A story on tourism and other pressures on the area around the ruins of Tikal, in the Peten, Guatemala.

PrensaLibre.com - Tikal está bajo riesgo

An article on Wimax and TowerStream, one of the first providers of point to point wireless broadband connections with the new technology (is it really WiMax or proto-Wimax? And would I know the difference?). A possibility for the Avenue D network backhaul.

The New York Times > Technology > Internet Access, Delivered From Above

From the story:

This kind of aerial system, many technology experts say, could uncork the most nettlesome bottleneck in the telecommunications industry: the phone companies' control of the "last mile" of wire that travels from their switching stations to homes and offices.

I'm starting to turn out DVDs of my projects. A scribble with a Sharpie on the disk just doesn't make it. There's probably a cheaper system but these guys look interesting.

Jewelboxing - Super Jewel Box Packaging System - CD and DVD Cases

Here's a report on the work that Tom Sever of NASA has been doing in the bajos of northern Guatemala. How the Maya dealt with both heavy rains and the drying of the wetlands in their efforts to feed large populations is a question that is starting to yield answers, through satellite imaging.

English:
The Rise and Fall of the Mayan Empire

Spanish:
Surgimiento y Caída del Imperio Maya :: Politica y Desarrollo :: Científicos utilizan satélites espaciales para desentrañar uno de los grandes misterios del mundo antiguo

Thanks to Jay for bringing this to my attention. The Internet Archive folks were among the people who stood by ready to help while I got the Video the Vote Ohio edited and ready for upload.

But I hadn't seen this tool which Creative Commons has made available. Simple upload of Creative Commons licensed video clips, up to 2gig in size.

Killer CC App: The Publisher, beta version

And check out the Internet Archive's Moving Image Archive.

Yes, that's the title of a fascinating post following the course of a New Guinea field recording as it was ripped and adapted into Western "World Music" and commercials.

Ethan Zuckerman's Weblog : Ethan's Weblog - My blog is in Cambridge, but my heart's in Accra

From Sam Churchill at Daily Wireless.

$40 a month plus a DSL line - 100 users sharing Voice over IP wirelessly.

Daily Wireless - Be Your Own Bell

And another great linkfest from Sam:

Daily Wireless - WiFi VoIP Phones

Reading Dave Winer's recent explanation - RSS: How to extend RSS 2.0 - I ran across a link to the creativeCommons RSS Module which will be useful for media feeds whether they have enclosures or not. Now that my day job is winding down I can get back to the podcast fun.

Creative Commons Licenses

I'm a bit late noting this, but Joel Skidmore has an excellent report on the little-known Maya site of Plan de Ayutla, an important city in the Usumacinta River region.

As Joel writes:

Given its location, impressive size and ambitious architecture, Plan de Ayutla is a "strong candidate" to turn out to be the ancient site of Sak Tz'i' ("White Dog"), known from the Classic Period inscriptions but so far unlocated on the ground.

Mesoweb Reports - Plan de Ayutla

From today's New York Times magazine:

The New York Times > Magazine > Who Lost Ohio?

And an amazing account, written by a Dean grassroots organizer recruited by Kerry's campaign, on where the campaign went off the tracks:

Daily Kos :: Glimpse inside Kerry campaign: no grassroots, reliance on 527s, fear of "moles"

No, this is not more Von Daniken ancient astronaut crap. Although the guy in South Bend is definitely out there.

First, the Mars Rover rocks, named after Palenque and other Maya words.

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Press Release Images: Spirit

And Pakal as moon man:

SouthBendTribune.com: Man in moon may be Mayan

Thanks to Ethan Zuckerman, this weblog from Calabash music, which offers a free song a day.

A new Google search category, that searches academic journals and also returns books. This search for Usumacinta has Chris Shaw's book "Sacred Monkey River" in the first page of results. As it should be.

Google Scholar: Usumacinta

I'd like to know. And I'd better before we do the glyphs, codes, and encryption "expedition" at PS188 next year.

Techworld.com - What is encryption?

It's starting to happen - TV by internet. Here's one guy's way.

How to never miss an episode with BitTorrent and RSS (pealco.net)

via Boing Boing

For the PS188 science expeditions project. $99 includes laser and 20 "Instant Hologram" film plates.

Liti holo - hologram kits

A regular photograph is only two-dimensional (2D) because it only records the INTENSITY of the light hitting the film, recording shades of brightness and darkness. A hologram is three-dimensional (3D) because it records both the INTENSITY and the DIRECTION of the light that hits the film. This additional information is recorded in the interference pattern, and allows you to "look around" the recorded object as if it were really there.

Local communities are opposing a plan that would dump sewage near the source of the Lacanja River, in the Montes Azules Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico.

Tabasco Hoy || Amenaza obra Montes Azules

What the Cleveland 20 were doing last week.

Boing Boing: Video the Vote

Sarah McLachlan's video. Watch it now. Especially if you work in this crazy media business. Or live in this world.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire