Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Tenet to Sell Hospitals, Cut Costs (Reuters). "Two in Missouri," it says. I don't know what this might mean here in St. Louis: elsearticle suggests that the hospitals in question are rural. I'm thinking about the delicate negotiations involved in taking over a Catholic hospital here a few years ago, and the prospect of welching, er, voiding parts of that agreement. 8:51:14 PM    comment []

With Little Loans, Mexican Women Overcome. In Mexico, small business loans to women, known as microcredit or microfinance, represent a chance for the poor to acquire a little bit of wealth. By Tim Weiner. [New York Times: Business] This is a pretty well established result, yes? Give the money to women in developing areas of the world, in modest amounts, and make big differences. 8:48:42 PM    comment []

More Smart Mobs stuff: The edge of smart mobs: leaderless actions. A recent First Monday paper, "Leaderless resistance today", explores the mechanisms behind small, unlinked groups and their public actions. Members share a common ideology, but do not cooperate using social networks. They focus on immediate swarming, but can also work along longer cycles of time. Some, like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), are "more accurately described as a movement or a milieu, rather than an organization or a formal group." And recent information technology helps create and sustain them. Interestingly, while leaderless groups don't work by hubs and spokes, they could succeed far enough to be vulnerable thereby: "If actors are successful in their activities, their activities will inevitably generate fan clubs, support groups, and other kinds of social structures. A network will emerge, which will then create the opportunity for network analysis." [Smart Mobs] 8:45:13 PM    comment []

Human error causes most security breaches. Study respondents blamed only 8 percent of breaches on strictly technical failures [InfoWorld: Top News] 8:42:43 PM    comment []

Doc Searls: Sticky Wicket. Quick: Read what happens when an ordinary sports report (India v. New Zealand at Cricket) turns into a raving blog. Two sentences into the piece, Scott Murray goes all-caps ballistic: I'D RATHER WAIT FOUR HOURS FOR A JOURNEY WITH THE GRIM REAPER QUITE FRANKLY AND THEN YOU GET TO WORK AND THEN THERE'S THIS AND I KNOW THE CRICKET'S GOOD AND ALL THAT BUT I'VE GOT OUT OF THE WRONG SIDE OF BED THIS MORNING AND IN ANY CASE IT'S NOT AS IF I'LL WRITE A CRACKING MATCH REPORT AND THEN GET REWARDED BY BEING SENT ON A WONDERFUL ASSIGNMENT AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE I'LL BE VERY SURPRISED IF ANY OF MY BOSSES WILL READ ANY OF THIS LET'S BE HONEST THEY WON'T ALTHOUGH ON THE OTHER HAND THAT'S PROBABLY JUST AS WELL HEY I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH TYPING THINGS LIKE THIS KIqL!UYS^%$DFLI ZSDSAFC SFE4O92 )(^(*^o"$ bBLKU E875O3 96*&^%o*"$ogb LOOK I'M SORRY THIS ISN'T EXACTLY THE SORT OF QUALITY EDITORIAL COPY YOU EXPECT FROM THE GUARDIAN BUT LOOK AT THE FACTS I'M ADRIFT IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE WORST CITIES IN THE WORLD SITTING IN FRONT OF THE SAME COMPUTER SCREEN I FACE DAY AFTER INTERMINABLE DAY HELL I COULD BE WAKING UP IN SAY THE MALDIVES OR SYDNEY OR COPENHAGEN OR A CROFTER'S COTTAGE IN SKYE AND GOING FOR A WALK IN THE CRISP MORNING AIR? It gets better. Thanks to Michael O'Connor Clarke for the pointer. [The Doc Searls Weblog] 3:51:10 PM    comment []

Big, big, big thanks to Scott for calling to mind Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), a much needed blast of fresh air in my head just now, and for pointing out The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World: To this European, America is trapped in a fortress of arrogance and ignorance, by Brian Eno, in Time (European edition, seulement!). Surely this isn't the America that anyone dreamed of; it's a last resort, nobody's choice. 3:49:49 PM    comment []

Tehran <-> Washington, DC 1970-1973 teen girl blog: Eid-e Shoma Mobarak!. Happy new year anyway, damnit! Chahar-shanbe suri "Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to solitude retires. Iran indeed is gone with all its Rose, And Jamshid’s seven ringed cup where no one knows, But still the vine her ancient Ruby yields, And still a garden by the water blows. Come, Fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring The winter garment of repentance fling: The Bird of Time has but a little way To fly--and lo! the Bird is on the Wing." Fitzgerald’s version of Omar Khayyam’s Rubiyat Miniature from a No Ruz card by Badri Borghei I love that blog. 3:44:03 PM    comment []

bOing bOing: PC World story, P2P filesharing funds terrorism? Enquiring congresspersons want to know. 2:40:58 PM    comment []

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Andrew is doing blow-by-blow on the run up to actual weapons fire in Iraq. 11:04:19 AM    comment []

Julie with a great rant today about good food and democracy. (Until I looked at that one last time before sending it on its merry way, it said "grant" instead of "great rant." Which is an interesting typo error and potential neologism.) 11:04:16 AM    comment []

Tivo Less Of A Threat? 'surprising' P&G Findings: Recall of Tivo Ad Zappers Similar to That of Tivo Ad Watchers, by Jack Neff, AdAge.com. 11:04:12 AM    comment []

Our Genetically Modified Future. In its 10th anniversary issue, Wired magazine takes a look at the potential for 'new and improved' humans, plants and even bacteria. By Charles C. Mann. [Wired News] 6:57:58 AM    comment []

To Test Evolution, Press the 'Undo' Button. Scientists working with yeast have in effect reversed the process of evolution in the laboratory. By Carol Kaesuk Yoon. [New York Times: Science] 6:56:41 AM    comment []

Terror Alert Status Raised to Orange, by John Mintz, Washington Post. 6:54:20 AM    comment []

Smart Mobs: Decongestion by following the big rigs. A new technique for understanding traffic flows is being published. Ben Coifman advises tracking not all vehicles passing through a given area, but only focusing on larger ones. Surveillance covers two different queries for a flow, rather than just one. According to his research (.pdf), this is easily measured, saves time, and yields valuable clues about traffic congestion. (via Peter Merholz) 6:52:54 AM    comment []

Scientists Explore the Molding of Children's Morals. Over the last few years, schools in 48 states have introduced character education programs in the hope of bolstering students' morals. By Susan Gilbert. [New York Times: Education] 6:48:57 AM    comment []

Revealing Ohio's Buried Treasure. Centuries ago, earthen structures of great scientific and cultural significance were built in the Midwest, but farmland and parking lots replaced them in the modern age. A new digital project will create virtual renditions of these earthworks. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News] 6:47:23 AM    comment []

Face recognition fails test, by Karen Dearne, Australian IT. The much-heralded SmartGate facial recognition trial at Sydney Airport has suffered an embarrassing setback, with two Japanese visitors fooling the system simply by swapping passports. The automated system, which is a world-first attempt at using photo-matching technology for border control, falsely identified both men as matching the images contained in each other's travel documents. 5:03:11 AM    comment []