https://steemitimages.com/DQmNtcCFyWHJxkJVqBVN9vUTomTdYRBsX5ntBrg9TUJxcku/kjh.jpg

I have to admit that keeping up with 2017's wide array of developments and progressions across so many domains - most of them on the back of technological innovation - has spun my head and sprained my neck.

Bitcoin and crypto-currency

still baffle me - and not for lack of study either. I know a guy who became a $ millionaire within 18 months - and quit his job and bought a new house within the same week... he was my business coaching client. We had lunch, and he summarized his 'astuteness' as: "I think I knew just enough to hurt myself, but I took the plunge and I'm really grateful that I didn't get hurt. It really could have gone either way."

ICOs...

Coindesk estimates the total ICO investment at about $3.8 billion. The bulk of that was in 2017. Still, that number seems a little low to me, given all the attention (hype??) that ICOs racked up - and the crazy number of articles that were written. With that said, I want to move from experiencing this as an analytical/ pseudo-academic bystander who never got his hands dirty, to someone who embraced some tactile learning experiences and who (by this time next year) speaks from experience.

Sophia acquiring citizenship

is WAY MORE than a publicity stunt. It's the earliest fringe evidence of the imminent mainstream.

Sophia is a sign post to citizenship in the same way that Prince (among others) was a sign post to music; in the same way KIT (the talking car in the 80's hit series 'Knight Rider) was a sign post to autonomous vehicles; and in the same way that movie 'The Matrix' was a sign post to computer programmers creating/ manipulating a world in which the rest of us get our rear-ends handed to us (without the silver platter) by lines of code.

The UAE appointing a Minister of Artificial Intelligence is (in the same way) a sign post that America is no longer the smartest kid in the political class - and that it's time to enroll in some extra lessons.

Progress in Robotics are moving quickly.

From bionic animals, to warehouse droids, to healthcare robots, to life companions, it seems only a matter of price until these technologies become pervasive to our lives...

And what about Industrial and commercial applications of drones?

Dubai showcased a drone taxi as well a police hover-bike. PR or real?