Tag: technology

Dreaming of Electric Sheep

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

Fascinating. But how would this contend with the need to sift internally-generated and memory-based images from bona fide or current visual captures of the world around us? This would create potential new complications, I think, for anyone using visualization as a training aid, for example, and implies some tricky possibilities for both lie-detection technology and how to defeat it.  Next-gen would have to include machine readable memory time-stamps and GPS data… like some eidetic fusion of augmented reality and dream analysis.

H/t Zen.

Omnivore 07/10/09

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

Centcom Responds to Post on Iraqi Deaths, R. Adm. Hal Pittman, At War/New York Times

Our Shifting Urban Landscape, James Danoff-Burg, Seed Magazine

Polymaths: 20 Living Examples, Ed Cumming, Intelligence Life

Text Messaging Shows Promise as a Survey Tool, Simmi Aujla, Chronicle of Higher Education

Taliban Prison Wall Art, Bill Graveland, Canadian Press

A General Within Bounds, Michael O’Hanlon, Washington Post

NATO & Critical Infrastructure Protection – Tech Demo

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

I (and a lot of other people) helped define some of the margins of and requirements for this, once upon a time. 

NATO Sponsors Critical Infrastructure Protection Technology Demonstration

From 5-15 October, “BELCOAST 09” is marking the fifth anniversary of NATO’s Defence Against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT PoW), demonstrating technologies that can improve the protection of military installations in operations. The event will take place at Koksijde Air Base and other locations along the Belgian coast.

More than 160 companies will join military units and technology experts to show, test and explain technologies for defending against different threat scenarios, including mortar, rocket and improvised explosive devices; chemical and biological attacks; and threats to land-based, maritime and aviation infrastructure. Technologies for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition and non-lethal capabilities will also be shown.   

In response to the terrorist bombings in Madrid in March 2004, NATO launched the DAT PoW to develop cutting-edge technology or adapt existing technology to protect troops and civilians from terrorist attacks and other asymmetric threats. It comprises 10 technology initiatives, to include countering improvised explosive devices, defending against mortar attack and developing non-lethal capabilities. One initiative, critical infrastructure protection, led by Belgium, focuses on technologies that protect important civilian and military infrastructure.

Media is invited to attend on Wednesday, 14 October, at Koksijde Air Base for video presentations of the demonstrations and keynote speeches by Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe, General Sir John McColl, and the Chairman of the NATO Research and Technology Board, Dr Robert S. Walker.

Media registration by 8 October is compulsory. The programme is available and registration can be done online on the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defence in French and in Dutch.

More information on this event can be found at: http://www.belcoast09.org/.

Omnivore 22/09/09

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

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

Time Lags, Virtual Desync, and Spatial Dissonance

~ Michael A. Innes ~ 1 Comment

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.