~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #62

From human being <human@electronetwork.org>
Date Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:52:49 -0600


===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #62
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (11/17/2003)

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--

President Bush arrives in the .UK the same day there
will be a rushed-through vote on a largely hidden
.US energy bill which was the centerpiece of many
a politician's victory speech, as a main priority.
For the centerpiece of policy, if taken in terms of
cultural impact it is hugely important and yet it is
out of the public realm, as it has been all along.
Issues such as pollution, energy efficiency, economic
stability, stability and innovation, defense/security
issues including very real threats to the facilities
(nuclear, powerlines) are all in a rush-job. This is
mentioned as it is of public concern whether the power
goes out to tens of millions of people (as happened),
and that report on power grid improvements will also
be released during the visit ('inconclusive' failures,
terrorism is ruled out of course, even though threats
of this nature existed at the time, and three nations
experienced this same event within a week or two).
Thus, what may be considered the most important policy
is being dealt with in a manner that reflects both its
importance and the political distance and exact timing
as it correlates to 'being outside of the issues', on
a convenient trip out of town. It directly relates to
war policy (energy prices, strategic planning, and
documents related to post-war prospecting of oilfields).
The new Governor of California is sworn in, likewise,
and ties the conceptual knot both with the privately
drafted .US energy policy by Dick Cheney and relations
with Ken Lay of Enron, and how the recall came about.
Yet without an accurate portrayal in language, and a
logic to back it up, it is difficult to see this as
one large event, interrelated, compounding interest.
By better understanding the present environments in
broader terms, taking into account many dimensions of
an area, how it connects with others, in this case it
would be electromagnetism and its direct relation to
war, policies, pollution, illiteracy, economics, and
how a better understanding may bring about a way to
design a better future instead of reacting to a past
worldview that is an inaccurate portrayal of events.
This is not to say that electromagnetism is everything
or the most important thing, but today it is nothing,
so all that can be understood through it is instead
in a state of non-existence, as knowledge, as power
in terms of ideas, instead, it is just brute force
for what may be a dangerous ideological certainty.
Instead of one option for the future, there could
be 5+ billion, as people could operate in a world
that can be described, and understood, not ignored.
It is strange, trying to learn how to read a circuit
diagram and not being able to get it right, working
with the most simple of things, an NPN transistor,
and trying to understand this pivotal component of
electronics, and today's world. Yet there are no
classes for the general public, for adults, for non-
experts, to find mentors or to learn more about this
most basic and fundamental of new knowledge systems
which is directly related to so many things today.
That is, to achieve some increased understanding-
the infrastructure has yet to exist for a wider
understanding and appreciation, in so many ways.
So maybe it will be groups of learners who teach
eachother or maybe people who are teachers can also
be students, and take courses to learn some of the
basics such as electronics, and to cross-pollinate
knowledge systems, the old, new, and invisible. It
may take this longer, slower path to be able to then
begin working together on larger issues, it may take
some common literacy and understanding prior to any
specific issue or discipline, to be able to approach
the wider relations in each. Such as, how policies
for energy planning will impact broadband adoption,
e-commerce, high-tech job sectors, manufacturing,
pollution policies, disasters for not changing the
weaknesses in the current designs, and minds. The
good note being that, as a poet said, we are here.
Still communicating inside of this infrastructure.

(* for those with interest in calendars, this week
also releases the investigation of Sen. Wellstone's
plane crash prior to the last .US election, and the
memorial design for the World Trade Center... it is
very strange as all intimately relate to energy issues,
and it would seem that being better able to address
such issues may also enable preventing tragedies
that otherwise seem to be dealt with outside of a
realm where shared human values can shape them.)



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

// Get a SmartHouse, Bugs, and you are IT. excellent and funny...

THE WAY WE NEST NOW-- When the House Starts Talking to Itself
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16TECH.html>

	'Advanced ventilation systems -- with timers, zones, sensors indoors  
and out and programmatic control -- have been known to get confused and  
blast heat and air-conditioning at the same time. In many homes, it is  
not even possible to plug in the VCR and the DVD player at the same  
time -- not without some rewiring, at least. There is nostalgia for the  
days when the worst system-administrative problem was programming the  
VCR.' .. 'In those days, when the house needed minor repairs, you would  
get out a screwdriver and a Reader's Digest Do-It-Yourself manual and  
do it yourself. When the Smart House needs repair, you have to call in  
the experts. It is not unheard of for homeowners to telephone tech  
support for help turning off the garden sprinklers.' ... 'Much of the  
world of home automation descends from one great progenitor: the  
television remote control.'

Richard Feynman : The Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures // via PHYS-L
<http://www.vega.org.uk/series/lectures/feynman/>

	A set of four priceless archival recordings from the University of  
Auckland (New Zealand) of the outstanding Nobel prize-winning physicist  
Richard Feynman - arguably the greatest science lecturer ever. Although  
the recording is of modest technical quality the exceptional personal  
style and unique delivery shine through.' .. 'Feynman gives us not just  
a lesson in basic physics but also a deep insight into the scientific  
mind of a 20th century genius analysing the approach of the 17th  
century genius Newton.' .. 'For the young scientist, brought up in this  
age of hi-tech PC /  -based presentations, we also get an object lesson  
in how to give a lecture with nothing other than a piece of chalk and a  
blackboard. Furthermore we are shown how to respond with wit and  
panache to the technical mishaps that are part-and-parcel of the  
lecturer's life...'

	Video 1 : Photons : Corpuscles of Light
	A gentle lead-in to the subject, Feynman starts
	by discussing photons and their properties.

	Video 2 : Fits of Reflection and Transmission : Quantum Behaviour
	What are reflection and transmission, and how do they work?

	Video 3 : Electrons and their Interactions
	Feynman diagrams and the intricacies of particle interaction.

	Video 4 : New Queries
	What does it mean, and where is it all leading?
	
	
ELEMENTARY ELECTRICITY  Part 1+2 // via PHYS-L. lots here...
<http://www.williamson-labs.com/basic-ele-pt-1.htm#inthebeginning>
<http://www.williamson-labs.com/basic-ele-pt-2.htm>

T r a n s i s t o r s
<http://www.williamson-labs.com/480_xtor.htm>

I n t u i t i v e  E l e c t r o n i c s - Intuitive Electricity
<http://www.williamson-labs.com/480_base.htm>

Image Processing Means You Can See Both The Wood And The Trees // !
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031112073528.htm>

	'Mathematician Gemma Piella has developed a new technique for  
processing images. For this she used a mathematical operation that  
makes use of so-called wavelets. .... These characteristics ensure that  
a single operation can simultaneously render both large and small  
objects visible. This enables you to see both the entire wood and the  
individual trees at the same time.' .. 'A scene can only be fully  
understood if it can be seen at many different levels. For example, if  
you see a wood from a distance, your first impression is just a green  
surface. If you come closer by, you can see the trees. If you zoom in  
even further still, you can even see the leaves and the bark.  
Therefore, which information you extract from the picture depends upon  
the level at which you see it. So-called multiresolution techniques  
such as those used by Piella, render all details, at every level in the  
image visible at the same time.'


---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------

// had commented, then in turn uncommented. via drudgereport.com...

Brain scan 'identifies race bias among white people' // using MRIs
<http://www.ananova.com/news/story/ 
sm_838829.html?menu=news.latestheadlines>

	'A brain scan that can apparently root out racists has been developed  
by scientists.' .. 'The technique was used on white volunteers shown  
photographs of black individuals.' .. 'In those with racist tendencies,  
a surge of activity was seen in part of the brain that controls  
thoughts and behaviour. Scientists believe this reflected volunteers'  
attempts to to curb their latent racism.'

Electricity in Life
A Bibliography of Secondary Literature on the History of
Electricity and Magnetism in Medicine and the Life Sciences
<http://www.thebakken.org/research/bibliography-electricity.htm>

Cardiac MRI Detects Thinned Heart Muscle
Previously Deemed Unsalvageable
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031113064751.htm>

New Studies Show Factors Responsible
For Enhanced Response To Music // fMRIs...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031113065626.htm>

// BCI - brain control interface. overviews the latest advances...

Brain Signals From The Paralyzed Or Injured Captured By Computer
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031113065702.htm>

	'... multiple sensors acting together provide the central nervous  
system with important feedback for controlling movement. For example,  
sensors called muscle spindles that are embedded in muscle fibers  
measure the length and speed of muscle stretch, while other sensors in  
the skin respond to stretch and pressure. When an individual is  
paralyzed by injury or disease, neural signals from these sensors  
cannot reach the brain, and thus cannot be used to control motor  
responses. Paralysis also keeps neural signals originating in the motor  
regions of the brain from reaching the muscles.' .. 'The work of Weber  
and his colleagues shows that it is possible to extract feedback  
information from the body's natural sensors that could then be used to  
control a prosthetic device, allowing an individual to regain some  
command and control of his or her own movements.'


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

// EM education related. thanks *

Engines of Our Ingenuity: Natural Philosophy
<http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi950.htm>

[and] Historical Physics Teaching Apparatus
Instruments for Natural Philosophy // photos...
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/>

	'In February 1975, Deborah Jean Warner, a Curator of Physical Science  
at the National Museum of American History, called me to ask if Kenyon  
had any historical physics teaching apparatus. I looked around my  
office, and reeled off the names of four or five good pieces of  
apparatus that I was using in my lectures. The next month I was at the  
Smithsonian, exploring the collection and photographing some of it in  
black and white and in color. Since then, I have visited and  
photographed about sixty other collections of early physics apparatus.  
This web site displays pictures of about 1600 pieces of apparatus,  
along with text and references.'

--  
Acoustics<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
acoustics.htm>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Acoustics/Helmholtz/ 
Helmholtz.html>

-- Apparatus Made by Daniel Davis, Jr. // EM...
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/Davis.html>
	
-- Electrical Measurements
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
Electrical_Measurements.html>

-- Electric  
Motors<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
Electric_Motors.html>

-- Electricity // superb, must-see...
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/Electricity.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electricity/Lodestone/ 
Lodestone.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electricity/ 
Magnetic_Model_of_the_Earth/Magnetic_Model_of_the_Earth.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electricity/ 
Hertzian_Wave_Detector/Hertzian_Wave_Detector.html>

-- The Acoustical Apparatus of Rudolph  
Koenig<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/koenig.html>

-- Miscellaneous // crystal radio, compass, radio electroscope...
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/Miscellaneous.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Miscellaneous/ 
Radio_Electroscope/Radio_Electroscope.html>

--  
Optics<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/Optics.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Optics/Spectrometers/ 
Spectrometers.html>

-- Oscillations and Waves // unbelievable-- wave machines ***
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
Oscillations_and_Waves.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Oscillations_and_Waves/ 
Lissajous_Figures/Lissajous_Figures.html>

-- Polarized  
Light<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
Polarized_Light.html>

-- Static Electricity // 'Spoon for Igniting Ether'
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Titlepage/ 
Static_Electricity.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Static_Electricity/ 
Electroscope/Electroscope.html>
<http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Static_Electricity/ 
Electric_Carousel/Electric_Carousel.html>
	
	
Are CD player, VCR near end? // DVD revolution...
<http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/ 
1117vcrdoom17.html>
	
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------

// 500 sensors in 31 .US cities for detecting biological pathogens...

Government discloses details of bioterror sensors // good to read...
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2003/11/14/bioterror/>

	'Biowatch blends high-tech laboratory testing each day for nearly a  
dozen dangerous threats with some laughably low-tech practices: Some of  
the disposable filters at monitoring sites are retrieved by people  
riding bicycles, and the government tracks potentially deadly samples  
using bar-scan coders common in supermarkets.' .. 'Homeland Security  
officials demonstrated for reporters Friday how samples are collected  
from one sensor near the National Mall, upwind from the Capitol. The  
$25,000 sensor appeared unremarkable from the outside, resembling an  
enclosed pay telephone topped with an air intake and radio antenna.  
Some sensors are smaller and cheaper. Couriers who collected filters  
inside the sensor delivered them by truck to a military facility in  
Bethesda, Md., where they tested negative.'

Covenant Eyes: Internet Accountability // about...
<http://www.CVNT.NET/about.php>

EM-related Quotes: Protest Is in the Airwaves on Eve of Bush UK Visit
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=575&u=/nm/20031117/wr_nm/ 
bush_britain_gadgets_dc_2&printer=1>

	'With President Bush due to touch down on British soil Tuesday,  
Internet message boards, mobile phones and pagers are buzzing with the  
sounds of protest, and police are scrambling to catch every word.' ...  
'British police have a special task force that follows how everyday  
technologies are being used to plot mass demonstrations and avoid the  
long arm of the law should violence break out.' ... 'But it is the  
sophistication of hand-held devices that have police on the  
look-out.'... 'The widespread use of picture phones is also a concern  
as the could be used to capture images of the police officers.'

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

The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is a national organization  
dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of
U.S. citizens and the global environment. ASES promotes the
widespread near-term and long-term use of solar energy.
<http://www.ases.org/>

NEW TRAIN SPEED RECORD // 347 MPH maglev. via drudgereport.com
<http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12928751,00.html>

	'Maglev trains differ from conventional trains in that magnets lift  
them slightly off the ground, eliminating speed-reducing friction with  
the tracks.'

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

Cooped-up Palestinians turn to Internet
<http://salon.com/tech/wire/2003/11/17/palestine_internet/>

	'Internet use has risen sharply, putting the Palestinians ahead of  
much of the Arab world. Business people use the Web to place orders  
with suppliers, university students keep up with lessons and relatives  
separated by Israeli closures stay in touch through chat rooms.' ...  
'By Western standards, Internet use remains low in the Palestinian  
areas. The Madar Research Group, a research firm based in Dubai, says  
about 8 percent of Palestinians were online in September. In  
comparison, about 40 percent of Israeli households have Internet  
connections, according to the Ministry of Communications.'

Rich and Poor States Split Before Internet Summit // WSIS...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp- 
dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A44445-2003Nov15&notFound=true>

	'Initially conceived as a way to help poorer countries to make better  
use of the Internet, and through it perhaps leap- frog some stages to  
economic development, the summit has since broadened to embrace many  
facets of the information society, including questions of press freedom  
and Net management.'

EM-quote from: Wanted: Fanatical Moderates // indirectly EM, relates:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/opinion/16FRIE.html>

	'"Our agreement is virtual, because we are not the government and do  
not pretend to be," said Mr. Beilin, whose deal was co-signed by a  
former Israeli Army chief of staff, a former deputy Mossad chief and  
leaders from Mr. Arafat's Tanzim militia. "But we need to create a  
virtual world that will impact the real world by demonstrating that a  
workable deal is possible. It is inconceivable that for the past three  
years there have been no official meetings between Israelis and  
Palestinians about a permanent solution."'


---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------

Judge shuts garage opener copyright suit // DMCA...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1025-5107779.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop>

China to launch 11 satellites by 2005
<http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/15china.htm>

Fast and Furious: The Race to Wire America
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/business/yourmoney/16broad.html>

	'Like the building of the railroads in the 19th century and the  
development of the highway system in the 20th century, the wiring of  
America represents huge opportunities - and risks -  for companies  
large and small. To the winners will go monthly access fees from tens  
of millions of households and businesses.' ... 'Technology industry  
analysts say high-speed computer links are being adopted more quickly  
than virtually any technology in American history. Still, other  
countries are ahead. The United State ranks 10th in the world in terms  
of the percentage of inhabitants with high-speed access behind Canada,  
South Korea and Japan.'

Strip search that spares your blushes // via wired.com
<http://www.news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1266532003>

	'They are developing remarkable software which takes the ‘naked’ image  
of the person in front of the scanner and replaces it with a  
computer-generated dummy.' .. 'At the same time, the machine can detect  
suspicious packages or objects under the clothing. Ingeniously, the  
software then superimposes the real image of the item causing concern  
on the computer-generated dummy. Crucially, the target’s privacy will  
still be maintained.' ... 'The powerful scanner, which was developed by  
American scientists, uses millimetre waves to see through clothes. It  
works because the fibres in clothes are less than a millimetre across,  
allowing the light waves to pass right through them.' .. 'A special  
camera using the waves can see through clothes as easily as we can see  
through glass.'

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

Molecules form new state of matter // Bose-Einstein Condensate...
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/031110/031110-16.html>

	'A BEC is a group of identical particles that behaves as if it were  
one particle. ' ... 'BECs are superconducting and superfluid - they  
transmit electricity without resistance and flow without friction. The  
condensates arise only when particles have very low energy, at  
temperatures a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero.' ...  
'The molecular lithium condensate is also a step towards another  
physics grail: a hitherto unseen state of matter called the fermionic  
condensate.' ... 'A fermionic condensate could be used to study  
fundamental particles - electrons, neutrons and protons are also  
fermions - as well as quantum computing and neutron stars, the  
super-dense leftovers of stellar explosions.'

Fritz pounces on Kasparov blunder // Machines: 1 point lead... Nov.14
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994382>

[and] Kasparov Trounces Computer Foe // yes! buggy logic...
<http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,61258,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7>

	'In the early stages, Kasparov seized a black pawn and built a wall of  
pawns that restricted his opponent to ineffective moves that were  
ridiculed as "silly" by chess experts at the New York Athletic Club  
venue.'

Mac Supercomputer Joins Elite // 10 teraflops vs. upcoming IBMs 360...
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/ 
0,1282,61252,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2>

	'Big Mac -- the first supercomputer made of Macs -- trails only  
Japan's Earth Simulator and Los Alamos National Laboratory's ASCI Q in  
the Top500 , a list of the world's 500 fastest machines.'

A-Z: Pre-Eighteenth Century Books and Manuscripts at the Bakken
A-Z: Eighteenth Century Books and Manuscripts at the Bakken
A-Z: Nineteenth Century Books and Manuscripts at the Bakken
A-Z: Twentieth Century Books and Manuscripts at the Bakken
<http://www.thebakken.org/library/library.htm>

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

// encountered one of these self-serve check-out machines in
// the Home Depot and must say it completes the experience of
// being in a large warehouse with inventory management and
// other work done by robots and other tech-equipped lifeforms.
// using a credit-card/ATM card, one can go in and out of the
// experience, without talking to a person in the exhange. it
// is somewhere between e-commerce online and a funny space
// offline, between ATMs replacing Banks, and warehouses with-
// out sales or cashiers for employees, maybe only technicians.
// it worked too. quickly enough. yet there was also a feeling
// that things are drastically changing, who do you contact if
// something does not have a price-tag? etc. trouble-shooting.
// have yet to be in a robotic non-public warehouse/manufacturing
// facility yet, hope to someday, yet apparently there are fork-
// lifts and other inventory systems that can be run by remote
// or even autonomously to manage the movements and shipments.
// a book called 'looking backward' had this sort of feel, that
// one may enter such a store, make an e-commerce transaction (if
// extrapolating the ideas into the present) and have the goods
// arrive at ones cart for pickup and-or delivery, sans humans.
// that is, showrooms that are interfaces of robotic warehouses.
// (considering RFIDs (as the new E-UPC), surveillance cameras,
// automically locking security doors, real-time inventory, and
// other things, it seems the total contraption is near launch.)

More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17MACH.html>
	
	'The growth  of self-service machines, experts and users say, is  
partly a result of improvements in the technology since the early days  
of automated teller machines, which were much slower to catch on. Now  
more R2D2 than Darth Vader, most of today's kiosks have shed their  
hulking shells. Grubby number pads and monochrome displays have been  
replaced with brightly colored touch-screens that respond instantly —  
and help foster a trust in the technology that mere mortals may never  
again command.'

[and] Smart shopping carts are just around the corner // +displays...
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/806/4213431.html>

	'The smart shopping cart looks like a normal one except for an  
interactive screen and scanner mounted near the shopper. Once the  
shopper swipes his store card, his shopping history is available for  
all kinds of purposes, from presenting a suggested shopping list to  
alerting him to discounts or reminding him about perishables purchased  
a month ago.' ... 'The "Everything Display" is a computerized camera  
and projector that can flash an advertisement, for example, onto a bare  
wall in the format of a touch screen on a computer. There is no screen,  
but when a shopper reacts to the ad by touching a spot on the  
projection, the camera interprets the movement and the projector  
flashes the appropriate page onto the wall.'

Fast Track for Science Data // burning the midnight fiber + e-science
<http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/ 
0,1377,61102,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3>

	'The NLR is being created from 10,000 miles of unused, or "dark,"  
optic cable on the country's backbone network. The project plans to use  
about 40 channels, or wavelengths, each capable of transmitting 10  
billion bits a second (10 Gbps).'

[--> special segment follows on the lowering of the bar on approaches
to complex environments with inadequete models & surface treatments.
instead, these same phenomena could be compared by historians of
science, technology, and society, by sociologists, by parallels in
development patterns and economics, some basic in-depth thinking...
this is the effect of having no foundation to discuss these events in
some cohesive and empirical way, to bring discrete events together in
larger cultural pattern by which to reason about development/choices
which involve and also ignore the central role of electromagnetism...]

// uh-oh: is NYT mag now WiReD??? cough! hype! cough!!! advert! hype!
// like below, this has an architectural professor on bigscreen TVs...

Coming to a Location Very Near You // conjecture on screenage (?)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16SCREENS.html>

// Bill Joy - chief Sun scientist- shares his observation on wi-fi (?)
// which happens to be something a COMPUSA installer would also say...

[and more] You've Got Mail ... From the Microwave // better, still bad
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16WAVE.html>

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

Imam's Video Studied for Osama Footage
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-italy- 
terrorism,0,3310743.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>

SH066P Personal Cell Phone Jammer // via gizmodo.com
<http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/Personal.htm>

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

CRN Debuts the Annual Top 25 List
Of Most Influential Executives in the IT Industry
<http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/ 
story/11-17-2003/0002059511&EDATE=>

// comment on this from a design standpoint: it is more economic
// to design for such a change in environments, than to try to
// retrofit (en masse)- and to do so may likely require a basic
// and fundamental rethink of how buildings are designed/built/
// maintained, and organized with the latest EM infrastructures
// in relation but also different from traditional ones like the
// water, heating (gas/steam), sewage, and other systems. there
// are many areas where computation could be deployed/employed,
// such as innovative power management, off-grid power systems,
// centralized lighting, efficiency measures, besides the overt
// 'media' aspects -- and this may be a new type of dwelling and
// in turn, to get there may require innovations in architecture
// and industrial and other design fields (planning, engineering,
// public and private policy), to get there in a larger scale.
// otherwise, it may be similar to 'customizing' and unavailable
// for many to gut houses in order to upgrade wiring or telecom
// systems or even to live with wireless saturation and 'stuff'
// everywhere (wires, cords, plugs, boxes, interfaces). design
// could bring the ideas together, and standardize approaches
// to integrating the dwelling with the 21st c. environments,
// including furniture, fixtures, security, info management,
// etc. And this is the domain of designers, not Intel or MS.
// there is more to this than a technical, technocratic utopia.
// also, 'the computer' may not even be the paradigm for how to
// design-in these new systems, as maybe a microprocessor is at
// the heart, or 'a super-computer for every house' that is not
// a PC system, but an infrastructure of processors/processes.
// in a sense this may bring about a 'new type' of dwelling and
// what it may be is up to the imagination, and how to bring it
// about, by those with varying views. this is only one view...

Vision of Personal Computers as Heart of Home Entertainment
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17home.html>

	'The two companies have been thwarted for more than a decade by  
Hollywood, as well as the cable and satellite television industries, in  
their efforts to put a wired PC at the center of home entertainment.  
But now, competing directly against many companies in the consumer  
electronics industry, Intel and Microsoft are mounting a new charge to  
try to make the personal computer the hearth of the information age.'

// is the most fiberous downtown still in Oakland, California?
// imagine if one pays a municipal bill for $28/month in return for
// a high-speed data, video-teleconferencing, and VoIP telephony.
// the information 'portal' might become the home in this model...

[and] In Utah, Public Works Project in Digital // it's the economy...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17utopia.html>

	'The cities involved argue that reliable access to high-speed data is  
so important to their goals of improving education and advancing  
economic growth that the project should be seen as no more  
controversial than the traditional public role in building roads,  
bridges, sewers and schools - as well as electric power systems, which  
are often municipally owned in the Western United States.' ... 'Data  
infrastructure "is not a nicety,'' said Paul T. Morris, executive  
director for the project, which he has named Utopia, a stylized acronym  
for the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency. "It's an  
essential economic growth issue," he added. "The best network in the  
U.S. will be in Utah - not in New York, not in Chicago, not in Los  
Angeles."' ... 'Depending on the kind of equipment used, fiber can  
deliver data at speeds of 100 megabits a second - even as much as 1,000  
megabits under some circumstances - enabling the lines to be used  
simultaneously to send voice, video, Internet and other data traffic.'  
.. 'As of yet, there are few demands for such capabilities. But Mr.  
Morris, of Utopia, predicted that it would not be long before promising  
new applications emerged. For instance, televisions need 6 megabits a  
second to deliver DVD-quality images over the Internet, and 18 megabits  
to deliver HDTV. He is counting on residents in the Utopia service area  
to turn soon to video-on-demand, online video games, Internet and  
telephone service, all of which consume bandwidth.'

// could be called: when tech companies try to determine dwelling...

[and also from the NYT...] The Housing Project // South Korea...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16NETECH.html>

	'Although the HomePAD is programmed so that Lee can check the contents  
of the refrigerator or work appliances with the touch of a stylus, Lee  
has little use for it except as a way to control the TV. Asked if she  
could demonstrate the HomePAD's tricks, Lee stares quizzically at the  
Web page that displays four panels of photographic negatives: lights,  
kitchen, living area, bedroom. She taps at one panel and a window pops  
up: ''Error.'''


---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------

Signal Towers // interesting EM architectural detailing...
<http://www.netmotion.com/htm_files/ot_patlite.htm>
<http://www.zenithelectrical.com/werma_signal_towers.htm>

switch media_ art festival PATHIHARN ELECTRON [SUPERNATURAL]
- 6th- April 2004 - Chiang Mai, Thailand // via crumb. no URL...

	'The title developed from discussions regarding the approach to the  
use of new media (art) - as being different from a western one.  
pathiharn electron [supernatural] will evaluate this topic by asking  
questions: What is the difference between the visual-graphical  
languages of east/west in expressing "supernatural" as in movies,  
videos, animations, computer games? What is the difference between  
eastern/western cultures of spirituality/supernatural, its  
socio-cultural relevance and its expression in new media art? What is  
the difference of the socio-cultural impact of digital media (art)
between east/west - is there a ghost in the machine?'

Longevity of Electronic Art // think this was sent previously...
submitted to International Cultural Heritage Informatics Meeting, 2001
<http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/Papers/elect-art-longevity.html>


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