Omnivore 22/09/09

From Dragons to Smartphones, Jon Evans, Wired Blog

How To Live Off the Grid, Nick Rosen, Wired UK

Harness Maharishi Effect, Combat Cyber Attacks, Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

Foul Play: The Risk of Antisocial Behavior in Online Gaming, Max Burns, Pixels and Policy

Illuminating Dark Economies, Lee Billings, Seed Magazine

Embrace Human Cloning, Greg Easterbrook, Wired Magazine

Inside the Red Book, Scott Horton, Harper’s Magazine

Googling Juror Leads to Verdict Being Overturned, Michael Masnick, Techdirt

Bold Rwanda Takes Broadband Leap, Adam Blenford, BBC News

Insect Wing Design & Deformation – Enhance Aerodynamic Function & Wing Design, John Young et al.,  Science

Jon Western at Duck of Minerva

Last Friday, Charli Carpenter announced that Jon Western, Five College Associate Professor at Mount Holyoake College, has joined the blogging team at Duck of Minerva. Western featured prominently in Samantha Power’s Pulitzer-winning book  A Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide; she describes how he, and others like him, resigned in protest from the US State Department in the mid-1990s. Western’s first post at DoM, not to mention his work on humanitarian intervention, suggest that the blogosphere and the discussion on Afghanistan have just been elevated. One worth watching.

Time Lags, Virtual Desync, and Spatial Dissonance

I think Tim’s on to something with this. I’ve been chewing on it for a few days now; essentially, the virtual metaphor in this has obvious application to tactile realities… more, it’s anchored in them. I’m not sure I agree with Virilio’s assertion that the interruption in question “plays more on temporality than on space”, which is awkward, given that temporality is a form of space; but I’ll defer to Tim’s greater knowledge of the author. Where I think we agree is the understanding that treating physical locations as spatial determinants elides important elements of a larger picture; that social constructions of space fill more than one dimension and offer a more holistic and fruitful way of looking at things; and that the interface between nets, webs, and our understanding of the spaces in between suggest intriguing pathways for inquiry.

Omnivore 21/09/09

Panther’s Claw Troops Back in UK, BBC News

Roboboat? C.J. Chivers, At War

McChrystal Calls For More Troops to Avoid Afghan Failure, Eric Schmitt and Tom Shanker, New York Times

Afghanistan Statebuilding, Jon Western, Duck of Minerva

Assess the Debate For Yourself, Bernard Finel, BernardFinel.com

They Will Mobilize If We Leave… And If  We Stay, Patrick Porter, Kings of War

Terror Suspect Had Bomb Guide, David Johnston and William K. Rashbaum,  New York Times

Third Night of Trouble in Armagh, BBC News

Police Clamp Down Amid Fears of Major Terror Attack, Henry MacDonald, The Guardian