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The future's in a mighty big hurry to get here. At least, that's the impression I've gotten of late. It seems like every other news item I see is talking about some area of research that's going to "revolutionize" an aspect of our lives. It you ever heard of Alvin Toffler's Future Shock, you know he demonstrated that the pace of change in our society is becoming so great that it's disorienting people. Now I think we're moving to the next level, where predictions of change themselves are disorienting!

Of course, predicting change is always trickier than just documenting actual changes and their effects. Even when the path seems pretty obvious, there's always the law of unintended consequences to mess things up. For example, twelve or so years ago, we were told that enough computer hard disk space existed to store all of human knowledge. A new age of rapid learning and enlightenment was to follow. Instead, people clutter up their hard drives with old DOS software, unread email, porno images, top secret CIA downloads and other junk. Where's room for knowledge?

Now, take some of these "revolutionary" technologies I've learned of recently. Most are examined in light of the great topic of our day, counter-terrorism security. But I'm sure these new techniques will have their own unintended applications.

For instance, a new sensor device can recognize certain electrical patterns in the brain - patterns which occur when a person sees or hears something they're familiar with. It could potentially provide a quick test of whether a person is associated with known terrorists or plots. But the ability to detect special brain patterns could have many other uses. I'd like to see a version that can spot a 3 year old's urge to handle something breakable, and then set off an alarm klaxon. On second thought, maybe not - the klaxon would go off all day...

Then there's iris scanning, an identification technique already being deployed for real world uses. It's so accurate it's been error free to date. Now that's access control! Still, eye scanning could offer so much more. A mandatory, cap mounted device for cell phone users could constantly scan the eyes of people nearby. Detection of a dirty look would activate a small mallet, which would continually strike the cell user's cranium until their volume level dropped. Who said common courtesy was dead!?!

Another cool device is a sort of smoke alarm for bacteria and viruses. It continuously samples the air and looks for even tiny quantities of harmful bugs. It's expected to give authorities very early warning of a release of anthrax (or smallpox or whatever) in a public place. That's quite reassuring. The technology could move very conveniently into the home, too. A unit in your fridge could detect bacteria from that spoiled meatloaf languishing in the corner. The intelligent Maytag would then transfer the offensive leftover to a special sealed compartment, sort of like the medical waste container in your doctor's office. A hazardous waste truck would be by each week to extract the contents. Tip the driver well, or he might let it spill!

If you're into absolutely perfect secrecy, a researcher at Los Alamos can send decryption codes composed of individual photons (particles of light). This technique allows complete certainty about receipt of the codes. If any of the photons are intercepted, then the intended recipient won't get them - which means the encryption method won't be used. Perfectly secure communication has many uses. I can see this being used with the brain pattern detector to create MILAS (Mother In Law Alert System). The pattern detector would go off the moment your mother in law decided to come visit. A perfectly secure message would come to you, leaving your spouse unaware you've been warned. Now just shoot your hand in the air when the boss asks for weekend project volunteers. Another crisis averted!

At the risk of further wear on an old phrase, there really can be better living through technology!

Copyright ã, Douglas Holt, 2001