What is Mind Set Daily?

What is Mind Set Daily? Well during the launch of this mini-podcast series it was unclear the direction of the show. Actually the format is still evolving though no matter what the underlying concept has been established and will remain and that is to report on and highlight various alternate news stories that you are most unlikely to hear about anywhere else. I also like to think of it as a way to hear more condensed topics that aren't always touched on our main podcast which is "The Mind Set Podcast". It is mainly hosted and produced by me but from time to time Gareth Davies from The Mind Set Central Network contributes to the series. He of course brings his own spin and production to the episodes because as mentioned it is always evolving.

Mind Set Daily strives to give you the most current alternate news possible. It is also bite sized for your fast paced world and each episode typically covers only one or two stories and it is usually no longer than 10 minutes long. Currently this podcast is airing twice a week on The Mind Set Central Network and eventually their are plans to have more episodes weekly. Some of the subject matter and news topics may include but are not limited to: big brother, conspiracies, future technologies, the police state and so much more!

It is my mission when you listen to leave you feeling informed and also perhaps inspire you to question things more. Thank you for listening and if you haven't yet you can subscribe for free here.

Biometric Identification - Science Fiction Meets Reality

In India, a massive experiment is underway to take a technology that was once a hallmark of science fiction and apply it to solving the nation’s greatest challenges.  A small group of entrepreneurs within the government have set out to identify to every one of their 1.2 billion residents by using biometric technologies, such as iris scans and fingerprints.

In the next few years, each man, woman and child will receive an “Aadhaar” 12-digit unique identification number.  For the poor in India, this would end a vicious cycle where a person cannot prove who they are, and thus they are denied what they are supposed to receive.  Now, using the features of the body, technology can identify someone in a matter of seconds.  There will no longer be a need for passports, driver licenses, or other old school paper based identification.

The goal is to enroll 600 million Indians in four years. Since the first enrollments in September 2010, the government has issued more than 200 million people an Aadhaar number – which is a population larger than any European nation.

Ultimately, the success of the program is not about the performance of technology, but the efforts of the people behind it.  The same systems that can bring accountability and transparency can be used for mass-surveillance and digitized discrimination.  Privacy laws are still outdated and ineffective.  With so many different government agencies now able to store and access personal information, the potential for abuse looms large.   Biometric identification has long been used for security purposes – now India will show the world how it can also be used to offer hundreds of millions their greatest chance at inclusion and a prosperous life.

On display for the world to see and to recognize the benefits of biometric identification and it's multitude of applications. Despite the positive uses we do know that once these technologies are used and accepted by the masses then their is no going back. For our greater good or for someone else's greater control? Maybe people are willing to accept that if it benefits their lives, just think about it...

Citizen Fingerprint Scanner Works from 20 Feet Away

Fingerprinting used to be an affair involving ink and paper and making actual prints. Now there's a new camera that can take pictures of your fingerprints from 20 feet away whether you want it to or not. Researchers are exploring better designs in biometrics to meet business and government demands for reliable identification and verification tools. Fingerprinting continues to be an accepted technique. Fingerprint-matching has been a mainstay in law enforcement but businesses now look toward fingerprinting systems for security management and access control.

A new startup, IDair, wants to make the difference. Its new fingerprint  scanner system (AIRprint) can read fingerprints from up to 20 feet away.

The person waves hand to sensor for identification verification--no stops at checkpoints asking for a ID card; no fumbling around for lost keycards. The machine is described as a touchless scanner. The fingerprint can be photographically captured with enough detail to match against a database. A selling point is that fingerprints are collected at a standoff distance so there is no need for people to touch a scanner pad, avoiding problems in accuracy.

The scenario is simple, in that the company places the scanner device on the door; the person sends prints to the system, which takes a snapshot when triggered and uses pattern recognition, edge detection and sharpening to scan the fingerprint, which is then compared to the database. The system is described as close to the way satellites process ground images. Additional layers of security like facial recognition can be piled on to make up a more robust, complete biometric profile of a person that provides that individual with access without the need for a key or passcode.

One potential use for this is commercial: an AIRprint system could be set up in a store, and instead of having to carry around a credit card or checkbook, you could just literally wave your hand in the air to identify yourself and pay for stuff. Wouldn't that be convient?

The other obvious use for AIRprint is for identifying people from a distance covertly. Heck, someone could have already scanned your fingers and you'd never know. There could be ways to fight the technology, although it's probably inevitable that if AIRprint proves to be a popular tool with law enforcement, it'll become illegal to wear gloves or walk around with your hands in your pockets. Would you have a problem with that? You don't have something to hide, do you? Well just think about it...

Miniature Humanoid Robot That Lives On Your Shoulder

You have heard of the little devil or angel on your shoulder, well how about a Japensese Telepresence Miniature Humanoid Robot? The emerging field of telepresence and telerobotics has produced some fairly out-there forms to carry out their functions, and researchers at Yamagata University in Japan don’t seem to have any problem pushing that envelope. Their concept: a telepresence robot that quite literally is that voice in your ear, that angel (or devil) on your shoulder. The MH-2 (for “miniature humanoid”) is a remotely controlled robot that lives on your shoulder and conveys a person’s gestures and movements from a distance.

The idea here is that the wearer may want to share an experience--travel or a party or whatever--with someone who can’t be present at the time and place. With the MH-2, that person can stand in front of a 3-D immersive display (or, more likely, a television screen) outfitted with a motion capture device (like a Kinect) and remotely embody the robot on the user’s shoulder.

What the robot sees, the remote user sees on his or her screen. Likewise, his or her speech and gestures are translated back to the robot, which uses it’s remarkably plentiful degrees of freedom--seven for the arms, three for the head, and two for the body, plus one for realistic breathing (yes, breathing)--to recreate the remote user’s persona, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. The idea, according to the researchers, is something like the vision below.

The limiting factor here, at least for now, is the huge backpack full of servos and such that enable all those degrees of freedom. Presumably that will shrink as the researchers polish their finished product.

Above us, Below us, inside us and now on our shoulders as well like little angels or devils whispering in our ears. Think about it...

 The idea, according to the researchers, is something like the vision above

Dream A Little Dream

What would you do if you could control your dreams? It is a question that has tantalized sages and philosophers for ages. Now, two researchers of Bitbanger labs  have created a mask that will put you in the driver’s seat of your own lucid dream.

Well Duncan Frazier and Steve McGuigan, the 30-year-old founders of Bitbanger Labs, claim that Remee is “the world’s first “comfortable affordable, lucid dreaming mask.”

They say “the key to lucid dreaming is recognizing when you’re dreaming.”

While asleep, a person will usually cycle through the five stages of sleep multiple times, with the REM (rapid eye movement) stages getting progressively longer.

Working on an adjustable time delay, six red LED lights embedded in the mask “glow, sweep and blink” over one’s eyelids. The duo claims that once a sleeper slips from non-REM to REM sleep (where dreams usually occur) a microcontroller will flash a series of customizable light patterns for 15 to 20 seconds, with a second delay of 15 minutes between each signal.

As the lights bleed into your dream, they present a “perfect chance to become lucid.”

They say that while not bright enough to wake the user up, the lights will appear as anomalies in a person’s dreams, alerting the sleeper that they are dreaming.

As with similar masks, Remee cannot guarantee seamless lucid dreams with the blink of a light.  But if the mask actually delivers on its promise, then the (vanilla) sky may no longer be the limit.

Do you have the urge to control your dreams? Most people have a hard time remembering their dreams much less being in control of them. Why have we always wanted to control and manipulate our dreams? Maybe dreams provide a means to being free, an alternate place for our minds to escape. Do we crave the control there in that realm because we don't have it while we are awake? Well with the morpheous mask controlling our dreams is that much more of a "reality".

Farming with Laser Death Rays

Lasers used in both military and civilian applications are on certainly on the rise as laser technology advances. Have you ever considered lasers being used for farming applications? Well Weed killers and herbicides must be toxic enough to kill the weeds they target. Thus, toxicity concerns -- ranging from protecting the workers using the chemicals to groundwater contamination -- confront any user of herbicides.

Researchers at the Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany, may have an answer: weed-killing lasers.

Farming with Laser Death Rays Sounds like a great idea? But If the lasers used have too little energy, weeds like it. Laser lights of the wrong intensity make the unwanted plants grow like weeds, only more so. The Leibniz team has worked to determine the optimum laser intensity to kill the weeds rather than encourage growth.

The second major obstacle is recognizing which plants to target with the laser death rays. The researchers have developed a system of cameras that film the field, and software that measures the contures of every plant. Algorithms have been developed for recognizing many different types of weeds.

The researchers are currently considering whether robots or drones can bring the equipment into position precisely enough over large areas to effectively recognize and blast the weeds with the laser death ray while leaving the desired cash crop unharmed.

Could we be seeing lasers shooting across the skies soon? From this story it appears that answer will be yes. This story is also a great example of how tracking and laser technology could actually have a beneficial use on society and not just an oppressive one. Though one has to wonder isn't this how these forms of technology are always accepted, by providing a benefit at first? Some also may think using lasers versus pesticides may not be more cost effective at first but is it safer for the environment? That is the key component in the development of this laser technology. Yet another "benefit" think about it...

Self Driving Cars

On Mind Set Daily recently I reported on flying cars well how about a "smart" car that drives itself?! Nevada is the first state to adopt driverless cars and the governor signed a law last year requiring the state to come up with regulations by which to authorize autonomous vehicles. They did, and now the first license to test autonomous vehicles in the state has been awarded to Google’s robotic car.

Google who takes the first licensed test run comes as no surprise, not only because their sensor-laden, robotic Toyota Prius has been the most visible robotic car over the past year and a half, but also because the licenses are largely a result of Google’s own lobby pushing for them. And some of the car’s 200,000 miles have been logged on freeways and neighborhood streets in Carson City, Nevada and – you guessed it – the Vegas Strip.

After reviewing Google’s system functions, safety plans, employee training, and accident reporting mechanisms the Nevada DMV’s Autonomous Review Committee gave Google its license. The license requires two humans to be in the car at all times, with one behind the wheel to take over in case something goes wrong.

So if you live in Nevada be on the lookout. Autonomous cars will have Nevada license plates with red backgrounds and an infinity symbol, to make them easy to spot by citizens and police officers. If all goes according to plan and the test vehicles perform as hoped, the vehicles will be made available to the public, green plates will replace the red, but the infinity symbol will remain.

The Nevada DMV said in a press release that Google may have been the first, but other auto manufacturers have also indicated their interest in filing license applications. So it seems that this is just the beginning, and if all goes well, public acceptance of robotic vehicles is sure to increase dramatically.

Isn't that what all this new technology counts on? Public acceptance? If the technology provides society a benefit and perhaps makes our lives easier than it is more likely to be accepted. Also from this story can you see where things may be headed? A more automated and "connected" society where robots and computers do everything for us including driving us around. These new self driving cars also could perhaps one day work very well with the "smart cities" that we reported on springing up around the globe recently. Regardless of where the technology and our society are headed in this case you don't need to worry, just sit back and enjoy the ride.