We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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I imagine at least a few have noted my near absence from these pages over the last few weeks. This is the difference between those who earn their keep from their words and those who do so by other means. As I live by consultancy, I at times have very few hours left to myself. When there are other projects at hand, time allocation can get very dicey. One very big “free time” project is nearing completion and as it is part of a public event I thought I’d invite you all to come. I’m running a track on Novel Propulsion Systems at the National Space Society‘s 2002 International Space Development Conference in Denver in a few weeks.
Here’s what I’ve put together for my little corner of it:
NPS track, Sat May 25, 2002
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Morning Session
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0900-0925 Energy, Economics, and Space Transport: Evaluating
Alternative Space Launch Systems
Keith Lofstrom, www.launchloop.com
0930-1025 Nuclear Propulsion Systems Panel
Tony Rusi, Bigelow Aerospace
Dr. Steven D. Howe, Hbar Technologies, LLC
1030-1100 Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems
Richard Westfall, Galactic Mining Industries, Inc
Afternoon Session
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1400-1425 The Ultimate Exploration: Approaches to Interstellar Flight
Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis, NASA Glenn Research Center
1430-1455 Magnetic Sail Flight Experiment
Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society
1500-1525 The Launch Loop: People and Machines to Orbit and Beyond
Keith Lofstrom, www.launchloop.com
1530-1555 Cost Performance of the Hydrogen Rocket Launcher
Dr. John Hunter, Starbridge, Inc
Herb Chelner, President of Micron Instruments Inc.
1600-1625 Tether Launch Assist
Dr. Robert P Hoyt, President, CEO,
& Chief Scientist, Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
1630-1655 Breakthrough Propulsion Physics
Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis, NASA Glenn Research Center
(presenting for
Marc Millis, NASA Glenn Research Center)
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See you there!
Hernando de Soto seems to have had an immense impact on all of Spanish America, and most particularly on his homeland of Peru. Unfortunately you hear very little about Peru in the news other than Fujimori escapades or Shining Path villainy. This letter from Dr. Edgar David Villaneuva Nunez, Congressman of the Republica of Peru to Microsoft shows an entirely different side of government in Peru. It is much worth the read whether your interest is in the meta-context shining through it, or of the powerful set of arguments Dr Nunez makes for free software.
The story is in the letter so I will let Dr. Nunez provide the rest of the narrative.
I was having dinner last night in a Polish restaurant with an old chum of mine and a most delectable young lady, when I noticed something that reaffirmed my conviction that the triumph of global capitalism is completely unstoppable. If there was ever any doubt in your mind about how capitalist innovation makes our lives so much better, it can be dispelled by purchasing a bottle of Polish Zywiec beer and examining the label on the back of the bottle closely.
Refrigerate, wait until Zywiec logo appears. That indicates ideal drinking temperature
Science and business join hands to deliver the perfect bottle of beer! God bless capitalism!
A Japanese electronics firm has invented a high-tech pint glass that tells bar staff when it needs refilling. The glass is fitted with a radio-frequency coil in its base that emits a signal to a receiver when it is empty. The glass has been invented by Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. Strikes me that this is the way for Japan to get out of its current economic mire. Is technology wonderful or what?
Finally I have found a way to mention a subject related to what I try to do for living, in a way relevant to libertarians and like-minded netwarriors. I have been interested in networks and their security for some time but only recently I have begun to notice articles and books attempting to analyse the implications of technology and information age on networks at a more strategic level. (I am not saying that they did not exist, simply that I haven’t been able to reach them despite my continuous searches). Perhaps it is a result of the very network effect that the topic is attracting more attention as it spreads into more industries, areas and levels of society.
And so I have come across a book titled Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime and Militancy published by RAND (a contraction of the term Research and Development), the first organisation to be called a “think tank”. The authors take as a given that the fight for the future is not between the armies of leading states, nor are its weapons those of conventional armed forces. What today’s combatants – whether it be terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, drug smuggling cartels of Columbia and Mexico, or non-violent, civil-society activists for environment, human rights or liberty – have in common is that they operate in small, dispersed units that can deploy anytime, anywhere. They all feature network forms of organisation, doctrine, strategy and technology attuned to the information age. This gives rise to a new spectrum of conflict that has been termed netwars.
Netwar is the lower-intensity, society rather than state based counterpart to the mostly military concept of cyberwar and its distinguishing features are:
a) a dual nature – conflicts waged, on the one hand, by terrorists, criminals and ethno-nationalist extremists; and by civil-society activists on the other.
b) no leaders – networked groups without the obvious need for leadership
c) suppleness and flexibility – ability to come together quickly in swarming attacks
d) novelty – new practices triumph until an appropriate response is discovered
The framework for assessing such networks looks at five levels: the technological, social, narrative, organisational and doctrinal. All five must be right for the network to be fully effective. (Perry, I hope you are taking notes. )
The technological sophistication is not the only thing that matters. The other levels have as much, if not more, effect on the potential power of the group. The social basis for co-operation is important for establishing trust and identity, for example among the members of ethnically based terror and crime groups. Among civil-society netwarriors, in the absence of the ethnic or social ties the narrative level matters most as sharing and projecting a common story empowers them and attracts audiences. Finally, the defining level of a netwar actor is the kind of network and the sort of doctrine he uses.
To confront and cope with networked adversary, the same framework must be used to assess his strengths and weaknesses. The most serious opponents are highly networked and flexible, backed by social ties, secure communications and a common story about why they are together and what they need to do.
The network form of organisation is a serious challenge to nation states because it strains their ability to cope with the threats posed by such non-state actors, especially if used for criminal or terrorist objectives. Strategists and policy makers in Washington and elsewhere have already noted this dark side of the netwar phenomenon. The book recommends that whilst they continue to keep an eye on the perils posed by the ‘bad guys’, they must form coalitions between states and civil society’s networked actors. I imagine if they follow this suggestion, there will perhaps be a link, in the appropriate category, to the U.S. Department of Defense on the side bar. Or vice versa.
I’ve finally finished wading through a paper in the field of gravitational physics that leaves me near ready for a double dose of aspirin. I’ll be the first to admit my Physics and Calculus have large flecks of rust flaking off them when I attempt a mountain of arcanity such as this.
I can only say I followed enough of it to say it’s real science and if true we’ve finally moved from physics grad student’s pub time what-if to verifiable laboratory manipulation of gravity. Yes, go back re-read what I just said. You didn’t imagine it.
The gist of the paper, and gist is about all I can give you, is that with high voltage discharges from a superconducting ceramic electrode in a strong externally generated magnetic field a gravity pulse occurs in the direction of the electric discharge. The pulse detection was carried out with an instrumented pendulum up to 150 meters from the generator. The impulse effect, while not huge, is measurable to the unaided eye.
What is important is not the size of the laboratory effect. It is that a coupling between gravity and manipulatable forces exists at all. If his theoretical work is correct, I think there may be a practical engineering field just a decade or so beyond the science.
Bear in mind that none of this is proven yet. Someone might come along and explain away Podkletnov’s results by experimental error, or it might be some new physics with nothing to do with gravity.
But it does look very interesting.
“Impulse Gravity Generator Based on Charged YBa2Cu3O(7-y) Superconductor with Composite Crystal Structure” by Evgeny Podkletnov and Giovanni Modanese is available for download from Cornell University’s archive of research papers.
Kevin Marks has a rather different ‘take’ on the matter of reputation in the modern world. So is ‘Google envy’ the new snobbery, Kevin?
Neel Krishnaswami is taking a very centralised view of reputation that smells of a synoptic delusion to me. The real revolution in online reputation is happening from the ground up, with Google being the prime example.
Google ranks webpages on how many pages link to them. It then repeats this process, weighting the links from highly linked-to pages higher. In effect, some pages have a higher reputation than others through an emergent mechanism created by all those individual links.
One can argue whether this is elitist or democratic endlessly, but it is certainly based on a Hayekian spontaneous order.
For example, I posted Two Kinds of Order by John Marks on March 11th, and mentioned this to some colleagues who might be interested. I linked to it from a Weblog or two, and Doc Searls did too.
Today it is number 1 on a search for ‘two kinds of order’ out of over 2 million, and a search for John Marks shows it in the top ten, despite there being lots of other John Marks’s on the net.
Have I piggybacked on Doc’s reputation? Yes, but only because he thinks what I and my father wrote is worth reading. If his readers disagree, they’ll stop linking to him, and his reputation will go down.
Cory explains this in more detail, and how a centralised effort can never match this.
Computer World has recently warned us about a German research student who found out that by measuring the light reflected from a user’s face information on a computer screen can be reconstructed. As if we have not enough surveillance in the UK already.
The Cambridge whizz-kid explains: “Even if I can’t see your screen surface, as long as your face is illuminated from a distance of 50 meters I can collect the photons from your face into a sensor and I will have a very good chance of turning it into a readable text”… While his research on information leakage from monitor reflections shouldn’t worry the general population of computer users, government agencies and corporations dealing with top secret or confidential materials would probably want to take precautions, he said.
I find this information interesting for two reasons. First, having grown up the other side of the Iron Curtain, this is the first time I felt a stab of regret that the Cold War is over as such technology has its obvious and spectacular uses. Secondly, being a woman I have already thought of an ‘improvement’ to its application – a light absorbent or, better yet, information distorting make up.
It also demonstrates, at least to me, that one should not attempt to control or regulate the consequences of human inventiveness. Individuals will always find a way around such measures using unforeseen and exotic approaches. The only way to counter negative results of such creativity is to let other individuals’ twisted minds match it…
Not bloody windmills, solar panels or cow shit furnaces, I mean real, usable and practical power: fuel cells and nuclear fusion.
John Ellis points out some excellent advances in fuel cell technology. Fuel cells are truly the wave of the future and I look forward to them gradually replacing not just batteries but the internal combustion engine for many uses one day.
I have always thought it was very revealing that we do not see protestors from the Green movement constantly holding up placards demanding more money be spent on fuel cell and nuclear fusion R&D.
 Thanks to ‘Darsh’ for the cool animated icon
I don’t think I need to say much. Just read the story.
Yes, this is indeed the 21st Century.
I’d have written this article sooner, but I carry the weight of being a day job scientist and engineer, so I had to actually read the damn thing before I dared to stick my neck out. Gotta keep my street cred intact y’know.
My initial impression after reading the paper is positive. Science, along with Nature are among the most prestigious journals, so right off the bat you know it’s to be taken seriously. Secondly, I know of the technique they used (more later) so it’s not quite so out of the blue as the failed Pons/Fleischman technique.
I’m going to remain cautious until the replications start rolling in. I do not expect it will take many days before that occurs as the published experimental technique does not require any terribly specialized equipment(1). I imagine grad students around the world already are madly digging gear out of closets and throwing their own test beds together. They will want their lab among the first to say Aye or Nay. I would not be surprised to hear the first tentative reports within a few days.
I must admit it was a complete surprise. I’ve been in bull sessions about cold fusion over the last decade or so and cavitation has been one of the ideas that came up again and again. I remember standing around in a conference hallway in 1995 in a circle with 3 or 4 others while Dr. Robert Forward talked about it. As the years have rolled on I assumed people had tried the idea and it hadn’t worked.
I’m sure there will be a lot of hype if replications pour in. But here’s my reality check for you. A few excess neutrons coming out of a beaker is a very, very long way from an economical power generating plant. Even if it works, it could be decades or never before it amounts to anything.
I’ll be watching this one very closely.
(1) Well… I admit the neutron source might be a bit dicey to get hold of.
Some weeks ago Glenn Reynolds commented on an article in Nanotechnology Magazine. The author claims there is a nanobacteria so small it slips past our defenses. It creates Calcium deposits in virtually every organ of the body when it encysts itself for further protection. It reproduces very, very slowly due the inefficiency of its’ tiny molecular machinery, takes about 40 years to do noticeable damage… and is the cause of virtually all degenerative diseases. He claims it is cureable and his organization is running trials already, using FDA approved drugs in special prescriptions.
Glenn readily admitted passing judging on these claims was out of his area of expertise. Had it been a lesser claim, I’m just enough of a know-it-all to have judged it within mine. But given the earthshaking nature of what was on the table… I decided to hold back and wait for reinforcements. I really don’t like to make a complete fool of myself if I can help it. I am a firm believer that when something seems too good to be true… it probably is.
I contacted Christine Peterson and Eric Drexler at the Foresight Institute and ran it by them.
While Eric did not entirely dismiss it, he did point out a very troubling issue which would require explanation before one could take the paper seriously:
I wouldn’t be in the least surprised to find that the medicos have overlooked a class of small, unusual bacteria. Evidence for such things has been trickling out for a while now.
On the other hand, any nanobacterial researcher who claims to have found a bacterium only 20 nm in diameter has no idea what a bacterium is. (It helps to have room for both a ribosome and a cell membrane, and maybe even some DNA and enzymes just to round things out.)
I wouldn’t suggest you throw away your “remedies” just yet.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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