Category Archives: Technology

Things that make you go 'hmm'

Leave a Reply

In a good way. Some are funny, some are just intriguing.

Good vibrations: An 86-year-old Jewish doctor has donated 12 surfboards to Gaza to promote peace. (AP)

Aiming high: A one-legged father of 78 is marrying two more women as he goes for 100 by 2015. (CNN/Emirates Today)

The power of words: The influence of pronouns in brain function. (Anthropology.net/Science Daily)

In it for the long haul: Venezuela’s congress has approved constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez rule for a long, long time. (AP/Boston Globe)

The good thief: A gunman holding up a convenience store halted his robbery to wait on a couple who eagerly accepted a pack of smokes and other items without paying. (Kansas City TV)

The great debate: Are gadgets and the internet actually addictive? (CNN)

A new power: Mysterious Italian crime syndicate linked to massacre in Germany eclipses Sicilian Mafia. (International Herald Tribune)

Happy birthday, humble CD

Leave a Reply

Today (August 17) is the 25th birthday of the compact disc.

Let us not dwell on the fact such technology is older than I am. Let us bask in its glory, for digital media may kill it as a commercial medium.

I can’t remember what my first CD actually was, only that I resisted them for some time because I preferred cassettes (which were more versatile and a damn sight cheaper).  But following some not very well-publicised incidents where my lovely tapes were eaten alive and spat out in ruins, my move towards CDs became unstoppable. I still don’t have all of them on my Facebook profile.

The things seem nigh invincible, save for coins, dust, pets, people, jam-covered fingers and microwaves (ever seen what happens to a CD after its been in the microwave? Tis pretty).

They’ve come a long way since Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and some rubbish from Billy Joel. Now we have all sorts of disposable one-hit wonders weighing the shelves — though not for much longer, if predictions are correct. Sales have slumped in the last decade, partly due to file-sharing, partly due to the rise of portable digital music players, and partly due to people spending money on DVDs and games.

Though I still enjoy making CDs, the format’s time will pass. It’s easy to see it morphing into DVD-style music/content hybrids (don’t they exist already?) but it’s just as possible the successor — if it has a physical successor rather than a digital one — will be something completely different.

Arms deal

Leave a Reply

The Bush administration wants Congress to approve a $20 billion (E14.65bn) arms package for Saudi Arabia.

The deal would include satellite-guided bombs and upgrades to fighter planes and warships, but pale in comparison to the $30bn package in the offing for Israel.

Such sales are part of life. Countries want to improve their defence forces and companies want to make a few quid. But this is a political deal, something The New York Times buried a few paragraphs into the story.

[Bush] officials said the plan to bolster the militaries of Persian Gulf countries is part of an American strategy to contain the growing power of Iran in the region and to demonstrate that, no matter what happens in Iraq, Washington remains committed to its longtime Arab allies.

Later in the story:

Along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are likely to receive equipment and weaponry from the arms sales under consideration, officials said. In general, the United States is interested in upgrading the countries’ air and missile defense systems, improving their navies and making modest improvements in their air forces, administration officials said, though not all the packages would be the same.

Saudi Arabia isn’t looking for the weaponry. The materiel is being offered to it, clearly with the expectation the Saudis will jump at the opportunity. An agreement is expected in the autumn.

I actually laughed at this paragraph:

Worried about the impression that the United States was starting an arms race in the region, State and Defense Department officials stressed that the arms deal was being proposed largely in response to improvements in Iran’s military capabilities and to counter the threat posed by its nuclear program, which the Bush administration contends is aimed at building nuclear weapons.

How on Earth is pumping billions of dollars into several nations’ militaries not starting an arms race? Iran’s nuclear ambitions are a matter of debate, although it has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, unlike India with which the US signed a nuclear deal earlier this week.

Economic and political interests are driving this deal. Selling $20bn of arms to Saudi Arabia will go some way toward redressing the balance of trade between the countries — a balance of trade in favour of the Saudis due to oil exports. A strong US relationship with the kingdom is one way to ensure future supplies of black gold, even if these will be exhausted in a few decades.

America has a long-standing relationship with Israel, which explains the arms offer to that nation. Unfortunately, this deal between allies runs the risk of fueling regional tensions.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the Middle Eastern countries will accept the arms packages. It will be interesting to see what the deals entail for individual states.

Breaking wind

Leave a Reply

Some good news on the climate front and an opportunity for a childish giggle (it’s my birthday, allow me these little foibles).

Latest figures show 15,200 megawatts of wind turbines were installed worldwide last year. This increased global wind power capacity 26% to more than 74,200 megawatts, enough to offset 43 million tons of carbon dioxide (or that produced by 8m cars).

Granted there is a long, long way to go before CO2 output is properly capped. The 43m tonnes is only 5% of global emissions. It is progress though — and it’s heartening to see that China is likely to be the world’s top wind power producer in a few years. Also, a researcher involved in the study claims wind could reduce CO2 emission growth by 2015.

Spain last week authorised the development of wind farms along its coastline, while Denmark is aiming to provide 50% of its electricty from wind turbines.

As the supermarket ad says, every little bit helps.

Pakistan's posturing

Leave a Reply

There was yet more sabre rattling in south Asia this morning when Pakistan testfired a nuclear-capable cruise missile.

The Babur Hatf VII missile hugs the ground to avoid radar and has a range of 700km (enough to reach the Indian capital New Delhi). It isn’t the first time it’s been tested, so this probably marks further refinement of the system.

Pakistan and India have competed on weapons technology for years, most significantly with the testing of nuclear weapons by both sides. After an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001, blamed on Pakistan, led to a military build-up along the border, a nuclear exchange seemed probable.

India vowed not to use nukes first but said it could take a “bomb or two or more … but when we respond there will be no Pakistan” (go here for more of the tough guy rhetoric). Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and there was a climbdown. Now the neighbours notify one another in advance of any missile tests.

Pakistan has an established policy of military development, as much to deter any would-be invader as to showboat. That the Babur Hatf can carry nuclear warheads is significant, but it can carry conventional explosives as well and its design means it can be used to carry out devastating, unstoppable strikes.

Nuclear technology, in the US at least, has progressed to the point that uber-accurate strikes can obliterate an enemy’s heavy military while causing only a few casualties.

Pakistan’s latest test must be seen in the context of domestic politics, its long rivalry with India and, to an extent, raising its regional and international profile. India will feel under little pressure to respond with a test of its own but its smaller neighbour has shown it won’t go away and is not complacent with its hardware.

There may also be anti-Taliban publicity in all of this, although given Pakistan’s test history I don’t think this is a major factor. Certainly some US politicians have been crowing about tackling militants in Pakistan — notably Rudy Giuliani, who seems to think America is fighting a war in Pakistan.

However, I think it’s worth seeing the missile test as pro-government publicity in a time of dubious internal security. The Red Mosque incident has left many shaken, and President Musharaff’s run-ins with the chief justice caused mass protests and violence in the streets.

Now, though, he can point to tangible success on his nation’s behalf. He can say to his electorate: “This is what we can achieve while I’m in office”. Perhaps not in those words, but the sentiment will be there.

This latest posturing is highly unlikely to destablise the region — but it serves as a warning that conflicts do not go away overnight, and the technology that can be unleashed if relations worsen dramatically.