~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #102
From
brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Tue, 20 Apr 2004 19:26:35 -0500
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #102
===================================================
00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (4/20/2004)
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-- urls...
===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------
// this could explain the runup to the 2000 election and very low gas
prices...
Saudi Envoy Promised Lower Oil Price, Woodward Says (Update1) //
drudgereport
<http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=71000001&refer=us&sid=aDtL66T_rvqY>
'Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. has promised President George
W. Bush the Saudis will reduce oil prices before this November's
election to help the U.S. economy, according to Bob Woodward, author of
a new book about the Iraq war.'
[and] Saudis Assure Bush on Stable Oil Price
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4867352>
'A Saudi envoy has assured the Bush administration that it will keep
oil prices in a range of $22 to $28 per barrel and will not take
actions that would harm the U.S. economy, the White House said on
Monday.' ... 'Prince Bandar has been the Saudi envoy to the United
States for 20 years and is part of the Saudi royal family, which has
had a close relationship with the Bush family for years.'
Analysis: Nuke-for-energy deal for Kim?
<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040419-071645-8417r>
'Will North Korean leader Kim Jong Il bring a breakthrough on the
nuclear impasse?' .. 'Kim's surprise visit to Bejing this week for a
summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao raised hopes of progress in the
long-stalled nuclear issue.' ... 'No details of the summit were
available, but media reports quoted sources as saying it was focused on
how to end the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear arms ambitions,
Beijing's food and energy assistance, and North Korea's economic
reforms.'
---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------
Brain chips could help paralysed: // cyberkinetics
Scientists are to implant tiny computer chips in the brains
of paralysed patients which could 'read their thoughts'.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3632855.stm>
In a High-Tech World, Pacemaker Risks Rise // PENS, cellphones
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/health/policy/20PACE.html>
'Once concentrated in the workplace, devices that can disrupt
pacemaker function are now much harder to avoid. Metal detectors hidden
in store entrances and exits, for example, can be impossible to spot.
Magnetic resonance imaging techniques, often considered a danger to
those with pacemakers or implanted defibrillators, have become a common
diagnostic procedure.'
Ethics Of Boosting Brainpower Debated By Researchers
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040420011023.htm>
---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------
Politics on the Brain? Resorting to M.R.I.'s for Partisan Signals //
phrenology.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/science/20SCAN.html>
'Shanto Iyengar, director of the Political Communication Lab at
Stanford, said there were so many kinds of images and other stimuli in
a political commercial that it was notoriously difficult for any kind
of research to pinpoint effects. But Professor Iyengar said the M.R.I.
technology offered a promising tool.' .. '"Academic research in
political science into the effects of campaign advertising is 90
percent bogus, relying as it does on self-reported exposure to a
multitude of disparate messages and images," he said. "Any efforts to
isolate viewers' actual responses to ads — be they neurological,
verbal or behavioral — is a step in the right direction."'
Wooden computers offer 'greener' desktop
Biodegradable monitor cases may reduce trash. // via wired
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/040412/040412-10.html>
'Many standard plastic computer casings contain chemicals called
brominated flame retardants, added to improve fire safety. Once in the
environment, the cancer-causing chemicals are thought to accumulate in
animal and human tissues.'
.. 'To prevent this, Sollentuna-based company Swedx are making
computer screens, keyboards and mice encased in timber.' .. 'Swedx's
wooden cases are custom built using wood logged from managed forests in
China, and they decompose faster than plastic.' ... 'Producing personal
computers also chews up resources: the creation of one computer
requires ten times its own weight in chemicals and fossil fuels,
according to Williams's calculations, largely due to the
energy-intensive production of microchips. Producing a car or
refrigerator uses one or two times its weight, he says.'
Particle physicists rescue rare vinyl recordings
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994899>
'Classic audio recordings preserved on a warped and damaged records
could yet be rescued for future generations using an optical analysis
technique originally developed to keep track of subatomic particles.'
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------
LA Airport Hit With Second Power Outage // a little too much dereg?
viadrudgerpt
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20040420/
ap_on_re_us/brf_airport_blackout_1&printer=1>
'A malfunctioning transformer was blamed for leaving some airport
buildings without regular electricity for nearly two hours Monday. The
cause of the electricity problems wasn't known.' .. '"It's a little
disturbing," said Bob Marks, regional vice president of the National
Air Traffic Controllers Association. "This sure seems like a fragile
power infrastructure."'
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
Powered by the sun and hydrogen // great. proto-house in .my (via
archnewsnow)
<http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/4/20/features/
7725984&sec=features>
'Called the Solar-Hydrogen Eco-house, it is the first in the world
that is fully self-sustainable and runs entirely on hydrogen. The house
is part of UKM’s new fuel cell and automotive research centre. It was
jointly designed and developed by Prof Kamaruzzaman Sopian, director of
UKM’s Advanced Engineering Centre, and architect Shah Jaafar.' ... 'The
eco-house relies on a photovoltaic (PV) hydrogen production and storage
system to power household appliances and a fuel cell that can convert
the chemical energy into electricity.' ... 'The system uses solar power
to convert ionised water into hydrogen through the process of
electrolysis. Forty-two multi-crystal PV panels which can produce a
total peak power of 5kWp are mounted on the rooftop....' .... 'Shah
drew inspiration from traditional Malay architecture, which he says
possesses a bio-climatic environment and is in harmony with nature.'
Cut energy use or face consequences: Premier // Ontario.ca
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/
Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1082371890460&call_pageid=968332188854&col=9
68705899037>
'"If we don't act soon, Ontario will face an energy crisis," said
McGuinty.' .. '"Simply building more generation is not going to be
enough to meet the challenge."'
Shell Oil Office Attacked in Philippines
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-philippines-
shell-attack,0,2350555.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
[and] WRAPUP 1-Shell report exposes lies on reserves; CFO sacked
<http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/newswire/2004/04/19/
rtr1336531.html>
[and] Lies, cover-ups, fat cats and an oil giant in crisis
Shell admits deceiving shareholders; Sacked chairman savaged in report
<http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=513226>
Solar Photovoltaic Module Manufacturing and Solar Electricity
Production Project Announced in Northern New Mexico
<http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Apr/1032239.htm>
'Dan Reicher, President of New Energy Capital, said, "We are excited
by the momentum we see in New Mexico for solar energy, and by Governor
Richardson's leadership in bringing rural communities, utilities and
entrepreneurs together to realize the benefits of solar energy in
northern New Mexico". Reicher was formally the U.S. Assistant Secretary
for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy.'
powerplant efficiency industry-wide: 33% (66% loss) // via ae-l...
<http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/seclaw2.html#c1>
Consumers face new era of electricity price surges // .nz
Electricity prices are set to rise by 15 per cent this winter -
and forecasters predict that's just the beginning of the hikes.
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2878657a11,00.html>
Nigerian oilmen sacked over scam
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3640053.stm>
---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
Saudi presenter shows beaten face
A TV presenter who says she was beaten by her husband has allowed
newspapers
to show pictures of her swollen face to highlight domestic abuse.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3631743.stm>
'"I want to use what happened to me to draw attention to the plight of
women in Saudi Arabia," Ms Baz said.' .. 'Every morning for the past
six years, Ms Baz has been the smiling face of a family programme on
Saudi television. She is well-known and loved in the kingdom.' .. 'The
BBC's correspondent Kim Ghattas says this is probably the first time
ever that a case of domestic violence has received media coverage in
Saudi Arabia.'
[and] em-related quote: Saudi Islamic Doctrine Hard to Control
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-saudi-
extremes,0,6485177.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'As modernity seeped in and Western investors arrived, the clerics
desperately resisted threats to the purity of Wahhabism -- the
telegram, radio, television and later girls' schools.' ... 'The part on
extremism, with a margin of error of between 1 and 2 percentage points,
found that 48.7 percent think favorably of bin Laden's sermons but only
4.7 percent would want him as their president.'
Israeli Nuke Whistleblower Makes Appeal
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-israel-
nuclear-whistleblower,0,281005.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'Vanunu wants to live abroad, Seller said. In addition, he would like
to be in contact with his adoptive parents, who are Americans from
Minnesota.'
[and] Israel Bars Vanunu from Leaving for a Year Once Free
<http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4876461>
'The ban was due to "a tangible danger...that Vanunu wishes to
divulge state secrets, secrets that he has not yet divulged and which
have not been previously published," a Defense Ministry statement
said.' .. 'Vanunu's brothers voiced fears for his safety during the
year he will be forced to stay in Israel, where the former nuclear
technician is widely despised as a traitor for revealing Israel's
nuclear secrets to a British newspaper.'
// it is possible to reconstruct electromagnetic data from damaged
tapes.
Sharon Son Said to Destroy Tapes in Probe // em-media as evidence.
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-israel-
sharon-corruption,0,3417578.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'The son of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon testified Tuesday that he
destroyed potentially incriminating tapes relating to a corruption
investigation targeting him and his father because he no longer needed
them, a report said.' ... 'On Tuesday, Gilad Sharon was called before
an Israeli magistrates court to explain why he had failed to abide by a
previous court order to give investigators tapes and documents related
to the real estate deal.' .. 'Testifying for the first time on the
issue, Gilad Sharon said he had destroyed the tapes of his deal with
real estate developer David Appel shortly after finalizing the
agreement because he no longer needed them, Channel Two TV reported.'
... 'Gilad Sharon was ordered by Israel's Supreme Court to turn over
the tapes and documents last month. At the time, his lawyers said he
would comply, but it might take time because much of the material was
in the hands of others.'
Electricity poles giving poll shock to villagers
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/624358.cms>
'Before the last assembly elections, a number of villagers in the
Nawanshahr segment were allegedly cheated by the politicians. They were
promised 24-hour power supply, but for that they had to deposit some
money. The gullible villagers did that.' .. 'As the elections drew
closer, the candidates, to show their credibility, got electric poles
erected in the villages and later even wiring was installed, but not
the transformers.' .. 'However, over two years have passed and the
poles are standing as mute witnesses to the manner in which the voters
were cheated. "Look at those poles over there. We deposited the money,
but there is no electricity. We feel cheated," said Choor Singh, social
activist of Bajjon village, pointing to the ‘election poles’, as he
dubbed them.'
Birders Mourn Webcam Falcon // mn.us
<http://www.wired.com/news/culture/
0,1284,63114,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_12>
'Birders around the world are mourning the death of Mae, the first
known peregrine falcon to nest at a power plant, who became an Internet
star through a webcam that allowed thousands to watch her during
nesting season.'
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------
Britons Go 'Toothing' for Hi-Tech Sex with Strangers // bluetooth
anonymous sex
<http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/
story.jsp?id=2004041821410002022690&dt=20040418214100&w=RTR&coview=>
'Although clearly not what the industry had in mind, toothing may lead
operators toward similar, more mainstream projects.'
// gas is cheaper than bottled water in the .US?! both fuel-efficiency
+ gastax
A Fuel-Saving Proposal From Your Automaker: Tax the Gas
<http://nytimes.com/2004/04/18/business/yourmoney/18fuel.html>
'... in one unlikely place, higher gas taxes are seen as the only
nonwacky way to cut oil consumption. That's Detroit, the manufacturing
center for the nation's largest oil-consuming product, the automobile.'
... 'In the first week of April, when prices for premium gasoline
averaged $1.96 a gallon in the United States, the price of a similar
grade in Germany was $5.19, and $5.34 in Britain, according to the
federal Energy Information Administration.' .. 'In interviews at the
New York International Auto Show this month, top executives of General
Motors and the Ford Motor Company , both of which make and sell a lot
of cars in Europe, reiterated their support for high gasoline taxes -
as opposed to stricter fuel economy regulations.' ... '"If you want
people to consume something less, the simplest thing to do is price it
more dearly," Mr. Wagoner [the chairman and chief executive of G.M.]
said.' ... 'Europe is not relying on taxes alone. The European Union is
phasing in its own fuel economy regulations, in the form of requiring
automakers to reduce the amount of global-warming emissions that their
cars create.'
600 Macs, 4,000 Lines, One Giant Leap for DVD's // vs 1,080 HD/480 tv
(archival)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/movies/18KAPL.html>
'ON the second floor of an unassuming office building on the edge of
Burbank, John Lowry is forging what might be the future of the DVD —
and, with it, the way that classic films will be stored, preserved,
telecast and watched.' ... 'What he is doing will make a DVD look
nearly as sharp and detailed as a 35-millimeter film print. It will
produce images with six times the resolution of today's high-definition
television sets. In video quality, it could turn home theater into a
true rival of the neighborhood cineplex.' ... 'Some time in the next
decade, though, DVD's will probably be supplanted by high-definition
DVD's. High-definition TV may evolve into ultra-HDTV....'
Hezbollah's unconventional quiz: A game show aired by Lebanese militant
group Hezbollah's satellite television channel has raised eyebrows.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3640551.stm>
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
// A key to any data management would seem to be
// related to 'archives' (as information archaeology,
// potentially) and how to access a built-up system
// of thinking over a period of time. This is, in my own
// experience, related to major crashes or clean-install
// upgrades in which mail and other data files are to be
// burned onto CD and stored, beyond easy access or
// continued organization of old and new data after the
// phase-changing event (from live to dead information).
// When it leaves 'memory', literally, it is lost, vanished,
// unless recalled or somehow kept in the system. So,
// one hardware aspect may be, with bigger harddrives
// that 'raid' storage may partly be used for K.M. storage
// and CDs for archiving the information constellations
// that grow over time, possibly it will take DVDs to be
// able to store audiovisual filetypes in some format,
// yet to keep things organized may also happen by a
// type of self-organization and fuzzy-system which is
// to bring mapping and other technologies into play.
// Though, maybe this is just an interface, though not
// for a software or the OS itself, but for the 'harddrive'
// (or, data or mediadrive, or avdrive) itself. In that, to
// take what may be Apple's golden opportunity, to
// use a database like 'file'-maker for the file-system,
// and to then make this the harddrive which can be
// interfaced as the 'finder' in various ways, it could
// be just one aspect of an OS which separates out
// 'the software' and 'the hardware' with information,
// hopefully some knowledge-building capacities,
// which could then be used, for instance, to mirror
// a part of this filesystem online, automatically, to
// include an interface to take the drudgery out of
// online design and content-management where
// all systems are reliant upon every other system,
// in order to re-present 'knowledge' in some way.
// in this way data offline could be presented also
// online and yet, also remain archived, changing,
// and its interface separated from the data content.
Humans vs. Computers, Again. But There's Help for Our Side. //
knowledge mgmt
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/business/yourmoney/18tech.html>
EM-related: Bush's choice to replace Carlin raises concerns //
em-archivist
<http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25635-1.html>
'Under Carlin, NARA is leading the Electronic Records Management
e-government project and the Electronic Records Archives project.' ..
'For the Quicksilver records management project, NARA has established
guidance to transfer e-mail records, permanent scanned text and Adobe
Portable Document Format documents, and digital photography records.'
India Implements Computerized Voting // the future.
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-india-
electronic-elections,0,3852124.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'This year, in a staggered vote that runs through May 10, India's 660
million registered voters will be able to exercise their franchise on
one of approximately 1 million computerized voting machines in an
electronic, ballot-less election.' ... 'The change in India is having a
deep impact on politics.'
Robotic Floats Shed New Light On Iron Hypothesis
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040416015016.htm>
'Programmed to descend to depths of up to one kilometer several times
a day, the floats measured concentrations of particulate organic carbon
and documented its export, within and outside the fertilized area,
below 100 meters. They showed that for every atom of iron added to the
water, the plankton carried between 10,000 and 100,000 atoms of fixed
carbon below 100 meters upon sinking, well beneath the zone of
light-stimulated plant growth.'
---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------
Broadband Internet use up sharply, survey finds // .us
<http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2004/04/18/rtr1335647.html>
'Consumer frustration has largely been responsible for the jump, the
survey's author, John Horrigan, said.'
[and] Convergence of a different kind: data and electricity on one
cable--
Wireless access points, voice over IP, USB cameras said to be driving
demand for Power over Ethernet // 802.3af protocol = PoE
<http://www.itbusiness.ca/
index.asp?theaction=61&lid=1&sid=55341&adBanner=Networking>
'The new standard supports up to 15.5 Watts of power per device, and
with 100 devices connected to the network that's as much as 1500 watts
of power needed in addition to what's required to run the switch
itself. The second issue is wall power; it needs to have the capacity
to support the power requirements.'
M.I.S.S. Audio/Visual Sofa
<http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/miss-audio/visual-sofa-015218.php>
---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------
New Efforts Needed To Address Cleanup After 'Dirty Bomb' Attack
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040416012024.htm>
'A radiological dispersal device (RDD), or "dirty bomb," combines
conventional explosives with relatively easy-to-obtain radioactive
materials from industrial or medical applications. Several studies have
suggested that a dirty bomb attack would not cause extensive
casualties, but would be more likely to spread panic and economic
disruption, leaving a potential environmental mess in its wake.' ...
'Federal, state and local officials are developing emergency response
plans, but there are no common standards outlining safe contaminant
levels after the cleanup of a dirty bomb, say the scientists. A variety
of current radiation regulations would apply by default, but none of
these is appropriate for a dirty bomb scenario, according to Deborah
Elcock, an environmental policy analyst at Argonne and lead author of
the paper.' ... 'If these [RDD] issues are not brought into the open
prior to an event, the consequences of an attack could be portrayed as
more severe than they actually are, the authors say.'
Brazil Refusal on Inspection Angers IAEA // nuclear diplomacy.
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-nuclear-
agency-brazil,0,7120883.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'"Brazil's reticence could lead other countries to follow suit," and
make the agency's job of policing nuclear programs more complicated,
said the diplomat.'
Robot plane drops bomb in test
Another step for remote-control warfighting // via drudgereport.com
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4779727/>
'The military sees such aircraft taking part in its most dangerous
missions, such as bombing enemy radar and surface-to-air missile
batteries, in order to clear the path for human pilots.'
---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
Videogame Sales to Slow in 2005 - Report
<http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4857888>
Survey: Denmark Tops E-Commerce Use // beyond technopoly...
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=562&ncid=738&e=3&u=/
ap/20040420/ap_on_hi_te/nordics_online_business>
'The study ranked Britain No. 2, with the top five rounded out by
Sweden, Finland and Norway, all Nordic countries.' ... '"Here is where
Europe — and especially Scandinavia — excels," the Economist
Intelligence Unit found. "Smart government initiatives are contributing
to the steady rise of the northern European countries, Singapore, Hong
Kong and Korea, and the relative stagnation of such e-enabled but
uncoordinated markets as the United States."'
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
Downtown Vegas Sees Big Picture // LED barrel vault
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/
0,1282,63123,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3>
'Fremont officials figured that competing for attention and market
share with the Strip's mega-resorts would require a titanic effort, so
their new LED display features more than 12.5 million LED lamps with
4.1 million pixels and the capability to show 16.7 million different
colors. The whole screen runs the equivalent of more than four football
fields.' .. 'All that will provide visitors with a rotating schedule of
eight-minute shows at the top of after-dark hours that will feature a
mixture of animation, live action and music. That's similar to what's
already offered, but the graphics will be exponentially better, and the
display will cost significantly less to maintain and will be able to
broadcast live video feeds for special events.'
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