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Live Q&A - Not Your Grandmother's Embedded Systems
Clive "Max" Maxfield - Watch Now - Duration: 21:05
Hi Dan -- thanks for your kind words -- when I compare the world today to when I was a kid in the early 1960s, it's mind-blowing how things have changed -- I daren't even think what we might see in the coming years (but I cannot wait to see it LOL)
When I was at school, I always hated history. The teachers were always so boring. Kind of ironic, but now I'm a lecturer, and I always start off with a bit of history too. That was a great talk, and really funny! I think the people close by didn't understand why I kept on laughing. And yes, there is a bit of Black Mirror in what you say... We are ever so close, or at least going in the right/wrong direction for that. Thanks for the talk, and looking forward to helping you set up Luos!
Hi James -- thanks so much for attending -- I'm so glad you enjoyed the talk -- I'm looking forward to working with Luos also -- I'm up to my armpits in alligators this week -- maybe we could touch base next week -- Max
FYI Max, you can find the Neuralink Monkey video here: https://youtu.be/rsCul1sp4hQ.
There are a science fiction stories I'm aware of that have addressed some of the concerns people brought up in the Q&A. Jerry Pournelle, I believe, wrote a few decades ago about how people having brain interfaces to an online connection (this was prior to the internet) would make them more capable, due to having access to calculation and database lookup capabilities, but would make them not want to go into space, because access and lag time issues would affect their ability to use that connection.
Someone else wrote a story about brain interfaces being hijacked to, among other things, display advertising in your visual field, as well as other bad situations. Imagine ransomware on your memories, or your motor control.
This is where things get scary -- at a security conference a couple of years ago, one of the speakers explained how he had hacked his insulin pump (which measures blood sugar and injects small amounts of insulin -- also Wi-Fi enabled so your doctor can see what's happening). This this guy said that he could see that there were some members of the audience with similar medical devices -- would they like him to hack those devices? .....
Love the quote you inserted on your grandfather about wearing the Hawaiian shirt! Have your parents seen you wearing one and if so, what was their reaction?
Thanks Will -- I used to wear boring mono-color shirts -- then I went to Hawaii in 2001 to give a talk and loved the shirts and started wearing them -- now this is all I wear -- my work clothes are my home clothes are my gardening clothes ... if people ask me to give a presentation, they know what they'll get :-) I FaceTime with my mom in England every day -- she looks forward to seeing which shirt I'll be wearing (or, at least, that's what she says LOL)
In the past, the technical challenges were (seemingly) easy, but resources limited (ie. books, no internet), while now, we have so many resources, but the technical challenges are so complex.
Do we have it easy compared to the past inventors and engineers, or harder??
Yes -- No -- Both LOL I agree that in the past technical challenges were easier -- but you had to do everything for yourself -- like the guy who created the first X-Y Plotter -- he was called Gerber -- he had to not only create the machine, but the file format to store the data (hence Gerber files). In 1980 I worked for a mainframe computer company -- they wanted to link a mainframe to a small computer via a network -- they had to create their own proprietary network format. Now, we want to do much more complex stuff, but we can take advantage of stuff that's already there, like Wi-Fi and Blue-Tooth and existing standards and file formats and off-the-shelf devices.
Thank you for this excellent presentation - a great history lesson with a lot to think about!
Hi Phil -- thanks for the kind words - there really is a lot to think about here -- I can't wait to see what happens in the coming years :-)
"Total information overload", quite a likely scenario. Very interesting talk!
Thanks Werner -- I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)
Hi Steve -- I have a funny story about my mother-in-law in a grocery store -- but it will have to wait until after the live Q&A :-)
I'd use a headset in grocery stores that would let me look at produce and show me which items were freshest, etc.
Hi everyone -- I'm really looking forward to giving this presentation.
11:34:04 From Max Maxfield : Can you hear me? 11:35:18 From Max Maxfield : I can hear you 11:35:23 From Jacob Beningo : No we can’t hear you 11:35:33 From Jacob Beningo : Can you check under mute, to see if your microphone is selected? 11:35:38 From Jacob Beningo : I know mine changes sometimes when I log in 11:42:46 From Rob Meades : I notice you didn't mention the Neuralink monkey in your list of amazing things - Neuralink could short circuit quite a lot of the technologies listed (video etc.). 11:44:44 From James A. Langbridge : Hope to see you next year Max, but in the mean time, I think that you are going to be writing scripts for Black Mirror… Technology is great, and our use of it can be terrifying 11:45:21 From Nathan Jones : Clive: You mentioned having never written a program for an RTOS. I'm also a fan of superloops and cooperative schedulers! Not exclusively, but I think they're more useful than people give them credit for. I would imagine you've had some pushback from clients about not using an RTOS. What do you typically respond with? 11:45:52 From Michael Kirkhart : LOL - death of the 8 bit microprocessor! 11:46:44 From Raul Pando : Would it be like that with brain to machine interfaces, 80% having this augmentation. Uhm... 11:46:58 From James A. Langbridge : Have you been to WallMart? I think that 80% of strange trends seem to start with their clients. Everyone was laughing at face mask and full face masks, and now it is common place 11:47:27 From James Kincell : Smart watches are a good example! Back when they were new, you looked a bit odd if you had one (admittedly they were big!), now, its common to see. In fact, yes, I feel I am missing out on the data I could have if I had a smart watch! 11:47:59 From Rob Meades : Or using mobile phones, which used to be embarrassing or a social faux pas. 11:48:30 From James A. Langbridge : I worked on a project with Fujitsu, a headset that shows service guides on the side or your peripheral vision, and can help point out the pieces that you need to check on or replace. Early tech, it wasn't fluid, but it's coming! 11:48:34 From Michael Kirkhart : https://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ 11:48:35 From Steve Wheeler : Or translation of street signage. 11:50:19 From Leopy : I'm personally getting a perception that tech is going more and more often towards the route of "solution in search of a problem", such as "life hacks" that save literally seconds but are often very expensive. What do you think? 11:50:27 From Nathan Jones : Thanks! 11:53:00 From James A. Langbridge : Okay Max, I'm in tears every time I watch your videos! 11:53:29 From Andrei : What is your feel about tech progress (especially in consumer industry) vs security (i.e. taking the time to really sanitizing products against trivial attackers)? 11:53:59 From Sam : LOVED your history lesson! We constantly repeat history and many are not aware of it. 11:55:21 From kehlert : I thought the first Terminator movie was ahead of its time when I saw it years ago, but I found it believable, even back then. What's your take? 11:55:55 From Clayton Pannell : Do you have the Victorian LEDs at hand to show off? 11:55:56 From Sam : Believeable. Today, nothing shocks me. 11:56:15 From Steve Wheeler : I broke out laughing in the theater because I recognized the Terminator code as being from Nybble magazine for an Apple II. 11:56:39 From Michael Kirkhart : There does seem to be a trend toward "solutions in search of problems". 11:56:58 From James Kincell : Question: In the past, the technical challenges were easy, but resources limited (ie. books, no internet), while now, we have so many resources, but the technical challenges are so complex. Do we have it easy compared to the past inventors and engineers, or harder?? 11:58:26 From Sam : The future in technology is both interesting, yet scary. What will the bad guy use it for? 11:59:52 From Davy Baker : Rumba, bring me some bacon. 11:59:53 From Michael Kirkhart : Yes - a device which solves the "senioritis" problem! 11:59:53 From James A. Langbridge : I can't reinstall my wife :( 11:59:54 From Sam : The thing is, I feel the more we use AI, the dumber we make ourselves and not use our brain. 12:00:02 From Keith J : Thanks Max! 12:00:10 From James G : thank you max! 12:00:13 From Davy Baker : Thank you Max. 12:00:17 From Rob Meades : Thanks! 12:00:20 From Sam : thank you. 12:00:36 From Werner : Thanks Max!! 12:00:41 From Leopy : Thank you so much! 12:01:21 From James A. Langbridge : I notice that Jacob was true to his word, he has a nice shirt on too :) (LinkedIn comments) 12:01:41 From Alvaro Muro(Bilbao) : Thanks!! 12:02:04 From Agnes B : Thank you very much
Thanks for a very historically interesting and thought provoking talk! As others have said, we're nearly in a world of science fiction. It definitely becomes uncomfortable (and have to hope technology doesn't get used in nefarious ways) as reality becomes hard to tell from fiction.