Futurelawyer

Pocket Tripod - A Tripod For Your Phone That Fits In Your Wallet

Pocket Tripod is a credit-card-sized phone holder that fits in your wallet | TechCrunch.This ingenious device unfolds from a credit card sized piece of plastic into a mini tripod that holds your phone for photos or videos. It will also come in handy for viewing videos on a table. If, like me, you don't like fattening your phone with bulky cases, this is a great solution. Act fast, because the kickstarter deadline is fast approaching. 

Google Photos: If You Don't Want It On Your Phone, Delete It From The Cloud

Google Photos: Users Should Remove Photos from Backup. On the one year anniversary of Google Photos, it has become an essential part of many of our lives. We record our lives via the photos and videos on our phones, and they are automatically archived in the cloud. They are accessible from any device anywhere, and we will never lose them again. But, now, if you delete a photo from your phone, Google Photos will prompt you to delete it from the cloud also. You can now sync deleted photos, so that you always have the same photos everywhere. So, organize your life. Delete what doesn't work, and keep what does. 

Some Mondays We Need A Reminder

Rio and I both needed a reminder this morning to be a Tigger and not an Eeyore. This Tigger sits in the waiting room, next to the "Save the Drama For Your Mama" sign. Positive affirmations. Use them.

What If Your Car Can Kill You?

Drivers Prefer Autonomous Cars That Don't Kill Them - InformationWeek. The coming autonomous cars are creating legal and moral dilemmas that must be resolved before we drive them into the future. You may remember the SciFi movie, iRobot, in which the "utilitarian moral doctrine" is described. In fact, the only way an autonomous device,   be it a car or a robot, can make decisions is based upon a utilitarian model. In the movie, the robot saves a drowning police officer, and leaves a child to drown in the car, by comparing the relative utilitarian merits of each. In fact, decisions about life and death need to be informed with human emotions and analysis. At least, in a future that most of us would like to live, humans will still live in a moral universe that is enhanced, not controlled, by technology. So, before you get into that autonomous vehicle, ask the builder what kind of moral model the car has been programmed to follow. Will it kill you to save any human in another car? Who gets to choose?

#ParrotSunday - It's All About The Neurons

We Finally Know Why Birds Are So Freakishly Smart. Why are parrots and other birds so intelligent? They have more neurons in a small space than mammals, including primates. Naturally, when it comes to brains, size matters. Our human brains are capable of more complex tasks because we have more neurons. However, density also matters, and parrots have more densely packed neurons in their relatively tiny brains. 

Run Android on Windows - Because You Can

Run Android on Windows - Fastest Android Emulator. I am trying to figure out why I wanted to have a virtual Android machine on my Windows 10 notebook. I have no idea; except, that I can. This emulator creates an Android machine running Lollipop, and allows the installation and running of all your phone and tablet apps alongside Windows. If you are a gamer, this is a great way to play Android games on a Windows computer. However, for the rest of us, this software is more gimmick than essential tool. But, it is fun and, at $15, it is cheap. Why run Android on a Windows computer? Why not?

AI Missile? Seriously?

First US Missile with Artificial Intelligence to be Deployed by 2018 | homeAI.info. Seriously? We are going to send up a missile with AI? Is this thing going to have a warhead? Not for now; but, if it can prove that it can independently target and deliver a payload, that is the plan. Can you say Terminator that can fly? I would have to have some serious failsafes to trust something like this in the sky. It is bad enough that human pilots can kill with drones thousands of miles away. Ceding control to a machine is a bridge too far.

Mad Dogs And Englishmen

London's Richmond Golf Club had special rules for wartime England in 1940. Gives new meaning to "keep a stiff upper lip".

Friday List To Get You To The Weekend Faster

Execupundit.com: Objections. I love how pressing tasks seem to pop up on Fridays. Clients love to hit me with emergency stuff after Noon on Friday. Of course, similar problems occur in the corporate world, and Michael Wade has compiled a list of reasons and excuses that just might save your weekend. Enjoy.

Finally, A Useful Robot

Boston dynamics News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo. While robot lawyers aren't likely anytime soon, there are certainly useful tasks that can be performed by robots around the house. I wish I had a nickel for every time SWMBO gets on me about not putting the dishes in the dishwasher. What does she think God made sinks for anyway? But, eureka, Robot Dog to the rescue. Thanks, Boston Dynamics, bring one over to the house, please.