Where's the Cream Filling?

Have you ever had an idea or prediction that turned out to be true later on? But when it was found to be true you couldn't brag about it because you had no proof that you said it first.

Well, this doesn't directly relate to the philosophy of technology but I'd like to make a prediction about black holes: they don't have any volume, only surface area! So for all you people out there who whant to know what's in the center.... well I hope you're not dissapointed.

I've had this notion for about 2 years now, and I thought I'd let it out.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with technology. Well, black holes are the densest things we know of and therefore black holes give us a limit as to how much information can exist per unit volume.

Well about a year after I concieved of the idea above I read an article that explained how the information stored in a black hole is not proportional to the volume but the surface area!

Anyway, my idea is that space is at its densest at the event horizon, beyond that there is nothing. It's like having a balloon where the inside doesn't exist (I know that's difficult to imagine but bear with me).

Now if anyone ever makes the claim that black holes have no volume, just remember who said it first :D

Computer Chips Get Under Skin of Enthusiasts

original article
"With a wave of his hand, Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada, opens his front door. With another, he logs onto his computer."

"The computer chips, which cost about $2, interact with a device installed in computers and other electronics. The chips are activated when they come within 3 inches of a so-called reader, which scans the data on the chips. The "reader" devices are available for as little as $50."
This kind of technology is scary, not just because of it's biblical allusions, but also of it's ramifications for everyday life. We are now starting to bond with our technology. We now have to deal with what is part of a person and what is not. If you get a memory chip in your brain, does Intel still have rights over it? If someone disrupts your implants is that property damage or assault on you?

Security is another issue. Of course, there will always be the race of coming up with better security measures and then criminals figuring out how to break them.

Some think that we are more civilized than our ancestors. I do not believe that to be the case. We simply have better tools than them. Technology provides us with tools that multiply the effect of our actions. Perhaps we should be working on morality before we continue to develop tools that multiply the effect of our actions. After all, one person can now destroy a city with a suitcase nuclear bomb. One person can cause tremendous economic damage by tampering with the internet.

In 20 years one person will be able to destroy entire counties, in 30 all of humanity. Do we really think we can get by without an absolute moral standard. Perhaps we do, and the lack of that little thing called morality will be our doom, not some superweapon.