September 30, 2003
Free MIT courses online

That's right, 500 MIT courses, free online, no registration or tuition required.

MIT OpenCourseWare | OCW Home

Not all courses have lecture notes. But some have PDF's for download and others have good resource sections. For example, there's a good collection of links on sustainable energy here:

MIT OpenCourseWare | Chemical Engineering | 10.391J Sustainable Energy, Spring 2003 | Related Resources

Posted by Dave at 11:23 PM
Commercial wireless in Mexico

Broadband wireless access for cities in Mexico.

Unstrung - Aperto Wins in Mexico

Update: Daily Wireless has more information on Aperto technology that Mexican company MVS is using in this wireless plan.

DailyWireless - Aperto Unwires Mexico City

Posted by Dave at 09:55 PM
September 29, 2003
TechSoup - Community Technology Centers

If you are working in technology for nonprofits, go directly to TechSoup. Good guides (like this one), low prices on donated software and hardware. How I got by without this site up to now I don't know.

TechSoup - Question of the Day Archive - How should we network a community technology center?

Posted by Dave at 10:15 PM
Mexico City - Urban Autonomy

Not just Chiapas.

Reuters AlertNet - FEATURE-Mexico City's urban Indians call for autonomy

Posted by Dave at 09:18 AM
September 28, 2003
Sierra del Lacandon - Resources

The Sierra del Lacandon site, by Charles Golden and Fred Scatena of the University of Pennsylvania, has new maps and resources on the effect of dams of various heights on the Usumacinta watershed.

Sierra del Lacandon - resources - maps

Posted by Dave at 10:40 PM
GIS River software for Mac

Looking into GIS software for use on the river in the next year, I find ESRI dominant in the field but with little Macintosh support. Rivix is selling a specialized river package called RiverTools that looks promising.

Rivix.com: RiverTools

Posted by Dave at 09:23 PM
Map - Mesoamerican Trails

Map software company ESRI has collaborated with World Conservation Society to create a map of trails in the Maya region. Click on the map at the top of this page to get an interactive version:

ESRI Map Book, Volume 17--Conservation: Wildlife Conservation Society

Also from ESRI (includes Mac OS software):

Free software, data, and resources from ESRI

And this area of their grants program

ESRI Conservation Program

Posted by Dave at 12:08 PM
Athens Wi-Fi Cloud projects

It's late, but I've got to look at these tomorrow:

UGA: New Media Institute : Projects

Posted by Dave at 02:07 AM
September 27, 2003
Clark burns Grassroots

I've been following the evolution of Deanspace, the open source development effort to create online tools for the Howard Dean campaign. Now comes word (via Doc Searls) that Wesley Clark's campaign is dismantling the effort that helped draft him in the first place. Clueless.

Daily Kos: Tensions between Draft Clark factions erupt into open

TAP: Web Feature: Fan Friction. by Garance Franke-Ruta. September 25, 2003.

Two pro-Clark sites, ClarkRecruits.com and DigitalClark.com, have already been shut down, and a third, DraftWesleyClark.com, is slated to be disbanded within the month, according to its founder. ClarkRecruits.com had helped would-be volunteers link up with other Clark supporters in their areas; now volunteers have to fill out a form on the candidate's official site (Clark04.com) and wait for the main campaign to figure out what to do with them. And on Saturday, DigitalClark.com was shut down at the behest of the Clark campaign.

Posted by Dave at 01:08 PM
Hydrogen fueled cars

These aren't fuel cell cars, which use electric motors. They have internal combustion engines, fueled by hydrogen. But it's a step towards a hydrogen future, and they emit only heat and water vapor.

Fuel Cell Today - Ford readies hydrogen vehicles

Posted by Dave at 12:58 PM
September 26, 2003
Greenpeace response, Nano debate

Small Times has published a response from Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace, UK, in the continuing nano vs. green debate. Includes links to previous documents. (via Howard Lovy's NanoBot)

Small Times: WITHOUT A REALITY CHECK, CLAIMS OF NANOTECH'S BENEFITS ARE A CON

Posted by Dave at 06:36 PM
MIT emerging technologies conference

A report on the recent conference, including discussion of the future of self-organizing wireless networks.

NewsForge: The Online Newspaper of Record for Linux and Open Source

Posted by Dave at 02:08 PM
Flickenger - Wireless Hacks

No, not that kind of hacks. Tips and solutions to network problems. Excerpts from the book are available on this page.

oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Wireless Hacks

Posted by Dave at 01:20 PM
Death threats in Guatemala

Dave Halbeck sent along this appeal for help from Guatemala. Human rights activists continue to be threatened for their work there. (click more)

Posted by Dave at 12:45 PM
Usumacinta one of most endangered

The Usumacinta River is on the 2004 list of 100 most endangered sites, according to this note in Archaeology Magazine online

The links on this page to highlights of the list don't appear to be working. I'll look for the right link.

2004 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites Announced

UPDATE:

Here's the page at World Monuments Fund:

World Monuments Watch 2004

and the list itself:

World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites (pdf)

Posted by Dave at 12:33 PM
Salt from San Cristobal

A review of specialty salts, featuring the lttle bundles sold in the market in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

Journal Gazette | 09/24/2003 | Wave of flavor

Mexican Benequenes - At the bottom of the Rio Salinas gorge are the salinas of Ixtapa: a small brine well, more than 2,000 years old, and seven long thatched cocinas. Inside, the brine is "cooked" in iron pots set atop woodburning adobe ovens.

As the salt forms, it is packed into straw matting tubes to form loaves of salt, most available daily in the market at San Cristobal de las Casas. Almost a powder, benequenes (loaves) partner best with french fries, tortilla chips or Spanish salted almonds.

Posted by Dave at 12:20 PM
Optical Discs from Corncobs

No joke. And they are biodegradable.

Mainichi Interactive - Top News - Scientists make 10 optical discs from single corncob

Posted by Dave at 01:22 AM
Msoft a National Security risk

As Dori of Backup Brain writes, it's News that makes you say "Duh!":

Yahoo! News - Reliance on Microsoft Called Risk to U.S. Security

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Computer security experts issued a joint report on Wednesday saying that the ubiquitous reach of Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) software on desktops worldwide has made computer networks a national security risk susceptible to "massive, cascading failures."

Posted by Dave at 01:17 AM
Airport support

I keep running into new wrinkles in Airport and network configuration. This page of support and discussion should be my first stop the next time around.

Apple - Discussions - AirPort

And since I'm dealing with older Airport basestations:

Apple - Discussions - Airport Graphite and Snow for Macintosh

Posted by Dave at 12:49 AM
Back to school - CSS

Excellent basic tutorial (I have to go back to the beginning myself now) by way of Brainstorms and Raves

CSS 101: Cascading Style Sheet Beginner's Course

Posted by Dave at 12:39 AM
September 25, 2003
TCP/IP printing, OS 8/9/X

I needed this information to set up printing on a wireless network. You'll need the IP address of the printer - try printing out the configuration page from the printer itself or going to the manufacturer's website. Good walk-through from Purdue University.

Printing: TCP/IP Printing in Mac OS 8.x/9.x

Printing: TCP/IP Printing in Mac OS X (10.2 )

Posted by Dave at 06:28 PM
More wireless backhaul

Daily Wireless has a note on a couple of new technologies for metropolitan area networks.

DailyWireless - Community Ethernet Architecture

Posted by Dave at 05:40 PM
September 22, 2003
Nanotech for all humanity

I was probably on campus with Mick the day this Stanford seminar was held. UC Berkeley professor Arun Majumdar made interesting points:

Majumdar stood back a bit and suggested that the nanotech industry is passing from its initial phase-creating instrumentation and building blocks-to its development phase of putting the blocks together into useful things. And he made a plea that we direct these efforts to grand challenges that will affect all humanity, not simply provide more toys for the wealthiest humans.

"Only about a hundred million people in the world have incomes over $20,000 per year," he observed. "But we direct all of our technology development at this minority, and assure ourselves that the benefit will trickle down to the majority at the bottom, earning less than $2,000 per year. It's time to look at the needs of that majority-with little to spend, but with huge needs and huge numbers."

Techweb - Power Grid Could Benefit From Nanotech, Stanford Symposium Says

Posted by Dave at 04:13 PM
CSS and Dreamweaver MX

I have Macromedia Dreamweaver MX but I don't use it much these days. This weblog is all I have to keep up, and Movable Type makes it simple. I hacked the CSS in the layout a year ago and haven't changed much since.

But I've wondered whether there were tools like Dreamweaver that could make dealing with cascading style sheets easier. Apparently a new version of MX will do that. Here's an article about it.

Stopdesign | Weaving CSS Dreams

Posted by Dave at 02:45 PM
Doctorow stories online

Cory Doctorow has made 6 out of 9 stories from his new collection available for download online. I'll read them on the plane to San Diego this afternoon.

A Place So Foreign and Eight More

Posted by Dave at 02:12 PM
September 21, 2003
Mexico's Energy Needs

A summary of Mexico's energy situation, from The Arizona Republic, in June of this year.

Mexico confronts energy dilemmas

Posted by Dave at 05:10 PM
Escher in Lego

That's right, Escher in Lego. Via Electrolite

Escher's "Relativity" in LEGO

Posted by Dave at 04:59 PM
September 20, 2003
Wi-Fi Bridging

Expanding wireless networks (especially those using Apple's Airport Extreme) with the inexpensive Buffalo WLA-G54. Good how-to, including screenshots of setup.

O'Reilly Network: Back to the Future: New Wi-Fi Bridges Use 1999 Standard [Aug. 28, 2003]

Posted by Dave at 04:48 PM
Zagats Wi-Fi guide

A new guide to Wi-Fi hotspots.

Intel, The New Yorker And Zagat Survey Introduce Hotspot Guide Highlighting Great Places To Unwire

UPDATE: A version of this guide was a giveaway in the latest New Yorker magazine. Not a word about the Wi-Fi offerings at the places, just blurbs for very high end hotels and restaurants. Better to go to Starbucks or just scan for a connection, if you are not on an expense account.

Posted by Dave at 04:40 PM
Ed Barnhart in the news

Palenque mapper Ed Barnhart made a splash on Austin television recently, in a report on his new Maya Exploration Center. The online story mentions snakes, spiders, labyrinths, and his new son Edwin. There is no one better than Ed to go stomping around jungle ruins with. So if that's your thing, contact him for a tour!

News 8 Austin | Explore Mexico with a fellow Austinite

Posted by Dave at 03:11 PM
September 19, 2003
How bad is it? - Krugman

Via Electrolite, an interview with New York Times columnist.

CalPundit: An Interview With Paul Krugman

Posted by Dave at 04:24 PM
Time Warner and Wireless theft

We finally got broadband at home just before I left on this trip. Earthlink/Time Warner cable modem. There was no DSL service available to our building. Otherwise I would have gone with bway.net and their DSL plan.

This news item shows one reason why we'll have a broadband service in the new girls club offices that allows us to distribute and resell (more likely give it away). And it won't be Time Warner. Or Verizon.

But this was just criminal:

Newsday.com - Time Warner Sues Apt. Over Wireless Theft

Posted by Dave at 03:30 PM
September 17, 2003
Final Cut 4 - a review

Going to teach my son Will to edit when I get back. He'll work on the Hudson River documentary. This is a followup to his school kung fu movie production (using iMovie). Can we get the latest version of FCP?

Review - Apple Final Cut 4

Posted by Dave at 09:39 PM
$87 Billion

A chart comparing Bush's war on terror budget to such things as the Education Department budget and the Bush tax cuts (from Washington Post by way of several weblogs).

Good comments on Patrick Nielsen Hayden's site.

Electrolite: Visual aid.

Posted by Dave at 09:24 PM
Firetide mesh

A new line of mesh and "instant" networks.

Firetide

Posted by Dave at 09:07 PM
Wi-Fi Repeaters

To extend the range of Wi-Fi through my (or your) neighborhood. (via DailyWireless)

DailyWireless - Block-long Repeaters

Posted by Dave at 09:05 PM
Cancun WTO comments

From the Guardian, a roundup of comments on the WTO meeting in Cancun, from a number of news sources.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Press review: WTO talks collapse

Posted by Dave at 08:50 PM
Race, Indigenous in Mexico

Here's an interesting meditation on the history of race consciousness in Mexico, relating it to present-day Proposition 54 debates in California.

Berkeley Daily Planet - Mexican History Offers Hints of Prop. 54 Impacts

Posted by Dave at 08:47 PM
Wireless in San Fran

I haven't had much chance to check wireless connections here in San Francisco, but I am sitting now at the Happy Donut on 24th and Church (is this the Mission district or Castro?) getting a good signal. Waiting for someone with keys to return to the house where we are staying. Good chance to catch up on email, thanks to some careless or generous neighbor. Thanks, whoever you are!

Posted by Dave at 08:20 PM
September 14, 2003
Six days on the Road

Too late at night, too long on the road. But my son Mick and I are in Eugene, Oregon, at the home of friends, after driving across the country with Mick's possessions in a 10-year old van. Next stop: Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. After an overnight in Bigfoot country.

It took days for my eyesight to get accustomed to the horizon. The wide spaces, some of it stark, dry and empty. The peaks: Black Hills, Absaroka, Cascades. The ancestors: elk, bald eagle, bison, mule deer. Rigby, Idaho: home of Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television. Geysers, lava flows, eroded spires.

Next, the last leg. From Ken Kesey to John Muir to Steve Jobs. And the best school of microbiology and immunology in the world. Mick and Tina: fly on, kids!

Posted by Dave at 04:14 AM
September 06, 2003
Rebels to take Tonina

In the latest from Ocosingo, the Zapatista community which invaded Rancho Esmeralda last winter is now claiming the archaeological zone of Tonina nearby. If they aren't given 50% of the income from the site, they will take it over. Where are the "good government committees" on this one?

OCOSINGO
Zapatistas prevén
administrar parte
de la arqueología

Juan Sánchez CP. Por considerar que la zona arqueológica de Toniná, ubicada a
escasos 11 kilómetros de la ciudad de Ocosingo, se encuentra dentro de lo que los zapatistas consideran su Municipio Autónomo 1º de Enero, podría ser tomada en los próximos días, según trascendió.

De acuerdo con los datos obtenidos, el domingo pasado fueron citados los responsables de esa zona arqueológica, para sostener una reunión con las bases del EZLN de la comunidad Jerusalén, en donde fijaron su postura y al mismo tiempo dieron a conocer de sus intenciones de administrar el 50 por ciento de los recursos que ingresan a Toniná.

En caso de que el Gobierno Federal se oponga a la decisión de los indígenas, lo más probable es que tomen por asalto el predio que alberga a la zona arqueológica y sean ellos (los zapatistas), quienes administren el 100% de los ingresos a ese centro turístico.

Los administradores de la zona arqueológica tienen un plazo de 15 días para hacer efectiva la disposición de las bases, porque de lo contrario serán las comunidades las que tomen la decisión.

Posted by Dave at 11:21 AM
September 01, 2003
Usu - Comment from Guatemala

I get fairly few comments on this weblog, but I have just gotten one from Ing. Ricardo Catalán, who delineates the potential damage to Guatemala from the proposed Boca del Cerro dam, and argues eloquently against it. (click More to read his comment)

Los gobiernos de Guatemala y México realizan acuerdos entre los presidentes como un procedimiento político, protocolario y sobre todo publicitario. Desafortunadamente tambien realizan acuerdos como el ppp u otros tratados internacionales mediante los cuales los países más grandes y más poderosos tratan de obtener más ventajas en todo sentido sobre los países pequeños y por consiguiente más débiles. Lo mencionado anteriormente se aplica exactamente al caso del aprovechamiento hidroeléctrico del río Usumacinta. Es conveniente hacer ver a las personas que ignoran algunos aspectos que no son equitativos y que pueden causar más daño a uno de los dos países, en este caso Guatemala.
1.- La naturaleza topográfica debido a la conformación geológica en territorio de Guatemala, en donde se presentan terrazas aluviales y en donde hace millones de años existía mar ya que se han encontrado fósiles marinos, por esta razón la topografía es bastante plana y extensa. Es tan plana que el caudal del río La Pasión que desemboca en el río Usumacinta, en época de invierno cuando se presentan crecidas, el cadual forma un remanso que no permite accesar libremente al río. Sin embargo, del lado oeste del río Usumacinta, en territorio mexicano, existen montañas más altas que la altura de las presas proyectadas.
2.- Lo mencionado anteriormente equivale a decir que la inundación que producirían los embalses, sería mínima del lado mexicano mientras que sería muy extensa del lado guatemalteco. Por lo que se considera justo que México compense a Guatemala con territorio mexicano para que ambos países se vean afectados y compensados territorialmente en la misma proporción.
3.- Por la misma razón mencionada los daños y perjuicios que se ocasionaría al territorio guatemalteco sería mucho mayor, ya que quedarían inundados sitios arqueológicos muy importantes para la historia de la humanidad, los cuales son tan extensos y misteriosos que no se ha logrado investigar cada uno de ellos muchos de los cuales aún permanecen dentro de la selva vírgen.
4.- Existen formaciones calizas que originan el karst y dolinas (ziguanes)que hacen flucuar las aguas del lago de Petén Itzá en donde se encuentra la ciudad de Flores. Si estas fluctuaciones se manifiestan actualmente, es de suponer que las mismas se incrementarían con el peso del volúmen del agua de los embalses, en perjuicio de miles de guatemaltecos.
5.- Guatemala posee más de 10,000 Mw. de reserva de energía hidroeléctrica distribuidos en más de 240 proyectos hidroeléctricos que fueron identificados y estudiados preliminarmente por la GTZ y el consorcio LAMI-LSF, en el inventario realizado por el Plan Maestro de Electrificación Nacional del Instituto Nacional de Electrificación. Por consiguiente Guatemala tiene suficientes fuentes de energía de donde podría recurrir cuando la necesaite.
6.- México es el más interesado en desarrollar el proyecto Usumacinta, por motivo que ya ha agotado casi todos sus recursos hidroeléctricos y ha tenido que importar energía electrica proveniente de los estados Unidos de Norteamérica y de Canadá.
7.- Nuestros pequeños países debemos de protegernos de no aceptar convenios que dañan su soberanía, su historia y su ecología.

Posted by Dave at 01:22 AM
Energy, in Mexico and US

In Counterpunch, an analysis of Mexican/American energy interdependency.

John Ross: After the Blackout, the US Looks to Suck Up Mexico's Power

And a link from the Counterpunch sidebar, to information and charts of realtime energy capacity and demand in the US.

CURRENT ENERGY

Posted by Dave at 01:14 AM