ManyMedia

RealNetworks and Vodafone have worked out a deal to deliver audio and video
to the handsets of some of Vodafone’s 119.7 million subscribers. Cell phone users in Europe and
Asia are reportedly eager to use their phones for entertainment, but it’s not yet
clear if this is for the masses. “Peter
Bancroft, VP for a British firm that develops software for handheld
devices, is somewhat of a skeptic: “The market certainly believes this is
real. The glorious thing is that nobody knows… The idea of transmitting a
song to someone is really quite a novel one. But, guess what? We already
have something that does this quite nicely. It’s called a radio.” “

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NEC has introduced a prototype laptop powered by a micro-fuel-cell
system that runs on replaceable/refillable methanol fuel cartridges.
Widely seen as a promising clean-energy source for the future,
analysts expect the fuel cell market to take off by 2010. NEC
reports its system can run about five hours on a single cartridge — about the
same performance as a prototype announced by Toshiba last March. Like
NEC, Toshiba plans to go commercial by 2004.
Sony, Casio and Hitachi have also announced plans to enter the market.

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From NewsScan:

A recent survey found that most people are unaware that many later-model
automobiles are equipped with “black box” recording devices (called “data
event recorders”) which are capable not only of triggering the release of
accident airbags but also of recording driving data (such as speed of the
car) in the last few seconds before a crash. Such information is
increasingly being used as evidence in criminal and civil cases related to
the accident, as part of “normal reconstruction” of what happened. But
civil libertarians are balking. Defense attorney Bob Weiner calls the black
boxes “a tremendous invasion of privacy,” and David Sobel, general counsel
for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, say: “The real issue is one
of notice, and the problem arises from the fact that information is being
collected about people’s driving behavior without them knowing. If drivers
knew about the device, they could at least then begin asking questions.”

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What a surprise: people don’t like telemarketing calls:

Fed-up consumers found a new outlet for expressing their disgust with telemarketers yesterday by signing up in droves to put more than 735,000 home, fax and cell phone numbers on a new national do-not-call list.

At one point, 108 people per second were registering their numbers either by phone or online. The sudden rush caught staff members off-guard at the Federal Trade Commission, which maintains the list. By midmorning, many people could not connect to the www.donotcall.gov Web site, forcing workers to add more computer equipment to handle the crush.

Citing a fine of $11,000 for each telemarketing call that should not have been made, the FTC estimates an 80% decrease in telemarketing calls this fall. Warning that the new system “probably will lead to the loss of 2 million telemarketing jobs,” American Teleservices Association has already filed suit to “stop the registry from going into effect, calling it an infringement on the right to free speech.” FTC estimates that 60 million people will sign up within a year. This is more of a public mandate that the advertising industry should be paying attention to.

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The government that gives funding may also impose restrictions. Not a surprise to students of Constitutional law, librarians are now making tough choices about imposing external filtering priorities on their computers, or giving up federal funding, a serious consideration in these lean economic times.

From Los Gatos to Livermore, library directors throughout the Bay Area vowed to continue upholding their patrons’ First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of information. Which means local library patrons should not expect their Internet access to change, despite a landmark ruling Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court requiring libraries receiving certain federal funds to install software filters to block pornography that could reach children. …

“We just don’t feel we as librarians need to be in the position of telling people what they should read, see or hear,” said Susan Gallinger, director of the Livermore Public Library. “When you put filters on computers, that’s what you’re doing.” …

Indeed, libraries that have filters haven’t been successful at eliminating all X-rated content from the eyes of children. Often they have impeded the ability of computer users to get to valid Web sites for information, including tips on treating everything from impotence to sexually transmitted diseases.

“Filters are far from perfect,” said Linda Wood, librarian for the Alameda County system, which does have the devices at workstations in the children’s areas of the libraries. “They filter out more than really needs to be filtered,” Wood said, “and don’t get out everything that really needs to be, if you’re thinking about age-appropriate information.”
Few local libraries support universal filtering, embracing instead some restricted access for minors. …

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As Internet telephony gains acceptance in the enterprise, and voice over Wi-Fi is deployed in corporations across the U.S., equipment manufacturers and consultants are salivating at the prospect of additional sales, but large ISPs and wireless carriers lack enthusiasm.

I’m sure incumbent carriers lack enthusiasm too. They aren’t looking forward to being sidestepped by more efficient and less costly (albeit not flawless) technology. It’s the equipment manufacturers generating the buzz: intelligent and capable devices at the edge of a network. The article cites retail chain Lowes as an example:

It seems likely that Lowe’s will soon add the Internet to its phone system. To get an outside line Lowe’s employees dial 9 today. The company could tweak existing gear to dial 8 to get into a network that would route the call over the Internet. If they are calling a different Lowe’s store that has the right equipment, or a vendor, the calls would realize the cost savings of Internet telephony.

Now imagine that on hundreds or thousands of enterprises across the nation and world. Large ISPs and phone carriers will be carrying more data traffic. What a surprise.

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Network operators don’t need to worry (yet) about limiting their networks by imposing their business relationships on customers:

The FCC has been debating whether such rules are necessary amid fears that consumers could be blocked from going to sites that do not have a business relationship with their Internet provider, whether it’s a cable or telecommunications company.

“It is not entirely clear why a regulatory openness mandate is such an imperative right now,” said Kenneth Ferree, head of the FCC’s media bureau which regulates cable operators. …

A group of high-profile companies, like Microsoft Corp. and Apple Computer Inc., lobbied the FCC to ensure that consumers can move around the Internet without limits imposed by their service providers.

“The threat of discrimination against content undermines investment and chills innovation,” said Consumer Federation of America research director Mark Cooper. “We cannot risk having the monopolist destroy the innovative environment of the Internet, it’s just too big of a risk to the public interest.” …

Network

Imagine sprinkling tiny sensors on road and fields for surveillance, putting them in buildings and bridges to monitor structural health, and installing them in industrial facilities to manage energy, inventory and manufacturing processes.That’s the idea behind the emerging technology of wireless sensor networks.”

Lots of people are talking sensors these days. Cost is plummeting, size is shrinking.

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I have a wish that’s renewed every time I go to a conference, and many times that I’m in class (which is a lot). I wish there was a simplified laptop, very light, any O/S, that had ONLY the following characteristics:

• regular-size keyboard
• text/RTF editor
• basic browser (Safari, Camino, et al)
• wifi or ethernet plug
• a good day’s worth of battery life
• a hard drive (of nearly any size > 1G)

That’s all. I want to walk into the room, open it up, type some stuff, close and carry, open and type, close…open and use browser to blog, transfer files to desktop (which, being .txt or .rtf, are highly transferrable), close. If any reader knows of such a thing, I’d love to hear about it. Such a laptop would change my world.

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Hans Rosling, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and UN: researcher of hunger and disease in Africa, global development needed in undergrad medical program. Which country in each pair has highest child mortality as the other? Sri Lanka or Turkey (T), Poland or South Korea (P), Malaysia or Russia (R), Pakistan or Vietnam (P), or Thailand or South Africa (SA). Knowledge doesn’t go wtih compassion among students. (or chimpanzees or professors). Advancement in Asia: social development included. Spontanious thinking: dichotomized, linear, one dimension + time. Need thinking: diversity, non-linear, at least 2 dimensions + time. See colorful graph, then software that moved over time. World is doubly-logarithmically unjust (plotting GDP with child survival 5 yr). No gap between rich and poor contries, only money difference. 1950: most women in world had 6-7 children & lost 1-2, some countries changed fast over time. Low income countries vs middle income coutries, over time: less kids, more investment in health and education. Trendalyzer (+ built-in data .tlz = interactive visual analysis of moving time series data) (can export animations, export images, import and export local data). Desire to generate standarized data for use in this software environment, easy comparison of varied data. (This presentation was amazing. The software is available.)

Panel discussion:

How the tech world can help the UN achieve the millennium goals:

Calestous Juma, International Development, Harvard: task force under UN for millennium development goals: long time frame, clear targets and benchmarks (thinking unprecedented in UN). Categories: human needs (hunger, health, nutrition), participation of developing countries in global econ, global management (climate change). Tech is just one of the targets: can’t achieve any major goal without significant investment in tech AND reforms in policy. , higher ed, enterprise development (mechansim of transforming to goods and services), foresight (confluence btwn info & bio-techs).

Panelists: Hans Rosling, Charles Riemenschneeider, Chris Elias, Ingvar Andersson, Sara McCue, Cestous Juma.

Charles, UN FAO: overall ag development has increased health and welfare, some areas bypassed. Hunger decreased from 37% to 17% since 1970, 840M hungry rose 15M even with better and cheaper food. Goal: cutting poverty in half, ag-based lives. Expect slowdown in population growth but overall increase. By 2030 will need 60% more food than today. Demand will be driven by income growth rather than demand growth: consumption will outpace development in developing countries. Nat resources: arable land and water will decrease, more stats on reduction of usable land/water/resources. Ag sector will need to respond to concerns (water, consumer, etc).

Q to Charles: what specific tech or application of tech would you most like to see? Integrated pest or water management, biotech (can help, won’t replace, not a silver bullet, requires appropriate policy). Molecular divide. more stats (hard to keep track of this, or after a few minutes it’s hard to make sense of it).

Chris, Appropriate Tech and Health (not part of UN but partner): cross-disciplinary collaboration. Myth: rich vs poor, served by development, so poor that nothing works. Not true: things work. All goals of millennium goals are essential. Three of those goals: 4) reduce child mortality,, 5) improve maternal health, 6) reduce certain diseases (TB, etc). Tremendous lost opportunity, wealth of innovation and improved health indicators in aggregate, but those statistics mask needs. Health of mothers is vital to health of children. Orphans less likely to go to school, have health problems. Maternal anemia increases low birth weight, HIV maternal to child transmission. Maleria and TB in both adults and children. Causes of excess death are largely preventable: pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, malnutrition. Diversity of distribution of problems: disease burden varies in diff parts of world. 30,000 children a day is too long to wait for solutions.

Ingvar, Water policy advisor, UNDP: 3 targets: safe water supply (reduce use), basic sanitation (by 2015), counties to have integrated wanter management resources to coordinate use. 1.1-1.2B people without water resources today. Must rethink how to deal with sanitation and delivery: issues of social change, need to leave learning mindset. Most water carried on head by women, introduce wheel barrow or bicycle to community and men become interested. Community water needs linked energy needs. Intermediate transport options besides pipe or on-head. Need a revolution.

Sara, ITC for development UNDP: how info is organized and found is most important. Who selects, organizes, publishes? Not currently organized in useful way, need transactional portals, inter-industry, Internet-accessible structures. Culture of info sharing is exciting. How to use tech to transform business and gov? What do individuals use it for if individual and economic growth? How to bring tech to all areas of world? how to encourage use of Internet for personal growth and economic development? more stats, questions…

Events