Monday, March 17, 2003

Presidential Candidate Howard Dean has a weblog. During the last mid-term elections, we had Tara Sue Grubb (a libertarian candidate for Congress), and now we have a presidential candidate with a weblog.   He's also using MeetUp, which is an Internet service that makes it easy for people to organize meetings.  It's good to see politicians discover the power of the web.  Maybe, as more of them understand its power of communication, our politicians won't be so readily inclined to pass laws that seem so riduculous to those of us that use the Internet extensively. [Ernie the Attorney] 7:16:16 AM    comment []

More Social-Network Mapping Tools. I wrote yesterday a column named "New Social-Network Mapping Tools Are Emerging." Slashdot mentioned it, and their readers sent me many comments and e-mails about other visualization tools. First, I need to make some corrections about Valdis Krebs, the developer of InFlow, a software tool I talked about in this previous column. He wrote me to tell he never worked at IBM. On the contrary, IBM was his first big customer. And, while this Discover article stated that "Krebs has spent most of the last 15 years honing his mapping software," he told me "the first working version [w/o visuals] was written in 2 weekends... on a 512K Macintosh... using Prolog." Finally, InFlow is designed to analyze not an individual e-mail box, but groups of them. And now, let's browse through the excellent suggestions in no particular order. [Please note that I intentionally removed all e-mail addresses.] Raffi Krikorian urged me to take a look at a quick hack he put together a year ago called email constellations. "This project aims to be a free, flexible, and easily modifiable visualization tool that allows a user to intuitively understand their online social group structure." Stefano Mazzocchi sent me a pointer to his Apache Agora visualizing social networks. There, you can see a data cloud "generated by processing three months of e-mail traffic on three Apache development mail lists." Jonathon N. Cummings alerted me about the NetVis Module which allows a dynamic visualization of social networks. "The NetVis Module is a free open source web-based tool designed to simulate, analyze, and visualize social networks using data from csv files, online surveys, and geographically dispersed work teams." Rev. wRy mentioned EtherApe, a graphical network monitor for Unix. J. Maxwell Legg wrote about his freeware inGridX tool. "inGridX started life as a repertory grid creative free software offer to Kellian decision support consultants who make inferences about meanings by looking at the spin derived from a grid of elements and constructs. inGridX uses Principle Component Analysis as the basis to materially implicate a grid's digital effects. The NameBase people pointed me to their Proximity Search tool which "generates social network diagrams of the ruling class." Steve Wolff asked me to check his Surf3D Pro tool. This is a freeware program which promises to reduce "search time by over 80% in comparison to what it normally takes you to click through and evaluate search engine results." It has specific agents for Google Usenet groups, eBay auctions, Yahoo! Boards and others. Arthur Embleton and Gustavo Muslera both recommended KartOO visual meta search engine. It is similar to the TouchGraph GoogleBrowser, but it doesn't require Java and uses FlashPlayer to draw interactive maps. Dazzling! Finally, a reader named xynopsis talked about another kind of tools, the Visual Thesaurus. This web tool is not about social mapping, but it shows graphical connections between words. In this previous column, "The Visual Thesaurus: What Does it Show About Thanksgiving?," I already explored this very funny tool. As I already said, if you know about other similar new tools, please tell me and I'll gather your comments in a future story. Sources: Roland Piquepaille, with Slashdot readers' help, March 16, 2003 [Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends] 7:09:50 AM    comment []

Mount Washington has wireless Webcam at the top of New England: Some insane folks at the Zakon Group in New Hampshire braved exceptional snow and temperature conditions to launch a Webcam at NH's Wildcat Mountain Ski Area (4,000 feet) pointing at the legendary Tuckerman and Huntingon Ravines. (My father-in-law learned to ski on Tuckerman Ravine using Stem Christies to turn from a full stop. Yes, it's steep.) The Webcam is solar powered and relays its signal wirelessly to the Mount Washington Observatory (6,300 feet). The Observatory has a frame-relay line. [80211b News] 7:08:11 AM    comment []

Wireless Art Course/Blog. Wireless Art, to my knowledge, this is the first graduate level art course explicitly on Wireless Art, or using WiFi as an artistic medium. According to the instructor, Yuri Gitman, "This class leads students through a series of projects and lectures aimed at pushing the boundaries of both art and wireless technology by using WiFi for purely artistic and expressive ends. I'm the instructor and also an artist-in-resident at Eyebeam(.org), a leading art and technology organization in NYC. I was responsible for the Noderunner game, which was posted at smartmobs.com a few months back. In any case, the class website is updated often, as it's a blog, and will host links to the projects we create." [Smart Mobs] 7:07:24 AM    comment []

New Social Network Mapping tools. Yesterday, Roland Piquepaille wrote about New Social Network Mapping Tools Are Emerging. The story was Slashdotted and many Slashdot readers sent Roland suggestions, so he wrote a new column based on their suggestions: More Social-Network Mapping Tools (Thanks, Roland!) [Smart Mobs] 7:06:42 AM    comment []

Scary first-person account of martian Hong Kong pneumonia. SARS -- the mystery pneumonia that's sweeping Asia and has been spotted in Canada and elsewhere -- is unbelievably scary. Check out this message from a Hong Kong doctor to Dave Farber's Interesting People list: Unresponsive to various combinations of cefotaxime, chlarithromycin, levofloxacin, doxyclycline and Tamiflu. All microbiology is NEGATIVE (after one week)... So far 2-3 of our older patients with chronic disease have deteriorated fastest. Medical staff - younger and fitter have faired better. Their radiological findings have deteriorated in all but one case... We receive 2-3 admissions per day. So far no-one has shown any improvement. Once intubated however they remain relatively static but very oxygen and PEEP dependent. Those ventilated have solid lungs. Interestingly one patient developed a pneumothorax on the medical ward and after chest drain and re-expansion his pneumonia involves only the side without a chest drain. Another patient (ventilated) has developed surgical emphysema. ICU is now closed for all but atypical pneumonias. All our other "clean cases" have been transferred to other ICUs. All elective surgery is being cancelled and wards are being closed and evacuated. Al ambulances are being diverted... Masks are worn throughout the hospital. Staff are not going home to children. Please take the warning below seriously. My impression is that even with minimal contact with an infected person people have been becoming ill. Link Discuss [Boing Boing Blog] 7:04:42 AM    comment []

Verizon' New Ultra-Fast Wireless Mobile Network. According to this Washington Post article (free easy registration necessary), Verizon Wireless Inc. plans to announce today a new high-speed data service in the Washington area. It will be based on the Evolution Data Only (EvDO) technology. For more information about this wireless technology, please read "EvDO, a new Wireless High-Speed Technology." The Evolution Data Only (EvDO) network will allow users of compatible wireless devices to connect to the Internet at speeds as fast as or faster than those provided by cable or telephone wires. Verizon Wireless plans to launch the service in the late summer, with coverage initially limited to an area inside the Capital Beltway. The service will also be launched in San Diego around the same time. Scott A. Ellison, director for mobile wireless at IDC, a Massachusetts-based technology research firm, noted that EvDO technology is already popular in South Korea, where consumers use it for tasks from video conference-calling to watching television on their cell phones. "It is blazingly fast," he said. How fast, are you asking? During preliminary tests that Verizon Wireless conducted in an area from Falls Church to Rockville, people could download files while on the go at speeds from 300 to 600 kilobits per second, or about five to 10 times as fast as a dial-up modem. While stationary, users could access the Internet at speeds up to 2.4 megabits per second, about 60 percent faster than a cable modem. And what about pricing? The company will begin selling EvDO-capable cell phones and special cards for laptop computers and handheld organizers that will enable them to work with the EvDO network. It declined to comment on prices. Source: Christopher Stern, The Washington Post, March 17, 2003 [Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends] 7:01:07 AM    comment []

Face Transplant Soon. A very brave sixteen-year-old Irish girl looks set to become the first person to undergo a face transplant operation. [Antipixel] 6:59:42 AM    comment []

New Social Network Mapping Tools. New Social Network Mapping tools from SmartMobs.. And now, let's browse through the excellent suggestions in no particular order. [Please note that I intentionally removed all e-mail addresses.] Raffi Krikorian urged me to take a look at a quick hack he put together a year ago called email constellations. "This project aims to be a free, flexible, and easily modifiable visualization tool that allows a user to intuitively understand their online social group structure." Stefano Mazzocchi sent me a pointer to his Apache Agora visualizing social networks. There, you can see a data cloud "generated by processing three months of e-mail traffic on three Apache development mail lists." [A bit of caution: you might have to stop and restart your browser after using it.] Jonathon N. Cummings alerted me about the NetVis Module which allows a dynamic visualization of social networks. "The NetVis Module is a free open source web-based tool designed to simulate, analyze, and visualize social networks using data from csv files, online surveys, and geographically dispersed work teams." Rev. wRy mentioned EtherApe, a graphical network monitor for Unix. J. Maxwell Legg wrote about his freeware inGridX tool. "inGridX started life as a repertory grid creative free software offer to Kellian decision support consultants who make inferences about meanings by looking at the spin derived from a grid of elements and constructs. inGridX uses Principle Component Analysis as the basis to materially implicate a grid's digital effects. The NameBase people pointed me to their Proximity Search tool which "generates social network diagrams of the ruling class." Steve Wolff asked me to check his Surf3D Pro tool. This is a freeware program which promises to reduce "search time by over 80% in comparison to what it normally takes you to click through and evaluate search engine results." It has specific agents for Google Usenet groups, eBay auctions, Yahoo! Boards and others. Arthur Embleton and Gustavo Muslera both recommended KartOO visual meta search engine. It is similar to the TouchGraph GoogleBrowser, but it doesn't require Java and uses FlashPlayer to draw interactive maps. Dazzling! Finally, a reader named xynopsis talked about another kind of tools, the Visual Thesaurus. This web tool is not about social mapping, but it shows graphical connections between words. In this previous column, "The Visual Thesaurus: What Does it Show About Thanksgiving?," I already explored this very funny tool. [Smart Mobs] [Ross Mayfield's Weblog] 6:58:24 AM    comment []

Socrates. "Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity." [Motivational Quotes of the Day] 6:42:14 AM    comment []