6 hottest skills for 2010

6 hottest skills for 2010: "For IT professionals who are either looking to get back into the workforce or mulling moves to greener pastures, here are the six types of skills most in demand among survey respondents who said they expect to hire IT workers in 2010."

Heading up the list is Programming/ Application Development "...Among companies that plan to hire, the top reason for doing so is to meet demand for new systems and projects. That could be why programming/ application development is the skill set that's most in demand, by far"

Thought-to-Speech Machine Could Be the Beginning of Something Huge - Neuralynx system - Gizmodo

Thought-to-Speech Machine Could Be the Beginning of Something Huge - Neuralynx system - Gizmodo: "The Neuralynx System translates thoughts into speech. It connects to the neurons, sending signals wirelessly to a laptop, which translates the brain activity into spoken English. It's not science fiction: They tried it with a paralyzed 26-year-old and it works.

According to the research paper, they inserted the electrodes into the patient's brain, installing signal amplifiers and transmitters under the scalp. The circuitry—powered by an induction electric supply—transmits the signals to a laptop via FM radio. The software then converts the analog signal to digital data that the neural decoder interprets these into speech commands, which are then sent to the synthesizer."

GR: Wow. We can already bypass the external mechanics of auditory processing by directly stimulating the  cochlea; if we can bypass the mechanics of speech, we really could have direct brain-to-brain communication. Volunteers?

10 fool-proof predictions for the Internet in 2020

10 fool-proof predictions... "Forty years after it was invented, the Internet is straining under the weight of cyber attacks, multimedia content and new mobile applications. In response, U.S. computer scientists are re-thinking every aspect of the Internet's architecture, from IP addresses to routing tables (see main story: 2020 Vision: Why you won't recognize the 'Net in 10 years) to overall Internet security. There are many views about how to fix the Internet's architecture, but there's widespread agreement about many aspects of the future Internet. Here's our list of 11 surefire bets for what the Internet will look like in a decade."

GR: I'm wary of "surefire bets" when it comes to technology, but the article certainly points to some interesting trends.

Intelligent Wheelchairs Will Navigate on Their Own

Intelligent Wheelchairs... "Lehigh University researchers are working on a 'smart wheelchair' with artificial intelligence which can navigate on its own using lasers, sensors and mapping software without the need for human guidance or remote control. The technology has the potential to serve as a person's feet, hands and eyes and thus restore his/her ability to interact with environment.

Using a five-year, 480,000-dollar National Science Foundation grant received in June, lead author John Spletzer, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, and his colleagues have developed a prototype chair designed specifically for negotiating sidewalks, parking lots and other outdoor areas."

GR: some students will recognize John Spletzer as the speaker that a group of us heard last year at Millersville University.