~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #150

[brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>]

===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #150
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (11/18/2004)

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--

Quite amazing, the rapid changes in all things nuclear.
Between terrorists smuggling nuclear weapons into .MX
or the .US, to detonate, to anti-ballistic missile laser
testing by the .US, to the .EU and .IR finding some way
forward for diplomatic efforts, to .RU stating it could
be on its way to developing new nuclear weapons which
can defeat shields, to the .US furthering pressure on
.IR with secret nuclear weapon-building activities, to
(tangentially) oil-for-food corruption at the .UN (non-
nuclear, though IAEA is nuclear-related and involved in
all of this) -- it would seem a chaos of adjustments or
some type of very large scale reorganization of world
power may be underway which largely centers on nuclear
activities and interests.

If the nuclear power being further developed was in some
way much superior to what currently exists, in its major
terms of cost, security, clean-up, regulation, and other
issues then maybe it would be a different scenario than
one that appears to be an even more dangerous context for
nuclear 'complexes' (in the psychological sense). Is there
any chance or possibility in the universe that both .IR
and .IL could peacefully co-exist with nuclear industries
(non-weaponized) and under international agreement? And
that the world forces that align in various ways could
become ways to buttress a stabilization of the existing
nuclear treaties and to re-establish new ones for better
management of what is a common crisis: nuclear issues
related to security, to terrorism, and to environment.
More missiles, more missile shields, more reactors all
equal more problems that already exist and are unsolved.
What if this shared interest, as with Kyoto and climate
change, could be found in fixing the nuclear wasteland?

What sense of events will be capable of approximating
the general dynamic of today's nuclear developments,
in their complexity, when the binary fixed-idea is by
default one of an unending global war, a later peace.
In a period of inflationary 'nuclearism' the odds are
not so good to make it to the latter scenario, without
some preventable, foreseeable problems becoming lived-
events, like nuclear detonations and new arms buildups.
Maybe there is a valid reason for missile defense, but
does it require a static 'axis-of-evil' to remain so as
to legitimate this approach? What if a shared defense
existed, around the world, to enforce nuclear treaties
yet did not further agitate nuclear balances of power?
If the situation was improving that would be a sign of
some enlightened nuclear-based policy: and, it is not.
John Bolton, whose famous agitations with North Korea
regularly bring on the fury of nuclear confrontations
in hard-selling a monocular worldview, is one example.
VP Dick Cheney is another, who is largely responsible
for this free-market approach which hates competition,
while itself wanting to go largely without regulation,
if it is breaking nuclear treaties or waiving security
and terrorism requirements (and insurance) for nuclear
industry, or building more powerplants or missles, or
missile shields, or being all too ready to use such an
arsenal. Without balance, unfettered nuclear power is
dangerous, if in a reactor or in the related policies.

What if Iran and Israel joined in a new peace treaty
built around nuclear safety and security, in which the
countries of the world signed onto, to stabilize words
with deeds, regaining the era of 'atoms for peace' in
a new, more realistic context of the consequences and
price of nuclear power (and its beneficial aspects),
instead of repeating the loop or cycle all over again,
at what cost, for what price, and who benefits? no one.
What if the greatest problems in international affairs
were to become the policy bedrock and foundation for a
new interrelation -- which could, through infrastructure
and energy and information technology and the cultural
movement associated with their development, secure a
peace, a shared set of goals, and a vision for going
into a new territory, today instead of some tomorrow.

While the .US is obviously looking at itself in the
world mirror, and it is difficult to see beyond self-
limitations, sometimes it is wondered if a 'dream' of
seeing the images streaming through the aether, about
Iraq or Afghanistan or Ivory Coast or other places in
the world would include someday seeing local schools
with small PDA computers and wireless, and venders
able to leverage information technology on a small-
scale to rebuild cities, communities, and societies
with the best tools to ease some burdens of rebulding
and reconstruction, though in a peaceful environment,
where that is war being waged, for people to live in
better conditions, to be empowered, and to reclaim
what was lost and they can only find for themselves.
Their power of their own destiny and their cultures.
Infrastructures can support and stabilize these, it
would seem, to build up systems for transformation,
yet which is more a governance of people-technology,
than a colonial surrogacy or constraint to actions.

What if the power of knowledge, the respect for the
cultural legacy and differences in the world scale,
were to become a new path for diplomatic efforts.
A .UN program and website ( http://www.certi.org/ )
and others maybe someday could use these 'tools',
just as with food aid, to reconfigure areas which
struggle for decades with the changing conditions,
to establish new models and modes for interacting.
This electromagnetic culture is what can be shared,
and may be more revolutionary than any war can be.
So too, this same dimension and the question of a
way to peace could be considered with respect to
the Palestinian and Israeli context: what if the
development was for schools, businesses, hooked-
into basic intranets and leveraging the new tools
and technologies to enable economic, social, and
political changes in a culture that, by way of
analog take too long to cultivate organically,
so a type of gardening and seeding of ideas of
using information technology, renewable energy
technology, and other approaches (management
of information systems, based on shared goals
such as literacy, self-sufficiency, farming
given the land (using GIS/GPS/satellite, etc.).

The same power and energy and information that
is now going into the nuclear debates and the
possibly pragmatic yet unproductive policies of
fostering a revivalist late-nuclear armageddon
in a battle of mega terra-bomb tonnage could,
instead, be directing these same forces into
and through ideas which build peace, a future,
a shared sense, and a way forward through chaos
and at least to keep it as a goal at all times.
Schools. Literacy. Clean water. Food. Security.
Freedom. Cultures. Business. Balance. Change.
Infrastructures play a crucial role as a way
to develop these, yet even in the .US it is
these very same systems which require renewed
scrutiny and policy reconfigurations, as what
is troubling is also shared around the world.
That's a guess. That's some hope. Maybe naive,
though it is still hope in a time of greater
and greater despair at the purposelessness of
the direction of events, which may again be in
a context of people-technolgy in terms of the
issues of governance and issues of who is in
control or not in control of the developments.

Who knows, changes in perspective about issues
can lead to changes in policy, given open minds.
Not just pragmatic, it is paradigmatic change.
Kyoto is an example that this remains possible.

===================================================
01) --top stories--
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Kyoto Protocol gets the green light // ready-steady-go...
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996678

	'The United Nations protocol will become legally binding on 16  
February 2005, committing the 30 industrialised countries that have  
backed it to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions to nearly 5% below  
1990 levels. They will have until 2012 to achieve this drop.' ...  
'Professor Brian Hoskins, chair of the UK’s Royal Society global  
environmental research committee [said] "The protocol is an essential  
first step towards stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse  
gases."'

[and] Annan praises Putin as Russia formally accedes to Kyoto Protocol
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/041118/w111818.html

	'"I congratulate President Putin and the Russian Federation for their  
leadership in making it possible for the protocol to enter into force -  
as it will, 90 days from tomorrow on Feb. 16, 2005," Annan said. "This  
is a historic step forward in the world's efforts to combat a truly  
global threat."'

Frankenbill:  The energy bill is alive -- alive! -- and that
could be bad news for Alaska's wilderness. // .US energy policy...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/11/13/muck/

	'According to Wicker, many folks on both sides of the aisle now think  
the energy bill should be broken down into smaller digestible bites,  
and the MTBE provision dropped.' .... 'The piecemeal strategy could  
prove successful on many fronts, including on the Arctic Refuge.'

Bordering On Nukes? // *** via drudgereport.com
New accounts from al-Qaeda to attack the U.S. with weapons of mass  
destruction
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041122- 
782068,00.html

Researchers: Florida Vote Fishy // plus or minus 260,000 fuzzy e-votes
http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

	'They discovered that in the 15 counties using touch-screen voting  
systems, the number of votes granted to Bush far exceeded the number of  
votes Bush should have received -- given all of the other variables --  
while the number of votes that Bush received in counties using other  
types of voting equipment lined up perfectly with what the variables  
would have predicted for those counties.' ... 'Both Broward and  
Miami-Dade counties use machines made by Election Systems & Software,  
while Palm Beach county uses machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems.  
No Florida counties used touch-screen machines made by Diebold Election  
Systems, the company whose machines have received the most scrutiny  
over the last year.'

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

"Perfect Electrical Assassin" Responsible For Many Unexplained Sudden  
Deaths
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041115003707.htm

Study: Sound waves help stroke victims
Technique could one day help 15 percent of stroke victims
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/11/17/ 
stroke.busting.ultrasound.ap/

// wonder if these are the batteries that are exploding in cell phones
// and bursting into flames, burning peoples faces-- quite frightening.

Emergency Safety Alert: Lithium Battery Fires // *** must read...
http://www.allelectronics.com/battery_safety.html

Computer use link to eye disease // near-sight -> glaucoma
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4008185.stm

The ECG-shirt >
http://www.engadget.com/entry/2634286874230407/

Brain’s Immune System Triggered In Autism
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041117004123.htm

Clouds of pollution pictured from space
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996690

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

// interesting editorial in the local paper mentioned some
// facts about recycling in the state of minnesota, and the
// following website and articles has some of the same info...

environmental benefits of recycling in .mn // 1 page .pdf
http://www.recycleminnesota.org/images/ben-sheet.pdf

[quote] garage logic:
http://www.recycleminnesota.org/garage_logic.htm

	[Question] 'Does anyone really want all that stuff?  [Answer] You  
bet!  (That means yes.)  Right now, American aluminum, paper, plastic,  
steel, and glass manufacturers can't get enough recycled material. Part  
of the reason is because the Chinese economy is buying up anywhere from  
a quarter to a third of our recyclable materials to feed their rapid  
economic growth. This situation is creating competition for your  
stuff--so keep it coming!'

Buy the University of Iowa Jumbtron on eBay >
http://www.engadget.com/entry/6336667344488545/

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

// seven security baselines from the 'process control' world...

New security standards to strengthen SCADA // **
Industrial control systems seen as vulnerable to Internet threats
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/ 
0,10801,97606,00.html

Dark Side of the Band  // shortwave radio numbers stations...
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65698,00.html

	'Spectrographic analysis of the signals has revealed that modulated  
data bursts are sometimes contained within the transmissions, and  
sub-audible noises are a regular occurrence.'

Prescription drug shipments to be tagged electronically // rf'id
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2004/11/16/drug-tags041116.html

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

Oil fuels Asian giants' tensions // ** .CN & .JP
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4016059.stm

U.N.: No proof of Iran N-bomb work // nuclear diplomacy...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/15/iran.nuclear/index.html

	'An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman told reporters Monday the  
decision to suspend the uranium enrichment program was a voluntary move  
to dispel concerns it was secretly building atomic weapons.' .. 'Hamid  
Reza Asefi said the freeze would only last for a short time while Iran  
and the EU discuss a lasting solution to its nuclear case.'

[and] Iran: We're Being Nice On Nukes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/29/world/main646227.shtml

Sandia, Stirling To Build Solar Dish Engine Power Plant // not a solar  
tower
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041110163722.htm

	'The solar dish generates electricity by focusing the sun’s rays onto  
a receiver, which transmits the heat energy to an engine. The engine is  
a sealed system filled with hydrogen, and as the gas heats and cools,  
its pressure rises and falls. The change in pressure drives the pistons  
inside the engine, producing mechanical power. The mechanical power in  
turn drives a generator and makes electricity.'

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

Iraqi's hit house makeover show - A home makeover-style TV programme
in Iraq that offers needy families the opportunity to have their
war-damaged homes re-built from scratch has become a massive hit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3999959.stm

Bill Gates 'most spammed person' -- Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is
inundated with up to four million e-mails a day - most of them junk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4023667.stm

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

Ivory Coast TV, radio urge mob violence // free day pass
http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/11/18/mob/index_np.html

A bike for the paralysed // ** FES tricyling... via gizmodo.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4006933.stm

Mobile picture power in your pocket // picture phones **
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3991775.stm

AP leader sees Internet as future of news
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/15/content_2220046.htm

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

Dean '71 criticizes news media // via drudgereport.com
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=27403

	'"The media is a failing institution in this country," Dean said.  
"They are not maintaining their responsibility to maintain democracy."'

Scientists get their own Google // beta. **
New search engine ranks papers by importance, and finds the free  
versions.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041115/full/041115-13.html
http://scholar.google.com/

Simple wire picks up terahertz waves // waveguides
'Coat-hanger' probes could boost airport security.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041115/full/041115-11.html

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

DVD developers set for format war // digital "video wars"
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/11/spark.dvd/index.html

Evolutionary Electronics // *** via syndicate
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/adrianth/ade.html
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/adrianth/index.html

[and] an evolved circuit by Adrian Thompson
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/adrianth/ices96/paper.html

links page of EvoElec : the evolutionary electronics working group of  
the European Network of Excellence in Evolutionary Computing ( EvoNet ).
http://evonet.lri.fr/evoweb/working_groups/index.php?id=evoelec

Slimmer tube TVs to challenge flat panels
http://news.com.com/Slimmer+tube+TVs+to+challenge+flat+panels/2100- 
1041_3-5458670.html?tag=nefd.top

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

EM-headline: GOP May Go 'Nuclear' On Judges
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/17/politics/main656324.shtml

Iran said trying to fit missiles for nukes
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-11-18-iran-missiles_x.htm

// wonder if it would be possible to modulate the basketball-sized
// laser for data-transfer, for some future-day dual-use. the data-
// rate for such a 'broadband' laser pulse could be enormous. also,
// wonder what happens to the birds or clouds that are being lased...

U.S. airborne laser advances to 'First Light' // .US NMD...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/11/15/arms.missile.laser.dc.reut/ 
index.html

// GIG war.net = .mil 'world wide web for the wars of the future'...
// it sounds similar to making a Planetary OS (operating system).
// if it is built today, it would likely have the Apollo program
// effect, where relatively primitive microprocessors (64bit) are
// at the core of the design, when things quantum may be happening
// everywhere outside this limited dataverse. so too, consider a
// 200billion dollar system is not to include patches or upgrades
// to system 2.0, which would be the ultimate corporate account for
// a software company, a 20billion dollar OS upgrade, every 2 years.
// this is almost foolish, at least non-sensical, given the way the
// infrastructure is not developing today, and also getting into a
// market and putting tons of money in a paradigmatically-changing
// industry, if telecom, if computing, if information management.
// nothing much works 'well' enough today to invest in making it
// the base system-- it is full of bugs and is not interoperable,
// anywhere. so why at this lowpoint would it be the time to invest
// in this same technology and approach for a long-term system --
// that is, build-out what doesn't work well to begin with? if the
// question is one of infrastructures and making new ones, that is
// different than making a total architecture as this describes.
// it is also wondered with such access, what vulnerabilities are
// increased by having all one's information in one data-schematic,
// and what if one person gets one of the laptops, are the keys to
// the kingdom compromised (satellite reconnaissance akin to that
// of submarine secrecy), is more access necessary better access?
// and what good does more information bureacracy help, and what
// levels of additional information management are necessary. it
// would seems the mirage of 'bandwidth' and its role in the dot-
// com-bomb never made it to military-industry HQ lessons-learned.

Pentagon Envisioning a Costly Internet for War // Global Information  
Grid
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/technology/13warnet.html

	'According to Art Cebrowski, director of the Pentagon's Office of  
Force Transformation, "What we are really talking about is a new theory  
of war."'


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

Microsoft Seizes PDA Market Lead From PalmSource
<http://www.informationweek.com/story/ 
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=52601413>

	'"They've abdicated their leadership in the PDA market in order to  
become a significant player in the smartphone market," Gartner analyst  
Todd Kort said of PalmSource.'

Chips trend upward:
AMD chief looking for growth in PC industry next year
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/13/ 
BUGLD9QPSA1.DTL>

	'Ruiz added that the corporate PC market will depend on two chip  
features:  better security against viruses and hackers and 64-bit  
computing, which allows  much better performance on data-intensive  
tasks than the 32-bit microprocessor.'

Impact to be drawn from record oil price // dynamics of oil in .CN
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/11/content_2202516.htm

Italy 'text tax' sparks outrage // mobile phones...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4009637.stm

Oil dives below $46 to eight-week low
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2004-11-15-crude- 
falling_x.htm

Figuring the cost of being mobile // text messaging price comparison
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5458730.html

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

THE FLAVIN’S SO BRIGHT... // via artsjournal
<https://secure.washingtoncitypaper.com/cgi-bin/Archive/ 
abridged2.bat?path=q:%5CDocRoot/2004/041112/ 
SandT12&search=shott&SearchString=shott&AuthorLastName=&IssueDate=mm%2Fd 
d%2Fyyyy&SelectYear=All&next.x=>

	'Ever since the gallery’s Oct. 3 opening of “Dan Flavin: A  
Retrospective,” staffers watching over the sprawling display of 44  
illuminated works by the fluorescent-tube-obsessed minimalist have  
complained of headaches, anxiety, and nervousness—all allegedly brought  
on by excessive wattage. A combined 48,600 watts, to be exact. One  
staffer is said to have passed out.'


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