Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: June 16, 2013

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WINDING DOWN

An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week’s net, technology and science news

by Alan Lenton

This week Winding Down features the NSA/FBI uproar, human gene patents, UltraRope, Central Park Street View, Electronic Arts, Xbox One and PS4, meta-data, contact lenses with a pixel, a black watch, and walking robots. URLs include Amazon advertising, medical equipment security, Chrome takes the lead, iStuff banned, and in-car phone safety risks.

Please note there will be no issue of Winding Down next week.

On Spies and Spying

Aaaargh! Over half the URLs I collected for this week's Winding Down related to the current NSA spying revelations. The frustrating thing is that most of the revelations are of the "Is the pope catholic, do bears..." variety. Why is everybody surprised that having given a government spy agency something in excess of 10 billion dollars, they use the cash to collect and process all the information they can get their hands on, legally or illegally? The whole point of having a spy organisation is for it to spy on people. 

Furthermore, why is anyone surprised that having given the national police force powerful tools - National Security Letters in this case - for obtaining information, they will use those tools to speed up the solving of as many of their cases, terrorist related or otherwise, as they can get away with?

The good thing that is coming out of this whole affair is simple. Many people who previously never before gave the issue of the relationship between government secrecy and democracy a thought are now considering it. That's very important, not just for the United States, but also for the rest of the world, much of which looks up to the United States.

In the meantime, when you try to understand how we got to this state, perhaps it's worth pondering on the words of  Bruce Schneier in his CRYPTO-GRAM Newsletter on 15 June 2013. "The current surveillance state is a result of a government/corporate partnership, and our willingness to give up privacy for convenience."

Shorts:

Probably the really big news that got lost in the NSA imbroglio this week was a decision of the US Supreme Court that  human genes cannot be patented. "We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," wrote Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the court's decision. On the other hand, the court also ruled that synthetic DNA is patentable. In the future this could have a lot of implications, but that lies in the future. For now the result represents a victory for researchers, physicians and patients, who will no longer be held to ransom by the first company to isolate a specific gene.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/13/supreme_court_rules_that_human_genes_cant_be_patented/

The Finnish elevator manufacturer Kone have just come up with an interesting new material. It's called UltraRope, and it's made of a carbon fibre core, covered with a high friction plastic coating. Unlike the more conventional steel ropes used in lifts it comes in a ribbon format. Using multiple reels of the stuff you can pull an elevator car up a kilometre as opposed to the mere half a kilometre with current lifts.

Not only is this stuff stronger than its steel equivalent, it's a lot lighter. In fact it's only 60% of the weight of steel cable needed to haul an elevator car up half a kilometre. While there aren't all that many kilometre high buildings around, I strongly suspect that UltraRope is going to have a massive impact anywhere that high-tensile cables are needed - ocean-going tugs spring immediately to mind. Definitely one to watch.
http://www.gizmag.com/ultrarope-kilometer-high-elevators/27902/

Live in New York, or even just planning a visit? Then you need to take a look at the latest Google Street View of the lesser known areas of Central Park. The Street View team have been mapping its nooks and crannies, and I certainly intent to take a stroll in the forested bits next time I visit!
http://www.dvice.com/2013-6-3/google-street-view-uncovers-mysteries-central-park

I see that Electronic Arts (EA) has been voted "worst company in America" in an online poll by consumerist magazine for the second year running. I'm not surprised. They really are an obnoxious bunch, with little interest in looking after their customers and their employees, and always have been. It's one of the few games companies that I've never allowed recruiters to put my name forward to. Most games companies are software sweatshops, but EA are notorious.

And their attitude to their players is no better - the term cash cow comes to mind. Indeed, barely a week after the results of the poll were published, they amply demonstrated their arrogance by screwing over all the existing players of the online game 'Scrabble', having taken it over from the brand owner Mattel.

Perhaps the recent 19% year on year drop in income for the first quarter of 2013 might be indicative of players finally having had enough of being treated like dirt!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22801311
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22905191
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/22443602

On the hardware side, both Sony and Microsoft have revealed their new generation games consoles. Microsoft was first off the blocks with a preview of the Xbox One. Gamers were not happy to discover that not only did it cost an eye-watering US$499, but that it would be very difficult to sell games second hand, and would require users to be on-line when it was in use.

Having let Microsoft commit itself, Sony then moved in for the kill with its PlayStation 4, a very cool looking black box.  Not only is it US$100 cheaper than the Microsoft offering, it has faster graphics, doesn't require an internet connection, and doesn't make its users jump though DRM hoops. CEO Jack Tretton was quite specific about what this meant when he unveiled the PS4 at the E3 show:

"We are focused on delivering what gamers want most without imposing restrictions or devaluing their PlayStation purchase. PlayStation 4 won't impose any new restrictions on the use of used games. That's a good thing,"

It is indeed. Your move, Microsoft.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/07/xbox_one_internet_required_after_all/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/11/microsoft_announces_xbox_price/
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-57588638-10391702/sony-takes-the-wraps-off-playstation-4-hardware/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/11/sony_undercuts_outpowers_xboxone_dismisses_drm/

Homework:

The NSA shambles has raised the question of just what meta-data is, and how you can extract anything useful from it. The best explanation I've found is in the form of a spoof written by Kieran Healy. Purportedly, it is a missive from a junior analytical scribe at ye olde Royal Security Administration in London Towne.

The date is 1772 and the scribe is searching for 'terrorists' in the Boston area. He records the membership of various clubs in the area and looks at people who belong to which club. Then assuming that most people in the clubs know one another, the scribe draws a chart of who knows whom in the Boston milieu being investigated. The more people you know, the more likely you are to be an important connection in the revolutionary agitation.

And I'm sure my US readers will recognize the name that pops up at the top of the list - Paul Revere! What's fascinating about this is that we don't have to know what Paul Revere is saying, just who he talks to - the equivalent of reading the 'To:' address on your email - to discover his importance. In other words we are using only the metadata, not any content.

I urge you to read the piece, it's a very clever explanation of how metadata is used, and gives the lie to the idea that collecting metadata is 'harmless'. Think about it. Why would anyone collect metadata if it wasn't useful?
http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

If you thought Google glass was vile/creepy/interesting/cool/wow, you ain't seen nothing yet. Scientists at Samsung and various universities have managed to design an LED flexible enough to work with a soft contact lens. They can only get one pixel onto the lens at the moment, but I have no doubt more will follow shortly!
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/07/scientists-build-soft-transparent-contact-lens-displays/

For Geeks:

Here's something really cool - the ultimate black watch. I know watches are going out of fashion, people are using their smart phones instead. However, this particular wrist adornment is very, very cool, if expensive. Take a look.
https://eu.fab.com/sale/7547/product/108630

Any robot aficionados out there? Then point your browser at the URL, and take a look at a couple of robots that are starting to walk much more naturally. Most humanoid robots can't  balance well enough to do this, but recent developments in Japan seem to be on the way to overcoming the problems involved. Interesting.
http://www.i-programmer.info/news/169/5965.html

Scanner: Other stories

Amazon reaping US$600 million a year in ad sales - and you thought they just sold books...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/06/amazon_reaping_600m_in_annual_ad_sales/

US Department of Homeland Security warns of vulnerabilities in hospital medical equipment
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/14/medical_device_security_warning/

Poll Results 2013: Chrome overtakes Firefox as the preferred web browser
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/poll-results-2013-chrome-overtakes-firefox-as-the-preferred-web-browser/7800

iPhones and iPads banned in US for violating Samsung patent
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/04/itc_bans_iphone_ipad_for_samsung_patents/

Voice-Activated technology is called safety risk for drivers
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/business/voice-activated-in-car-systems-are-called-risky.html?_r=0

Acknowledgements

Thanks to readers Barb, Fi and Asti for drawing my attention to material for Winding Down.

Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...

Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
16 June 16013

Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan.

Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.

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