The Internet Needs Freedom Too

Ape Con Myth has joined the list of organizations supporting the Declaration of Internet Freedom and encourages you to take a second, read the Declaration below and then click through to take action.

It’d be so easy to mess this up.  Thankfully it is just as easy to not do so.

Act today and save yourself from more of CISPA/TPP/ACTA/SOPA/PIPA/COICA/ETC tomorrow!

The Future of the Fad

Believe it or not, it’s 2012 and there will supposedly be some flying cars around by the end of it.  Driverless cars are around the corner too, as are legions of robots.  It’s the future, kinda.  There’s so much in the works these days it’s difficult to discern what is actually happening and what is just California dreamin’.

If you’re having trouble keeping up, perhaps the Gartner Hype Cycle can help.

To break it down in terms of the news you are used to hearing about new technology, check out the more detailed explanation.

While Gartner gets far more specific about particular industries with its paying clients, once a year they release the Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, evaluating the maturity of the entire field of next big things…

Happy trails to all on the road to the Plateau of Productivity…

[All charts from Gartner]

Turning What-If’s Into When’s

Is it just a matter of time?  Forget your lack of a flying car for a moment and enjoy a speculative look at the future of technology between 2012 and 2040…

(click to view)

Will 4K make today’s movies look like relics by the end of the decade?  Can the utility fog turn us all into Green Lanterns?  And cross your fingers for the 2020 arrival of the Reputation Economy, Ape Con Myth’s favorite, where in a post-scarcity state, “all the necessities (and most of the luxuries) of life are free for the taking,” leaving our reputations as the only guide to our worth.

Dare to dream.

[Chart by Michell Zappa via Visual Complexity]

Yes, Affirmative

It’s easy to forget that humanity has been worried about the prospect of robots taking over for a while now.  Below, we have an image from a 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions:

Of course, as we know, the Robotic Uprising of the mid-90’s worked out a little differently…

[Image via Slate; Thanks, Pete!]

Institute for the Future

“The Institute for the Future (IFTF) is an independent nonprofit research group. We work with organizations of all kinds to help them make better, more informed decisions about the future.”

Here’s a peek at what they think is on tap for the coming decade…

IFTF2010MapoftheDecade(click image to go to the Map of the Decade)

[from Institute for the Future]

Acceleration Studies Foundation

Seeking no less than “an informed, optimistic, and empowered world community”, ASF promotes “a multidisciplinary and critical understanding of accelerating processes of planetary and universal change, in service to better economic, political, social, professional and personal development.”

ASF_slide

Learn more at Accelerating.org