Laugh Loud and Often

While waiting at my friend's place for him to finish some work, I quickly scanned a magazine on his counter: Technology Review (May 2005 Issue). The cover story looked promising: 10 Emerging Technologies. I am generally skeptical of such sensational journalism and manipulation for my attention, but I read the article and was pleasantly surprised at the predictions:

1. Airborne Networks: An Internet in the sky could let planes fly safely without ground controllers. 2. Quantum Wires: Wires spun from carbon nanotubes could carry electricity farther and more efficiently. 3. Silicon Photonics: Making the material of computer chips emit light could speed data flow. 4. Metabolomics: A new diagnostic tool could mean spotting diseases earlier and more easily. 5. Magnetic-Resonance Force Microscopy: The promise is a 3-D view of the molecular world. 6. Universal Memory: Nanotubes make possible ultradense data storage. 7. Bacterial Factories: Overhauling a microbe’s metabolism could yield a cheap malaria drug. 8. Enviromatics: Computer forecasts enhance farm production and species diversity. 9. Cell-Phone Viruses: Wireless devices catch bad code through the air and then infect supposedly secure computer systems. 10. Biomechatronics: Mating robotics with the nervous system creates a new generation of artificial limbs that work like the real thing.

Anyhow, the plan was to go out for dinner and, afterwards, a movie. My friend suggested pizza for dinner, and we drove over to Amici's East Coast Pizzaria. I had read reviews, but could never recall when asked for suggestions of pizza parlors. I discovered that Amici Pizza served the best thin-crust pizza west of New York City; toppings were soy-cheese, grilled eggplant and fresh tomatoes on a not-too-acidic tomato sauce.

Apparently the pizzaria does more take-away than dine-in business. Parking spaces outside the restaurant were measured in milliseconds: as soon as a vehicle sped off to make deliveries, returning vehicles vied for one of the three princess-parking spaces to temporarily park so drivers could run in to get orders for the next deliveries. I counted at least eight delivery vehicles.

After dinner, we killed time at a cafe before making our way to the movie, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Very entertaining. The advertising strategy for this movie is interesting: trailers focus on the story, not the actors; the author Douglas Adam is mentioned in the trailers, but not the actors. I used to hitchhike while in college (not just to get on and off campus); now, I make an effort to pick up hitchhikers when I have space or time. I still occasionally hitchhike.