The Raven

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Sleight of Hand

This morning is all about misdirection—now you see it, now you don't. While the definitive observation yet eludes the Raven, there's something about this televised war that's creeping around the edges of my consciousness. It has something to do with technology, and perspective, and mediation. And even though I'm still not sure what it is, the result is all too clear: We are happily building our own shackles, and what we think will be a bridge to our highest dreams is in reality a tunnel aimed at our deepest nightmares.

Hack Attack

The official Website of the Al Jazeera network was hacked this morning. Visitors to the site in search of the Islamic view on the war have been seeing this instead. The bottom of the graphic reads, "Hacked by Patriot, Freedom Cyber Force Militia," and beneath that is the message, "This broadcast was brought to you by: Freedom Cyber Force Militia - GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!!!" A quick check suggests that this group is keeping a low profile, probably because it's just a guy in his 20s with a bit of tech-savvy. Sure, I should be outraged that my morning datascan was interrupted like this. I ought to be miffed that I've been prevented from performing due diligence by using Al Jazeera as a check-and-balance mechanism against Western propaganda. I could even go on a tear over those two redundant exclamation points. But you know what? I'm smiling and thinking, "Right on, dude!"

Not Seeing Is Believing

I always figured we'd come up with a way to make people invisible. I just didn't realize we were this close.

The breakthrough comes from Dr. Susumu Tachi, a professor of computer science and information physics at Tokyo University. Here you see a grad student, Kazutoshi Obana, wearing a raincoat that renders his body transparent. Pretty neat, eh?

Basically, a camera films a scene behind the raincoat, and a projector projects it on the garment's front, which is covered with tiny reflective beads called retroreflectors. The process creates an illusion of invisibility.

So maybe you're wondering why you would want an invisible raincoat, since wearing one would reduce your odds of suing the driver who runs you down: "I swear to God, I didn't see him!" Turns out you're looking at a demo of the technology, but Tachi envisions all kinds of practical uses, from navigation to surgery. A solid wall of your home, f'rinstance, could, at the flip of a switch, become a giant window.

And while the inventor isn't thinking about a military application, the Pentagon certainly is. They're calling it "adaptive camouflage."

Now You Won't See It

Spam, that is. At least you might be seeing less of it coming from Hotmail.com.

To cut down on junk e-mail, Microsoft Corp. is capping the number of e-mails that users of its free Hotmail service can send each day.

They're putting a limit of 100 outgoing messages per 24-hour period on regular accounts, which is a nice start. Unfortunately, while the limit went into effect earlier this month, "it does not apply to MSN 8 subscribers or those who purchase extra storage on Hotmail." The way I read this, Microsoft couldn't care less how much spam you send from their network, so long as they get a cut of the action.

10:29:08 AM