Discussions

@felix9:  Thanks for the link ... was that just posted?  Pretty late, no?

It's hard to believe it's been so long.  Channel9 started right after my father passed away and I had started at my second gig with Avanade, which was a Microsoft/Accenture joint venture.  Dad was pretty proud that I'd finally made it into a company we both thought was going places.  Channel9 really filled a hole in my life ... the interviews just reminded me of the way I'd go up to my dad when he was deep into something and ask him what he was working on, and we'd have a long discussion about whatever it happened to be - usually programming related, or philosophy or history or theology ... you name it.. 

The stand outs really bring me great happiness, challenging my very understanding of reality - too many to name, but the top 3 go to Beckman, Meijer and De Smet - for volume and quality.  The fire control systems as shown by Beckman, analog computing, was one of the most profound AHA moments I've ever experienced..  That combined with An Eternal Golden Braid - the idea that any formal system of symbols, with a set of rules, can be a language ... that really is profound and to understand how analog computers work and how that must be how protein conformal changes and enzymes must work, just blew my mind.

As for the next 9 years:  Consider Beckman's discussion on analog computers, consider monads as things that "change without changing", consider  3D printing custom, disposable computers, and programmable matter - i.e. how do you program a purely functional computer out of light emitting polymers, 3D monads, that's how, because it has to be purely functional.  You cannot program matter with side-effects, that's not going to work.  That's what is coming however, 3D printing will get so fast over the next 50 years, that we will indeed have holodecks.  They managed to pull photons out of the vacuum just this year, and believe they can do it for any particle, once they are able to control things, so it may be even faster than that.  The issue is how do you control and arrange these particles such that they make whatever you want out of thin air?  BTW it isn't free energy, because you indeed must put in energy to push or pull (with magnetic fields) the particles out of the vacuum before they annihilate. 

Anyways, quantum computing is just one aspect of computing that is already upon us.  It will be awhile, but there is the possibility of making one out of off the shelf components, and if someone is successful at that ... watch out.  Another aspect is sharing thoughts and minds - telepathy - and frighteningly, they've managed to hook up two rats and have one learn from another, remotely.  So much so, that one rat starts to develop all the sensory signatures of the other within its own brain, as if it has two bodies.  Seriously, not making this up.  The news came out just this past week about it.  The scientist believe they can hook up many animals to make a "brain-net", to solve more and more complex problems.  "Organic computer", they call it.  Well, I call it telepathy.  Scary stuff, but also something that I would try - it's not that dangerous ... is it???  Hope not. 

So, 9 years is enough time to change the world, and even for the singularity to happen.  In the meantime, lets remember the simple things ... like getting together with friends and family and enjoying nature and the fresh air and water and BBQs and beer.  I hope that the future means more of that, and more fun, and less pain and suffering.  It's definitely not my intention to ruin the world, so if I hook myself up to a brain-net, it will be to try to solve some of the biggest and most terrible problems we have.  Like cancer, heart disease, childhood illnesses and genetic diseases of all kinds, and perhaps ... death.

10 hours ago, Charles wrote

@Richard.Hein: Why?
C

As kettch said ... I had to pay for BUILD.  It is only a 12 hour drive though ... we'll see.

I'd love to go ... great line up, and workshops. Alas, it is extremely unlikely.

You'll adapt.  Then VS2010 looks annoying after a while.  Typical experience, really.  Also, they stuck a blue theme back in the latest update, so you can get blue back ... but I tried it and honestly don't like it ... rather have the dark theme or the grey theme personally.

That's great Sven, I'm sure you'll do great at the interviews.  Best of luck!

@Charles: Sweet!

Does anyone know if you can publish VM templates on Azure Marketplace as an application?  I.E. Say you want a VM template like BizTalk or SQL Server VM Roles in Azure, but you want people to pay for it?

Awesome ... I've been waiting over 15 years for this kind of plan. http://discovermagazine.com/1995/oct/robotbuildthysel569 Auxon

There's so much potential, but you're absolutely right, things are going to have to be redesigned at the OS level to maximize the potential.  It took years for touch to get into the OS and it's obvious that the traditional desktop experience isn't that great for it, and with this kind of precision 3D touchless interface, it will take a considerable amount of time for things to evolve.

At the base of the OS, the input itself has to respect the degrees of freedom allowed by this kind of UI.  I mean, things like fonts and writing will have to be changed.  I think that natural language will evolve in huge leaps, as we abandon keyboard input as the primary input and a new generation of calligraphy emerges in 3D space.  People will be able to rapidly create 3D models, like manipulating clay, to express thoughts and ideas.  They will be able to animate it and make it interactive.  Text is not going away, but I think that a new world of media as a language will emerge.  That has to be baked into the OS.  A new kind of shell that makes 3D models first class.

EDIT:   I also think that technology like Photosynth will play a huge role, as it will allow hyperlinking images and 3D modeling.  This has already been demonstrated by Bing and Photosynth, i.e. an image in a picture links to a 3D model made from pictures of the same source.  So, imagine if I model something with some basic 2D outline, or even 3D virtual clay, like the shape of house I want to search for on Bing maps, and when I find it, I can create a hyperlink to related shapes.