What, Why & How do we Know ?
Now just have July to December 2003 blogs in which to fix header links.
This has been a good opportunity to re-read the entire blog. As well as re-inforcing the categories needed – it has shown up the extent of link-rot and links broken due to re-structuring my blog archives and those of others. I’ll need to do another pass to fix those, and possibly seek and preserve more off-line copies of important linked sources.
This is tedious, but valuable I hope.
Several aspects of interest in this BBC story.
The perpendicular disk storage format mentioned earlier.
It’s not all about storage capacity – but if people want media (beyond simple text) content then quantity inevitably grows in consumer electronics – iPod shows that user interfaces can be created to make it usable.
Ruggedised drives for cars – extremes of temperature, physical vibration and knocks are also growing. Interestingly as Cringley predicted some time ago in 2002, cars are going to become the main focus of comms expansion.
Been back through every post since Sept 2001 and fixed post headers with links (except 2003). Still quite a few broken internal psybertron links, but can fix. Now able to implement a Categories scheme, and a page to explain, and I must put in a dummy index page to trap and divert the old Psybertron home page links.
The database admin searching of WordPress makes this stuff so simple, if a little tedious.
Getting there.
Well if UEFA’s Lennart Johanson can admit “we had made a mistake so we changed our minds and fixed it, without embarassment”, then there’s hope for all of us.
Reached half-way, the start of Volume 2. The archaic prose style, Cervantes translated by Smollett, and the Don’s already pompous delivery, means you have to work hard for its pleasures other than the sound of language itself. The theme of women as objects of admiration, and pretty well all motives, is very strong ? I must have missed the significance of why the goatherd at the end of Volume 1 is Anselmo – need to back track.
If I’m going to complete this I may have to switch to a more modern translation, to save reading time.
Founded in 1998, floated less than a year ago, Google is the biggest media company at $80bn [via BBC]
Blogged on this phenomenon a while ago – walking octopus – and here is a report on the concept being considered for robotic locomotion. [via BBC] It’ll never fly.
Chinese control over web sites may extend to requiring registration of blogs [via BBC].
{Just a place holder for some links.] I blogged on this earlier, in connection with Leonid’s links to Stafford Beer, but I see “Requisite Variety” was originally coined by W. Ross Ashby. This Google cross-hit on my site is full of interesting links, crossing my tracks all over the place – Principia Cybernetica / Heylighen, zillions of Cybernetics links generally and a few Zen sites too. Must read a few of these.
It really is amazing how Sir Bob can whip up the media and entertainment industry into action, and how that spurs those with political power into being seen to do something. And it’s great to see Live8 put it’s weight behind Make Poverty History, rather than become a separate campaign. It would have been a great pity if Live8 had just been another fundraisingathon for charity handouts, as my world-wise 19 year old pointed out the day the event was first announced.
Actually, one interesting point has been the reaction to the megalomaniac call for a million to march on Edinburgh. The Lothian chief constable couldn’t miss a justification to get his budget increased. Walking to Edinburgh from where ? Hyde Park, London, the Channel Ports ? How far ? How many ? Get real Bob, but I wonder. If anyone could make it happen.
Never hopeful about international committees meeting to agree anything. But if the leaders at the alternative summit at the Scottish Parliament could work out some practical mechanism to turn the declarations of commitment (and funding) into reality, then never mind Sir Bob, scrap the conclave, we have our next Pope.
Seriously though, I hope the outcome is not simply waiving third-world debt – something more subtle needed to reward those who attempt to improve their lot, national governments or any other constituencies. The problem would be to have a transparent allocation of funding (or debt waivers) to avoid any kind of corruption, cynical or well intentioned.
I know, just give Bob the money, (everything the fundraisers raise, everything governments pledge, in money and debt relief), oh, and a camera crew ….
There’s your reality TV for the next decade. A panel of celebrity judges, third-world banana-republic leaders (official or rebel) invited in to make their case for a handout for their pet project, the judges mock, the public votes, and next month we send Alan Titchmarsh and his mob round to check how your looking after our money. The spin-off shows rake in the advertising income (with a contribution to the shows coffers). Seriously, it’s a winner, surely ?
Update … this BBC Story contains plenty of figures, countries and issues around African debt relief, and proposed “deals” based on policies moving forward … I still say the Reality TV / I’ll take a Billion Bob / game show approach is the only way to organise the transparancy of how the benefit is deployed.