Google's Goal

Google wants to have a fully integrated, vertical system for all technology.
But, before we take a look at Google, let's take a simpler example:


Let's say you're a farmer. You grow food, and you compete with other farmers to make a profit. You have to grow your food, and depending on the size of your farm, you probably harvest it and ship it to a food processing plant, who in turn, processes the food, packages it, labels it, and ships it to a grocery store, who then sells it to the consumer. In this chain there are several steps, and at each step someone is taking a cut of the profits. The consumer tends to pay a price that supports every step in the chain. The more steps, the higher the price.

Now, let's say you're very successful as a farmer, but instead of buying more farmland (horizontal expansion) you decide to enter a new market to cut out some of the middle men in the process (vertical expansion). You decide to purchase a shipping company.

Now when you grow your food and harvest it, you also ship it. Because you own both processes, you don't pay as much for the shipping (only overhead), and you're more efficient, since you know exactly when you're going to harvest the food. Perhaps you don't have as much spoilage, because you can ensure the shipping trucks are always ready when the harvest is ready.

So, because you have lowered your overall costs, you are now able to lower the cost of the food you're selling while retaining the same margins and expanding your market share over other farmers.

Since you're doing so well, you decide to enter a third market (more vertical expansion) to cut out even more middle men. Now you buy the food processing plant. In doing so you can streamline the process from field to store, cutting costs, building consistency, lowering prices, growing market share (since fewer and fewer farmers can compete).

Continuing forward, you start your own chain of stores, you develop your own fertilizer, pesticide, seed hybrids.

Before long, no one can compete with you, because you are vertically integrated. 

This is exactly what Google wants to do--only on the internet. They want to own the TV, the smartphone, the app store, the internet cable, the energy company, the cloud storage, the price comparison site, the maps, the news, the computer, the browser, the search engine, the email client, the chat client, the social network, the productivity suite, the videos, the photos, the blogs...eventually the car, home automation, robots, etc. etc. etc. to funnel everyone onto their ad platform, so they can make money. They want to be the provider for all your technology needs.

Sounds good to me, as long as there are other vertically integrated competitors (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.)

Two passages

Two passages in scripture have been banging around in my head. 


The first is Romans 9:19-23, where Paul explains God's sovereignty with two questions, "What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?


The second is 1 Timothy 2:1-6a where Paul asks believers everywhere to pray for all people and for those in authority, "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people."


In the first passage we're asked a question: "What if God wants to make objects of wrath so that he can show his power to objects of mercy?" In the second God's heart is revealed: "He wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." The first passage is an assertion that God is sovereign. The second is a statement of what God wants. 


One is a hypothetical question. The other is a statement of fact.


(By the way, the Bible is full of other passages that deal with this subject. But these two stand out to me.)


For many people Election vs. Free Will is a bitter and frustrating debate. Others are convinced fully of one way and do not see any need for further discussion. Still others think both doctrines are true and somehow go hand in hand, where God's "decreed will" dictates that He wins in the end, but his "moral will" allows people the freedom to choose which side they want to be on. And yet, it is not by man's choice that salvation comes, but by God's gift. 


It can all be very confusing to say the least, and I don't pretend to understand the mystery of election and choice. I want (need!) to remain completely open to (desperate for!) God's continual revelation, and I pray that God will Luke 24:27 me.


However, here is what I am convinced of as of this writing: 


God is love. Real love. The kind that knows you, chooses you, invites you just as you are, but demands holiness with gentle but firm correction. His love is also one that respects your choice to reciprocate or not, which means you don't have to love Him back (and I think it's pretty clear that not everyone chooses to love Him back). If God forces us, like a puppet master over a marionette, to love Him back wouldn't it cease to be real love? Does God receive glory by forcing our love? Doesn't He rather receive glory when we are drawn by His goodness, his grace, his mercy, and his self-sacrifice--when we come willingly?


Love requires choice.


If we aren't free to choose Him, then we have no way of expressing genuine love to Him, and the commandment "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" remains a nice, but inapplicable saying.


So, I believe that within God's love are both His choosing (His election) and our choice to choose Him in return (our free will). However, without His initiation, we have no hope. Unless God expresses His invitation of love, we cannot receive it.


And the expression of God's invitation is Jesus. If we live like Jesus lived, then we become the invitation to the world. We become salt and light. The Holy Spirit, through the people of God, displays the sacrificial love of God's son in the world today. He does this through our actions, through our words, and through our faith. We are God's invitation to the lost. We are the declaration of His love and His election.


That's what I believe.


However, one question lingers in my mind. Does God make vessels of dishonor?--does He make men who are specifically destined for hell? Some passages seem to suggest this. I don't understand it, and I hesitate to believe that it is true, but when I think about God, I know that He can do whatever He pleases. He can reveal His glory in whatever manner He chooses. We are His creation, He designed us, and He knows exactly what He's doing. All I know is that I have no right to judge Him, I have no ability to understand His ways unless He reveals them to me, He doesn't consult me when He makes decisions, and I will not apologize for His actions--because they are His. Like Paul, I must say that if God chooses to do that, He can. He has every right to. But, does He do that? I don't know.


Either way, I trust that He is love.


Luke 9:20 -- "What do you think?"

The three pillars of learning

Learning is the process of putting your trust into rules that apply to specific situations. For instance, in algebra, the rules are straightforward: you can do whatever you want to the left side of the equation, as long as you do the same thing to the right side of the equation. Seems simple enough. The trick, of course, is do something useful, and in algebra, "useful" means getting some unknown variable on one side of the equation all by itself.

So, if you're asked to solve for x (get "x" all by itself on one side) in the equation

6x = 12

most of us would just divide both sides of the equation by 6. The action would produce an x on the left side of the equation (all by itself) and a 2 on the right side of the equation, indicating that x is equal to two. We can check our answer by placing it into the spot held by x in the original equation, as follows

6(2) = 12 

If you double six, you really do get twelve. So two must be what x is.

Hey, algebra is easy after all! Of course, the problem comes in when we see a situation that we've never seen before. Tell me, the first time you saw an equation like

6x = 0

did you just go ahead and divide both sides by 6 just like before? Or did you hesitate?

...most of us hesitate

And it's this hesitation that I find so interesting. Why don't we just apply the rules we've learned to the new situation? I mean, that's sort of the point of education, isn't it? Getting you to become confident enough in your understanding of the subject that you can apply what you know to situations you've never seen before and ultimately to the real world. When we're able to apply the rules we know to the real world, our knowledge has become useful and valuable.

So why do we hesitate? Isn't it because we don't trust the rules yet? Isn't it because we haven't seen the rules work in the new scenario before, so we wonder, is this a special case? are there new rules I don't know about yet? is there something I'm missing? I'm not sure! I don't know what to do!! I give up!!!

We don't trust the rules.

And it's not until we've seen the rules work over and over and over that our brains start to realize, hey, these rules always seem to work...I can trust them...I really can do anything I want to this equation, as long as whatever I do to the left side I also do to the right side! Heck, if I want to get rid of that six on the left side, then it doesn't really matter what's on the right side, I can do it! I can do whatever I want! It's algebra!

So, simple repetition is useful, because it allows us the time we need to put our trust in the rules of a subject--any subject, not just math. The human brain just needs to see it enough times before it says, "this must be true, I should hold on to this." 

Another way the brain comes to trust a rule is through multiple representation. When something is true not just because it always seems to work, but also because it makes sense in 3 or 4 different ways (most true things do), the brain will quickly put it's trust in that truth. 

The rule "you can do whatever you want to an equation as long as you do the same thing to both sides" is not just true because it works on the problems your teachers gave you in school. 

It's true by logic: the equal sign in the middle of an equation means that what is on the left side is equal to what is on the right side, so if you increase the left by six, then you have to increase the right by six. 

It's true by experience: if you place two weights on opposite sides of a balance (or twins on a seesaw) then the balance (or seesaw) will sit perfectly horizontal, however if you put weights of different amounts on the balance (or a heavy kid on one side of the seesaw) then the balance (or seesaw) will slant toward the heavier side. 

It's true by emotion: if mom gives your brother 5 M&M's and only gives you 3 M&M's, you know it's unfair or unequal.

"You can do whatever you want to the left side of the equation, but it won't be equal until you do the same thing to the right side as well."

"You can put however much weight on one side of the seesaw, but it won't be even until you put the same amount on the other side as well."

"You can give my brother however many M&M's you want, but it's not fair until you give me the same number of M&M's to me as well!"

Finally, the brain naturally holds onto truths or rules that make a personal impact. We've all seen a rose dipped in liquid nitrogen and dropped on the floor. I don't have to tell you that it shatters. You'll never forget it, and you'll never not know it. You didn't need to see it more than once, and you didn't need to see it in more than one way. IMPACT is perhaps the fastest way for the brain to trust a truth. IMPACT is an experience that hard-wires itself directly into the "I trust this" section of your brain. In our culture, IMPACT comes quite often through movies and music, and what we believe is true is affected by them. Different students are impacted by different things. Some students are impacted by physical contact, others by going outside, others by using technology, etc. Some things just seem to impact everyone across the board, like a frozen rose shattering on the ground.

The brain naturally holds onto that which it deems trustworthy and true through exposure to repetition, multiple representation, or sheer impact. Good teachers use all three. 

Keyboardless keyboard

Sometimes we need to interface with a computer without having to rely on a physical keyboard. For instance, most combat situations would preclude the use of a keyboard, as would working on power lines, or when your hands are covered in oil, etc...so, this idea, whether it already exists or not, is for those and similar situations, both current and future.

This seems problematic

Hardware
Make a glove with pressure sensors sewn into the finger tips that are "spatially aware" of one another. When activated, the sensors send wireless signals to a computer, smartphone, or HUD device via bluetooth, where each signal tells the device which finger was tapped and where that finger was, positionally, relative to all other fingers (or perhaps just relative to the thumbs, since they tend to stay in one place) when it was tapped.

Software
The software that utilizes the signals should be coded to take advantage of computer learning and pattern recognition (as well as traditional word prediction and auto-correction) so that each word in the dictionary can be turned into an approximate pattern of pressure and position signals from relevant fingers. The pattern recognition software should be coded so that it can adapt to the nuances and quirks of individuals. In this way, the longer a person uses the software, the more useful it becomes for that individual. This computer learning and bio-feedback data should be stored in separate files from the base software, and made transferable, so that if the glove is damaged, the individual can transfer the files to a new set of gloves without having to start from scratch. The glove and the software should not activate until needed, perhaps by the push of a button or by bringing the thumbs to within one inch of each other, otherwise inputs would be made randomly while wearing the gloves.

Function
This system allows the user to treat any flat surface as a keyboard.

Perks
It could also operate as a mouse by holding the left hand motionless as a reference point for the right hand. The fore and middle fingers could then be tapped as left and right mouse buttons.
This system could be built into preexisting military gloves, work gloves, or consumer gloves.

Ain't technology grand

Follow the timeline:

1. Build internet.
2. Grant access to information, services, and people on and through internet.
3. Make internet access through a device in your home socially acceptable.
4. Make internet access through a device you carry around with you socially acceptable.*
5. Make internet access through a device you wear socially acceptable.
6. Make internet access through a device implanted in you socially acceptable.
7. Enjoy hive-mind.

*You are here.

At great risk of being considered a Luddite, the following are issues my generation and the next few will have to deal with in the next 50-150 years if technology is allowed to continue along it's current path.

Human augmentation, networked consciousness, ubiquity of robotic services and labor, artificial intelligence, designer genetics (human and non-human), space war, global energy/environmental/population readjustments, rampant abuse of advanced systems and technologies of control by governments and individuals.

Prepaid gasoline

If you're running a gas station, this idea's for you.

Build a website that updates your advertised price of gasoline in near real time. Allow customers to prepay for a limited amount (up to say 50-80 gallons) of gasoline, redeemable within a limited amount of time (up to say 60-180 days).

Customers will watch your site to catch a good price, which allows you to see internet traffic, advertise, show deals, promote your brand etc. Customers will prepay for gasoline when the price is right, giving you an upfront payment, while allowing you to undercut the local competition. If they're buying from you, they're not buying from them. This does mean that you're not selling as much gas at peak prices, but it also means that neither are your competitors. You can support lower margins by moving more product, and supplementing the loss with advertising, brand loyalty, and sales of other products.

The power of Google's +1 button

Android and Chrome users +1 awesome stuff (often Google's own products), Google uses these +1's in their search algorithm to rank websites.

Websites that have the +1 button will tend to outperform those that don't in search rankings; those websites without the button will rush to include it so their sites have a chance.

Chrome and Android users have the power to organize the web based on their tastes (which favors Google properties); all the users who don't use Chrome or Android will need to download Chrome and/or get an Android phone in order to have their voice heard in the search rankings.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE .... or at least to the Google people.

For now.