Saturday, December 31, 2005

Cowabunga! Tropical Storm Zeta and Surf Mapping from scripps.edu


Ok, so I'm a junkie for data visualization stuff.

So I read google news, check out the Zeta update and whammo! Purty pitchers!

This is via globalsurfnews.com in reference to Tropical Storm Zeta

The animated image is at scripps.edu. Their flow cytometry work also provides some decent visualization.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Convivial Systems: Broadband, Ivan Illich, and Architecture

I've been writing and reading a lot about wireless broadband (one project) and also Economic Development (another project).

I remembered a wonderful book - Deschooling Society, by Ivan Illich.


    At the opposite extreme of the spectrum lie institutions distinguished by spontaneous use-the "convivial" institutions.

    Telephone link-ups, subway lines, mail routes, public markets and exchanges do not require hard or soft sells to induce their clients to use them. Sewage systems, drinking water, parks, and sidewalks are institutions men use without having to be institutionally convinced that it is to their advantage to do so.

    Of course, all institutions require some regulation. But the operation of institutions which exist to be used rather than to produce something requires rules of an entirely different nature from those required by treatment-institutions, which are manipulative.

    The rules which govern institutions for use have mainly the purpose of avoiding abuses which would frustrate their general accessibility. Sidewalks must be kept free of obstructions, the industrial use of drinking water must be held within limits, and ball playing must be restricted to special areas within a park. At present we need legislation to limit the abuse of our telephone lines by computers, the abuse of mail service by advertisers, and the pollution of our sewage systems by industrial wastes.

    The regulation of convivial institutions sets limits to their use; as one moves from the convivial to the manipulative end of the spectrum, the rules progressively call for unwilling consumption or participation. The different cost of acquiring clients is just one of the characteristics which distinguish convivial from manipulative institutions.

    From Deschooling Society



    I went to the school he founded (CIDOC) in the 70s. Although I learned a language, the real "take-away" were Illich's ideas.

    Happy New Year

    Wednesday, December 07, 2005

    Rural America: Jobs And Wireless Broadband

    http://www.archive.org/details/HowtoUse1927 Slashdot reports on "Outsourcing To Rural America."

    I will fess up that I helped with the first wave of this in the early 80s moving call center operations to the Dakotas for New York banks.

    As rural networks are deployed, this finally gets back to a rant of mine from 1993 on In-Situ Ville in a presentation on "The Information Superhighway". The concept: ubiquitous networks can drive *smaller* business and social structures as well as Big Boxes. Think new corner groceries and local manufacturing - village smithys.

    More applications of rural wireless broadband at "WiFi Cloud Covers Rural Oregon" in Wired.

    Interesting piece in the New York Times on "Rural Living" up in Maine, with quotes from carriers.

    Summing it up: population density drives wires only so far.

    The other trend? Wireless Broadband will begin to resemble component stereo systems. Network suppored services and customer care will differentiate, but the bandwidth per se will become a commodity.

    Update on 23 December 2005:
    Wonderful interview "Widening the Internet Highway to Rural America" on NPR, covering the work done by West Virginia Broadband on a shoestring budget.

    Tuesday, December 06, 2005

    Wireless Internet Service Providers Association - WISPA + Katrina


    Met some very interesting folks today, associated with the Wireless Internet business. They're at wispa.org. Also found a neat piece there regarding Katrina, reading in part:

    Responding to this need, dozens of rural WISPs have poured into rural Louisiana to help out. As of midday Thursday (right after Katrina hit), WISPs were providing service to more than 1,100 evacuees.

    The article has interesting links to more background....

    I live in a part of the world where the "big one" is an earthquake on the New Madrid Fault Zone. Reliable wireless sounds pretty good to me.

    Its interesting how good people with good tech can form rapidly around a problem.

    I had written about the Hurricane Wiki on 23 September 05, which used Google Maps in a similar vein of "good deeds".

    Saturday, December 03, 2005

    From Rageboy: Lincoln Group And Iraq Media

    Classic archive.org: TV Mind ControlChris Locke blog on the Lincoln Group. (You know... the people putting articles in the Iraq press.) I'm curious though. This seems a typical effort by armies on the ground and I'd be surprised if the US hadn't done this.

    For some history, try out http://www.psywar.org/.

    Friday, December 02, 2005

    Italy Redneck Olympics 2006: Washers!

    http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=At last!

    Unless I misread the obvious message from Torino, Washers will be a demonstration event in Italy's 2006 Olympics. My maternal grandfather (Ralph) was a big fan of the sport and it has a following here in Southern Illinois.

    Other demonstration events include Cricket, LaCrosse, Tug-of-War, and Rugby. The IOC has more demos that died at their site. Why modern power boating didn't make the cut is beyond me... erm... yeah.

    Or check out the real Redneck Olympics in Georgia.

    Thursday, December 01, 2005

    Coffee Improves Memory: From the "Well DUH" Division

    http://web.centre.edu/enviro/Picturefiles/Jamaica/126-2645_IMG.JPG
    Researchers found that caffeine improves short term memory. I found the best reportage from the Seattle PI.

    More technical data at medpage.

    Funniest report is from Reuters UK:
    Participants... were subjected to a 12-hour period without caffeine and a four-hour period without nicotine...
    What they didn't say is that conclusive tests were run in French suburbs a few weeks ago.....