The prolonged and unnecessarily tedious efforts to computerize or automate the next presidential elections are proving to be an embarrassment. No, not for the administration in particular, or the Filipinos in general – both have lost their capability to be embarrassed.

Instead, the beginning-to-smell-like-the-broadband-deal process is putting information technology in such a bad light. An increasing number of Filipinos are now starting to look at computers as just another means being used by some sector to rob the people of their right to choose their leaders. In short, computers or computerized machines are being perceived by some quarters as another tool for cheating.

And who can blame them for seeing the devil’s hand in the zarzuela also known as the Comelec’s bidding process for its poll automation program? After all, with each passing day, the participants in the mind-boggling process – the government through the Comelec, the bidders and eventual winners, the critics, and the people themselves – are becoming frighteningly funny or funnily frightening, or both.

It is hard to get rid of this feeling, the kind one normally feels right before a magician or conjurer performs his main act of the night.

Printed Power

We all know that the power to print money is one of the powers most humans dream of having. After all, not only dictators are the ones guilty of mistaking themselves immortal with their endless wads of cash and treasure chests.

While definitely less intoxicating, a technology developed by Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems scientists may prove to be of much greater implications than the fruits of Mammon. The team of engineers has developed a cutting-edge battery, which can be produced through a printing process similar to the silk-screen printing methods for printing on T-shirts.

The battery, thinner than a millimeter and lighter than a gram, can be used to power up a credit card or other similar cards used in electronic transactions. The battery, which includes no mercury and is therefore environment-friendly, offers 1.5 volts.

Nobody Moves a Muscle

Remember Clint Eastwood’s jetfighter pilot character in the Firefox movies, and how he flew the Russian aircraft using only his brain power? Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda are doing their respective bits to help bring this cinematic reality into fruition.

Toyota, for its part, has developed a technology that enables a person to steer a wheelchair without having to move a muscle or shout a command. The computer-based system detects brain waves and takes only about 125 milliseconds to analyze brain signals.

The user of the system can make the wheelchair go forward, and turn right or left almost instantly. Compared with previous systems, Toyota’s brain-controlled system is a roadster.

Honda is reportedly working, too, on a system designed to enable humans to translate their brain waves into mechanical moves. The company has released a video showing a person controlling the movements of Honda’s Asimo robot using his brain waves.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.