change of pace

driving home from watching Wallace & Grommit today, I was, for some reason, thinking about friends in distant places and Flickr, research ideas and this silly, mostly useless blog.

Some weeks ago, I'd realized that I actually seem to have lots of these random little potentially interesting thoughts that are never written down anywhere. This blog is certainly a space for such. Instead I use this space for useless links to all things wireless. It's time for a change of pace/space/use. I have been shaping thoughts in my head into an attempt at a model of social interaction and technology use. Trying to take all the myriad random pieces I've been collecting and put them together into something that may at some point resemble a coherent whole. Funny enough, this has been happening in my personal life as well as research (but that's a story for a different blog).

On the way home, I was thinking that technology does alter the way we relate to each other, but, sometimes, in ways we do not expect. In some cases, the outcomes are good, in others, they are not. As human beings, we are adaptible and creative. We use tools, that are available to us, in ways that let us reach our goals. These uses are often creative. The key thing, I think, is that initially, when a technology becomes available, the goals don't change, but the ways of reaching those goals do. Yet the end result, because of technology mediation, may be subtly different or may have more than just the expected outcome. This is where the whole "impact" story starts. Not at the "reaching the goal" but afterwards.

I am getting ahead of things. For now, here is a short idea on how "goals" can be good AND bad. Anyone who's ever procrastinated doing something productive, knows how bad procrastination feels after a while (no sense of accomplishment, just mounting stress and frustration), and how hard it is to break the habit. Anyone who's had minor addictions to Flickr, Bloglines, Friendster and the like, knows how dangerous an Internet connection can be when the job that needs to be done merely requires a CPU. I need to read up a little bit more on habits and intervening goals in psych, but the idea here is that we may have high level goals, and technology may help us achieve them, but the ease with which it allows us to achieve low level goals may actually be a distraction from focus on behavior that would lead to high-level achievement. In a very strange way, this may sometimes play out not only in terms of behaviors such as writing a paper (wich, for example, i am currently procrastinating), but for social interaction as well!

Now back to Flickr... I have a feeling that I may be actually interacting less with those of my long distance contacts, who frequently post on flickr. Partly because I feel I know what is going on in their life without having to ask, partly because I happen to see their pictures and the act of looking through those pictures fills up the time I would have used to write an email, partly because it gives me an excuse. Yes there is a feeling of presence and an awareness of someone elses' life in a way that is both intimate and curious. Yet I think there may be something to a small substitution effect, which actually happens only with ties of a particular strength - i.e. these are not strongest nor weakest ties - these are the ones in between. The ones that, ironically, need most care and nurturing to grow. I wonder if there is a way to observe this empirically.

World Usability Day | Making it Easy!

World Usability Day | Making it Easy! - I am so amused by this, it's left me speechless! hehehehehe

TechWeb | News | Consumers Poised To Dump Wired Phones For Wireless

From the CTIA NewsWire: "The percentage of consumers who make a mobile phone their only phone will increase from 9.4% today to 37% in 2009, predicts a report by In-Stat. The report says lifestyle changes are driving the shift, and that people who currently are heavy wireless users are more likely to consider cutting the cord. TechWeb Network (10/25)"

I am not sure about "cutting chord" in a society where your phone # is related to so many services and a cell number doesn't agree with those. In some places you can't get food delivered if there is no "landline" on the premises, in others, it is difficult to open a bank account or a credit card without a landline. However, the most useful aspect of having a landline is actually in using it in a way similar to a junk email address - this is where all the "semi-insolicited" phone calls from your phone company and credit card companies go - the ones where they try to sell you all those services you really don't need. Its nice to know that I can give out my phone number without a fear that I will have to listen to stupid offers and hang up on weird marketing calls time after time. It only costs me about $13 a month and I can have a DSL on the same line. In my mind, its worth it. Would $13/mo cover Verizon's wire maintenance and service? probably. Will it make them profit? unlikely, but my subscription is worth it to me for this much. So maybe not so much dumping wired phones, as making them into junk-phone numbers.

Apple unveils video iPod and iTunes finally figures out to sell Music Videos

from the CTIA NewsWire:
Apple Computer unveiled a new iPod model that can play videos as well as music. The company's online iTunes store will sell video content at $1.99 a piece and signed a deal with Walt Disney Co. to offer five ABC programs -- including "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" -- on the new device. The New York Times (free registration) (10/13), New York Post (free registration) (10/13), Los Angeles Times (free registration) (10/13), BusinessWeek (10/13), CNET (10/13).

Ok.. so Apple decides to make a fairly ambitious step and get into a not-so-hot-up-to-now market of video on demand to be played on little screens like the ipod. I've heard several people wonder whether this is smart and I, personally, think its taken them too damn long to realize they could be making a whole lot more money on video content. Very specific video content, though. Nobody wants to see movies on the iPod, at least not at the moment - the screen is too small, fidelity is too low, why? Music videos on the other hand? of course! bring it on! Besides, Apple has a brilliant business model where they add functionality to a piece of hardware, simultaneously providing the content for that functionality, thus driving buying for early adopters for both hardware heads and music heads. Except, of course, Apple is not above being evil. They are still doing this whole - "renting rather than actually selling digital content". The music videos that one can buy from ITunes are "unburnable", meaning that they can not be burned on a CD and can not be transported and shared and can not be actually played anywhere outside the itunes environment. As usual, that eeks me out. In fact, I suspect this in particular may actually affect Apple's viability in the long run, when others start selling the same content but with few restrictions.

Selling digital content is tricky though. It seems that the way big companies have tried to "solve" their problems is buy changing the meaning of "sale" for this type of content. Unlike physical things that contain digital content, when you buy online and download, in many cases you aren't actually buying the content itself. You are buing the rights to use the content you want, in a way that is defined by the limitations the company puts on that content and everything else you try to do with what you "thought" you bought is actually illegal. Its like saying that you can only use your books or any other things, for just the purpose they have been prescribed for, not for anything else (in case of books, for example, you couldn't use them to hit your little brother over the head, stack them as paperweights or use them as bricks for imaginary architectural structures). Most importantly, you can't use digital content as gifts. Oh, you certainly can gift a "gift certificate" but we all know how impersonal those are. I suspect, in part, this particular limitation will create a problem for digital content sellers in the future (or at least i certainly hope so). Any good product designer will tell you unabashedly that whatever you "think" your product will be used for, its only one of a zillion of its uses. People are creative, you can't predict their behavior, but that's what makes life fun! Digital content providers seem to fully think that they can predict what people whant to do with their product, and produce resrictions heavily based on these predictions. They get a bit of clammoring about it, but their customer base is still small enough and there are enough alternatives that this hasn't backfired yet. I wonder when it will. Maybe the day E-bay allows people to auction off digital content... that day, things will get very interesting

In any case, going back to the iPod and Apple's plans for world domination through the device, there are some interesting side-effects both of Apple's recent Nano offering and this one. Harddrive companies where having major terror moments when Nano came out - the reason? there is no harddrive in the Nano. In general, the Nano removes the reason for a regular iPod and a Shuffle combination for people who like to be active (can't run with an iPod, the harddrive doesn't like that activity) and who want more than a few songs on the device. The hard-drive industry has largely been dependent on the iPod for its livelihood, so the idea of a larger hard-drive for a new ipod with new capability of video which suggests more and more hard-drives is good. Besides, it ensures that a move to solid-state memory will not be happening any time soon. There were a lot of people who heaved a sigh of relief at the news.

Find-A-Human Service

Find-A-Human -- IVR Phone S... - Approved* In a world of increasing mechanisation of labor, computer-phone systems (especially the ones that function on voice recognition alone) are extraordinarily annoying. More often than not, frustrated customers end up yelling "get me a human, you stupid thing!" only to get "i did not understand your request, did you mean .... ". Maybe there is a reason for stalling customers, by making them go through automated menus to get to speak to a human representative, but our voice recognition software is just not good enough to do things without causing frustration quite yet. Imagine a friend of mine who happens to be an Australian living in London. Her accent, understandibly, is rather far from "American". None of the voice recognition systems were able to understand a word she said, much to her frustration. Menu systems that require navigation via numbers are also not much simpler, requireing constant attention while the system slowly reads off menu items. If you didn't pay attention - you are lost. You may, however, get utterly lost even if you did.

So... this website, forwarded by a friend, does something ingenious - provides a set of shortcuts for getting "to a human" in many customer service IVR phone systems. Yay!

Rita preliminiary damage reports

Rita Slows Over Louisiana After Sparing U.S. Gulf Coast Worst - as of right now it seems that Rita caused structural damage and caused loss of power and connectivity (yet again). However, the only victims so far seem to have been the elderly folks on the bus that burned before Rita arrived. New Orleans is back to square one in terms of clean up which may reduce the likelyhood of it really regaining its population back... the longer they can't come home the more likely they are to try starting lives elsewhere and be too tired of moving to move back again to an area as striken as NO is right now. sad...

Katrina-related links

Louisiana Government Katrina resource page
Allegheny County Emergency Services Hurricane Katrina relief
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Natural Hazards Center
American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Resources
Wikipedia - general info page Hurricane Katrina
Katrina Help: Disaster recovery wiki
Dinha Mehta's Katrina Help Blog

FCC plans $211M to rebuild communications

USATODAY.com - FCC plans $211M to rebuild communications - FCC finally put a number to a promise. It's an interesting number - some proportion of it goes to pay for reconnecting low income customers, libraries and schools. This is nice... but how long will those customers be able to maintain this connection because it looks like all this will cover is the one time connection fee and one month of service.

New Orleans rebuilt as a beacon of high technology?

New Lines of Communication - this article describes what seems to be a current common sentiment among a number of technologists and beurocrats - rebuilding NO is an opportunity to make it ultra top-technology. This could be an experiment in less infrastructure-reliant communiation mediums available to all as well as an attraction for residents and businesses - the two resources that NO officials fear they will have a hard time attracting to come back. The current disaster certainly demonstrated just how fragile are our communication infrastructures and how vital they are to well organized relief efforts (although i am having doubts whether this relief effort would have been that much more organized even if governmental agencies did not have the "lack of communication "excuse). An interesting point in the article is the idea that the new "high tech" services must extend to "poor people". Ok... what does "extend" mean? that every household should be able to pick up 802.11? that's nice but useless without the necessary technology and skills. Certainly creating a wifi-mesh like communications structure in NO would be beneficial to many - it would be relatively cheap both to build and to use, and it would be relatively robust - able to exist for weeks on little power. It makes sense to add to a city if the costs are low and the benefits are likely.

Yet I take issue with "we will earmark some money to provide poor families with access". Well that's nice, but access is not the same as having the hardware and the know-how to access. It's not going just going to take money for the poor population of NO to suddenly "get on the Internet" and "get connected" It's going to take educational centers, donations of hardware (refirbished computers for example), volunteer tech support centers. It's going to take equipping every school in the area with state of the art technology so that every child has access at least while they are at school. It's nice to talk about "earmarking some money" but how much? and where is it going to go?

The last bit in the article is the best A. Townsend quote I've heard to date (I am becoming a bit of groupie I think ;): He pointed out that all of these "hi tech" "infrastructureless" ideas are good and great, but the main reason most of the communication infrastructures failed in NO this time was not because they were broken themselves, it was because ELECTRICITY went out. As long as everything we build relies on the traditional electrical grid that can go down when an employee mixes the wires, let alone when a hurricain hits and a city floods, no matter what we build, it will still shut off. We must change the way we think about infrastructure at a very basic level - water, power, trash. Only then would we be able to build something truly innovative. At that point, we also must think about making that something innovative truly accessible to all.

this makes me want to scream... very loudly

AddieStan
After several meetings, exchanges of emails, talking... I am getting a sense that technologists around me seem to think they can save the world if only they could put all this information online and streamline it... It makes me want to crumple on the floor, roll up in a ball when the "large research proposal" PI's are interested in the "Internet response" - the person-location web-sites and the "look to see if your house is ok" websites...

I want to say - but there are people there, they are hurt, and we don't know how to help them best right now (aside from horrible horrible aweful government inpetitude) - we could, we really could provide something to ease the pain and suffering of those who lost it ALL, who don't HAVE A COMPUTER ANYMORE! and maybe never had it either! We need to understand how people cope with this thing because we only vaguely know how they could potentially do that - we have never seen anything like this happen here, in this country, let alone actually study it. Why study it? because then we can have better answers for what is needed, for how to build services and infrastructures to help these people and those in the future. The help, what the red-head psychologist writes about, the initial response is something that is necessary and the general inadequacy of this response will haunt us for years to come. Yet what will also haunt is that adjustment to this disaster for the victims, the "getting over it" is not going to happen soon - this will take years.

Those years, when Red Cross help is not available anymore, when the kindness of strangers and even friends trickles to nothing, but the monsters of water, stench, disease, lost friends, relatives, pets, will haunt the dreams, will haunt the memories. We need this research now so that we can set up long term support. We need it, so that we can understand things now and help people over the course of time, time that will heal wounds and time that it will take to rebuild half a million lives.

In Close Quarters, a Moment's Peace Is Rare

In Close Quarters, a Moment's Peace Is Rare
The human tragedy of shelters as transient spaces not designed to live in, just to wait in, have been finding their way into the media. in a certain way, it is impressive just how well these things are currently run and how many people volunteer. It is also impressive just how crowded these spaces have to be right now because there are so many people displaced. This overcrowding makes for a tough time, requiring a lot of patience from people who have been torn away from all they had, from people they knew, from everything familiar, and plunged in the middle of another version of a minor human hell.

More pet links

STUFF : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Animal Refuge Strives to Corral Pets -- and Despair - Los Angeles Times
First Coast News | Top Stories - Local Man Rescues Pets in New Orleans
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Katrina's Aftermath
more links - probably the most striking thing here is that neither Red Cross nor FEMA were set up to deal with pets and have even had to refuse rescue to people who wanted to take their pets along. considering the emotional bond with pets that owners develop, forcing people to leave their pets behind is making their road to recovery that much longer and harder. While officials dubbed those who wouldn't leave their pets behind as "crazy" or "dumb" other pet owners certainly understood. For some, while it's not quite like leaving your children or relatives behind, it's certainly pretty close.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- Uniting pets, families is an emotional task

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- Uniting pets, families is an emotional task - the less seen and talked about tragedy of the hurricain is the story of abandoned pets, often locked in aprtments and houses, often drowned or sick from contaminated water or starved and dehydrated. Pet owners often have an enormous emotional attachment to their pets and the trafedy of loss of all their possessions may pale in comparison with the tragedy of loss of their pet. This is especially true in instance of relocation when few familiar things are left to the victims and their pets, those emotional anchors that they have been able to rely on for years, are also gone.

Cingular, Sprint give Katrina victims bill breaks | CNET News.com

Cingular Wireless said in an FCC filing that it will give customers in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., a 50% credit on their monthly bills for the period spanning from late August through Sept. 30. The carrier also said it would not charge for roaming, extra minutes, long-distance or text messaging during the period. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel announced it would give one month of free service to subscribers in the areas hit hardest by the storm, and that it also would give free long-distance, additional minutes, roaming and text messaging. Verizon Wireless said it is dealing with the situation on a case-by-case basis. Cingular, Sprint give Katrina victims bill breaks | CNET News.com (9/10)"

The trendsetter Verizon seems to lag behind on the generosity bit. They also don't seem to have set up any large donations as Sprint and Cingular did over the last two weeks. Of course, it could be they are simply humble and are not disclosing their charitable acitivities... could be, no really... hmmm naaaah.

Southern Co. unit operations restored

From the CTIA NewsWire: Carriers continue to make headway restoring service

Wireless carriers are making progress restoring service to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Sprint Nextel as of yesterday had restored nearly all service in Alabama, more than 80% in Mississippi and more than 60% in Louisiana. Verizon Wireless said it has restored 300 of the 400 cell sites put out of service by the storm, while T-Mobile announced service is running at nearly all of its sites. Cingular Wireless reported it has 75% service in the region, and SouthernLINC Wireless said it has brought back 100% service in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi.

Southern Co. unit operations restored
USATODAY.com - Some areas inch toward normality
Cingular restores 75 percent of service in hurricane zone - 2005-09-09
Carriers Boost Efforts to Restore Service to Gulf Coast

Wired links on Wireless activity in NO - Katrina aftermath

Satellite phones -- one of the least successful product introductions of the late 1990s -- are in fresh demand in the wake of Hurricane Katrina from storm-ravaged communities without functioning cellular and wire-line networks. Wired News: Sat Phones Surge After Katrina

Acting on an emergency request from the American Red Cross, the FCC on Friday handed over control of the toll-free number 1-800-RED-CROSS to the nonprofit group, unceremoniously plucking it from the hands of corporate digit-squatters who'd been hoping for a six-figure payday. Wired News: Red Cross Gets Squatter's Number

About 8000 wireless ISPs are standing at the ready, prepared to provide voice over IP service to relief shelters around the country, at the direction of the Federal Communications Commission. Wireless ISPs ready to heed call for help “They are trying to show alternative methods to the traditional way of doing things,” he said. “We can do this so more rapidly than the cellphone technologies. I’m not trying to indicate that those guys are less worthy. I’m just saying here’s an alternative – we can do it fast.” One Part-15 member is already provide communications to about 11 shelters north of New Orleans that were hastily assembled to give the hoards of people fleeing the city a place to be and the ability to communicate with their families, Anderson said.

--the last one in this batch is really neat - throughout the relief efforts it has become clear that newer technologies are more flexible and are capable of providing immediate support where older technologies fail. However, the question remains - which of these technologies are capable of withstanding the brunt of the disaster as well? so far experience has shown that landlines, buried deep in the ground survived the onslaught better than wireless towers, yet disruptions that did occur for landlines have been far harder to remedy.

Segregated Saudis Utilize Bluetooth for Flirtations

From the CTIA NewsWire: "With the help of Bluetooth technology men and women in Saudi Arabia are finding new ways to flirt in a society where it is forbidden. Wireless Bluetooth technology permits users to connect without going through the phone company. Users activate the Bluetooth function in their phone and then press the search button to locate anyone else with the feature within a 30-foot range. Once this happens a list of ID names appears and the user can click a name to begin communicating. This utilization of technology has raised concerns because many women are posting their pictures, which is strictly forbidden by the Saudi Arabian government. (Source: USA Today)"

Technology strikes again at the monoliths of social etiquette. The very discreetness of the medium and ability to control who sees communications and why, allows women take dating into their own hands, in countries where such actions are strictly forbidden... You go girls :)

Wireless Phone Virus Contaminates Helsinki Championships

From the CTIA NewsWire: "The world athletics championships in Finland, home to the world's largest wireless phone maker, Nokia, experienced the world's first wireless phone virus; Cabir. Cabir uses Bluetooth short range wireless signals to transmit between wireless phones. In a crowded stadium dozens of phones are at risk. The recipient needs to download the virus in order to be infected, which means the risk of receiving it is small, despite thousands of phones already hit around the world. (Source: The New York Times)"

Hmm just like with email - if it's an odd message trying to download itself to your phone, don't push the "ok" button. Just like email, I have no doubts that most people will still push the "ok" button, probably overcome with curiosity... Phone viruses have arrived.

File Share and Share Alike - BitTorrent used for legal purposes (gasp!)

File Share and Share Alike - New York Times - this article marks an interesting change in the attitude of the "culture industry" as it calls the oversized producers of digital entertainment content. In this case, it's a very large US Anime distributor. Instead of trying to quash use of BiTorrent among it's biggest fans for distributing early pirated versions of new series, they decided to see if they can benefit from it... and... "drum roll"... it worked! (and the lawyer people were happy).

Over the last decade, the "culture industry" looked like a dinasaur who refused to die, and cobbled onlookers in it's death-throws. Nobody had warned it that the rules were about to change, and, when the rules changed, the "culture industry" just didn't want to play by them. Instead of harnessing the energy of early tech adopters, who, incidentally, were also it's biggest fans, it decided to persecute them and use fear-mongering tactics. It didn't work, although it did spurr a form of an arms race between the lawyers and the tech developers. It was stunning that the largest behemoth's of the "culture industry" did not immediately realize the marketing potential of this medium. They for some reason assumed that every single person who downloaded a particular song, would have bought the CD if the song weren't available for free. Most wouldn't have of course. What's more, most would have never even heard the particular artist or the less radio-played pieces. They did not capitalize on the sheer volume of listener preference information and persecuted rather than supported their biggest fans - people willing to put in time, money and even risk that persecution to share music, films, anime.

ADV, to it's credit, suddenly realized that the very people that steal and distribute versions of their new series or films before these things are even out, for the most part aren't evil. They don't do it to hurt the company. Instead, here is a group of hard core fans, for whom the ability to see something "before it is out" via a not-so-user-friendly technology, is a huge marker of cool. It's a statement, a way to assert their dominance among peers. What happens when you give them something to play with that is legal? They love it! Just let them at it, they will write you reviews and help with distribution. They will build fan sites and contribute free advertising. Be nice to them, and they will be nice back to you. Try to scare them and they will steal your content, feel just as cool, and laugh at you. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising - any marketer will tell you that none of the other forms come anywhere close to the power of human-to-human advice. The internet has made it possible to extend the number of people that can give you that advice. It is surprising the "culture industry" still hasn't figured out how to harness it. Until then - tech geeks 1/culture industry 0

London Suspect Betrayed by His Cellphone

London Suspect Betrayed by His Cellphone - New York Times - So if you ever wondered whether your cellphone can be used as a tracking device to track YOU... the answer is, yes it can be, and quite effectively. What amuses me most, is the idiocy of the bomb-suspect who actually called his family and friends in Italy, while travelling from London to Italy, probably out of sheer boredom produced by travelling for a long time, thus revealing their locations as well. This last spring at ICA, there was a paper delinieating the types of protection provided by use of VOIP vs. cell phones. The main protection is privacy - yes an individual can be pinpointed at the time of making the phone call, but they can not be tracked as they leave an internet cafe. Not so with a cell phone, unless one remembers to actually turn the thing off. With a social pressure of always keeping your cellphone on, we are effectively continuously tracked and voluntarily so... go GPS + cell tower triangulation techniques! Really, does using wifi enabled locations as a method of location identification make any sense anymore?

Mind savers

Mind savers
Originally uploaded by xeeliz.

a friend on Flickr posted this picture from her recent transcontinental flight. "Can't fly without these now" she commented and tagged the photo "quiet". A recent NYT article about noise-cancelling headphones talks about a similar idea - there is too much external noise in our environments and it hurts to think. Sometimes, we need to technology to stop "alerting" or "entertaining" us, we need it to MAKE THINGS QUIET! Quiet is a privelege, a commodity. It has always been something difficult to achieve in many spaces and is becoming a rarity nearly everywhere. With the FCC trying so hard to permit cell phone use on planes, travellers look on in horror and reach for $200 noise-cancelling headphones if they can afford those. What I find curious, is the amount of push-back from the very consumers on behalf of which, supposedly, FCC is trying to remove the ban. Most want the ban in place, the LIKE the relative quiet of an airplane flight. It is unclear why the FCC thinks is to necessary to allow cell-phones in flight (even with Cingular suggesting it is not necessary and the CTIA being of two minds about it). It was rarely a burning issues, few people ever really pushed for it. Does FCC simply want to look like it's doing something important? This one seems at the expense of consumers, not to help them. Ah well... where are those noise-cancelling hedaphones? I gotta get myself a pair.

Russia’s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment

Russia’s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM - certainly spamming is annoying and in some countries it is illegal under certain conditions. Most of us have experienced waves of large amounts of spam attacking our inboxes and we may have had a thought or two on "what we would like to do to the person that did this to my inbox..." Well, in Russia unknown individuals seem to have taken matters into their own hands in a fashion that is fittingly violent. I wonder whether they really were irate spam-victims... somehow that does not seem so far-fetched.

Degrees of separation | Economist.com

Degrees of separation | Economist.com - This survey of American mobility starts out with discussions of residential (geographic) mobility and goes on to explore social, economic and political mobilities as they have transformed and changed. There are a lot of things in this survey - some are true, some a partially true, some may be a little on the wronger side. Overall, this is a pretty good summary of what's been happening and what is happening, with a few ideas on what might happen. Complete with nods to Bob Putman, meetup.org and No Child Left Behind. I want to argue, dissect, put this in perspective, but it's 1:30am and I still have a paper to write - on... well... effects of residential mobility and the pathways to adjustment to a new location, no less. This work has been slow slow slow, partially because I suddenly had to sit up and understand why is it that women tend to have different patterns of adjustment than men. I've finally dug up some answers that satisfy me more than the overused and largely wrong "learned helplessness" or "heightened vulnerability" hypotheses, but it took too much time. So, in time, I will analyze this piece (hopefully it will be available for a few more days... I might just try to save the whole thing). In the meantime, I better link Ann Galloway's note about America as a perpetual-motion machine. I'd heard about the Economist article before, but this note provided both the much needed link and a few entertaining reflections.

Wireless operators charging consumers for unsolicitied messages?

From the CTIA NewsWire: "San Diego based consumer group The Utility Consumers Action Network has filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission that Sprint and Cingular Wireless are improperly charging consumers for wireless messages they don't want. The group claims it has received complaints from consumers that have been billed by the wireless companies for unwanted text messages, ringtones and advertisements. Sprint and Cingular Wireless have not seen a copy of the complaint and therefore cannot comment on the allegations. However, both companies provide subscribers with safeguards to help them understand downloads and methods to opt-out of further text messages. (Source: Wall Street Journal, New York Times)"

What I find odd in both of these reports, is that Verizon wireless is conspicuously missing. Yet it is Verizon that still charges it's consumers for incoming text messages, unlike other companies. I have been waiting for a wide-scale complaint or a class-action suit regarding this (after all, you do not have a choice whether you want to receive a message or not - text messages and media messages arrive in your inbox and you are charged the appropriate amount regardless of whether they are read). Wireless operators have somehow gotten away with charging for incoming calls (on a technicality, really - they claimed that you know who is calling by the number that your phone recognizes and should be able to make the decision whether you want to pay for the call or not based on this information... yeah right) in the US (this is not the case in Europe for example). However, only Verizon Wireless has been charging for incoming text messages (at least as far as I am aware). At $.02 per message, the price is not high, yet I think it's the principle of the matter that really means something.

Paramount paranoia

From the CTIA NewsWire: "At Paramount Studio's premiere of 'War of the Worlds,' all guests, including celebrities, were required to hand over their handbags and wireless phones to security guards. According to a New York Times report, Paramount confiscated wireless devices in case people attempted to record scenes using their cameraphones. (Source: New York Times)"

this is rather entertaining. Paramount is determined to "beat the pirating plague" apparently. Yet, I wonder whether there is any merit to the idea that there is something to the modern version of the "word-o-mouth" advertising complete with video snippets? At the very least, Paramount made sure there was no snide-remark texting during the premier.

Big Brother watching you...

Age 16 to 25? The Pentagon Has Your Number, and More - New York Times The article details the latest in the government's privacy violations (this time acknowledged by the culprits - the Pentagon, though without much remorse really.) Didn't think Big Brother was watching you? Well, if you are 16-25, they have been working on it since 2002. I am actually quite surprised that this idea has occurred to them so late in the game. Most of the data is publically available - graduation dates, age and ethnicity - it just needs collection and sorting. Of course, the best part is that they have a marketing company managing this data. What's curious is that the article mentions the marketing company that traffics personal data as a business model as if it's the most natural thing in the world. The government, on the other hand, is an aweful machine. It's a strange dychotomy here in the US - we don't want the government to know anything about us, even though, to some extent, we have control over it's actions (minor, I agree). Yet we are perfectly ok with Corporations collecting information about us and knowing some of the more intimate details. This is directly opposite to the European attitude towards such things. To me this illustrates an interesting difference in the conceptualization of freedom.

No telemarketers calling your cellphone... just yet

From the CTIA NewsWire: "According to a CNet News report, the more that 190 million U.S. wireless subscribers could be targets for telemarketers. Since there are more wireless subscribers than wireline subscribers across the globe. However, Federal rules prohibit using automated dialing machines to reach wireless subscribers' phones. Under the rules, telemarketers are allowed to dial each number by hand, which would be labor and cost intensive, according to the Federal Communications Commission. CTIA-The Wireless AssociationTM ensures that wireless carriers are doing everything they can to keep wireless phone numbers out of the hands of telemarketers. (Source: CNet News)"

SMS politics

From the CTIA NewsWire: "The use of text messaging by Iranians to send slandering messages on their presidential election choice has some authorities concerned. Election text messaging had already become popular in Tehran prior to the first round vote, when young wireless subscribers sent messages reflecting their cynicism with the electoral process. Tehran's Mayor Mahmood Ahmadinehad recently found himself in a series of unflattering jokes and allegations via text messages, as his foes try to bring out a mass vote to support his competitor. (Source: AFP)" While it's making authorities concerned, I hope this doesn't turn into a full-scale persecution of these same youth... This is very entertaining though... government concerned over youth cynicism about the election. This spells out their belief that these actions will actually make a difference, and that's very very powerful.

Privacy and location awareness

From the CTIA NewsWire:

While one company puts effort into locating people more precisely: "Skyhook Wireless announced the commercial availability of its Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS), which pinpoints locations better than satellite-based global positioning systems. The software uses 802.11 radio signals emitted from wireless routers to determine the precise location of any Wi-Fi enabled device. (Source: CNet News)" which, of course, is just what we all desperately need...

Another company puts effort into protecting the little bits of our privacy that we can retain: "The Liberty Alliance reported it is working on technology to keep wireless phone numbers from wireless content providers in an effort to protect consumers' privacy. The organization launched a team to develop specifications enabling wireless carriers to share information with third-party wireless content providers without releasing subscribers' phone numbers and addresses. (Source: CNet News)" - yes you can sell me ring-tones and movies, but you can't get my number from that and then bug me incessantly later! Well, this one is a breath of fresh air...

Digital 'Antigraffiti' Peels Away the Years

Digital 'Antigraffiti' Peels Away the Years - New York Times- Cassidy Curtis's Graffiti Archeology has been profiled in the New York Times. Cassidy is a wonderful person who did an amazing amount of work on the subject and created an interesting view of graffiti in San Francisco and Los Angeles (mainly). What the article doesn't tell you about is the years it took him to collect the photographs, to learn about graffiti, to earn the trust of the artists that would allow him to photograph brand new works or take pictures of them at work (a very rare thing indeed). Cassidy is simple and humble and he creates beautiful things.

Wireless news around the world (from the CTIA NewsWire)

Everyone knows that Japan has far surpassed the rest of the world in its utilization of all things wireless - that's what happens when most of your population is ultra-fashion conscious and lives in really cramped spaces. So.. "According to an Associated Press report, wireless phones may soon make wallets disappear. In Japan, NTT DoCoMo already has 3 million wireless subscribers using its Mobile Wallet service to purchase items at 20,000 stores and vending machines via their wireless phones. The technology is similar to wireless systems used to pay tolls on many highways and the SpeedPass keychain wand used to buy gas at Exxon Mobile. Similar services may be on the way for the U.S. and Europe. MasterCard International has been testing versions of its PayPass contactless payment technology since 2003 and may begin a significant market trial in 2006. Wireless phones could not only replace credit and debit cards, but also have the ability to supplant checkbooks, Websites, computer programs similar to Quicken and online bill payment services such as PayPal or CheckFree. (Source: Associated Press)"
Of course, this is not a brand new idea. I've talked about this before. One thing that still worries me about this process is the amount of information that can be stored on the phone. There have been some interesting authentication schemes considered though and i am curious which direction this will eventually head in.

In the rest of the world, however, "Cameraphones Continue to Draw Demand. According to an AFP report, cameraphones with sharper optics, larger memory, music playback and high-speed data transfers have become powerful multimedia devices, creating new revenue streams for wireless handset manufacturers and carriers. According to research firm IDC, cameraphones are becoming an essential feature for consumers. (Source: AFP)"
As digital toys become an inextricable part of our lifestyle choices we demand things that entertain us, make our lives more comfortable, let us fit in with scores of others that have the same technology. As camerphones reached the saturation point of adoption, owning one is part of the peer pressure of keeping up with the jones's. It used to be that having a camera-phone was a statement, now not having one is a different kind of distinct statement.

In local wireless news, "Sprint and Verizon Wireless may soon lower the walls on their networks, allowing subscribers greater access to third-party content, including ringtones and graphics. Allowing access to non-network content is common practice for wireless carriers in Europe, as well as U.S. carriers Cingular, Nextel and T-Mobile. (Source: Reuters)" Verizon has a strange record of lowering walls. On the one hand they encourage their users to get more advanced phones with more capabilities, on the other hand they remind me of an early Mac, trying to lock their users into the network (which eventually tends to backfire).

While Verizon and Sprint ponder the next baby-step in the world of thrid-party offerings, BT explores new money-making opportunities: "According to reports, Britain's BT Group plans to enter the multi-billion dollar music download market with a new service allowing wireless subscribers to download tracks for a small fee. The BT Livetime service will be launched as a pilot with Virgin Mobile allowing subscribers to listen to more than 50 radio stations via their wireless handsets. (Source: Reuters)"

BlackBerry users in peril Friday morning

From the CTIA NewsWire: "According to Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile, some BlackBerry devices across the U.S. were unable to send and receive messages for nearly four hours on Friday. Network disruption, which began around 8:15 a.m. EDT and lasted until about noon, was related to issues at Research In Motion. (Source: Dow Jones Newswire)"

I am sure there were BlackBerry users out there, who used this inability to send and receive email wisely and simply skipped work in the morning. Of course, a large proportion of BlackBerry users probably experienced withdrawl effects of varying quality and severity (anyone see a BlackBerry user twitch uncontrollably Friday morning?)

The Days of Tax-Free Online Shopping May Be Over

Click and Pay a Little More: The Days of Tax-Free Online Shopping May Be Over - New York Times: There is something just a little icky about the concept that California is trying to make Borders pay taxes on online purchases. Ok, I understand the idea of collecting taxes in the state where there is a substantial physical presence (even Amazon does that, sorry people in WA), and yet... The article details the efforts by the 45 states that collect sales tax in the country and have been hungrily watching their "revenue" slip away due to Internet sales. Now they want to force companies to collect taxes regardles of the location of physical presence. Of course, land-based retailers are supporting this idea because they claim lack of taxes makes online purchases unfairly cheaper (excuse me, has anyone considered factoring in shipping costs and waiting time?). I have several issues with these ideas:

1. Land-based retailers are suffering from the same thing as the music and movie industries - too fat to be nimble and accept that online retailers are going to be competition so they will need to come up with new business models to stay viable (make the land-based shopping experience worth the money for example). Having to pay shipping and to wait for the item to arrive is a big downside to shopping online in some cases. Land-based retailers really should capitalize on that and maybe focus on developing better service models.

2. States should maybe reconsider spending time and tax-payers money on figuring out how to make their tax-payers pay more. I am not one to really argue what states should do with the taxes they collect - I am not qualified to argue, really, since I do not know the particulars of such activities, but there is one thing that worries me about this insistence on tax collection online:
a. smaller online e-tailers (non-Amazon places) may be unable to provide an infrastructure for broad tax collection and remittence processes, putting them at a further disadvantage in their ability to compete with larger online sellers. This would reduce the selection of products online and consumer choice, effectively limiting the very thing that makes Internet shopping so good.

b. Yes, Ms. Evans from Jupiter Research makes big statements like "It's not that big a deal to consumers,' she said. 'So there will be little loss." but I have a hard time believing it. For example, I have stopped purchasing things from REI.com since the company gained a physical presence in PA because now I would have to pay both sales tax and shipping costs. Instead, I was able to take my business to MountainGear.com. Granted Ms. Evans cites WalMart or Macy's as examples, but just how many people choose to shop there rather than at Buy.com? Personally, I think there is a market segment that will sit up and take notice of additional taxes if they are levied and this will hurt some online retailers, especially the smaller ones that bargain hunters prefer. Any time additional taxes are forced on consumers it simply means making consumers pay more for goods and services. I am not sure states have the right to reach that far (that just smacks of a weird kind of surveillance). Besides, what if I am currently living in one state and my credit card bill is registered to another state (where I normally live) and I am buying something to be shipped to a third state as a present. Just who gets my taxes then?

Using Your Cellphone Anywhere in the World

Using Your Cellphone Anywhere in the World - New York Times - the article details tips for US-based world travellers and their phones. While most of the tips in the article are very useful, the author overlooks several very important features of the phones:

1. If you are thinking of travelling in Europe with your new GSM phone, make sure it's a "quad-band" phone, allowing you the largest range of countries worldwide. This refers to different GSM-bands that your phone can cope with. For example, Motorola's Razr or V500 series are quad-band phones with the V500 being one of the more popular and affordable handsets.

2. Think SMS. While calling on your phone (without getting a local SIM card which is often useless if you plan to travel for less than a week or to more than one country in the course of a week for example), text messaging is rather affordable. I have discovered that text messaging works in Europe and some parts of Asia (at least Taiwan) and you can send them within the country and to the US as well. In countries outside the US, people are used to using SMS for communication and are sensitive to the fact that voice calls are more expensive, so they will usually easily accomodate the request to text more than call your phone. A single text message costs 50 cents to send and 0 to receive (if you have Cingular or T-Mobile service). Much more efficient and cheaper than the dollar a minute rate most carriers offer in Europe.

Cell phones as quarters or time cards?

From the CTIA Newswire: "Drivers lacking quarters in Coral Gables, Florida can now use their wireless phones to feed parking meters. The automated system allows drives to simply dial in from their wireless phones, enter the number assigned to their parking spot, and the required costs will be bill to their credit card. Subscribers call back and end the billing cycle when they leave. (Source: Associated Press)" - this one is a little odd - you have to "call back at the end of the billing cycle?" What if you forget? How do you know you've been overcharged? I wonder if you can specify the initial amount at the first phone call and then add more if necessary...

Also: "ECONZ Wireless product Timecard is a simple new tool available on Verizon Wireless phones that enhances productivity. Timecard allows remote employees to clock in and out using their wireless phones and then each entry is transmitted to a password-protected Web page accessed by employers to prepare payroll. Timecard is ideal for smaller companies whose employees would like to record their billable hours without resorting to payroll. The program costs $9.49 per month for each phone that comes equipped with it. (Source: Associated Press)"

Earthlink bids to build a city-wide wireless network for Philadelphia

From the CTIA Newswire: "According to a Dow Jones Newswire report, EarthLink has the potential to expand its markets through municipal governments, which are now eager to advance Wi-Fi access across their cities. EarthLink has struggled with losing consumers since moving away from dial-up access to faster broadband services, creating a decline in the company's dial-up business. In a search for growth, EarthLink is now focused on new technologies, including high-end services for wireless devices and Internet telephony. It has also studied alternative Internet-access technologies like service over wireless networks and power lines that could help free it from phone and cable companies. Through city governments EarthLink now has a chance to offer Internet services over large-scale alternative networks. EarthLink recently allotted 12 bids to the city of Philadelphia for a $10 million contract to build, run and maintain a city wide Wi-Fi network for residents, visitors, businesses and mobile government workers. (Source: Dow Jones Newswire)"

City-wide wireless networks make me wonder. First, there is the concern that such a network will impinge on the territory of other businesses (t-mobile's starbucks venues may be none too happy with such a development). Second, who is expected to use such a network and where? In the park? On the steps of the buildilngs in downtown? Third, just how far will this network extend. Fourth, how much will it cost to maintain and how will it pay for that?

Many companies that have tried to make a business out of wireless access offerings have had a hard time doing so. Especially in places that do not afford easy use of devices that can exploit such a network (i.e. coffee-shops work, public phones and park-benches do not). I am curious how the city of Philadelphia plans to maintain and use such a network and what kinds of returns it expects. After all, such a network can be used in households as well as on the street and in public areas, so such a service could be sold as an alternative to DSL and cable offerings, finally allowing customers to stop paying for extra services they do not wish to use (wirelines or cable TV). The question still remains, however, whether the integrity and reliability of such a network can be feasibly maintained and while earthlink maintains it, who gets the revenue?

BT Group Launches Bluephone

From the CTIA Newswire: "BT Group launched its combined wireline and wireless phone service, Bluephone, under the provider's BT Fusion brand. The handset operates as a wireless phone outside of the home and seamlessly switches onto a BT broadband line inside the house. The Bluephone promises better call quality and less expensive voice calls inside the home compared to using a conventional wireless phone. According to reports, the device is being monitored closely by other telecom providers around the world. (Source: Dow Jones Newswire)"

BT has been at the forefront of landline providers, attempting to merge wireline and wireless services. About a year or so ago, they offered ability to send and receive text messages on landline phones, acknowledging that this is an important practice among wireless phone users in the UK and wireline phone users may be disadvantaged (not to mention the idea that this may be profitable). I am not sure what happened with that service, but I suspect it didn't meet with much demand (I could be awefully wrong though). Now they are attempting to offer a service that will float between wireless and broadband services, providing better quality voice service and less expensive calls. However, such a machine is likely to be initially quite pricey so it's the quality of calls and not cheaper service that will attract initial buyers I suspect. Lets see whether the quality will really be that much better to attract enough buyers to make the system viable in the long run. Not so sure about that quite yet.

On a similar topic: "KDDI Corp. announced its proposal to merge its wireline and wireless networks, with the intent of providing seamless services. The company plans to start constructing the network in 2007 and is expected to offer services based on the network in 2009 or 2010. The benefit of a single network allows users to have a central data account that could potentially include email, streaming video or contact information, which they can access from their personal computer, wireless phone or a telephone console with a screen. In preparation for the new network, KDDI said it intended to upgrade its current 3G network in 2006. (Source: Reuters)"

The latter makes a lot of sense if you consider that the wireline phone provides all the same services as the wireless phone except it seems to work better inside buildings (and the infrustructure is more dependible). If the networks were to be merged, the social and economic reasons for keeping a wireline phone still may encourage users to keep the wireline. So... instead of trying to make the wireline go away (it probably won't), why not integrate it into a complete package with the rest of the "networked digital home".

WiFi coming to an airline near you

From the CTIA Newswire: "International Airlines Launch Onboard Wi-Fi Access
A year after German airline Lufthansa premiered onboard wireless Internet access on some flights, at least 8 other international airlines are following its lead. Japan Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Singapore Airlines have launched Wi-Fi service. Korean Air plans to launch onboard Wi-Fi access this summer. El Al, China and Asiana airlines will follow later this year. Business travelers are ideal customers since they like to stay productive, don't mind paying for convenience and usually travel with laptops. (Source: USA Today)"

From Internet to a Cell Phone Addiction - here we go again ;)

From the CTIA Newswire: "Studies from around the world are suggesting people are addicted to their wireless phones. A Korean study found that nearly one-third of high school students showed signs of paranoia when they were without their phones and two-thirds were constantly worried about missing a text message when their phones were off. A British study concluded that people are intimately connected with their wireless phones and see them as essential items and extensions of themselves. A professor at Rutgers University asked his 220 students to shut off their wireless phones for three days. Only three of the students completed the assignment. A professor of psychology at Boston College suggests some consumers have a wireless phone addiction and should put themselves on a quota system so as not to become too dependant on the device. (Source: Chicago Tribune)"

I am off to find the actual papers on the subject. I suspect someone from the school of communications at Rutgers to be the "professor at Rutgers University" so this should be relatively easy to find.

Lets start with looking at Chicago Tribune articles themselves.
Chicago Tribune seems to dislike cell phones and like sensationalism. Here is the source article for the newswire summary: When Cellphone love becomes hang-up by Cynthia Hubert.
The article talks about cell phone use as an addiction and users displaying signs of paranoia when without access to their phone. "Dependence on electronic devices is hardly limited to cell phones, said Bill Lampton, a communications specialist and author in Georgia. Electronic mail, he said, is equally addictive." Yes the topic of Internet addiction is still alive and well. I've posted links to this before here, here, and here. Obviously, the step towards extending the concept to all electronic devices is not far off.

One of the more entertaining concepts in this article is that of a cell phone as a "contemporary pacifier" Meaning, "as long as we're holding it, we don't show signs of unrest." Towards the end, the pundits interviewed for the article announce that the "society as a whole has created a dependency." Then there is a wimpy call to action: " "We need some voices out there to tell people to be cautious," Chaparro said. "It's not about stopping progress. It's about making people realize there are other ways to interact." Right... and before the cell phone we never used anything like it to interact... As teenagers, our parents never yelled at us for spending hours on the phone? Nobody ever broke down to get a second land line because the first was always taken either by mom or daughter and they had hot fights over who was to use it just then. Then we went and got cell phones and created an addiction.. hrm.

While the first article doesn't dwell on the questions of why, there are others that do. Here is one: Don't hang up! written by Louis Rene Beres from Purdue university. The author suggests that the cell phone perpetuates a "much more than reasonable need to remain connected" because talking on the phone makes us feel better, more important, less lonely. It's all about us, right? Chanelling Goffman, I would argue the idea of "reasonable" in a culture where being alone and idle in a public space is not exactly kosher is a little bit strange. You mean, we have found a way to deal with the socially awkward situation of being alone in a public space without a purpose and this is "more than reasonable?" hmmm... now lets be reasonable. The article quotes Freud, Nietzsche and T.S. Eliot and suggests that we have slid further down the slippery slope of hyper-individualism. This is less cultural critique than fiction, but entertaining none the less. Mr. Beres doesn't use a cell phone himself in defiance to cultural pressure I suppose. He would probably quickly endorse the idea of addiction... hmm... next?

So cell phones are addictive and they are making us want to be connected "more than reasonable". Watch out you cell phone users, it's a technology as evil as the Internet, it will erase increase your herd mentality and make you anxious when you can't use your phone. Are things really that extreme? I doubt it, but I am off to search for those papers now.

Wi-Fi Users as new coffee house problems

Some Cafe Owners Pull the Plug on Lingering Wi-Fi Users - New York Times - this article deals with an increase in laptop users at coffee shops. Some proprietors find laptops users a good addition to the population found in their coffee shops, others say they are "distracting" and bad business. Small coffee shop owners want their patrons to interact and to produce human noise and laptop users do not do that. I wonder, however, how much of this has to do with seeing a "community" coalesce around a coffee shop and how much is about selling more coffee and cookies?

Part of me wants to argue that the current backlash at wi-fi users in some places is simply a common over-reaction to a new use of technology and the social and economic effects that come with it. Of course, there is the problem of the wifi users staying long, buying little and simply taking up space without making it hospitable. Surprise, simply harrassing those customers by telling them they are taking up space and not buying anything ends up in "uncomfortable" interactions. Asking them whether they would like something to drink or eat at ever more increasing intervals, however, works better. The latter requires effort from staff though. I think there must be something to the social expectations of coffee-shop behavior and just how much one is expected to buy there. In most places, not much actually and it feels odd coming up to the counter more than once or twice in the course of several hours. Someone bringing food or drinks to the table though, makes this problem go away. However, simple presence of wait staff in an establishment is actually very good at deterring laptop use there, making it rather uncomfortable in itself (some breach of social etiquette happens there in the interaction between the patron and the wait staff).

I wonder though, where the concepts of coffee and tea houses started (coffee houses are native to places like Vienna, while tea houses originated in Asia and were picked up in Russia for a while). The two establishments had some similarities and differences in how the social script of their appropriate use was developed of course.

It's been long enough since I've read about this (a decade at least I think) so my memory may be shaky, but here are a few things that I "think" I remember: Vienna coffee houses were places for the breeding of dissent at the end of the 19th century, where exhiled revolutionaries mingled with artists and writers, working and discussing politics. Russian tea houses were places for social moments, dates, intimate discussions, while Asian tea houses were places of tradition and ceremony as well as places to meet and discuss politics, work, social instances.

The nature of the Vienna coffee house actually allowed (and still does) easy working alone, sitting alone at a table for hours, drinking coffee, eating pastries and working. Sometimes engaging in conversations with other patrons one knew, who also were most likely there to work, write, read and, sometimes discuss. The way such a place is run, however, is radically different from a US version of a coffee house - small tables, really quick waitresses who will bring your coffee and initial pastry and then leave you alone for an hour or so, coming back around infrequently but with insistence. Food and drinks are ordered quickly, paid for immediately, space essentially rented. Nobody ever would ask you to leave because you aren't buying anything, but they will make it extremely easy to spend money.

There is always a question of why do people want to go do "work" at coffee houses - spaces that recently were perceived as mostly social. I suspect that people who spend a lot of time working alone (more of them now) may crave simple human companionship in the form of presence in the same space. Nobody will ask someone to "keep it down" in a coffee house. I would guess that people come to coffee houses to work for noise, for feeling like they are a part of something, even if peripheraly. If someone wants quiet, they could go to a library and such a criticism would be well placed in the context of a coffee house. Through controlling their lighting, coordinating power outlets and the design of the space itself, coffee house owners may actually be able to control the use of their space to a much greater extent than they seem to recognize in the NYT article.

Diet by cameraphone

From the CTIA newswire: "Report Examines Cameraphone Diet
A Washington Post report examines a new dieting service called MyFoodPhone, which uses cameraphones to document subscribers' intake and emails the results to dietitians for analysis and advice. The system then assigns the subscriber a dietitian that looks at each photo and offers comments on a personalized page at the company's Website on the nutritional value of the food as well as advice on improving overall diet. (Source: Washington Post)"

Latest numbers for wireless penetration in the US

From the CTIA Newswire: "According to a Barron's Online report, at the end of 2004, 62% of the U.S. population owned wireless phones. Wireless carriers reported the best first quarter ever in 2005, adding 6.6 million wireless subscribers in the quarter at 64% penetration. Additionally, Barron's Online reported the trend toward family plans will drive postpaid uptake rates and offer the possibility of higher profits. (Source: Barron's Online)"

In the U.K., Study Finds One in Five Bullied Via Wireless Phone

"According to a U.K. study by children's charity group NCH, one in five young people have been bullied via wireless phones or the Internet. The study found 14% of 11 to 19 year-olds had been threatened or harassed using text messages. Bullies used images taken with cameraphones to intimidate or embarrass one in 10 young people. The findings follow reports of 'happy slapping' attacks where assaults are recorded on wireless phones and sent via video messaging. (Source: BBC News)"

The question is - who is to blame, the mobile phone or the tendency of children to bully each other? There is a confluence of technology that makes certain behavior easier and more effective and the goals of the users of such technology that actually do not change, just become easier to achieve. It may be instructive to consider that bullying has been around for as long as there have been children. Children can be really cruel to each other as they learn adult lessons that way. It is possible to use technology to counteract bullying though, just the same. It simply has to become the goal of the adults around, those who are willing to use technology to further this goal. Or maybe things aren't so simple?

Seattle Leads with Most Wi-Fi Hotspots

From the CTIA newswire: "According to Intel's annual ranking, Seattle and San Francisco top the list for wireless Internet access in America. Seattle took the lead thanks to its abundance of Starbucks outlets, which offer wireless hotspots. San Francisco finished second, thanks to wireless hotspots at bars, convention centers, office parks and strip malls. (Source: Associated Press)"

Unfortunately, this list does not make a clear distinction of free vs. paid wireless. I am surprised Portland is not one of the top two, but the list may look very different if free wireless hot spots were differentiated from t-mobile/starbucks partnership hotspots.

Legislators Join with Coalition to End Double Tax in PA

From the CTIA NewsWire: "State Legislators, business owners, consumer groups and technology industry representatives gathered at the Capital Rotunda in Harrisburg, PA on Monday to push for a repeal of the state's double tax on wireless phone users. In addition to the 6% sales tax, Pennsylvania wireless users are subjected to a 5% gross receipts tax. At 19.05%, Pennsylvania has the eighth-highest wireless phone tax in the nation. Sen. Rob Wonderling and Rep. Mario Scavello have introduced legislation to repeal the gross receipts tax. 'This double-taxation harms the state’s economy and hinders our economic development efforts across the Commonwealth,' Sen. Wonderling said. 'The gross receipts tax is costing businesses and consumers as much as $225 million this year and the ripple effect will cost the state economy more than $370 million in wage losses.' Scavello added, 'The more a state taxes an industry, the less likely it is that they make the decision to locate in a state. Lower taxes encourage high-tech investments in Pennsylvania that will bring in jobs and lower the cost of doing business for many companies and governmental entities.' (Source: Politics PA, WGAL, Philadelphia Business Journal)"

Taxation is tricky - on one hand, more taxation provides more resources for state programs that take care of both the highway system and arts and eduaction. On the other hand, higher taxation scares away businesses, so there is lower job availability growth and, hence, residential decline. PA has notoriously been one of the worst states of business in certain areas. Pittsburgh is even worse due to its very strange taxation structure (no wonder they've had trouble attracting high tech and biotech business despite the attraction of universities and medical schools here). This little article makes some very interesting points in these tricky taxation decisions for the state.

You mobile annoys you? Throw it then!

From the CTIA NewsWire: "Germans are preparing to compete in the country's first wireless phone throwing championship. The individuals who throw their phones the greatest distance qualify for the world championships in Finland this August. The world record currently stands at 82.55 meters. (Source: Manila Times)" heeheheheehehe ;)

Northern Ireland Hearing Impaired Reach Emergency Services Via Wireless Phones

From the CTIA NewsWire: "A new text messaging service, developed by the Northern Ireland police in partnership with the Deaf Association of Northern Ireland and British Telecom, allows hearing impaired individuals to use their wireless phones to text the police in the event of an emergency, who in turn will contact the relevant emergency services - police, ambulance and fire and rescue. The service was created for people in the deaf and signing community who in the past may have found it difficult to communicate with the police and other emergency services. (Source: BBC News)"

This is one of those "well duh this makes total sense" innovations in the class of "why didn't I think of this". Hearing impaired individuals may have a hard time placing phone calls, but they can certainly read and text. Neat...

Sprint's Plans for Wireless

From the CTIA NewsWire: "A Washington Post report examines how Sprint Corp. plans to 'cut the cord' and focus on its wireless business. The company will relocate its corporate headquarters to Reston, VA upon merging with Nextel, forming the largest independent wireless carrier with no corporate ties to wireline companies. Sprint plans to partner with cable companies to offer alternate technologies replacing traditional wireline phone service and marketing bundles of entertainment and communications services, such as Internet-based phone service, high speed Internet connections and television and music via wireless phones. A new advertising campaign will encourage customers to 'cut the cord' on wireline service and use only wireless. The company will also spend nearly $3 billion on its network to improve wireless coverage in buildings. Finally, the company is developing a wireless phone hybrid complete with built-in Wi-Fi technology, allowing users to make calls over an Internet-phone at home and over the wireless network when away from home. (Source: Washington Post)"

As wireless communications develop, this move to encourage customers to "cut eh chord" will become more frequent and probably mostly accepted. What is interesting is Sprint's focus on improving fucntionality in buildings. One of the most common complaints for wireless customers is that their wireless phones cease functioning under layers of concrete and become extremely unreliable. We have grown to rely on phone communication and the steadfast stability of the wireline phone, independent of dead batteries and concrete surroundings is going to be hard to beat. I am interested to see whether the Sprint ad campaign will pay off... People do often drop landlines, but some try to bring them back as they realize a loss of certain social aspects of the wireline phone that is absent with a mobile. The individuation of communication can have very interesting effects on hoursholds. This is rarely a problem for those who live alone of course.

United Airlines Approved for In-Flight Internet Service

The New York Times > Technology > United Airlines Approved for In-Flight Internet Service - hmmm remember the last time you had to turn off your network card to use your computer inflight? Well you don't have to anymore. Somehow, I think this is a little evil - more time to waste on the computer, less of a forcing function to get things done... for me. Then again, most people don't need forcing functions. yay for wireless I guess? Less talking to strangers that way... hmmm.

Apple Plans to Switch From I.B.M. to Intel for Chips

The New York Times > Technology > Apple Plans to Switch From I.B.M. to Intel for Chips - Earthquake size shifts in the world of technology with Apple shifting to Intel and Microsoft to IBM. Like the two heavyweights they keep switching the corners of the ring as they circle each other. There will be no fight of course, just a wearing down... Apple, I feel is poised to make something interesting though because it seems to be a more flexible company than Microsoft. On the other hand, Microsoft puts enough money into open research (not just closed R&D) that it attracts some of the best academic minds to come up with good ideas for it. Apple, on the other hand, keeps quiet as it always had, but I wonder whether that turns a lot of people away. In either case, looks like Intel employees will be getting powerbooks soon ;).

Financial Aid Rules for College Change, and Families Pay More - New York Times

In view of the nation's state of employment opportunities and greater demand for college education even for lower paying jobs, why don't we just go and change the financial support structure to make sure fewer low income families can afford sending their children to college. Some quotes from the New York Times are illustrative:

Financial Aid Rules for College Change, and Families Pay More - New York Times: "Taken together, these changes, some based on overly optimistic predictions of inflation, have required families to count a greater share of their incomes and assets toward college expenses before becoming eligible for financial aid. As a consequence, tens of thousands of low-income students will no longer be eligible for federal grants; middle-class families are digging deeper into their savings; and some colleges are putting up their own money to make up the difference.

'This is not what we intended,' said Joe Paul Case, the financial aid director at Amherst College, in Massachusetts, who helped develop the formula that the government now uses for the bulk of the nation's students. 'There is certainly more duress than we had in mind.'"

Of course, this is certainly not what was intended, so the administration has hurried to "fix" things for the next year:
"Some economists consider the administration's economic assumptions deeply flawed. The department's estimates for inflation were, in fact, far enough off that it has now revised the formula it will use for the 2006-2007 school year, much to the benefit of families with assets. But the latest round of changes will not help parents in the coming school year."

Need a change? well why not help families WITH assets because who cares about the ones without? I am sure it makes sense - the poor are already poor it's the not quite poor yet that need help... ahem, ok... If there is anything in this country that I think everyone should have an opportunity for, its education. Because regardless of their background, people with higher levels of education are less likely to commit crime, better capable of economic growth, more likely to cross class lines, more likely to be more tolerant and open to ideas. So... well, why don't we just cut that opportunity right off for families that are too poor. Who cares about them anyway?

I am not being fair. The article clearly states that all families have been hit hard with these changes (assets or not). The Department of Education has been trying to cut costs, and where best to cut if not in Pell grants - just reconsider how to count assets into "what families can rely on to pay for college". Congress and the department had beenfighting on this point for a while. A slightly more drastic measure was blocked by congress in 2003 but (maybe because it got more republican recently) congress has made allowances and concessions this year.

"Still, some college officials say the hand-wringing is unwarranted. Whatever the changes to financial aid, they say, students as a whole have rarely stopped pursuing degrees and college attendance rates remain high nationally."
Of course, they will just pay more, or just the most disadvantaged will fall out of favor or not maybe just those, those that fall between the most disadvantaged and those with just enough money. Regardless, education getting more expensive in this country is wrong, simply wrong.

"What the changes will probably do, many university officials and parents contend, is have a disproportionate impact on middle-class families, especially when it comes to tapping their assets.

"For the middle class, it means greater pressure put upon them to cobble together college funding at schools that are becoming increasingly expensive," said James Boyle, president of College Parents of America, an advocacy group. "It's another middle-class squeeze.""

Another in a series this administration has put together. And the lovely generalization of "students as a whole" or "nationwide" tends to ignore the problem at hand - these new rules are demanding more for education from a subset of the population that is rarely capable of paying the price because its so damn steep. Education should be affordable if not free, because it's so damn important to survival. This administration, however, seems to think otherwise. Big surprise.

Concerns at A.C.L.U. Over Document Shredding

Concerns at A.C.L.U. Over Document Shredding - New York Times. Last week, the annual ACLU membership letter came in the mail. For the first time in years, I didn't even open it. This is sad. Sad because I've been a supporter of this organization for years. Sad because it illustrates just how fragile we all are under the pressure of digitizing and the allure of the data-glut. Six months ago ACLU was caught trying to collect a large amount of information on their donors in order to "make their donation requests more efficient" - i.e. they wanted to know who to go to when they needed to beg for large sums of money. Somehow, this just doesn't sound good when we are talking about the organization that touts its horn about privacy on a daily basis. Now this shredding business as the last in a series of screw ups... It's hard to know what to do really... I would like to trust ACLU as at least one of the few organizations that puts honesty and integrity at the top of the list of its values. Trust is a tough thing to gain though, especially if its foundations have been shaken... Sad

What eBay Could Learn From Craigslist

What eBay Could Learn From Craigslist - New York Times - this is a little ode to Craigslist - well deserved as always ;).

Play It Again, Vladimir (via Computer)

Play It Again, Vladimir (via Computer) - New York Times - this article talks about a really cool technology - attempting to build machine learning (AI) models of piano players playing piano and then reproducing their style by having an AI piano play other pieces in their style. The project started out by trying to revive old recordings not simply remastering them, but recreating them on modern equipment - that is, recreating how the old masters would have played them on modern equipment. The main example in this article is Alfred Cortot's Chopin's Prelude in G (an absolute marvel of a piece). Dr John Walker, a software engineer with classical piano training, has created a technology that re-creates old recordings as live performances (fit for a concert hall). His technology is a piano, or rather, a Disklavier, which is a player piano (one of those automatic pianos) that can replay preformances when you put a CD into a slot above the keyboard. The piano "turing" competition is on - soon we will have Horowitz playing in competition with the Disklavier just like Kasparov played against Deep Blue to prove human ability can extend beyond the mechanical.. or maybe not ;)

Wireless technologies and health-related applications

These snippets from the CTIA NewsWire are simply in the "neat!" category:

"Zarlink Semiconductor unveiled a chip for medical devices that allows doctors to monitor a patient's pacemaker or control a diabetic's insulin dosage via wireless technology. The chip is designed for in-body communication systems, which wirelessly links implanted devices via base stations to a doctor or hospital. (Source: Reuters)"

"The southern Spanish region of Andalucia plans to send text messages to residents sensitive to high temperatures warning them of hot spells, according to health officials. Health officials plan to target the elderly, as well as parents with children under four years old. (Source: AFP)"

Roadside Call Boxes Disappear as Wireless Phone Use Increases

From CTIA newswire: "Roadside call boxes that at one time helped stranded drivers call for assistance are slowly disappearing as wireless phone use increases. Rhode Island disposed of its 284 call boxes in 2004 while Pennsylvania removed 102 call boxes. Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Louisiana are also considering scrapping them due to drivers dependence on their wireless phones for safety and the high costs involved in maintaining the boxes. (Source: USA Today)"

As a particular technology offers cheaper ways for providing a similar service, companies and governments naturally make decisions that limit the use of older technology. In this case its often useful to consider just who it is that is most likely to use the new technology and who will be affected by the demise of the old technology most? In this case, I suspect that the older generation of drivers and the poor class of drivers will be less likely to carry a cell phone with them in case of emergency. It can be argued that many other drivers around them will have a cell phone, but the crucial question is: who will stop to help? As call boxes disappear, there is a subgroup of drivers that will naturally be negatively affected. Luckily, accidents are not nearly as common as they may seem and its the younger people with faster cars and lack of fear that are more likely to be in a situation needing to call for help. Still... Considering that large proportions of Pennsylvania are populated with older populations, I wonder how this kind of reasoning went.

Send us email so that we can ignore you better...

From the CTIA newswire: "According to a Wall Street Journal report, many companies are asking customers to send emails rather than calling customer service. According to the Customer Respect Group, a consulting company that tests these systems, more than 25% of the emails consumers send are ignored altogether. The Wall Street Journal conducted a test of five various industries. According to the test, Cingular Wireless was by far the best, sending a detailed response within 27 minutes. (Source: Wall Street Journal)"

Proliferation of digital communication has had some interesting side effects. All of us have been guilty of pretending to not receive an email and ignore communications from some of our contacts, preferring them to others. With email inboxes being assaulted with large quantities of spam, it is curious that many companies add to their email traffic by switching from call centers to email processing centers. Granted, processing email is FAR cheaper than dealing with a call center and an irritated customer has time to cool off and can not ask to speak to the manager immediately. Of course, email can also be ignored and not answered. The same can not be said for a phone call. I've noticed that many company websites make it exceedingly difficult to find the phone number to call, pointing all communications to ubiquitous email addresses and "feedback" forms. Does this mean that companies now can skim off customer service as well, providing worse customer service at a fraction of the price?

Authorities Trace Signal to Save Boaters

"In the U.K., two people were rescued off the Essex coast after the coastguard traced an emergency call from their wireless phone. A major air and sea search was launched after the pair called emergency officials. Authorities were able to trace the signal from their wireless phone to locate and rescue the boaters. (Source: BBC News)"

From the CTIA Newswire. The american provision for all phones to be "911 enabled" essentially made every single one of our phones a beacon of our location and position available to rescue and law enforcement at a moments notice. Several papers at the ICA conference lamented this fact and pointed out the privacy issues related to this technology as it is marketed from the point of view of safety, with its unnerving surveillance aspect concealed behind an enforced hysteria. Yet, its examples like the one above, that keep lending credence to the logic of the "911 enabled" phone. I do not disagree that such a function is necessary. I just wish I was given a choice on whether to use it or not.

Report Examines Wireless Phone Use in Flight

"According to a CNet News report, comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission suggest there may be an agreement to relax the rules banning wireless phone use on commercial flights. The report examines questions and answers focusing on when the rules will be relaxed, the technology that will allow it and why there currently is a ban. (Source: CNet News)"

From the CTIA newswire, this article does a really nice job impassively describing the current issues with allowing cell phone use on airplanes. Personally, I actually really enjoy the enforced rule of no phones on planes as it gives me an excellent excuse not to call anyone and spend however many hours doing work, sleeping, reading, watching movies - a perfectly excusable absence from the social sphere that is my phone. Planes also tend to be very cramped spaces. Just imagine sitting next to someone who manages to spend most of the flight chatting away on their phone. That's continuous conversation next to you ear... I suspect this may be rather irritating. Another aspect of being allowed to use phones on the plane is the social expectation of the use of idle time. If my friends and family know that I am about to spend 2-5 hours on the plane, they may construe this as "idle time" when i am available for conversation. Such social expectations would keep me from turning off my phone as such an act is often construed as "agressive". So... they think they can call me and there goes my nap... hmmm... sometimes, quiet spaces are necessary.

Electronic Arts Launches Mobile Gaming

"Electronic Arts announced it will team up with Qualcomm to launch its video games on wireless phones. The company aims to launch 15 to 20 games in 2005. (Source: Dow Jones Newswire)"

From the CTIA newswire - games are coming to a phone near you, produced by the Electronic Arts drones. The enormous, largely empty EA building on the Playa Del Ray - a green block of glass with a gorgeous view, apparently houses many of the EA programmers who build cubicle walls in such a way as to avoid seeing the wall-sized windows in fear that their precious computer screens will reflect too much light and they may have to actually spend time somewhere where there is more natural than artificial lighting. The said building also includes a gym, a soccer field and other trappings of a space that expects its inhabitants to live there and attempts to compensate for the damage done to their sitting bones by Aero chairs. In other news, EA is considering several university partnerships for some very interesting research.

States Continue to Add Laws Banning Wireless Use by Drivers

"Across the U.S. more laws are being adopted restricting the use of wireless phones by drivers. Colorado, Delaware, Maryland and Tennessee banned wireless phone use by young drivers. Chicago, New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. have banned all drivers from using wireless handheld phones. However, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, it's difficult to create these laws. 'You can't have a law for every distracting behavior behind the wheel,' says Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. 'You're not going to ban eating or talking to your kids.' (Source: USA Today 1, USA Today 2)"

From the CTIA newswire - more states continue jumping on the bandwagon. I must admit that this one seems like an easy - "look we ARE doing something" - scapegoat for legislature. On the other hand, this helps the hands-free market and maybe encourages people to use the handsfree option and keeping their hands on the wheel. Regardless, the most distracting thing about using cell phones is actually talking (or texting) on them. The action of holding them is far less distracting. Banning talking is far harder though and if we were to, we would have to ban eating and putting make up on as well. Commuters will object ;)

Prepaid Wireless Services Continue to Grow

"Prepaid wireless service, once viewed as cheap-o status with bulky handsets, is becoming the next big wireless thing, according to a Washington Post report. Prepaid users account for 10% of the 182 million U.S. wireless users. The appeal to prepaid wireless services is that it requires no long-term contract and there is no credit check. The service, which primarily targets people between 13 and 24 years old, is growing at an annual rate of 25% to 30%, outpacing the wireless industry's overall growth rate of approximately 5%. (Source: Washington Post)"

From the CTIA newswire, this piece of news is very entertaining. It has taken nearly 5 years for the pay-as-you-go service to take off. There were many reasons for this slow take off, pricing structure and service structure limitations were one, failing to target the right market (teenagers) was another. In order to be popular with this market, the phone companies had to realize that they need to provide better looking, smaller, more modern handsets and provide a pricing structure that would allow teenagers who do not have credit cards (being too young or too poor for them) are able to obtain the phone and can afford to maintain it. When these two conditions were reached over the course of the last three years with services from t-Mobile, TracFone, Virgin Mobile, Cingular, Liberty wireless, Venture Mobile and Boost Mobile from Nextel. Boost was actually quite difficult to track down because there doesn't seem to be a link from the main Nextel site to the service and none of the known prepaid wireless carriers refer to it. The website, however, states they have just gone nationwide.

If you look at each of the above websites, it is striking how specific each market segment is staked out. Boost wireless and Virgin Mobile are obviously targeting teenagers, but of a very different background. Liberty and Venture target european visitors and business people that need a cheaper option. While TracFone, Cingular and t-Mobile also target teenagers, t-Mobile and Cingular are also clearly banking on the travel market due to their international market appeal. I know that Verizon Wireless also has a pay-as-you-go subscription, but it is not a focus of their business and they do not advertise it as heavily as other carriers.

Loosing Google's Lock on the Past - gaming Google

Loosing Google's Lock on the Past - New York Times - this article deals with... surprise... "googling", but in a way that is very entertaining. With the advent of digital information we have gained an interesting aspect to our selves - a digital shadow of our past digital actions that remains regardless of our own desires to forget and move on. Attempts to change this shadow, removing its parts and pieces, can be fruitless at best and somewhat frustrating. Stephanie Rosenbloom suggests "going with the flow" rather than trying to remove these unwanted pieces of the past. "Bury them" she suggests. Creating a digital persona of yourself and tending to it so that it represents an image that is agreeable, however, takes time and effort. One must create blogs and personal web pages and make sure that enough people link to them in order to play the "Google" game of page rank. It is, however, possible to maintain an image of yourself that comes up "first" when you are googled and answers the questions of strangers in the way you want them answered. This, of course, operates under the assumption that most people are too lazy to click beyond the first few links when they find what they wanted right away. Not a bad assumption I think. So... embarassed about your "Google profile"? Dislike certain photographs or find old references to you disagreable? Don't waste you time calling Google or writing them email. Instead, get to work on the image of yourself you want people to find first! Then hope they won't go looking any further. Most probably won't.

On a side note, I'd never realized that the process Google uses is similar to what we call Power centrality calculations in social network analysis. At least a certain form of it. This is different from the crude version of a search engine that I'd had to build for an undergrad programming class years ago. Funny, now that I know social network analysis a little bit, it seems so much more efficient and obvious as an idea.

Interaction-Design.org - A site about HCI, Usability, UI Design, User Experience, Information Architecture and more..

Interaction-Design.org - A site about HCI, Usability, UI Design, User Experience, Information Architecture and more.. - this site is an HCI-keywords project. Interesting approach (feeling a little scooped;).

A site with a similar purpose was created by folks at the university of chicago as well - Chicago School of Media Theory

The New York Times > Technology > At This Restaurant, the Video Games Come With the Meal

The New York Times > Technology > At This Restaurant, the Video Games Come With the Meal: "Nolan K. Bushnell, the creator of the Pong video game and founder of the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain, is innovating again. He is about to open a restaurant where the servers will have novel attributes: triple redundancy and backup batteries.

In this case, the servers will not be human waiters but powerful central computers that will record food orders and display video games that customers can play while they eat."

Hmm... I wonder what the food is going to be like... probably a version of Chuck E Cheese (sister company) junk food. After all, that would be consistent with the gaming stereotype - pizza anyone?

The New York Times > Technology > No Privacy in Your Cubicle? Try an Electronic Silencer

The New York Times > Technology > No Privacy in Your Cubicle? Try an Electronic Silencer Applied Minds is a little company that designs really neat technology. The silencer is a technology that allows people in open spaces to have private phone and face-to-face conversations, with others around them unable to overhear. Considering mounting concerns with sound pollution and the invasion of private life in public spaces via the cell phone, this little gizmo, once developed for cell phones, could change the social context of cell phone use. But I am getting ahead of things. For now, this is an office-use technology, designed for an open office or a phone conversation. It is designed with privacy in mind, and, at least from its description, it seems to have a good idea of what things should be like!