Courtesy of TNG, a collection of reimagined covers for the Atari 2600 [note to young'uns: cover images themselves are original, with only new titles added]. Surprisingly I can only immediately identify Defenders and Yars’ Revenge. Look for the passing references to both Harry Potter and the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
In an article last February on software development culture, eWeek’s Peter Coffee made reference to a maxim on complexity: “Complex systems usually operate in failure mode.” The source was John Gall’s 1978 work called Systemantics, a kind of satire of General Systems Theory that simultaneously mocked and catalogued the tendencies of systems to create their own problems. With its title taken from a mash-up of systematic, semantic, and ’system antic,’ the book laid out a quite illuminating series of ‘laws’ that afflict systems in the same fashion that the Peter Principle underlies corporate hierarchy, Conway’s Law outlines the effect of committees, and Murphy’s Law describes probability—in fact, one law is that “a complex system can fail in an infinite number of ways” which essentially encapsulates Murphy. Gall also ventures into policy, arguing for a much broader understanding of global concerns as being generated by underlying systems:
“The religious person may blame it on original sin. The historian may cite the force of trends such as population growth and industrialization. The sociologist offers reasons rooted in the peculiarities of human associations. Reformers blame it all on ‘the system,’ and propose new systems that would, they assert, guarantee a brave new world of justice, peace, and abundance. Everyone, it seems, has his own idea of what the problem is and how it can be corrected. But all agree on one point—that their own system would work very well if only it were universally adopted.
The point of view espoused in this essay is more radical and at the same time more pessimistic. Stated as succinctly as possible: the fundamental problem does not lie in any particular system but rather in systems as such. Salvation, if it is attainable at all, even partially, is to be sought in a deeper understanding of the ways of systems, not simply in a criticism of the errors of a particular system.”
Other references to Systemantics include excerpts of the 3rd edition (renamed The System Bible) via Amazon’s Online Reader—for example, you can browse the entire “Index of Horrible Examples” from Czar Alexander to Three Mile Island and the Titanic—and collected references via del.icio.us. Regrettably Amazon does not actually sell any of the 3 editions, but another company called General Systemantics advertises copies for sale (via a default MS FrontPage theme, itself fodder for a whole article on system failure) along with the brilliantly epigrammatic praise by William Safire that “Work books gall, but Gall’s book works.”
More contemporary parallels to Gall’s work include Donella Meadows’ Twelve Leverage Points which describe a scale of effective places “to intervene in a system,” alternately thought of as levers by which you can affect the workings of a complex system; Edward Tenner’s book Why Things Bite Back on the ‘revenge effects’ or unintended consequences of technology; Jared Diamond’s book Collapse on possible causes of failed societies; and Anti-patterns, an outgrowth of Design Patterns that have been utilized in fields like architecture and software design to find well-solved problems and re-use them. Most anyone who’s held a job can probably relate to one or more organization or management anti-patterns, which also includes longstanding concepts such as “moral hazard” from economics and “scope creep” from project management.
[EB: Systems Engineering]
Michael Dell’s Earth Day presentation at Fortune’s Brainstorm:Green conference showcased a prototype design that takes up 81% less space and uses 70% less power than a “standard desktop.”
Earth2Tech: Pictures of Dell’s Eco Bamboo Computer
Engadget: Dell unveils tiny bamboo-cased eco-computer concept
While any power and space savings are laudable, what most interests me is any progress towards the concept of Chia Pet McKenzie’s Sandbenders computer as described in William Gibson’s Idoru with its handcrafted case made of coral, ivory-like nutwood, and “old [aluminum] cans they dig up on the beach, cast…in sand-molds.” As computers by and large continue to shrink—via standards like DTX and the proliferation of small form factor (SFF) models—the possibility looms for a boutique industry of beautifully-crafted cases made from natural, sustainable materials (note that while aluminum is highly recyclable, it is energy-intensive to create) that might even support a tribal community in place of turquoise jewelry or woven baskets.
For a machine befitting another Gibson setting, the Victorian steampunk of Difference Engine, Dave Veloz modded a Mac Mini with monitor and keyboard. Be sure and check out the intricate scrollwork on the Mini casing itself.
Steven Poole is one of many to engage in that promotion du jour, giving away a digital copy of a product—in his case, a book called Trigger Happy about the aesthetics of videogames, a topic which would naturally appeal to an online audience. Six months and 31,100 downloads later, he follows up the experiment with a compelling review of the state of media online and what the future may hold for various creators, notably musicians and writers.
His response is noteworthy for encapsulating many of the issues facing creators who wish (or face pressure) to distribute their works online, especially unfettered by Digital Rights Management (DRM) and preferably free. In the giveaway economy, as with the dotcom bubble before it, how exactly does that lead to sustainable income? Not all doom and gloom, Poole notes the promotional upsides in terms of wider distribution and thus ’seeding the market’ for possible hard-copy sales and future endeavors. However, the Paypal tip jar approach as attempted by many donation-supported software projects, Stephen King’s abortive The Plant, and Radiohead’s experiment with In Rainbows bears out the online form of tragedy of the commons where free access to a resource cannibalizes paid support for it. Without adequate volunteered funds as recompense, Poole summarizes the stark options remaining:
“If the breathless advocates of “the free distribution of ideas” are serious, they need either a) to come up with a realistic proposal as to how I am to keep feeding myself while giving the fruits of my labours away for free; or b) come out and say honestly that they don’t think any such thing as a “professional writer” ought to exist, and that I should just get a job like anyone else.”
He goes on to describe the common rejoinder (termed the “Slashdot argument”) that free content can be subsidized by correlative sales, like live shows, T-shirts, and service contracts. While his reaction to this position is somewhat kneejerk (essentially “you try working for free!”) it does underscore the difficult proposition facing anyone who sees the future purely as online free distribution: just how do you offset the production of an album, a book, a videogame if the audience demands that the primary work be free while you try to make up the difference in low attach-rate items like T-shirts and strategy guides? He also outlines the difficulty facing anyone trying to follow in the footsteps of the Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails offerings, namely that both earned their fanbase “through the nasty old music-industry business model” while the possibility of an unknown band reaping the same rewards still begs the question on opt-in payment. Plus, how many other bands will garner the same level of press coverage that in turn drives the traffic once the novelty wears off?
The Encyclopedia Britannica has launched a program allowing free access to their online edition for ‘web publishers’ and their readers. I have submitted gray/matter for registered access, which if approved will allow you to read any linked articles without an account. The goal is to provide some alternative background references besides the obligatory Wikipedia, which arguably outstrips the EB in breadth but not in depth or validation (the crux being Wikipedia’s uneven record for veracity).
No word yet on whether WebShare access would allow anything like A. J. Jacobs’ quest to become The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by reading through the entire collection.
As the article itself states, "The title is all the intro you should need."
Why Superman Will Always Suck - Bam! Kapow!
The argument against Superman as a sympathetic character is just as appropriate for any overpowered hero, such as the cited ‘Burly Brawl’ between Neo and the mob of Agent Smiths in The Matrix Reloaded.
As counterexamples, however, excluding Kingdom Come (which also comes in for bashing at the article’s end) the notion of Superman has seen some compelling permutations via conceits like Elseworlds. A few include JLA’s The Nail, wherein a nail punctures the tire of the Kents and prevents them from reaching the infant Kal-El first, who is instead raised among the Amish; Red Son, where he is raised in the Soviet Union instead of the US; and the revamped Squadron Supreme (released as Supreme Power) parallel universe where an invulnerable alien foundling is raised under strict government control to become Hyperion. Two more meta alternatives are Secret Identity, where a smalltown teen has the misfortune of being named ‘Clark Kent’ in a world raised on Superman comics…until he suddenly develops real powers; and It’s a Bird, an autobiographical tale of a new writer (Steven Seagle) deciding how to tackle such as iconic character with any meaningful modern perspective.
For related Superman entertainment, there’s always the quintessential essay by Larry Niven about the myriad obstacles facing his sex life - "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" - that recalls engineering disproofs of Santa Claus which feature reindeer traveling 3,000 times the speed of sound.
More recent fare can be found in the Michael Chabon’s piece "Secret Skin" (subtitled "an essay in unitard theory") in the New Yorker which explores the absurdity of superhero costuming - a fuller realization of the "No capes!" rant by supersuit doyenne Edna Mode in The Incredibles.
Nick Paumgarten’s piece on “the lives of elevators” starts and ends with the tragic tale of Nicholas White, who spent 41 hours trapped in an elevator back in 1999. But the story is really about the science of vertical people-movers, which enable the high-rise and thus urban architecture itself - “two things make tall buildings possible: the steel frame and the safety elevator.”
Our Local Correspondents: Up and Then Down: Reporting & Essays
The essay covers the safety features and record of elevators, their basic construction, their efficiency of design and energy. Their role in media, even the dearth of elevator poetry, are mentioned (along with a perfectly appropriate use of ‘vertiginous’), with the observation that as a plot device, it serves:
“…to bring characters together, as a kind of artificial enforcement of proximity and conversation. The brevity of the ride suits the need for a stretch of witty or portentous dialogue, for stolen kisses and furtive arguments. For some people, the elevator ride is a social life.”
We learn of the elevator variant of claustrophobia and behavioral elevator therapy. We meet vertical transportation consultants like James Fortune, who engineer a building’s ‘elevatoring’ - its handling of ‘human traffic.’ The science of elevator planning is built on physics of space and psychology of time, plus the probabilities of human behavior. The elevatoring plan of a building must keep wait times at a minimum, while allowing for cultural constraints on human proximity (measured by calculations such as the average ‘body ellipse,’ which vary between Western and Eastern even as they do between urban and rural notions of ‘personal space’) and using as little room as possible to impact the building’s overall architecture. New innovations such as ‘destination dispatch’ pre-program floor routing based on rider pools, but at the cost of the illusion of user control over elevator movement. Meanwhile, fundamental limits such as cable length - any climb higher than 1700 feet and the hoist rope will snap under its own weight - require innovations like sky lobbies to act as transfer points midway up towers that can now scale a mile high.
Outside of the article, Paumgarten also recently appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation where it’s mentioned that his ongoing assignment is to cover ‘journeys’ which at least explains how traveling up and down got coverage.
For my part, the only operator-run elevator still in service I can recall using is at the San Francisco Rasputin’s music store, where the upper floors are only accessible by rattletrap conveyance operated by precisely the kind of adjunct indie clerk you’d expect to work in a SF music store. So instead of only feeling defensive when you check out, you also have to weigh checking out another floor’s genre against the calculated disapproval you may detect in the implicit scoff of their pressing the button.
As for the science, elevatoring has already made a notable appearance in two games - the original SimTower (scheduled for re-release on Nintendo DS!) and its sequel, Yoot Tower. Many of the stated tips for good vertical building design - keeping cafeterias at ground level, adroit use of stairways and escalators - factored into gameplay, and key to success was sufficient elevatoring. Too few, and lines would grow at each floor’s chokepoint, and your sims would rapidly turn red; or your maids wouldn’t be able to clean all the hotel rooms and turn them before the next check-in; or, heaven forfend, your fire escape plan would fall short. Too many ‘vators and you blew your budget for that top floor cathedral. Perhaps all those hours I spent trying to ferry customers from a 40th floor cinema to the 3rd floor gift shops without affecting the hotel clientele has a practical outlet after all.
[Somewhat apropos, I just had a track by concept band Towering Inferno - not to be confused with The Towering Inferno - play while writing this.]
In light of new coverage of the ongoing legal battle between J.K. Rowling and HP Lexicon, I thought I would do a quick survey of recent Harry Potter news.
(more…)
Pursuit of alternative energy sources has at last been broadly renewed. The new interest is primarily driven by the run-up in oil prices, now at their highest point in history in inflation-adjusted dollars (at the peak during the 1979 energy crisis, the adjusted cost per barrel was about $80, the same as back in 2006; the highest peak overall in 1864 topped out at $100). Previously the two major retardants of alternative energy research, mutually reinforcing, were the high relative cost of non-fossil-fuel sources and lobbying efforts by oil/gas producers to divert funds towards subsidizing their industry to maintain low costs. Naturally, the relative cost would not drop without further research improvements, and potential research funds were siphoned off or diminished by powerful lobbying efforts, maintaining the status quo.
The combined pressures of the latest oil crisis, foreign wars fought in oil-rich nations, and the looming spectre of global warming have revitalized a new coalition of green interests built on a shared platform of energy independence, sustainable practice, and environmental sensitivity. With the playing field levelled somewhat by the 400%+ increase in oil costs in the last 20 years, alternative sources start to look more competitive. We’ve seen resurgences of efforts to tap into wind, wave, geothermal, and solar power although all are still in fledgling stages of deployment and remain largely limited geographically. One new approach, however, is to capture solar energy not via photovoltaics to convert it to electricity, but via photosynthesis to produce fuel oils.
Algae: The ultimate in renewable energy
The lipid oil produced by about half of the algae’s weight appears on the face to be much more efficient (100,000 gallons per acre per year via Valcent’s vertical method) to produce than current biodiesel efforts via corn ethanol (30 gallons) or soybean oil (50 gallons). Moreover, the recent surge in food prices due to diversion of arable land to corn ethanol at the cost of corn-based foodstocks and other food crops further disadvantage it as a viable long-term fuel source. Traditional agriculture also remains tied into the petroleum industry due to the use of petro-based pesticides, which along with plastics are other large segments of petroleum usage that must be replaced to cut completely the ties to imported oil.
I wonder just how much closer we could come to overcoming our ‘addiction to oil’ described by President Bush if we were to recreate something like Kissinger’s Project Independence which came out of the first OPEC crisis, and was modeled after the Manhattan Project and perhaps Kennedy’s space program. Already with the recent collapse of the experimental installation for ‘zero-emission coal-fired plants’ pushed as part of the now two-year-old Advanced Energy Initiative, only ‘clean, safe’ nuclear energy and solar/wind technologies remain as focii for the modest increase in DOE research. Even less has been said about results in proposed research on hybrid batteries and cellulosic ethanol production.
Other Resources
NPR’s Talk of the Nation has had recent shows on the potential of solar power, which suggested that a single hypothetical installation of 100 square miles in the American Southwest could provide the entire country’s energy needs; the infusion of charcoil into soil to improve crop yields while acting as a carbon sink; and exploring alternatives to producing biofuels (although algae did not appear to be included).
WBUR’s On Point has also covered the role of technology in energy policy; the prospects for ‘clean coal’ in the wake of wavering support by the Bush administration; and coverage of National Geographic’s recent documentary on the American climate ‘footprint.’
Among the flood of recent stories via CNN on autism and related spectrum disorders like Asperger’s syndrome (the debate over vaccines, links to a common sperm donor, the effectiveness of dietary treatment, and various anecdotal stories) was a report on therapeutic efforts within Second Life.
‘Naughty Auties’ battle autism with virtual interaction
When virtual reality (VR) was first demonstrated in the early 90s by early proponents like Jaron Lanier, one of the proposed benefits was for psychological treatment of nervous disorders such as phobias. One of the behavioral treatments for phobias is systemic desensitization, with gradual exposure to the triggering stimulus in a safe environment to re-condition the response. A VR environment can duplicate the phobic stimulus in varying degrees to acclimatize the patient to remaining calm. A recent study covered in the British Journal of Psychiatry also used VR to observe paranoid spectrum behavior. The use of a VR environment for autism spectrum disorders is a parallel example of systemic sensitization, allowing individuals to practice social interactions and gain confidence in communicating in a protective simulacrum of real life.
Second Life also perhaps represents Lanier’s hope for the future of VR beyond its early roots in static gaming (e.g. BattleTech Centers) and corporate simulations for CAD and oil/gas modeling:
“The main element lacking in video games (compared to what I hope we’ll see in virtual reality) is an expressive power. And so, what I envision is not so much a pre-programmed virtual world that you might play as a game, but rather a virtual world that you can change from the inside; a world that people use as a form of expression, in which they’re creating things together. Just as people make up their own Web pages, they would make up little realities and visit each other’s realities, or co-create them. And I think that level of activity would give rise to really, really wonderful new sorts of human relationships and experiences.”
(Sun interview, The Future of Virtual Reality)
