WINDING DOWN
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net and technology news
by Alan Lenton
OK - I'm back, like a bad penny. And there's still no charge for reading my (nearly) weekly masterpiece - Rupert Murdoch, take note. There's still quite a lot of material for the newsletter around, even though it's the height of the silly season here in the UK. Perhaps that's because everything that used to be thought of as silly is regularly done by our governments, these days...
Anyway, to get you in the right mood for my awesome reportage, kick off your shoes, slump on a sofa, and take a quick gander at this fabulous, if a little minimalist on the controls front, 3D sound visualiser, and then start your favorite Sunday morning reading...
Shorts:
Only those deaf and blind, or living on Mars, will probably not know by now that WikiLeaks have published a huge mass of classified material from the US Department of Defense (DoD). Obviously, the DoD are not happy, but their latest antics seem to indicate that someone, somewhere is really losing his or her rag, and responding without thinking through the implications.
Among other things the DoD are demanding that WikiLeaks give the DoD their files back! Do the DoD not have their own copy? Or maybe there are those in the DoD that are unable to understand the difference between digital and paper files. If so it doesn't bode well for the future of the US armed forces plans to make it's war capacity more high tech.
The other weird thing is that orders have been issued to members of the US armed forces that they are not to read WikiLeaks. Think about it - AlQueda, the Taliban, any Iranian who speaks English (well American, anyway), and any Palestinian suicide bomber can read all about it, but not those at the sharp end of the US's fighting strength.
WikiLeaks is a strange beast, I think the jury is still out on it. However, I also think it can be said that it is also a product of the death of investigative journalism. How you deal with the problem of the contradiction between an increasingly closed society as a result of the so-called 'war on terror', and the need for democratic societies to be open to their citizens is a knotty problem. There are no easy solutions.
The powers that be are now discovering that the problems of internet privacy that have bedeviled their citizens for the last decade, also affect the privacy of government communications, and corporate communications. It will be interesting to see how they deal with a problem the rest of us have been struggling with for some time now...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/25/wikileaks-war-logs-back-story
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20012824-281.html?tag=nl.e703
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/5/pentagon-bars-staff-
from-visiting-wikileaks-site/
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/08/pentagon-to-troops-taliban-
can-read-wikileaks-you-cant/
There's a rather alarming story from Declan McCullagh on Cnet News, revealing that the stated policy of the Transport Security Administration (TSA) that the semi-naked body images taken by scanners at airports and such like are not - and cannot - be saved, is, how shall I put it, being 'economical' with the truth.
It turns out that not only can the images, supposedly just looked at when you walk through the scanner, be saved, but indeed a lot of them are being saved. For a start, contrary to its public statements, the agency specifications for the equipment actually require all the scanners to have facilities for storing and transmitting images for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes".
Then there is the revelation that the US Marshals' Service secretly saved tens of thousands of images that it took of people going through just one of these devices at a single Florida courthouse. What on earth legitimate use of such semi-nude images of ordinary citizens can justify this sort of behavior?
Answers on a (dirty) postcard to...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20012583-281.html?tag=nl.e703
Are you getting a headache from watching 3D through those ugly glasses you have to use? Don't blame the glasses (except, of course for being extremely un-chic), it's the 3D pictures that are at fault. The use of 3D is spreading rapidly, and the problems are only just starting to become apparent, it seems.
The biggest problem comes when 2D techniques, like rapid cutting to and fro between scenes, are used. In this case if the depth of the point at which you need to focus on is different in each scene, it can cause your eyes to strain as the muscles controlling the eye try to keep up. The result, if this happens frequently enough, is, of course, a headache.
Take a look at this report of a seminar given recently by Buzz Hays of Sony's 3D Technology Centre, explaining the problems of badly designed 3D. Well worth a read, and you get some new buzz words into the bargain - "Oh you poor thing, looks like a bad case of convergence-accommodation conflict, dahling."
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/08/02/why-bad-3d-not-3d-glasses-is-what-
gives-you-a-headache/
InfoWorld has an interesting piece by Galen Gruman on tablet computing, taking a look at the issue from a somewhat different perspective than usual. His argument is that although a lot of the protagonists don't realize it yet, the battle over all the different tablets coming onto the market is actually about the future of consumer computing. His contention is that the only company that really even partially gets this is Apple with its iPad.
Now normally I would have written this off as an Apple fan-boi rant, but Gruman makes some interesting points, both about Apple and its competitors, and the past, troubled, history of tablet computers. I think he may be on to something, but the conclusions should be taken with a pinch of salt, as should all one dimensional views of trends and analyses of the future.
The general purpose computer has too many different uses for it to be subsumed into a single device with a single interface. Gruman's analysis is useful, but it needs to be balanced with an analysis of type of computing the tablet is useful for.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/what-the-tablet-wars-are-really-about-
544?source=IFWNLE_nlt_blogs_2010-08-03
I knew Google Earth had to be useful for something - and here it is! The maps showed up an absolutely pristine meteorite crater in the depths of the Sahara Desert. It's about 45 meters wide and about 16 meters deep. Such finds are extremely rare, because they normally weather away fairly rapidly. This crater is about 5,000 years old and well enough preserved for it to be quite a find.
http://www.physorg.com/news199331930.html
And having started with the US Department of Defense I'll end this section with the same body (so to speak). Cnet News has a picture gallery of what is planned for the US Navy's next generation of hi-tec destroyer ships. The actual pictures of the ship are artist's impressions, but things like the bridge is a full scale mock up of what is planned. Fascinating stuff!
http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10004376.html?tag=mncol
Homework:
It's well known that one of the big generation differences between most young people and their elders is the extent to which young people multi-task compared to older folk (for some definition of older...). What's less well know is the extent to which this activity is changing the way in which people's brains are wired.
Scientists are starting to investigate this phenomena, and some of the results coming out suggest that contrary to perceived wisdom, multi-tasking does not make you more productive. Among other problems are that it becomes very difficult to switch off and relax, and tasks that require sustained concentration become very difficult.
Certainly it's my experience that mixing the two types is a recipe for disaster. I once worked for a company where everyone but me had two mobile phones and used them constantly and simultaneously (a bit like context switching in a computer). I was working from home and when I switched off my phone and stopped reading mail for 24 hours to get some work done, it created a major panic. They thought I'd been run over or had a heart attack or something similar, since there were no other circumstances they could think of in which anyone would become out of communication.
The New York Times has recently produced an interesting piece looking at this whole issue, which I'd recommend you take a look at. Unfortunately, those who would probably benefit most will probably find it impossible to read - it's five internet pages long!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?_r=2&src=
me&ref=technology
I came across an interesting use of 'photoshopping' the other day. Photographer Sergey Larenko takes old World War II photos and photoshops them into contemporary pictures of the same location taken from the same angle. The results are fascinating. It's difficult to explain, so take a look at the URL. Some pictures, I will admit, are worth up to 10 words of my exquisite prose...
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/the-ghosts-of-world-war-iis
Geek Toys:
Here's a way for geeks to hide their oh so valuable MacBook Pro. Hide it inside a hollowed out a tatty looking old fashioned hardback book! Not only does it make it look less valuable (unless you happen upon an old book collector thief), but it gives the gleaming silvery cover protection from scuffs and knocks too.
On the other hand, there's a certain amount of missing the point going on here, I suspect. After all what's the point of spending all that extra money to buy a MacBook Pro, if you can't flaunt it at the less fortunate stuck with their very untrendy Dell laptops?
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook/
Looking for a cheap and nifty idea to amaze your friends and confound your enemies? Students at Carnegie Melon have just the thing: glowing multi-color balloons! Just the thing...
The balloons have an air quality sensor on them, and a tri-color LED inside, and the parts work out at about US$30, less if you have a scavenger +4 skill...
The URL includes a picture of several of the finished products and step-by-step instructions on what to do. Neat, very neat.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Air-quality-balloons/
Scanner:
No anonymity on future web says Google CEO
http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/5/no-anonymity-future-web-says-google-ceo/
Botnet with 60GB of stolen data cracked wide open
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/02/mumba_botnet_infiltrated/
Library of Congress adds DMCA exception for jailbreaking or rooting your phone
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/26/library-of-congress-adds-dmca-
exception-for-jailbreaking-or-root/
Microsoft rushes out emergency fix for critical Windows bug
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/02/emergency_microsoft_update/
King Tut's chariot was a marvel of engineering
http://news.discovery.com/history/king-tut-chariot.html
Market data firm spots the tracks of bizarre robot traders
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/08/market-data-firm-spots-
the-tracks-of-bizarre-robot-traders/60829/
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers Barb, Fi, and to Slashdot's daily newsletter for drawing my attention to material used in this issue.
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Spamato spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
8 August, 2010
Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
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