Ray Kurzweil - Futurist

Imagine my surprise, Dear Reader, upon reading that 'famed futurist' Ray Kurzweil had visited Halifax earlier this month.
Who is Ray Kurzweil, and what is a 'futurist'?

-- Kurzweil, currently the director of engineering at Google, has a 40-plus-year history of developing ideas on the cutting edge of technology from the idea stage to full-blown reality.
-- A 'futurist,' according to the Association of Professional Futurists -- there really IS one -- 'is a person who studies the future in order to help people understand, anticipate, prepare for and gain advantage from coming changes.'
Ray Kurzweil has been described as 'the restless genius' by The Wall Street Journal,

Driving ... 'Round and Round'

Until a few years ago, I thought driving was fun.
I was eager to get my driver's license as a typical teenager, and managed to do that ONE WEEK after my 16th birthday!

Driving meant freedom: you could go places (and come back from places!) without having any formal itinerary.
While some of the fun was actually reaching your destination, most of it was 'getting there,' when you were observing what was happening along your route.
I really enjoyed taking a nice, fast drive on a big highway, especially on one of the 'Autoroutes' in Québec (and not getting lost! .. family joke) or on 'The 4-0-1' in Ontario.
Suddenly, perhaps 10 or 15 years ago, I realized I didn't look forward to driving, especially on the highways,