~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #128
From
brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Thu, 22 Jul 2004 21:29:34 -0500
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #128
===================================================
00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (7/22/2004)
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--
* wish that the effort by HP and OfficeDepot (.US) for recycling of
electronics was getting major press. dropped off a computer monitor
and only a few items were there. when, in comparison, there are likely
piles of such electronics junk residing in dwellings, per square mile.
it was a great pleasure to have a place to bring the material and it
is also a conflicting feeling in that it is seemingly just a matter of
choice, that such initiatives become more of the standard procedure.
after opening a single 9V battery, the reality of this stuff going in
to the waste stream without recycling, stewing around for decades is,
truly, absolutely, frightening as to its environmental health effects.
* thanks to Leonardo magazine for sponsoring a statement by and
about the electronetwork.org project in Volume 37, Number 3 (2004).
<http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/journal/
currentiss.html>
* thanks also to Adobe for donating an educational copy of Illustrator
CS,
Mac OS X version, for work towards electromagnetic education. now there
will be the ability to draw vector-based straight lines on the computer,
so ideas relating to several areas can begin to be visually developed.
<http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html>
* note: a bellwether for basic content development about 'learning
electromagnetics' is slowly but surely progressing, focused largely
around working with Parallax's Homework Board microcontroller. this
is going at a interrelated learning pace as options for creating a
working prototype of a HIOX-based device is also being considered.
in addition, ideas about electromagnetism and artworks and artifacts,
and specifically the places in which these converge, is a visual-based
presentation long pondered and now will be able to start moving, as
with ideas related to electromagnetic architecture which will be in
direct contrast to the 'consumer home electronics' or 'digital home'
initiatives by giant corporations, through a different design vantage.
* looked again into plone, weblogs, links managers and still have the
feeling to keep things in HTML until the website is opened up for a
group development model, thereby keeping things as simple as possible.
should any or many find interest in collaborating on web development
upon the educational goals of site, any proposals are appreciated.
===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------
// the following report about electricity in .IQ shows it is mission
critical
// and also in a state of crisis. both due to saboutage, but possibly
it would
// seem, also to unfettered over-consumption of a limited resource --
that is,
// in any country on the earth, if everyone went out and bought 3x the
large
// energy intensive appliances and started running them at once, such
as air
// conditioners in a desert (be it Baghdad, Iraq or Las Vegas, Nevada)
- that
// there would predictably be power failures due to loads (if Networks
of Power,
// by Thomas P. Hughes and the functioning of large scale power systems
is any
// indication, there is a delicate 'balancing of loads' between
supply/demand,
// and throughout the day, also, which is also part of a speculative
'futures'
// market in purchasing electrical generation/supplies, as is what took
down
// the California grid, as buying 'at the moment' was exponentially
more money.
// If ever there was a reason to get energy efficient air conditioners
to market
// as a matter of .IQ and world security, this seem to be necessary, or
laws of
// the running multiple appliances, as whole neighbhborhoods can go
offline if
// one person starts the process, it would seem. Also, it has been
previously
// reported that there is a misrepresentation of electrical services
during the
// reign of Hussein, in that it was stated 'certain neighborhoods' had
the basic
// and reliable electrical services, while others had little or no
electrical
// power, and were left without such services-- so the equality of
distribution
// was previously reported to not be how the grid functioned, and maybe
that is
// part of a new 'freedom', to be able to have what was not accessible
before,
// then havin to temper it with a need of the larger grid to all get
through it.
Frustrations Mount for Iraq's Minister of Electricity // *** incredible.
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=03289458-7EF2-4495-
8DC384DCB3263094>
'In the time it took to write this report, electricity to this hotel
went out six times. And, each time, a generator kicked in to provide
the power supply.' .. 'More than a year after the fall of Saddam
Hussein, the power outages are a daily, if not hourly occurrence in and
around Baghdad. On average, the power supply in Baghdad runs about
12-hours on and 12-hours off. Under Saddam, electricity in Baghdad ran
about 20-hours on and only four-hours off.' .... '... [Mr. Alsammarae
says:] "I told Mr. Bremer, you are hiring me for a job that is like
that you are sending me to hell. And, you are telling me to put in a
lot of air conditioning until you make it paradise. How? This is
hell. It is built as hell, so you cannot fix it."'
Keyless Remotes To Cars in Waldorf Suddenly Useless // interferences.
via TSCM-L
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28217-2004Jul4>
'"Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, it does not discriminate," Drake said,
pointing over the counter to the strip mall parking lot. "If every
single one of those cars has a keyless entry, every single one will not
work."' .... 'There is no shortage of speculation on what is causing
the problem in Waldorf. Diana Rucci, the operations director at Waldorf
Ford, overheard customers in a local restaurant saying NASA satellites
were involved. Others pointed to storm clouds, cell phones, solar
flares, the Taliban.' .... 'The technology is similar to that used in
garage door openers and remote-controlled toys. The remote acts as the
transmitter, sending an encrypted message on a weak radio signal to the
receiver in the car, which decodes the message and activates door locks
and other functions.' .. 'But unlike other more powerful radio signals,
keyless entry remotes are not licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission. They are allowed to operate on frequencies used by licensed
customers as long as their signals are sufficiently weak and don't
interfere with others. But because of this outlaw status, their own
signals can be jeopardized.' .... 'Military radio signals have been
implicated in other frequency mishaps in recent years...'
Hijackers set off detectors on 9/11
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-07-21-hijackers-tape_x.htm>
'Both Al-Midhar and Alhazmi set off metal detectors twice and were
checked for weapons with hand-held metal detectors, according to the
commission's report on the video released in January. Alhazmi's bag was
also swabbed for traces of explosives.' .. 'Hijacker Majed Moqed also
set off a metal detector, the commission said. He walked through a
detector a second time and, after it did not signal an alarm, was
allowed to proceed. Hani Hanjour, who investigators suspect was the
pilot of the hijacked flight, and Alhazmi's brother Salem did not
receive additional security.'
---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------
New Thinking Hearing Aid Is First Ever to Use Artificial Intelligence
to Mimic
the Brain's Natural Ability to Process Sound // ear-scanner. via
engadget.com
<http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040720/nytu101_1.html>
'New Oticon Syncro continually scans the environment for voices and
other sounds and reacts instantly to variations in sound signals,
making thousands of calculations per second.'
[and] The Starkey Foundation: "So the World May Hear"
<http://www.sotheworldmayhear.org/home/>
<http://www.sotheworldmayhear.org/worldfocus/>
'Hearing impairment is a national and international issue that has no
boundaries. Every year, The Starkey Hearing Foundation conducts more
than 150 missions in countries across the globe "So the World May
Hear." These missions include giving away hearing instruments and
promoting hearing impairment education. Since 2000, The Starkey Hearing
Foundation has touched more than 65,000 lives worldwide.'
NASA Infrared Camera Helps Surgeons Map Brain Tumors
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040719091006.htm>
// it would be interesting to know what industries (auto?) are emitting
and to
// what extent/percentage, and to introduce a sliding-scale of public
nuisance.
// probably power plants do emit more or the most, yet it is hard to
imagine
// the masses of automobiles, when combined, do not over-tax health
systems...
// the economics, if related across industries (what is not, anyways)
is that
// it may cost something to change, yet the impact of the change could
have an
// exponentional effect on larger, longer health issues such as
productivity,
// lessening of certain illnesses, less lost to insurance claims, etc.
etc...
// in a sense, it could be argued that by not doing anything proactive
about
// climate change, that a public tax is being levied without
representation.
US energy firms facing law suits // carbon-dioxide emissions...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3914995.stm>
'The five are American Electric Power, Southern Co, Xcel Energy,
Cinergy and the Federal Tennessee Valley Authority.'
Study: Most Strokes Occur on Mondays
Lower Income, Less Educated at Risk -- but So Are Upper-Class Women
<http://my.webmd.com/content/article/91/
101004.htm?lastselectedguid=%7B5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348%7D>
<http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5749318>
Know Stroke. Know the Signs. Act in Time.
<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/knowstroke.htm>
NINDS Stroke Information Page
<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/stroke.htm>
---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------
// new decontamination technology for dirty-bomb radioative clean-up ***
Nanoparticles, Super-absorbent Gel Clean Radioactivity From Porous
Structures
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040715081025.htm>
'...Using a simple, three-step procedure, the system operates much
like an automated car wash, where remote spray washers apply a wetting
agent and a super-absorbent gel onto the contaminated surface. The
wetting agent causes the bound radioactivity to resuspend in the pores.
The super-absorbent polymer gel then draws the radioactivity out of the
pores, and fixes it in the engineered nanoparticles that sit in the
gel. Finally, the gel is vacuumed and recycled, leaving only a small
amount of radioactive waste.'
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------
Software program helps track terrorists // info-archaeology. via
NewsScan...
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9204808.htm>
'Inxight's TimeWall is a 3-D virtual wall that appears on a computer
screen. TimeWall stretches into the past and the future to track
people, places, relationships and events. Inxight, a spinoff of a Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center project, unveiled TimeWall last month.' ..
'Like a super search engine, the technology behind TimeWall filters
vast amounts of unstructured information from a variety of sources --
such as e-mail or Internet reports -- in two dozen languages. It also
uses natural language processing to find phone numbers, names and other
data to identify relationships, patterns and trends.'
Gelatin vs. Biometrics // researcher defeats all systems...
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/2511741206338374/>
Russian online extortion ring smashed
<http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373888458>
'The NHTCU traced the source of the attacks and the e-mail demands to
Russia and a 21-year-old part-time student who worked in a computer
store was arrested in Saratov on Tuesday.' .. 'At the same time, a
"technically proficient" 23-year-old was arrested in St Petersburg and
a 24-year-old believed to have been involved in a money laundering
operation was arrested in a raid in Stavropol. Police were led to him
after they made arrests in the Latvian capital, Riga, in November of 10
money-laundering "mules".' .. 'The money trail was followed from London
to the Caribbean to Latvia and then Russia as the first victim of the
attacks in the UK, Hampshire-based Canbet.com, was advised by police to
pay the sums demanded.'
Handheld PC virus holds ominous promise
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996181>
Cell phone glitch throws off GPS // A-GPS bug. via macsurfer.com
<http://news.com.com/Cell+phone+glitch+throws+off+GPS/2100-1039_3-
5278267.html>
The weakest security link? It's you
<http://news.com.com/The+weakest+security+link%3F+It%27s+you/2100-
7355_3-5278576.html>
Accused Hacker Faces 144 Charges
<http://www.informationweek.com/story/
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=23905089&tid=13692>
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
[quote] Calif. sets 2nd straight power use record // two days in a
row...
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/
apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=BRF%20Electricity%20Peak>
'A megawatt is enough electricity to power 750 homes for a year.'
ROYAL Decree on privatising electricity sector
Times of Oman - Oman
RESIDENTS asked to conserve electricity
Press-Enterprise (subscription) - Riverside,CA,USA
CITY to generate electricity
Needles Desert Star - Needles,CA,USA
START-UPS lighting up deregulated electricity market
Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo,Japan
WORK To Initiate For Generating Electricity Through Windmills
Pakistan News Service - Lahore,Pakistan
REGULATE, Regulate: Electricity Traders Exploit Consumers
Times of India - India
OPEC Plans 10 Percent Boost In Oil // by end of 2005...
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/22/world/main631235.shtml>
'OPEC agreed last month to make a two-step increase in its output
ceiling to try to calm oil markets, which are jittery over pipeline
attacks in Iraq and terrorism in Saudi Arabia.' .. 'Chronic strife in
Venezuela and Nigeria, legal problems for Russia's biggest oil company
Yukos, and recurring sabotage on pipelines in Iraq have added to fears
of a shortage.' .. '"The only stabilizer we've got left is Saudi
Arabia. They're doing 100 percent of the work right now in keeping the
oil market as stable as is possible," said Paul Horsnell of Barclays
Capital in London.'
---------------------------------------------------
06-- Electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
New world computer chess champ crowned // Junior is unpredictable...
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996144>
'Unlike most leading chess programs, Junior places less emphasis on
the value of individual pieces and more on factors such as mobility and
positional advantage. The approach - known as "compensation" - gives
the program the ability to find very unusual and daring moves. But it
also makes it prone to blunders more reminiscent of human players.'
Counting Every Second: // quite amazing. bikes use transponders...
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Timing and Scoring the Tour De France
<http://features.engadget.com/entry/5170866986686287/>
'Timing and scoring the Tour de France is an exacting and important
task that mirrors the race itself. A team of skilled electronics
operators in a mini-van loaded with a mobile computer network, chase
the world’s greatest bicyclists around le Grande Boucle, sorting out
split-second finishes marred by chaotic, and, sometimes, massive,
crashes. International reputations, careers and millions of dollars are
constantly on the line...' .... 'Collet said the results are displayed
over TCP/IP connections to scoreboards, and up-linked to the world via
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) for the live OLN TV broadcast, and
to the Internet, where free live timing and scoring information is
available during the running of the stages on the Tour’s official
website, www.letour.com , and America Online.'
Hansel brings electricity and love to Africa
<http://www.blackmountainnews.com/
?module=displaystory&story_id=1732&format=html>
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------
Schoolboys create mobile seeker: A mobile phone detector developed by
a team of
six New Zealand schoolboys has attracted international interest. // via
TSCM-L
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3890959.stm>
'The detector, which they have called CellTrac-r, works by picking up
the bursts of radio frequency activity that emit from a mobile each
time it sends or receives a call or a text message.' .. 'The device can
detect these bursts of electro-magnetic energy up to a radius of 30
metres. It can also measure the amount of the energy to determine the
distance of the mobile.' .. 'The detector then lights up light-emitting
diodes - when four LEDs are lit, a mobile is in use close by. Just one
lit LED means that the phone is being used at a distance of 25 to 30
metres.'
// think Prince made a successful and innovative digital music label of
sorts.
// also, have heard of concerts where 'live' recordings of the event
are then
// sold afterward, by burning a CD of the original event via an
in-house kiosk.
// this real-time archiving of events could possibly be done for many
types of
// scenarios, sports, competitions, orchestras, operas, burned to DVDs
and CDs.
Peter Gabriel on the digital revolution // via wired.com
<http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/07/20/peter.gabriel/>
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
Satellite Images of Earth at Night // e-light = development...
<http://www.darksky.org/images/sat.html>
<http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/us_night.gif>
<http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/east_us.gif>
<http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/africa.gif>
<http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/asia.gif>
<http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/australia.gif>
MacOSaix // Mac OSX mosaic building program. via macsurfer.com
<http://homepage.mac.com/knarf/MacOSaiX/>
// wonder if someday an experiment could have a space-based laser
beaming
// encoded information into a black-hole, and then reading (somehow)
whatever
// may be emitted as information in some disordered or ordered
relationship...
Hawking: Black Holes Mangle Matter, Energy
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=1&u=/
ap/20040721/ap_on_sc/black_holes>
'Hawking's [new theory] is that the black holes hold their contents
for eons but themselves eventually deteriorate and die. As the black
hole disintegrates, they send their transformed contents back out into
the infinite universal horizons from whence they came.'
Trillions more internet addresses may emerge // IPv6
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996192>
'IPv6 will increase the number of numerical addresses massively,
increasing capacity to 340 billion, billion, billion, billion numbers.
This should allow for virtually any number of new computers or devices
to be connected to the internet in the future. IPv6 will also introduce
reliability and security enhancements.'
Grey matter matters for intellect
Intelligence linked to size of key brain regions.
<http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040719/full/040719-11.html>
---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------
Cooling PCs with a heartbeat // muscle-plastic...
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/2623175752917264/>
// it may be that things will go nano and, in time, it will be standard
and
// replace a lot of existing technologies. yet that may take a long
time to
// transform the existing model and economics of do-it-yourself
tinkerers--
// those who are the small-business people and inventors who have new
ideas
// not based purely on technological solutions but societal awareness
of the
// needs that are yet to be met-- and may prototype at a different
scale well
// before going into a micro-manufacturing mode. compare what may be
called
// traditional electronics with SMD (surface-mounted) micro-electronics
in
// which the skills are more that of a jeweler using soldering
tweezers, it
// is not exactly taking off as the default even though it may in time
be a
// new standard. to prototype at such a scale versus manufacturing
products
// may be two very different things. and anyone who thinks getting rid
of a
// homebrew community is, basically, outside of technological history
in the
// way things have developed. consider how many 'tinkers' with early
crystal
// radio sets went into electronics and became electrical
engineers/IEEE...
// though for 'experts' and expert cutting/bleeding edge knowledge this
is
// most likley the case, deep in highly-expensive labs to access
physics in
// scales beyond the reach of today's marketplace and home-tooling, yet
it
// is also about basic knowledge which the below does not readily
address
// nor bring nor does it trump through some kind of sci-tech
superiority...
// simple question: what does it cost to make a nanotech watch these
days?
// (a guess: dozens of millions of dollars in equipment, time, and
people).
Tech Science: Out on the Nano Frontier // future-hype of
proto-technologists
<http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=25967>
'The garage tinkers of yesterday -- who brought the world technology
like Apple Macintosh and Hewlett-Packard computers -- could make do
with oscilloscopes and soldering irons. Today's cutting-edge tech, like
nanoscale technology, requires somewhat more-sophisticated equipment.'
Powering the Wireless Mesh // battery tech. via engadget.com
<http://www.smartmobs.com/archives/003538.html>
---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------
// also, see the main page for AC-power applied to conductive concrete,
which
// could be used for all-weather de-icing and snow-melting without
shoveling.
// such that residential construction could employ this with power from
houses
// using solar panels onto the sidewalks surrounding them, and power
from the
// streetlights/grid for public sidewalks, if alternating current is
necessary.
Conductive Concrete and Electromagnetic Shielding // via cryptome.org
<http://home.earthlink.net/~hallmark_cl/id5.html>
'Conductive concrete is a building material that offers built-in
shielding for electromagnetic field immunity (EMC) and emanations
(TEMPEST) security.'
---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
// maybe VoIP could function more as a second phone line than as a
primary one,
// instead of replacing traditional services altogether. for a time it
seemed
// there were predicted that mobile phones would be providing
all-in-one basic
// services, in house and out and about. this has yet to happen. so
too, maybe
// VoIP may be partly redundant yet open up a new dimension to
telephony, such
// as being able to make long-distance (tranmission of information)
exchanges
// much more economical, so too possibly the ability to use underused
fiber or
// other networks, because of increased use of new services, and maybe
at some
// point such a transition between the pre-WWW 'geographic' worldview
of borders
// versus the fluid network which thrives beyond such artificial
bounds, could
// bring innovations while retaining the other system for a
substructure for
// certain basic local services, backup long-distance and primary
(static) line
// which is specifically tied to a certain location, mailing address,
etc...
// an initiative for telework/telecommuting one day a week (for
conservation of
// energy resources and traffic and pollution, say) could give
incentives for an
// investment in videotelecom cameras and voice and data over fiber,
near term.
// and this directly relates to world oil markets and war and limited
resources,
// given a comparison of energy of a car and fuel to operating a
homeoffice...
The price of VoIP's thriftiness // mutiple services, VoIP, Wi-Fi. via
wirednews
<http://news.com.com/The+price+of+VoIP%27s+thriftiness/2100-7352_3-
5273275.html?tag=nefd.lede>
'Though it's true that consumers and businesses can often save money,
with virtually no loss in voice quality, by going with Net-based
phoning, there are many other hang-ups that make such a switch
problematic for millions of potential customers. If you have a home
alarm system, need to dial 911, use TiVo or simply want your phone
number included in the phone book, you're likely to be out of luck.'
[and] AT&T Retreats from Residential Market // via drudgereport.com
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&u=/nm/20040722/bs_nm/
telecoms_att_earns_dc_11&printer=1>
'The move by the largest U.S. long-distance telephone company, which
traces its heritage back to Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of
the telephone, will likely mean billions of dollars in lost revenue and
deeper job cuts. It may also pave the way for AT&T's corporate
descendants, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications
Inc., to win back millions of customers.' .... 'Dorman said with more
that 40 percent of U.S. consumers buying bundles of local,
long-distance and other services, AT&T could not market its consumer
long-distance service as a stand-alone product, and would focus on
business services instead.'
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
Folklore.org is a web site devoted to collective historical
storytelling.
It captures and presents sets of related stories that describe
interesting
events from multiple perspectives, allowing groups of people to recount
their shared history in the form of interlinked anecdotes.' .. 'The site
is structured as a series of projects containing related, interlinked
stories. The stories are indexed by their characters and the topics
they cover, and may be sorted by various criteria. Readers can rate
the stories, and add comments, or other stories.' .... 'Currently,
the Folklore site only supports a single project, about the development
of the original Macintosh, but that will be changing soon.'
<http://folklore.org/index.py>
===================================================
* to subscribe to the electronetwork-list, send
an e-mail to lists@openflows.org with the
following command in the body of the message:
subscribe electronetwork-l
* to unsubscribe:
unsubscribe electronetwork-l
* for more info contact human @ electronetwork.org
---------------------------------------------------
please forward to your friends and colleagues
---------------------------------------------------
the electromagnetic internetwork-list
electromagnetism / infrastructure / civilization
archives.openflows.org/electronetwork-l
http://www.electronetwork.org/list/