~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #141

[brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>]

===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #141
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (8/30/2004)

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--

* with the .US political conventions the issue of security has
become more noticable and more openly talked about. whatever
one's political outlook, what is reassuring that in such an increased
security environment, that the freedom of ideas remains a value.
though, this is a real conflict with the new blanket approaches
to security, which can stultify ideas which challenge methods of
security, or existing issues simply by challenging an authority.
it is a strange paradox as at times it goes both ways, regardless
of security being an issue-- that change requires changes from a
position that may previously be 'secure' to one of 'insecurity'--
in the realm of ideas and the institutions built on them, not in
terms of the vital health of all systems- but for the continued
growth, evolution, and adaptation of such systems to survive and
thrive by engaging new ideas and environments and approaches. it
is a synopsis of dealing with electromagnetism in a culture which
has yet to recognize it as its own 'subject' or study, it is to be
found everywhere and nowhere, its place has yet to be located.
ideas about an abstraction could be integrated into the existing
systems except that there is no need on the part of institutions
to change worldviews to accomodate ideas outside traditional view.
yet, today is electromagnetic at its base, from human beings and
basic perception and reality (neuroscience) to cosmology (plasma
physics, nuclear energy) to infrastructure, building, development,
tools, and what is talked about, through what means, et cetera.
a bellwether issue has been the mentioning of 'cancer' in regard
to wireless issues -- as it is still a politically-charged and
very serious debate as to what it means and how society chooses
to address, or not address, the issues involved. so far, a lot
of what could be dealt with proactively is not. (and this is not
in reference to cancer and radiowaves, it is to the entirely of
EM in relation to economics, society, culture, governance, etc).
in terms of electromagnetism, there is expert knowledge which is
in the news of great value to those involved in high-stakes and
high-risk ventures, including nuclear weapons, and research into
esoteric aspects which may consist of secretive knowledge. yet,
it is believe that while 'security' may indeed need to exist for
nuclear weapons, that some of the more mundane observations of
EM, sometimes can be caught in a conundrum of ideas that also
may have some value, and may pose a threat to status quo and
special interests, to bureaucratic non-innovative approaches,
and that the blanket security over ideas can be used to prevent
change through constraining change to only that acceptable by
existing points of view, largely in disregard of any continuuty
among issues related to EM (power, media, technology, culture).
it is a different value, possibly, then, to share such ideas in
an open, freely distributed format, to spread them as far and
as wide as possible, to see what people think about them, and
to possibly see changes that are otherwise not happening within
existing, 'secured' institutional and organizational structures.
how to do this is unknown, probably many mistakes are made by
those trying to find a way in making their best effort to find
a way to share such ideas, for the traditional goals of change,
to make engaging with the present environment more real, more
full of possibilities, and more effectively representative of
what is known as it is known. many have dismissed Thomas Kuhn's
paradigm shift theory on the whole; yet in regard to EM it is a
very instructive model for the changes encountered when a base
knowledge is transformed and yet challenges to it are constant,
that is, the transition is not quick, it is long, hard fought.
because it needs to be, because there is so much friction that
keeps things from challenging existing (outmoded, if so) points
of view (POV) which may actually make things less secure by not
changing, by not challening assumptions -- and in such a way it
is possible that the sharing of EM ideas in a basic way, in the
realm of non-expertise, may do more for peace between peoples,
in that it is not a competition as much as a collaboration or
cooperation, to change toward a model of improved observation
which exists at the scale of the world, shared by all peoples.
it may be naive, though it is how ideas can change worldviews.
electromagnetism is at its core where a paradigm shift occurs;
and with it new possibilites that arise with innovative change.

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

Sunday, August 29, 2004 -- Pentagon/Israel Spying Case Expands:
Fomenting a War on Iran // *** must read. forged uranium doc, WMD,  
Plame, war...
<http://www.juancole.com/ 
2004_08_01_juancole_archive.html#109376785516786360>

	'It isn't about spying.  It is about conspiring to conscript the US  
government on behalf of a foreign power or powers.'

PM: Oil attacks hurt Iraq 'badly':
An attack on Iraq's main southern pipeline has seriously hampered
critical oil exports in the struggling country, Iraqi officials say.
<http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/30/iraq.main/>

	'"The revenues, the oil prices have increased dramatically, and this  
is causing great loss for the Iraq people in terms of revenues which  
could be used for the reconstruction of the country, and to pay the  
people and get the economy cycle back again," [Allawi] said.' ..  
'"Unfortunately this is not happening yet because of the sabotage that  
is happening all the time by terrorists."' .. 'Attacks on the oil lines  
-- and the continuing insurgency -- Allawi said, were "a sign of a  
determined enemy to wreck Iraq and to wreck the political process in  
Iraq and to undermine Iraq in order to undermine the whole region and  
shake the peace of the world.'

Study Finds Electricity Beats Hydrogen for Power Storage/Delivery
<http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage1077.html>

	'A new study finds that major applications for hydrogen envisioned in  
hydrogen economy scenarios could be more efficiently accomplished with  
technologies that use electricity directly. It concludes that in key  
roles envisioned for hydrogen as an energy carrier - namely  
transmission of remote renewable resources, storage of intermittent  
renewables or for use in vehicles electricity offers options that are  
more energy efficient and might preclude massscale emergence of  
hydrogen technologies.' .... 'The study distinguishes between hydrogen  
and fuel cells...' .... 'The study recommends that hydrogen and  
electricity advocates focus on complementary development that can  
support both pathways...'

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

[quote] Police: Drunken man drives home after passenger decapitated;  
headless
body left in truck // it is curious how cars hit utility poles in  
accidents...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/30/ 
national1030EDT0526.DTL>

	'A drunken driver hit a telephone pole support wire that decapitated  
his passenger, then drove 12 miles home and slept in his bloody  
clothes, leaving the headless body in his truck, police said.'

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

// two things: thought the computer was based on a filing system  
database
// which is then interfaced to (OS) and then applications run onto of  
this.
// or that the basic computer is a database in some way with an  
interface.
// it has been wondered why the data is not treated as meta-data and  
filed
// in the OS with keywords, which can be organized in several ways (not  
to
// be in one place, instead in many categories wherever a file may  
belong).
// the other idea was with massive storage and meta-data, that it  
organizes
// itself via categories and structures and keywords, so one could put  
all
// their stored data into a large portable drive and it would  
reconfigure
// it into some organiztional scheme, or many, which could be then  
saved.

Computer Users Are Becoming Digital Pack Rats // ~the infinite attic...
<http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=26602>

	'Technology's vow of efficiency and order is beginning to decay --  
corrupted by consumption.' .. 'Personal computers -- our jukeboxes,  
photo labs, accountants and film studios -- are becoming the proverbial  
junk drawer, scattered with scads of must-have information...'

---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------

// there is a lot to this story and the general issues which are hard  
to see
// how they will be dealt with in the paradigm-shifting sense needed to  
start
// bringing public-private access zones, instead of security or  
no-security,
// or as many seem to indicate, a false sense of security given the  
measures.
// if natural gas pipelines were a concern, it would seem this system  
based on
// central distribution (for the .US) nationally would be a bigger hit,  
closer
// to the source feeding the network. thus, closer to Texas and Nova  
Scotia,
// and elsewhere, the more problems down the line. if people are not  
thinking
// in these terms who do security, it is worrisome. though they  
probably are
// and it is not mentioned. though, 'underground' pipes really do  
little once
// one knows the system, which an attack which destroys a below-ground  
conduit
// could disable the entire city networks with irreperable damage,  
short-term,
// and cause mayhem and chaos. thus, for example, a bomber could blow  
up the
// pipeline system (as is happening daily in Iraq, it should be noted,  
as a
// common tactic) -- and how is it being done. a car bomb could  
feasibly also
// provide some major damage to any such an underground system, it is  
assumed.
// the issues about infrastructures and public data are relevant to  
those who
// want to learn more about these systems to understand how things  
work, and
// this is where GIS/GPS maps and public to private zones of  
information may
// be useful, on a need-to-know basis but not necessarily out of reach  
of the
// public, though possibly justificiation is necessary to know more  
details.
// having found maps of major network systems, it is not hard to  
imagine that
// people with ill intent could make good use of such information. and  
part
// of it is that the 'unawareness' of the environments we live within,  
our
// built environment and illiteracy to the fact that gaslines are  
everywhere
// in the ground, that without that substation down the block there  
will be
// no power in the neighborhood, indefinitely, etc. that a security  
risk is
// occuring not through obscurity but through an ignorance of  
environments
// in which things take place. it is not the domain of the citizen to  
know
// such things, but it should be, to know enough to know when someone is
// loitering around a sensitive area that it may be bad for a  
neighborhood.
// imagine if a pipeline blew up and was not quickly repairable, in  
winter:
// many would be without heat, without cooking stoves, even hot water.  
so
// if people along these routes know about these lines they may be able  
to
// do what no technical security can do: keep their eyes out on the  
porch.
// the severity surrounding these issues has yet to enter open  
discussions,
// and even the professions who could be doing something about this are  
not.
// this is also a reason for a new mapping initiative, to bring  
electronic
// data into a common format, which can be accessible yet  
compartmentalized
// as need be, not for false-security, but for professional  
responsiblity
// in remembering the power of information, in the wrong hands and  
minds...

Mapping Natural Gas Lines: Advise the Public, Tip Off the Terrorists //  
Cryptome
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/nyregion/29pipeline.html>

	'Private industry and local governments have spent much of the last  
several decades trying to make natural gas pipelines safer by  
publicizing where they are. Natural gas, highly explosive and  
transported in pipes underneath unknowing residents or uncharted along  
waterways, has been the cause of scores of lethal accidents - fiery  
explosions caused by misdirected backhoes or wayward boat anchors.' ..  
'But recent concerns have pushed in the opposite direction.  
Increasingly, gas companies have been clearing their Web sites of  
pipeline maps previously used by contractors before excavating. Almost  
all nautical charts once indicated where gas pipes run. Fewer do now.'  
.... 'Security experts have repeatedly pointed to the natural gas  
pipeline system as a dangerous Achilles' heel in the domestic  
infrastructure. A report by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2002  
said that city gates and compressor stations, which keep the gas moving  
through the pipelines, were most vulnerable...'

[see] Attacks Halt Oil Exports From South Iraq -- Oil Exports From
Southern Iraq Halted Due to Attacks; Not Likely to Resume for a Week
<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040830_1628.html>

	'The job of guarding oil pipelines primarily falls to the U.S.-trained  
Iraqi infrastructure protection service, although some U.S. soldiers  
continue to be to be involved. But with about 4,350 miles of pipelines  
crisscrossing the country, officials concede there are many places for  
saboteurs to strike.'

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

How Dick Cheney Got Away With $35 Million Right Before
the Govt Launched a Probe into Halliburton
<http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=2844>

STORMS set fire to church, cut electricity
KFOR-TV - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
SHANGHAI to Ease Electricity Curbs as Peak Summer Demand Ends
Bloomberg - USA
ASSEMBLYMAN appeals for extension of electricity
GhanaWeb - Accra,Ghana

Shortage of investment perils electricity network // .IR, also  
agricultural...
<http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/ 
Default.asp?NewsCode=24974&NewsKind=Business%20%26%20Economy>

	'Qarabaghi told reporters that if the required financial resources are  
not provided in order to upgrade and expand the electricity network,  
due to old age, the network production will be severely in danger of  
breakdown.' .. 'Given that the average age of electricity network is  
from 25 to 30 years, new investments to upgrade the network to prevent  
blackouts in the future is necessary, the official underlined.' .. 'He  
also pointed to the subsidized price of electricity to household and  
industry as a main factor for shortage of resources faced by the  
regional electricity companies throughout the country.'

---------------------------------------------------
06-- Electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------

[empty]

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

Kawasaki, Others Win Bid for Chinese Bullet Train Project
<http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Kawasaki-Others-Win-Bid-for-Chinese- 
Bullet-Train-Project-36246.html>

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

Acceptance Letters // on digitaltype. so-so. see slideshow...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/arts/design/29HELL.html>

// wonder if there ever will be a hybrid supercomputer, both vector and  
cluster
// if one may process with top-down rules and the other, bottom-up  
solutions...
// and the problem could be like lightning (vector) in a thunderstorm  
(cluster)
// where areas of dense computation may demand extra power at specific  
times...

Supercomputer Seeks Comeback // vector vs. cluster, Cray vs. NEC
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/ 
0,1282,64701,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1>

[and] Start-Up Offers Low-Power 'Personal Supercomputers' // transmeta
<http://www.reuters.com/ 
newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=6105683>

	'A key innovation is to control the [electrical] power consumption of  
every component so that the whole system can be run from a standard  
electrical socket, according to academic researchers who have been  
early customers of Orion.'

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

Unnerving Japanese sleep doll // funny.
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/2622953428663728/>

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

India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile // via drudgereport.com
<http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040829/D84OS8QG0.html>

	'Indian authorities had informed their counterparts in Pakistan about  
the test ahead of time, Menon said.'

[em-related quote] Cheney weak link in armor
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/226860p-194863c.html>

	'"Bush will be off the ticket before Cheney is off the ticket," a  
former top presidential aide quipped.' .. 'Even so, Cheney reigns as  
the Bush administration's biggest lightning rod. He's been hammered for  
his connections to Halliburton, the oil services company he once  
headed, and for refusing to disclose the names of corporate executives  
on the energy task force he headed early in the administration.'

[photo] bicycling against oil wars
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/pl/ 
093003election&a=&tmpl=sl&e=25&na=1&l=1&ns=&t=>
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/pl/ 
093003election&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=43&a=0&t=&prev=42>

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

China's stockpile of oil helps to bolster prices // via drudgereport.com
<http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-1240069,00.html>

	'The signs of aggressive Chinese stockpiling emerge from research by  
Merrill Lynch, the investment bank, which suggests that China is  
importing crude and refined products at twice the rate of growth in  
actual demand.'

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

// one could easily DIY keyboard rings with plastic & superglue, free.  
not 50.00

Marché Noir’s Computer Key Rings // great idea (not original keys  
though)
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/2252694371536783/>

'Ugly' U.S. Mission Building To Get Roomier Replacement
New Headquarters at U.N. Designed to Withstand Terrorism
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45165-2004Aug29.html>

	'Inspired by Swiss architect Le Corbusier, who helped design the U.N.  
headquarters, the firms Kahn & Jacobs and Kelly & Gruzen conceived the   
building in the Brutalist style, a form of architecture popular in the  
1960s and 1970s that relied on sculpted, rough concrete surfaces.' ..  
'"It was an expression by the U.S. government that we were to be  
associated with the same kind of modern values that shaped the creation  
of the United Nations," said Matt Postal, who once led walking tours of  
Modernist architectural buildings in Manhattan. Postal said that the  
building has since fallen on hard times. Its concrete facade is cracked  
and in need of a scrub. Inside, the mission is cramped and cluttered.  
The wiring is too old to accommodate modern electrical, security and  
computer networks, U.S. officials said.' .... 'U.S. officials declined  
to discuss the cost or the practical impact the move will have on U.S.  
intelligence agencies that have long used the United Nations as a prime  
post for listening in on foreign diplomats.'

The Pac-Man rug
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/6436666232365312/>
<http://www.thirdplacegallery.org/gallery_presentation.asp?w_id=52>

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