© YouTube screengrab from MotherboardBiohacker Tim Cannon had a battery-powered electronic device installed in his arm.
Kids, don't try this at home: A self-described "biohacker" had a big electronic chip - almost as large as a deck of cards - inserted beneath the skin of his arm. Without a doctor's help. And without anesthetics.
Tim Cannon is a software developer from Pittsburgh and one of the developers at Grindhouse Wetware, a firm dedicated to "augmenting humanity using safe, affordable, open source technology," according to the group's website. As they explain it, "Computers are hardware. Apps are software. Humans are wetware."
The device Cannon had inserted into his arm is a Circadia 1.0, a battery-powered implant that can record data from Cannon's body and transmit it to his Android mobile device. Because no board-certified surgeon would perform the operation, Cannon turned to a DIY team that included a piercing and tattoo specialist who used ice to quell the pain of the procedure.
Now that the device is inserted and functioning, Cannon is one step closer to achieving a childhood dream. "Ever since I was a kid, I've been telling people that I want to be a robot," Cannon told
The Verge. "These days, that doesn't seem so impossible anymore."
Comment: For readers outside of Toronto to get a good idea of the utter buffoonery of the Toronto Mayor, here's a link to a recording of a live radio call-in show where it appears the Mayor called in incognito in order to defend himself.