~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #19

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #19
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (3/21/2003)

01) Top Stories of Electromagnetism
02) Electromagnetic health & medicine
03) Electromagnetic trash & treasure
04) Electromagnetic security & surveillance
05) Electromagnetic power & energy
06) Electromagnetic current & human affairs
07) Electromagnetic transportation & communication
08) Electromagnetic matter & information
09) Electromagnetic trends & inventions
10) Electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
11) Electromagnetic business & economics
12) Electromagnetic art & artifacts

===================================================
00) --commentary--
---------------------------------------------------

This issue of this newsletter comes during the first days of the United  
States of America's Gulf War 2. There has been so much information  
related to its real-time development, even information overload, that  
much of the rest of the news is dwarfed in comparison to it. Yet this  
newsletter is being sent, not as a war-specific newsletter.

A short mention of the war in relation to electromagnetism is that it  
is being documented in terms of open non-conventional information  
warfare, using e-mail and cellphones, military-to-miltiary (m2m?). The  
tactics used in other wars, such as taking down the electrical grid,  
has not happened, which is unusual. The e-bomb has yet to materialize.  
And yet there may be much unknown, about how computers and viruses and  
other methods may be employed.

Embedded media broadcasts are giving multiple perspectives to a  
singularized historical event via videophones with satellite hookups.  
The delay of 2-3 seconds is the actual transmission time of reports,  
nearly the speed-of-light, between its producers and consumption. Data  
compression and decompression algorithms can be seen at work in the  
blocky and patchy pixels of these media images, in the day moving in a  
desert, or at night, with night vision, with broadcast audio and video.

Troops using infrared and night-vision systems are reported to have a  
type of friend or foe system using a fabric or other identifier so that  
they can reduce friendly fire. Just about everything going on has some  
major advance, if it is the use of Patriot Anti-Missile batteries, to  
the use of media broadcasts by governments and questions of  
authenticity in addition to misinformation and disinformation.

In addition, the battlefield continues outside of Iraq and the U.S.A.  
by electromagnetic media, as world protests, opinions, and manuveuring  
is also brought into relation to these real-time, media-archived  
events. In a future day, children will be able to open up their  
computer tablets in class and experience samples of audio, and video  
clips from this moment. Speeches, protests, people, from around the  
world, and it may be in some kind of database so that the content is  
never static, but the histories and perspectives can change over time,  
or that more than one view can be approached in reasoning, thus making  
the content of what is approached in these screens, more than their  
physical dimensions, as with a book.

With everything in this war that is being coordinated and executed  
using electromagnetism, it is still war, death and dying. And so it is  
somber and difficult at once to learn of the new advances while  
acknowledging that death, dying, pain, and unbearable suffering occur  
in wars. It is for this reason that the first article about  
science-books is important, not just for science, but for integrated  
understanding for approaches to situations including science,  
technology, and society. Without this type of advance, learning in  
future schools with EM screens with audiovisual information will matter  
little, until approaches to information changes. So that multiple, new,  
and novel perspectives can be considered, and questions explored, when  
deploying these new educational technologies.


===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------

A Radical Formula for Teaching Science // science .edu, yes...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36468-2003Mar17.html>

'"Science is a process, it's not static, and so many books don't  
explain that," said Hakim, who expects to sign with a publisher in the  
next few weeks. "I try to help students understand that through  
stories, showing the way ideas and knowledge have changed through the  
ages. I want kids to become detectives, so I try to get them interested  
enough to want to learn more."'

How Wires, Fuses And Connectors Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/wfc.htm>

U.S. May Use 'E - Bomb' During Iraq War // future of EM-warfare...
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-E-Bomb.html>

"In modern warfare, electronics undergird virtually every weapon more  
sophisticated than a rifle or hand grenade. For that reason, Air Force  
scientists have worked for decades on a practical way of producing  
powerful but brief pulses of microwaves that can incapacitate  
electronic equipment without damaging buildings or harming people."

Iraq war could herald a new age of Web-based news coverage
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-03-18-iraq-internet_x.htm>

"Radio had World War II. Television had Vietnam. Cable TV had the Gulf  
War. Now, the Internet may have the U.S. war with Iraq."

War Protestors Go on Hacking Rampage
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21070.html>

"In the 48 hours before the invasion of Iraq just over 200 websites  
were attacked and defaced, but in the following 24 hours around 1,000  
were targeted, predominately by anti-war protestors."
	...
"Sites successfully breached include those belonging to the U.S. Navy  
and U.S. National Centre for Agricultural Utilization Research."


---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & medicine
---------------------------------------------------

New mobile phone scare // as stated: nowhere near over...
<http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/ 
3852657?source=Evening%20Standard>

"...[S]cientists found the first evidence of a link with brain cancer.  
... Users who spend more than an hour a day talking on a cell phone are  
almost a third more at risk of developing a rare form of brain tumour,  
a study has found."

Synapse chip taps into brain chemistry
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993523>

"A microchip that uses chemicals instead of pulses of electricity to  
stimulate neurons has been created. It could open the way to implants  
that interact with our nervous system in a far more subtle way than is  
possible now. ... devices that use neurotransmitters could interact  
with cells in more subtle and precise ways."


---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------

  // mainframes vs. microcomputers, and 'virtualization'...

When Computing Was Reliable : The latest brouhaha over software patches  
shows how far we've regressed since the days of the mainframe.
<http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/21020.html>


---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------

'Nightstalkers' track terror suspects // domestic em-surveillance...
The FBI has a fleet of aircraft, some equipped with night surveillance  
and eavesdropping equipment, flying America's skies to track and  
collect intelligence from suspected terrorists.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/03/14/fbi.spy.planes.ap/>

Does the End Justify the Means? 
<http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,58082,00.html>

"The University of Toronto's Internet Censorship Explorer permits  
anyone with a Web browser to test the limits of certain national and  
organizational Internet-blocking schemes. Users simply enter a target  
URL and a country into a search field on the Censorship Explorer's  
website. The software then scans the ports of available servers in that  
country, looking for open ones. By using the foreign computer as a  
proxy server, ICE then attempts to visit the target URL from behind  
that country's firewall. The result is either the visible website or a  
"page blocked" message is then returned to the user."

Surveillance Nation : Webcams, tracking devices, and interlinked  
databases are leading to the elimination of unmonitored public space.  
Are we prepared for the consequences of the intelligence-gathering  
network we’re unintentionally building?
<http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/farmer0403.asp?p=0>

"It’s not all about Big Brother or Big Business, either. Widespread  
electronic scrutiny is usually denounced as a creation of political  
tyranny or corporate greed. But the rise of omnipresent surveillance  
will be driven as much by ordinary citizens’ understandable—even  
laudatory—desires for security, control, and comfort as by the  
imperatives of business and government. “Nanny cams,”  
global-positioning locators, police and home security networks, traffic  
jam monitors, medical-device radio-frequency tags, small-business  
webcams: the list of monitoring devices employed by and for average  
Americans is already long, and it will only become longer. Extensive  
surveillance, in short, is coming into being because people like and  
want it."

Helping cops keep tabs on wireless data // wireless data-taps...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1039-992832.html>

U.S. Army, Other Web Servers Were Attacked Through
Windows 2000 Security Flaw
<http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/ 
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=7900051>

"A zero-day attack is when hackers attack vulnerabilities within  
systems before companies have been warned of the security hole."

Bugging devices found in EU headquarters // EM-related...
<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030319-100250-7442r>

// Tips for Creating Passwords...

Forgotten or Lost Passwords Are a Common Problem for Web Surfers
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21045.html>

"While gaggles of surfers already employ one password for the entire  
Web, they don't do it securely. Free e-mail services, for instance, may  
be more vulnerable than a banking account. If discovered, the e-mail  
password might give an intruder easy access into the more valuable  
financial account. "

Their Mission: Intercepting Deadly Cargo // EM radiation pager...
<http://nytimes.com/2003/03/20/technology/circuits/20secu.html>

How Computer Viruses Work -
<http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm>

E-Mail Worm Pretends to Have Spy Satellite Images
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=581&ncid=581&e=1&u=/ 
nm/20030320/tc_nm/tech_worm_dc>

"A new e-mail worm has surfaced that purports to show screensavers of  
U.S. spy satellite pictures of Iraq or animations that are either  
patriotic or that mock President Bush, a computer security company  
warned on Thursday."


---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------

// the latter half of this article is especially informative...

For Far Smaller Fuel Cells, a Far Shorter Wait // microcells...
<http://nytimes.com/2003/03/16/business/yourmoney/16FUEL.html>

"AMERICANS may have to wait 20 years, if not longer, for cars powered  
by fuel cells to become a familiar sight. But much smaller forms of  
fuel cell technology may well power electronic devices like laptop  
computers, video cameras and cellphones by the end of this decade."

"... sophisticated color displays, wireless access to the Internet,  
multiplayer games on cellphones and tablet computers for note-taking  
all demand more power than earlier generations of electronic devices.  
For these new products, consumers want power sources that last days or  
weeks instead of hours."

Protest Closes London Petroleum Exchange
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38736-2003Mar17.html>

"The exchange is Europe's major center for trading in futures contracts  
for crude oil."

// this story is very ironic, in that automakers will pull TV
// ad revenue during a war which aims to lower gasonline prices...

Toyota to stop TV ads at start of war
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2003/03/19/toyota/>

A Gamma-Ray Burst, in Detail
<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0005A5FA-0A9E- 
1E79-A98A809EC5880105>

Nation's biggest nuclear power plant a terrorist target
<http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030320-43174000.htm>

How Batteries Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/battery.htm>

IBM wins academic oil research deal -- The University of Texas bought  
about 4 tons worth of IBM supercomputer for a project to model how oil  
and gas flow beneath the surface of the earth, Big Blue said Friday.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1010-993657.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop>


---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------

// very sketchy list for my local community, no cafes
// though 3 listed in the suburbs. for those in MPLS,
// Minnesota, besides coffee shops, there is a place
// on Lyndale Ave S., at Lake St. which has a gaming/
// computer room, and excellent bubble tea and foods.
// unlisted- though if in town, a good place to login.

Global List of Cybercafes for travellers...
<http://www.netcafeguide.com/>

Scalia requests ban on broadcast media at talk // Free EM-media..?
<http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/ 
1048070035275780.xml?nnusa>

"C-SPAN, the cable television network popular with political junkies  
and insomniacs, is outraged that the City Club of Cleveland has banned  
broadcast media from covering today's speech by U.S. Supreme Court  
Justice Antonin Scalia."
	...
"Especially galling, says C-SPAN, is that Scalia is coming to the club  
to collect its Citadel of Free Speech Award."

// curious if former V.P. Gore will push a broadband
// initiative in the private sector, and improve the
// quality-control of computer hardware, software,
// and recycling, in addition to legislative lobbying.

Gore joins board of Apple Computer Inc. // +advises Google...
<http://salon.com/tech/wire/2003/03/19/gore_apple/>

"Jobs cited Gore's wealth of knowledge about running the U.S.  
government -- and pointed out that the former vice president does his  
own video editing in Apple's Final Cut Pro software."

THE BOMB PROJECT NEWS FEED (March 21, 2003)
<http://www.firstpulseprojects.net/bombproject/News_02-03.html>


---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transportation & communication
---------------------------------------------------

Pumping Life Into the Pay Phone // WiFi phone booths...
<http://wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,58050,00.html>

How much does it cost to oversee the Internet? // ICANN costed...
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29796.html>

[related] The Net's Faltering Democracy
When ICANN's board of directors amended its bylaws last December, it  
eliminated elections and instituted an advisory committee-at-large  
whose members -- chosen by other committees -- lack real power.
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21032.html>

[related] New ICANN chief open to change -- The Internet address  
authority has been criticized as secretive, but new president Paul  
Twomey says the organization is set to turn over a new leaf.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1032-993451.html?part=dtx&tag=nhl>

The Network Router as Unsung Hero
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=75&ncid=75&e=10&u=/ 
nf/20030314/tc_nf/20998>

Making Computers Talk
Say good-bye to stilted electronic chatter: new synthetic-speech  
systems sound authentically human, and they can respond in real time
<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=000EEC0A-7032- 
1E6E-A98A809EC5880105>

Whatever Happened to Internet2 - And Why You Can't Touch It
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21047.html>


---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------

Pulsar Bursts Coming From Beachball-sized Structures
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030313081650.htm>

"Pulsars are superdense neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars  
that exploded as supernovae. Pulsars emit powerful beams of radio waves  
and light. As the neutron star spins, the beam sweeps through space  
like the beam of a lighthouse. When such a beam sweeps across the  
Earth, astronomers see a pulse from the pulsar. The Crab pulsar spins  
some 33 times every second."
		...
"A pulsar's magnetosphere -- the region above the neutron star's  
magnetic poles where the radio waves are generated -- is "the most  
exotic environment in the Universe," said Kern. In this environment,  
matter exists as a plasma, in which electrically charged particles are  
free to respond to the very strong electric and magnetic fields in the  
star's atmosphere."

Cosmic rays could catch nuclear smugglers
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993526>

"The particles generated by cosmic rays crashing into the Earth's  
atmosphere could reveal nuclear material and other dense objects hidden  
inside cars, trucks and sea containers. The objects can be detected  
because the particles are deflected by dense matter."

How Semiconductors Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/diode.htm>


---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------

// file this in the potential political dirty-tricks
// department, along with Watergate's wire-tapping...

Information on Kerry Campaign Lost // computer-hijacked...
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=694&u=/ap/20030315/ 
ap_on_el_pr/kerry_california_3&printer=1>

TI unveils a design called Wanda
<http://news.com.com/2100-1039-992826.html?tag=fd_top>

"Texas Instruments has introduced a new chipset and related design for  
making cell phones that can connect with three different kinds of  
wireless networks."

  // 3D, 5.1 digital surround 'sound projector' via I4U.com...

The Future Of Sound: Pioneer Sound Projector
<http://www.i4u.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=238>

"The PDSP-1 uses 254 small speakers, which are accurately controlled to  
produce true 5.1 surround sound."

Intel hammering out robot standards
<http://news.com.com/2100-1008-993385.html?part=dtx&tag=nhl>

Gadgets galore at CeBIT 2003
Division between computing, consumer electronics continues to narrow
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/21/HNcebit_1.html>

Holoscreen could become the mannequin of the 21st Century
<http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2003/03/18/56.asp>

"The term "window shopping" has taken on a whole new meaning, thanks to  
technology. The Holoscreen is the mannequin of the 21st Century. In a  
storefront window, it looks like there is an image suspended on a piece  
of glass that comes out of nowhere. The illusion is not magic...it's a  
new projection technology from Hitachi."


---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------

// interesting article about fuel logistics, with special
// storage bladders, aircraft, helicopters, and it sounds
// like tanker-trucks, for long-hauling oil for war works...

Fuel Supplies Are a Top Concern of Military Planners
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/19/international/middleeast/19CND- 
LOGI.html>

Canada in hacktivist crosshairs // are they 'hactivists'?
<http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/ 
RTGAM.20030319.gtmig2Mar19/GTStory>

"In other words, Canadian systems have become a much bigger target in  
the on-line war."
	...
"In terms of the global volume of attacks on computer systems, almost  
64 per cent of the activity worldwide was focused on U.S. and Canadian  
targets, while only 21 per cent of the victims were based in Europe. A  
year ago, Europe and North America were suffering almost equal volumes  
of attack - about 30 per cent each, mi2g said - but since Iraq took  
centre stage, hackers across the globe have shifted their focus onto  
North American targets."

How Military Camouflage Works  // EM-related section...
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/military-camouflage3.htm>

How Cruise Missiles Work -
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/cruise-missile.htm>

How Nuclear Bombs Work -
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm>

Pentagon Scrambles for Satellites
Military Buying Access to Commercial Vehicles to Meet War Needs
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56320-2003Mar19.html>

"Industry sources say the Pentagon has been scrambling to buy up access  
to commercial satellites to bolster its own orbiting space fleet. The  
military needs the bandwidth to support an information-age battle plan  
that depends on  the ability to transmit huge amounts of data to troops  
in the field, planes in the air and even weapons in flight."

When a Gun Is More Than a Gun 
<http://wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58094,00.html>

"Each of these high-explosive air-bursting rounds comes imbedded with a  
computer chip, explained Lt. Col. Rob Carpenter, who oversees the XM29  
program at Picatinny. These chips allow the soldier to program exactly  
when and where the ammunition should go off. If there are enemy forces  
behind a wall 150 feet away, the round can explode at 151 feet, over  
their heads."

Gussied Up Patriots Debut in Iraq // National Missile Defense, anyone?
<http://wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58147,00.html>

"The PAC-3 is an altogether different species. In defense jargon, it's  
a "hit-to-kill" weapon -- meaning it actually strikes its target,  
rather than just exploding nearby. The missiles use rocket motors, not  
little wings, to steer. And each missile has its own built-in radar to  
help it determine a target's location in flight."


---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------

// global EM-based just-in-time manufacturing problematic...

Uncertain Economy Hinders Highly Precise Supply System
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/15/business/15ECON.html?th>

Live 'Wired' // 10th anniversary. Wi-Fi special issue.
<http://mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/ 
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1836547>

Industry Divided Over DVDs // format-war still on...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28479-2003Mar15.html>

Computer makers' system failure
Commentary: Sales of faulty PCs hinder tech advances
<http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B613D2CD4-57E7-495F- 
87BD-9068D0ECA1D4%7D&siteid=google&dist=google>

"A recent Consumer Reports survey found one in seven readers reported  
their PCs were inoperable or malfunctioning within a month, and nearly  
a quarter of all machines needed repair in the past three years..."
...
"That defect rate has been little changed for five years, leading some  
experts to suggest unreliability is undermining consumer faith in  
technology's promise as much as user-friendliness shortcomings."

EBay's Secret Weapon // regarding PayPal...
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21037.html>


---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic art & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------

50 Years Melding Tech and Sounds // Pauline Oliveros...
<http://wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,58042,00.html>

"The 70-year-old Oliveros will debut her latest piece, Sound  
Geometries, commissioned by l'Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles , at the  
international Ars Musica Festival in Brussels on Saturday."

Future Fetish // Wired-redux: as if the dot.bomb never happened...
In 10 years of technolust, we've found plenty of gear that gets our  
pulse racing. But we always want more. Here's our wish list for 2013.
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.04/fetishwish.html>

// informative article, yet is it MIDI? it does not say...

It's Broadway. Well, Virtually. // Virtual Orchestrations...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/18/arts/theater/18ORCH.html?th>

"There was plenty of space down there; the pit could easily accommodate  
twice as many musicians. But the orchestra would not lack for fullness  
or volume. That is because its 12th member, Mr. Crocco, would be  
playing the equivalent of up to 19 instruments at a time on the  
Sinfonia, the music-making computer that has come to be known as the  
virtual orchestra, or V.O. in insider parlance." "...if the Sinfonia  
operator makes a mistake, that's 19 instruments messing up at once..."

ONLINE GALLERY: Peruvian Video/Electronic/Art
Introduction by Jose-Carlos Mariategui
<http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/gallery/gallery354/ 
peruvianelectronic.html>

Soundless Concert Stirs The Emotions // infrasound...
<http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0300whatson/0800events/ 
page.cfm?objectid=12647919&method=full&siteid=50061&page=1>

"A BIZARRE experiment in soundless music has revealed how people's  
emotions are affected by noises they cannot hear. ...The infrasound  
vibrations were created by an ultra-low loudspeaker inside a 12m-long,  
30cm wide drainpipe cannon."


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