I suppose it was inevitable.

“Intel researchers in Pittsburgh told journalists today that brain implants are harnessing human brain waves to surf the Internet, manipulate documents, and much more.”

Well, thank you Intel. The modern age wasn’t quite scary enough. And contrary to what science fiction from the 1950s-1980s would have had us believe, the recipients of these chips are eager volunteers. As Hollywood has explained to me over the course of the last three decades, this will not end well.

Read both articles:
Intel: Chips in brains will control computers by 2020
and a review from ReadWriteWeb:
The Brain Chip Cometh, & It Cometh from Intel.

It is fitting that this is taking place in Pittsburgh (and yes, we are looking at you Carnegie Mellon University) as the whole chain of events will end like another Pittsburgh iconic event:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gUKvmOEGCU]

Am I the only one who really has purpose with horror films? I have no attraction to the genre whatsoever.

But I suppose we can be optimistic and hope this Intel brain chip business turns out to be a different take on the Pittsburgh legend, a la The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOuI0rXrOmA]

I dare you not to watch that addictive clip all the way through.

On a side note, is this not the most delicious Wikipedia entry of all time (from George Romero’s biography):

Romero attended Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 1960, he began his career shooting short films and commercials. One of his early commercial films, a segment for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in which Mr. Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy, inspired Romero to go into the horror film business.

Mr. Rogers’ tonsillectomy unleashed all the Zombies. The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. Wait, what was this post about originally?

Oh yeah, brain chips from Intel. Bum. Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum!

By Michael Gallagher

My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.

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