study released in February of this year.

Skepticism is an essential component of science, but after thousands of years of uncountable fakers this area of research gets more skepticism than any other--and justifiably so. Fortunately, science is founded on the ultimate tool for deciding who is right: Experiment. It's the ultimate put-up or shut-up. Skeptics and proponents can duke it out all they want, but arguments will not decide this dispute. Results will decide. Clinical and reproducible. In this interview we explore just how much research has been completed for that conclusive result, and just how much more needs yet to be done.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 20, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes]. This is the first half of our interview recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on April 16, 2011. The second half will be presented in next week's episode.

Noel Patton is the founder of T.A. SCIENCES®. He graduated Indiana University with an Honors Degree in Philosophy. He furthered his studies on the East Coast and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. His interest in Telomere Biology began in 1999, when upon learning about telomeres he contacted leading edge California biotech company Geron. He and his wife Eve became Geron investors and were on hand when Geron and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong discovered the cellular rejuvenation properties of the single molecule which is now called TA-65. In 2002 Noel and Eve secured exclusive worldwide rights to Geron's Telomerase Activation (TA) technology for nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products and in 2007, after 5 years of development and safety testing, opened the T.A. Sciences office in New York City.

The Future And You -- April 13, 2011

Lester Madden (smart phone app developer consultant) is today's featured guest.

Topics: How secret tags inside the digital photos you post online reveal your GPS location; how criminals will use Augmented Reality to evade the police and commit crimes more efficiently; how advertisers will annoy us using Augmented Reality; and the free app which may put TomTom and Garmin out of business. Additional topics include: Ricky Gervais, Starbucks, Google Goggles, Snap Tell, the inaccuracy of GPS, future GPS satellites which will improve accuracy, face recognition, Wikitude, and how Augmented Reality will let you vote more easily on reality shows.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 13, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes]. This interview was recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on March 26, 2011.

Lester Madden spent 10 years at Microsoft evangelising the latest Microsoft developer products. After leaving Microsoft, Lester joined Skype and launched their developer program. He has also worked at Symbian Software Limited, Nokia Devices R&D and Symbian Foundation, working with thousands of developers to help bring applications to market. In 2009 Augmented Planet was created as a blog to catalogue the ever increasing growth of augmented reality. In 2010 Augmented Planet Consulting was created to utilize over 15 years of industry experience helping developers and organizations use cutting edge technologies and bring new products/services to market.