Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 659

North Korean Linux

*Way ta go GNU/Linux!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/07/linux_north_korea/

"Red Star Linux features a browser called My Country, inspired by the Red North's Juche philosophy of self-reliance. Like so many UN aid packages to the North, though, this also turns out to be little more than a prop imported from the capitalist west: My Country is really Firefox, a Russian student reviewing Red Star said.

"Other features are an audio and video player, text editor - and three games…."

Drones all over the place

*It's becoming a global civil war. The Jet People versus the Landmine People.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/uavs-being-tested-to-track-maoists/113364-3.html

*Fifty years ago it was helicopters versus punjee sticks.

CODE DRIFT from CTHEORY

*It's like the first robin in spring!

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CTHEORY: THEORY, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE VOL 33, NO 1-2

*** Visit CTHEORY Online: http://www.ctheory.net ***

CDS001 04/14/2010 Editors: Arthur and Marilouise Kroker

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CODE DRIFT

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When the favela falls over, you might build a better favela

*If you can get the locals to do that themselves, with what they've got on the ground.

*Otherwise, you're just making yourself look good with your own locals — the people you've got on your own ground.

*"Every day brings another bright idea," as Karrie Jacobs aptly points out here — but that's not building. That's called blogging.

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20100414/rebuilding-haiti

"And here's where unglamorous reality bumps the photogenic bright ideas. "We've been inundated with...

Computers Freedom and Privacy 20

Registration for Computers Freedom and Privacy in a Networked Society is now open! The twentieth annual ACM Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference will take place Tuesday, June 15 through Friday, June 18, 2010, on the San Jose State University campus in the heart of Silicon Valley. Here are the key links:

- Registration
https://regmaster3.com/2010conf/CFP10...
- Program overview
http://www.cfp2010.org/wiki/index.php...
- Hotel and travel information
...

Sharecropping former lawns in Austin

*It's not real "Favela Chic" until you realize that this scheme makes as much sense as eating imported jet-set vegetables that were marooned in mid-air by fuel costs and volcanic ash.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/local-modern-turn-in-urban-farming-my-land-570397.html

"Within the buzz of traffic from Koenig Lane and a view of a Texas Gas Service office and warehouse across the street, Dale Oliverio's backyard isn't obviously situated as a pastoral paradise.

"Until recently, his yard was...

Augmented Reality / Arphid Watch: Tagwhat

*It's yet another AR startup, but I'm pulling for these Tagwhat guys just because they combine so many of my favorite obsessions. If only there was a fabricator or a junk recycler in the business model someplace.

*Maybe they could start by inventing a recycling method for dead active RFIDs when their tiny batteries run out.

http://gamesalfresco.com/2010/04/06/what-is-tagwhat-a-look-behind-the-scenes-with-dave-elchoness/

(…)

Games Alfresco: What exactly have you just launched with TagWhat? Who's ...

The Whuffiemeter

*Certain science fiction terms will ooze sideways into mundane usage if there's enough lasting semiotic pressure.

http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/envisioning-your-future-in-2020.html

*After all, it's not like anybody who reads FORBES is gonna get it about Cory Doctorow.

Web Semantics: The distinction between good code and crap code is essentially literary.

*Found this through some guy who linked to some guy who linked to it.

http://maetl.net/code-is-not-inevitable

(…)

"The distinction between good code and crap code is essentially literary. Good code emerges from an intuitive ability to separate structure from intention – to compose minimalist flows of well formed cues that balance direct statements of logic with modular flexibility. Holistic, pattern based thinking is important, treating the locality of a single statement in the context of its...

SALONE INTERNAZIONALE DEL MOBILE 2010

*I spent ONE DAY at that monster furniture fair and took 78 photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brucesterling/sets/72157623863398430/