History and Technology

Card-Programmed Electronic Calculator.

2005-03-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

John W. Sheldon, Liston Tatum, The IBM Card-Programmed Electronic Calculator(1951):
Tracking a guided missile on a test range now is the only way to make sure of its performance. At one Department of Defense facility this is done by planting batteries of cameras or phototheodolites along a 100-mile course. During its flight, the missile position is recorded by each camera at 100 frames per second, together with the camera training angles. Formerly these thousands of pictures from each of many cameras were turned over to a crew of computers, to determine just what happened. It took 2 weeks to make the calculations for a single flight. Now this is done on the International Business Machines (IBM) Card-Programmed Electronic Calculator in about 8 hours, and the tests can proceed.

The Triple Revolution Memorandum--1964.

2005-03-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Robert Macbride, The Automated State(1967):
The Triple Revolution
The Cybernation Revolution: A new era of production has begun. Its principles of organization are as different from those of the industrial era as those of the industrial era were different from the agricultural. The cybernation revolution has been brought about by the combination of the computer and the automated self-regulating machine. This results in a system of almost unlimited productive capacity which requires progressively less human labor. Cybernation is already reorganizing the economic and social system to meet its own needs.

The Weaponry Revolution: New forms of weaponry have been developed which cannot win wars but which can obliterate civilization. We are recognizing only now that the great weapons have eliminated war as a method for resolving international conflicts. The ever-present threat of total destruction is tempered by the knowledge of the final futility of war. The need of a "warless world" is generally recognized, though achieving it will be a long and frustrating process.

The Human Rights Revolution: A universal demand for full human rights is now clearly evident. It continues to be demonstrated in the civil rights movement within the United States. But this is only the local manifestation of a worldwide movement toward the establishment of social and political regimes in which every individual will feel valued and none will feel rejected on account of his race,(pp. 192-193)

ENIAC and the H-Bomb.

2005-03-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb(1995):
The first problem assigned to the first working electronic digital computer in the world was the hydrogen bomb. Los Alamos mathematician Nicholas Metropolis (writing in the third person) recalled participating in the breakthrough: In early 1945, as the construction of the ENIAC was nearing completion, von Neumann raised the question with Frankel and Metropolis of using it to perform the very complex calculations involved in hydrogen bomb design. The ENIAC ran a first rough version of the thermonuclear calculations for six weeks in December 1945 and January 1946, (p.251)

Military Procurement in 1968.

2005-03-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

Richard F. Kaufman, "We Must Guard Against Unwarranted Influence by the Military-Industrial Complex." New York Times MagazineJune 22 1969:
Military and military-related spending accounts for about 45 per cent of all Federal expenditures. In fiscal 1968, the total Federal outlays were $178.9 billion. The Defense Department alone spent $77.4 billion. . .The $4 billion program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other activities intertwined with the military carry the real level of defense spending considerably higher. . .The largest single item in the military budget--it accounted for $44 billion in 1968--is procurement. . .Last year the 100 largest defense suppliers obtained $26.2 billion in military contracts. . .As for NASA, procurement plays a larger role in its activities than in those of any other Federal agency.

The 1961 Air Force Computer.

2005-03-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey Zygmont, Microchip(2003):
As the world's first computer made from integrated circuits, it was a marvel of compression. In an era when computers were unapproachably complex and most often so large they filled rooms, Harvey Cragon's synthetic thinker was about the size of a transistor radio. Its three hundred integrated circuits were stacked sardine-style in columns ten high, with the columns shoehorned five deep and six across into a black metal case. They were simple, first-of-the-genus ICs, each containing only a handful of capacitors, resistors, and transistors. The computer was programmed to perform simple math: addition, subtraction, multiplication. You would tap in a problem using mechanical keys and watch the answer flip up behind a small glass window on the so-called Manual Control Unit--a box that looked to all the world like a chunky cash register, standing separate from the trim, slim computer and more than fifty times larger,(pp. 68-69).

Transistors.

2005-03-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

Ernest Braun and Stuart Macdonald,Revolution in Minature(1982):
The 'major invention of the century' occurred at the Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey on 23 December 1947. The transistor, a device which used semiconductor material to amplify or switch an electric signal, was discovered on that day. . .The germanium point contact transistor was in commercial production at Western Electric by 1951 and also in experimental production in some other large companies, such as Raytheon, at this time. . .By April 1952, the junction transistor was in production at Western Electric, though at less than one hundred a month. Sample lots were also available from Raytheon, RCA and General Electric. . .In May of 1954, Texas Instruments announced it had succeeded in making a silicon transistor. . .The silicon transistor, with its capacity to work in much higher temperatures than any germanium transistor, was of much greater interest to the Military. This was to become a highly significant factor,(pp.33,54,55).

RCA and the 630TS.

2005-03-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Inglis, Behind the Tube(1990):
At the end of World War II, RCA's engineering and production facilities were put into high gear, and in 1946 it introduced the 630TS, which is sometimes described as the Model T of the television industry. (The 6 was the model number, 30 was the number of tubes, and TS meant television and sound.). . .The 630TS clearly put RCA in the lead among televion receiver manufacturers, and RCA surprised the industry in 1947 when, motivated by what it perceived as enlightened self-interest, it made its manufacturing drawings available for free to its competitors. Most of the other companies were cynical about RCA's motives, but RCA was probably sincere when it stated that the industry was bigger than any single company and that helping its growth would help everyone, including itself. RCA immediately increased the market for its picture tube, NBC's audience, and its income from patent licensing and technical aid, (p. 232).

The Promise of Television in 1947.

2005-03-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

Andrew F. Inglis, Behind the Tube(1990):
By the end of 1946, there were fewer than 100,000 television sets in use; 179,000 were added in 1947. . .

David Sarnoff address to the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Atlantic City,September 1947:
This is the message I would like to bring to you. I do not want to ask you to buy television stations, or to erect them, or to urge you to enter television beyond your own convictions, or to promise you immediate profits. But I feel I should be less than frank if I did not on this occasion, particularly when you are all assembled, share with you the thoughts I hold, not only about the future possibilities of television--and my enthusiasm is unlimited as to them--but also the possible effects that television may have upon the present broadcasting business. . .Let me assure you, my friends, after more than forty years of experience in this field of communications and entertainment, I have never seen any protection in merely standing still. There is no protection except through progress. Nor have I ever seen these new scientific developments affect older businesses, except favorably, where those who were progressive gave careful thought and study to the possibilities of new inventions and developments for use in their own businesses. . .Therefore, may I leave you with this final thought: I am not here to urge you to enter the field of television beyond the point where you yourself think it is good business for you to do so; nor to urge that you plunge in all at one time. Rather I would suggest that you reflect carefully and thoughtfully upon the possible ultimate effects of televion upon your established business if you do nothing, and of the great opportunities for your present and future businesses if you do the right thing! (pp. 156,157).

The Cost of a Computer for Business.

2005-03-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Ned Chapin, An Introduction to Automatic Computers(1963):
Buying the stripped-down model is like buying a semifinished house; before you can live in it to comfort, you have to finish the interior work and supply the furnishings. To make effective use of such a computer you must acquire a substantial amount of additional storage equipment, a substantial amount of additional input-output equipment, and some input-output conversion equipment. Often the cost of such optional equipment will run to more than the cost of the basic computer. For example, the quoted base price for the Circle computer was about $57,000, but did not include the optional storage capacity (about $21,000), ten optional magnetic tape units (about $78,250), an optional paper tape reader (about $3100), and optional card input-output equipment (at least $5100). Although the quoted price for the computer was only about $57,000, the cost of the optional equipment came to an additional $107,450. To this would have to be added the price of the input preparation equipment and of any communication equipment. This could easily total more than an additional $100,000, (p.441).

IBM 7090; lease cost per month $65,000; the first large transistorized computer system to be delivered commercially. American Airlines used two 7090s to implament on-line reservation system in 1964.

IBM 1401(1960); lease cost per month $5000; the Southern Railway did its revenue and accounting work on an IBM 705, with two 1401s doing peripheral processing.

IBM 702(1955); lease cost per month $26,000; Chrysler used a 702 primarily to keep track of spare parts but also for vibration analysis in designing new cars. Prudential's applications, maintaining life insurance policy files, actuarial calculations. General Electric, inventory control, design of turbine generators, (Fisher, IBMp. 18).

SAGE(Semi-Automatic Ground Environment).

2005-03-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Franklin M. Fisher et al., IBM and the U.S. Data Processing Industry(1983):
In 1952, shortly after the Soviet Union successfully demonstrated its first nuclear weapon, the U.S. Air Force moved to develop and implement a computer-based air defense system for the continental United States. That system, called SAGE, was intended to provide early warning of a Soviet air attack by tracking airplanes automatically as they travelled across North America and dispatching fighters in case of unauthorized entry. . .Under the SAGE plan the United States was to be divided into 24 radar monitored sectors. Each sector contained a SAGE direction center with a computer installation capable of monitoring that sector's air space by processing radar input, (p.26).

Kenneth Flamm, Creating the Computer(1988):
SAGE was essentially the first wide-area computer network, the first extensive digital data communications system, the first real-time transaction processing system. Concepts developed for its operation formed the base on which time-sharing and computer networks were later developed. Many of these concepts were consciously transported into the business world just a few years later when IBM announced its Semiautomatic Business-Research Environment (SABRE) airline reservation system. SABRE, fully operational in 1964, was the first commercial real-time transaction processing system. The systems are now commonly used for industrial process control, hotel and airline reservations, and financial transactions at automated teller stations. . .IBM had honed its memory technology, AT&T developed the technology of digital data communications and took a commanding lead in high-speed communications netorks and modem technology. Burroughs' small SAGE data reduction computer pushed it into the transistor age, with what was probably the first transistor computer to go into mass production. Graphic display consoles developed for SAGE were the first such devices designed by IBM for a production computer system and later led to the first computer graphics system built at MIT in the early 1960s, (pp. 89-90)

Techno-Science.

2005-03-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb(2000):
The civilianization or militarization of science?
If truth is what is verifiable, the truth of contemporary science is not so much the extent of progress achieved as the scale of technical catastrophes occasioned.
Science, after having been carried along for almost half a century in the arms race of the East-West deterrence era, has developed solely with a view to the pursuit of limit-performances, to the detriment of any effort to discover a coherant truth useful to humanity.
Modern science, having progressively becometechno-science--the product of the fatal confusion between the operational instrument and exploratory research--has slipped its philosophical moorings and lost its way, without anyone taking umbrage at this, except for a few ecological and religious leaders. . .Science, which was once a rigorous field thriving on intellectual adventure, is today bogged down in a technological adventurism that denatures it. 'Science of the excess', of extremes--a limit-science or the limit of science? (pp. 1,3).

Japanese Transistors.

2005-03-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

The National transistor, which is famous throughout the world, owes its expansion to the divine fingers of young Japanese women. . .Matsushita advertisement, 1961.

Simon Partner,Assembled in Japan(1999):
The transistor radio put Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Japan itself on the industrial map. . .The transistor industry was characterized by extremely rapid technological diffusion caused primarily by the pace of development, which made leading companies anxious to squeeze additional profits from obsolescent technologies through the sale of know-how. . .This rapid dissemination of technology enabled various Japanese companies to begin large-scale manufacturing of transistors and transistor radios. Large companies such as Toshiba, Hitachi, Matsushita, Fujitsu, and Nippon Denki achieved this swift development with extensive--even comprehensive--assistance from American and European firms. The greatest provider was RCA, which offered not only its own alloy transistor but also, through cross-licensing, many of its competitors' advances in transistor technology. As a result, transistor factories established from 1957 to 1960 were fully adequate to the task of producing high-frequency transistors for use in radios, (pp. 206,207).

Satellite Television--Asia and India.

2005-03-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

Star-TV across 53 countries from India to Taiwan. Star reaches 300 million people. . AsiaSat-1, launched in 1990, was the first broadcasting satellite to cover the Asia Pacific region. It was the product of a highly successful Asian institutional tradition--that of Chinese private capitalist enterprise operating out of Hong Kong. Owned and operated by the entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing and the broadcasting company Hutchison Whampoa. In 1992, Subhash Chandra, paid 5 million dollars to Star for Hindi language entertainment channel, Zee TV.

David Page and William CrawleySatellites Over South Asia(2001):

The influence of satellite TV is not just about new markets: it is about culture and cultural influences and about the role of the market and the state in defining them. In South Asia, satellite TV has cut across the well established boundaries of the nation state and has raised fears for the future of 'national' cultures. It has also raised widely debated questions about the homogenisation of Indian culture itself in an age of globalisation. . .The agenda of maximising consumption involves downplaying Indian caste divisions and attacking what an executive of Pepsi Cola described as 'the Brahminical cult of contentment and stability'. Transforming a historically caste-divided society into one where people are defined by consumption is one of the objectives of the advertisers, though it does not always go down well with those who support the status quo. There is some evidence, however, that the promotion of consumer products is also promoting what one commentator called 'a kind of social equality at a banal level' (135,144).

Information Warfare: Center for Information Dominance.

2005-02-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

Capt. Kevin R. Hooley on Center for Information Dominance, Corry Station, Pensacola Florida:
Information dominance is absolutly critical in the maritime maneuver space. It serves as a potent deterrent to conflict. It is a key tool in controlling crisis escalation, and is a critical factor in mission effectiveness on the battlefield. CID will shape and lead the training of the capabilities required to successfully exploit, attack, defend and operate in the information domain.

360 Degree Branding: Global Advertising ie. Cultural Imperialism.

2005-02-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

Every point of contact builds the brand. . .At Ogilvy, we take a holistic look at communication and use what is necessary from each discipline to build a brand.

Vinay Kamath, Vipin V. Nair Branding has moved to the boardroom The Hindu Business Line, February 10 2005. Interview with Shelly Lazarus, O&M Worldwide, Chairman:
. . .Steve Hayden (O&M Vice Chairman) just showed the new work for Dove thats being shown all over the world. Its had a remarkable effect on brand sales; its a campaign for real beauty. Its all about celebrating women as they are rather than the stereotypes, they are portrayed as so often. The campaign goes everywhere. There's a huge PR component too. . .So it goes all the way and they've had a surge in sales. IBM is a huge success when that brand turned around. American Express, Kodak, Motorola. They're all examples of successful branding.

The Government.

2005-02-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Jerry J. Berman, Morton H. Halperin eds., The Abuses of the Intelligence Agencies(1975):
Computerized Incident File, USAINTC, Ft. Holabird. Described by the Senate Subcommittee as "the core of the Intelligence Command's data bank of civil disturbance information," this file consisted of a computerized listing of "spot reports." Created in 1968, the computerized spot report file received as many as 1200 reports a month during 1969 and, according to the Subcommittee, may have been "one of the most extraordinary chronicles of domestic political activity ever compiled." The file possessed coding and cross-references to the subversives file, (p. 56).

The Military.

2005-02-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

Robert MacBride,The Automated State(1967):
In looking back over the evolution and development of computer systems, one's attention is repeatedly drawn to the large part that military requirements have played in the process. This is evident not only in a purely technological sense--to the extent that military requirements have tended to dictate the direction of hardware design--but also in the evolution of computer system applications. Again and again, as we trace the growth of computer-based management and analysis techniques, we find direct evidence of, if not a military origin, the military establishment's early support and strong participation,(p.169).

Technological Futurism.

2005-02-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

Joseph J. Corn,Imagining Tomorrow(1986):
As an ideology, a powerful system of rhetoric and belief, technological futurism seems to have functioned in American culture over the last hundred years much in the same way that Karl Marx saw religion functioning in Europe at an earlier time: as an opiate of the masses. In this formulation, expectations of a halcyon future brought forth by technology have had an anesthetic effect. The ability to deal with the social and political dimensions of a problem has been dulled by the euphoric solutions proferred by technological utopians, (p.227).

The Technological System.

2005-02-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Norman Balbanian(1980):
The crisis is not a crisis withintechnological society which can be overcome by patching up the system, but a crisis of the technological system itself. The major question is not who is to control the means of production, but what the means of production shall be; and what shall be produced. It is not where to locate the nuclear power plants, but whether to have nuclear power at all. It is not merely a question of possibly limiting growth but of radically altering the very nature of technology.

Silicon Valley.

2005-02-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

Annalee Saxenian,The Genesis of Silicon Valley(1985):
The region's most dynamic growth phase was associated with the birth of a revolutionary new industry, the semiconductor industry. In 1955, William Shockley established Santa Clara County's first semiconductor firm. Shockley, one of three original inventors of the transistor, returned to Palo Alto from Bell Laboratories to establish Shockley Transistor Company. He thus established one of the original spin-offs, in an industry that came to be characterized by this defection process. In 1957, eight of Shockley's best scientists in turn broke off themselves and gained financial backing from Fairchild Camera and Instrument to start their own firm. By 1965, ten new Santa Clara County semiconductor firms had spun-off from Fairchild, and the Santa Clara Valley had replaced Boston as the centre of gravity for new electronic firm locations. Between 1959 and 1979, Fairchild Semiconductor spawned an amazing total of fifty new companies in the county, (p. 25).

East Asian Industry.

2005-02-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey Henderson,The Globalisation of High Technology Production(1989):
Hong Kong was the first East Asian recipient of Fairchild investment in 1961 when the firm established a plant to assemble transistors and subsequently integrated circuits. From this beginning in Hong Kong the industry diffused out to other locations in East Asia. . .Taiwan was opened up by General Instrument in 1965 and South Korea by Fairchild and Motorola in 1966. By 1968, Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor, and Fairchild had set up plants in Singapore. 1971 saw the emergence of semiconductor production in Malaysia, while by the mid-1970s, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia had also been incorporated into the division of labour,(pp. 50-51).

Experimental Culture.

2005-02-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

Mills ed., Turning Away From Technology(1997):
Chet Bowers. . .The computer also amplifies the current, modern orientation toward a highly experimental culture: The assumption is that as we become more experimental with the foundations of our cultural experience we are more progressive--that is, we are increasingly relying upon untested knowledge, on forms of knowledge that may or may not survive in the long term. This characteristic amplifies a cultural view of temporality that frames experience in terms of immediate problem solving. In other words, the computer reinforces the modern sense of temporality by reducing the awareness that we are connected in time with the past and the future, (pp. 182-183).

Asking Questions about Technology.

2005-02-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Mills ed.,Turning Away From Technology(1997):
Jerry Mander. . .Once a technology is upon us, we do not permit ourselves to believe that its negative aspects are more profound than its positive, or that there is really anything we can do to stop it. People lose the ability to imagine doing without the technology, as has already become apparent with computers. Technologies like cars, computers, and TV make profound changes in the world in the end, they have far greater impact than the politicians we elect--yet we remain utterly passive to the process of their introduction, leaving it to the corporations to define the technologies for us. We don't think to address the metaquestions about technology, and we have no training or practice in even knowing what questions to ask. And if we do ask questions, we find we have little process or means or power to reject technologies on the grounds of their social, psychological, political, or ecological consequences, (p.114).

Defense Advanced Research Project Agency(DARPA).

2005-02-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

David Halperin, Risking Innovation: DARPA in the Limelight(2003):
The agency has a complex relationship with the private sector and academia: part benefactor, part customer, part collaborator. It rotates its technical experts between projects every three to five years to maintain freshness, and it ensures the transfer of military technology for commercial development.

Nicholas Turse,The Wild Weapons of DARPA(2004):
A plethora of products designed to maim and kill, among them: the m-16 rifle, Hellfire-missile equipped predator drones, stealth fighters and bombers, surface-to-surface artillery rocket systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles. B-52 bomber upgrades, Titan missiles, Javelin portable "fire and forget" guided missiles, cannon-launched Copperhead guided projectiles.

Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator(RNEP).

2005-02-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has revived a controversial study of a "bunker busting" nuclear warhead by incorporating it into the defense budget as a line item.

Missiles, and More Missiles.

2005-02-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

Senator William Proxmire, Report from Wasteland(1970):
The failures of the electronic and avionic systems in the major weapons we have developed are outweighed by the billions of dollars spent for intercontinental and submarine launched ballistic missiles (ICBM's and SLBM's) abandoned in the research and development stage or before they were ever finished. It is a fantastic list of missiles named for Greek Gods, celestial bodies, Indian tribes, ancient weapons, birds, and animals. (Occasionally, a public relations man comes up with a brainstorm and an acronym like GAM is added to the list.) Many, many billions more have been lost on missile systems that were planned, produced, deployed, and then abandoned

Simulations of War.

2005-02-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Andrew Wilson, The Bomb and the Computer(1968):
In the Pentagon archives is a film of a strategic air war game whose scenario involves a nuclear exchange between Russia and America. The whole thing exists on tens of thousands of computer punch cards. As Soviet warheads hit American targets, B-52s of Strategic Air Command, on permanent airborne alert, start moving towards Russia. They rendezvous with aerial tankers, change course to deceive Soviet defenses, activate electronic countermeasures, lose a good part of their number to surface-to-air missiles, and succeed in obliterating Moscow in return for New York. . .Air war games, particularly "strategic" ones involving nuclear exchanges, are more readily computerized than games which simulate land operations with their many untidy human factors, (pp. 128-129).

After Sputnik.

2005-02-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Eugene Rabinowitch,After Missiles and Satellites, What?Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, December 1957:
In 1946 an American physicist, Louis Ridenour, published in Fortune a whimsical but prophetic piece. He saw the earth surrounded by a swarm of atom bomb carrying satellites owned by various nations. By pressing the proper button one of these death dealing moons could be made to drop on a target anywhere in the world. In well-protected underground operation centers, the military of every nation were keeping day and night watch, with their eyes glued to radar screens, and their fingers on the fateful switches. . .Ten years later, this vision is beginning to look ominously realistic. In a year or two dozens of satellites will be flashing through the skies. . .In straining our energy and inventiveness to draw even with the Soviet Union in the possession of long range missiles and the capacity to place them on target anywhere in the world, we may too easily forget to think what the world will be like after we have succesfully achieved this purpose, (p. 350).

Technological Diffusion, Weapons Proliferation.

2005-02-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Maritime Strategy(1984):
"The international setting is complicated by the proliferation of modern high technology weaponry."

Ken Flamm(1992):
"We can't control the flows of technology because of the economic system of the late 20th century. Its difficult to decide what is a weapon, because almost all weapons technology is dual use."

William W. Keller, Janne E. Nolan:
"Increasing international flows of technology, investments, communication, trade and labor will continue to exert dramatic and dynamic effect on almost every aspect of proliferation."

In the News: Spam.

2005-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

"At the current pace spam could reach 95 per cent of all email traffic by mid-2006, when we could see a slow meltdown of email delivery systems caused by overloaded queues and stressed filters."

"Volumes of pornographic spam have tripled during the past month, newly published research has revealed."

"Time wasted deleting junk e-mail cost American business nearly $22 billion a year."

Radio Frequency Identification(RFID).

2005-02-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

Erika Morphy, "The Coming RFID Revolution" CIO Today(December 2003):
The bottom line is that between the Department of Defense and Wal-Mart, RFID is about to become an immovable fact of life for the majority of companies in the U.S.--and given Wal-Mart's global reach, for a significant portion of the rest of the world.

Michael Y. Park, "Big Blue Launches RFID Service" CIO Today(September 2003):
IBM today unveiled a corporate radio-frequency identification service--a move that unleashes technology that business experts call a death knell for the bar code. But privacy experts are expressing mounting concerns.

Bill Gates, August 2, 2004:
We need to connect the Office world up to the real world. Things like RFID, we're very excited about the work going on there to bring a wealth of information, let things be done.

In the News: Hewlett-Packard's Crossbar Latch.

2005-02-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

We are reinventing the computer at the molecular scale--technology could result in computers that are thousands of times more powerful than those that exist today.

Matthew Maier et al, "The New Military-Industrial Complex" March 2003:
Brand-name technical companies like IBM and Hewlett-Packard have ramped up their defense business to provide electronics for some of military's most sophisticated systems.

September 6, 1999: "Pentagon Speeds Work on Missile Defense System":
Theater High Altitude Area Defense System(THAAD). The system runs on Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems hardware.

Testimony of Gary Millhollin before U.S. China Security Review Commission, October 12, 2001:
Relates to the activities of Huawei Technologies, "recently caught helping Iraq improve its air defense by outfitting them with fibre optic equipment. . .Motorola is only most recent example of American assistance. Other American firms have sold Huawei supercomputers--Digital, IBM, Hewlett-PackardSun Microsystems. . .

Dual Use: Entertain Us or Destroy Us.

2005-02-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Dual Use Technology: A Defense Strategy for Affordable Leading Edge Technology(1995).
Production facilities that produce both commercial and military parts, or dual use facilities, will result from the integration of military and commercial product technologies--Defense leadership advocates the merging of the commercial and defense supplier bases as the primary way to achieve more rapid insertion of advanced commercial IC technology.

One Use for Supercomputers.

2005-02-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Red Storm, Thunder, Lightning--supercomputers currently being installed at nuclear weapons laboratories.

National Nuclear Security Administration(NNSA) established in 2000. Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative--simulation of nuclear detonations.

Late 1999: "first ever three dimensional simulation of a nuclear weapon primary (the first stage of a hydrogen bomb. . .Spring 2001 three dimensional simulation of nuclear weapon secondary.

The Moon, Missiles, and Microelectronics.

2005-02-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Edmund C. Berkeley(1962):
The towering problem of our time, intercontinental ballistic missiles with megaton nuclear warheads guided by computing mechanisms.

George E. Forsythe(1963):
Much of modern engineering, particularly in the fields of atomic energy and space technology, simply could not go on without the detailed simulation of large physical systems on an automatic computer.

Robert N. Noyce(1977):
It is not an exaggeration to say that most of the technical achievements of the past decade have depended on microelectronics. Small and reliable sensing and control devices are the essential elements in the complex systems that have landed men on the Moon and explored Mars, not to speak of the similar role in the intercontinental weapons that dominate world politics.

Paul E. Ceruzzi,A History of Modern Computing(2003):
Minuteman II first flew in September 1964; a year later the trade press reported that "Minuteman is top Semiconductor User," with a production rate of six to seven missiles a week. .The current "revolution" in microelectronics owes a lot to both the Minuteman and Apollo programs. The Minuteman was first: it used integrated circuits in a critical application only a few years after they were invented, (pp. 187-188).

The Future?

2005-02-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Joe Weizenbaum, (1978):
This explosive growth has created a momentum which has conferred on the field another characteristic perhaps unique to it among scientific endeavours: an orientation to the future so pervasive that it swamps all attempts to look back--especially to look back critically--or even to examine itself critically at all.

Ralph Parkman, The Cybernetic Society(1972):
The pace of technological change contributes impartially to the malaise of the older as well as the younger generations. If the number of those who have lost faith in the stability of a system ordered by rational priorities should grow, it is conceivable that the isolated experiments of alienated youth could become a pattern of the future. This could see Western man turning away from the systematic structure of the technological society, and back toward tribalism, accepting some form of transcendental religiosity as a pillar to cling to, (p.377).

Manfred Stanley,The Technological Conscience(1978):
If we fail to distinguish, in our thought and action, among science, technology, and technicism, one of two things will happen. We will eventually demonize science and technology to the point of some great religious convulsion of primitivist simplification. Or we will use science and technology to make of ourselves God, creating our descendants in our image, (p.16).

Capitals of Capital.

2005-02-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ronald J. Deibert,Altered Worlds: Social Forces in the Hypermedia Environment(1998):
In response to the massive, global 24-hour marketplace, new spaces and flows are arising, and centres and 'hubs' have emerged that may provide a glimpse of the evolving architecture of the post-modern world order. Large cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong, are assuming more importance as 'command centres' in the global 'finanscape'--what an Economist survey referred to as 'Capitals of capital'. They act not so much as national cities as they do world cities--interfacial nodes in the global hypermedia environment.

Global Distance.

2005-02-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Cynthia J. Alexander and Leslie A. Pal, eds. Digital Democracy(1998):
There is potential for the technology to facilitate communication between individuals dispersed across geographical and temporal boundaries; however, the quality of the dialogue within and between these discussion groups merits serious examination before we can state that the technology exposes individuals to a broad diversity of perspectives, fosters rational, constructive discourse, generates an exchange that stimulates greater understanding, and cultivates consensus between diverse and/or opposing interests. In the 'global village' we may be less--not more--communicatively competent. In the Information Era, we may possess a more impoverished, not a more enhanced, understanding of world issues, events and ideas, (p.7).

Global Village

2005-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

Julian Hawthorne, in 1893, envisions the world a century later:
Today the inhabitants of this planet are rapidly approximating to the state of a homogenous people, all of whose social, political and commercial interests are identical. Owing to the unlimited facilities of intercommunication, they are almost as closely united as the members of a family.

Jarice Hanson and Uma Narula, New Communication Technologies in Developing Countries(1990):
John Lent (1986) wrote that myths are built around what information technology could actually do, and therefore he reminded us that many of these scenarios are possibilities, rather than definitive predictions. He said that some of the myths prophesy that new information technology will lead to the development of a global village, others portend of new information technologies that will serve international understanding, peace, and brotherhood. Some myths portray information technology that will lead to increased independence and promotion of democratic ideals, yet others promote technology as the salvation of the Third World masses, and therefore, more information made available through bigger communications systems is a goal to be sought,(p.18).

Gigabytes,Terabytes, and Petabytes.

2005-02-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

The terabyte is equal to one thousand gigabytes--the petabyte is equal to one thousand terabytes--the exabyte is equal to one thousand petabytes--the zettabyte is equal to one thousand exabytes.

Sears Roebuck & Co. to create a 70 terabyte system; the retailer will hit 1 petabyte threshold by 2006.

Data.

2005-02-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

Norman Cousins,The Computer and the Poet(1966):
. . .There may be a tendency to mistake data for wisdom, just as there has always been a tendency to confuse logic with values, and intelligence with insight. . .Facts are terrible things if left sprawling and unattended. They are too easily regarded as evaluated certainties rather than as the rawest of raw materials crying to be processed into the texture of logic.

C.A.Bowers, Let Them Eat Data(2000):
The failure of the computer proponents is in not asking more probing questions about the forms of knowledge that computers cannot process and in not examining the deep cultural assumptions that give their thinking such an ethnocentric and formulaic quality. At deeper fault is our educational system, which fails to provide computer proponents and their followers with an understanding of the complx relationship between culture and technology,(p.109).

The Digital Divide.

2005-02-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Anthony G. Wilhelm,Digital Nation(2004):
While computers and Internet service are becoming as ubiquitous as television sets in high-income households, this is a far cry from acknowledging that diffusion patterns now resemble a random cross-section of the U.S. population. As with other technologies, there is a saturation of upper and middle-class adopters, and a protracted time period ensues in which adoption rates for poor households increase incrementally. . .The gaps between bottom and top economic quartiles in Internet access are yawning, and they grow over time. Only one in four of America's poorest households was online in late 2001 compared to eight in ten homes earning over $75,000 per year,(pp. 35-36).

African Information Society Initiative(AISI):
No more than 15 countries have full access to the Internet and some remain without any electronic connectivity at all.

the New Partnership for African Development(NEPAD):
It is estimated that no more than 20% and in some countries as little as 5% have access to electricity, the figure falls to 2% in rural areas.

The Exchange and the Network.

2005-01-31T11:50:00.000-08:00

Colin Cherry,The Telephone System(1977):
Telegraph exchanges provided a conceptual model when telephones sprang to public attention. They were rapidly introduced for use within the domestic and economic spheres; the telephone network, from its early days, served both. . .It was the exchange principle that led to the growth of endless new social organizations, because it offered choice of social contacts, on demand, even between strangers, without ceremony, introduction, or credentials, in ways totally new in history. The exchange principle led rapidly to the creation of networks, covering whole countries and, since World War II, interconnecting the continents, (pp.114-115).

Commercialized Information.

2005-01-31T00:15:00.000-08:00

Susan Smulyan, Selling Radio(1994):
One of the principal arguments for radio advertising was that it enabled advertisers to reach consumers with messages of home and family at the moments when they were enjoying both. An executive announced that "American businessmen, because of radio, are provided with a latchkey to nearly every home in the United States." To take the final step in the commercialization of broadcasting, promoters worked to build a loyal female radio audience that would regularly listen to radio at home during the day. . .The effort to develop radio advertising directed toward women shows how the campaign to promote broadcast advertising ultimately affected both programming content and broadcasting practice, (p.86)

The Entire Planet Heard About It.

2005-01-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin ed., Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East(2002):
Al Qa'ida can take over the enemy's technological means and use them against him.

Muslims could use the same computers that they did without espousing the same values.

September 11 was an even greater propaganda coup than the Munich incident of 1972, "the entire planet heard about it, Abu Ubeid Al-Quarashi, February 27, 2002, (p. 273).

Tools of the west to fight Islam--the international and data exchange systems--the international news agencies and satellite media channels, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, January 2002, (p.131).

Science,technology,equipment, speed and facility have dramatically changed the world as compared with the past, but the chronic age old pains and chagrins of humanity still remain unchanged, Ali Al-Husseini Al Khamen'i, speech to Organization of Islamic Countries, December 9,1997,(p.37).

Global Market, Global Culture.

2005-01-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

Herbert I. Schiller, Mass Communications and American Empire(1970):
The fact and paradox of this age is that technical advances have made electronic communications capable of massive global penetration by the advanced countries, while the socio-economic differentials that still separate nations require, at this stage of world development at least, the maintenance of distance between states and systems, (p.117).

Walter B. Wriston, The Twilight of Sovereignty(1992):
The fear of the global culture market is one of the powerful motives behind the emergence of the Islamic republics and their desperate drive to cut their people off from modernity,(p.46).

Tim Jordan and Paul A. Taylor,Hacktivism and Cyberwars(2004):
In terms of culture, the development of widely enhanced global communication has led to a renewed form of cultural imperialism, in which particularly U.S. media have come to dominate, (p.49).

Electronics Outsourcing.

2005-01-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

Dan Steinbock, Wireless Horizon2003:
The drivers of outsourcing include continuous and long-standing market pressures to shorten time-to-market and enhance asset utilization. With the 3G transition, the leading contractors become increasingly driven by technological innovation and globalization, (p.331).

By the year 2005 or 2010, China will have the world's largest electronics industry: C.D. Tam, Motorola, Steinbock, (p.181).

In the News: Faster,Smaller,Cheaper.

2005-01-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Single-Chip Mobile Phone.
Nokia is to incorporate single chip based on Texas Instruments (DRP) technology into its future mobile phones. The company plans to target high- growth regions such as India and China.

Exponential Growth.

2005-01-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Bill Gates, November 14, 1996:
The miracle of the silicon chip is that every two years new chips are available with double the speed and capacity of their predecessors. Thats exponential growth!

Bill Gates, Harvard Conference on Internet Society, May 29, 1996:
The chip is subject to what Gordon Moore coined and is now called Moore's law, which is that every 18 months the power of the chip more than doubles, and that without any increase in cost.

Automobiles and Airplanes.

2005-01-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Henry Ford, Today and Tomorrow(1926):
The step from the motor car to the airplane is not nearly as great as the step we have already taken from the horse carriage to the motor car. We do not have to convince the public that transportation through the air is desireable. The public wants quick transportation. It is now only necessary to provide safe transportation at a low cost. . .The airplane will soon be a part of our life. What it will mean, no one knows; we have not yet found out what the automobile means,(pp.205,209).

The Speed of Change.

2005-01-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

What used to take a century to achieve is now done in decades; what used to take decades is now done in years; what used to take years is now achieved in months. This compressed time scale of technological events imposes upon the lay public a shorter period of adjustment and accomodation to events which influence their existence and well-being. So rapid and radical are these required adjustments that a sense of unreality and disbelief is sometimes apparent.

M.D.Hassialis(1964).

In the News: Faster,Smaller,Cheaper.

2005-01-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

World's first Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) chip:
GbE capability inside these new designs will also become a requirement to ensure that this faster speed will be readily available to the end user.

Single Chip Solution for Mobile Phones.
Nokia executive: "Texas Instruments advanced DRP(Digital Processor) technology, combined with our systems expertise, will enable us to deliver smaller, sleeker handsets with the latest voice, data, and multimedia capabilities without increasing size and power consumption.

The Military-Industrial Complex.

2005-01-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

James W. Cortada, The Digital Hand(2004):
In absolute dollars, the amount spent by all sectors on computing hints at the rate of adoption underway. In 1954, American organizations spent $10 million on computers; in 1958, $250 million, clear proof that computers had been "discovered," primarily by industry,(p.33).

Remington-Rand advertisement, August 1957:
the computer system for the Intermediate Range and Intercontinental Ballistic Missle being built by Remington-Rand Univac is vital to national defense.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961:
We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense, with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

Total Information Awareness(TIA).

2005-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

From Matthew Brzezinski,Fortress America:

It is perhaps the most powerful twenty-first-century cyberweapon in the war on terror. Since its inception following 9/11, it has grown from a modest Pentagon pet project of Rear Admiral John Poindexter of Iran-contra fame into a sprawling data-mining operation whose electronic tentacles reach into every crevasse of American daily life(p.55).

U.S. Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery, to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, January 23, 2003:

Immense databases such as are being proposed by TIA--whether operated by governmental or commercial organizations--represent substantial security and privacy risks in their own right. An all-encompassing database, compiled from private and government databases including financial,medical, educational and travel records will contain large quantities of sensitive information.

The Sinister Potential of Punch Cards.

2005-01-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

From Edwin Black, IBM and the Holacaust,(2001)

Many of us have become enraptured in the Age of Computerization and the Age of Information. I know I have. But now I am consumed with a new awareness that, for me, as the son of Holacaust survivors, brings me to a whole new consciousness. I call it the Age of Realization, as we look back and examine technology's wake. Unless we understand how the Nazis acquired the names, more lists will be compiled against more people(p.16).

From the very first moments and continuing throughout the twelve year existence of the Third Reich, IBM placed its technology at the disposal of Hitler's program of Jewish destruction and territorial domination. IBM did not invent Germany's anti-Semitism, but when it volunteered solutions, the company virtually braided with Nazism. Like any technologic evolution, each new solution powered a new level of sinister expectation and cruel capability(p.73).

In the News: Faster,Smaller, Cheaper.

2005-01-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

"It marks a major step toward the era of ubiquitous connectivity, when people will have total freedom in choosing where,when, and how they access computer and networked resources." Toshiba announces new software that compresses data in a computer so that it can be shown on a small mobile phone screen and allows users to make changes.

Samsung announces developent of memory chip fast enough to support high quality 3D graphics and streaming video in next-generation mobile phones.

Technological Disparities and China.

2005-01-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

In a document that was drafted in 1919, a few years before he became more closely oriented towards Communist ideology, Sun Yat-sen alluded to the great technological divide that existed between China and the industrialized nations: "Nowadays the radio and the airplane are the most advanced and intricate of things; the most stupendous of engineering projects are the American rail network, the Suez and Panama Canals." Advocating what he called "revolutionary reconstruction" Sun proposed rapid reconstruction by which China could simultaneously progress on multiple levels towards modernity. Another of the early Chinese Communists, Ch'en Tu-Hsiu, observed of his culture, "making no plans for progress and improvement, our people will be turned out of this twentieth century world."

The Soviets and Electrification.

2005-01-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

In December of 1920 the Soviets initiated the GOELRO plan (State Commission for the Electrification of Russia). For Both Trotsky and Lenin, electrification was perceived as both the vehicle for economic and social reformation. Development of a system that was able to "exceed European and American norms," was to prove by example the superiority of Communism over Capitalism. Thus, in Lenin's mind, "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country."

The Costs of Modernization.

2005-01-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

The typical pattern of the era of electrical communications is one of enormous imbalance between parts of the world, and within regions of nations. When one society has become cognizant of how it has fallen behind technologically, the government may institute a program of accelerated development. That program impacts differently upon the population in terms of income, urban or rural conditions, environment, political orientation, gender and ethnic background. While the objective of universal availability might be sought, it has proved difficult to realize. And, the added danger that it was sought for ideological or strategic motives, undermines the positive contribution.

Development, Underdevelopment,Overdevelopment.

2005-01-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

"Africa is as barren telephonically as is Asia," an article in the Bell Telephone Quarterly observed in 1922. At that time, the United States possessed thirteen million of the world's twenty million telephones--within New York City, 979,000 telephones were in use. There were only 127,000 telephones in all of Africa, and 605,000 telephones in Asia.

As of 1997, 4.7 billion of the world's population lacked telephones.

Cambodia is the least developed in terms of its telecommunications--0.06 telephones per 100 persons.

In 47 of the least developed countries, 0.25 telephones per 100 persons.

The monthly Bulletin of Statistics reveals disparities in electrical consumption: 260,000 million kilowatt hours in the United States, versus 70,000 million hours or less for the other industrialized nations. At the base with 60 or less are many of the African countries(1999).

Television, Radio, and Nazism.

2005-01-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Beginning in the decade of the 1870s, the element selenium, a by-product of the electrolytic refining of copper, was discovered to possess an extraordinary photo-electric property. Visionaries perceived in this effect, the potential for proto-television. The complexities of the technology were so great, however, that it would require another five decades before a workable television broadcast could be coordinated. The quality of the broadcasts began to improve in the later 1920s, and the 1930s. Totalitarian regimes were quick to recognize the opportunity. A notice from 1935 proclaimed, "Hitler and Goebbels aim to have Fatherland lead world in new television development. . ." From the same year we find, "television is rapidly becoming a national pastime in Germany." Public viewing booths were installed throughout the country. Nazi preoccupation with distribution of cheap radios was so focused, that by 1939, with 70% of German households in possession of a radio set, they could boast of the highest percentage of radio ownership in the world. Thousands of radio wardens were appointed to enforce the transmission of broadcasts.

The Metals of Modernity.

2005-01-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

Within the past quarter century, more than eighty ores and metals have become available for human use, obtained from 1250 mines distributed throughout the world. The majority of these materials were inaccessible before the Nineteenth Century. They embrace vital strategic resources, or cheap, ubiquitous metals, such as aluminum. With each phase of technological advance since 1800, the numerous new metals have been used--special physical properties, high melting points, resistance to corrosion, or lightness in weight, being some of the unique virtues. The radios, televisions, rocketry and computers in our midst possess these materials within their skeletons and frames.

Within a typical computer can be found lead, silica,aluminum,manganese, arsenic and mercury.

Thousands of tons of potentially toxic computer waste is shipped to Africa and Asia.

The Politics of Communication.

2005-01-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Management of a communications network reflects upon national character. Widespread distribution, is at one end of the spectrum, "democratic"--restricted distribution, is thought as being elitist and oligarichal. Military and government dominance can serve the purposes of a police state, while commercial ownership denotes healthy "free enterprise." Expansion or reduction in any one of these realms, may be followed by a reaction from different sectors of the society. Similarly, the expansion or reduction can provoke responses from other nations. The strategic role of communications is central, regardless of what modern nation is being considered. However, the emphasis upon its centrality differs markedly from place to place, and is actively influenced by the managers of public opinion and the architects of symbolism.

Satellites.

2005-01-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

More than forty years ago, Robert Kennedy observed of the potential for satellites, "the global communications system which we envisage for the near future has a great potential for linking the world closer together and for demonstrating ways of peaceful cooperation amog nations in space activities."

Conflicts between national defense and strategic interests, domestic and commercial interests, and satellite technologies have not been fully resolved. As the military opts for secrecy, businesses opt for maximum consumer accesibility. Through a combination of factors--commercial rivalries, deregulation, practical politics, domestic satellite development has proliferated. As a consequence of the "convergence of modes" and corporate mergers, diverse electronic media have become entities within the control of a single business with its satellite links. Cost, effectiveness, and stress upon multiple applications, assume prominence in the contemporary battles of the corporate world as it confronts "convergance of modes" and convergance of corporations. Government inaction and further demands for deregulation, as well as less expensive satellite delivery systems, determine the future course.

Orbital Debris.

2005-01-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

There are currently 8000 satellites and other trackable man-made objects orbiting the Earth.

11,000 objects of sizes above 10cm.

100,000 objects smaller than 10cm.

tens of millions objects smaller than 1cm. pieces of metal or paint.

The Space Shuttle Columbia in December 1997 encountered orbital debris--71% were aluminum, 21% were stainless steel, 8% were paint

We can look to the satellites as sources of vital information regarding weather, the environment, natural resources (which indeed they are); but these benign grotesques co-exist with the far more sinister spy satellites, and machines programmed for doomsday--this much hovered over globe.

Technological Acceleration.

2005-01-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Technology seems to accelerate at enormous speed when it is developed without reflection of consequence, mobilized by ideology, or driven by the emotions of corporate competitiveness. Whenever the new gadget is regarded to be necessary for social betterment, the multiplicity of new things will be perceived as the prelude to utopia. This utopian mindset drives progress. Unfortunately, the persons influenced by that mindset cannot always predict the future twists and grotesque distortions that cynical, control oriented minds and groups can apply to innovations, which in a different form could actually improve society. So many ideas and inventions of the past two centuries have been thrust into this maelstrom of profit and ideology, and emerged distorted because of over-use or misuse. Despite regretful afterthoughts when the damage has already been inflicted to an irreversable extent, the lesson is never learned--utopianism-ideology-profit--the cycle repeats itself incessantly.
What will this technology do to society? How can it be managed responsibly, moderately, so as not to victimize or exploit? Crucial questions never asked.

Power and Vulnerability.

2005-01-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

The paradox of our era, is the constancy of a striving for greater power, and the inevitable discovery that this acquisition only amplifies vulnerability. To counter the vulnerability, an even greater power is sought. With each source of energy there are attendant risks. The risks, however, are not perceived as admonitions of an underlying danger, but as challenges demanding of courage and an improved, stronger design. Some individuals will experience shock, and will reflect upon the warnings. Individuals may also condemn a technology and demand its elimination. But the condemnations are futile.

Webs, Viruses, and Worms.

2005-01-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

Take a moment to analyze the language of internet and computer vulnerability. The conceptualizations are not only evocative, they are also a reflection of cultural preoccupations. "Spread an infection" or "launch an attack"; the subtle intertwining of symbols--symbols of disease contagion or of a nuclear surprise, mean something. We could quickly point to the global reach of AIDS or of SARS, or to the future menace of nuclear weapons proliferation, as justified cause for anxiety. Contemporaries perceive risks to information technology through a similar emotionally charged lens. Constructing an invincible internet is perhaps as ambitious a scheme as a "missle shield." The language of protection shares much in common. This is the problem with any of these conceptualizations. They discourage objectivity by transforming technological entities into organic entities. Language has framed our perceptions so that the virus image has transcended its metaphorical function. Now the same thing is happening to the worm. It seems to conjure up the image of an injurious parasite that burrows into its unfortunate host. Of course, it also is only a metaphor.

Islamists,the West, and Technology.

2005-01-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

. . .A Mahomedan power disposed to adopt the knowledge of European nations in Arms and Commerce, if placed on the line of the Euphrates, possessing Syria and Mesopatamia, and having the resources of Egypt at its command would check the designs of Russia. . .British strategic planning of the 1830s. The threat that Russia posed to the Ottomans and the Persians in the Nineteenth Century, was employed by the European powers as a means of winning concessions. This pattern of threat and acquiesence, underlies intrusions into regional politics and economics;British steamers on the Euphrates, the railroad in Egypt, plans for a rail link from Syria to Baghdad. After mid-century, the Suez Canal and the telegraph were introduced.
The submissiveness of the Ottomans, alienated Islamic conservatives. "The Turks being now looked upon as Europeans" a derogatory comment from 1858, coincided with an impulse by Syrians to break away from the Ottomans and form their own Arabian state.

Technology and History

2005-01-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

"My belief" observed Henry Adams, "is that we are like monkeys, monkeying with a loaded shell; we don't in the least know or care where our practically infinite energies come from or will bring us to." Accelerating technology and accelerating social change. How do individuals experience such phenomenon? I have hoped someone would ask that question. Humans had been stone tool makers for hundreds of thousands of years. Then, with civilization, expectations changed. The "practically infinite energies" Adams alluded to, were unleashed. Capacities to manipulate matter, sometimes do seem without boundaries. But, we also know there are costs--environmental degradation, extinctions, toxic pollutants.
Will anything ever be done to manage "Global Warming" ? Thousands upon thousands of airplane flights every day, millions of automobiles. The reduction of emissions requires a form of technological restraint that we seem uncomfortable with as a solution. The Industrial Revolution and the era of Democratic Revolutions paralleled one another so closely, that freedom and the freedom to consume have evolved into synonomous concepts.
In November of 2004, as newspapers reported upon the battle in Fallujah, they also reported upon the future warming of the Arctic, as a consequence of global warming. Whenever a photograph or television news report of burning oil fields in Iraq is displayed, we are again reminded of the petroleum reserves of the Middle East, and how those reserves serve to compromise our policies.
This moment in the history of the modern world--ominous indications of where the rapacious appetite for fossil fuels has taken us.