
In the basement with transhumanism’s DIY cyberpunks - jonbaer
http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/headline-story/12702/transhumanism-grinders-kurzweil-singularity/
======
lrvick
I have a neodymium finger implant and a NFC implant in each hand. Several of
my friends in Orlando and the Valley have similar setups.

We have integrated our implants with cell phones, vending machines,
motorcycles, doors, cars, laptops... even candy dispensers. There were ~200 of
us three years ago. Now we are well into the thousands and growing rapidly as
we empower other crazy people with our ideas.

It is a bit like having tiny superpowers. Keep an eye on this space because it
might be a part of your life sooner than you think.

After wearables become the norm that is...

~~~
rboyd
Can you link us to more info on the NFC implant? Is this useful for auth like
a YubiKey?

What is the state of the art on battery-powered implants? How far out is
sourcing energy directly from the body? I guess inductive charge is an
important option here.

Has the neodymium implant served any practical useful purpose for you? That
seems more interesting to me than the electronics in some sense, because of
how quickly anything silicon becomes obsolete.

~~~
lrvick
You can buy the xNT NFC chips from here:
[https://dangerousthings.com/](https://dangerousthings.com/)

There is no secure element in the chip, so it can not directly replace a
yubikey. It could however hold encrypted data or be used to replace car keys
etc. When it comes to physical access I normally just authenticate using the
devices hard coded UUID. This is at least significantly better security than a
traditional metal key which can be trivially picked. I modify things with NFC
Reader/arduino/relay setups to read my UUID and start/stop lock/unlock things
such as my motorcycle.

You also have 1k of read/write storage so there are a number of interesting
possibilities there. Mine often contain my info as a vcard so anyone can tap
my hand to import my contact info. Or sometimes it might launch a rickroll.

The magnet has been really interesting. I am constantly finding EMF around me.
Knowing if a power strip is on without fiddling with it, knowing if wires are
hot without touching them, knowing when I fill up a soda cup exactly where
under the counter the motor is, knowing where transformers are in walls. It is
I admit mostly a curiosity, but I have learned to use it as a tool
instinctively. When I am trying to hold screws up in hard to reach places,
when I have lots of tiny screws I need a secure place to hold, or when I drop
a screw in a spot just big enough for a single finger to reach. I don't even
think about it anymore. It is just like "oh I have this tool" or "oh there is
EMF over there". It is interesting how the brain just starts to accept new
abilities to the point they can be used passively.

It also has some fun side effects. For a while I thought the compass in my
smartphone was broken. Had to learn to stop holding it in my right hand. I can
"feel" music if i put my finger near a speaker. Hard to describe. Equally hard
to describe is when I encounter a string magnet and the magnet under my skin
flips. It is... not painful, but certainly not enjoyable. Would do it all over
again though.

------
pnut
The last few paragraphs really hit home for me - The Singularity is already
here... Corporations are thinking machines with all relevant constitutional
prerogatives available. Humans are already in service to them, much as animals
are to us.

~~~
lukifer
[http://omniorthogonal.blogspot.com/2013/02/hostile-ai-
youre-...](http://omniorthogonal.blogspot.com/2013/02/hostile-ai-youre-
soaking-in-it.html)

------
dikaiosune
I'm not sure that a mention of a finger magnet and a single "grinder" who
temporarily had some body sensors qualifies as a whole cutting-edge transhuman
movement in Pittsburgh. It's certainly interesting to reflect on the
possibilities and to marvel at those quirky enough to experiment on
themselves. But this article seems more like a basic review of sci-fi from the
last 60 years rather than a peek into the transhuman movement, to whatever
extent such a thing actually exists.

~~~
pronoiac
Huh, I first read about magnetic fingertip implants back in 2006:

[http://archive.wired.com/gadgets/mods/news/2006/06/71087?cur...](http://archive.wired.com/gadgets/mods/news/2006/06/71087?currentPage=all)

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theophrastus
"It’s the old trope, echoed by Philip K. Dick for one"; I always felt that
Jack Vance got short shrift on this. In the ~1958 "Languages of Pao" he had
body augmentation as a major subplot: "... The anti-gravity mesh was laid into
the bottom of the feet and connect to the processors in the calves by means of
flexible tubes thrust up from the feet ... a switch was installed under the
skin of the left thigh..."

Almost certainly the all too brief "Technomages" of Babylon-5 were based on
these Vance characters.

------
netcan
There's something very human about being in a fringe, they're like our scout
ants.

