~e; Electromagnetic News & Views -- #109
From
brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Thu, 20 May 2004 21:34:27 -0500
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #109
===================================================
00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (5/20/2004)
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-- none.
===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------
// highly recommend viewing the Spielberg film below, if interested in
// what is recently dichotomized as human-robot interarctions, and may
// be seen in miniature with 'aibo-ethics' with Sony's robot dog and
// how people are questioning their relationships with these creatures.
// amazing to see the rating on the IMDB so low, it was definitely a lot
// more impressive in 2004 given the rise of robotics. beyond stunningly
// beautiful photography (especially of Manhattan, submerged in sea
water
// after 2,000 years and global warming), there is so much to this film
// in its wide-range and also, details. the ending is possibly an
engima,
// yet the performances are superb though initially the casting of
people
// seemed dissonant, in the end what was the weakness was the strength
of
// the acting, it gave the film more meaning in a final brilliant flash.
// one part was especially intriguing and hopeful, actually, of some
type
// of electromagnetic beings from the future (interstellar aliens),
which
// rode around in a Miesian spacecraft, to then illustrate in
transparent
// bodies their nerves and abilties to think and communicate, the images
// of memories became their faces and each being touched the next and it
// started to also have the same images appear, as they listened to the
// history of the boy through some extra-terrestial means,
post-humanity.
// a strange but perfect rendition of Pinnochio as a storyline, though
an
// even more wonderful parallel to the Wizard of Oz, with Jude Law doing
// the parts of tin-man (robotic gigolo) and possibly scarecrow with the
// dancing and other antics, a supertoy of teddy bear could be the lion,
// and the wizard, the creator, dorothy, the mother, who knows. it had a
// something of a route through the story, revealing itself similarly. a
// questionable trip to 'dr. know' which seemed too corny for the film
is
// even interesting in its substance for knowledge systems and
computing,
// with Robin Williams or someone like him doing an Einstein voice, it
is
// now wondered if someday all the questions on all the lists of the old
// and new internet could ever someday make it into such a program, that
// one may ask a question and maybe through AI and knowledge-databases
of
// questions, it could be zoned out -- the future of google as god,
maybe.
Artificial Intelligence: AI // DVD rental movie. profound.
<http://imdb.com/title/tt0212720/>
EM-quote: Israel intensifies Gaza offensive
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3731371.stm>
'Relief groups say supplies are running dangerously low and warn of a
humanitarian crisis unless water and electricity are restored to the
district's 25,000 inhabitants.'
---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------
// strawberries, blueberries, kale, and spinach each day keeps
radiation at bay.
Researchers Take Fruitful Look at Space Radiation Hazards to Brain
<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/radiation_fruit_040518.html>
'Fruits and vegetables, researchers said Monday, could help protect
spacefaring humans from suffering severe neurological damage from
radiation once they leave the protection of the Earth’s magnetic field,
which shields the Earth from harmful high-energy particles.' ..
'"[Radiation] may impair astronauts' ability to function, and may also
continue to affect them once they come back home," said James Joseph,
lead scientist for the Neuroscience Laboratory at the Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.
"Maybe what we need out there is also a bit of nutritional shielding."'
.. 'While it may sound hokey, the fruity idea addresses a serious
question for scientists planning for the day when astronauts will
venture beyond Earth orbit on long multi-year voyages to the moon, Mars
and beyond. Astronauts on such long journeys risk exposure to space
radiation in levels many times those we experience on Earth. Over time,
researchers said, those high-energy particles could gradually destroy
enough brain cells called neurons to impact cognitive abilities like
memory and motor skills.'
New heart pacemaker 'saves lives' // cardiac-resynchronization
therapy...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3726367.stm>
'All our hearts beat with the help of electrical impulses. In a
healthy organ these impulses trigger a smooth rhythm which enables the
heart to pump blood efficiently around our bodies.' .. 'However, in
some patients with heart failure damage to the muscles of heart
prevents electrical signals moving around the organ as they should.' ..
'This knocks the rhythm of the heart out of kilter, so that instead of
beating simultaneously, its two major chambers - known as the
ventricles - beat slightly out of phase.' .. 'This reduces the heart's
ability to pump blood out into the body with sufficient force.' .. 'The
new generation of pacemakers can help to re-synchronise the
contractions of the heart by stimulating the ventricles
simultaneously.' ... 'The best results were achieved when the pacemaker
was combined with a defibrillator - an electronic device used to
establish normal heartbeat.'
[em-related] Cheney won't run // Albert Eisele - On the Record
<http://www.thehill.com/eisele/051904.aspx>
// there were segments of the 9/11 hearings on the public tv newshour
and
// one of the NY officials gave what was a frank assessment of
technology
// as it exists today, and high-rise events with smoke, fire, dust and a
// 100% operable portable radio-communications system: there is no such
// thing today. nor, have any changes in skyscraper design been made in
// any fundamental sense, besides cosmetics of existing practices. one
of
// the city officials stated that people on TV new what was happening
more
// than those dealing with the situation. and mention of cell phone
towers
// being knocked out destroyed contacts needed in emergencies. add to
this
// calls to phone #911 centers (emergency services) and the scope of the
// event appears to transcend existing conceptions of space, time, place
// in terms of what happened, how, where, why, when. in that people all
// over the world were watching live video feeds from helicopters
hovering
// above the buildings, and even saw one of the building's fall, and the
// people in the other building and the firefighters and police did not
// even know the building fell, and had no way of knowing, as it
happened.
What went wrong in New York City on Sept. 11 // heartwrenching.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0519/p01s02-usju.html>
'The commission is also concerned that the World Trade Center's
internal communications system apparently failed to work. "We know we
have a long history of communications problems in high-rises
nationally," says Glen Corbett, assistant professor of fire sciences at
John Jay College in New York. "There have been some improvements in
systems, and the city is still dealing with it today."' ... 'Even as
the commission is concluding its investigation, the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) is continuing a $30 million
investigation into what caused the buildings to topple. ...There is a
computer simulation on the effect of smoke and fire.'
---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------
Rare cello escapes CD rack fate-- A rare 320-year-old stolen
Stradivarius
cello had a narrow escape - from being converted into a CD holder.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3728193.stm>
Toxics coalition ranks PC makers // via macsurfer.com
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/8701593.htm>
"In the group's fifth annual rankings, to be released today,
Hewlett-Packard, Dell and NEC made the grade -- but just barely. All
landed in the top category -- ``The Beginners'' -- for belatedly
recognizing that computer makers have a responsibility to reduce the
toxic content of their products and then recycle them when they're
discarded, Ted Smith, director of the environmental group, said
Tuesday." .. "IBM and Sony almost made the cut, but they slipped into
the second category, ``The Trailers.'' Apple Computer, with
conspicuously poor marks by the coalition, ranked seventh of the 27
companies reviewed. EMachines and Gateway clocked in ``Still at the
Starting Gate,'' while Sun Microsystems, Viewsonic, Wyse Technologies
and 13 other manufacturers scored zero -- ``The Bench Warmers.''"
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------
// the precedent for this may likely be other current locales for
bombers...
[em-related] FBI BULLETIN: LOOKOUT FOR SUICIDE BOMBERS INSIDE THE U.S.
<http://drudgereport.com/flash8.htm>
'Warns Officials To Look for People Wearing Bulky Jackets on Warm
Days; Smell of Chemicals; Trailing Wires from Jackets Bombers May
Disguise Selves As Pregnant Women'
// what if-- long-term there is some cultural shift to passive
radio-response
// RFIDing and then, everything goes kaput a few hundred or thousand
years from
// now and the earth is pinged by some future information
archaeologists who get
// back signals by the thousands of what is under the dust or what was
there, as
// if the RFID data has been ghosted out, though without the original
artifacts.
// it is wondered if the technology may, in some way, be similar to
radar in the
// sense of sending out a signal and getting signatures back for
interpretation.
Zombie RFID tags may never die // to kill or not to kill command.
macsurfer.com
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5214648.html>
Vietnamese Shoplifters Wrap Items in Foil // beware consumers with
tinfoil...
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-hong-kong-
foil-theft,0,7533691.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'Six Vietnamese shoplifters beat security systems in stores by
wrapping items in foil to evade electronic sensors, but they were
caught the old-fashioned way by police who followed them.'
// maybe questioning "Where's Cheney?" helped develop this idea...
'Spot the terrorist' system was pitched to Cheney by Jeb Bush
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/20/terror_prediction/>
'Was that a polite way of saying 'snake oil'?...'
Attack jams spy cameras // more on wi-fi jamming...
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/17/1084646114738.html>
'A hand-held device could be used to temporarily jam wireless security
cameras or disrupt a wireless network at a critical moment to create a
diversion or cover unauthorised activity. Such a device could be
pre-programmed or activated remotely using GPRS.'
Mac Hole Has Users, Hackers Abuzz
<http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,63528,00.html>
'Because of the way OS X handles certain protocols, a machine can be
commanded through a Web link to run applications, scripts or Unix
commands.' ... 'The exploit appears to affect all versions of OS X and
all browsers, including Safari, Internet Explorer and Mozilla, among
others, according to various Net reports.'
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
Snake Triggers Blackout in Honduras // snake outage also in .tx.us
recently...
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-honduras-
snake-outage,0,1199660.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>
'A boa constrictor triggered a 15-minute nationwide blackout when it
slithered into a generator at a major hydroelectric plant, officials
said Wednesday.' .. 'The boa was electrocuted Tuesday after entering El
Cajon, a plant that supplies 60 percent of Honduras' electricity...'
Australia rapped over E Timor oil
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3729807.stm>
'He said there had been an unequal struggle between the two -
comparable to the Timorese fight for independence from Indonesia - over
securing rights to the oil and gas resources.'
How Lightning Works:
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/lightning.htm>
NFA grad killed: // cold-fusion advocate. via PHYS-L...
Science writer Mallove slain at family home in Norwich
<http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040516/localnews/
430783.html>
'In New Hampshire, Mallove was the president of the nonprofit New
Energy Foundation and since 1995 the editor-in-chief of the
organization's magazine Infinite Energy.' .. 'The bimonthly magazine
covers topics of new technological innovations in energy and science
and follows developments in the field, according to its Web site.'
---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
Internet Ship of Fools runs aground
Online church doesn’t have a prayer with a congregation of trolls
<http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16027>
'People have been getting their characters to behave in an entirely
unchristian way and logging in under the name ‘Satan’ and have been
hurling abuse during the service. When these possessed types are not
crawling over the altar, or projectile vomiting, they are shouting
"Satan loves you" during the prayers.'
EM-headline: Democrats Demand Payback of Illegal Medicare Videos // .US
[and] White House guilty of breaking propaganda law
<http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=578732004>
'THE Bush administration was guilty of spreading "covert propaganda"
through a series of ready-made television "news" packages it sent to
broadcasters, a US government watchdog has concluded.'
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------
// when will P2P educational content focus on increasing cultural
knowledge
// in a less-commercial sense, with free video lectures for
self-education...
Online trading of TV episodes grows // strange. the P2P
data-trade/markets...
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-05-20-tv_x.htm>
'Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Dell make Media Center PCs with built-in
TV tuners to record shows onto hard drives for personal use. Also, $50
TV "capture cards" can be inserted into any desktop for similar
results. Once the shows are digitized, they can easily be transferred
to the Internet.' .. 'As with sharing songs or movies, it is illegal to
swap TV shows online. But unlike the music industry, which has sued
more than 2,500 people for trading songs, no one's been sued for
putting TV shows online.'
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
// this is quite scary to find out the strategic positions of some
people
// in the neighborhoods, as the information is available to anyone with
// any intent, beyond compaign contributions and into stealing
information.
// it would seem that privacy would be invoked to help prevent more info
// than is necessary, from being openly available to anyone at all. that
// is, maybe every name could just have a generic title, like 'human
being'
// so that whichever way someone votes, they are still a statistic and
not
// an individual pinned down to demographic specificity. kidnapper's
dream.
// although it is nice to know who executives in the neighborhood vote
for.
Street Maps in Political Hues // .US political demographics...
<http://nytimes.com/2004/05/20/technology/circuits/20dona.html>
[em-quote] from: For the Unbuttoned Man // internet ephemera, utility
of an URL
<http://nytimes.com/2004/05/18/fashion/18FRON.html>
'It has been said that the greatest test of a writer's skill is to
describe how to tie a knot without using a diagram. Words fail, but at
www.goals.com/vyc/knots/square.htm there is a diagram, animated no
less, of how a square knot is tied.'
Cosmos 'a billion years older' // give or take a billion...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3732157.stm>
'The implications are that massive stars live longer than was
believed, a factor that affects estimates of the age of the Universe
based on the ages of the oldest stars.'
---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------
Gates courts CEO crowd // sounds like authorware...
<http://news.com.com/Gates+courts+CEO+crowd/2100-7343-5217083.html>
'Among the advances Gates promised was easier development of business
applications. He demonstrated tools for building programs via diagrams
and models, without complex coding, skirting the
"structured-unstructured boundary" that limits software development
today. Microsoft has said it plans to begin testing new modeling tools,
code-named Whitehorse, this year.' ... 'Gates said such tools are an
early step toward solving "information disability''--the inability for
workers to quickly and efficiently get the data they need.'
Electricity Turns Plastic Green // screens/displays...
<http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_051904.asp>
At the Ready, Sheet Music Minus the Sheets // download+edit scores...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/20/technology/circuits/20musi.html>
'Mr. Garson was carrying his music in digital form, scanned into his
MusicPad Pro Plus, a five-pound tablet computer made by a company
called Freehand Systems. The $1,200 device, with a 12-inch
liquid-crystal-display touchscreen, is the first of a class of
computers that enable musicians to store music and edit it onscreen.
Soon it will also allow them to communicate with one another over
wireless networks.' .. 'In much the way that portable digital audio
players have changed the way people consume tunes, tablets like the
MusicPad are changing the way musicians use sheet music, which is so
compact that it can be digitally stockpiled far more cost-effectively
than MP3 audio files.' ... 'Sunhawk customers can preview songs,
transpose them into different keys and hear them in MIDI format. The
sheet-music files are encrypted to limit the transfer of a work to the
number of MusicPads for which it was purchased; encryption also allows
Sunhawk to rent instrumental parts of a composition for limited
periods.' .. 'Mr. Anton said that the MusicPad and Sunhawk could help
resolve two problems that have crippled sales of sheet music online:
the limited portability of paper and the fact that the official
versions of many pieces are sold only by the publishers.'
---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------
[tap into any available EM-media source]
---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
// this issue seems vastly complex for even those who are industry
experts, such
// that doing X will not guarantee Y will happen as a result.
high-gas-prices
// may be here to stay, given world demand, that seems to be consensus
opinion.
// and subsidizing fuel in the .US probably is unrealistic to the
situation as
// it is faced. gas probably _should cost more, given that there is
less and
// less of it, over time, and yet it is consumed as if 'there is no
tomorrow',
// which is quite the self-fulfilling prophecy. relief could come
through a
// sustainable strategy to get through a global industry transition,
which is
// able to keep everyone afloat during changes and economic systems
stable yet
// cheap gasoline is really not the critical issue as it is made out to
be in
// terms of middle- and longer-range planning. the 1950s are over, got
oil?
Kerry Chides Bush Over Record High Gas Prices // (Bush campaigned on
cheap gas)
<http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/381249%7Ctop%7C05-18-
2004::07:06%7Creuters.html>
'In remarks prepared for delivery to a roundtable discussion on
economic opportunity in Portland, Kerry promised to provide relief by
suspending filling the SPR, working more effectively with oil-producing
nations and enacting simpler and cleaner national fuel strategies.'
Bush refuses to release oil from emergency reserve // Cheney's Energy
Plan
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&u=/afp/20040519/ts_afp/
us_oil_bush_040519181507&printer=1>
'He expressed concern over the high price of gasoline and its impact
on American consumers but pressed lawmakers to ease the pain by swiftly
passing an energy bill now before Congress.'
Surging oil prices help to push up British inflation
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/85580/
1/.html>
'He expressed concern over the high price of gasoline and its impact
on American consumers but pressed lawmakers to ease the pain by swiftly
passing an energy bill now before Congress.'
EXCLUSIVE-PDVSA chief says oil supply not behind high prices // oil
futures...
<http://www.forbes.com/home/newswire/2004/05/19/rtr1377562.html>
'Oil speculation, the war in Iraq and low U.S. refinery capacity are
to blame for high oil prices, not global short supply, the head of
Venezuela's state oil company said Wednesday.'
Group of tech execs rallies 'round Bush // technocratic issue
engineering.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5214944.html>
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
// a lot of design detailing, such as what seem to be trade-fair
displays,
// a antenna tower, display with lighting and graphics and model, very
much
// a built work presenting a context for further content, which is
itself
// a critique, also electromagnetic related, so aesthetics and
architecture,
// and architecture beyond just the formation of space, light, also
ideas.
// much more valuable than, say, what is going on with the ground zero
site
// in terms of architecture, but not if pre-judged by modernist
ideologues.
System-77 Civil Counter-Reconnaissance // (EM aesthetics) thanks *
<http://s-77ccr.org/about.php>
<http://s-77ccr.org/images_unit.php>
'S-77CCR is a tactical urban counter-surveillance systems for ground
controlled UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and airborne drones to
monitor public space.'
Embracing the Art of Hacking // so-so. book review. sketchwork.
pollack-code.
<http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,63506,00.html>
Is a Moog Renaissance Nigh? // ......What about Hugh Le Caine and the
Sackbut?!?
<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,63523,00.html>
'The guts of the machine were technically simple: a series of
oscillators, each of which produced tones, like the simple sine wave. A
keyboard or a metallic ribbon controlled the pitch. Fiddling with knobs
or rearranging cables could make the tone warble molasses slow or
hummingbird quick, and it could turn that round sine sound jagged and
cutting, or boxy and solid. Filters could then be applied to strip the
tone of everything but the lowest rumbles or ear-popping peaks.'
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