Francis's News Feeds

Futurismic: eBooks overpriced? Well, they were just a moment ago…

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:30:41 +0000

It seems like we’ve been talking a lot about ebooks in the last few months here at Futurismic, which is surely a sign of the times. The thing that’s been bothering me about ebooks for a while (and the principle reason I’ve not really started buying them myself as of yet) is that the pricing has seemed a little… unreasonable. [image by shimgray]

It’s not just me, it would appear. Yesterday, Kassia Krozser of Booksquare laid the boot into publishers trying to gouge the same price from their ebook customers as from their dead-tree buyers:

Let’s go through this one more time: ebooks are a new, different market. You, dear publishers, have been given that rarest of gifts: a new revenue stream (think: home video for the motion picture business). These books are not competition. While there are more than a few readers who would love the luxury of choice of format/style/device when it comes to purchasing and reading books (you’re reading one), the ebook customer is different than the print book customer. Even if your ebook sales are growing by leaps and bounds each quarter, they’re nowhere near the volume that print achieves.

You’re dealing with a different animal, and — wahoo! — you now have the opportunity to change how you do business. Let’s start with smarter pricing. No, let’s start with the idea that you, publishers, are not the only game in town.

Tough love indeed. However, hot on the heels of Ms Krozser’s screed (and far too close to have been a response to it, I might add) came an announcement at SF Signal: genre fiction publishers Orbit are now offering a different ebook from their backlist each month for just US$1.

Now, this is still far from ideal; it’s just a handful of titles in a handful of formats, and the inevitable and much-loathed DRM is involved. But it’s a start. I suspect as the tough times dig in over the next year, we’ll see the start of a race for the bottom in ebook pricing… especially in the genre scene, which seems to tend toward a more tech-savvy readership.

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Richard Allan: Energy Independence

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:20:53 +0000

The idea of national energy independence has been commonly cited in US politics over many years but has not resonated so strongly in the UK to date. A number of factors might now make this a much more compelling policy.

Oil prices have clearly been a huge problem over the last year and, while they have now fallen, it is hard to see how they will not rise again whenever economic growth picks up in the major economies.

Now we are yet again seeing threats to gas supplies from Russia just as winter is starting to bite.

On the more positive side, the prospect of renewable sources making a significant contribution to the UK’s energy is getting ever closer with proposals for a tidal scheme in the Severn estuary and huge new offshore windfarms.

Weaning ourselves off dependence on imported carbon fuels over the next couple of decades would help both with our contribution to combatting climate change and with giving the UK economy a resilience in the latter half of this century.

Gastronomy Domine: Cranberry sauce and bread sauce

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:52:00 +0000

These two sauces, one American and one thoroughly, thoroughly English, are an essential part of my Christmas dinner - it's just not Christmas without them. Cranberries are incredibly tart when raw, and I consider them pretty inedible (despite the Finnish habit of eating them raw, with shaved ice and caramel). I also don't really enjoy the juice. This recipe is very easy, and it transforms them;

Global Voices (Georgia): Russia-Georgia: Overcoming war by wine?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:43:00 +0000

Paul Goble of WindowonEurasia discusses how Georgian wine producers are seeking to get Russia's ban on Georgian wine import lifted.

Robert Peston (BBC business editor): Sterling challenge for UK shops

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:15:28 +0000

Sales in a typical Next store, so called like-for-like sales, have fallen 7%.

To put it another way, the UK's second biggest fashion retailer is selling one in twenty fewer skirts and shirts in shops unaffected by new openings.

This sounds disastrous.

But investors in its shares may actually breathe a small sigh of relief that its performance in the last five months of 2008 wasn't even worse, given the gloom that's engulfed the High Street.

Also there's comfort to be had from Next's announcement that it's on course to make profits in line with City forecasts of more than £415m before tax.

At Debenhams too the theme is that it could all have been a lot worse, as the leading department store chain reported like-for-like sales down 3.5% in the 18 weeks to the beginning of January.

Although Debenhams is widely viewed as having too much debt, barring an unexpected calamity both it and Next will still be standing after the downturn in consumer spending which has exterminated weaker rivals.

What will particularly impress Debenhams' creditors is that the gross value of its transactions and profits have risen, the business is generating cash, and net debt has fallen

But it won't be easy.

Next warns that the coming headache will be a massive increase in costs caused by the sharp devaluation of sterling.

In Next's case this doesn't bite until the autumn and winter of this year, because it has hedged its currency exposure until then. For most big retailers, including Marks & Spencer, the big impact of the weakened pound will come in the middle of the year.

There will be a horrible choice for Next, M&S, Primark and the rest, who buy most of their stock outside the UK.

Should they absorb an estimated 20% currency-related increase in the cost of clothing and other goods manufactured for them in China, India, Hungary and so on?

That, of course, would mean that their profits - which are already on a crash diet - would be squeezed further.

Or, in a period of feeble consumer demand, is there any chance they'll be able to pass on the cost increases to cash-strapped consumers?

Their ability to pass on the costs to us will depend on the intensity of competition at the time.

Right now, with Tesco announcing yet another round of price cuts, there's no sign of an easing up in the competitive assault.

In fact, one of the reasons that the sales of Debs and Next weren't even worse was the significant discounting that took place in the Christmas fortnight.

Anyone who made the mistake - as I did - of venturing to a mall or shopping centre in late December will know that we haven't been wholly weaned off our spend-spend-spend habits.

There was a mob, frantically looking for bargains.

But we're all back at work now, the last Woolworths have shut their doors forever, and a chill wind is blowing through the economy.

Those who run our biggest stores tell me they're braced for the worst of winters.

Copenhagen Cycle Chic: Frozen Sunlight Moments

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:08:57 +0000

A blindingly sunny day. Crisp and clear with a temperature reluctant to rise above freezing. Copenhageners pedalled ecstatically through it. Bundled up in scarves and hats and gloves. Above, you can either yawn or scratch. To each her own.

Or you can merely ride past and become an integral set piece in the production design of the urban theatre.

You can also challenge the chill by rising out of the saddle and making a break for the green light before it changes.

Funny how Lars was on Queen Louise's Bridge as well. We missed each other by an hour or so. We really should coordinate these things better and incorporate a cup of coffee. :-)

The Copenhagen Bicycle Culture Blog: Copenhagen Reserved Parking

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:52:51 +0000

Typical Copenhagen. Someone needs to reserve this stretch of parking spots. For whatever reason, be it the arrival of a moving van or a temporary container. Who knows.

They used the traditional tape and orange pylons but this is often hardly a deterrent for motorists. I've tried this before and all too often a motorist will disregard your attempt to reserve the spot.

Finding parking is difficult in the centre of Copenhagen. It's frightfully expensive and the City removes 2-3% of all parking street-level parking each year, using the space for bicycle infrastructure or public spaces in general, be it trees, benches, what have you.

The solution above is simple. Mark off the space you need to reserve and then use some of those bicycles leaning against a building nearby, laying them down ever so nice.

A motorist may nudge a pylon out of the way but they will hardly hop out of their car to move a bicycle. Case closed. Problem solved. Copenhagen style.

Intelligent Giving: Why the idea of ‘giving to charity’ should be discouraged

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:51:39 +0000

<! -- CONTENT --> Over at PF Blogs, Tania Mason has what sounds like a good idea. Faced with impending recession, voluntary-sector umbrella groups should, she argues, launch a campaign to encourage the public to ‘give to charity’. As survey after survey shows that giving is going to be hit by the downturn, this sounds like an excellent idea. But it isn’t.

That’s because encouraging people to ‘give to charity’ perpetuates the myth that all charities are equal: that a donation to one cause is worth much the same as a donation to another. But that’s not the case. Some charities are simply better than others.

A general campaign to encourage indiscriminate ‘giving’ would run the risk of damaging charities which do the best work, while lending to support those which are less deserving of it – a counterproductive and potentially damaging outcome.

So if the charity world is seriously interested in helping needy people, what should it do? The answer is straightforward: it should encourage the public to give to charities which really deserve our cash. Instead of pretending that ‘giving’ is a good in itself, the umbrella groups ought to encourage us to find out which charities we genuinely believe in, and give to them instead.

Futurismic: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Leonard Richardson launches Thoughtcrime Experiments

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:51:03 +0000

Heads up, writers! Leonard Richardson - the chap who wrote the rather excellent story “Mallory” that we published here at Futurismic last year - has decided to put together his own anthology, Thoughtcrime Experiments, and he’s looking for five stories to populate it.

The full submission guidelines are on the Thoughtcrime Experiments webpage, but the basics are as follows: the stories should be between three thousand and ten thousand words in length, and accepted pieces will be bought for $200; Leonard would “prefer you send [him] a story you’ve already written and pounded the pavement for and acquired a couple rejection slips for.”

And as to style… well, this is why he’s asked us to announce it here at Futurismic:

I like science fiction at lot, especially science fiction set within fifty years of the present. It’s not as likely I’d pay $200 for a fantasy story, but if you’ve got a fantasy story set between 1959 and 2059, send it in. I’m not going to pay $200 for a horror story, unless it’s a really original parody or something.

More specifically, I like stories that engage with the pop culture of the past, present, or future. I like stories that use the alien to illuminate the everyday, or vice versa. I like hard SF that requires a degree to understand, provided it’s the computer science degree I actually have. I like farcical ridiculous gonzo pastiche.

So there you go. Check your trunk of stories and send something in - what have you got to lose? Good luck!

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Tags: announcement • anthology • Leonard Richardson • science fiction • Thoughtcrime Experiments • writing

Danny O'Brien: all human life is here. Yes, over here, just by the bins

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:50:48 +0000

Swear to god, I woke up this morning with the following words on my lips: “I am like unto avenging God!”

Forty-five minutes later the driver of the 14 bus let me and all the other passengers know that my flies were undone.

As part of her leaving announcement, Gina Trapani mentioned that she’d been doing lifehacker.com for four years. Shocked, I double-checked, and yes, Lifehacks.com, the domain I registered minutes after coming up with the talk title, was registered on around midnight on 2003-09-26.

Over five years! That is strange and disturbing to me. Super-super-super ironically, it’s probably been my least productive period yet. I’m okay with that, in the way that you can probably forgive Europe for dropping its GDP a little during that first, tricky, world war. In those five years, the world planed me a new surface or two, mostly against my grain. I have learnt valuable lessons, but have yet to find anything I can actually trade for them.

I’ve never been truly ambitious but I have been historically, shall we say,twitchy. These days I have been growing placid. I am amazed with the magic of making my own dishes of burgers, potatoes and peas, walking in parks, and having clean laundry. I frequently go to bed early. I have a big ole beard. Young people suspect me of harboring inner wisdom, though they do not know it is all about getting infinite lives in Chuckie Egg.

Of course, all of this fondness for zen calm and gentlemanly decay happens just when my local hemisphere decides to pinball between economic collapse, n-dimensional wars, or perhaps just a planetary extinction event. Yeah, I’m all sleepy, and Bruce Sterling, the world’s oldest smart-ass punk, is right there behind my back, setting off the firecrackers.

Daily interesting photos - Flickr: Interesting photos - 5 Jan 2009 - Flickr

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:50:07 +0000

Copenhagen Cycle Chic: Copencouple + Sun

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:03:26 +0000

Riding arm in arm is an age old discipline for bicyclists in love. Perhaps because of the intoxicating cocktail of frost and sunlight we had today, we here see it in the superior hand-in-pocket variety.
NOTE: If you want to try it out for yourself, make sure that the two handlebars operates at different heights :-)

John Redwood MP: In praise of Josiah Wedgwood

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:53:16 +0000

The newspapers are right this morning to mourn the passing of the Wedgwood company. It is another sad casualty of this vicious Credit Crunch.

Josiah Wedgwood has long been a hero of mine. As an industrialist I often looked to him for inspiration. He seemed to have it all. He was an innovator, developing new glazes, better furnace controls and better factory organisation. He was a great marketer, realising the value of celebrity endorsement and the need to engage the thought and taste leaders of the day with his products. He was a pioneer of better transport and logistics for access and exit from his factory at Etruria, favouring the then modern canal. He provided employee housing, recognising the need for a settled and motivated workforce, capable of high quality workmanship. He knew how to raise efficiencies through smarter working. Above all he understood the power of beautiful design and decoration, turning to classical designs. In his later years he was determined to produce a copy of the Portland Vase.

He was famous for the royal patronage of Queen Charlotte, which led to Queen’s ware, and to the interest of the Empress Catherine of Russia in his work. His blue Jasperware is still being sold to this day, from his use of barium sulphate in the firing. His black basalt range was another classic which has survived 250 years. This year we will remember him as well for the work of Charles Darwin, whose money came in part from his links to the Wedgwood family, which made possible his researches.

The modern Wedgwood company still has title to the fabulous designs and glazes that Josiah pioneered. I do not believe they are all without value. Something should be rescued from the collapse. I realise the last Wedgwood product I bought was sometime ago, when they produced a reproduction Clarice Cliff vase. I thought the originals were too expensive for me. I wanted to keep flowers in mine, so a fresh modern version of the original style was just what I needed. They then ceased to make any more reproductions from the amazing Clarice Cliff range, where they hold the title to the designs. Perhaps someone else can if and when they buy that part of the business. it seemed like a missed opportunity.

A modern Wedgwood should move with the times, responding to the different needs of people. Some in the press imply it was bound to die because it makes old fashioned dinner and tea services people no longer need. We live in a country with a rising population, who all need to eat food off plates and drink out of mugs or cups. The new owners of Wedgwood need to blend the best of the old and new as Josiah himself did. Josiah sold 2000 year old styles in sets that matched contemporary needs. Today we need a Wedgwood owner that loves the best of the inherited designs, glazes and shapes, and adds to them the magic of modern marketing that can capture the market that is there for good ceramics, and the best of modern design.

Meanwhile, this is another casualty of the recession. The business model clearly needed improvement, but the Credit Crunch has claimed yet another iconic victim. It shows just how deep and dangerous this crunch has become.

John Redwood MP: The continuing silence of Mr Obama

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:18:06 +0000

All those primarily concerned about the loss of life in the Gaza strip as a result of the Israeli mililtary action will be dismayed by Mr Obama’s silence. All those who see the Hamas rockets as the main issue will be disappointed that Mr Obama has not recently condemned those either, leaving that task to Mr Bush.

I do not offer a better way forward with this problem as I have insufficient knowledge of all the complications. I have never visited Gaza. I just mention the silence of Mr Obama, as his views and approach generally is so important to us all. It is difficult to sustain his claim to usher in an age of change, when on this collosal issue where the USA is the most important power apart from the protagonists in the conflict, he remains silent. In effect he is backing the Bush strategy, but lacks the courage or the conviction to say so. He is certainly not offering a different one.

George Orwell (70 years ago): Orwell Diaries

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:30:17 +0000

Three eggs.

Successful - PledgeBank: ensure that my inbox is empty before I go to bed each day in 2009

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:53:10 +0000

'I will ensure that my inbox is empty before I go to bed each day in 2009 but only if 25 other online peeps will do the same.' -- Bill Thompson, of andfinally.com

Climate Progress: Post-Christmas cartoon on melting North Pole

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:38:08 +0000

h/t Skeptical Science

Wooster Collective: Seen On The Steets Of Salamanca, Spain

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:16:53 +0000

The piece above was created by Pablo Sánchez Herrero and David de la Mano.

Wooster Collective: Mobster: The A's To Our Q's

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:05:13 +0000

Age: 24
Hometown: In between 2 pubs in the countryside.
Where do you now live?: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
Where would you most like to live?: In a place close to all my good friends, where art is in abundance and creativity flows all around.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: I would hate for this to sound cliché however my first hero would obliviously be realised when I was a kid and therefore I would have to say my dad. When we grow up our opinions change however I still hold massive respect for the man.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: To experience live music, especially some dirty bass. Seeking out new art. Plan mischief or new ideas (however this is more of a continuous activity). Chill and chat with friends. Practice bad mixing.
What is your favorite color?: Blue. No doubt.
Who (or what) do you love?: Open mindedness. Altruism. Logical thinking. Not accepting what we are brought up to believe or what is indoctrinated in us. Thinking for yourself and researching the full spread of the facts to discover the whole truth. Pushing the boundaries.

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Anyone who pushes it. Anyone with dedication, no matter what they are doing so long as they are not harming anyone with it.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Aphex twin for his overall genius, Blu and Sam3 for always impressing me (and their amazing animations), Banksy for stepping up the level, Steppenwolf (the novel) for its insight into the human character, Aldous Huxley for his mastering of the English language (and creating the Doors of Perception), Conor Harrington for his style, Lucy Mclaughlin for her beautiful simplicity. JR for his wonderful photography, my good friend Karborn for sharing my youth til present day with....... the list could go on and on (and i’m scared ive missed out some important ones... infact no doubt i will have).

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I believe there is no constant in my artwork. If an idea strikes me and it is within my capabilities ill go for it. Some of my work takes on the surreal. Some of my work revolves around modifying the surrounding environment to give it an edge.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

To be a master of music production

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Insanity. Wasting my life. Fucking up these questions.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

For people to respect my work. To make work I am proud of and finally make a name for myself. To not get arrested again.

BLDGBLOD: BLDGBLOG @ Rice University

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:34:00 +0000

I'm excited to announce that I'll be lecturing at the Rice University School of Architecture in Houston, Texas, in only two days' time, kicking off their Spring 2009 lecture series.

[Image: View larger].

I've clearly got some very large shoes to fill with this series, however, as I've been lined up with everyone from Beatriz Colomina and Cynthia Davidson to Reinhold Martin and Felicity D. Scott. Stan Allen, Juan Herreros, Richard Ingersoll, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Michael Weinstock, Peter Trummer – it looks like a fantastic series.
For my own part, I think I've got a great talk planned – called "Cities Gone Wild" – expanding from the lecture I gave back in November, sponsored by the Complex Terrain Laboratory, at University College, London.
This talk begins at 5pm on Wednesday, January 7; it's free and open to the public; and it will take place in Anderson Hall.
I don't know how many readers BLDGBLOG has in Houston – or, for that matter, at Rice – but I'd love to see some of you there. And please introduce yourselves, too, as I love meeting new people.
Also, at the end of my talk I hope to address the more general subject of blogging, if for no other reason than I can guarantee that there are students enrolled at Rice right now – and people living in Houston – who have something interesting to say and simply need a new platform from which to say it. I'd be happy to talk about establishing a blog and so on, as that's not a topic I've much addressed throughout all of these talks.
Finally, I'll be doing thesis reviews at the architecture department all day on Thursday and Friday, so if you happen to be enrolled in the courses I'll be visiting, then cool. I look forward to meeting you!
And come out to the talk – it should be fun.

Climate Progress: Diagnosing a victim of anti-science syndrome (ASS)

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:22:33 +0000

[Note: Watts Up With That, one of the web’s most anti-scientific blogs, is a finalist for the Weblog awards “Best Science Blog” (see “Weblog Awards duped by deniers — again!“). Even more farcically, early voting suggests Watts has a chance of winning (see here). Since the fine science blog Pharyngula is doing well in the voting, I’d now suggest voting for it.]

In this post I’m going to present the general diagnosis for “anti-science syndrome” (ASS). Like most syndromes, ASS is a collection of symptoms that individually may not be serious, but taken together can be quite dangerous — at least it can be dangerous to the health and well-being of humanity if enough people actually believe the victims.

One tell-tale symptom of ASS is that a website or a writer focuses their climate attacks on non-scientists. If that non-scientist is Al Gore, this symptom alone may be definitive.

The other key symptoms involve the repetition of long-debunked denier talking points, commonly without links to supporting material. Such repetition, which can border on the pathological, is a clear warning sign.

Scientists who kept restating and republishing things that had been widely debunked in the scientific literature for many, many years would quickly be diagnosed with ASS. Such people on the web are apparently heroes — at least to the right wing and/or easily duped (see “The Deniers are winning, but only with the GOP“).

If you suspect someone of ASS, look for the repeated use of the following phrases:

(more…)

Michael Totten's Middle East Journal: No Way Out?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:54:05 +0000

The Middle East can look somewhat normal on the surface to first-time visitors, but it’s mind-bogglingly dysfunctional, and it is obviously so to anyone who has spent even a couple of months in the region. (It is also obvious to some people who know almost nothing at all about that part of the world.) Sometimes, especially when I’m in Iraq, I think the problems there are simply bottomless and that a solution does not exist. President Bush couldn’t fix it. President Obama will not fix it either. If you don’t believe me – wait.

It’s hard for many naturally optimistic Americans to believe this, but sometimes I fear it is true. Time and experience has done that to me. The Middle East just grinds people down. Beirut, Jerusalem, Baghdad – these are not places you want to spend too much time if you have faith in the human race and linear progress.

I hope I am wrong, but I won’t be proven wrong in the short term.

Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlanic is feeling this much more intensely than I am right now.

I have friends in Gaza about whom I worry a great deal; I've seen many people killed in Gaza; I've served in the Israeli Army in Gaza; I've been kidnapped in Gaza; I've reported for years from Gaza; I hope my former army doesn't kill the wrong people in Gaza; I hope Israeli soldiers all leave Gaza alive; I know they'll be back in Gaza; I think this operation will work; and I have no actual hope that it will work for very long, because nothing works for very long in the Middle East. Gaza is where dreams of reconciliation go to die. Gaza is where the dream of Palestinian statehood goes to die; Gaza is where the Zionist dream might yet die. Or, more to the point, might be murdered. I'm not a J Street moral-equivalence sort of guy. Yes, Israel makes constant mistakes, which I note rather frequently, but this conflict reminds me once again that Israel is up against an implacable force, namely, an interpretation of Islam that disallows the idea of Jewish national equality.

My paralysis isn't an analytical paralysis. It's the paralysis that comes from thinking that maybe there's no way out. Not out of Gaza, out of the whole thing.

Global Voices (India): The Role of Internet and Mobile in Israel’s Gaza Strip Bombing

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:38 +0000

Indian blogger Gaurav Mishra analyzes the role of Internet and cellphones in Israel’s Gaza strip attacks.

ThreatExpert: "The Road to Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions", Part II

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:56:00 +0000

It's been a while since the previous post discussed commercial "intelligence gathering tool".

It would have seemed ridiculous, if this time it wasn't UK government who thinks it's acceptable to hack into home computers, spread malware via email, log users' keystrokes, or sniff users' traffic, if it "believes" that it is "proportionate" and necessary to prevent or detect serious crime.

Whoever came up with this idea is apparently the follower of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), a strong believer that "the ends justify the means". Especially when it comes to the fight with paedophiles and terrorists, as if the last two words were doing exceptional job in shutting down one's intellect.

Considering these news follow other ridiculous reports that the UK military will now run nuclear-missile submarines under Windows XP (no, it's not April 1st), one could fairly ask "What exactly is going on in that part of the world?".

Ed Parsons: Gaza OpenStreetMap help needed

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:52:51 +0000

Your help is needed.. if you have any local knowledge of Gaza please respond to Mikel’s request none of the online sites have adequate mapping and given the urgent nature of the situation this needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network

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Global Voices (India): India: A List Of Celebrity Blogs

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:48:24 +0000

You can find a list of 64 Indian celebrity blogs in Cutting The Chai.

Global Voices (India): India: Compassion vs. Business

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:35:57 +0000

I love life… so I explore discusses a shocking story -“a baby was sold by the doctors of a hospital because the parents could not clear their dues” and raises some questions regarding the health system of India.

Futurismic: Space elevators and orbital solar power

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:47:20 +0000

A nice confluence of Clarkian techno-positivism and 21st century orbital solar power in this post on Short Sharp Science:

There’s another slight problem: the elevator doesn’t exist.

And neither do the supermaterials that could make it a reality. The elevator community’s oft-quoted carbon nanotube fibres languish in labs unable to stretch more than a few tens of centimetres without breaking.

All the more reason, says Swan, to get serious research into elevator technology underway. “We should initiate the space elevator project now and have the space solar power people buy into the concept that we’ll have one by 2030 and start planning for it. Instead of a 50-year horizon, let’s have a 20-year one.”

Stirring stuff. The space elevator is in the class of things I definitely hope to see within my lifetime.

[from Short Sharp Science][image from tanakawho on flickr]

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Tags: Arthur-C-Clarke • photovoltaics • solar • space exploration • space-elevator

a blog of very little brain: Not for the back cover

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:35:07 +0000

One of the books I got for Christmas was Good Friday: The Death of Irish Republicanism by one Anthony McIntyre. And I thought I would write a review of it, you know, just because I can. And I shall also keep count of the number of reviewing cliches as I go. Place your bets now!

By way of further introdution, this isn’t a book per se (one), more a collection of articles from the sorely missed (two) The Blanket, newspapers, writing groups and more. Did I ever mention I wrote for the Blanket?. If you know my real name, fvdo real, you can find them. Get me, rubbing shoulders with authors. I should also point out I have had tea in the author’s kitchen, but more of that later. So not so much a review (and I am only one paragraph in), more a tortuous tale of my life, what I believe, what others believe, and where minds meet and history begins, ends and is bent.

To save you, like everyone does in reviews, jumping to the last paragraph (which won’t contain a summary, at least I don’t think it will), this is a great book, an important book (three), but, in the end, not the book Dr McIntyre has in him that I think, know and hope he has in him. I await that book, when it arrives. (four…maybe).

A lot of the articles I have read previously, being a long-time fan of The Blanket. Taking them from there (and the other sources), and putting them together in themed sections works really well, as you get both the narrative of the Peace Process^tm, and Dr McIntyre’s thinking as it, and he, progresses. While that is the book’s great strength, it is also the greatest weakness. (five, definitely). All the parts that make up the themed sections were written for a time and a place (six), and a certain medium, so they are short, pithy, witty (I laughed out loud more than twice, and wry-smiled way more times than that), intelligent and thoughtful. You get through one, then there is a slight disconnect as you get to the next one. Nature of the beast (seven), I guess, it being an anthology of sorts.

While that makes it easy to dip in to to locate certain articles, it also leaves me thinking if the work-shy dirty lefty he is had taken these as research material, and written another work, it would have been even better. But in reality, I am nit-picking. (eight). It really is an excellent work, with the angsty Checz authour quotes kept to a minimum. Sure, some turns of phrase get used a few times, but that only comes out as I have ample time to read on the train, and can go through a book quite quickly.

More sticky (hahahaha, geddit?) is that fact (and both he and I would acknowledge it) that we are different political persuasions. (And on differing sides, as others would see it, in the Norn Iron conflict of recent years. No, it hasn’t gone away you know. Although I have a, as you might expect, complicated lineage.) But, as Voltaire said, snip one of the ultimate cliches nine. I have always found him engaging to talk to, articulate, erudite and fun. Given the qualms some would have at talking to him (from where I am from), I had none, and enjoyed our brief conversations. His insight spills over into the book, and much of his analysis I would agree with. (There are some moments of evident Left-isms, but given his background, that is to be expected. While I am not against a United Ireland myself, I would certainly not be for some socialistic thirty-two county disaster project. shudder) I wish the interview with Hugh Orde had been printed, if only to dovetail the article mentioning it, but I guess there were reasons for that.

It is important historically for the very reason that history is written by the victor (ten), but in the case of Northern Ireland, it is written (rewritten, being written, etcetc) by the spinners. It is important historically as while my race have long memories, those memories are sometimes recast for all sorts of reasons, be they political expediency (and there is a lot of that referenced, spotted and called out in the book), MOPEry or whatever. And reading these articles does take your breath away at not only the hypocrisy of the Republican leadership (this is about Republicans, so no whataboutery, please) but the downright gall of their lies. We all know they lied, but gathered together like this makes is both starkly, and comically, depressing. It takes the years worth of material on offer here put together in this way to really drive this point home.

And the time is another of the disconnections. Given the wide-ranging remit (eleven) of the themes, you can finish one section then find yourself years previous in the next. Again, with the reworking of these into a large volume, this might have disappated somewhat, but it isn’t that jarring, truth be told. I am just trying not to be overly gushing. I have a reputation as a grump who likes nothing to uphold here. Even within the themes there is some jumping around in time, but not anything that disrupts the flow of discussion.

Some of the turns of phrase are Norn Iron through-and-through, but not enough to put off someone with an interest in learning more, and a different viewpoint, of Irish politics post-peace process. The writing is clean, understandable, fluent and makes its point well. The nature of them being punchy short(ish) pieces, I guess. Again I think they would make the basis of a great longer book.

The themes work even if you have no background in The Troubles and the recent peace machinations. (While certainly not agreeing with anything Dolours Price would think, I also wondered at the time of the first (90s) ceasefire why there were victory parades down The Falls. They are all glad they have stopped shooting my lot, their lot, the police and the army? What what?) More important still is the fact this isn’t mainstream (in NI sense) thinking, dissenting from the hegemony beamed from Andytown. Surely a Christmas present for those leechers, moochers and parasites in Stormont. It wouldn’t do them a bit of harm to hear something new, something different and something true. Dr McIntyre, I salute you and your work. Now get writing that longer book.

Not sure that that did end up being about me (it is all about me!), and might even almost be a proper review. But what do I know?

It's Getting Hot in Here: Dana K

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:40:11 +0000

“The Good, The Bad & the Unbreathable” is a powerful post on the local impacts of TVA Ash Spill Disaster from http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/ — In an earlier post she mentions her grandson: “I have very huge concerns related to this spill. I have an 18 month old (I am his custodial grandmother) who is a high-risk infant, born prematurely and was on mechanical ventilation for 7 weeks at birth… already compromised and with many medical issues……” and what later happens to them:

My Grandson became sick yesterday… Cough…. stuffy nose…. sneezing….. flushed….. didn’t want to eat….. not wanting to nap either….

It was windy yesterday just like the day before… and the ash had to be flying.

I took him to the ER as recommended by his physician. I took the information that TVA had given me, as well as a MSDS sheet about fly ash.

He had to endure a nasal wash & suction, x-rays, monitoring of his oxygen levels. The conclusion? Irritation from the fly ash, specifically airborne.

TVA is aware, and we are currently at a local hotel. The Doctor recommended that he not go home… we not go home….avoid the area altogether.

I didn’t realize how I would feel once someone told me I couldn’t go home. I didn’t sink in until this morning. Due to the stress and the lack of sleep… I began to meltdown. “don’t go home”…. keeps rolling through my head.

No, we didn’t lose our home to visible damage…. but we can’t go home.

Posted in global warming

Climate Progress: A blueprint for greening small businesses and SBA

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:24:42 +0000

[Bill Becker worked at SBA (Small Business Administration) before coming to DOE, where I met him. We tried to get SBA to use its huge loan program to help small businesses buy energy-saving equipment — authority the SBA already has. But SBA had no interest. Obama’s pick for SBA, venture capitalist Karen Gordon Mills, has green cred and joins a very cleantech savvy Obama team, so hopefully she will green SBA. Following Bill’s recommendations below would be a good place to start.]

Companies that are “too big to fail” have been getting most attention in the bailout packages emerging from the federal government. But in the economic recovery plan now being considered by Congress and the incoming Obama Administration, the focus should be on small businesses.

While the Big Three have been the latest squeaky wheels to get greased by billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money, small businesses are the real engine of job creation and innovation in the U.S. economy. With a little bit of help, they will be the locomotive that pulls us into the new energy economy of the 21st century.

The U.S. SBA defines small companies as those with fewer than 500 employees. If there are any doubts about their influence on the economy, consider these statistics from the SBA and the U.S. Census:

(more…)

Michael Totten's Middle East Journal: On the Air with Lars

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:22:36 +0000

I'm going to be on the air with Lars Larson at 3:20pm Pacific time today if you want to listen.

UPDATE: You can listen to an archived version of the program after 7:30pm Pacific time here.

Garry's Programmers Log: Upcoming Cambridge Talks - Why Can’t IT Projects be insured?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:57:35 +0000

Another month, another BCS SPA talk. The next SPA Cambridge meeting will take place on Wednesday 14th January at Microsoft Research Centre, Cambridge.

Why Can’t IT Projects be insured?
Graham Oakes
January 14th 2009, 7:00pm (light buffet) 7:30pm (talk)
Venue: Microsoft Research Centre Cambridge

Synopsis:

Many organisations, especially small to medium businesses and public sector bodies, are failing to initiate valuable projects. They read statistics such as the Chaos Reports and get scared of the risks of project failure. They talk to IT companies and get confused by the technical jargon. They don’t trust the consultancy industry to help them navigate this maze. So they don’t initiate projects that might actually deliver a lot of value. Or if they do initiate projects, they bound them with such tight “risk mitigation” practices - heavyweight procurement processes, long contractual negotiations, burdensome project oversight structures - that an atmosphere of mistrust and bureaucracy is built in from the outset. This, perversely, increases the risk of failure even further, creating the conditions for an escalating “cycle of mistrust”.

This mistrust hurts all of us. Organisations are forgoing potential benefits. Developers are forgoing potential work. Or if we do get work, it’s set up for failure from the outset.

In the film industry, insurance is used to mitigate some of this mistrust. Independent film producers often need to arrange “completion bonds” in order to obtain financing for their films. These are effectively insurance policies that projects will deliver on time and on budget. The financier pays a premium to an independent third party (the guarantor), who then monitors the project and ensures it stays on track. And if it doesn’t, then the guarantor repays the original financing.

Could this work for IT projects? This talk will look at the role of the guarantor, and the way they might help break the cycle of mistrust in many of our current IT projects. I don’t have definitive answers, but I do have some thoughts and many questions, so I hope we’ll have an interesting discussion.

Graham Oakes

Graham Oakes helps people untangle complex technology, relationships, processes and governance. As an independent consultant, he helps organisations such as Sony Computer Entertainment, The Open University, the Council of Europe and the Port of Dover to define strategy, initiate projects and hence run those projects effectively. Prior to going independent, he was Director of Technology at Sapient Limited, where he ran the project review process for the UK Business Unit. Before that he was Head of Project Management for Psygnosis Ltd (a subsidiary of Sony), where he ran Independent Project Assurance teams working across the UK, Europe and the USA. His book “Project Reviews, Assurance and Governance” was published by Gower in October, 2008.

Please preregister at:
http://www.bcs-spa.org/cgi-bin/view/SPA/WhyCantITProjectsBeInsured

Media Standards Trust: How will the government judge if a media merger should go ahead?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:38:27 +0000

Many of the media forecasts for 2009 suggest it will be a year of consolidation. Buffeted by ever colder winds of economic woe - and an even harsher financial climate than 2008 - many media companies will, the forecasters suggest, look to merge with one another, try to piggy back off one anothers resources, and sometimes even 'bunk up' together (most notably in the case of the Independent and

Ed Parsons: Police ‘encouraged’ to hack more

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:36:33 +0000

Having last night watched the excellent “The Lives of Others” DVD last night, a film about the activities of the Stasi in East Germany, the suggestion that the Police should hack more is more than a little scary. So we can expect the police to be running around installing key-loggers and trojans to any one who might disagree with the government of the day ?

And who do you go to now if you suspect the men sitting in the car outside you house are trying to hack into your wifi, the Police.. it might be the police in the first place.

This is a story of most interest to those outside of the UK however, as most IP traffic in the UK is already intercepted by GCHQ via their black boxes at UK ISP’s, a benefit of the nearly 10 year old Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network.. and confirmed by Constable Jones of Twickenham Police Station in his Vauxhall Astra parked outside.

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It's Getting Hot in Here: Breakthrough Generation Fellows

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:34:34 +0000

Looking for a summer internship? How about a paid summer fellowship at one of the country’s most cutting-edge think tanks?

The Breakthrough Institute is seeking up to ten of the country’s top young thought leaders for a paid Fellowship in Summer 2009 as part of its young leaders initiative, Breakthrough Generation. Fellowships are highly competitive — in 2008, 10 percent of applicants were accepted — and involve cutting-edge writing, research, and analysis on energy/climate, national security, the economy, health care, and other issues. Previous Breakthrough Fellows have published in the Harvard Law & Policy Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, and Alternet.

In 2009, Fellows have a unique opportunity to be closely involved with the Breakthrough Institute. Over the next year, Breakthrough will work to seize today’s historic moment to establish a new era of progressive governance that prioritizes major, long-term government investments in clean energy technology innovation, as well as a new social contract. But major obstacles lie ahead, including severe economic recession and an unpredictable global landscape. To seize the moment, our leaders will need bold ideas backed by sharp thinking and clear analysis.

The Breakthrough Institute has a history of reinventing older political paradigms with big ideas. In 2002, Breakthrough co-founded the Apollo Alliance and the new Apollo project for clean energy, which President-elect Obama recently announced is his number one priority alongside stabilizing the economy. We succeed by tapping cutting-edge progressive thinking, sharp analysis, and superb communication to create and advance ideas capable of achieving the broad social and ecological transformations America and the world need.

Fellowships pay $300 per week and are awarded to individuals aged 18-25 who will be closely involved with Breakthrough’s high-level work. Activities and projects include writing short articles and op-eds, researching and writing policy white papers, and conducting interviews with the nation’s top political and policy experts. Fellows will work 40 hours per week for ten weeks during Summer 2009 from Breakthrough’s central office in Oakland, CA.

Breakthrough believes effective political movements emerge out of strong communities, and Fellows will be encouraged to join a special three-day camping retreat during the summer, as well as other social events. Selected Fellows are expected to attend a two-day introduction summit during a weekend in late April or early May, 2009, for which all travel expenses will be covered.

To apply, submit a cover letter, resume or CV, and three writing samples to fellowship@thebreakthrough.org. Writing samples should include at least one op-ed and one research paper. Personal recommendations are welcomed but not required. Applications are due by 5:00PM PST on March 15th, 2009. Please direct any questions to Teryn Norris.

###

Breakthrough Generation Fellows 2008

Posted in Climate Policy, Youth Leaders

Climate Progress: Contest: Write the energy and climate piece of President Obama’s first inaugural address

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:41:28 +0000

The first inaugural address of a President is among the most important and well-crafted speeches they deliver. It sets the direction and tone for their entire presidency. It can inspire the nation and indeed the world.

In two weeks, President-elect Barack Obama will deliver his. Given his well-known eloquence and the dire problems the nation faces, you can be certain this will be the speech of a lifetime.

I’m looking for some powerful rhetoric on energy and climate from you. No, I don’t expect those two subjects will be the primary focus of his remarks, and I expect he will talk more about energy than climate.

But both issues are among the greatest of our time, and Obama’s Cabinet selections make clear he is going to take strong action on both fronts. So does his post-election remarks, “The science is beyond dispute… Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”

Post your suggestions below. Whoever comes closest to what he actually says, wins the chance to post on Climate Progress [woo-hoo!]. Also, if anyone’s suggestion seems especially eloquent, I will send it to people who know Obama well enough to give you a (tiny) chance of making it into his speech.

Some suggestions to would-be speechwriters follow:

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Ayesha's photos: DSC_0295

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:31:46 +0000

london_lime posted a photo:

Ayesha's photos: DSC_0296

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:31:41 +0000

london_lime posted a photo:

Green Futures: A desire named Streetcar

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:28:32 +0000

Hannah Bullock talks to Andrew Valentine, the man who aims to “take the hassle out of driving” – while taking our cars off the roads.

You probably picture a ‘sustainable entrepreneur’ as an idealist with bagfuls of ideas on how to save the world – who just needs the funding to do it. Not so Andrew Valentine, who set up Streetcar with Brett Akker simply because no one else had cashed in on the concept.

“Brett and I decided at university that we’d start a business of some sort together,” says Valentine. They researched everything from organic food to alcoholic drinks, going through quite a “structured process”, but found nothing which fired their entrepreneurial zeal. “Then we read an article about a car share company abroad and thought, ‘Wow, this is the one!’.”

Streetcar’s USP is its relative cheapness and ease of use – at least compared to a conventional car hire firm. Its vehicles are scattered at thousands of locations across London, simply parked on the street or in car parks. Members can book online or by text, just minutes before they need the car, anytime day or night. It’s all automated, with access by swipecard and pincode. This helps keep costs down to less than £4 an hour for the smallest models, and, unlike normal rentals, the car can be hired for as little as 30 minutes at a time, so assuming one’s available (there’s roughly one car for every 40 members), it can make sense to use one simply for an impulsive dash to the supermarket or an emergency school run.

Valentine’s adamant that it’s these aspects, rather than any green credentials, which have triggered the rapid rise in membership. Streetcar’s sold as a “money saving scheme”, he says, claiming that users who give up their car save up to £2,000 a year, once depreciation, MOT, insurance and parking permits are taken into account. Equally appealing, he believes, is the fact that they’re also getting rid of the “hassle factor” involved in sorting all that out.

Sounds like a no-brainer – but that wasn’t the reaction of the 70 banks and specialist motor funders who turned them down flat. “They all said the same thing,” laughs Valentine. “‘Great idea guys – come back and let us know when it’s operating profitably and we’ll be delighted to support you.’ With hindsight it’s very amusing, but we didn’t find it funny at the time.” The breakthrough finally came when a broker in Aberdeen offered them the first eight cars, which helped persuade an investor down in Sussex to stump up the initial £100,000 needed.

“The banks all said the same to start with: ‘Great idea guys – let us know when it makes a profit and then we’ll support you’”

This step-by-step funding model has helped them grow by degrees, explains Valentine. “We were able to show that a certain number of cars will generate x amount of revenue within a certain period, and another chunk of cars will do the same... so slowly we got more and more banks to buy into us.” For a while it was a strictly two-man job: just Valentine and Akker, “cleaning cars, handing out flyers – the works”. But gradually the funding grew to scale. Last summer they secured £6.4 million from private equity firm Smedvig Capital, and have landed a £10 million funding line from Barclays – no mean feat in this climate. The company’s yet to show a profit, but is expected to come close to breaking even in 2008 – and there are now plans to take it public.

Streetcar aren’t sole players in the car club game, but they’ve stolen a march over rivals Zipcar and City Car to take 75% of the market. Valentine identifies two factors behind its success: service levels and the proximity of locations – in other words, the fact that, thanks to the strategic scattering of Streetcars, there’s a good chance you’ll find one within reasonable walking distance – at least in inner London.

With his silky-smooth accent and pink shirt, it’s easy to imagine Valentine would be just as happy selling loft conversions in Islington as running a green enterprise from a Wimbledon industrial estate. But he’s not oblivious to the environmental benefits. According to Transport for London, each of their 1,000 pay-as-you-go cars means 20 fewer privately owned ones on the streets (the company’s figures come out at 27). And Valentine says he’s delighted at surveys which suggest Streetcar members drive 65% fewer miles, on average, then they did before joining. Instead they walk, cycle or use public transport more. “If you have a car sitting outside, the marginal cost of using it is zero, because you’ve paid for everything already,” he explains. “Whereas, if you’re using Streetcar you’re paying only when you consume it.”

He hopes to hardwire that type of thinking into young drivers across the country as the business expands into more university towns. Catch ’em young, and in several decades we might “start to see some pretty dramatic changes”. And of course, carless, cash-strapped students represent a perfect business opportunity...

With the service so well suited to short hops across town, are we going to see an electric Streetcar, then? Not yet, says Valentine; there just aren’t enough charging points around. It’s a caution which extends to other types of alternative technology. Right at the start, he and Akker decided against the Toyota Prius because of its high cost and rapid depreciation rate, and went instead for the Volkswagen Golf and Polo. They’re gradually adding VW BlueMotions to the fleet, whose Polo version is one of the only three non-electric cars on sale in the UK that emit less than 100g/km of carbon dioxide. It even outdoes the Prius on that front, too (99g/km versus 104g/km).

Sticking to petrol cars makes for easier expansion, says Valentine, particularly among business and the public sector – currently their fastest growing client base. Overall, the company’s set a target of 250,000 members across London by 2012.

But isn’t it beyond the capital that we need car share schemes the most? That’s the argument of national car share charity Carplus: “The real test now is to make the benefits of car clubs accessible to all drivers in the country,” says director Antonia Roberts. “Significant effort needs to go into creating a national network of pay-as-you-go vehicles.”

Valentine’s response shows his true entrepreneurial colours; Streetcar isn’t a public transport service, he says. “The countryside doesn’t tend to offer the density of population that would sustain it.” But new partnerships may change that. “If a rural development agency, for example, wanted people to give up cars in a village, that might support a couple of vehicles. It would need a combination of public and private money to make it work.”

So is there one thing Valentine would have done differently if he could? The mask of confidence slips, but just for a second: “I wish I had known how successful it was going to be; it would have prevented a huge amount of worrying!”

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Ayesha's photos: DSC_0295

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Green Futures: A desire named Streetcar