Category Archives: The Brain

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XPath and DOM Documents …
As I continue my learning of JavaScript I continue to learn some of the rich infrastructure. This is a very good article that applies well to many of the exact DOM operations that I am writing currently. I continue to be very impressed with this site, and this series of articles!

Searching DOMDocument Nodes. It’s easy to load XML data into Internet Explorer using JavaScript; the real fun starts when you try to find specific information within the DOMDocument tree. Learn how to search for and select specific nodes using XPath notation. By Yehuda Shiran and Tomer Shiran. 0226 [WebReference News]

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Yet another validation of our original business plan from years ago …
It seems like more and more people are realizing that the community networks are going to win. This is a very good article that discusses that the real issues are in the “back office” as quoted below …

Privacy expert Garfinkel on opening public institutions’ wireless networks: I hadn’t realized that noted security and privacy expert Simson Garfinkel spent several months as part of a firm trying to build a commercial wireless ISP business that would expand across the globe. He found the back-office stuff the killer, not the networks or network infrastructure. (I’ve heard the same thing about MobileStar; it cost them $3K/Starbucks to put Wi-Fi in, so how did they burn through $80M? Garfinkel explains.) Garfinkel argues that public institutions for whom incremental bandwidth costs are nil should contribute to the larger community by opening their networks. Likewise, he points out how simple it is for individuals to get bandwidth and feed it out. Running through tens of millions put him on the track of what’s becoming the real revolution: community networks. (Garfinkel’s books include the superb non-fiction horror title Database Nation and the co-authored (with guru Gene Spafford) Web Security, Privacy, and Commerce.

[80211b News]

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Bandwidth being seen as a utility …
I like to see things like this occurring … the perspective that bandwidth is simply a utility. The streams of bits flowing into, and out of, your computer being seen like a two-way water pipe.

As this perspective continues to gain ground, it will become more and more apparent that you are free to do with your bandwidth what you like … just like what you do with water or gas.

Bandwidth is going to become a public utility …

Publicly Funded Broadband and 802.11 [Slashdot]

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Building in the platform of innovation …
With the recent growth in wireless devices, and the decreasing cost and size of GPS solutions, there are whole new markets emerging that will capitalize on this new information platform. A mobile computer or PDA, combined with a GPS, allows for a wide range of applications to be installed and utilized. The big shift comes, however, when this platform is now combined with wireless data communications.

Wireless communications means that a mobile device can now report locations information, and query for location information, on an ongoing basis. This means that a mobile user can now begin to share their location with friends and family, maybe to arrange an impromtu meeting. In addition, a mobile user can have an agent running on their mobile computer that will continuously query various “location servers” for places (and/or people) that would be of interest.

This is a huge area that we are exploring at my company, and I am convinced that Steve is heading in the right direction with his new venture!

Steve Wozniak Unveils Wireless Device Firm. With $6 million in seed money in hand, the Apple co-founder unveils wOz, a new consumer-oriented device venture. [Product News]

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Old article with some good points …
This is actually a reference to an older iBM publication (November 1999), however it does contain some good points. There are two areas that I would argue.

First is the issue of special purpose computers for these types of applications. I would argue that this is a “scarcity” conversation, and suggests that general purpose computers and CPUs will not become just as small, lightweight, and powerful as other types of systems. I believe that general purpose computing platforms will continue to decrease in size and power requirements so that they will become the platform of choice for wearable computers.

The second area that I would debate is not that of the content of the applications described, but the platform that they will run on. In the examples given – paramedic and firefighter applications – I can see these as applications running on a general purpose computing platform, and general purpose OS.

With the increasing power of these platforms, and the general applicability of their software, there will be little reason to “minimize” the capabilities of the wearable computer.

Analyzing Application Requirements In Wearable Computer Interfaces [Nooface: In Search of the Post-PC Interface]

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Wearable computers and rights of Cyborgs …
This is great … and I have to admit that Steve Mann is pushing the limits of wearable computers! I have recently been following the leading edge research of Steve in the area of rights of people with wearable computer augmentation. Mann has been looking at the various social implications of wearable computers from the perspective of the “cyborg” who begins to integrate them into their life and depend on them. He has explored the potential impacts of removing visual augmentation from someone how has physically adapted to it, along with the issues with potential damage to these devices by electromagnetic forces, radiation, or physical search.

His issues are very legitimate as wearable computers can be seen as extensions of humans much like many medical devices – wheelchairs, etc. In this particular case, Mann even had a heart monitor that was attached in way that its removal left him bleeding.

It now appears that Steve is suing an airline for damages and personal impact suffered when he was detained and searched. The line between biological and technological life is beginning to blur …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1897000/1897264.stm

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The future of urban art … a very cool new version …
This is one of the coolest ideas that I have seen in art and the urban landscape. Using the office lights in a tall building at night to create a giant animated canvas. People are then able to download an application to create the animations and contribute them to the groups running the project.

I’m almost interested in finding a company here in Salt Lake City that would be interested in doing the same thing!

A German Computer Club’s Eight Story Hack. I originally found this site from a story posted on ABC News. To celebrate their 20th anniversary, the German Chaos Computer Club has turned the top eight stories, eighteen windows per floor, of an East Berlin building into a giant display. The project, called Blinkenlights has downloadable software called Blinkenpaint that allows anyone to create a simple movie that can be played on the giant display. View some of the contributed movies here. My favorites include das Monster and this Internet pop culture retread. If you want to direct dial a German phone number you can even play Pong. See a current web cam image here. [kuro5hin.org]