http://www.salon.com/2012/09/20/history_as_recorded_on_twitter_is_vanishing/
"A significant proportion of the websites that this social
media [around the Arab Spring] points to has disappeared. And the same
pattern occurs for other culturally significant events, such as the the
H1N1 virus outbreak, Michael Jackson’s death and the Syrian uprising. In
other words, our history, as recorded by social media, is slowly
leaking away.
The researchers found that 27 percent
of content linked to two years ago via social media has since
disappeared. A Twitter history of the Arab Spring now leads to a lot of
long-gone Web pages."
This is sad. When Anonymous began protesting Scientology in 2008, I went on their web site and posted that "you need to have an archivist!" Fortunately, quite a bit of that fleeting history, such as the call to arms on 4chan.org, were captured. But in many cases people don't think about the historical nature of what they are doing, and don't even consider preserving the content of their actions.
I'm not sure what the solution is, except maybe for some Great Library somewhere to capture everything so the important stuff can be gleaned later. You listening, NSA?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Turning the net into a battleground
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/opinion/a-new-kind-of-warfare.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
"The latest step occurred last month when the United States sent out bids for technologies 'to destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, corrupt or usurp' an adversary’s attempt to use cyberspace for advantage. The Air Force asked for proposals to plan for and manage cyberwarfare, including the ability to launch superfast computer attacks and withstand retaliation."
I have an idea. Why don't we instead work on making the Internet safer and more stable, instead of running headlong into a pissing match over who can destroy the biggest part of the net?
"The latest step occurred last month when the United States sent out bids for technologies 'to destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, corrupt or usurp' an adversary’s attempt to use cyberspace for advantage. The Air Force asked for proposals to plan for and manage cyberwarfare, including the ability to launch superfast computer attacks and withstand retaliation."
I have an idea. Why don't we instead work on making the Internet safer and more stable, instead of running headlong into a pissing match over who can destroy the biggest part of the net?
Friday, September 7, 2012
Our big oil daddy is running dry
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/middle-east/saudis-may-not-have-oil-export-2030
"Saudi Arabia could be an oil Importer by 2030 - Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer (11.1mbpd) and exporter (7.7mbpd)," Rehman wrote.
It also consumes 25% of its production. Energy consumption per capita exceeds that of most industrial nations.
Oil and its derivatives account for 50% cent of Saudi's electricity production, used mostly (>50%) for residential use. Peak power demand is growing by 8%/yr. Our analysis shows that if nothing changes Saudi may have no available oil for export by 2030."
Well, where are we going to get our oil then? We currently import about 1.5 million barrels of Saudi oil per day [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/business/energy-environment/us-reliance-on-saudi-oil-is-growing-again.html?pagewanted=all]. Where will we find that much oil elsewhere?
Or, perhaps we could ween ourselves off oil and find energy elsewhere? Currently South Dakota gets 22% of its energy from wind power, and there's plenty more potential than that. We may as well start thinking about this now rather than wait for 2029.
"Saudi Arabia could be an oil Importer by 2030 - Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer (11.1mbpd) and exporter (7.7mbpd)," Rehman wrote.
It also consumes 25% of its production. Energy consumption per capita exceeds that of most industrial nations.
Oil and its derivatives account for 50% cent of Saudi's electricity production, used mostly (>50%) for residential use. Peak power demand is growing by 8%/yr. Our analysis shows that if nothing changes Saudi may have no available oil for export by 2030."
Well, where are we going to get our oil then? We currently import about 1.5 million barrels of Saudi oil per day [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/business/energy-environment/us-reliance-on-saudi-oil-is-growing-again.html?pagewanted=all]. Where will we find that much oil elsewhere?
Or, perhaps we could ween ourselves off oil and find energy elsewhere? Currently South Dakota gets 22% of its energy from wind power, and there's plenty more potential than that. We may as well start thinking about this now rather than wait for 2029.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Using local eminent domain to deal with foreclosures?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/eminent-domain-mortgages_n_1836710.html
"Gluckstern had an interesting idea: Authorities would seize home loans -- crucially, not the properties themselves -- that fit a defined set of characteristics: underwater, held in private trusts and still current, meaning that homeowners were still making monthly mortgage payments. The local government would then forgive all of the debt in excess of what the home was worth and help homeowners refinance at a new, lower value.
The pension and institutional investment funds that actually own these loans would get paid fair market value. Mortgage Resolution Partners would pocket a $4,500 fee per loan for fronting the money to make the purchase. Homeowners would gain a new incentive to invest in repairs and upgrades to their homes, and gain hundreds of dollars each month to spend on the local economy.
The plan could be customized to fit the needs of the local community, Gluckstern said."
I'm not sure what to think of this. It's a bold plan. It may be a misuse of eminent domain. But on the other hand, it may be the only hope many homeowners have for saving their homes. The federal government quickly bailed out the very banks that caused the problem in the first place, but not much has been done for the homeowner victims of others' greed. So I look forward to seeing how this pans out.
"Gluckstern had an interesting idea: Authorities would seize home loans -- crucially, not the properties themselves -- that fit a defined set of characteristics: underwater, held in private trusts and still current, meaning that homeowners were still making monthly mortgage payments. The local government would then forgive all of the debt in excess of what the home was worth and help homeowners refinance at a new, lower value.
The pension and institutional investment funds that actually own these loans would get paid fair market value. Mortgage Resolution Partners would pocket a $4,500 fee per loan for fronting the money to make the purchase. Homeowners would gain a new incentive to invest in repairs and upgrades to their homes, and gain hundreds of dollars each month to spend on the local economy.
The plan could be customized to fit the needs of the local community, Gluckstern said."
I'm not sure what to think of this. It's a bold plan. It may be a misuse of eminent domain. But on the other hand, it may be the only hope many homeowners have for saving their homes. The federal government quickly bailed out the very banks that caused the problem in the first place, but not much has been done for the homeowner victims of others' greed. So I look forward to seeing how this pans out.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Youth on the march for a new future
http://truth-out.org/articles/item/11040-the-quebec-student-protest-movement-and-the-power-of-the-radical-imagination
"From Paris, Athens, and London to Montreal and New York City, young people are challenging the current repressive historical conjuncture by rejecting its dominant premises and practices. They are fighting to create a future inclusive of their dreams as the principles of justice and equality become key elements of a radicalized democratic and social project. At stake in their efforts is not only a protest against tuition hikes, austerity measures, joblessness, and deep cuts in public spending, but also the awakening of a revolutionary ideal in the service of a new society. In short, youth have dared to call for a different world and, in doing so, have exhibited great courage in taking up a wager about the future made from the standpoint of an embattled present. To understand the shared concerns of the youthful protesters and the global nature of the forces they are fighting, it is crucial to situate these diverse student protests within a broader analysis of global capital and the changing nature of its assaults on young people."
"Individual freedom without robust communities is simply code for a stripped-down notion of humanity as a pool of self-interested automatons, lacking any sense of moral accountability, social responsibility, or civic courage. Within the vocabulary of neoliberalism, too many young people are removed from the discourse of community and collective freedom, pushed to the margins of society and forced to inhabit zones of terminal uncertainty, despair, and exclusion."
"The first lesson to be learned from striking students was that the protests were about much more than fee structures. Yet, the government seemed unwilling to assimilate this pedagogical insight, and its heavy-handedness touched a nerve in the larger social body of Quebec, activating new forms of dissent and solidarity."
This is a long, article describing why people feel our ecnomic and perhaps cultural system are failing. Students started a boycott to protest tuition hikes. But the government's draconian reaction to their fears of great student debt quickly became a public collective effort to express the problems pervading all of society. This reminds me of when we protested Scientology. I always felt that the most important result of protesting in front of their "churches" was that it would give them an opportunity to show their true colors. It worked in that case and it worked, perhaps not on purpose, in Quebec.
If you protest the Girl Scouts, chances are they'll come out and give you cookies and lemonade. If you protest a cult or a government bent on crushing opposition, you will get a different result. Do you want to know if you have a kind, peaceful government? Try protesting something they're doing wrong and see how they react. Occupy Wall Street tried this, and we saw the swift iron fist come down on the movement. So perhaps the government's reaction was proof of what OWS was claiming.
"Moreover, the students organized around an idea—simply that tuition hikes need to be addressed within the suffering and injustices produced by neoliberal austerity measures—which proved revolutionary in its scope, flexible in its ability to connect to other forms of oppression, and decisive in mobilizing other students and the public at large."
The author provides us an outline of how the students managed to get 1/2 million people onto the streets after initially just complaining about tuition hikes. Obviously, there was more to their complaint, and it struck a chord among many in society.
"From Paris, Athens, and London to Montreal and New York City, young people are challenging the current repressive historical conjuncture by rejecting its dominant premises and practices. They are fighting to create a future inclusive of their dreams as the principles of justice and equality become key elements of a radicalized democratic and social project. At stake in their efforts is not only a protest against tuition hikes, austerity measures, joblessness, and deep cuts in public spending, but also the awakening of a revolutionary ideal in the service of a new society. In short, youth have dared to call for a different world and, in doing so, have exhibited great courage in taking up a wager about the future made from the standpoint of an embattled present. To understand the shared concerns of the youthful protesters and the global nature of the forces they are fighting, it is crucial to situate these diverse student protests within a broader analysis of global capital and the changing nature of its assaults on young people."
"Individual freedom without robust communities is simply code for a stripped-down notion of humanity as a pool of self-interested automatons, lacking any sense of moral accountability, social responsibility, or civic courage. Within the vocabulary of neoliberalism, too many young people are removed from the discourse of community and collective freedom, pushed to the margins of society and forced to inhabit zones of terminal uncertainty, despair, and exclusion."
"The first lesson to be learned from striking students was that the protests were about much more than fee structures. Yet, the government seemed unwilling to assimilate this pedagogical insight, and its heavy-handedness touched a nerve in the larger social body of Quebec, activating new forms of dissent and solidarity."
This is a long, article describing why people feel our ecnomic and perhaps cultural system are failing. Students started a boycott to protest tuition hikes. But the government's draconian reaction to their fears of great student debt quickly became a public collective effort to express the problems pervading all of society. This reminds me of when we protested Scientology. I always felt that the most important result of protesting in front of their "churches" was that it would give them an opportunity to show their true colors. It worked in that case and it worked, perhaps not on purpose, in Quebec.
If you protest the Girl Scouts, chances are they'll come out and give you cookies and lemonade. If you protest a cult or a government bent on crushing opposition, you will get a different result. Do you want to know if you have a kind, peaceful government? Try protesting something they're doing wrong and see how they react. Occupy Wall Street tried this, and we saw the swift iron fist come down on the movement. So perhaps the government's reaction was proof of what OWS was claiming.
"Moreover, the students organized around an idea—simply that tuition hikes need to be addressed within the suffering and injustices produced by neoliberal austerity measures—which proved revolutionary in its scope, flexible in its ability to connect to other forms of oppression, and decisive in mobilizing other students and the public at large."
The author provides us an outline of how the students managed to get 1/2 million people onto the streets after initially just complaining about tuition hikes. Obviously, there was more to their complaint, and it struck a chord among many in society.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Electric motorcycles are growing up
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/08/brammo-empulse-r/
"And in another electric motorcycle first, the Empulse is practical for highway use too. It pulled strongly to an indicated 105 mph tested top speed and, over a route that included suburban and rural surface streets, plus a stretch of 55 mph divided highway where riding speeds averaged 70 mph, we saw a realistic range of 75 miles. That included no attempts whatsoever at maximizing efficiency other than frequently neglected efforts to keep it in that 2,000 rpm-wide range. That matches Brammo’s claimed 77-mile combined range using the SAE Test for Electric Motorcycles. Drop that average speed to a city-like 19 mph (which includes frequent stops) and that test delivers 121 miles. Riding the Empulse fast up a mountain while dragging knee and using a lot of full throttle returns a practical 50 miles of fun."
Not quite there yet because of how long it takes to recharge, but still, this is great news. Most people, even in LA, could easily use one of these to get to work and back. Charge while in your tired cubicle, race home. Pennies a day for juice.
"And in another electric motorcycle first, the Empulse is practical for highway use too. It pulled strongly to an indicated 105 mph tested top speed and, over a route that included suburban and rural surface streets, plus a stretch of 55 mph divided highway where riding speeds averaged 70 mph, we saw a realistic range of 75 miles. That included no attempts whatsoever at maximizing efficiency other than frequently neglected efforts to keep it in that 2,000 rpm-wide range. That matches Brammo’s claimed 77-mile combined range using the SAE Test for Electric Motorcycles. Drop that average speed to a city-like 19 mph (which includes frequent stops) and that test delivers 121 miles. Riding the Empulse fast up a mountain while dragging knee and using a lot of full throttle returns a practical 50 miles of fun."
Not quite there yet because of how long it takes to recharge, but still, this is great news. Most people, even in LA, could easily use one of these to get to work and back. Charge while in your tired cubicle, race home. Pennies a day for juice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
