~e; EM observations #23

[human@electronetwork.org]

[keywords] The Story of Power, global oil pipeline, nuclear Iran,
radioactive disturbance, vagus nerve stimulator, blue LED backlash,
electronic saboteurs, spam techniques, Voyager 1 enters heliosheath,
encrypted extortion, bacterial electricity, Moscow power outage,

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electromagnetic observations -- #23
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* googleflop: google as cyborg supercomputer (living human-computer).

* conceptual computing: iPod. everyone seems to be gunning for the
iPod, to capture part of the market. what appears to be missing in
these attempts is that it is not just a form-factor or the utility
of carrying around a harddrive, but the concept itself being a new
way of dealing with data and mobility. apparently there is either
a video iPod in the works, including a (streaming?) movie infra-
structure using iTunes, and-or some kind of Apple tablet/pda too.
add to this a cellphone in the works by Motorola and a possibility
of VoIP in the home using mobile devices, paired with Apple's air-
port wireless DIY infrastructure, and a total system for telephony,
video, audio, interface, could be in the works, reminiscent of Sony
(Sony TV, Sony Walkman, Sony Phone, etc). though with data, internet,
computing, audio-visual, media, software, telephones, networks, etc.

* periodic question: any tips/suggstions for improving the format
or content of this EM newsletter? share ideas onlist or offlist...

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--urls--
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"The Story of Power" by Edward Stoddard, by
The Humours - an experimental music ensemble
http://www.thehumours.com/shows_power.html

	'This work is currently in progress. (a musical setting of the book  
with multi-media) If you would like to help and/or commission this work  
contact us at: contact [at] thehumours.com '

Giant Caspian oil pipeline opens
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4577497.stm

	'The BBC's Emma Simpson said from Baku that for energy-hungry  
countries such as the US the pipeline was a strategically important  
non-Russian, non-Middle Eastern source of oil.' .. 'The Caspian area  
produces a high-quality light crude, but has suffered in the past  
because of the difficulty of getting its oil to consumers in Europe,  
the US, China and Japan.'

Iran renews nuclear pledge
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1492094,00.html

Study: Disgruntled Workers Likely Saboteurs // 'array of techniques'
http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Disgruntled-Workers-Likely-Saboteurs/ 
story.xhtml?story_id=112007IHWAIO

	'A study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security has found  
that corporate insiders who sabotage computers and networks are  
motivated mainly by anger against their bosses.'

South Natomas Home Covered With Sheet Metal (drudge)
Residents Claim Neighbors Bombarding Them With Radiation
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4512146/detail.html

[followup] IT research losing its dominance? No worries
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-5706700.html

	'But DARPA Director Tony Tether offered a different version of events  
in his testimony to the House Committee on Science. He said the agency  
has not lost its long-term focus. And while DARPA's computer science  
funding at universities may have slid in recent years, the agency's  
overall funding of university research has not, he argued.' ...  
'...Instead, there has been a rise in multidisciplinary efforts. That  
is, research that draws from a variety of fields, such as the way  
investigations into artificial intelligence may include insights from  
biology, computer science and psychology.'


E-Mail Attackers Know All About You // ** informative. tactics, etc...
Spammers and scammers are finding new ways to uncover your e-mail
address, and a whole host of personal information along with it.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120886,00.asp

[and] Trojan holds PC files for ransom // encrypted extortion...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4580389.stm

	'"This Trojan horse is certainly an example of using cryptography for  
malicious purposes.' .. '"It is the equivalent of someone coming into  
your home, locking your valuables in a safe and refusing to give you  
the combination."'

Penn State scientists use bacteria to turn sewage
into electricity // thanks *
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04056/277266.stm

	'The device, called a microbial fuel cell, captures electrons that are  
naturally released by bacteria as they digest wastes and converts the  
electrons into electrical current.'

Anti-depression implant may gain U.S. approval // *** brain-shockbox
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/22/news/depress.php

	'The pacemaker-like device, called a vagus nerve stimulator, is  
surgically implanted in the upper chest. Its wires are threaded into  
the neck, where it stimulates a nerve leading to the brain.'... '...  
The stimulator sends timed pulses of electricity to the vagus nerve,  
which has wide connections throughout the brain and is involved in  
reflexes and other automatic responses. No one understands how  
stimulation of this nerve could influence mood.'

// uncanny how energy policies can sometimes relate to politics...

Widespread Power Outages Hit Moscow // ** (drudge)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/25/ 
AR2005052501233_pf.html

	'The outages, which began with an explosion and fire at a 40-year-old  
substation, underlined the poor condition of much of Russia's  
infrastructure, even in the prosperous capital region.' ... 'The  
electricity grid, Unified Energy Systems, is headed by Anatoly Chubais,  
widely despised by ordinary Russians as the architect of the  
privatization programs of the 1990s under which a few businessmen  
became extraordinarily wealthy while most Russians watched their  
economic security slip away...'

[quote] Backlash Brews Over Blue LEDs // *** & the Purkinje shift...
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/ 
0,1282,67574,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3

	'"Blue tends to cause more discomfort and disability glare than other,  
longer wavelengths," said Dr. David Sliney, an expert on the harmful  
effects of bright light sources at the U.S. Army Center for Health  
Promotion and Preventive Medicine in Maryland.' .. 'Sliney said the  
eye's lens cannot focus sharply on the blue lights. While red or green  
light is focused precisely onto the retina, blue light is focused  
slightly in front of it, which causes a distracting halo around bright  
blue lights.' .. 'In addition, blue scatters more widely than other  
colors as it passes through the eyeball, Sliney said. Together, these  
two effects cause the intense blue light from a point source, like an  
LED, to spread out across the retina, interfering with other parts of  
the scene. It's called dispersion: Blue's shorter wavelength makes it  
refract at a greater angle than, say, red or green...'

Your Palm isn't as secure as you think... // *** hacking PDAs...
http://www.epinions.com/content_2062065796

Global Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder
http://www.jiwire.com/

[quote] Do you Google? // micro-portals aka 'personalized Home pages'
http://news.com.com/Do+you+Google/2100-1038_3-5715707.html

	'Google executives downplay rivals' influence on its direction, but  
industry observers agree that the company's identity is morphing. In  
the battle for the online ad dollar, the distinctions between Google  
and its Web portal competitors are fading.'

// great book by Carl Sagan about the golden Voyager recordings...

Voyager 1 reaches solar system's final frontier -- NASA's Voyager 1
has reached the final frontier of our solar system, having traveled
through a turbulent place where electrically charged particles
from the sun crash into thin gas from interstellar space.
http://news.com.com/Voyager+1+reaches+solar+systems+final+frontier/ 
2100-7337_3-5722723.html?tag=nefd.top

	'Both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full  
range of instruments, with adequate electrical power and attitude  
control propellant to keep operating until 2020.' .. 'Wherever they go,  
the Voyagers each carry a golden phonograph record that bears messages  
from Earth, including natural sounds of surf, wind, thunder and  
animals. There are also musical selections, spoken greetings in 55  
languages, along with instructions and equipment on how to play the  
record.'

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