Class was very interesting today. We watched a short documentary about Steve Mann, who is considered the first “cyborg,” and has been wearing a head device, which he created, for over 20 years now.
This picture shows how it has evolved over the years to being virtually “invisible” now, with the camera embedded into the sunglasses and the control device small enough to hold in his hand. (The control device alone used to be the size of a backpack.)
SYNOPSIS – CYBERMAN
Set not in some distant unrealized world but in the present, ‘Cyberman‘ follows the experiences of Steve Mann, inventor, activist and cyborg.
He sports sunglasses equipped with information-reception devices. Laser-powered cameras imprint images on his eyeballs. On his body, he wears computers and recording devices. His objective: to share his visions in a way that the audience not just sees his world but also experiences it with him. To be me, not see me, is his mantra.
Mann journeys through a surreal electronic landscape as he observes and sometimes confronts a dissonant, sexist and sometimes violent world. Filmed in New York, Toronto and on a mysterious island on Canada’s vast inland sea, Georgian Bay, “Cyberman” explores the mind-altering, sometimes contradictory universe of Steve Mann, a futurist who is both a multi-talented inventor and a self-proclaimed Cyber Luddite.
He participates in an academic debate called, “Privacy Issues of Wearable Cameras Versus Surveillance Cameras,” in which he is questioned about the ethics of his “covert” technology after being told in a Wal-Mart store that he couldn’t have the camera that was on his head turned on even though they were videotaping him all over the store via surveillance cameras.
We got our mid-terms back today. I wanted an A+ on it. I got an A.
The only way I can possibly get an A+ for this class is to get an A+ on my final paper. And, that ain’t gonna happen.
! There, I feel better.Once home from class, I walked for 30 minutes around the ‘hood.
I did the Kaplan — Merwin — Merrie — Octavia — Gorman — Kaplan circle, which was more like a square, and was surprised to find it take 30 minutes. If I’d had to have guessed beforehand, I would have estimated it a 45-minute walk.
Okay, I am just going to report the facts on this, and not make a value judgment. I’m sure you can handle that part yourself. So, I have on my t-shirt that has this on it:
and this person looking at it says, slowly, obviously figuring it out as he’s going along: “Eye, bee, hmmmm. Em, let’s see, I want to say Mickey Mouse. Married?”
I’m looking at him now, thinking, “Hmmm, is this guy pulling my leg?”
I said, “Well, you got the two hardest ones,” pointing successively to the eye and the bee.
A friend who’s with him nudges him, “Em,” he says.
“Yeah, I know. I’m trying to figure out what the em stands for.”
Nudges him again, and annunciates, “I – B – M.”
Long pause. “Ohhhhhh.”
I got a note today from Dr. Dicks, head of my master’s program, with a listing of all the people who are going to graduate next month.
At once, I felt both happy and sad: Happy for my friends on the list. Sad that the names represent almost everyone left with whom I’ve been going through the program. Oh well. At least Will will be around until the end of Fall semester.