Thursday, October 19, 2017

Christmas Shopping

I haven't seen Geiger counters at Costco yet, but getting information about your environment to your cell phone, via Bluetooth or as a service (through the carrier itself e.g. Verizon), is likely to be trending according to sources.  Live near Fukushima?  Then you know what I'm talking about.

Sensors can be discrete, no need for any loud tick tick tick as you wave your magic wand, or whatever you use to pick up Cesium-137.  We had a Geiger counter in high school.  We even visited the local research reactor at University of the Philippines.  I imagine Reed's is similar.

However, when it comes to USB and/or Bluetooth peripherals, I think other diagnostic tools will be a hit as well.  Parents empowered to do their own chem lab testing, at the local Maker place, will share their data freely, as a service to other parents.  If the government wants to stay involved, they're welcome, but no one should have to count on an EPA or a DEQ in today's political atmosphere.

How about blood tests?  The diabetes industry already has its own apps.  The smartphone display adds a dimension, and helps people monitor the various levels.  I imagine the medical community will pump a lot of these apps out there for free, given they're more oath-driven than CEOs for the most part.  Bypassing CEOs in this economy is pretty standard.  Anyone that overpaid is by definition out of touch (not that all CEOs are overpaid).

When I say "Christmas shopping" I don't presume to be speaking about some religion.  Christmas is a secular holiday, in addition to having significance to some (not all) Christians.  The "peace on Earth" theme is non-sectarian and this year will have an abolitionist flavor, thanks to the Nobel Peace Prize going to an abolitionist movement.

Speaking of the Nobel Peace Prize, Linus Pauling got his for helping to break the ice around letting physicians speak freely about the public health effects of radio-toxins.  The Atomic Age, so-called, was getting Madison Avenue treatment as squeaky clean and sacrosanct.  Bursting that bubble helped forestall cavalier atmospheric testing, on real human subjects in the Pacific islands, and on all of us, as our climate was semi-permanently altered.