WINDING DOWN
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week’s net, technology and science news
by Alan Lenton
So, what have we got for you this week? R.I.P. H.R. Giger, the first entirely new plastic for 50 years, Californian air traffic control, a possible Edward Snowden movie, loony patents at the USPTO, The American Museum of Natural History’s historic photos of itself (a soupcon of recursion there, I suspect), how the ancient Egyptians moved very large blocks of stone, a mega-dust storm, a kids’ wrist-mounted mobile phone, steampunk at London’s Royal Observatory, tech hoaxes, and a 4TB 2.5-inch SSD. For those who want still more there are URLs pointing to the discovery of one of the sun’s siblings, NASA’s lost lunar photos, traffic light hacks, a couple of 3D printing items, and a collection of pieces about the NSA...
A slightly bigger edition this week to make up for the fact that there wasn’t one last week, and there won’t be one next week because it’s a public holiday over on this side of the pond. After that we will, hopefully, be returning to a more regular three weeks out of every four publication schedule.
So, “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...”
Shorts:
H. R. Giger, one of my favourite artists, died this week. I first found his work when I bought a copy of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s album ‘Brain Salad Surgery’, for which he designed the cover. Probably his most widely known work was in designing the sets and the alien in in the film of the same name. And no – I don’t have any of H.R. Giger’s pictures on my wall, they aren’t really designed for that! R.I.P.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/13/the_weird_and_wonderful_mind_of_hr_giger_is_no_more/
So often things are discovered by accident that we almost take it for granted. The latest accidental discovery, though, looks like it signals a major change in our use of plastics. In IBM’s materials lab, one of the researchers forgot to add a component to a reaction she was studying. Normally, when that happens, all you get a very nasty slurry in the bottom of the flask. This time however, it formed a new plastic, so tough that she had to smash the flask to get it out.
When the new material was put through its paces it was discovered that with a bit of tweaking it was nearly as strong as steel, recyclable and self-healing, depending on the tweaks. The recyclable bit is especially interesting – normally when you get a super strong plastic, it won’t degrade – an advantage as a material, but making it more than a little difficult to dispose of when you no longer want it!
If this stuff, the first genuinely new discovery in the field in 50 years, can be produced commercially, then it is going to have a massive impact on how we make things, especially if it turns out that you can couple it with 3D printers.
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/lab-accident-yields-ultra-strong-material-recycles-cleanly-n105686
California airports appear to have had a rough time this month. A spy plane – one of the legendary U2’s – revealed a hitherto unknown problem with the software that ensures planes don’t collide. It was trying to stop the U2 colliding with planes that were, in fact, tens of thousands of feet below it. Better that way than not trying to stop collisions at all I guess! Eventually, for safety reasons, planes were grounded all over the area...
It seems that the US$2.4 billion air traffic control system simply ran out of memory! How embarrassing. Actually, it does have enough memory for what it does. The problem was that the flight plan for the U2 caused the computer to go into an infinite loop trying to calculate all possible alternatives for all the planes in its designated area. So, when it ran out of memory it rebooted and started all over again, until it ran out of memory again, and so on.
So it seems certain flight plans can cause the computer to crash. How long, I wonder before the hackers figure out the details?
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/spy-plane-fries-air-traffic-control-computers-shuts-down-lax-n95886
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/12/los_angeles_air_traffic_control_crash_caused_memory_shortage_u_2_spyplane_cia/
I see that the people who make James Bond movies have taken out an option on an Edward Snowden movie. I can’t imagine why. There are few things more boring to watch than an IT geek typing at a keyboard. As a recreation it rates alongside watching an electro-music band play a ‘live’ concert. I think I’ll pass on this one if it ever comes out...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/15/james_bond_producers_signed_for_edward_snowden_movie/
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) looneys are well on their way to solidifying their bid to take over the mantle of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with their latest grant of a patent on how to photograph people and products against a white background. This grant was to Amazon, it’s US Patent number 8,676,045.
I can only draw one of two conclusions from this latest antic. The first is the view put forward by ‘The Register’ that the USPTO employs ‘barely trained gibbons’ to assess potential patents. This idea has a lot attraction, but my own inclinations tend towards a more sinister idea.
My personal belief is that there is a secret underground anti-patent guerrilla cell deeply embedded in the USPTO that is dedicated to making the organization such a laughing stock that no one will ever file another serious patent for fear of being held up to ridicule. Take your choice!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/09/amazon_granted_patent_for_taking_photos_against_a_white_background/
Homework:
Would you like to see a slice of history within history. Yes? You’re in luck. The American Museum of Natural History has launched a new online digital database containing photographs about the museum, some dating back to as long ago 1878. Take a look – the pictures are also interesting from a sociological point of view. For instance, in the 1912 picture of workmen moving a giant slice of a sequoia tree into the Hall of North American Forests, most of them are wearing hats, even while they move it along. When was the last time you saw a modern workman wearing a hat while he worked, and why did men’s hats go so dramatically out of fashion in the 50s/60s?
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/28/an_inside_look_at_the_museum_of_natural_history_from_1878.php
For years archaeologists have argued about how the ancient Egyptians moved the two and a half ton stone blocks used to build the pyramids and other massive projects. Actually, it turns out to be quite simple – they used sledges moving over wet sand. Not only that, but they drew pictures of it in tombs which have been known since Victorian times!
Normally if you drag a sledge with a heavy weight on it through sand, the front digs in and sand builds up in front of the sledge, making it much more difficult to pull. However, if you wet the sand just the right amount, then not only do you not get a build-up of sand, but it cuts the friction by half! A nice piece of engineering – maybe we should get engineers to look at ancient hieroglyphics in the future!
http://gizmodo.com/scientists-discovered-the-egyptian-secret-to-moving-hug-1569802879
Like to see a picture of a really big, fast moving dust storm? Then take a look at these pictures from NASA that show a massive dust storm in Northern China. You really, really, wouldn’t want to be caught in something like this!
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83554&src=eoa-iotd
Got small kids? This looks interesting. It’s a basic mobile phone small enough, and robust enough, to go on a child’s wrist, so they can play outside and still be in contact with their parents. It’s a Kickstarter project, and it’s already got the start-up funding it needs. Worth keeping an eye on if you have small children. I know when I lived in a house with small children we would all have killed for a device like this!
http://www.gizmag.com/tinitell-wrist-phone-children/32039/
For Geeks:
Calling all Steampunks... If you happen to be in London, England between now and the beginning of January next year, then you need to go and take a look at Royal Observatory’s new Longitude Punk’d Exhibition. Steampunk artists have taken over the Time galleries, and produced their own, Steampunk version of the quest to measure longitude. I intend to go and see this in the near future, and will let you all know what it’s like!
http://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2014/apr/10/steampunk-royal-observatory-greenwich-science-history
One of InfoWorld’s recent slide shows was about tech hoaxes. It’s quite an amusing little selection – I particularly liked the one about how you could turn a black and white TV into a colour one by stretching a nylon stocking over it! Incidentally, this caused a run on nylon stockings in Sweden, where the hoax was aired.
http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/151490/top-12-tech-hoaxes-of-all-time-241896
Now here’s a little something to get geeks drooling... How about a 4TB 2.5-inch SSD? You like? It’s from SanDisk, and it’s their Optimus MAX SSD. No price yet, but I bet it will cost a packet.
http://www.gizmag.com/sandisk-4tb-optimus-max-enterprise-ssd/31902/
Scanner:
We’re from the same dust cloud, bro: boffins find the Sun’s long-lost sibling
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/12/solar_sibling_found/
The hackers who recovered NASA’s lost lunar photos
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/lost-lunar-photos-recovered-by-great-feats-of-hackerdom-developed-at-a-mcdonalds/
Traffic light vulnerabilities leave doors wide open to Italian Job-style hacks
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/08/traffic_control_system_vuln_paves_way_italian_job_style_hacks/
Janne Kyttanen 3D-prints essential travel items with Lost Luggage kit
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/05/07/janne-kyttanen-3d-printed-lost-luggage-kit/
Lix 3D-printing pen allows users to create solid drawings in the air
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/05/01/lix-smallest-3d-printing-pen-aluminium/
NSA Stuff:
Report: Google’s NSA dealings not as bad as you thought – they were worse
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/07/googles_nsa_data_dealings_not_as_bad_as_first_thought_theyre_much_worse/
Reported NSA backdoors might open up networks to more threats
http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/reported-nsa-backdoors-might-open-networks-more-threats-242384?source=IFWNLE_nlt_networking_2014-05-13
Did the NSA help kill UWB?
http://www.cringely.com/2014/05/15/nsa-help-kill-uwb/
Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/tails/
https://tails.boum.org/
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers Barb and Fi 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
18 May 2014
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/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
