Question Technology

Lessig on Keen

Lawrence Lessig unleashes his sarcasm on Andrew Keen in a rather petulant review: Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!

Google Street-Level Photos and Privacy

It's generating lots of talk:

• New York Times: Google Zooms In Too Close for Some.
• NYT The Lede blog: Scenes Through the Eyes of Google.
• Lauren Weinstein: Thoughts on Google Maps Street Level Photos and Privacy.
• Michael Zimmer: Google's "Street View" and Privacy in Public.
• A collection of interesting sightings at Wired: Request for urban street sightings,
• and at BoingBoing: Google maps is spying on my cat.

As someone who has done image processing research I'm a bit surprised that they didn't run the images through some code to automatically detect and blur license plates, faces and maybe other things.  That's a challenging problem but not outside the realm of possibility (call me, Google). :)

On Google and privacy generally, see also Ann Bartow: The Google Threat.

One more: Farhad Manjoo has a pretty good recap at his all-new Machinist blog at Salon: Google is watching you (but so is everyone else).

New Books

A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium by Robert Friedel is a new book on the history of technology in the West, written with an eye to social aspects.  I picked it up last week and am really looking forward to reading it.  It's drawing comparisons to Lewis Mumford's books, but Friedel is thankfully less verbose and this book is more modern in its content and historical approach.  More links: publisher's page, New York Times review.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll read William Langewiesche's The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor.  I've been overdosing on reading about nuclear weapons lately -- aside from the odd article on our current predicaments, I recently read Gerard Degroot's excellent history of nuclear weapons, The Bomb: A Life, and Nevil Shute's classic novel of post-nuclear apocalypse, On the Beach.  I wasn't that impressed with Langewiesche's Colbert Report interview (I love Colbert, but the interviews often don't work).  From all accounts Langewiesche is an excellent journalist and writer, though, and this is a vitally important topic.

Speaking of weapons, I've been reading Sharon Weinberger's Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld, which just came out in paperback.  She writes about the often far-fetched ideas for weapons that get researched at the Pentagon.  In particular she follows the story of the hafnium bomb, a failed attempt in recent years to develop a new kind of nuclear bomb that could be delivered in a much smaller package (e.g. a hand grenade).  The book is fascinating reading.  Sharon Weinberger has a blog and has also been blogging about defense technology at Wired.

Scott Berkun's The Myths of Innovation looks interesting.  The premise seems similar to Bob Seidenstecker's Future Hype, but directed more towards a business audience.  Scott Berkun has a website.

Steve Talbott has a new book that collects essays from his NetFuture newsletter: Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in an Age of Machines.  Talbott draws largely from philosopher Albert Borgmann but has a more accessible writing style.

Going Nucular

In These Times has a good article about the renewed efforts in the US since 9-11 to develop new, "more usable" types of nuclear weapons.  Excerpt:

Nearly 20 years after the Berlin Wall crumbled, the United States is allocating more funding, on average, to nuclear weapons than during the Cold War. The Bush administration is pumping this money—more than $6 billion this year—into renovating the nuclear weapons complex and designing new nuclear weapons. Such hypocrisy is one of the main obstacles to nuclear arms reductions because it runs the risk of shattering the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in which the nuclear-armed states pledged to begin the process of disarmament if the non-nuclear states opted not to pursue the deadly technology.

Link: Duck and Cover: The Bush administration's "Complex 2030" plan is reviving the nuclear threat.

This article is from the May issue.  Some good news is that last week the house panel voting on funding for the "RRW" program rejected it.  From a statement by the Union of Concerned Scientists:

WASHINGTON (May 23, 2007) – In a dramatic rebuke to the Bush administration’s plans for new nuclear weapons, the House Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee today eliminated funding for the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, calling instead for a comprehensive nuclear strategy and stockpile plan. The RRW program called for spending $119 million to design the first of a new generation of nuclear warheads.

Link: House Panel Zeroes Out New Nuclear Warhead Program.

More Amateur Stuff

Continuing with the previous topic: Clay Shirky has posted a thoughtful critique of Andrew Keen's book: What are we going to say about the "Cult of the Amateur"?

Google Decider (Beta)

Eric Schmidt discusses Google's future:

Asked how Google might look in five years’ time, Mr Schmidt said: “We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation.

“The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’ ”

[...]

Mr Schmidt told journalists in London: “We cannot even answer the most basic questions because we don’t know enough about you. That is the most important aspect of Google’s expansion.”

Link: Google's goal: To organize your daily life (Financial Times),

via Rough Type.

I look forward to offloading all my big decisions onto Google.

Amateurs and Other Internauts

Scott Rosenberg has a recap of tonight's Berkeley Cybersalon with "Cult of the Amateur" author Andrew Keen:

“Is it always like this?” A business acquaintance who I chatted with briefly at the Berkeley Cybersalon earlier this evening asked me as the panel discussion — titled “New Media Wars: Amateur versus Auteur” — wound down.

“Quite often, actually,” I answered him.

I assumed he was referring to the heated back-and-forth between the attendees and the panelists — and, occasionally, among the panelists themselves (Dan Gillmor, Katie Hafner, Robert Scoble and Andrew Keen). The event’s hook was Keen’s new book, “The Cult of the Amateur.” Keen’s self-described “polemic” is not yet available, and I haven’t read it, so I won’t comment directly on it. But the book’s subtitle tells you where Keen’s coming from: “How today’s Internet is killing our culture.”

[...]

Keen has lobbed his bombs before — and in the same place, yet — but I find it hard to take them seriously. (I should mention that he did a podcast interview with me about my book — and he’s charming when he’s not lobbing grenades and building stockades around the ancien regime.) I don’t think he honestly believes that, as his book’s subtitle has it, “The Internet is killing our culture.” Ironically, of course, Keen himself used his own blog as a launch pad for his ideas. He admitted tonight that he is, himself, an “amateur writer.” He claims to be motivated by a desire to “annoy libertarians of the left and libertarians of the right.”

Something tells me he might win a little less attention but a lot more credibility if he stopped trying so hard to annoy. There must be some valuable criticism lodged among all the bluster.

Link: Amateur Hour.

I must admit I'm a bit tired of Keen's shtick already, just from all the publicity and blogging about it.

Rosenberg mentions another new book that it seems everyone in that incestuous A-list Silicon Valley/Wired blogger world is gushing over: David Weinberger's Everything is Miscellaneous.  Publisher's Weekly says Weinberger "joins the ranks of social thinkers striving to construct new theories around the success of Google and Wikipedia."  In other words it's the latest half-baked "the internet is changing everything!" business claptrap to keep the venture capitalists excited.  I think I'll pass.

On the Internet, the Big Get Bigger

Excerpt from an article by Nicholas Carr in the Guardian last week:

On the internet, the big get bigger. It wasn't supposed to be like that. When the web arrived in the early 1990s, it was heralded as a liberating force that would free us from the confines of gated communities like AOL and Compuserve. The internet was supposed to be an open, democratic medium, an information bazaar putting individuals on the same footing as big companies.

In the end, though, the internet seems to be following the same pattern that has always characterised popular media. A few huge outlets come to dominate readership and viewership and smaller, more specialised ones are consigned to the periphery. Most of the largest sites are now in the midst of acquisition sprees or expansion programs intended to extend their dominion.

Link: The net is being carved up into information plantations.

See also the discussion at Nicholas Carr's blog, and the cartoon by Oliver Widder.

Libraries vs. Bookstores vs. Google

Some interesting discussion on the different missions of libraries and bookstores: first by Tracy Nectoux at Library Juice, then Michael Zimmer adds Google Book Search into the mix at his blog. 

DNA Testing For Dogs

From Technology Review's blog:

A new genetic test, marketed by Maryland-based MetaMorphix, can determine a dog's mix of breeds with 90 percent accuracy. The company has processed thousands of tests since the product went on the market in February, CEO Edwin Quattlebaum said at the Biotechnology Industry Convention in Boston earlier this week.

Because many canine diseases are linked to particular breeds, the results could help owners make health decisions about their dogs. The test has also garnered interest from animal shelters: shelter employees say that being able to provide a bit of a dog's "back story" encourages people to adopt. "Owners get a kick out of knowing the heritage of their dogs," says Quattlebaum.

Link: Uncovering your dog's genetic history.

It seems like this opens up some of the same medical ethics dilemmas that genetic testing in people does.  And maybe I'm being a bit too negative, but when I read about knowing a dog's heritage before adopting, I think more about the flip-side -- that this will result in more dogs of mixed or less popular breeds being euthanized.

I'm surprised at that accuracy rating -- 90 percent accuracy at identifying only 38 breeds doesn't seem very impressive.

Update: In the comments, Angela has pointed to an earlier story in the Washington Post on the troubled history of MetaMorphix: Independent Biotech Follows DNA to Dollars.  (Thanks Angela!)

A Netflix for Books?

For those people too lazy to visit a library:

BookSwim aims to be the "Netflix of books." Since 1998, Netflix has become the king of online DVD services by renting batches of DVDs via the mail for a fixed monthly fee, and letting subscribers keep the movies as long as they like.

That's how BookSwim is meant to work. For $15 to $20 per month, the company will send your top five book choices. Return three books in a prepaid envelope, and your next three choices will be mailed to you.

For now, the founders are the only employees and will handle the mailing themselves. Assuming demand develops, they plan to hire part-time helpers.

Link: A trip to the library, just outside your door (Minneapolis Star-Tribune),

via BookNinja.

I would strongly encourage people considering this service to look closer at what their public libraries offer for free.  Many now have weekend hours and special programs for people with disabilities, including book delivery by mail, not to mention a much bigger selection of books.

Today's News Brought To You By Buggy Software

It seems like every other story in today's news is about software bugs (all links are to the San Francisco Chronicle):

Drivers have been complaining since March that they're blinded by the glare from a new electronic billboard near the Bay Bridge in Oakland.  This is the same notoriously unsafe stretch of road where a tanker truck overturned recently and caused the freeway to collapse.  Because of buggy software the sign is running at daytime brightness levels both day and night, rather than dimming automatically at dusk.  It's unclear from what I've read whether the sign will actually be shut off and fixed; it sounds like Caltrans doesn't know what it's doing, and the Oakland schools that are promised advertising revenue from the sign are more concerned about losing money if the sign is shut off.  Links: Billboard at toll plaza too bright, drivers complain and Editorial: Warning -- Politicians at work.

Streetcars were delayed once again in San Francisco during rush hour because of a "software glitch."  The upside, we're told, is that this particular glitch, unlike all the previous ones, "happens infrequently."  I guess fixing the bug so it never happens is out of the question?  Link: Muni metro falls down on the job again.

Ike Turner was arrested Tuesday night because of a warrant from 1989 that erroneously popped up again on a police computer.  Lucky for them Turner seems oblivious: he's not mad and said, "They could have been right."  Link: Turner 'drug charge' a computer error.

San Francisco's voting machines have unspecified software "anomalies" and so ballots will probably have to be counted by hand in the upcoming local election.  Link: S.F. may have to count November ballots by hand.

And one story not about bugs, at least not yet: Latest technology will enable speedier purchases!  Throw out your cash and credit cards because "smart cards embedded with computer chips will take the place of the magnetic stripe, and keychain fobs, chips in cell phones and even biometrics linked to people's fingerprints could take the place of cash and credit."  Finally someone solves that horrible problem of not being able to spend money fast enough.

Studs Terkel at 95

Some good articles on the occasion of his 95th birthday: Roger Ebert, interview with In These Times, an appreciation by Calvin Trillin in The Nation.

Oppose New Nuclear Weapons

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a defense authorization bill that includes the Bush administration’s proposals to build a new generation of nuclear weapons—a proposal that is unnecessary, costly, provocative, and could lead to the resumption of nuclear testing. The bill also includes more than $9.5 billion for flawed ballistic missile defense programs. Write today and urge your representative to oppose funding for unnecessary new nuclear weapons and to support amendments to reduce funding for unproven, flawed missile defense programs.

If you're in the US you can send use the UCS's form to write a letter to your representative.

Risks of Mixing iPods and Pacemakers

From Reuters:

iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday.    

The study tested the effect of the portable music devices on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds.   

The study did not examine any portable music devices other than iPods, which are made by Apple Inc.

In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.

The study was held at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University. The results were presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver.

Link: iPods can make pacemakers malfunction: study.

I imagine this is not terribly surprising and from the little I've read I get the impression that  people with pacemakers are told to be cautious with any electrical devices.  So I doubt this is big news for most regular people who might actually be affected by it. 

What I find most interesting is two aspects of the coverage this story is getting online, based on articles and comments I've read at TechCrunch, CrunchGear, TechDirt, and Consumerist.

First there's the ageism: people assume that only old people have pacemakers and only young people use iPods.  Newsflash: old folks like music! and they too like to take it with them.  And one day you kids will be old and you'll still want your iPods, though you'll probably need extra large buttons by then because of the arthritis in your fingers from all the text messaging you're now doing.

Then there's the bizarre criticism that the study is invalid because they didn't test other music players, as if medical research is just Consumer Reports-style product testing.  Apple virtually owns this market -- it'd be strange not to start with an iPod if you were doing this sort of study.  I assume their message (to the heart rhythm specialists they presented this to) is that the medical community needs to be aware of this, study it further, and maybe make their patients more aware of it.  It's silly to think that they're saying to anyone "buy a Zune instead."

Of course I should know better than to take seriously the stuff at TechDirt and its ilk.  Reading TechSmug (as I like to call it) always irritates me.  I should have stayed away from it like I swore I would months ago.

(For the record, I use an iPod and a Mac too!)