ThinkingAhead:  Screw inventory; RFID this, will you?

Has anyone seen anything yet about RFID technology (identification of items tagged with radio frequency emitting chips) for luggage?

Yeah, luggage.  That stuff that goes astray whenever you’re counting on it for a lengthy vacation.  The same baggage which contains everything you can no longer carry-on as a passenger.

If, as this article suggests there’s now kill switch capability, signal emission shouldn’t really prove a problem when the ID isn’t actively being used.  RFID for luggage was introduced some time ago, but either bombed or had technical problems because it vaporized off the map.  Was it because of post-9/11 security issues?  The fall off of travel post-9/11?  The general market decline discouraging R&D expenditures?  Who knows??

It seems to me, though, that customers will be more willing to spend a few bucks on these kinds of devices – perhaps that’s the way the business model should work.  Perhaps the individual consumer should buy them, not the airlines.

Samsonite, get on the stick, will you?  Start with luggage tags containing programmable user ID’s, then move to luggage.

3:52:45 PM    comment []

Former President George Bush Sr. works for The Carlysle Group, a private equity firm concentrating in defense and aerospace industries. 

Do you see a possible conflict of interest?

What about the relationship between Donald Rumsfeld and Frank Carlucci?

Interesting interview of Dan Briody, journalist and author of The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group, worth a listen if you’ve got the time.

And if you can manage it, stick around for the rebuttal by Christopher Ullman, Vice President for Corporate Communications and spokesman for The Carlysle Group.  

Following a line of questioning regarding a possible conflict of interest:

Exactly what I was thinking.

Ullman further defends Bush Sr. by saying it’s a little late after 30 years as a public servant to question Mr. Bush’s ethics. 

Should the fact that a substantial U.S. government contract with The Carlysle Group was canceled after Bush Jr. took office serve as proof enough that neither The Carlysle Group or the Bush family and immediate friends will profit from their inter-relationship?

What truths would be obtained if one were to take Ullman at his word to call and ask for explanations?

Hmm.  You be the judge.

1:18:22 PM    comment []

Metablogging:  Community Blogs using Drupal – an option for Sloggers?

We’ve bandied about the idea of a community or group blog, to allow for metablog or cross-blog dialogue between Salon Bloggers.

Xian has an aggregate site to which a number of Salon blogs feed.  While a nice pioneering effort, it doesn’t encourage cross-blog dialogue and fully interactive communications about a given topic.

Mark Hoback bravely compiles a magazine each week which represents a collection of our work here in Salon, sometimes accentuated by a theme.  However, the work is a static snapshot and doesn’t act as a communication enabler.

Kairosnews works as a community blog; this week it also features an article discussing Drupal as a “hub” for community blogging.  Drupal, like Radio Userland, is a blogging software which supports more than one user; with recent changes, Drupal may also work as a kind of centralized repository or aggregator of posts from multiple trusted blogs.

Go and kick it around, see what you think.  How would we make this work?

[Mark, this might be of real interest to you for Virtual Occoquan!  Imagine no more late night rushed posting, just a call for posts!]

11:12:01 AM    comment []

North of Spring -- Update

An email from my minimalist father, which included this photo looking WNW, 30 miles west of Marquette, Michigan (appears to be late morning):

>> SW winds on Sat.  Then SE on Sunday.  Melted and blew all the ice out of the bay.  Heard the waves lapping for the first time this year Monday morning.  But a lite north wind started in the afternoon.  Blew what is left of the ice back in.  Only about 100 ft of ice from the shore, not past the points.  No waves, as the ice is blocking it way out. <<

Doesn’t look like good water skiing this week.

9:41:48 AM    comment []