Yesterday, I started hearing about some billionaire with a hair-brained but revolutionary idea for a new form of transport. This isn’t just any random billionaire, mind you – this is Elon Musk, the co-founder of both PayPal and Tesla Motors, as well as the founder of SpaceX. So you see, he has a pretty good track record for pushing through large-scale projects. So what was this big idea of his? He calls it Hyperloop. It is a tube-based transportation system in which pods zip around in a low-pressure environment (to minimize air friction). His proposal is for using it inside congested cities and between cities less that 1000 miles apart. Continue reading
Category Archives: Zero Calvin Articles
Bitcoins – Another Key Component in the Ariel System
In case you’ve never heard of them, Bitcoins are a decentralized digital currency based on peer-to-peer Internet connections. The Bitcoin system relies heavily on cryptography and has a nifty feature where the transaction log is stored by everyone so that transactions can be verified by a safety-in-numbers approach. Also, it takes computational “work” to update the transaction log (called a block chain), so forgery is difficult and becomes impossible the more time passes after a transaction. It’s quite clever – you can read more about it on the Bitcoin Wiki page. Continue reading
The Toilets are Real!
As most of you know, Zero Calvin was released in 2003. in it, I wrote about high tech toilets that wash and dry your bum for you. Here is some of what I wrote: Continue reading
Google GLASS: The Precursor to Zero Calvin’s Display Lenses
Zero Calvin was published in November of 2003. In it, I describe lenses/glasses that are worn over the eye which are both video screens on the inside and cameras on the outside. They work in conjunction with PCs (short for Personal Communicators) to form the core user interface to the Ariel System (part Internet, part artificially intelligent pro-active search engine). Here is how I described both PCs and Display lenses in the book: Continue reading
Bluetooth Headsets: The Precursor to Zero Calvin’s Personal Communicators
Zero Calvin was published in November of 2003. In it, I describe a cellphone-like piece of electronic gear, but one that is much smaller and is surgically implanted behind the ear. They are called PCs (short for Personal Communicators) and they work in conjunction with Display Lenses to form the core user interface to the Ariel System (part Internet, part artificially intelligent pro-active search engine). Here is how I described them in the book: Continue reading
Zero Calvin Fun Facts
Here are some little tidbits about Zero Calvin that you might find interesting. I will add more as I think of them.
General Silliness
- Although Calvin regained consciousness on April 3rd, he was actually revived on April 1st (April fools day). Chapter 8 (page 17) has the two needed clues to put that together.
- Ever really looked at the cover to Zero Calvin? Look at the lenses. There is an image reflecting on them. Calvin’s hands!