~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #25
From
human being <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Sat, 3 May 2003 08:34:23 -0500
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #25
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00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (5/3/2003)
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--
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Ideas? suggestions? send them to human@electronetwork.org
Please forward this to a friend interested in electromagnetism...
===================================================
01) --top stories--
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Molecular Expressions: Chip Shots // must see.
<http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/chipshots/>
"The Chip Shots website explores the hidden beauty in some of today's
hottest microprocessors as visualized under a microscope. Using a
variety of unique, highly-refined reflected optical microscopy
techniques, we have developed a large collection of full-color
photomicrographs (photographs taken through a microscope) illustrating
the beautiful patterns observed on integrated circuit surfaces."
I Feel, Therefore I Am // makes sense. always has.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/19/arts/19EMOT.html>
"In the middle of the 17th century, Spinoza took on Descartes and
lost." ... "But it seems history may have sided with the wrong man. For
more than a decade, neuroscientists armed with brain scans have been
chipping away at the Cartesian facade."
FCC to Study Effects of Cell Phone Towers // some hope...
<http://www.sltrib.com/2003/May/05022003/business/53094.asp>
"Federal regulators launched a broad effort Thursday to study and
police how the growing number of cell phone and broadcast towers
sprouting across the country affects historic sites, American Indian
land and the environment." ... "Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Michael Powell said his agency will work with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to study why migratory birds fly into towers. An
estimated 5 million to 50 million birds die in such accidents each
year, according to Fish and Wildlife."
Simple Science Fairs Go the Way of the Dinosaurs // the future...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/education/30FAIR.html?th>
"The simple fair of times past... has become a research extravaganza
in which students armed with computers, electron microscopes and other
powerful instruments explore ever more ambitious terrain."
CNET :Electronics :Wireless :Radiation chart
<http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-20662189.html>
Cell phone radiation levels; Comparison charts by manufacturer
<http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-20662189-7-6219334.html>
Ten highest-radiation cell phones (U.S.)
<http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-20662189-7-6219561.html>
Ten lowest-radiation cell phones (U.S.)
<http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-20662189-7-6219503.html>
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02-- electromagnetic health & medicine
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A Pain in the Eye That's Forever // Romenesko's Obscure stories
Lasik and its failures // laser-eye surgery nightmare...
<http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-04-23/feature.html/1/>
New Brain Imaging Pinpoints Areas Of
Brain Most Crucial For Normal Functioning
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030423083319.htm>
'"It is an important breakthrough because it is a bridge, a tool, to
bring two completely different traditions in brain research –
lesion-behavior mapping and fMRI's -- into alignment."'
Brain Surgery, Without Knife or Blood, Gains Favor // radiosurgery...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/health/29GAMM.html>
the Gamma Knife is a "no-knife surgery that blasts its target with
hundreds of high-intensity radiation beams in a single session. There
was none of the cutting, bleeding, general anesthesia, ear-to-ear scar
or long recovery associated with traditional craniotomy."
Halting nanotech research 'illogical', says pioneer
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993674>
Gulf troops face tests for cancer // DU. depleted uranium...
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uranium/story/0,7369,943266,00.html>
"...civilians in Iraq should be protected by checking milk and water
samples for depleted uranium over a prolonged period. Some soldiers
might suffer kidney damage and increased risk of lung cancer if they
breathed in substantial amounts."
SARS suspends key Taiwan trade show
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/3/30487.html>
Einstein and Newton showed signs of autism // EM people...
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993676>
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03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
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And here's the pitch: It's a cell phone from the cheap seats //
Gizmodo.net
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/
5728412.htm>
"It's all part of baseball's new poetry. All part of the great Major
League Baseball Cell Phone Toss."
Impact alert as X-ray satellite plummets to Earth
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993670>
"The 1400-kilogram BeppoSAX satellite is expected to break up as it
enters the Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday evening, showering the area
below its flight path with chunks of metal."
Disaster industry finds silver lining // Business continuity services...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1011_3-999364.html?part=dtx&tag=nhl>
"Disaster recovery services range from consulting, to data backup at
remote sites, to dedicated alternative offices and equipment, to mobile
offices that can roll to a customer's site."
Classic keyboards redux// refurbbing old keyboards. via gizmodo.net.
PC Keyboard specialists perform miracles
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/908288.asp?0si=->
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04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
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RSG-X10-1 // DIY video-sniffingvia gizmodo.net...
<http://rhizome.org/RSG/RSG-X10-1/>
"Recently 2600 magazine had a cool article called "Warspying." In the
article they describe how to use a X10 video receiver in yer car to spy
on wireless video cameras as you drive around town. Sounds fun, so here
at RSG we figured we'd give it a shot. Ideal for walking, this version
is compact and battery-powered."
A New Way to Catch a Hacker // honeytoken tripwires...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/28/technology/28NECO.html>
// what about macro-scripts/spam virii run off of unknowing PCs?
New weapon for spam: bounty // hunters...
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5725404.htm>
Wi-Fi security gets a boost // WPA to replace WEP...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1039-998779.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop>
"WPA is the third specification related to Wi-Fi to receive
certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance for interoperability, which means
that approved products are supposed to work with each other no matter
which company manufactured the product."
Gadgets That Promise Security Sell Briskly // lots of it EM-related...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/business/29GADG.html>
Web-Based Attacks Could Create Chaos In The Physical World; Computer
Security Researchers Suggest Ways To Thwart New Form Of Cybercrime //
resending...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030501081411.htm>
Sugared water Apple censors Miles Davis // Apple Music Store DRM issues
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/30521.html>
London jamcams go dark for May 1 demo
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/30504.html>
Putting Controls On Fed's Automated Intelligence Gathering
Xerox PARC is working with Darpa to create a privacy-protection system
as part of the government's controversial Total Information Awareness
program.
<http://www.informationweek.com/story/
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=9400198>
"PARC plans to develop a "privacy appliance" that would help blunt
some of those concerns by making it harder for intelligence agencies
and other government users to get personally identifiable
information--names, addresses, or Social Security numbers, for
example--from such databases, or even to narrow queries in such a way
that only a handful of people meet certain criteria."
Broad Domestic Role Asked for C.I.A. and the Pentagon // EM
datasources...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/02/international/worldspecial/
02TERR.html>
"The proposal, which was beaten back, would have given the C.I.A. and
the military the authority to issue administrative subpoenas — known as
"national security letters" — requiring Internet providers, credit card
companies, libraries and a range of other organizations to produce
materials like phone records, bank transactions and e-mail logs."
Former U.S. security czar to join eBay // private sector secures...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-999455.html?part=dtx&tag=nhl>
Securing Windows Systems
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21424.html>
"Despite their fears about the security of Windows deployments, nine
out of 10 firms were still running sensitive applications on Microsoft
platforms." .. "The fact that firms preferred to deal with the risks of
Windows rather than swap to a different and arguably more secure
platform was no surprise to some IT experts."
How Wiretapping Works -
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/wiretapping.htm>
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
New batteries promise low-cost electricity // non-toxic...
Magnesium makes rechargeable power packs cheaper, lighter and greener.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/030414/030414-14.html>
Up to 8 More Seen Charged in Enron Case // not over till its started...
<http://reuters.com/
financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=2663784>
Nuclear Power Plant Alert
FBI Warms Law Enforcement About Terror Activity at Power Plants
<http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WorldNewsTonight/
nuclearplants_lookout030430.html>
Iraq 'may have to quit Opec' // url via nettime...
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,944126,00.html>
"Iraq may have to leave the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries so it can pump out extra oil to pay for the country's
reconstruction, says a former Iraqi oil minister who is now a key
adviser to the American government."
... "Chalabi [cousin of Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon's choice to head
the country], who served on the US State Department's Future of Iraq
Oil and Energy Working Group, says the Iraqi industry must be
privatised to attract foreign investment following the war."
Scientists Propose Quake Alert System
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1572-2003May1.html>
"Richard Allen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Hiroo
Kanamori of the California Institute of Technology developed a way to
determine the location, origin, time and - most importantly - magnitude
of an earthquake from as little as four seconds of measurements of the
P wave. The system would rely on seismic instruments already deployed
across the greater Los Angeles region."
New Technologies // lighting tech...
Light the Way to Significant Savings
<http://www.csinet.org/xp/p-cs/i-2003030101/a-1049998209/article.view>
Fresh Analysis of Satellite Data Reveals Global Warming
<http://ens-news.com/ens/may2003/2003-05-01-09.asp#anchor2>
// quite interesting short article on how an e-book changes the use
// of a 60Hz screen refresh, to once per page-turn, so that the image
// is frozen once an e-book page is turned, instead of constantly
// needing to be refreshed, as a result prolonging battery power.
Budget e-book stretches battery power
<http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-999498.html?part=dtx&tag=nhl>
---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
Hackers Have Field Day with Madonna Decoy
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=3&u=/
nm/20030427/en_nm/music_madonna_dc>
"Some observers thought Madonna was smart to fight piracy with its
own tools. Others perceived a thrown gauntlet -- hackers soon defaced
Madonna's Web site with an equally profane retort along with several
downloadable files of the then-unreleased songs."
The rise of the keyring drive : So small you forget it's there The
floppy disk is dead. Long live the pocket drive, a tiny piece of kit
that is a revolution.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2981497.stm>
// it is hard to post a severe critique when there is a lot of
// news about such efforts that is not posted due to the volume
// of efforts at trying to make technological advances equitable.
// yet, considering the computer as a device, and its needs, it is
// hard to see it as a universal solution or even an efficient one,
// versus technologies that may have different infrastructures...
Computers to Africa scheme criticised
The practice of supplying second-hand computers to Africa can prove to
be an expensive mistake, according to a UK report.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2989567.stm>
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transportation & communication
---------------------------------------------------
High-definition DVD on the way // HD-DVD, backward compatible...
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&ncid=711&e=3&u=/
usatoday/20030428/tc_usatoday/5107799>
// comment on Apple's music/player strategy: it requires a minimal
// 300.00 USD investment to be able to use the download music service,
// via an iPOD device, in addition to the need for a broadband network
// connection, which narrows down the market to such an extent that in
// this day and age it would be surprising if it gains mass traction.
// that is: unless recent explorations of the new devices software are
// correct, and that (digital) record-in is a feature being developed.
// in this way, selling iPods as educational devices (as is being done)
// would actually allows people to get high-quality digital audio in to
// a computer (and multimedia works) where today it is quite difficult.
Apple Launches Paid Music Service
<http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58656,00.html>
A Passion for Radio
Radio Waves and Community
Edited by Bruce Girard // e-book, free .pdf
<http://www.comunica.org/passion/contents.htm>
Tigers use infrasound to warn off rivals
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993680>
How CDs Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cd.htm>
How DVDs And DVD Players Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htm>
How Plasma Displays Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/plasma-display.htm>
How Cordless Telephones Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cordless-telephone.htm>
'Phone threat' to air safety
There is new evidence passengers using mobile phones endanger aircraft,
according to a Civil Aviation Authority report obtained by BBC News
Online.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2992973.stm>
"In tests, compasses froze or overshot, navigation bearings were
inaccurate and there was interference on radio channels."
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO MAGNETISM // environmental/rock magnetism...
<http://www.geo.umn.edu/orgs/irm/hg2m/hg2m_index.html>
Shifting Into Overdrive
What happens when mass storage leaves microchips in the dust.
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=5>
Squeezing light from nanotubes // fiber optical chip tech...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-999271.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop>
"At the University of Toronto, meanwhile, researchers have managed to
produce light by injecting electrons into a polymer embedded with
"quantum dots," microscopic crystals made of lead sulfide.
Polymers--chemicals made of large molecules in repeated structural
units--are being used in research into processor, display and other
technologies." .. "...nanotubes are so small-- measuring about a
nanometer, or a billionth of a meter, in diameter-- that they are
considered one-dimensional objects."
Butterflies' polarized glint attracts mates
Light waves coming off females' wings in one plane lure males.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/030428/030428-12.html>
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09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
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// memory of Mosaic's release at the U of MN computer labs
// where the connections were fast enough to use Mosaic, and
// everything else at that time centered around Gopher (which
// the University developed ) & Bulletin Board Systems (BBS')...
10th anniversary of Mosaic browser marked
<http://salon.com/tech/wire/2003/04/27/mosaic/>
( BW)(CT-GARTNER)(IT)(ITB) Gartner Says Worldwide PDA Shipments
Declined 11 Percent in the First Quarter of 2003
<http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/
cb_headline.cgi?&story_file=bw.042903/231195272&directory=/
google&header_file=header.htm&footer_file=>
Palm exec calls for more aggressive handheld designs
<http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20030501S0071>
"PDA designers need to create more imaginative, focused and low-cost
designs to spark the slowing handheld market, according to the
president and chief executive of PalmSource, Inc. David Nagel said the
company is close to launching a new secure OS architecture and two new
vertical market licensees for its Palm OS."
DSL Firms Drop Prices to Compete
<http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58717,00.html>
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10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
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// quite a strange article. apparently fighter-drones are in the
// works. one thing about air/land/sea power is that it is not all
// defined in military terms, in the sense that energy, global
// warming, and sustainable development (eco/soc/politial culture)
// may lead new developments, disregarded in the US view of power...
American Power Moves Beyond the Mere Super // thanks *
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/27/weekinreview/27EAST.html>
"Paradoxically, the runaway American victory in the conventional arms
race might inspire a new round of proliferation of atomic weapons. With
no hope of matching the United States plane for plane, more countries
may seek atomic weapons to gain deterrence." ... "the United States is
working on unmanned, remote-piloted drone fighter planes that will be
both relatively low-cost and extremely hard to shoot down, and small
drone attack helicopters that will precede troops into battle. No other
nation is even close to the electronics and data-management technology
of these prospective weapons." +electronics arms race
// cruise missiles that would travel mach 12 x the speed of sound.. what
// would the sonic boom be like when traveling low in the atmosphere?
US developing superfast missile to deny escape to future Saddams
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030427-superfast-
missile01.htm>
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11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
Brave New World of Web Services // via XML feeds...
<http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58632,00.html>
Slate Sets a Web Magazine First: Making Money
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/28/business/media/28SLAT.html?th>
Indie ISPs Fight for Survival
<http://wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,58628,00.html>
"Extinction is not the only trouble bedeviling ISPs. Owners and
workers say they are being forced to turn into Net nannies, cops and
snoops by the cavalcade of anti-terrorist and copyright-protection
legislation that's been passed in the last two years."
The Lab that Fell to Earth
Once the center of the technology research universe, the storied MIT
Media Lab is now teetering on the brink of breakup - or, even worse,
irrelevance
<http://wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/mitlab.html>
NSF Researchers To Help Modern Organizations Adapt
And Respond In The Information Age // MKIDS...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030424084853.htm>
"The most critical networks in any organization are not necessarily
the ones carrying Internet traffic, but the social networks among
persons and groups that define an organization's process and knowledge
flow. Kathleen Carley's goal is to estimate the size, shape and
weaknesses of those social networks to help managers predict how an
organization is likely to respond to anticipated and unanticipated
changes. Ray Levitt wants to design, from the ground up, organizations
without any weaknesses at all."
The latest revolution? On-demand spin
<http://news.com.com/2010-1071-998285.html?part=ctx&tag=chl>
"You have to wonder about the wisdom of the over-the-top,
we-just-reinvented-the-universe approach. It's easy to understand why
so many vendors are eager to bang that drum as loudly as possible. But
maybe if they just stopped talking in tongues, they'd get a better
reception."
Dot-com double take // market shakeout, reorganization, reordering...
<http://news.com.com/2010-1071-997929.html?part=ctx&tag=chl>
"Don't look now, but many dot-coms are working. While most industries
struggle to swallow the overwhelming effect of a prolonged lethargic
economy, consumer Internet companies are just now hitting their stride."
U.S. White-Collar Jobs in Wave of Emigration
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21425.html>
"This increasing mobility of many jobs -- in IT, but also in areas
like accounting and engineering, and in less-skilled fields like call
centers -- has grown into a mainstream trend. ... As with those factory
jobs, the job market for American tech workers, already depressed by
the dot-com bust and the stagnant economy, could get tighter." ...
"Keep Your Skills Up"
New Tech Bubble in the Making?
<http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58713,00.html>
"Now the worry is whether investors will push tech stocks too high
without good reason. If that happens, a big retreat could be on the
way."
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic art & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
It Takes Tech to Tango // EM architecture...
Way past Ikea lies a Swedish housing complex that is ecologically sound
and wired for all sorts of remote-control fiddling with heat, power and
security.
<http://www.popsci.com/popsci/hometech/article/0,12543,448268,00.html>
Climate change goes on show // by way of re-insurance...
Munich exhibition explores our experiment with Earth.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/030421/030421-4.html>
Space settlement design contest // results...
<http://www.nas.nasa.gov/NAS/SpaceSettlement/>
Beyond High C, High Technology // happy ending/beginning...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/nyregion/29OPER.html?th>
"Mr. Zucker, 55, has learned that the computer can be his friend.
After Columbia University, the owner of WKCR-FM, dropped Mr. Zucker as
the host of "Opera Fanatic" in 1994, he turned his efforts to
preserving early opera recordings and films through his nonprofit Bel
Canto Society. There, at www.belcantosociety.org, fellow fanatics can
hear his old radio programs and purchase his remastered CD's, DVD's and
videos."
// digital reconstruction using satellite/radar imagery and CAD... these
// types of projects offer a view of how interdisciplinary skills may be
// used to catalogue cultural meta-data, past, present, and future...
Ancient Architecture in Ohio Has a 3-D Rebirth
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/college/coll01next.html>
"Now, in a five-year collaboration by architects, archaeologists,
American Indians and others, the long-forgotten sites have been
reconstructed digitally so that people can see three-dimensional
computer models of the ancient structures as they once were, including
symmetrical octagons and a great earthen circle that measures a quarter
of a mile across." ... '"We discovered early on that you can't
appreciate the perfection of the geometry solely by looking at these
earthworks from the ground," he said. They are too vast. "But when we
animated our cameras to fly over the ruins," using 3-D software, "the
geometric shapes revealed themselves fully."'
Boston Festival Blends Art, Tech // Digital Conducting Feedback
System...
<http://wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58679,00.html>
1st Global Conference Artificial Intelligence: Exploring Critical Issues
20th to 22nd October 2003, Vienna, Austria
<http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ai/ai03cfp.htm>
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