I'll be in Ohio. Thanks, Tom.
(full text - click MORE)
Think TV is distracting?
But this starts the old brain buzzing: ubiquitous wireless, first at PS188 weblab, SubEthaEdit for Rendezvous shared unwired collaboration. A room full of sharing surfers. Then in a whole neighborhood. Easy.
Sam Churchill is all over it - mobile media formats, podcasting, webjay, videoblogging. A wealth of links in one post.
Daily Wireless - Revolution in Mobile Services
Met Lucas Gonze tonight. 2 days before he moves to Hawaii. The Playlist Maven.
He's working on xspf (spiff), a next generation open source portable playlist standard:
FrontPage - Portable Playlist Wiki
Yo, Adam, Dave...are you there?
Last year I decided not to take a satellite phone on the Usumacinta River raft trip. Luckily the guards at Piedras Negras were generous with theirs when we needed to regroup after the midnight robbery. But it brought home the need for communications in case of another emergency out there.
One phone choice is Iridium, whose data service only works with PCs. But a determined Mac OS X user came up with these instructions for getting online. (via MacSlash)
The Guatemalan minister of energy and mines has supported Mexican president Vicente Fox's declaration that there are no plans for dams on the Usumacinta.
Tabasco Hoy || Descartan presas en río Usumacinta
I had my first iPod crisis today. Expected to listen on my walk to work (yes, I had to work on Sunday) and found that it played digital garbage and then nothing. Well, I may have disconnected it from my computer before it was completely unmounted. So I may have broken it.
This Apple document tells how to restore it to factory settings - meaning empty, blank slate. Then iTunes restored all the music files and playlists.
Restoring iPod to factory settings
There's a lively debate at Slashdot whether this computer is the cheapest or best to try to give to the rest of the world - emerging markets, as they say. In two years, the same thing with WiFi and/or Ethernet would be very useful. It's not a Mac, but you can't have everything. Yet.
© AMDboard.com - AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC)
Slashdot | AMD's Personal Internet Communicator
SFGate - AMD's PC to increase online world - Low-end Internet model would assist emerging countries
Republicans for Kerry 2004 - dKosopedia
Also on this page:
Diplomats and Military leaders against Bush
Scientists against Bush
Nobel Economists Endorsing Kerry
From Hunter Thompson, of course.
RollingStone.com: Politics - Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004
Thirty years ago this month I arrived in New York with less than $50 in my pocket. Parked my pickup in Jersey, where it was stripped and destroyed in a month or so. No computers, no internet, no VCRs back then, just a day job in a music publisher's warehouse and at night, a band that was going nowhere. Played at CBGB (Country Blue Grass and Blues, that's what Hilly thought would be performed there - punk was a couple of years away). In the audience, only 3 people, all friends of the band, including a brilliant and sexy woman who became my wife.
Now, with two smart and talented sons grown up and moved out, a career in television behind me, the life that Lyn and I built (all based on her good ideas and boundless confidence) reaches a point I couldn't dream of at age 24. In the middle of a personal retooling, a community movement and a technological revolution, I'm dreaming of another 30 years with Lyn. But every day is a blessing.
Daily News - Let's hear it for the girls
Click "MORE" for the complete text of today's Daily News story on Lyn and the Lower Eastside Girls Club.
Let's hear it for the girls
A lower East Side club aims to raise $5 million.
If anyone can do it, it's these young ladies
By AZADEH ENSHA
(PHOTO) Rosario Dawson hobnobs with club member Tamara Oliveras, 8 1/2.
(PHOTO) Guest teacher Gigi Cohen helps Kay-Ann Phipps, 15, with a photography project.
(PHOTO) Valerie Galindo (l.) and Carmen Leandry staff the club's bakery, Sweet
Things. 'Words can't even describe how much I love this job,' Galindo
says.
The Champagne was flowing, the gowns were sparkling and the celebs were
mingling with mortals. But it wasn't a big movie premiere or fashion
extravaganza that brought 600 well-heeled guests to Bowery hotspot
Capitale Monday night.
It was the plight of a group of girls, ages 8-25, who want a place to
hang out.
The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York, a community center that's
been without an official home since its creation in 1996, is trying to
raise $5 million toward a facility in their neighborhood.
And so far, they're doing a spectacular job.
"Everyone understands how unfair this situation is," says co-founder and
executive director Lyn Pentecost. "I have two sons, so I know what
resources are available to the boys. They have two full-functioning
facilities. There's no comparable space for our girls."
The star-studded benefit on Monday was just one way the group is
collecting cash for their project. With two girl-run eateries, a
seasonal farmer's market and more initiatives in the works, the group
has launched one of the most unique fund-raising campaigns in the city.
At the end, they may well achieve their goal: The first-ever Girls Club
building in New York, a 48,000-square-foot complex that will house an
80-seat screening room, art gallery, care and counseling services and
more. The girls who benefit from the club's services will have access to
high-speed Internet. It will also be the first and only all
environmentally sustainable youth center in the country, complete with
geothermal walls and solar panels.
To date, the Girls Club has raised a whopping $2 million toward the
state-of-the-art facility. "I feel a sense of responsibility to the
neighborhood," said Rosario Dawson at Monday night's gala. The actress
grew up on the LES, and was discovered outside her apartment building at
the age of 15. "A lot of kids get lost in the school system and end up
dropping out or getting pregnant. I want them to have more choices than
that. The best way to do that is through a mentorship program like the
Lower Eastside Girls Club."
Also on hand at the 600-person benefit were fellow Girls Club supporters
Rashida Jones, Chloe Sevigny, Charlotte Ronson, Zac Posen, Billy Crudup
and Claire Danes.
"Girls need a haven. They need an equal chance," said Jones, who has
hosted events for the organization. "I was a Brownie growing up, and
that gave me a sense of community, which is especially important for
girls. Strong foundations start young, and I support groups who help
create them."
Paul Creditor, a lawyer, said he joined his wife at a $2,500 table so
the girls could have "somewhere to call their own. They're entitled to
all the benefits guys are entitled to. That's why we're here, and that's
why we're going to bid on things." And bid they did: The benefit auction
raised $150,000 toward the goal.
Among the group's other projects is Sweet Things, a girl-run bakery with
a just-opened cafe of the same name. The Avenue C storefront (the cafe
is on E. First St.), offers cupcakes, cookies, granola, tea and coffee,
and also sells Girls Club tees. The shop is also helping raise money for
the new building by selling brownstone-shaped gingerbread cookies.
Valerie Galindo, 19, became a charter Girls Club member in 1996.
Today, she's got a paid, part-time position she adores: Sweet Things
associate.
"This is nothing like my other jobs," says the LES success story with a
smile from her post behind the bakery counter. "I used to fold clothes
and there's nothing I like more than baking. Words can't even describe
how much I love this job."
In summer, members take part in a farmer's market downtown, selling
organic vegetables and specialty herbs. The club's third business, the
Fair Trade and Girl Made gift shop, opens in December.
In addition to raising money, the club's projects help keep idle hands
occupied.
First-year Girls Club member Sada Davis appreciates having something to
do.
"Girls need a place to talk about girl things and do girl things," says
the 16-year-old Seward Park High School student. "It keeps us out of
trouble. I had nothing to do after school, and my friend told me about
this place. I do photography and dance. It's really fun."
Now, the club is renting two floors on 56 E. First St. The location is
one of many the organization has called home since its inception,
including its first - the back of a sock shop on Avenue A.
"When we started out, one of the first things we did was ask the guys if
we could share their facility, and they said absolutely not, so we
decided then and there to create our own place," said executive director
Pentecost. "This project is something that's been one of our goals from
the beginning."
If it succeeds, the new building - which is set to begin construction in
winter 2005 - will be able to accommodate five times the 350 girls the
club now supports.
And no one can put a price on the sense of family the club offers girls
like six-year member Kay-Ann Phipps.
"I don't have a sister in real life so I consider the people here to be
my sisters," said the 15-year-old University Neigborhood High School
student.
Phipps says the club has helped her thrive - both socially and in
school.
"I was failing my classes, and the tutoring they have really helped me,"
she said. "I'm on the honor roll now."
Apart from tutoring, the club also offers flamenco classes, a museum and
book club, arts and crafts, as well as fitness and nutrition classes.
For LES Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who rallied the federal
government for $400,000 toward the creation of the new building in 2002,
the effort to secure a facility is a personal passion.
"When you look at the faces of these girls, you can't help but to try
and get them their own institution," she says. "They can rediscover
skills and dreams they never thought possible. They could be learning
entrepreneurial skills that will help them be the future business
leaders of America."
Pentecost is also fighting hard to make that happen.
"We're getting there," she said. "If anybody wants to write a check, let
me know."
Originally published on October 21, 2004
One way to get video into a weblog - turn it into a Flash movie.
A report on the ecological threats posed by the oil industry in the delta of the Usumacinta and Grijalva Rivers.
Diario Olmeca - Atentado: 55 pozos en Pantanos
This is a discussion between the creators of a number of RSS readers for Mac OS X, published in a weblog whose editor says it's for his "13 loyal readers." That's one more than I have.
DrunkenBlog: RSS for Mac OS X Roundtable
Here's the second edition of short audio pieces, with clips from my travels in southern Mexico and Guatemala. It includes another version of the song of San Juan, this one from the town of San Andres in 1980, and a recording in Naha of Chankin Viejo, patriarch of the Lacandones, telling the story of a monkey and jaguar hunt, also from 1980.
JungleTales2 3 mB, 6 minutes
The podcast feed is here.
For people not using Movable Type for their weblogs, here's a way to generate an RSS 2.0 feed (with enclosures) from a folder of mp3s. You need to open the php in a text editor and change a few items to fit your site, but then it works well. Thanks Ryan!
dirCaster v0.1: Podcasting php script » Another Hungry Mind to Feed
Via Adam Curry at iPodder.org, this "open mic" podcast. What's great here is the immediacy: record a short bit, email the mp3 to them. Or call a number and leave a message. Within 5 minutes it's in their feed. You don't have to post your mp3 anywhere, or generate an RSS feed. Of course, it goes out and then it's gone. Or is it?
To listen to their feed you will need an iPodder application. You can find one here:
iPodder.org : iPodder Software
I'm sorry, somehow I don't think the "Verizon Avenue" plan to offer 50% off on broadband to operators of affordable housing will be our solution. There has to be a way around the usual suspects like Verizon. "As much as 50% less than a normal retail service" just isn't the kind of discount that we need when countries in Asia can find a way to offer 8 Mbps for $25 a month. At current rates, Verizon's offer is $25 for one twentieth of that.
But as usual, Sam Churchill has bundled in a lot more information and links with this news, all of it useful in thinking about delivering broadband to underserved communities, whether rural or urban.
Daily Wireless - Verizon and One Economy
Our friends at Maya Exploration Center are busy doing tours of the Maya region and publishing studies in areas that no one else has tackled. One of the most important of these is the first part of a report by Alonso Mendez, Christopher Powell, Ed Barnhart, and Carol Karasik.
Hierophanies at Palenque, Part 1: The Temple of the Sun (pdf)
Continuing the BT conversation (Click MORE). I know next to nothing about this, but I want to come back to it.
(From Josh Kinberg)
I'm not so worried about downloading torrents. I think that's easy
enough with the "official" BitTorrent client (Azureus is a little more
complex, but usable). And the iPodder-Dev folks have already come
through with automated BT downloading from RSS feeds.
But, its still not very easy to host or serve files on my own using
BitTorrent. I guess I could upload your files to a community site
like DV Guide, but its not quite the same as serving my own content.
So, in order to serve files using BT from my own website, I need a
tracker and something that generates .torrent files. Using the python
source files of BT seems to be a good way to generate the .torrent
files from a command line script (as Drazen has demonstrated). I could
even use the GUI version to make .torrents if I had a tracker to point them at.
So, in looking for torrent tracker templates, I found this PHP BT tracker:
http://dehacked.2y.net:6969/
(check the little download link beneath the table of stats)
Looks like what Drazen is using for DV Guide -- I discovered it
through the Bblog forums, the software powering DV Guide, and they
already have this implemented as a Bblog plugin. So, why not a
MovableType plugin! I would want something that I could install and
configure without too much difficulty that would give me my own
tracker and maybe some sort of "upload" page that geberates .torrent
files for me in the appropriate directory. This would be the perfect
complement to Brandon Fuller's MT-Enclosures plugin.
Now, here's one other simple minded question:
To serve files using BT, do I have to upload both the .torrent file
and the file I want to share to my server? Is it possible to keep the
file I want to share on my local drive and keep my BT client open to
"seed" that file? This is one of the nice things about other P2P
systems -- the fact that I don't really have to "upload" things. I
keep the files I want to share in a local directory, and the client
application makes those files available to other peers on the network
(am I correct about this?). If I had to upload large files regularly
to my webserver in order to share them, it would be frustratingly slow
and I would max out my server storage pretty quickly.
--Josh
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:00:29 -0400, Thomas Winningham
> An automated download script would be way easy, especially if you are
> also in control of what is on the feed. Using XSLT, you can convert
> everything in the tag to just a list in a text file, one after
> another. "wget" and "curl" are command-line HTTP protocol programs
> that can download such a list. For XSL transformations, look for a
> program called "xsltproc" ... All three of these utilities are GNU/GPL
> programs that work on Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. Creating an XSLT
> stylesheet would be easy, let me know and I can write one for you.
> Some of these types of automatic-download-by-rss utilities already
> exist.
>
> An upload client can be a little trickier. BlogTorrent (formerly
> BattleTorrent) is already working on a Mac client. I have written some
> command-line programs (http://writtorrent.sf.net/) to post a .torrent
> to a blog using the metablogger and blogger APIs ... But what do you
> do with the actual torrent file? My scripts just do the actual blog
> post. You still need to FTP or something the .torrent file to your
> hosting. Metablogger API may have routines for recieving files, but I
> haven't explored that at all.
>
> So, what makes this easy? Here's a basic flow for each:
>
> get rss feed -> extract links to media -> download the media
> make .torrent -> post to your blog the .torrent file
>
> There's a lot of loose ends, ultimately I think, you have to close
> down the system in some fashion.... one media format, one type of RSS
> feed, I don't know.
>
> That's my 2 cents ;p
>
> Thom
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 01:11:32 -0400, Jay dedman
> > Thom and Daniell--
> >
> > Im writing to you becasue I have a question.
> > both of you have taught me a lot about torrents over the last several months.
> > and now i got a challenge.
> >
> > My friend Josh Kinsberg(who created http://www.vipodder.org/) had this
> > idea..which ive heard before...but never actualy seen.
> > its automated torrent script.
> > is this possible and how would someone start to make this?
> >
> > "The other thing I'd like to work on is something that allows people to
> > very easily publish Torrent files. I am not sure where to start
> > though. I want it to be as easy as dropping a file in a folder, or
> > uploading a file to a server, and then it automatically makes the
> > Torrent and adds it to your RSS feed. That would be the killer
> > publishing app! For some reason, BitTorrent still sonfuses the hell
> > out of me."
> >
> > Josh, hope yuou dont mind me sharing your idea...but im obsessed to
> > get this made.
> > its very needed if we want to trade videos effectively.
> >
> > Jay
Chris Shaw brought this to my attention. It's a sign that the standoff between Zapatistas and environmentalists over squatter camps in the Montes Azules Reserve is reaching a resolution.
Yahoo - AP - Mexican Rebels Withdraw From Reserve
Thanks to Drazen Pantic, we have a very clear explanation of the BitTorrent process. Jay Dedman has initiated a project to create a simple script to start the BitTorrent process. Drazen has one that he uses that may be adapted.
Click "More" for Drazen's explanation.
Basically, there are two sides to the process: download (seeding and
leaching) and tracking (server side). Only tracker is designed to act
as a server. Its function is to keep track of all active downloders and
then pass that info to subsequent downloaders. Trackers could be more
or less communal, depending how much authentication is required ...
Download process always starts with the torrent file from a Web server
and then downloading the file torrent refers to. The process of
downloading is called "leaching" while in process and when finished
"seeding". So, seeders are downloaders who have completed the
download, but left their BitTorrent client open even after the full
download.
Now, in order to start seeding one needs to do (in this order):
* create torrent file towards a specific tracker;
* put torrent file next to the file we want to seed;
* upload torrent file to the tracker server;
* start (fake) download process of that file.
On Dv Guide I use automatic seeding mechanism - have all the torrents
and corresponding files in one folder and then run one of the Python
scripts (btlaunchmany.py) in the background all the time ...
Hope this helps
The Usumacinta River is approaching its peak levels, and some communities may have to be evacuated. This report is the first time in a news story that I've seen the river referred to as the Mono Sagrado, the Sacred Monkey.
Tabasco Hoy || Amenaza a comunidades desbordamiento de río
En alerta máxima se encuentran las autoridades de Protección Civil, luego de que en estos dos últimos días, el caudaloso río Usumacinta subiera en su nivel, faltando poco para que cause filtraciones en las comunidades asentadas sobre la margen del Mono Sagrado.
UPDATE: A search of Spanish Google finds 56 mentions of the phrase "mono sagrado." This entry appears as number 3 on the list. In Google U.S., the same number of entries. This entry appears as number one. Go figure.
mp3 JungleTales 1 October 11, 2004 5 minutes 2.2 mb
A little rough, but here it is - my first "podcast." A short bit of intro rambling, Carnaval Monkeys from Chamula singing and playing the song of San Juan, some marimbas from San Cristobal. I know, it's the mountains, not the jungle, but it's a start.
Hey, it's only 5 minutes long, and you don't really need an iPod - just click on the link. But I'll whip up an RSS feed for it for the iPodders out there, and post the link when I'm done. Baby steps.
UPDATE: Here's my Daily Glyph podcast RSS feed. Someone tell me if it breaks their iPodder. I tried it and it seems okay for now.
I don't know if the videobloggers are using this, but it's a way to include links to webpages in a Quicktime movie. The podcasters have talked about the need for it in audio, but you can't do it with just an iPod. Yet. You could do it with an audio only QT movie, but you'd have to play it on a computer. Hmmm...
How To: Create QuickTime HREF Tracks
I'll post some other info I'm running across here, mostly about putting QT movies on a webpage:
QuickTime: QuickTime 5: XML Import
Embedding Quicktime Movies in a Webpage
Jay Dedman, energetic videoblogger, brought this software to my attention. Think iPodder for video.
Requires these other two items, both shareware:
Cellulo - Mac OS X Movie Player
XML Tools 2 Scripting Addition
In today's Prensa Libre, a report on preservation work in progress at Yaxhá, a Maya site on a series of linked lakes. Chris Shaw and Ron Canter have shown that it was an important point on Maya trade routes, with water access to the entire region.
PrensaLibre.com - La tímida Yaxhá
The governor of the Petén, in Guatemala, has announced that the completion of a road to link Flores and Tenosique, Mexico is closer to becoming a reality. This road has been opposed by conservation groups for years, as it will bisect the forest and increase invasion and settlement of the jungle.
Diario Olmeca - Avanza trámite de carretera Petén-Tenosique
A mile from Teotihuacan.
Forbes.com: Mexico Clears Wal-Mart Store Construction
UPDATE: I'm posting an essay on the war of symbols between Wal-Mart and Teotihuacan, written by Homero Aridjis. You can see it in its entirety by clicking MORE below.
Homero Aridjis
Guerra de símbolos
Teotihuacan, lugar donde los hombres se convierten en dioses... o en
consumidores.
"No, los conquistadores no están de regreso. Es sólo Wal-Mart", tituló
James C. McKinley Jr., corresponsal de The New York Times, su artículo
sobre el conflicto cultural y económico que ha despertado la construcción
de la macrotienda de Wal-Mart en el perímetro C del centro arqueológico de
Teotihuacan, una de las veintitantas de la agresiva cadena trasnacional en
el Estado de México. El título no es gratuito: la transnacional tiene la
fama bien ganada de ser una trituradora de comercios locales. Así que la
amenaza a los comerciantes, que desde hace siglos viven de vender sus
productos en los aledaños de la ciudad sagrada, es real. En nuestro tiempo,
sobre todo en Latinoamérica, las conquistas no son armadas sino comerciales
y buscan el dominio de los recursos energéticos y naturales de nuestros
países. No es casual que cada día más estemos viendo entre nosotros la
reconquista económica de nuestro territorio a manos de corporaciones
extranjeras. Así que la pelea por Teotihuacan, aparte de implicar el
aplastamiento del comercio local, es una guerra de símbolos: el símbolo del
México antiguo contra el símbolo del comercio trasnacional, los McDonald's
y el maíz transgénico contra la Serpiente Emplumada y los alimentos
tradicionales de México, el Día de Muertos contra Halloween, las calaveras
contra las calabazas.
El problema de la macrotienda en Teotihuacan no es sólo entre una
trasnacional y los comerciantes locales, sino también arqueológico y de
paisaje. No importa que el INAH intente minimizar el asunto argumentando
que "La inexistencia de patrimonio cultural en el área se confirmó además
con los trabajos de salvamento arqueológico realizados durante el año 1984
por la arqueóloga Ana María Teresa Jarquín, en cuyo informe (¡de hace 20
años!) ratificó la ausencia de arquitectura prehispánica". No es tan simple
la cosa; además de cancelarse en el lugar del centro comercial
exploraciones futuras en una zona grandísima y riquísima en vestigios
prehispánicos, se abrirá a partir de ahora la puerta a otras construcciones
y otros desarrollos, pues con Wal-Mart vendrán McDonald's, Pizza Hut y
Kentucky Fried Chicken, los portaestandartes actuales de la colonización
económica de México, que también están aplastando a los pequeños comercios
de América Latina.
Respecto a la destrucción del paisaje (desde el techo de Wal-Mart se verá
la Pirámide del Sol, y desde la Pirámide del Sol el edificio de la
macrotienda, con sus 24 mil metros cuadrados, 6 mil 500 de construcción, y
un estacionamiento de 8 mil metros, con coches y camiones cargueros yendo y
viniendo), se alterará la relación arquitectura-astronomía de Teotihuacan,
y el entorno visual. Como señala Anthony F. Aveni, existía "una relación
topográfica igualmente sutil entre Teotihuacan y su entorno, relación
observada con frecuencia por los visitantes de la antigua ciudad. Vista
desde la Pirámide de la Luna, en el extremo norte de la ciudad, la silueta
de la Pirámide del Sol se recorta contra el trasfondo lejano del Cerro
Patlachique, con la fachada escalonada de la pirámide imitando elevaciones
en el entorno natural. Las pirámides parecen ser la propia imagen de las
montañas que rodean el valle de Teotihuacan; es como si hubieran sido
creadas para reproducir visualmente las montañas", (Observadores del Cielo
en el México Antiguo, FCE, 1991). Saúl Alcántara, experto en arquitectura
de paisaje y miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, declaró el 22
de septiembre que ante la UNESCO "uno de los argumentos que el gobierno
mexicano utilizó para solicitar la declaratoria de Teotihuacan como
Patrimonio Mundial (de la Humanidad) fue que no había contaminación visual
en un horizonte compuesto principalmente por terrazas de cultivo".
Recuérdese que tras cinco años de oposición se logró la cancelación de una
salinera industrial en Laguna San Ignacio, aduciendo el presidente Ernesto
Zedillo "daños al paisaje". Pero ahora, gracias a los políticos del Estado
de México y a los altos funcionarios de Conaculta, tendremos como trasfondo
cercano a Wal-Mart. Entretanto, en el Reino Unido, Stonehenge, el complejo
megalítico más importante de la prehistoria europea, que se cree fue
también un lugar de culto al Sol y a la Luna, empleado posiblemente con
fines astronómicos, es objeto de un importante proyecto para devolverle su
integridad. Las carreteras y los caminos aledaños desaparecerán para ser
reemplazados con praderas, y se construirá un túnel para que el tráfico no
se vea ni se escuche desde el centro ceremonial, a un costo de unas 74
millones de libras.
"Queremos que nos tengan confianza, porque ésta es una compañía con
profundas raíces mexicanas (sic) que de ninguna manera pretende dañar el
patrimonio", declaró el 22 de septiembre a este diario Raúl Argüelles,
vicepresidente de asuntos corporativos de Wal-Mart de México, cadena que
maneja 657 comercios en el país, entre ellos 150 Bodegas Aurrerá,
Superamas, Suburbias, Vips, Sam's Clubs y Wal- Marts. Argüelles también
aseguró que, siguiendo los lineamientos del INAH, "la tienda será
'transparente' al paisaje". Aunque el buen negocio está a la vista, porque,
como señaló su vicepresidente, no existe otra tienda de autoservicio a
menos de 50 kilómetros de distancia, la cuestión es que, como denunció el
Frente Cívico de Defensa del Valle de Teotihuacan, la apertura del centro
comercial afectará a la población local, de la cual un 57 por ciento se
dedica al comercio. "La tienda Wal-Mart, que se construye a un kilómetro
del área monumental del sitio arqueológico, no representa un beneficio para
los habitantes de San Juan Teotihuacan; por el contrario, va en contra de
los mercados y negocios de la zona, que también representan un patrimonio
vivo que tiene sus orígenes en épocas prehispánicas", denunció el maestro
Emmanuel D'Herrera, miembro del Frente, quien el 30 de septiembre inició
una huelga de hambre junto con Emma Ortega y Lorenzo Trujillo.
Lo de la responsabilidad por los permisos otorgados a Wal-Mart ha sido un
peloteo entre funcionarios municipales y estatales y del INAH. El 6 de
octubre, en un desplegado, el INAH informó: "El 23 de marzo de este año, la
empresa Arrendadora y Centros Comerciales S. A. de R. L. de C. V. solicitó
al Centro INAH en el Estado de México la autorización del proyecto
arquitectónico para construir una tienda de autoservicio en el predio
ubicado en la calle Cruz de la Misión s/n, Fraccionamiento La Parroquia,
Municipio de Teotihuacan de Arista". Así que en mayo, el Centro INAH del
Estado de México "exclusivamente emitió la autorización del proyecto
arquitectónico, en virtud de que se cumplieron los requisitos técnicos y
jurídicos establecidos en la Ley Federal sobre Monumentos y Zonas
Arqueológicos, Artísticos e Históricos". En este desplegado reitera su
convicción de "mantener abierto el diálogo con todas las partes
involucradas en este asunto y apoya la propuesta del C. Gobernador del
Estado de México en el sentido de trasladar el establecimiento comercial a
un predio alterno". La propuesta de Arturo Montiel resultó demagógica, ya
que fue desmentida luego por su secretario de Gobierno y las obras del
Wal-Mart prosiguieron. Con un 70 por ciento de avance, se inaugurará la
tienda en diciembre.
Si bien algunos consumidores podrían beneficiarse con la bodega Aurrerá, la
mejor solución a esta guerra de símbolos entre la civilización teotihuacana
y la globalizadora Wal-Mart sería la de encontrarle a la macrotienda un
sitio alterno, alejado del centro ceremonial más emblemático del México
antiguo. Como dice Aveni, "El plano rectangular que predomina en
Teotihuacan, el mayor y más famoso de todos los centros ceremoniales de la
América antigua, es a un tiempo grandioso y preciso".
"Aquí la arquitectura muestra una ordenada armonía cuyo origen seguramente
está en el cosmos. Pero la orientación de la ciudad, que los constructores
idearon algunos siglos antes de la era cristiana, parece desafiar la
topografía local. Una vez ordenada, cada parte del medio natural parece
haber sido forzada a conformarse con ella". Lo que sí es seguro es que la
topografía local no se conforma a la presencia perturbadora y ajena de la
tienda Wal-Mart.
Thanks to Backup Brain, this link to a page at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center site. It covers everything you need to know about the celestial event. Alonso, I know you'll see it.
Total Lunar Eclipse: October 27-28, 2004
I've seen the future of the Avenue D network - free broadband to the housing projects - and it looks like this.
Daily Wireless - VeriLAN Tests Prototype Outdoor Vivato
I lived in the Lacandon and Peten forests for 7 weeks last spring, and I am in awe of the people of Mexico and Guatemala who can survive and thrive in that environment. It makes the accomplishments of the ancient Maya even more astonishing.
Here's a profile of the Belgian historian Jan de Vos, who has written many volumes on the history of the Selva Lacandona.
Tabasco Hoy || "Vivir en la selva es todo un arte"
This is my 1,000th post in the Daily Glyph. My thanks to all the folks who have helped and encouraged me, and to all the Maya explorers and weblog pioneers who showed the way.
Via Adam Curry, Dave Winer, SlashDot:
How-To: Podcasting (aka How to get Podcasts and also make your own) - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Via Doc, John Robb's prediction that the Bush administration is using the "Latin American Solution" with the appointment of John Negroponte as Ambassador to Iraq.
Global Guerrillas: LOYALIST PARAMILITARIES
I'll try this tomorrow.
TWiki . Main . MovableTypeFlickrPhotosets
Requires the Flickr API here:
Thanks to Alfonso for this link to a report on a conference yesterday.
Representatives from Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Nayarit, Jalisco, Tabasco, Puebla and Mexico City met to organize against proposed hydroelectric dams that would displace people and flood their lands. In Chiapas, three dams - Huixtán 1, Huixtán 2 and Quetzalí - would flood 70,000 hectares, including parts of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve.
UPDATE: The link I originally put here has expired. Now the link is to the Google cache. If it does not work, I am putting the entire text on this site. Click "More" below to see it.
La Jornada - Damnificados integran frente contra las presas
Comuneros denuncian incumplimientos del gobierno
Damnificados integran frente contra las presas
ROSA ROJAS ENVIADA
Aguas Calientes, Municipio de Acapulco, Gro., 1º de octubre. Un movimiento nacional de afectados por la construcción de presas empezó a conformarse hoy aquí cuando los testimonios de quienes han visto sus pueblos desaparecer bajo las aguas y de otros que se oponen a que a les suceda lo mismo, fueron embonando como un rompecabezas para llegar a una conclusión: esas grandes presas que los gobiernos dicen que reclama el desarrollo "no van a beneficiar a los pueblos".
"Esos proyectos están en el contexto del Plan Puebla-Panamá (PPP) y son para privatizar y exportar energía eléctrica y permitir que las compañías estadunidenses controlen el agua. Si ya nos están vendiendo el garrafón a 18 y 20 pesos, vamos a acabar pagándoselos a 100 pesos", señalaron múltiples voces surgidas de entre unos 500 delegados de ocho estados del país, más observadores de Guatemala, Francia, Italia y España, que asisten al primer Encuentro Nacional de Afectados por las Presas, convocado por los comuneros opositores a la construcción de la hidroeléctrica La Parota, sobre el río Papagayo.
Una buena parte de los comuneros de Cacahuatepec, comunidad ubicada a unos 50 kilómetros de Acapulco, y de la cual es anexo Aguas Calientes, ha mantenido un movimiento -que ya cumplió 14 meses- de resistencia contra dicho proyecto de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) que inundará 17 mil 500 hectáreas afectando, según la paraestatal, a unos 3 mil campesinos, pero según éstos a unos 25 mil, residentes de 24 poblados. La diferencia en las cifras se debe a que "la CFE toma en cuenta sólo el padrón de comuneros y no a sus familias y los avecindados que también van a ser desplazados si se construye la presa, ¿qué, somos animales?" cuestionaron.
Con un pésimo sentido de la oportunidad, dicha paraestatal coadyuvó a caldear aún más los ánimos de los campesinos en su contra, cuando el jueves por la noche, minutos después de que se inauguraran los trabajos del encuentro, intentó introducir maquinaria en la zona con el argumento de "construir obra social".
Esa maniobra se consideró como "una provocación" por parte de los comuneros, dado que llevan más de nueve meses sosteniendo tres plantones frente a otros tantos anexos de la comunidad para evitar el ingreso de maquinaria para la construcción de la presa. Esto ha costado que dos comuneros, Marco Antonio Suástegui y Francisco Hernández, fueran detenidos "sin orden de aprehensión", golpeados por policías estatales, acusados del secuestro de un ingeniero de la CFE y del robo de dos camionetas. Además, se pasaron 10 días en la cárcel, ahora están libres bajo fianza y sujetos a proceso, asimismo, otras seis órdenes de aprehensión contra integrantes del movimiento.
Durante la mañana de hoy, delegados y delegadas de Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Nayarit, Jalisco, Tabasco, Puebla y el Distrito Federal, integrantes de un centenar de colectivos sociales, escucharon a quienes ya han vivido la experiencia de ser desplazados de sus tierras por la construcción de grandes presas y de haber recibido a cambio promesas incumplidas o, en el mejor de los casos, el pago de indemnizaciones con retrasos de hasta 50 años, como en el caso de los afectados por la presa de La Venta, muy cerca de aquí, también sobre el río Papagayo.
Victoria Ramos Galán, indígena chinanteca oaxaqueña, relató cómo en 1957 vivió el desalojo de su familia y otros cientos más de 12 comunidades chinantecas y mazatecas por la construcción de la presa Miguel Alemán que afectó 52 mil hectáreas de tierras agrícolas y ganaderas; cómo las autoridades los fueron a arrojar a unos galerones en el municipio de San Felipe Cihualtepec, en la zona mixe; cómo les prometieron empleos, luz eléctrica gratis, casa propia de material, tierras, agua potable, calles pavimentadas, créditos, escuelas con infraestructura moderna; cómo nada de eso ha llegado aún. Y ellos perdieron su identidad, y en lugar de las 80 hectáreas que tenía su padre, sólo les repusieron 10.
Habitantes de Jalapa del Marqués, Oaxaca, dieron testimonio a su vez de su oposición a la construcción de una nueva presa en su región. Ellos ya antes fueron desalojados del poblado donde vivían cuando se construyó la presa Benito Juárez, que afectó 7 mil 500 hectáreas, lo que tuvo como consecuencia la pérdida de su cultura, su lengua y la migración de la gente.
Miembros de la organización Cupuri hablaron de las afectaciones sufridas por habitantes de Nayarit, donde se está construyendo la presa de El Cajón, y les han prometido la creación de empleos, "pero 70 por ciento de los trabajadores contratados por la constructora son chiapanecos que han seguido el proceso de construcción de las presas, en Nayarit no hay mano de obra calificada para eso", comentaron.
Integrantes del Frente Chiapaneco contra las Represas informaron por su parte de la resistencia que realizan en aquella entidad fronteriza para evitar la construcción de las presas Huixtán 1, Huixtán 2 y Quetzalí. Las dos primeras sobre el río Santo Domingo; Huixtán 1 afectaría 9 mil hectáreas; la segunda, 4 mil, de las cuales 3 mil son de Guatemala. En la parte mexicana se afectaría casi todo el municipio autónomo de Tierra y Libertad. La Quetzalí, sobre el río Lacantún, inundaría 57 mil hectáreas de selva, incluso en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Montes Azules.
"El gobierno ha metido sus militares para que la gente tenga miedo y no se organice... si nos unimos agarramos experiencias de otros rumbos, y no nos van a sorprender dormidos... éstos son proyectos de los malos gobiernos que nos quieren despojar de la riqueza, de nuestras tierras y de nuestros ríos, este es un cambio de muerte, no un cambio de vida, la tierra es para que viva la gente, para que coma, no para inundarla. Nos llegan a amenazar con los ejércitos, pero nosotros no tenemos miedo, estamos luchando y buscando más compañeros para tener más fuerzas", afirmaron.
Indicaron que en ese afán han ido a Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua y Tailandia para frenar esos proyectos y denunciar que las fumigaciones que realiza el gobierno, "dizque para combatir las plagas", no han tenido ningún beneficio y sí en cambio ha secado sus cafetales y pastos y se han plagado sus huertas de guayaba, limón, naranja, lima, que están llenas de gusanos.
A media mañana la asamblea se galvanizó con el arribo de un contingente de campesinos de Atenco que, machete en mano, entraron gritando: "Fox entiende, la patria no se vende", "La Parota no está sola"... Posteriormente, los comuneros de Cacahuatepec dieron su testimonio de la lucha que han venido dando para evitar la construcción de la presa La Parota. Y ahí quedó esta afirmación: "Estamos plantados, ni un metro de tierra le cederemos a la CFE, cueste lo que cueste".
One of the contributors to the Daily Kos contacted the Crawford Iconoclast about reactions to their endorsement of Kerry. The response from the paper's editor:
From what we can gather, as of Saturday noon, we have had over 600 letters to the editor, of which about 90 percent have been positive and 10 percent negative.
Most of the negatives are attacks on me personally, some rather threatening. Of the positives, many say we expressed their views perfectly, views they have been afraid to express because of fear of retaliation.
When the story hit, we received many phone calls. On Tuesday, 90 percent were negative, very emotional, very threatening. About 10 percent were positive. The next day and through noon Saturday, nearly all have been positive.
Newsweek's newest poll shows that Bush's lead has evaporated since the first debate. Four weeks ago he had an 11 point lead.
Kerry’s perceived victory may be attributed to the fact that, by a wide margin (62 percent to 26 percent), debate watchers felt the senator came across as more confident than the president. More than half (56 percent) also see Kerry has having a better command of the facts than Bush (37 percent).
In this weblog I've concentrated on issues far from home (energy and culture in Mexico and Guatemala), in the neighborhood (local economic development), and on my desktop (Mac OS X). Occasionally, a broader political issue pops up, usually attached to a local figure like Reverend Billy, who is waging a campaign for the First Amendment and against chain stores, in his Church of Stop Shopping.
I've also deplored the tendency of some tech webloggers to hide their affiliations, usually to avoid alienating their tech friends and colleagues with different views. So I find myself in agreement with Dave Winer, Russell Beattie, and Joi Ito, in their recent posts - it's time to take a stand and use whatever platform we have to change the country for the better.
The debate this week showed that Democrats and left-leaning citizens are not just complainers and borderline traitors. Bush is arrogant, incompetent, dangerous. The shadow government behind him has taken the strength of America for themselves and left the rest of us nothing but fear, corrupted TV news, Hummers on the streets, and hatred in the world.
John Kerry has picked up the mantle of plain-spoken confidence and courage that Bush used as a disguise until his fragile performance dissolved into spite and petulance.
There is a way forward. We can have an open society again. We can have a leader who inspires our confidence and the respect of the rest of the world. There may be continued terrorist threats - who would be surprised at that now, after Bush's call to "bring it on"? But we have defended ourselves in the past, and we can do it without losing our rights and demanding blind loyalty to a cowboy dictator. The dictator has no clothes, no heart, and little mind left. There are only four things he's allowed to say on any particular day. We do have a choice. Let's make it.
UPDATE: Via Dave Winer, a Kerry endorsement by a hometown paper in Crawford, Texas:
Regarding the photo above:
RollingStone.com: News - John Lennon - FBI Must Open Lennon File
On the possibility of an October Surprise, and the neo-con shock at the very suggestion. File under "Don't dish it if you can't take it" (and read the comments):
Electrolite: Setting the stage for the "October Surprise."
From WorldChanging, a link to a new book on green building technologies. The Girls Club building has been designed from the start to meet "green" certification, but this looks like another great source of info and inspiration.
The entire book and individual chapters are available on the website:
Two of the main figures in recent RSS/iPod platform developments are commenting on bandwidth issues in serving large files to RSS subscribers:
Brandon Fuller | Now Playing Now Supports BitTorrent Enclosures
UPDATE: In the confusion engendered by my current edit-for-pay job imploding last week, I missed this Steve Gillmor column on RSS and the iPod platform. I still have the job. Others weren't so lucky.
Thanks to Doc Searls for the link.
If RSS ain't broke... | Tech News on ZDNet