The Future is Now.

So I got to thinking about all the cool things I wanted this birthday/Christmas and I got nostalgic for a moment remembering times when I was cool with Hot Wheels and Micro Machines. Remember when it was cool to talk to the robot SmarterChild on AIM? How far have we come? I mean granted, we aren’t at the level I’d like to be at yet, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get myself a Flux Capacitor in 4-8 more years.

All this future talk got me thinking about the future. It’s literally right around the corner. 2010 folks is less than a month away. Every movie, every book, every concept always depicts great things going down when we reach the “20s.”

For those of you of you who intend to approach 2010 the classic way by saying “two thousand and ten,” quit lying to yourself. It’s 2010 as in Twenty Ten, as in, land of robots and flying cars. I’m kind of pumped and at the same time worried. I mean you’ve got 2012 to worry about (and the future of John Cusack’s acting career) the inevitable Apocalypse and/or potential rise of the zombies, or robots first helping us and then trying to replace us. You have to take the same approach to the future as you did on family “leftover” nights. You could get the tasty spaghetti or the meatloaf, it was Russian roulette.

One thing that has me completely terrified about the future is RFID chips. These things are slowly replacing everything from tracking devices, access passes and credit cards. The scary thing is that because they broadcast radio signals, people can now readily steal your security. If your credit card has one of these newfangled chips, someone at Starbucks can simply steal the signal with their laptop as you walk past, scan the code and clone it onto another card.

Right now they only work at places where you wave your card, like gas stations and fast food restaurants (places where they don’t check ID in the first place), but people are lazy and love convenience, the notion could catch up before the security protocols are put in place. Talk about Enemy of the State kind of crazy talk. For now the only immediate protection is buying yourself an RFID blocking wallet. Make no mistake though people, this is a real threat that boneheaded scammers are paying money on eBay to pull the wool over your eyes.

Plus there are more and more cars nowadays with OnStar. I’m sorry if I’m a bit paranoid by nature. Here is a company that unlock your car, start your car, POWER down your car, track your car etc. by some remote operator. It reminds me of Minority Report. That’s too much power for anyone person to handle and I can see it one day becoming abused, or worse contracted through other services like repossessions or private security to muck up our freedoms. If I lock myself out of my car, I might as well be humble and learn my lesson while AAA comes to help me.

There is one glimmering hope about the future though. Something infallible that we’ll always be able to count on.



Oh come on, like you didn’t see that one coming.

Check out the video below, catchy band that reminds me of the Postal Service.