~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #0
From
human being <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:16:39 -0500
// this is a test run at a consistent format. if anyone
// has suggestions as to the format or content, please
// send feedback to: human@electronetwork.org. thanks.
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Electromagnetic News & Views -- Version 0 beta
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1) Commentary on Current Events
2) Links to EM News and Views
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1) Commentary on Current Events
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It has been interesting to listen to testimony
in the U.S. government regarding the reasoning for
going to war. The role of oil as a prime-cause has
been vehemently denied, and yet most every rational-
ization leads back to this issue. Maybe it is part
of the buffer between citizen knowledge and state-
to-state decision making, yet the world has changed
along with increased access to information, and it
is plainly visible that nations are countering U.S.
and other arguments based on the oil-question. Also
in this regard, in the past week there was the ground-
breaking of a controversial pipeline in the Caspian
which bypasses Russia and other players, to bring oil
out of the region. So too, mention has been made in
the news of intentional strategies to counteract the
influence of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries) by finding other production facilities, the
highest profile being Russia, and those countries who
can be peeled away from OPEC. Also, mention is now
made of African countries as the next big thing. This
'other' dimension to the issue is ripe with commentary
from the states involved, and OPEC, as of news today,
is not lowering oil prices as Western countries wish.
In addition, another development related to the nuclear
industry has arisen which is now, seemingly like a
concerted effort at propaganda, that nuclear reactors
are safe from attack. There is motive for such a view,
as one story below mentions the bailout for toxic clean-
up, which with certain legislation is entirely put onto
the public citizens taxes to subsidize. This news on the
same day as the U.S. National Security Strategy document
is to be released, which if similar to most documents
thus far, will have the nucler industry at the center
of the old, proposed new, energy 'security' program.
Energy Security would begin by having public knowledge
and democratic transparency in public decision making
on matters such as energy, security, and nuclear issues.
In addition, there has been mention of what the U.S. may
have as a motive of taking over the world's oil resources
by making Iraq its gas-station in waiting: one rationale
given for this 'empire' as the popular mass-meme spreads,
is to control everything, including China's future and
others. White actual government and political rhetoric
in the U.S. may make such beliefs feasible, it would seem
that China and Russia and others would make their voices
known in the United Nation's Security Council, as such a
plan would threaten their national survival. As these are
not issues making a blip on the radar screen, it might be
that a larger, cooperative strategic shift could be being
made which realigns the world order according to oil, and
in turn, may be something that is not tangential, and which
cannot be ignored, and also may force seemingly irrational
decision making based on the necessity of fragile heavily
dependent systems, and even democratic governance, in order
to create a new and-or future system with long range goals.
Not that this is anything to agree with, yet for all of the
movement in the oil sector during this period, it may be at
the core of the internal policy moves, yet unacknowledged
to a largely incapacitated populace who needs to know why
decisions are being made, for what reasons, and to choose
whether or not this is the best path. The latter question
is missing, as much of the information is now quarantined.
bc 9.20.2002
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2) Links to EM News and Views
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oil, energy, war
---------------------------------------------------
// the strategic relationship between war-and-oil. oil
// is relevant to EM culture as without it there would
// be little if any of the present-day electromagnetic
// knowledge and industry, including computing, e-mail.
In Quietly Courting Africa, U.S. Likes the Dowry: Oil
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/international/africa/
19AFRI.html?todaysheadlines-----
"Though the Persian Gulf will remain the nation's
primary source of imported crude, the new African
oil could reduce dependence on countries like Saudi
Arabia, whose relations with the United States have
been strained in the year since the Sept. 11 attacks."
--------------------------
// no comment, other than: nuclear.
Saddam is warned: We'd nuke Baghdad
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002431528,00.html
"AMERICA will NUKE Baghdad if Saddam Hussein dares unleash
weapons of mass destruction, it emerged last night.
The chilling warning to Iraq was revealed by former Tory
Premier John Major, who led Britain in the 1991 Gulf War."
--------------------------
// no comment, other than: public pays for nuclear clean-ups,
// as the nuclear industry has a blank check for insurance.
// and figures prominently (still, oddly) in US energy plans.
// and no, those workers who are running away from the plants
// during terrorist attacks, really _will stay and protect it.
Biggest Environmental Cleanup Project Begins at Nuclear Site
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/national/19HANF.html?todaysheadlines
--------------------------
// no comment necessary.
California Power Failures Linked to Energy Companies
By JOHN M. BRODER
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/national/18ENER.html?todaysheadlines
---------------------------------------------------
security
---------------------------------------------------
// in the U.S. there are laws against listening in to
// cellphone conversations and mobile phones, whose
// frequences are blocked on most scanners. there are
// those who can modify scanners to get the missing
// frequencies yet this is against the law. the article
// below does not state if these frequencies are located
// using off-the-shelf or modified handheld radio scanners.
// if the data mentioned below is on the public frequency,
// it would be ludicrous to consider it secure in any way.
Listening in to security secrets
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2065342.stm
"He followed us up on the car park roof at the BBC's HQ
and - within seconds - a crackling signal burst out of
the receiver: a Special Branch man began to tell colleagues
the best way out of Kensington Palace, advising that the
royal car steer clear of a burst water main holding up traffic.
Wey told us the codename used was for the Duke of Kent."
--------------------------
// the problem may be with the lack of secure wireless
// networks, lack of strong encryption, and not those
// with information about it. basically, anyone who goes
// into a pubilc net cafe with DSL connections can get the
// computer addressing and receive every password put on
// the machine if they are not using encryption throughout
// the process of username and password queries for e-mail
// and FTP. potentially, they, and ISPs, could be liable...
// including cellphone manufacturers, not using encryption
// and secure systems, instead of people, chalk, & sidewalks.
Wireless hitchhikers branded as thieves
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2268224.stm
"Phone maker Nokia has come down strongly against warchalking.
It has condemned as theft the placing of chalk symbols
on walls and pavements at places where people can use
wireless net access."
--------------------------
// no comment. but also a trend in immigration corridors,
// whether with lasers and video cameras or e-fencing. it
// does not say whether this is a physical or virtual wall.
Elbit Systems wins deal to build Jerusalem electronic fence
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/
ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=209591&contrassID=1&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0
&listSrc=Y
---------------------------------------------------
physics (geomagnetic and nanotech)
---------------------------------------------------
// recurring theme of the Earth's moving EM fields and poles...
Earth's magnetic field 'boosts gravity'
Hidden extra dimensions are causing measurements of the
strength of gravity at different locations on Earth to be
affected by the planet's magnetic field, French researchers say.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992814
--------------------------
// interesting how the oldest problems and mysteries (two
// being lightning and static electricity and discharges,
// which is how the scientific understanding of EM begins)
// can continue to this day, as major hurdles in design.
// recently, my laptop continued to degrade and had to be
// serviced, as the screen would turn off. in the end the
// logic board (motherboard) was malfunctioning, and the
// explanation was that with something this complex, any
// little problem, with solder for example, might cause
// other problems to occur off the board (and it also may
// explain battery problems, cd-diskdrive problems, too).
// while in the repair store someone was there whose laptop
// survived the recent remarkable all-night lightning storm,
// their computer having survived, yet the power cord did
// not. and it is this type of interaction, from what i've
// heard the most likely problem being with phonelines and
// modems during lightning storms, as there are no surge-
// protectors, goes back to the origins of the EM force as
// a wild and unpredictable event, not to be ignored. and,
// it has also renewed an interest in looking at trees which
// are struck by lightning, someday hoping to photograph them
// in relation to the other trees, distrubution poles, which
// hold up the wires for computers, telephony, and television.
// themselves which have lightning wires, and protectors.
Lightning Rods for Nanoelectronics
Electrostatic discharges threaten to halt further shrinking
and acceleration of electronic devices in the future
By Steven H. Voldman
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005EE17-BE00-1D7F-
90FB809EC5880000&catID=2
--------------------------
// anti-matter matters
Physicists venture into a mirror world
http://www.iht.com/articles/71263.html
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human physiology and cognition
---------------------------------------------------
// interesting experiment, with brain as EM motor:
Brain Cited in 'Out-of-Body' Claims
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34725-2002Sep18.html
"A new study suggests these "out-of-body" and "near-death" experiences
may be influenced by a portion of the brain misfiring under stress."
---------------------------------------------------
education
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Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001
This report presents data on Internet access in U.S. public schools
from 1994 to 2001 by school characteristics. It provides trend analysis
on the progress of public schools and classrooms in connecting to the
Internet and on the ratio of students to instructional computers with
Internet access. For the year 2001, this report also presents data on
the types of Internet connections used; student access to the Internet
outside of regular school hours; laptop computer loans; and operating
systems, memory capacity and disk space found most frequently on
instructional computers. It also contains information on special
hardware and software for students with disabilities, school-sponsored
e-mail addresses, school Web sites, and technologies and procedures
to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet.
On-line Availability: pdf file. (766KB)
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002018
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audiovisual
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// more on developments in focused sound...
We've heard hypersonic sound. It could change everything.
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,351353,00.html
"The applications are many, from targeted advertising to virtual rear-
channel speakers. The key is frequency: The ultrasonic speakers create
sound at more than 20,000 cycles per second, a rate high enough to keep
in a focused beam and beyond the range of human hearing. As the waves
disperse, properties of the air cause them to break into three
additional
frequencies, one of which you can hear. This sonic frequency gets
trapped
within the other three, so it stays within the ultrasonic cone to create
directional audio.
Step into the beam and you hear the sound as if it were being generated
inside your head. Reflect it off a surface and it sounds like it
originated there. At 30,000 cycles, the sound can travel 150 yards
without any distortion or loss of volume. Here's a look at a few
of the first applications."
--------------------------
// no longer just an option on children's toy cars...
Radio gives mighty roar to quiet cars
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992812
--------------------------
// the photon-microlight concept goes into a diversified mass market...
The LED at the End of the Aisle
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55179,00.html
"Light-emitting diodes -- which create light by passing a current
through a semiconductor, rather than heating a wire filament to
high temperatures -- are now cheap enough to compete with traditional
incandescent light bulbs."
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