Zeitgeist II

The Self-healing Minefield — the military gets gung-ho about smart networks and peering. Terrifying.

Zeitgeist

We’ve been looking at satellite phones for a project in a hot place far from normal coverage. The best we’ve found so far is the Thrane & Thrane TT-3080A which has worldwide coverage through Inmarsat, and can do single-channel ISDN data transfer. The only problem, according to the very helpful sales guy at Satphone.co.uk, is that we’ll have to get our order in quickly “as we only have limited numbers of them and they are very popular with journalists going to the Middle East.”

Music Piracy a Blip, says Lessig

From Associated Press: Washington politicians would make a grave mistake in crafting new copy-protection laws based on Internet patterns today, an influential Stanford law professor warned. The professor, Lawrence Lessig, pointed out Wednesday that millions of consumers are downloading music and other materials onto their computers because slow dial-up connections make it tough to stream content quickly to a variety of devices. That’s bound to change within a few years as connections get faster, he said, making today’s debate irrelevant. “In the future, it will be easier to pay for subscription services than to be an amateur database administrator who …

Low-Tech Location-Sensitivity

A very simple idea for low-tech location-sensitivity for venues, which usesonly mobile text-messaging, some printed signs and a central database.

Sky+

Sky+ — hybrid PVR/multichannel television, seems at first glance a risky proposition for Sky. Or is it?

Wireless Interventions

We’ve been playing with the idea of ‘air drop’ technology for instant tactical collaboration in found spaces for a few years. I’m wondering if the new ‘PacketPC’ hardware really offers anything new and useful.

The School of Sound

The School of Sound — ‘a unique symposium exploring the art of sound witht he moving image” happens in London in April. Shame I can’t afford to go.