Ubiquitous Online Technology Culture has Merged with Real Life -- Already

At The Guardian, Oliver Burkeman has a thought-provoking article from the South by Southwest 2011 titled The Internet is Over, but not in the way you might think at first glance. He means that the Internet as a separate entity of technology culture has ceased to exist. It has in fact now merged with real life to a degree not even envisioned by the coiner of the term "Ubiquitous Computing".

A salute to the ubiquitous DC-3 - Google Earth Community

A salute to the ubiquitous DC-3 - Google Earth Community: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Ubiquity of GPS - latimes.com

Ubiquity of GPS - latimes.com

Yesterday was Flag Day in the USA - Did Anyone Notice? In America, Every Day is Flag Day

In Flag Day: In America, Old Glory represents more than just patriotism - latimes.com Gregory Rodriguez writes:

"The ubiquitous, barely noticeable U.S. flags that appear on clothing, mattress ads and even NBA backboards, among other things, are a constant reminder of nationhood and national unity." [emphasis added]

The Ubiquitous Xerox 914

The ubiquitous Xerox 914 photocopier revolutionized the machine business world. See The Atlantic magazine for The Mother of All Invention, written by Edward Tenner, who writes:

"Few people thought a market existed for the machines, which went on to become ubiquitous." [emphasis added]

Xerox, the Ubiquitous

The Mother of All Invention - Magazine - The Atlantic:

"The struggles, obstacles, and ultimate triumph of its principal inventor, Chester Carlson— beginning with his frustrations as a patent analyst in the late 1930s—seem ripped from a Frank Capra film. Few people thought a market existed for the machines, which went on to become ubiquitous."[emphasis added]

Ubiquitous Spending by California Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman

What does it take to become governor of California?

Money helps ... as billionaire Meg Whitman, former head of eBay, is reported to donate another $20 million to her Gubernatorial campaign:

"... her ubiquitous radio and TV ad campaign led to her spending $27.2 million in the first 11 weeks of the year — an average of $358,439 a day." [emphasis added]

But in this case the money also appears to be combined with a great deal of competence. If you can run eBay can you run a defunct California? Possibly.

Here is what the Wikipedia bio says about candidate Whitman:

"Whitman was born on Long Island, New York, the daughter of Hendricks Hallett Whitman and Margaret (Goodhue) Whitman. Whitman attended a public high school, Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. She had wanted to be a doctor so she studied physics and mathematics at Princeton University. However, after spending a summer selling advertisements in a magazine, she switched to studying economics, earning a BA with honors. She then obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979. Whitman is married to Griffith Harsh IV, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University Medical Center....

Whitman has committed to only three major areas in her campaign: job creation, reduced state government spending, and reform of the state's K-12 educational system. She has explained that she believes it is best to start only a few things and finish them, instead of starting a lot of things and not finish them.

Whitman has pledged not to raise taxes.... She also proposes lowering business taxes and making California a more business-friendly environment, stating that California is losing jobs not to other countries but to neighboring states with lower tax rates....

For water issues, Whitman has opposed a federal judge ruling and supports turning on water for thousands of Central Valley farmers. She said if elected, on her first day she would suspend AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to study potential economic implications. At the state GOP Convention in March, Whitman described California Republican Governor Schwarzenegger's climate change bill as a "job-killer."

I am a political centrist who plays no favorites as far as the political parties are concerned, but this looks like a good option for the State of California, where it is time to "clean house".

Apple's multitouch lawsuit is both dumb and dangerous. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

Apple's multitouch lawsuit is both dumb and dangerous. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

"with all the tablets and e-readers hitting the market, touch screens are becoming ubiquitous" [emphasis added]

HTML vs. Flash: Can a turf war be avoided? | Deep Tech - CNET News

HTML vs. Flash: Can a turf war be avoided? | Deep Tech - CNET News

"Flash has indeed spread to near-ubiquity on computers, with better than 98 percent penetration, according to Adobe's statistics."

Google Docs Becomes Google ‘Any File’ as Cloud Wars Heat Up | Epicenter | Wired.com

Google Docs Becomes Google ‘Any File’ as Cloud Wars Heat Up | Epicenter | Wired.com

Ryan Singel writes:

"Google is now offering a small virtual hard drive in the cloud so you can access all sorts of files anywhere — the latest salvo in an arms race to become the dominant player in cloud services.

As with many Google initiatives, this one may be deceptively modest: When it is completely rolled out, Google Docs will accept uploads of any kind of file — not just text and spreadsheets. That move heightens their competition with Microsoft, and takes on Apple and a number of small startups in the business of creating backup and storage space on remote servers.

This business is suddenly becoming viable with the ubiquity of broadband connectivity"

Mind Your Tweets: The CIA Social Networking Surveillance System

Mind Your Tweets: The CIA Social Networking Surveillance System:

"a ubiquitous surveillance infrastructure"

Ubiquitous Connectivity is the Trend of Tomorrow According to Sam Sethi

At LinkedIn, Sam Sethi, trying to spot the trends of tomorrow, writes that ubiquitous connectivity is becoming more widespread, and there is more....

Last.fm Makeover in its Next Generation Provides More Ubiquity According to Ars Technica

David Chartier writes at ars technica on July 17, 2008 about Last.fm, "The Social Music Revolution" and its Next Generation makeover:

"Music streaming and social community Last.fm has redesigned for a more mature experience, adding more integration and ubiquity across a variety of devices."

Ubiquitous Personal Information, Law and Anti-Discrimination

The University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog has a November 26, 2007 posting on
Strahilevitz on "Law in an Era of Ubiquitous Personal Information". Strahlevitz thinks anti-discrimination will be reduced by the ubiquity of personal information enabled by modern technology. We are sceptical.

The NEC gumi : ubiquitous media chip

See NEC Future Design Activity and "gumi", the
ubiquitous media chip.