Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 624

It's been a good day for unsought, off-the-wall press releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

THOUGHT-CONTROLLED IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM IMPRESSES AEROSPACE LEADERS  (((and, really, how could it not)))

Brainwave-controlled games and applications designed for use at 35,000 feet 

are a big hit at On the Wings of Innovation aerospace conference.

WINDSOR, ON — Friday, June 30th, 2010

The global aerospace industry was treated to a sneak peek into the future of in-flight entertainment as Toronto's InteraXon demonstrated a prototype of their thought-controlled...

Anna Chapman: press ctrl, alt and e

*I stand ready to start a Beyond the Beyond venture-spook category if I get enough of this stuff. It doesn't seem to be slowing down much.

*Although these Russians were in America under deep cover, they don't seem to have much interest in the secrets of the American government. Probably because nobody does.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19131-innovation-the-tech-refresher-russias-spies-needed.html

(…)

The FBI can testify to that fact – it found 100 pictures with readable text in them...

The Digital Aesthetics of Climate Crisis

Dear theorist, artist or both,

 (((No real difference any more — it's like saying "banker" and "spy," but I repeat myself)))

As part of the upcoming ISEA Ruhr 2010, we will be presenting a panel 
on climate art: The Digital Aesthetics of Climate Crisis.

In order to 
strengthen the scope and bring in fresh perspectives on this issue, we 
would like to ask, if you would be interested in participating through 
a short prerecorded video clip (2 minutes max.) that we may use during 
our panel...

Musica Globalista: Cattle Decapitation

*It takes all kinds, folks.

CATTLE DECAPITATION [usa:] + SUPPORT | 22 JULY 2010 | PORTO | PORTO-RIO

Well over a decade since their inception, CATTLE DECAPITATION have forged their not-so-humble beginnings in veggie gore grind into one of extreme metal's most relentless forces, encompassing a sound as schizophrenic as their already large records collection but with a strictly determined lyrical stance. Their songs protest the mistreatment of animals, environmental abuse and human misanthropy....

Anna Chapman, Venture Spook Capitalist

*This idea is making some sense. It's not about the country. It's about the money. Actually, the illegals network is about money for the siloviki who are running the country, but, well, same difference, nowadays.

http://www.rferl.org/archive/The_Power_Vertical/latest/884/884.html

"Thirtysomething, or Fathers And Children

July 02, 2010

"The scandal of the 11 accused Russian "illegals" who were purportedly unregistered agents of the Russian government in the United States (working for the...

All Anna Chapman, All the Time

*Diplomat's daughter. Married foreigner on impulse at 19. Dad's old pals appear on line one. Exit stage left.

*What the heck is this article doing in a publication called "Bharat Chronicle," one idly wonders.

http://www.bharatchronicle.com/the-russian-spy-anna-chapmans-profile-7216

(…)

"In 2005 the marriage faltered, with Mr Chapman saying she started to become "very secretive, going for meetings on her own with 'Russian friends'.

"These meetings apparently transformed her, he said, from...

Send the underage collateral damage home, please, judge

*What an unholy mess. It's like catching Francis Gary Powers and he's got two tots in the U-2 cockpit.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/03/2010-07-03_raise_em_in_russia_spies_want_their_kids_sent_home.html

Send our babies back to Mother Russia.

That was the plea Friday from a Virginia couple as they appeared in federal court after they were charged with being key members of a Russian spy ring.

Patricia Mills and Michael Zottoli and their 3- and 1-year-old kids appeared to be a n...

Dead Media Beat: Riepl's Law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riepl%27s_law

*I'm glad that this 100-year-old notion has a distinct author — Wolfgang Riepl from Nuremburg — but I don't believe it's true. It might have been true before the First World War. Not any more.

Web Semantics: how buzzwords morph over time

*I know this stuff sounds mighty weird, but this is how it actually works these days. It doesn't work like this EVERYWHERE, mind you, just, you know, in modern politics, finance, technology, media, academia, and the web. And modern gender relations. And, uh, modern religion. And modern philosophy. Also modern pop art, fine art, literature and music. All the rest of it, it doesn't work like this. Not at all.

Dead Media Beat: the miscellaneous patents of Thomas Edison

*Patents for telephony, telegraphy, phonography, motion pictures.

http://edison.rutgers.edu/telepats.htm

http://edison.rutgers.edu/filmpats.htm

*There is a particular trove of weirdness here. Because most of this "miscellaneous" stuff burst from the fertile brain of Thomas Edison and didn't make much sense to lesser mortals.

http://edison.rutgers.edu/miscpats.htm

*The "Vocal Engine." Apparently this device allows one to power (very) light devices by bellowing at them. Even as green-power...