Winding Down
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology, science and other news
by Alan Lenton
6 November 2022
Enjoy!
Alan Lenton
Publishing schedule: Next issue 6 November
Credits: Thanks to Fi for editing, correcting errors, etc.
Essays:
The Register has an excellent essay on staying relevant. I was surprised, because it was by Rupert Goodwins, whose ramblings I don’t normally like. Basically the argument is that the big tech companies are failing because they are not producing new things that are relevant to peoples wants and needs.
On the other hand Open Source, he argues, is people developing things they need and want to use. I guess that’s true, although I hadn’t really thought of it in those terms.
I’d recommend reading this essay. it’s not a massive piece, but it’s well argued and will probably add a dimension to your thinking that probably wasn’t there before.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/31/opinion_column_relevance_in_business/
Archeology:
I would guess that we have all seen the pictures of Tutankhamun’s tomb and that most of us know that it was discovered by Howard Carter exactly 100 years ago. What isn’t so well known, is how he discovered it. That is the subject of a very well written and interesting article in The Smithsonian Magazine , which I would highly recommend.
Take a look, the article has some great photographs of the tomb and the Valley of the Kings. Highly recommended.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-howard-carter-discovered-king-tuts-golden-tomb-180981052/
Health:
Wired magazine has a superb piece about how the pandemic revealed not only not only the problems with existing research, but new ways of researching that are more accurate and safely deliver new drugs faster. I don’t have the space to go into the combination of genetic techniques, digital techniques and international communications that came together to help combat the pandemic, but I would highly recommend the Wired article.
https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-open-science-public-health-data/
Physics:
Can a penny dropped from the Empire State Building really kill you? Well? Whether you said yes or no, explain why. After all it’s only basic physics! And when you’ve done that, write your answer down so you can’t cheat. Then watch the wonderfully entertaining video which gives you the answer and explains all about velocity, terminal or otherwise!
PS: If you’ve got kids get them to watch it with you! It’s a great way to teach them about science experiments
https://boingboing.net/2022/11/02/can-a-penny-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building-really-kill-you.html
Social Media:
As I mentioned last week Musk has now fully taken over Twitter and, it seems, is about to sack substantial numbers of its employees. He has already cut a swath through the top management levels. He clearly expects to be able to run it as his own toy. Unfortunately for Musk though, Twitter is international. That means he has to obey the laws and regulations of countries other than the USA . And he has picked a time just when the EU is tightening up regulations for social media.
And, not to put too fine a point of it, the sort of stuff Musk has been spouting recently goes directly against the intention, if not the letter, of the new regulations. When that happens Musk will have no one else to blame it on. Even as I write this piece the news is that Musk has ‘dissolved’ (wonderfully evocative word, that. I always think of someone pulling a lever to create a flood of acid!) the Twitter board, and appointed himself ‘sole director’.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/31/elon-musk-twitter-dsa-comply
Update: 5 November 2022:
Musk has now fired, among others, Twitter’s entire ‘Ethical AI’ team, the ‘Human Rights’ team, and the ‘Twitter Accessibility’ team. He is probably going to be facing legal actions since it’s pretty clear that this activity doesn’t fit in well with either US or other country’s employment law.
https://www.nycsouthpaw.com/p/details-of-twitters-layoffs
He seems to be charging $8 a pop for the ‘blue tick’ that verifies who you are – except that Twitter isn’t actually verifying that you are who you say you are anymore!
https://twitter.com/somebadideas/status/1588876465915166721
Evidence is also emerging that Twitter advertisers are holding off until they see what Musk actually plans for Twitter. Normally, a large chunk of next year’s advertising would be in the bag by now. Twitter, like many digital companies, takes part in an event called ‘New Fronts’. At it they usually sell a large chunk of advertising up front for the following year (in this case 2023). They normally sell about 15-20% of their annual income at the event. This year the big advertiser wanted answers to their questions about Musk’s intentions before committing to buy. And Twitter had no answers for them!
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1588696157794242560.html
It all seems pretty illogical behaviour for a man already facing the possibility of serious legal action over his ‘self-driving’ car business, but in fact it’s not as illogical as you would think! To understand why I’d like to point you to an excellent piece explaining the world view of the likes of Musk.
https://davetroy.medium.com/no-elon-and-jack-are-not-competitors-theyre-collaborating-3e88cde5267d
Solar Flares:
In the wake of the havoc caused by the Hurricane Ian disaster, the problems were compounded by a powerful X1 category solar flare which disrupted radio communications, hampering the disaster recovery teams in Florida and the Carolinas. The X1 rating is the lowest rating in the strongest category of flares. This does not bode well. The Earth, and the space around it, is absolutely stuffed with electronic equipment – some well shielded, but most not. And we are only just at the start of the most energetic section of the sun-spot cycle.
https://www.space.com/major-solar-flare-radio-blackout-hurricane-ian
Space:
Well China’s permanent space station is now complete. The last module blasted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the southern island province of Hainan last Sunday. As usual, they left the remains of the rocket’s booster to come back to Earth – randomly, it appears.
Be under no illusions, a permanently crewed space station in Earth orbit is no mean achievement, whatever you may think of China’s politics. Don’t underestimate them.
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-china-3rd-space-station-component.html
Pictures:
This week’s first picture is a dramatic one of an isolated medieval monastery in the mountains of Georgia. In the background looms Mount Kazbek.
https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/georgian-landscape-1/
If that landscape isn’t dramatic enough for you try this one entitled ‘Witches Hat’ which is a photograph of Sunset at Coyote Buttes South in Arizona!
https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/witches-hat/
Quotes:
‘Being Tory Leader is like being Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: every idiot fancies a go, nobody lasts long, and there’s a good chance you’ll bump into Voldemort’s soul.’
(Russ Jones, Twitter, 20 October 2022) via Ansible 424.
As far as Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is concerned, I think this comment from a piece about the layoffs says it all:
‘Twitter hasn’t responded to requests for comment, likely because its communications staff has been included in the layoffs.’
https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/04/twitter-faces-a-class-action-lawsuit-over-mass-employee-layoffs-with-proper-legal-notice/
Scanner:
AI inventors may find it difficult to patent their tech under today’s laws
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/09/ai_patent_feature_1/
Democratic governments are failing to leverage technology companies
[Long and somewhat ahistorical piece, but gives you some idea of how governments and think tanks are looking to move – AL]
https://www.lawfareblog.com/democratic-governments-are-failing-leverage-technology-companies
Windows 11 runs on fewer than 1 in 6 PCs
https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/02/windows_11_statcounter/
Value pluralism and Human Rights in content moderation
https://www.lawfareblog.com/value-pluralism-and-human-rights-content-moderation
Sun’s magnetic mystery solved by ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter
https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/14/suns_magnetic_mystery_esa/
The Reichenbach Falls – The alpine falls where Sherlock Holmes apparently met his demise can actually be visited.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-reichenbach-falls-schattenhalb-switzerland
You thought you bought software – all you bought was a lie
https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/you_cannot_buy_software/
Tesla under US criminal investigation over self-driving claims, sources say
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/26/tesla-criminal-investigation-self-driving-claims-sources
Footnote:
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
6 November 2022
Alan Lenton is a retired on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist (among other things), the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
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