Coca-Cola will pilot a next-generation vending machine in Ireland that will sell not only soda, but digital content such as ringtones and downloadable music.
The content, which will be managed by UK-based Inspired Broadcast Networks, will be downloadable to customers' mobile phones via their carrier, Bluetooth connections, or memory cards. The machines will be networked to Inspired's command-and-control center via DSL.
The machines will be rolled out to 200 locations in Ireland over the next several months. However, it's not clear if or when these machines will enter the US market.
Source: TheRegister.com
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Through Katrina, Will America "Rediscover Its Poor"?
The one positive thing that Hurricane Katrina may do for the US is to mobilize us to engage our national problems of race and poverty. The images that we have all seen over the past week, combined with local, state and federal governments' inept response, have shocked and outraged us. More importantly, the disaster has forced us to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that too many Americans are poor and therefore powerless.
Peter Canellos of the Boston Globe writes, "The searing images of New Orleans -- including the sight of sick and elderly patients literally lying on a conveyer belt at Louis Armstrong airport -- could well mark America's rediscovery of its poor." Canellos notes that catastrophic flooding in the Mississippi River region in 1927 marked the first time that the US Government was held accountable for disaster relief. As with now, the brunt of the disaster fell on poor blacks, and the President (Calvin Coolidge) was roundly criticized for failing to comprehend the scope of the calamity. Also, like now, the general public of the Jazz Age was self-indulgent and largely indifferent to poverty, especially in the South. Yet that attitude changed after the disaster.
How our current rude awakening will affect us socially, economically and politically in the months and years to come remains to be seen. But it could be dramatic. According to Canellos, many historians believe the Republican administration's lack of response to the 1927 flooding played a large role in shifting Southern blacks' political allegiance from the Republicans to the Democrats. And, as 9/11 spawned a new sense of patriotism and a greater awareness of world events, Katrina could inspire Americans to do more to combat poverty, whether by donating more to charity, volunteering, or campaigning for public policy reform.
hurricane Katrina New Orleans poverty
Peter Canellos of the Boston Globe writes, "The searing images of New Orleans -- including the sight of sick and elderly patients literally lying on a conveyer belt at Louis Armstrong airport -- could well mark America's rediscovery of its poor." Canellos notes that catastrophic flooding in the Mississippi River region in 1927 marked the first time that the US Government was held accountable for disaster relief. As with now, the brunt of the disaster fell on poor blacks, and the President (Calvin Coolidge) was roundly criticized for failing to comprehend the scope of the calamity. Also, like now, the general public of the Jazz Age was self-indulgent and largely indifferent to poverty, especially in the South. Yet that attitude changed after the disaster.
How our current rude awakening will affect us socially, economically and politically in the months and years to come remains to be seen. But it could be dramatic. According to Canellos, many historians believe the Republican administration's lack of response to the 1927 flooding played a large role in shifting Southern blacks' political allegiance from the Republicans to the Democrats. And, as 9/11 spawned a new sense of patriotism and a greater awareness of world events, Katrina could inspire Americans to do more to combat poverty, whether by donating more to charity, volunteering, or campaigning for public policy reform.
hurricane Katrina New Orleans poverty
Real-Life "Mighty Mouse" Regrows Limbs, Organs
Scientists at Cambridge University have quite a remarkable mouse on their hands -- one that can regenerate lost limbs and heal damaged organs. The hope is that the genetic characteristics of this mouse can be translated to other animals, and ultimately, humans.
The key seems to be in fetal liver cells. After the experimental mouse received these cells, it was able to regrow its tail and toes, and heal a damaged heart and eye. While the Cambridge team won't win any awards from anti-vivisection activists, their research could prove a breakthrough in human longevity and quality of life.
Source: Times Online
The key seems to be in fetal liver cells. After the experimental mouse received these cells, it was able to regrow its tail and toes, and heal a damaged heart and eye. While the Cambridge team won't win any awards from anti-vivisection activists, their research could prove a breakthrough in human longevity and quality of life.
Source: Times Online
Cell Phones Could Reach Gigabit Speed by 2010
Japan's NTT DoCoMo is developing a fourth generation (4G) cell phone network that can transmt data at speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second -- allowing cell phones to download feature-length movies in about a minute. This kind of speed is crucial if cell phones are going to be, as many predict, the literal key to personal information technology going forward.
The experimental technology used to achieve such speed is called Variable-Spreading-Factor Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM). In English, that means that the network uses multiple radio bands to transmit data simultaneously. The 4G phones can also receive data from multiple base stations.
Although the major phone carriers would need to buy into this technology to make it viable, NTT DoCoMo hopes to launch a commercial 4G network by 2010, most likely either in China or Japan.
Source: New Scientist
The experimental technology used to achieve such speed is called Variable-Spreading-Factor Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM). In English, that means that the network uses multiple radio bands to transmit data simultaneously. The 4G phones can also receive data from multiple base stations.
Although the major phone carriers would need to buy into this technology to make it viable, NTT DoCoMo hopes to launch a commercial 4G network by 2010, most likely either in China or Japan.
Source: New Scientist
Friday, September 2, 2005
Helping Others this Labor Day Weekend
As we approach the end of the workday before a holiday weekend, the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina is not far from our minds. The web makes it easy for us to donate to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. Most of these agencies are focused on badly-needed immediate relief, but others such as Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities USA and Architecture for Humanity will need long-term funding for sustainable rebuilding and permanent housing for the now-homeless.
The bad news is that many of these websites are reportedly experiencing heavy traffic and may be slow to respond. The good news is that this shows how much people want to help. So if you're donating money to any of these websites, please be patient. If you experience difficulty using these sites, try accessing them during off hours.
For our US readers preparing to celebrate Labor Day, have a good one, and stay safe.
The bad news is that many of these websites are reportedly experiencing heavy traffic and may be slow to respond. The good news is that this shows how much people want to help. So if you're donating money to any of these websites, please be patient. If you experience difficulty using these sites, try accessing them during off hours.
For our US readers preparing to celebrate Labor Day, have a good one, and stay safe.
Going Low-Tech in Katrina's Wake
Rescue workers in New Orleans and other sections of the Gulf Coast devastated by Katrina are learning the limits of technology. Waterlogged computers, severed data lines, downed cell towers, and an overall lack of electricity are making most communication devices useless.
The few working radios are running out of battery power, with no way to recharge them. The New Orleans police are using a single radio band for their radios, and many rescue teams are resorting to using drivers and runners to transmit messages. However, the Red Cross is working to get satellite phones into the region, and BellSouth has restored phone service to 150,000 customers (out of about 1.6 million) as of Thursday.
Four years after 9/11, we are still figuring out how to cope with widespread communications breakdowns. With technology being so ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive these days, developing contingency plans for keeping life-saving communications online should be a priority.
Source: AP (Excite)
The few working radios are running out of battery power, with no way to recharge them. The New Orleans police are using a single radio band for their radios, and many rescue teams are resorting to using drivers and runners to transmit messages. However, the Red Cross is working to get satellite phones into the region, and BellSouth has restored phone service to 150,000 customers (out of about 1.6 million) as of Thursday.
Four years after 9/11, we are still figuring out how to cope with widespread communications breakdowns. With technology being so ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive these days, developing contingency plans for keeping life-saving communications online should be a priority.
Source: AP (Excite)
Thursday, September 1, 2005
New Orleans Catastrophe Illustrates the Value of Foresight
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears, is there any noise? If a futurist speaks but no one listens, is there any foresight?
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees," said President Bush in an interview with Diane Sawyer, in which he discussed the federal government's response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina earlier this week. "They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded. And now we are having to deal with it and will."
In hindsight, the breaching of New Orleans' levee system is an obvious outcome, given that the levees themselves are decades old. Indeed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has considered serious flooding from a hurricane strike on New Orleans one of the top three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country" since 2001. And on Sunday, the day before the storm hit the Gulf Coast, the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran an article noting:
The Times-Picayune also did an expose on the dangers of a direct hurricane strike on the Big Easy back in 2002. A post in the Huffington Post cites several other predictions placing the levee system at risk. The warnings had been sounded... yet no one in power seemed to be listening, culminating in our President responding to a national catastrophe with an astonishing level of cluelessness.
So if people with foresight did identify the risks long before this past week, why weren't they listened to? Or if they were listened to, why wasn't their advice acted upon? The usual combination of denial, political wrangling, limited budgets and competing priorities surely derailed any proactive efforts. And granted, a colossal storm such as Katrina would be difficult to cope with even under the best of circumstances and with unlimited resources. But no amount of "would, coulda, shoulda" can help the people of New Orleans today, whose world is crumbling into a literal cesspool of chaos, lawlessness, hunger and disease that will likely get worse before it gets better.
Hurricane Katrina now joins the long list of natural and man-made disasters whose impact could have been at least blunted through careful future thinking and scenario planning... as well as planners and government officials who take such foresight seriously. As the past week has proven, it's not enough for smart people to analyze future trends and risks. Their voices need to be heard by those who can turn foresight into action, and make a difference.
UPDATE: Genius Now, Minding the Planet, BuzzMachine and WorldChanging all have excellent posts that echo and elaborate on this theme. See also:
hurricane Katrina New Orleans futurism foresight
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees," said President Bush in an interview with Diane Sawyer, in which he discussed the federal government's response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina earlier this week. "They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded. And now we are having to deal with it and will."
In hindsight, the breaching of New Orleans' levee system is an obvious outcome, given that the levees themselves are decades old. Indeed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has considered serious flooding from a hurricane strike on New Orleans one of the top three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country" since 2001. And on Sunday, the day before the storm hit the Gulf Coast, the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran an article noting:
A computer model run by the LSU Hurricane Center late Saturday confirmed that [Katrina was following the track of Hurricane Betsy, which struck Louisiana in 1965]. It indicated the metropolitan area was poised to see a repeat of Betsy's flooding, or worse, with storm surge of as much as 16 feet moving up the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and topping levees in Chalmette and eastern New Orleans, and pushing water into the 9th Ward and parts of Mid-City. High water flowing from Lake Pontchartrain through St. Charles Parish also would flood over levees into Kenner, according to the model.
The Times-Picayune also did an expose on the dangers of a direct hurricane strike on the Big Easy back in 2002. A post in the Huffington Post cites several other predictions placing the levee system at risk. The warnings had been sounded... yet no one in power seemed to be listening, culminating in our President responding to a national catastrophe with an astonishing level of cluelessness.
So if people with foresight did identify the risks long before this past week, why weren't they listened to? Or if they were listened to, why wasn't their advice acted upon? The usual combination of denial, political wrangling, limited budgets and competing priorities surely derailed any proactive efforts. And granted, a colossal storm such as Katrina would be difficult to cope with even under the best of circumstances and with unlimited resources. But no amount of "would, coulda, shoulda" can help the people of New Orleans today, whose world is crumbling into a literal cesspool of chaos, lawlessness, hunger and disease that will likely get worse before it gets better.
Hurricane Katrina now joins the long list of natural and man-made disasters whose impact could have been at least blunted through careful future thinking and scenario planning... as well as planners and government officials who take such foresight seriously. As the past week has proven, it's not enough for smart people to analyze future trends and risks. Their voices need to be heard by those who can turn foresight into action, and make a difference.
UPDATE: Genius Now, Minding the Planet, BuzzMachine and WorldChanging all have excellent posts that echo and elaborate on this theme. See also:
- Paul Krugman's 9/2 column from the New York Times
- An article from Salon claiming that the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding nearly in half to pay for the Iraq war
- A piece from Newsweek calling Katrina a "predictable tragedy"
- A disturbing piece from CNN.com illustrating the "disconnect" between the perception of government officials such as FEMA chief Michael Brown and those actually on the ground in New Orleans.
hurricane Katrina New Orleans futurism foresight
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