Rants & Raves
Redrafting the Human Design Spec
When I was 10 years old, I was diagnosed with a benign spinal tumor. It was successfully removed but left some residual neurological damage below my waist, including my legs. Complications from this condition basically went on to force the below-knee amputation of my left leg 14 years later, in 1994. So, as a physically handicapped, amputee techhead/robophile, it was with great empathy and excitement that I read two of your recent articles - Evan Ratliff's "Born to Run" (Wired 9.07, page 86) and John Hockenberry's "The Next Brainiacs" (Wired 9.08, page 94).
Having spent a full two-thirds of my life with a physical disability and closing in on 10 years as an amputee, I am extremely excited about the avenues technology is opening up for the physically challenged, especially as they relate to prosthetics. Have you ever been forced to wear an uncomfortable pair of shoes? Then imagine an ill-fitting leg or a broken socket. Imagine insurance companies dictating your quality of mobility, not to mention your quality of life. Never happens with a pair of loafers that pinch, does it?
Small, even incremental advancements in prosthetic devices can literally change the life of an amputee. The addition of a low-end Flex-Foot and a new type of dermal sleeve from Ossur have made all the difference for me, but I know that it could be better still. Therefore, I am offering myself as a test subject for prosthetic and ambulatory research. I would prove a unique case: someone with one prosthetic leg and a leg requiring some form of mechanism to function properly. I would make a hell of a poster boy.
So, to all of you researchers out there looking to test new solutions in biomechanical ambulation devices and strategies: I am your man. Borg me up.
Mark Gilson
mg@bway.net
I hope the brain piece by John Hockenberry rocks the worlds of the vast majority who can use all their functions. I can't, and he rocked mine.
What would I do if my whole face worked again? I'd laugh for a week. What if it were possible only because of sensors, processors, and stimulators? That is a whole new concept I need to consider. The task involves more than silicon and software. I need to figure out how technology could change my view of myself, as well as how others view me. We all need to do that. We need to change the way the so-called normal and the so-called disabled see themselves and each other.
Jeff Bodington
jcb@bodingtonandcompany.com
John Hockenberry has the ability to weave a terrific story. Describing his own and his twins' physical experiences, the latest adaptive technology in the disabled community, and the even larger picture of wireless technology is masterful. And he even manages to make such icons as Grover, Elmo, and Pinocchio an important part of the article! It's very typical of the quality of work he does; he truly has an infinite mind. Do what you can to keep him coming back to your pages.
Evelyn E. Clarke
dimples@techline.com
The Engines of Ingenuity
I read with shock and astonishment the enormous resources being put behind the Human Brain Project ("Let's Make Your Head Interactive," Wired 9.08, page 106) without a nanohint from any of the esteemed scientists about what seems to me to be "the obvious unobvious." Namely, what might possibly drive the brain? Could it be consciousness? Spirit? It still amazes me when people separate spirit from brain, and subsequently the body. Don't they realize the brain is simply the interface between spirit and body?
Looking for clues in certain regions of the brain to discover the source of a disease is, I believe, a futile endeavor. I am not questioning the possible usefulness of a brain map for neuroscience; however, researchers need to go further.
The scientific establishment is still slicing and dicing gray matter and putting it under a microscope to see what makes it spin. Simply amazing. They're still trying to explain quantum physics with Newtonian physics. It's as if a big, hairy, smelly Stone Age man is given a rubber tire, which he cuts up to see what makes it spin, never arriving at a solution. Could Einstein have been right when he said: "We can't get there from here?"
Miklos Philips
miklos@mozgomedia.com
The Human Brain Project suggests that there are "normal" brains to map - what a terrifying concept. Attempting to quantify what are "healthy" ways of thinking can only mean that there are unhealthy ways to turn your thoughts - with or without the benefit of technological enhancements. The HBP's "online mind" scans brains for conformity, not cognitive liberty.
Wrye Sententia
wrye@cognitiveliberty.org
Serials Killer
I was shocked, flabbergasted, disgusted, and outraged to see a review of Serials 2000 in your publication (Street Cred, Wired 9.08, page 140). Serials 2000 is nothing more than a software piracy tool. To see Wired promoting software piracy, given the magazine's history of positioning itself at the forefront of Internet issues, is disappointing to say the least.
The reviewer might think that he is merely harming large corporations such as Microsoft, but this piracy affects many small software developers as well, particularly shareware developers who don't have the resources that Microsoft has. By so blatantly condoning the sharing of serial numbers, the reviewer is effectively taking money right out of the pockets of the developers, despite the lame and typical cracker's excuse provided: The software is to be used only to find keys for programs people have purchased. Most publishers are happy to resend codes upon request. To twist around the words of Barry Goldwater, in his heart your reviewer knows he is wrong.
Thomas Warfield
support@goodsol.com
Triumph of the Fast Follower
As a Wired subscriber for nine years, I have amassed an impressive tower of back issues in my bedroom. The day I was finally motivated to store them where I wouldn't trip over them, I came across Wired 6.12, which features "83 Reasons Why Bill Gates' Reign Is Over." The number one reason: Microsoft's "funky karma," referring to the company's business ethics. Microsoft is still alive and kicking fiercely, even after a heated antitrust trial, and I believe the reason must be this same karma. It is time for a follow-up: "83 Reasons Why Bill Gates Remains Enthroned."
Daniel Schwartz
danieldesign@aol.com
Editor's Note
A music review in the October issue (Wired 9.10, page 170) included a photo of a forthcoming album by the Coup that depicts the rap act blowing up the World Trade Center. This issue appeared on newsstands a few days before the September 11 attack on the towers. After the tragedy, the Coup's record label, 75 Ark, said the cover would be pulled and replaced with a new image.
Undo
Check: The Man vs. Machine challenge in Bahrain ("This Time It's Personal," Wired 9.10, page 98) has been postponed; see www.brainsinbahrain.com for updates. ... The Real Deal: Rob Lanphier is a program manager at RealNetworks ("The Economics of Adoption," Wired 9.09, page 74).
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