[Nfbmo] {Disarmed} Fwd: Ray Kurzweil and how advancesintechnology will ...

Sun Feb 13 05:45:29 UTC 2011

Here's a copy of the Time article in a Word document. One thing about the 
site: if you click Print Article, a new window opens and you can copy and 
paste that into a Word document.

This is the article Dan's link led to. If it's the wrong one, let me know 
and I'll try to find the correct one.

Dick Morris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Coulter" <escoulter at centurytel.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] {Disarmed} Fwd: Ray Kurzweil and how 
advancesintechnology will ...

Time is available on Newsline. Don’t know issues are up there at present.

From: DanFlasar at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 8:38 PM
To: nfbmo at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] {Disarmed} Fwd: Ray Kurzweil and how advances
intechnology will ...

Cari,
   Unfortunately, TIME does not allow you to download their  articles -
they want you to go to the website and be assaulted by all the  advertisers,
which, after all, pay for the website in the first place.   Some on-line
sources allow you to read the whole article on one page but I  didn't find
any
way to do this on this webpage.
Dan

In a message dated 2/12/2011 8:22:28 P.M. Central Standard Time,
carisuekness at gmail.com writes:

Hi Dan,
I  would be interested in reading this article but I can't find it
amoung all  the other links. Can you send it in a file or  something?
Thanks.
Peace,
Cari

On 2/12/11,  DanFlasar at aol.com <DanFlasar at aol.com> wrote:
> Hi  all,
>     I am passing this on only because it is an  extended  article about
> someone who has had  and continues  to have - a very close  relationship
with
> the
> NFB - Ray  Kurzweil.  In association with the NFB at  various times,
>  Kurzweil has created such important technological prostheses  as  the
> scanner, the
> first text-to-speech engines and combining  the  aforementioned, the KNFB
> Reader, now packaged into a  cellphone.   He's  worked in other domains as
>  well,
> such as music synthesizers - his curiosity and  creativity  seems to be
> boundless.
>     Some of us have  heard about his ideas on "The  Singularity" - which
has
> been  portrayed in lurid terms in the press and the  media as evidence
that
> Dr. Kurzweil is essentially 'losing it'.
>     This article, from Time magazine, takes a more  in-depth look  at
> Kurzweil's career and how it has led him to his seemingly   bizarre
> predictions
> such as installing our consciousness into  immortal robot  bodies.  What
he
> is
> really about is  asking what happens when technology can  correct or
> compensate  for deficits in the human body - or just as importantly,
using
>  technology to enhance our bodies beyond what they are capable of in  the
> first place.
>
>      I had a long  discussion with a  friend about the NFB's
blind-driveable
>  car.    My  friend didn't understand that this was not a  robotic car
that
> chauffeured the blind passenger - it was a car  that included  sensor
> technology that mapped the visual world  into a form that a blind driver
can
> use to
> make the  decisions necessary to successfully navigate and control -  to
>  drive - the vehicle.  The army, it is true, has been trying to develop  a
> robot
> car that drives itself through all kinds of terrain,  including,
> eventually, populated areas, highways and Walmart parking  lots.   The
NFB
> car's
> driver is essential -  the driver is in control, but plenty of  safety
> devices  are
> also at work to make the job a bit easier. These same  devices  could also
> make it easier for the sighted to drive as  well.
>     It is here that Kurzweil is *really* taking  the  blind into a more
> equitable realm - his text-to-speech  technology made it  easier for us to
> 'drive' through the universe  of information via print.   The KNFB reader
> allows  us
> to more easily 'drive' through the wider world by  making  verbal
> information in the environment available.   Kurzweil  had  no part in the
> blind-driveable car but it is in line with  what he has done all  along. I
> don't believe
> in the  inevetability of Kurzweil's  predictions but  it is well worth
the
> time to understand what it is that makes Raymond Kurzweil   'tick' - and
what
> in
> part drove him to develop  accessible  technologies.  He has been at work
> for a long  time to redefine what  independence means.
>       The article is in 5 parts, well worth the   effort.
>
>
>  (http://www.time.com/)   (http://www.time.com/)
>
>
>
> 2045: The Year Man  Becomes  Immortal
>
_http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?artId=204813
>  8?contType=article?chn=sciHealth_
>
(http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?artId=2048138?contType=article?chn=sciHealth)
>
>  Dan
>
> _______________________________________________
>  Nfbmo mailing list
> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>  http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
> To  unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Nfbmo:
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/carisuekness%40gmail.com
>

_______________________________________________
Nfbmo  mailing  list
Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
To  unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Nfbmo:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/danflasar%40aol.com

_______________________________________________
Nfbmo mailing list
Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfbmo:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/escoulter%40centurytel.net
_______________________________________________
Nfbmo mailing list
Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfbmo:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/dickmorris%40netzero.net
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Time article on Kurzweil.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 69120 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/attachments/20110212/db0587c1/attachment.doc>