The host is on vacation

A third dimension for data?

Shocked? Well I was too. Let me repeat: in a not too distant future, we should be able to capture the essential characteristics of a local object, translate that into a data profile and send it to a remote place.

Nothing out of the ordinary, so far, but here's the scoop: reversing the process at the remote site we would create a credible replica of the original from the data profile. SciFi anyone?

Well, it's not SciFi and it's not woodoo magic either, but an actual project driven by Seth Goldstein & Todd Mowry, two eminent professors at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science.

The main ingredient to achieve that phenomenal alchemy from data to an actual object is a new element that the two professors call programmable matter.

Care to read a definition of programmable matter? here it is, from the horses' mouths:

An ensemble of material that contains sufficient:
– local computation
– actuation
– storage
– energy
– sensing & communication
Which can be programmed to form interesting dynamic shapes and configurations.

It all starts to make sense now, does it not? Now close your eyes and visualize these atoms of programmable matter automatically joining to form objects consistent with the original profile.

The process as I understand it should be very much similar to what happens in a chemistry lab experiment, with the difference that atoms of programmable matter will follow their own programming rather than the laws of conventional science.

Programmable matter could become reality in five years or less according to the project, but with rather large atoms, which would make for a rather coarse rendering of the original object. In time those atoms should become more finely grained.

Granted, you won't see a review of products based on programmable matter anytime soon, but the perspective of this research producing a prototype in 10 years or less gets me going.

Just imagining possible applications of this technology is mind numbing. Think for example of sales reps delivering their pitch while creating accurate replicas of their goods.

Or online shoppers, downloading the profile and creating a proxy object before committing to a purchase. How about trasmitting the profile of a real human being? Can you imagine being able to "download" your favorite actor? Gives an all new meaning to the expression "home theater", does it not?

Before getting lost in reveries let me suggest a more sobering thought: if we have so much trouble managing static, two dimensional data, how will we adapt to the mercurial characteristics of programmable matter?

"Have You Done It Today?"

To tell it as it is, in that campaign Maxtor is also pushing its new line of external drives, the OneTouch II. In fact, they are giving away one unit everyday for the month of June. If interested, follow this link, or pass it on to your friends and family.

That they buy or not a drive from Maxtor makes little difference to me, but any initiative that can make people more attentive to data protection is worth supporting.

Perhaps you work for a large corporation and think all your ducks are covered by your IT department? Well, better think again. Many people, and I mean MANY PEOPLE, do some office-related work on their home computers and there is nothing that can or will stop that from happening.

You may object that, even if those coworkers don't have backup procedures in place, most of the time only a few hours of work will be at risk, typically what one can accomplish during one evening or the week-end.

True, but what if a conscientious colleague is working on a long-term project in his/her spare time at home? In such cases, a backup of that PC would protect days, perhaps weeks worth of work, don't you agree?

Moreover, even loosing only a few hours worth of work is probably much more expensive than buying a drive such as the Maxtor OneTouch II or a similar model from other vendors.

I'll stop from playing Cassandra now, but please, do get yourself in the habit of "doing it" every day and, at least for June, become an evangelist of doing it and doing it well, as it should be. Still wondering what am I talking about? A proper backup of your PC, of course.