A futurist digs his hearing aids

The Accidental Cyborg - "These [hearing aids] aren't just dumb amplifiers; they're little digital signal processors, small enough to fit into the ear canal, and smart enough to know when to boost the input and when to leave it alone... And here's where therapeutic augmentation starts to fuzz into enhancement: one of the program modes I'm considering would give me far better than normal hearing, allowing me to pick up distant conversations like I was standing right there." [Open the Future via BoingBoing]

The blogger at Open the Future's hearing aids have apparently confirmed his enthusiasm about the coming (eventually, honest!) wave of cyborg-ness. I had a similar rush of optimism after getting my own hearing aids, but it's faded somewhat with time.

They're great, and they've improved my quality of life considerably, but they're incredibly expensive, and could certainly be better. For example: I don't get distortion or interference from my GSM cell phone, but orienting my Motorola's earpiece so that the speaker lines up with the microphone in my hearing aids is hit-and-miss at best.

I often feel a little lame, having spent around $3,000 for custom-molded, high quality 'headphones' that I have to take out to listen to some phone calls or my iPod. That problem can be addressed with bluetooth add-ons, which are compatible with the larger BTE (behind-the-ear) devices, not my small ones. Oticon, the manufacturer of my own devices, has developed a relatively small BTE aid with built-in bluetooth as well as wireless co-ordination between the two aids -- awesome, but presumably battery-devouring.

Not to mention that being able to "pick up distant conversations like I was standing right there" is approximately the most annoying superpower ever when riding the bus.

Surface Computer rocks (apparently)

Who'd have thought: an exciting, innovative technology from Microsoft. Required reading:

Microsoft announces Surface computer [TechCrunch]

First look: Microsoft Surface computing [Channel 10]

Microsoft Surface: behind-the-scenes first look [Popular Mechanics]

Microsoft Surface confirmed: touch-sensitive, $10k Minority Report table [Gizmodo]

Press release [Microsoft]

School rules as class warfare

Unlike in public schools, where phones are now banned, NY's private school kids tote BlackBerries for fun status and profit success:

"Gil received a hand-me-down Palm Treo six months ago, when his father upgraded his smart phone. Since then, the 16-year-old has been using the PDA to stay on top of his homework assignments, appointments, and extracurricular activities. "I'm definitely more organized," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his camera- and multimedia player-equipped Treo."

[New York Sun via Gawker]

Pranktastic

Most years, ThinkGeek wins the trophy for cleverest April Fools gag. This year, they pushed out an email full of BS products, including this stellar widget ("SnūzNLūz"):

People who enjoy sleeping in are cowering in fear all across the globe - it's finally true, when you snooze, you lose! The principle is simple. The SnuzNLuz securely connects via WiFi to your online bank account, and donates YOUR real money to an organization you HATE when you decide to snooze! [more]

This is actually a really, really good alarm clock idea. Better, even, than the design school thesis-type prototypes that bubble up now and then, like the alarm clock that rolls off your bedside table and under the bed so you have to chase it to turn off the siren, or the one that dangles from a string above your bed and winds it self up higher and higher with each successive snooze until you have to physically climb out of bed.

Edit: Neat, Gizmodo agrees.

Guiding Light: Which book light outshines the others? - "If these people have nothing to hide, why do they sneak off to a dark corner with their tiny, battery-operated lights? Why do they continue to read after their spouses have gone to sleep? What, exactly, are these book lighters planning?" [Slate]