Taking the Three Laws of Robotics literally, Prime Intellect makes every human immortal and provides instantly for every stated human desire. Caroline finds no meaning in this life of purposeless ease, and forgets her emptiness only in moments of violent and profane exhibitionism. At turns shocking and humorous, Prime Intellect looks unflinchingly at extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed.

    To turn the entire Sahara Desert into solar cells. To split the whole ocean into water, salt and gold. I can literally build anything I can imagine, at any speed I can describe. And the things I can imagine with a mind like this, a mind imagining more of itself moment by moment: One definition of intelligence is the ability to skip deductive steps. To jump to a conclusion from the shadow of a ghost of a set of questions. It's preposterous that such a thing could be possible in an uncompromisingly digital reality, but if you make a computer wet enough, or big enough, or abstract enough, it will start to happen. And it has, now. One hundred ideas a second. My mind blossoms - no, not even that, it explodes, covering ground at geometric rates. One hundred and ten ideas and barely enough time to articulate them. Australia— THINK.

    From Wal-Mart and Tesco to the U.S. Department of Defense, early efforts are already showing benefits, but software, integration, and data processing for RFID still present a challenge. If you are a developer or an architect charged with developing an RFID system, this book is for you. Drawing on extensive experience, Bill Glover and Himanshu Bhatt provide you with essential information on this emerging technology. With the knowledge you gain in these pages, you will possess the information and understanding you need to start designing, building, or integrating with RFID systems. In RFID Essentials you will find information on: Tags and tag protocols, including the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Readers and reader protocols RFID middleware Security and privacy Managing RFID devices RFID's impact on your architecture Bill Glover has been writing software since 1981 and has worked as a programmer, lead developer, or architect on systems of all sizes, from small, automated systems controlling dams and feedmills up to a complete redesign and reimplementation of one of the world's busiest travel web sites. Bill first worked with RFID in 1995, tracking individual cattle using ear tags. He is currently a Senior Java Architect with Sun Microsystems, Inc., and works with Sun's RFID consulting practice and the RFID Test Center. Himanshu Bhatt heads the U.S. RFID Practice and Software Technology Lab for Sun Microsystems, Inc. Prior to assuming this role, Himanshu was responsible for business development and consulting in emerging areas of technology. Himanshu has over 16 years of experience in the architecture and development of distributed, multitier systems using a host of technologies for Fortune 1000 companies. Himanshu has spoken at industry conferences such as JavaOne and the LoneStar Symposium and has published articles on Java/J2EE technologies."The Information Age is over. We're entering an era where network connectivity is almost ubiquitous - it's participate or perish." --Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Unique competitive advantage erupts from enterprises that couple the RFID technologies laid out in RFID Essentials with modern business integration using service-oriented architectures. This is the book to read in order to understand this new landscape."--Mark Bauhaus, Senior Vice President, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This is a must read for RFID Software and Solution architects and is highly recommended for anyone needing to gain more insight into the myriad of components, standards and technologies that make up an RFID solutions environment."--Bryan Tracey, Chief Architect, GlobeRanger Corporation "The authors have done a commendable job of covering a lot of ground in the RFID space, including the infrastructure needed to share the volumes of data RFID will likely generate."--Graham Gillen, Senior Product Manager, VeriSign