Future: Say it with me.

Reasons you should be reading Grinding:

'Holy Jet Wings - it’s “Fusion Man”!'

'Don’t call it a flying car. It’s a “roadable aircraft.”'

'Designer Sandstrom has embedded her EPA dress with sensors that are able to intelligently read the surrounding atmosphere and in turn create telling kinks in the fabric’s surface. On days when the air quality is particularly poor, the EPA dress looks as if it has been pulled out of the laundry bin or from the back of one’s closet. It’s a scary prospect to think that our clothes might take on a texture of their own, but if this is a viable way for us to see our true selves or rather the state of our environment, well then, we are all for it!'

Now I want you to Shut Your Freking Mouth, and go about making the Future-Present a better place.

Okay. New Gmail address.

I've got a new Gmail address.

It will be for work, business, project planning, networking stuff, etc.

I may gradually phase out the Yahoo address, but that is not a certainty. Okay?

So. If you've not yet received an e-mail, from me, informing you of this very thing, then here this is.

Please note that I have not placed the actual address, here. Noted? Good. E-mail me on the yahoo address, and we'll go from there.

Sound good?

"Welcome to the 21st century, Damien."

"Thank you, random, condescending asshole."

Wakeup Call: Chapter 2, now live

You want to watch this, Right Now: On the You-Tubs.

Or on Flickr.

Or on the Wacko Productions company website.

Now, listen. I know you like movies. I know you like innovative things. I know yoou love Film Noir. So why are we even having this conversation? Watch the damn movies.

Watch them with your eyes, as hard as you possibly can.

Thank you DARPA. You've done some... pretty fucked up things.

'In 1957, the Soviet Union caught the US completely off-guard. Its military launched Sputnik – the world's first artificial satellite – heralding the dawn of the space age.

'President Eisenhower's response was to create the Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA) with a clear mission: "prevent technological surprise". Eisenhower hoped that the agency would produce revolutionary technologies and thus guarantee that never again would the US military be caught with its technological trousers down.

'Now in its 50th year, the Defence Advance Research Projects Agency has an impressive list of accomplishments behind it.'

Brilliant times.

'Faceoff! Facebook Hug/Kiss/Spank Apps: Creepy or Not?'

Over on AntiSocial Netowrking, Nina writes: 'But kiss/hug/spank applications are one of those things that seem innocent on the surface but are actually more insidiously creepy. Yes, we're "just online" and "it's not the real world" but remember that those lines are progressively becoming blurred. This relates to what I wrote in a previous post. But instead of is this a story I would tell in person? ask yourself two things:

'1. Would I do this in person?
'2. Would the person in question be receptive to it?

'Remember what I said about assumptions? Don't send skeevy emails because someone fits the suit.'

And that brings me to something I've been thinking about, a lot, lately. Well, maybe not a lot, but a bit: Know the person with whom you're flirting. This is important to know, be it online, in meatspace, at a clcub, in Facebook, the MySpace, whatever. If you don't know for certain that the person in question will receive it as "innocent flirtation," with nothing inteded to come from it (if, in fact that is how you intend it), then you need to be extremely careful about the signals you're sending.

And if you know what they mean, but they don't know that you might mean something else? Well, that can lead to several different kinds of issues, couldn't it?

Flirting is fun, but just be sensible about it.

Ta.