I'm in San Francisco for the Google I/O conference/geekgasm. It's too awesome for words. I'd almost forgotten how much I love this city and the West Coast in general. Gorgeous. Careful Maine, you just might loose me!

The Wednesday morning keynote was an introduction by Google Engineering VP Vic Gundotra to the cloud availability, pervasive connectivity, and ease of deployment strategies Google is trying to realize with products like Google App Engine and Android.

I followed this up with a couple of sessions, one by Python creator Guido van Rossum and another by Google Fellow Jeff Dean. At the end of a fascinating trip under Google's hood, Dean announced that the after party should not be missed. Oh yeah, he also let slip that Flight of the Conchords would be playing. The room collectively w00t!!11!-ed its pants.


Jeff was right. The party was something to behold. The main room where the keynote speech was held that morning had been transformed into a Google playland. Foosball, pool, Wiis everywhere. And the food. Two words: Chocolate fountain. I'll say this, Google can throw a party. I've never seen so many developers in one place not bitching about work; and that's saying something.

Throughout the conference we've returned again and again to several core philosophies Google holds near and dear, but there were some blind-spots I wasn't expecting. Google is trying hard to be a good friend to developers and to humanity in general, but it's just too huge and too powerful; there's still an undercurrent of trepidation amongst many of the older and wiser attendees. And there's definitely more going on behind the scenes.

With any environment where there is a finely delineated inside and outside, there's going to be suspicion. And suspicion kills.

Unfortunately there's nothing for it. Google can't be what it is without holding some cards close to its chest, and we can't survive as users and developers without remaining vigilantly critical of its motives and methods.

More to follow once I've had a chance to digest and ponder.

Labels: bloggers, blogging, Google, Google Code, Internet, IO2008, technology

Engadget reviews the Optimus Maximus keyboard. I love technology with near limitless potential.

Labels: technology

Two important pieces related to the recent flap over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act overhaul legislation known as the Protect America Act. The first from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann - channeling Edward R. Murrow in this damned fine Special Comment:


And the second, a letter to the President of the United States of America refuting his assertions and fear mongering from the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas).

Dear Mr. President:

The Preamble to our Constitution states that one of our highest duties as public officials is to "provide for the common defence." As an elected Member of Congress, a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I work everyday to ensure that our defense and intelligence capabilities remain strong in the face of serious threats to our national security.

Because I care so deeply about protecting our country, I take strong offense to your suggestion in recent days that the country will be vulnerable to terrorist attack unless Congress immediately enacts legislation giving you broader powers to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans' communications and provides legal immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in the Administration's warrantless surveillance program.

Today, the National Security Agency (NSA) has authority to conduct surveillance in at least three different ways, all of which provide strong capability to monitor the communications of possible terrorists.

First, NSA can use its authority under Executive Order 12333 to conduct surveillance abroad of any known or suspected terrorist. There is no requirement for a warrant. There is no requirement for probable cause. Most of NSA's collection occurs under this authority.

Second, NSA can use its authority under the Protect America Act, enacted last August, to conduct surveillance here in the U.S of any foreign target. This authority does not "expire" on Saturday, as you have stated. Under the PAA, orders authorizing surveillance may last for one year – until at least August 2008. These orders may cover every terrorist group without limitation. If a new member of the group is identified, or if a new phone number or email address is identified, the NSA may add it to the existing orders, and surveillance can begin immediately. We will not "go dark."

Third, in the remote possibility that a new terrorist organization emerges that we have never previously identified, the NSA could use existing authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to monitor those communications. Since its establishment nearly 30 years ago, the FISA Court has approved nearly every application for a warrant from the Department of Justice. In an emergency, NSA or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may begin surveillance immediately, and a FISA Court order does not have to be obtained for three days. The former head of FISA operations for the Department of Justice has testified publicly that emergency authorization may be granted in a matter of minutes.

As you know, the 1978 FISA law, which has been modernized and updated numerous times since 9/11, was instrumental in disrupting the terrorist plot in Germany last summer. Those who say that FISA is outdated do not understand the strength of this important tool.

If our nation is left vulnerable in the coming months, it will not be because we don't have enough domestic spying powers. It will be because your Administration has not done enough to defeat terrorist organizations – including al Qaeda -- that have gained strength since 9/11. We do not have nearly enough linguists to translate the reams of information we currently collect. We do not have enough intelligence officers who can penetrate the hardest targets, such as al Qaeda. We have surged so many intelligence resources into Iraq that we have taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a result, you have allowed al Qaeda to reconstitute itself on your watch.

You have also suggested that Congress must grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies. As someone who has been briefed on our most sensitive intelligence programs, I can see no argument why the future security of our country depends on whether past actions of telecommunications companies are immunized.

The issue of telecom liability should be carefully considered based on a full review of the documents that your Administration withheld from Congress for eight months. However, it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people to say that we will be vulnerable unless we grant immunity for actions that happened years ago.

Congress has not been sitting on its hands. Last November, the House passed responsible legislation to authorize the NSA to conduct surveillance of foreign terrorists and to provide clarity and legal protection to our private sector partners who assist in that surveillance.

The proper course is now to conference the House bill with the Senate bill that was passed on Tuesday. There are significant differences between these two bills and a conference, in regular order, is the appropriate mechanism to resolve the differences between these two bills. I urge you, Mr. President, to put partisanship aside and allow Republicans in Congress to arrive at a compromise that will protect America and protect our Constitution.

I, for one, do not intend to back down – not to the terrorists and not to anyone, including a President, who wants Americans to cower in fear.

We are a strong nation. We cannot allow ourselves to be scared into suspending the Constitution. If we do that, we might as well call the terrorists and tell them that they have won.

Sincerely,

Silvestre Reyes
Member of Congress
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Labels: fisa, Keith Olbermann, nsa, patriot act, Silvestre Reyes, technology

The Internet phenomena that is Ron Paul's base considers it's next best option...Barack Obama. Cheers to that. I am biased of course, but given Obama's open government and technology platforms(64k pdf) as endorsed by Lawrence Lessig, I'd say Obama stands alone as the next best choice for Paul supporters concerned about matters of privacy, government transparency, and issues such as net neutrality.

Via DMIESSLER.COM: "Question: When Do We, As Paul Supporters, Switch to Obama?

Ron Paul just took 3% in Florida, and most states have been going similarly. I'm thinking what everyone else is thinking, but now I'm thinking it out loud.

When do we call gg and switch our energies to keeping Romney or McCain out of office? In other words, when do we give up and start supporting Obama?

Perhaps there are those among you that don't like Obama, but here's something to consider: you should vote for him for the same reason you'll vote for Paul even though he doesn't believe in evolution. He's an honest man with common sense."

Will we see a Ron Paul bump in Obama's February 5th poll numbers?

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, EFF, Lawrence Lessig, Ron Paul, technology

The long saga of the Brooklyn-born "Dirty Bomber," Jose Padilla is over. After 3 and a half years in military custody, Padilla's constitutional rights were finally upheld and he was granted a civilian trial.

The three month trial showcased the post-9/11 standard for justice in America.

From the New York Times: "Following the defendants' convictions last Aug. 16, some legal experts said the success of the Justice Department's strategy cemented a new prosecutorial model in terrorism cases by relying on a little-used conspiracy law that required very little in the way of concrete evidence showing Mr. Padilla's intent or ability to carry out the crimes."

The key words here: "very little," "evidence," of "intent or ability." Despite this Padilla was sentenced to 17 years and four months on charges that he conspired to help Islamic terrorists around the world.

He conspired. He thought, talked, dreamed, and schemed about helping terrorists. But he didn't DO anything. Seventeen years.

Labels: 9/11, Dirty Bomber, Jose Padilla, patriot act, Precrime, technology

Yeah sure...sign me up for this! Are they insane?

From the page: "Microsoft submitted a patent application in the US for a "unique monitoring system" that could link workers to their computers. Wireless sensors could read "heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure", the application states.

The system could also "automatically detect frustration or stress in the user†and "offer and provide assistance accordingly". Physical changes to an employee would be matched to an individual psychological profile based on a worker's weight, age and health. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that he needed help."

Labels: biometrics, Cybersecurity, technology, tia

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the US intelligence community acted with broad support from the Bush Administration to collect data on virtually every email, phone call, and web visit originating or terminating within the borders of the United States of America.

To this end, clandestine intelligence gathering operations are conducted against the citizens of the United States. Facilities and equipment were permanently placed to collect this data without warrants from a secret intelligence court as mandated by the 1978 Foreign Service Intelligence Act. However, in most cases, telecom companies voluntarily aided data collection on their own clients without proof or accusation of wrong-doing. Qwest Communications was the only company to deny these requests. (The CEO of Qwest is currently on trial for insider trading, and maintains that his dealings were influenced by intelligence community meddling.)

As news of these operations were leaked to the media by telecom whistle blowers, calls to revise FISA grew. The argument was that the 1978 law was out of date, and incapable of providing the intelligence community with the tools necessary to protect national security in the Internet age.

A bill sponsored by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) seeks to reform FISA, but has an added provision supported by the Bush Administration which would grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that helped the government illegally spy on Americans. President Bush has stated that he will veto any national surveillance bill that does not contain such provisions.

However, “because bills are supposed to have unanimous consent in the Senate before going forward...One Senator can make it very difficult to bring a bill to the floor by objecting...” That one Senator is Chris Dodd (D-Conn, Presidential Candidate 2008).

Please support Senator Dodd with a kind word, a message of support, or even a campaign donation to help show the Democratic Party in this country that Americans will not stand for indiscriminate attacks on our Bill of Rights.

One final word on the bill currently before the Senate, the one sponsored by Jay Rockefeller...Here's a glimpse of Senator Rockefeller's campaign contributors.Maybe it's time for the gentleman from West Virgina to go home.

Labels: 9/11, Chris Dodd, fisa, George W. Bush, Jay Rockefeller, technology, tia, warrantless wiretaps

Labels: technology

NEW ORLEANS --Google's popular map portal has replaced post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery with pictures taken before the storm, leaving locals feeling like they're in a time loop and even fueling suspicions of a conspiracy.

If anything, Google should be rallying to present the latest, most accurate images available. To do anything less diminishes the value of their product, and clearly calls into question their motives.

How long before a time axis is added to the exist x, y, z of Google maps? When can I ask my Google lapel pin to show me maps of New Orleans from 1910 to 2010?

Labels: Google, Katrina, New Orleans, technology

Labels: fisa, nsa, patriot act, technology, warrantless wiretaps

"I'm not doing anything wrong, so let them monitor whatever they want," is a commonly heard mantra of Americans willing to forfeit their right to privacy for the perception of security. I heard it myself just yesterday when a politically minded grandmother called into a show on a major network regarding the crimes committed by the FBI.

If you encounter such an argument around the water cooler or at the dinner table, here are a few gems you can bust out to force some critical thinking on the part of your mark (Warning: Cognitive dissonance resulting from these tactics can produce unpredictable responses in some citizens who are already scared, manipulated, and entranced).

Set the stage by discussing the nature data-mining. Avoid the term "data-mining" because the word data scares people. It's techno-babbly jargon. Use terms like dragnet, it's folksy. Ask your mark if they're a criminal; this will get their attention immediately. Naturally they'll say "No." Then ask if anyone they communicate with via phone or email has ever committed a crime. Typically the truth will be yes, but your mark will say no as the scenarios start playing through their mind (you've just planted a seed...watch it grow). Now ask if any of the friends or family of people they communicate with have ever committed a crime. Hopefully the mark will start to see the problems with wide spectrum data collection. Use props if necessary - salt and pepper shakers work.

Here's a helpful tidbit if you're by a computer:

It's an analysis of the sexual relationships of a high school. Nearly everyone is connected. If this were an investigation of criminal or terrorist activity, everyone in the network would be put to the question. It's neither fair, nor just, but that's what we're buying into if we support unchecked powers of surveillance and data collection. In such an environment everyone is guilty.

Another important point to make clear is the aspect of time. Once data is collected, it doesn't go away...ever. If you haven't spoken to someone in ten years, and suddenly they re-enter your life, can you be sure they haven't engaged in some questionable activities that would draw the attention of investigators?

Finally, what does being investigated by the feds mean anyway? Why should anyone be concerned if they haven't done anything wrong? Guilt by association. Does your mark work with children? Do they work at a company with state or federal contracts? Do they themselves work with other people's sensitive information: financial, medical, educational records? When the FBI or another agency pulls you in for an "interview" consider yourself flagged. That promotion you were counting on? A choice transfer? A move to a more desirable shift? You might not get thrown into a gulag, but your life will be impacted just the same.

Write to your Senators and Representatives and respectfully request that Congress ask for the resignation of Robert S. Mueller and Alberto Gonzales (They've offered their resignations before, why not now?). The law has been broken under their watch. They have abused their authority and squandered public trust...again. It's time for them to step down.

UPDATE: Full DOJ OIG report (pdf, 36MB).
UPDATE: Senator Schumer (D-NY) Calls For Gonzales to Step Down
UPDATE: New York Times editorial blasts Gonzales

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Charles Schumer, doj, fisa, nsa, patriot act, Robert S. Mueller, technology, tia, warrantless wiretaps

Not quite ready for prime time?


When Microsoft does get this perfected however, how long before we can expect it to be combined with this?

Labels: Microsoft, Speech Recognition, technology, Vista

The Daily Show, the Dimitri Martin Special: Person, and the launch of clearification.com. Staring...well Dimitri Martin of course. Who also stared in the launch of an interesting plot based site: The Institute of Advanced Personhood. Looks like the Dharma Initiative from Lost if it were run by Microsoft. Kind of neat though, I'm going to explore more.

I have to say, I'm impressed by the marketing. If they spent as much time on the code as they did on the focus grouping, it might be brave new world for Microsoft and Gates both. I played with one of the betas and liked the look and feel, but was decidedly not impressed by driver support and hardware requirements. Don't get me started on the nannyware (Are you absolutely, positively, super-duper, triple-dog-dare sure that you want to install that?). But as Bill said on the show tonight, the beta is not the real deal.

I'm reserving judgement. If I see anything awesome, I'll let you know.

Labels: Dimitri Martin, Microsoft, technology, Vista

Joi Ito discusses WoW, MMORPG communities, project management, etc. ~via BoingBoing

Labels: Cyberculture, MMORPG, technology, WoW

Had a corporate training today.

I've never thought myself the type to say it, but it was mostly painless. In fact I actually enjoyed it. I do have some feed back for the higher-ups, but that's neither here nor there.

At the moment I'm listening to dj BC's first and second (.torrent) Beastles albums via boing boing while trying to fine tune an install of Ubuntu on an old POS P3 box. Sweet beyond words. The music and lyrics are a confluence of ideas that approach an ideal conversation that I never quite reached with my father. I would like to think that we could have listened to this together and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Maybe his grandchildren will appreciate the sentiment if not the execution.

Here's hoping.

Labels: bloggers, blogging, Music, technology, Ubuntu

I'm all for doing everything possible to keep our service members safe from harm, but this is getting ridiculous...


When do our troops get Mechs?

Labels: military technology, technology

Via Metafilter:

The IBM IT Manager sim. A nifty little game promoting the latest and greatest IBM office-space must haves.

Registration is required - although it accepts fake e-mail addresses - and you can only play once per day per registration. Kind of lame that. Otherwise, as pointed out by dejah420 over at mefi, aside from the fact that women do not exist in IBM's ideal IT world the game is pretty cool. Plus you can use it to train your own replacement in Bangalore!

Labels: Internet, technology

I've added some new sections to the blog. No content yet, but sections are a good start. They allude to content. It's implied, one might say. More soon. CSS is our friend.

Labels: bloggers, blogging, CSS, Internet, technology

The new.

I've spent the last couple of days giving myself a crash course on css. Hopefully that's obvious.

The cool.

Newsmap is a my newest, most favoritest toy. It's an app that shows a graphical representation of the amount of "ink" individual stories are getting via Google News. Awesome.

The real.

600 American lives lost so far, and it's about to get a whole lot worse.

"KUFA, Iraq, April 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - After U.S.-led occupation forces killed 20 of his supporters in An-Najaf and two others during a raid on his office in Baghdad, Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr urged his followers to "terrorize the enemy" because protests have become useless."

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes with supporters of a leading Shiite cleric in a Baghdad neighborhood Sunday, military officials told CNN. "

Labels: bloggers, blogging, CSS, Internet, iraq, Mehdi Army, Moqtada al-Sadr, technology

via boingboing...

It's not quite Crouching Tiger, but I have a difficult time not imagining these things dancing with blades in their hands cutting and slashing their way to global dominance.

Labels: technology

A senior Bush administration official has declared victory on the latest front of the Global War on Terra. "Intelligence sources have long suspected marine mammals of colluding with Al Qa'ida," the official stated on condition of anonymity. "I mean come on," he said, "'cells'...'pods'? We're really talking about the same global organizational structure here."

The official went on to describe coalition operations -- planned and executed unilaterally by the United States -- to deal with the "imminent" threat to national security marine mammals represent. "First off, they're way smarter than us. That's enough reason to kill them right there, really. But mostly we're doing it because it's so damned easy. We just flip on the sonar, and ZAP!!! It's like a goldfish in a microwave! Of course, most times they run -- like the Al Qa'ida cowards they are -- and end-up dead on a beach. It's a win-win situation for the 'good-guys' in the War on Terra."

Labels: environmentalism, George W. Bush, military technology, Navy, technology

Via The Agonist:

The “Department of Defense authorization bill that President Bush is scheduled to sign Monday eases the military's responsibility under two important environmental laws.”

Environmental laws. Bah! Who needs ‘em? Isn’t it far more important that the U.S. Navy be able to develop more advanced sonar to protect us from all of those Al Qa'ida submarines skirting our coastlines? Who cares if the low frequency noise causes marine mammals to suffer massive internal hemorrhaging? Those subs are out there!

It makes me sick. Although not as sick as some will be because of this legislative circle jerk. Let me tell you a story about Fort Ord. Ah…foggy California, I miss it so.

Fort Ord, part of which now comprises the lovely UC Monterey Bay campus is one of the most polluted areas in central California. You can still see the earthen mounds that enclosed the firing ranges along the highway. Nothing quite like generations of young soldiers shooting lead into the earth to permanently taint the ground water. Can you say Superfund? Well, it looks like the DoD won’t have to worry about cleaning up their messes any more.

Thanks George. Stupid fuck-stick.

Labels: dod, environmentalism, George W. Bush, military technology, Navy, technology

Of all of my ideas...what are the odds this would show-up just a day after we talked about the possibility of genetically engineered power sources? Now it doesn't necessarily need a central nervous system. In my model, one would power the organism with raw waste, essentially feeding the thing garbage in exchange for its heat and bio-electricity. This research allows a different approach altogether. The organism could soak up raw nutrients (perhaps still derived from waste materials), but now all it has to do is "live enough" to produce glucose which is then used to generate power. All we need to do is figure out what type of "waste" we want this organic power plant to consume. No doubt, different "fuels" would produce energies of varying quantities and qualities. There would also be by-products.

Scientists foresee using this form of energy production to power devices imbedded in us. This is, of course, not nearly as creepy as it sounds to some. In fact, there are those who would like nothing more than to have all manner of gadgets and devices implanted in their bodies for various reasons. But the possibilities are greater than that.

Why create minuscule bits of machinery that can run off a large biological organism like ourselves when we can create large biological organisms that can power our machinery? Sure you'd probably need to have a Cthulhu looking mass of living "mouths" and "assholes" as big as a house to consume the raw waste of a small town, but if it pumped out enough energy to power all the town' s traffic lights, why not? Keep it at the dump. Use its waste as fertilizer.

These glucose-to-electricity-things will become more efficient with time. With a bit of waste processing, I bet scientists could eventually find a way to squeeze our shit and garbage into high-energy "power bars" for our fleshy minions. All the better to power the bio-mechanical bodies we could give them once the relative mass of their organic parts decreased enough in size to be economical. The first automatons would likely be dumb, giant-sized, lightweight, and efficient eating machines. Hollow-boned dinosaurs would be a good model for early prototypes.

As the technology advances, faster, stronger, smaller machines could be powered by less and less glucose-producing organic material. Conversely, advances in nanomachinery could also be utilized to direct and control walking, eating power plants that not only live and die, but also do as they are programmed.

This issue goes well beyond the debate of the moral propriety of mere cloning. But that's a different discussion.

It might also be interesting to note the fact that just previous to discussing genetically engineered energy sources, we were talking about Artificial Intelligence and the recent sea change in the realm of supercomputing. Advocates of supercomputers have won-out in a series of contract and grant proposals - especially with DARPA and the NSA - against their rivals: Proponents of cluster/grid processing.

A large enough database, particularly something like the Semantic Web project, combined with the correct approach to processing, could be the precursor to legitimate, advanced AI. An AI is after all just a large database, a powerful processor (or cluster), and a sophisticated querying client. The leap in this evolution will come when an AI achieves the capacity for original thought; when it is capable of identifying a desire or need of its own, and able to act on it. We wondered at what could motivate such a quickening.

The most logical impetus - I now believe - would be hunger. The need for self-preservation through the consumption of food, fuel, or energy might be enough to "inspire" the awakening of an AI. While this is difficult to imagine given the current form and function of AI, it becomes a more reasonable possibility when one considers the evolutionary potential of independent, self-powered, quasi-organic automatons endowed - by their creators - with memory.

Depending on which ways these technologies go, we could end up with either "Attack of the Man-Eating Nanobots!," "The Matrix," or maybe just "2001." Then again, maybe the near future will be beyond our present comprehension, and not entirely of our own making.

Labels: environmentalism, oil, technology

Each and every one of us is a node on the web. We are all necessary. If one of us goes down, we all go down.

Well, not exactly, but what if it were true? Even for a few of us. We'd all be in the shiter.

I'm no fan of rampant legislation for security, or corporate spying, but come on; Take care of your god damn machine.

These things called computers help us live our lives in ways we can't even imagine. Is it worth it to risk them? Hell no. Upgrade the dammed system when it needs to be upgraded at home. Demand that it be upgraded at work if it's not already. Jobs are at stake here.

Our economy can not handle a major attack. The fact that some companies give the federal government a heads up on security issues is admirable - I won't go into how I think that the government should be the ones alerting industry to these issues instead of the other way around - but home networks need to be secure too.

Is my machine secure? I don't know, but I'm sure as shit going to spend some time with her to figure it out.

Without us, the individual users, the internet is nothing. With things going the way they are, we can't afford to let this get away from us; We must protect our systems.

Update. Update often, and check-out those anomalies. Odds are, you're going to find a problem long before the Department of Homeland Security is.

I'll leave it at that.

Labels: bloggers, blogging, Cybersecurity, technology

I've been seeing a lot of news about sensors lately. Some good - some bad. Our good friend the Internet enables little sensors to talk to one another. They can also talk to databases. Why should this concern anyone? Have you ever used a public restroom where you didn't have to touch anything? The toilet flushes for you, and the faucet comes to life at the wave of a hand. Progress. Take that same familiar infrared sensor and add some bells and whistles to it. A thermometer maybe. Innocuous enough sure, but that's not all you can add to it. If DARPA, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security get their way, our little sensors will be able to tell a database who drove what car how fast down what street at what time - not to mention what parking lot they pulled into.

Get those sensors out of the toilets and onto the exteriors of public buildings! It's all for security of course. Once these sensors are distributed throughout America's cities the Department of Homeland Security would like to connect them all to a "grand, centralized database." No, I am not making this up. This database would then be searched and cross-referenced until patterns matching predetermined criteria occurred. Folks, I'm a conspiracy enthusiast - not that there's anything wrong with that - so I speak from experience when I say that if you look hard enough - at a big enough set of data - the patterns WILL occur. They'll be dead wrong the vast majority of the time, but they'll be good enough for warrant totting ham-and-eggers to cover their asses with when they start arresting every poor slob who by some freak statistical anomaly happens to fit a threat-profile as defined by John Ashcroft. Better not visit those websites that sell bongs anymore. Hell, now that every blog is indexed by google, I'd better not use the WORD bong in my blog. Or bomb. Or president.

So what's good about distributed sensors? Well those same data sets used by the DHS to nab would be terrorists can also be used to generate more accurate weather forecasts. They can also be used to track wildlife for behavior, population, and migration studies. And a whole slew of other nifty things. Click the links - you'll see the potential.

These sensors - and the database(s) they're connected to - will likely never be abused by the United States government to create a world-wide Total Information Awareness super-despotism, but a little insurance for us folks gathered around the bottom of the all-seeing, all-knowing pyramid of power wouldn't hurt.

I propose this: Since all of these sensors are web-enabled - make their data public domain. Deploy them, and open-up the Total Information Awareness database to the web developing public. Talk about revitalizing the economy - we'll have killer apps coming out of our asses. Not to mention the number of IT jobs that would be created to maintain such an infrastructure. If data is the new currency, and our government is creating the largest data mine ever conceived, shouldn't we have access to it? Google lets us play with their data for fun and profit. Will the United States of America?

Labels: darpa, technology, tia

This being Earth Day, I’ve been thinking about…erm...well...Earth. But more precisely, I’ve been think about our relationship – as the sole sentient race of beings known to exist - with the little spec of galactic dust we call home. I mean, the place isn’t getting any bigger, you know?

Homo Sapiens: “species virtually indistinguishable from living people, dating to as early as 100,000 years ago. We have a worldwide distribution, arriving in Australia around 60,000 years ago and in North and South America between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago.”

Hell, that’s not too damn bad is it? “Worldwide distribution,” I like the sound of that. If the race of modern humans were a corporation I just might buy stock in it. We’re productive buggers, and there’s more of us every single day. You know, like bacteria in a Petri dish…only we’re eating parts of the dish away.

Global desertification and deforestation are forcing us to get more from less in terms of agriculture. A drought here, or an early frost there has been known to cause waves to ripple through the world economy as effectively as fluctuations in oil prices. Food is, after all, pretty important stuff when you stop to think about it.

Food is difficult to make. Not like perfect omelet difficult, I’m talking about actual food production. Whether you’re a vegemite or an omnivore, food needs to be born, raised, harvested, packaged, and delivered before any off us here in the industrialized world ever even see it. That’s where the energy I’ve been thinking about comes in.

What if we sorta just ran out of energy one day? Or, more specifically, what if we ran out of oil? Sure there’s lots out there right now, but we seem to be pretty good at sucking it out of the ground and burning it. You might even say we have it down to a science. It’s pretty well accepted that we will run out of oil one day. There is only so much of the stuff to begin with, and making it takes time. Well, time and dinosaurs, but we’re already out of them. Current estimates put us on course to reach “peak” production sometime between 2007 and 2013, after that we start the “not enough oil to go around for everyone on Earth to eat” phase of human history.

Interestingly, just as I’ve been considering this imminent energy problem, and – I think justifiably – freaking out about it, several sci-fi level advancements in energy production technology have been made public. Funny – these announcements coincide with Earth Day. Easter too, but that’s neither here nor there.

Changing World Technologies, WaveCrest Laboratories, and Ferro Solutions each have products that seem like they could help human beings evolve beyond our centuries long dependence on fossil fuels.

The first, Changing World Technologies, has snagged big name investors and some good press after announcing they have a technology that can convert biomass into oil in hours instead of millennia. Nifty, eh? They also claim to be able to do the same with any substance containing carbon: “tires, plastic bottles, harbor-dredged muck, old computers, municipal garbage, cornstalks, paper-pulp effluent, infectious medical waste, oil-refinery residues, even biological weapons such as anthrax spores.” This is great, but we’ll still have to burn the stuff.

WaveCrest Laboratories on the other hand embeds electrical generators into already moving machinery. This is a great idea. Why don’t the tires of our cars produce any energy? Now they can. WaveCrest just named General Wesley Clark - fresh off his stint as a CNN military analyst, and rumored briefly to have been a possible Democratic candidate for President in 2004 – as their CEO. Keep your eye on this company.

Lastly, Ferro Solutions has developed a new technology “that scavenges energy from the minute vibrations machines create when they're running.” Like the WaveCrest innovation, this uses a simple principle: You don’t need to make more energy if you can use the energy you’ve already got.

I have to say, reading about all of these technologies in the span of a couple of days is pretty stunning. Did the cavalry arrive just in time? Will these and other scientific advances be enough to counter-balance our rampant oil consumption before 2007? I don’t know about you, but after this past winter here in Maine I’ll be watching the state global oil production very closely for the next few years.

Act locally, think globally. Conserve.

Labels: environmentalism, oil, technology

The year is 2003. By all accounts, the Cold War is over. For those just joining us here in the 21st century: We won.

The former Soviet Union was the United States’ largest naval adversary with the cornerstone of their seafaring arsenal being a large number of nuclear submarines, each of which could easily destroy the entire east coast with a volley of sea-launched ballistic nuclear weapons. Naturally this was cause for some concern...in the 1990’s.

Yet, like the Russian space program, much of what was once a technologically advanced military force is now a footnote in the history of mutually assured destruction (MAD).

No other nation on Earth has such a fleet of killing machines - except of course for the USA. Most countries find it challenging enough to fund and support fleets of old, loud, slow, diesel-powered boats. So why does the US continue to research and deploy super powered sonar systems at a cost of billions of dollars to US taxpayers?

Whales.

What most Americans don’t realize is whales - and their dolphin cousins - are vastly more intelligent than human beings. Not only that, but the beasties are fucking huge! Just think what would happen if these gigantic, genius creatures decided that they should rule the world. We wouldn’t stand a chance. As it is, the bastards are already threatening our already depleted supply of tuna - the chicken of the sea. In a few short years we could be dealing with a worldwide tuna shortage! The thought gives me chills.

Fortunately, the Bush Administration has seen this danger on the horizon, and has vowed to protect us from these behemoths. However, because of the creature’s devious intellect, we’ve had to prepare for inevitable war with the whales in secret.

Sonar is the key. Ultra-low frequency sonar doesn’t just detect non-existent submarines deployed by non-existent geo-political adversaries; it also kills whales by the dozens! Our Navy is “testing” this new super weapon on daily basis in areas heavily populated by our mortal enemies. As a result, whales suffer crippling brain hemorrhages as their super-sensitive internal navigation systems painfully explode under the pressure of the sonic onslaught.

I for one will sleep easily tonight knowing that I won't be subjected to the brutal life of toiling in the undersea kelp farms of our would-be overlords.

Death to the whales! And god bless George W. Bush!

Labels: environmentalism, George W. Bush, military technology, Navy, Russia, technology