~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #49
From
human being <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:21:05 -0500
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #49
===================================================
00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (9/24/2003)
01) Top Stories of Electromagnetism
02) Electromagnetic health & safety
03) Electromagnetic trash & treasure
04) Electromagnetic security & surveillance
05) Electromagnetic power & energy
06) Electromagnetic current & human affairs
07) Electromagnetic transport & communication
08) Electromagnetic matter & information
09) Electromagnetic trends & inventions
10) Electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
11) Electromagnetic business & economics
12) Electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
===================================================
00) --commentary--
Have learned a lot about the chain of e-waste, trying to
locate electronics artifacts in various places. And in
doing so have seen some of the innards of old computers,
infrastructures, commercial electrical places where it
would seem these warehouses full of these3 disassembled
electronics, commercial kitchens, streetlighting, poles,
wiring, breakers, old media systems and the rest would
have some future value, besides their reconstitution as
material 'parts', once mined, now remined and put back
together as some future raw material. in the process a
lot of recent human developments may be disappearing,
a simple projector, beyond dead-media even in that it
may be something so innocuous as to be a small detail
of a much larger system that would go unnoticed unless
it is encountered, like a memory. It is hoped that the
field and study of industrial archaeology will pick up
electromagnetism someday soon as a prime factor in the
documenting of artifacts of the near past, as many are
disappearing and like remnants from a culture long ago,
are taking with them a lot of information about how
much things have changed, and how they are changing.
In any case, if anyone knows a place to find a non-
working UHF-VHF skeletal antenna please write me off-
list, the TV repair stores are disappearing these days
and they too may be on the verge of extinction here.
Brian
===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------
Static Generator: Electric Blue Sparks!
No Batteries or Electrical Outlet Required!
<http://www.alaska.net/~natnkell/staticgen.htm>
'These generators are capable of producing sparks similar to the ones
at the top of this page. Be aware that their performance is influenced
by relative humidity, design, and by minor manual adjustments. Also be
aware that electrostatic discharge is a major enemy of computers (not
to mention ammunition plants and fireworks factories). If you make and
use any of this stuff, keep it away from your computer, preferably in
another room.'
// will chip-to-chip herald end of printed circuit boards?
New Sun Microsystems Chip May Unseat the Circuit Board
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/technology/22SUN.html>
'On Tuesday, Sun researchers plan to report that they have discovered
a way to transmit data inside a computer much more quickly than current
techniques allow. By placing the edge of one chip directly in contact
with its neighbor, it may be possible to move data 60 to 100 times as
fast as the present top speeds.' .. 'For the computer industry, the
advance -- if it can be repeated on the assembly line -- would be truly
revolutionary. It would make obsolete the traditional circuit board
constructed of tiny bits of soldered wires between chips, familiar to
hobbyists who hand-soldered connections when assembling Heathkit
electronic projects.' ... 'The Sun technique could pack hundreds of
chips in face-to-face checkerboard fashion far more densely than is
possible today. The technique holds out the hope of attaining what had
been one of Silicon Valley's far-off dreams: a computer packaging
technique known as wafer-scale integration.'
Peter Cochrane's Uncommon Sense: Mobile guesses // macsurfer.com
Here's what the future of mobile communications will look like...
<http://www.silicon.com/opinion/500018-500001/1/6057.html?nl=d20030918>
'For the most part the definition of mobility has now been stretched
to include almost everything. From the cordless keyboard and mouse, to
the next generation white goods (washing machines, cookers, freezers
and so on) and brown goods (TVs, hi-fis and so on) will not only have
Intel Inside but Bluetooth and Wi-Fi also.' ... 'The addition of GPS to
mobile devices will also be profound.'
Oil prices surge after surprise Opec cut // interesting times...
<http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1059480077813&p=1012571727085>
---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------
MYSTERIES: Electric People
<http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/emotor/zapped.html>
'In modern times an Electric Human would have additional problems
besides irritating sparks. Computers, stereo equipment, digital
watches, etc., are easily damaged by high voltage and spark discharges.
All sorts of electronic appliances would not survive very long under
the electrostatic barrage. An electric human would be advized to buy
mechanical watches, and to avoid buying any appliance which contains a
microprocessor.'
// 'first court hearing in a Silicon Valley cancer cluster lawsuit'
Death File May Bolster Case Against IBM: Death File Is Uncovered
in Lawsuit Claiming IBM Knew Chip Workers Had High Cancer Rates
<http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/030923/ibm_cancer_lawsuit_4.html>
Applied Bioelectricity: // book table of contents
From Electrical Stimulation to Electropathology
<http://www.cardiotext.com/description/
isbn=0387984070&searchword=653%250A&searchop=scat&sord=&start=20>
Magnetic Shielding of Offices & Apartments --
VDTs - The Canary Birds Of 60-Hz Magnetic Fields
<http://www.vitatech.net/pub4.html>
'How does one tell if the magnetic field levels are greater than 10 mG
without a gaussmeter? Use the EMF equivalent of a coal miner's Canary
Bird - a color video display terminal (VDT). Place a computer with a
color VDT in the area under investigation, select a full-screen
display, and rotate the display 360 degrees - if the screen appears to
jitter or distort, then the magnetic fields exceeds 10 mG.'
Guide To Solving AC Power EMF Problems In Commercial Buildings
<http://www.vitatech.net/pub6.html>
// electrical tape, cleaners, anti-static, disk/mouse cleaners...
Health & Safety Information on Household Products
<http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/>
google image search: electromagnetic heart [20 results]
<http://images.google.com/images?q=electromagnetic+heart>
[versus] good image search: magnetic heart 219 results]
<http://images.google.com/images?q=magnetic+heart>
---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------
Robot ship braces for death by Jove
<http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/09/19/galileo.crash/>
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------
Federal agencies tackle software security -- Five federal agencies, led
by the U.S. Department of Energy, plan to discuss a new set of
government contracting practices that hold software makers accountable
for making their products more resistant to viruses and hackers.
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5053545.html>
'If anyone has the power to persuade the software industry to get
serious about security, it's the federal government and its $50
billion-plus annual IT budget, Paller said. And with the recent wave of
crippling worm attacks, it's about time it exercised that power, he
said.'
500 paedophiles to be tracked by satellite tags
<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1046614,00.html>
'Unlike tags now used to enforce curfews for general criminal
offenders, which communicate on localised radio frequencies, the new
device uses global satellite positioning technology. This will allow
probation services and police to pinpoint the wearer anywhere in the UK
to within three metres.' .. 'The device is capable of providing a
detailed diary at the end of every day of where the user has been.' ..
'The electronic diary can be studied remotely by experts to build up a
profile of the offender which will help them predict whether the person
will offend again.' .. 'The new technology, which is attached to a
person's ankle, is adapted from electronic tags fitted to offenders in
the United States. The device has a wireless connection to a special
mobile phone carried by the offender at all times. If the phone, which
is linked to a call centre staffed by trained paedophile experts, is
separated from the tag an alarm is triggered.'
How Wiretapping Works -
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/wiretapping.htm>
Desktop to go where Migo goes // or how to lose your computer...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5080056.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop>
// Total Information Awareness (TIA) + "Threat Matrix" TV show = ?
States Join in Building Terror Database // predicted & predictable
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Terror-Database.html>
'Matrix was initially intended to track terrorists, as was the
Pentagon's Terrorism Information Awareness project, which sparked a
congressional uproar and got watered down.' .. 'As a dozen more states
pool their criminal and government files with Florida's, Matrix
databases are expanding in size and power. Organizers hope to coax more
states to join, touting its usefulness in everyday policing.' .. 'It
gives investigators access to personal data, like boat registrations
and property deeds, without the government possibly violating the 1974
Privacy Act by owning the files.'
Cameras Watching Students, Especially in Biloxi
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/education/24VIDE.html>
Reliance on Microsoft called risk to U.S. security
<http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/
story.jsp?id=200309241951000228064&dt=20030924195100&w=RTR&coview=>
'Computer security experts issued a joint report on Wednesday saying
that the ubiquitous reach of Microsoft Corp.'s software on desktops
worldwide has made computer networks a national security risk
susceptible to "massive, cascading failures."'
State Department Computers Hit by Virus
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-State-Computer-
Virus.html>
'The virus crippled the department's Consular Lookout and Support
System, known as CLASS, which contains more than 12.8 million records
from the FBI, the State Department and U.S. immigration,
drug-enforcement and intelligence agencies. Among the names are those
of at least 78,000 suspected terrorists.'
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
VACUUM SPIN FIELDS // torsion fields...
<http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/tors/>
Venezuela against Iraq voice at OPEC
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2003/09/22/opec_iraq/>
Leyden Jars // the first capacitor...
<http://www.alaska.net/~natnkell/leyden.htm>
'Basically, the Leyden jar is a cylindrical container made of a
dielectric (that's an insulator, like plastic or glass) with a layer of
metal foil on the inside and on the outside. With the outside surface
grounded, a charge is given to the inside surface. This gives the
outside an equal but opposite charge. When the outside and inside
surfaces are connected by a conductor... SNAP! You get a spark and
everything returns to normal.'
"Static Electricity" Page
<http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/emotor/statelec.html>
EMF Fundamentals
<http://www.vitatech.net/pub7.html>
---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
Warfare of Science with Theology. Chapter XI:
From ``The Prince of the Power of the Air''
to Meteorology -- Franklin's Lightning-Rod
<http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/White/air/rod.html>
'But in the midst of these efforts by Catholics like Father Vincent
and by Protestants like John Wesley to save the old sacred theory, it
received its death-blow. In 1752 Franklin made his experiments with the
kite on the banks of the Schuylkill; and, at the moment when he drew
the electric spark from the cloud, the whole tremendous fabric of
theological meteorology reared by the fathers, the popes, the medieval
doctors, and the long line of great theologians, Catholic and
Protestant, collapsed; the ``Prince of the Power of the Air'' tumbled
from his seat; the great doctrine which had so long afflicted the earth
was prostrated forever.'
[and] Warfare of Science with Theology.
Chapter VII: The Antiquity of Man and
Prehistoric Archaeology -- The Thunder-Stones
<http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/White/antiquity/thunder.html>
PDA implicated in Gilligan WMD dossier probe // strange.
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32928.html>
EM-QUOTE from: Hungarians Get Horny While Singapore Sleeps
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&u=/nm/20030923/od_nm/
life_sex_dc_1&printer=1>
'Keeping up with the times, Americans are at the forefront of the
techno trend for virtual reality sex with 54 percent saying they have
had sex via phone, e-mail or text message.'
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------
Putting a lid on broadband use -- Earlier this month, a Philadelphia
Comcast broadband subscriber got a letter from his service provider,
telling him he'd been using the Internet too much.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5079624.html?tag=fd_lede>
How GPS Receivers Work -
<http://travel.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm>
Lots of Zoom, With Batteries // e-dragracer...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/19/automobiles/19ELEC.html>
'With that he steps out of the car. A flat, straight half-mile of
asphalt is dead ahead; alongside stretches the runway of Brackett Field
Airport east of Los Angeles. With the throttle and brake pedals fully
pressed, the bright yellow sports car shudders with power — but rather
than the roar of a caged Lamborghini, the only sound is a muffled
whine. Though the whine becomes only marginally louder when the brakes
are released, everything else changes as the car lunges forward in a
jaw-dropping, stomach-clenching and near-terrifying blur. In 3.7
seconds, it's all over. That's the time it has taken for this little
electric sports car, the Tzero by AC Propulsion, to reach 60 miles per
hour. And its only power is from a simple array of lithium-ion laptop
computer batteries.'
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
"Acoustimagnetoelectricism"
A long rant about sound, work and electrical energy
<http://amasci.com/miscon/a-rant.html>
[images] Magnetism and DNA microscopy // via bioEM list...
<http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/dna/magnetic.html>
<http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/dna/pages/magneticfield8.html>
<http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/dna/pages/magneticfield1.html>
<http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/dna/pages/magneticfield14.html>
<http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/dna/pages/magneticfield11.html>
---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------
Sony's personal video player // the future, prototyped...
<http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/008911.php#008911>
[and] Sony facilitates PDA video play // DVR/TV tuner attachment?
<http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5080721.html>
ReplayTV Pioneer Aims at Living Rooms Again
With Digital Media Player for HDTV // the best screen wins...
<http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/030922/roku_1.html>
'... the startup Roku is developing products to make the living room,
and not the PC, the showcase for all digital content, from photos to
music.' ... 'The HD1000 can play slideshows, video or music files from
its four built-in memory card slots, or play files streamed from a
computer via an Ethernet network connection.' ... 'The Roku HD1000 is
based on an open Linux-based platform, which Wood hopes will encourage
third-party developers to build applications for it. To start, Roku is
also selling $69 memory cards filled with classic paintings, nature and
aquarium images, turning the HDTV set into an art canvas.'
Digital devices spark storage growth
<http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5081403.html>
Sony to sell tiny tuner module // next up, HDTV-PDAs...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5081328.html>
---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------
Fake religious leaders created by USA // The CIA at War by R. Kessler
<http://www.khilafah.com/home/lographics/
category.php?DocumentID=8315&TagID=2>
'"We are taking over radio stations and supporting clerics," a CIA
source was quoted as saying. "It's back to propaganda. We are creating
moderate Muslims."' .. 'He said the CIA planted tiny video cameras to
track former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, his sons, and other
officials, and monitor the position of Iraqi troops and suspected
weapons of mass destruction facilities.' .. 'Electronic beacons were
attached to the undersides of cars that Saddam might use and
radar-imaging sensors were dragged across the ground to look for hidden
underground bunkers and storage facilities, the book said.' .. 'To
communicate with Iraqi agents the CIA gave them devices such as
satellite phones hidden in rifles and laptop computers with programs
hidden in innocuous games or graphics that could send and receive
encrypted documents, he said.'
EM-Quote from: DESPERATE SADDAM OFFERS AMERICANS DEAL // radio
<http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/news/
content_objectid=13431908_method=full_siteid=106694_headline=-
DESPERATE%2DSADDAM%2DOFFERS%2DAMERICANS%2DDEAL-name_page.html>
'Saddam's English-speaking representative walked into the US HQ at
Tikrit - the dictator's home town - on September 12 and asked to talk
to senior officers.' .. 'He then led a group of US troops to a nearby
suburb where one of Saddam's loyal security chiefs was waiting. The US
officers were handed a hand-written note, purportedly from Saddam
himself.' .. 'The security boss had a British-made Racal military radio
set which he claimed gave him direct contact with people in the same
room as the dictator. The radio is notoriously difficult to monitor.'
.. 'He was immediately taken into custody, but the US has continued to
exchange messages with Saddam using the radio and other means.'
Iraq to bar key Arabic news channels
<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030923-111537-1915r>
---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
Companies seek a new type of Internet consultant // SEOs?
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/
2001738451_seos21.html>
'Sanchez of Zunch Communications said [Search-Engine Optimizers] must
understand how reciprocal linking fits into a
search-engine-optimization strategy, develop effective keywords and
phrases that will help, and be able to differentiate between design and
HTML code skills.'
A Wireless iPod Can Torpedo the Pirates // heard of radio?
If Apple produced the technology and Big Music revamped its
business plan, today's file-swappers would be sunk in no time
<http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2003/
tc20030924_0544_tc056.htm>
'If there were no need to store music, indeed no way it could be
stored, then piracy would go the way of Blackbeard, a spooky tale of
yesteryear to amuse your grandchildren.'
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
Electrostatic Machines
<http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/electrostatic.html>
Wiremusic: Thirty foot long steel wire makes far out music.
<http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/wiremus.htm>
Craig Baldwin's
Spectres of The Spectrum
OTHER CINEMA DVD just released
<http://www.othercinemaDVD.com/>
The 2003 Far Eastern International // October 5, 2003.
Digital Architectural Design Award // via in-enaction list...
<http://www.feidad.org/>
'The Outstanding Award and Design Merit Awards are open to architects,
designers, and architectural and design students worldwide.
Participants will submit a Web-page design project (only one project
per entrant); The projects should explore digital concepts such as
computing, information, electronic media, hyper, virtual, and
cyberspace in order to help define and discuss future spaces and
architecture in the digital age.'
// a few EM artifacts photographed and microscoped...
7 segment LED (light emitting diode) display 28k
<http://www.electronetwork.org/temp/7segment1.jpg>
7 segment display under 10x microscope 21k
<http://www.electronetwork.org/temp/7segment2.jpg>
LCD screen 10x magnification 29k
<http://www.electronetwork.org/temp/LCD10x.jpg>
LCD screen 60x magnification 34k
<http://www.electronetwork.org/temp/LCD60x.jpg>
LCD watch, seconds. .gif animation 124k loop
<http://www.electronetwork.org/temp/LCDwatch.gif>
New Forms Festival 2004: Technography
Call-Out for Curatorial Submissions
Deadline: October 20th, 2003
<http://www.newformsfestival.com>
Interactive Audio on the Web // via nettime-l...
<http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/Review/index.cfm?article=80>
'This essay looks at a few works that have been created over the last
few years, discusses elements such as interface, composition,
instrumentality, and music, and then provides lots of great links to
work that highlights interactive audio; there's also links to offline
interactive audio projects, and links to news sources about the art.'
+ FAX.NL project by Darko Fritz
<http://members.ams.chello.nl/fritzd/faxwrks/FAX.NL/>
'Keywords: fine arts network from the Netherlands; fax art, database
art, spam art, mail art, communication art, computer graphic,
typographic image.'
International Conference on
THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL MEMORY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
Florence, Italy, 167h-17th October 2003
Palazzo Vecchio and Teatro della Pergola
<http://galileo.imss.firenze.it/memorie_digitali/>
// the idea of 'zero energy' architecture is a misnomer and its
// usage should be stopped as it creates a utopic impression that
// buildings can save as much energy as they expend, impossible,
// if taking into account the materials, power grid, it would be
// going against entropy itself. for instance, besides electrical
// power grid, those of mining materials for building use, ways
// of constructing buildings (gas/electric tools), water, natural
// gas infrastructure, 'zero energy' is a marketing mythology...
// for instance, photovoltaic cells are only a certain percentage
// efficient for using the sunlight captured to create electricity,
// yet they cost a lot to produce for this effect, in mining and
// manufacturing, that needs to be added into their 'energy cost'.
// this could be compared with the larger grid, power plants and
// pollution, and issues such as global warming, too, to be fair.
// yet no one considers either of these zero-energy in any sense.
Can a zero-energy housing project win the Stirling Prize?
<http://www.hughpearman.com/articles5/bedzed.html>
Places: Let sign be an opening for art, not ads // archnewsnow
<http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030924lowry0924fnp4.asp>
'...the CAPA screen defies definition. Is it a sign, is it a work of
art or does it merely reproduce pre-existing works of art?' .. 'It
could be all three, and there's the rub.' // jumbo LED screen...
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