Trans Siberian Train Journey Exhibition

JORAM TEN BRINK & ELLY CLARKE

THE JOURNEY/MOSCOW TO BEIJING

26 October 2007 - 6 January 2008

Elly Clarke and Joram ten Brink's journey on the Trans-Siberian train forms the basis of the exhibition 'The Journey/Moscow to Beijing' at London Gallery West. Travelling together as part of the 'Capturing the Moving Mind'1 conference taking place on the train, the exhibition reveals two distinct yet related interpretations of the same event.


Joram ten Brink's 16mm film The Journey is a poetic essay that weaves together images taken on and off the train with stills of modern and ancient Russia and China. As the film unfolds, these images are blended with a soundtrack layering music, dialogue, atmospheric effects and station announcements to recreate the disembodied experience of travel. Drawing equally from the traditions of documentary, personal cinema and diary films, The Journey constantly shifts its parameters, forcing the viewer to reassess the origin and meaning of the exotic content of the film. In the repeated viewing context of looped gallery projection the numerous cinematic narratives and shifting points of view in The Journey are particularly effective as they allow for multiple readings of the work.

Opening Times: Daily 09.00 – 17.00

Private View: Thursday 25 October 17.00 – 20.00 at London Gallery West

Gallery Talk – Sarah Carrington, formerly of curatorial partnership B&B, in conversation with Joram ten Brink and Elly Clarke:
Wednesday 14 November 14.30 – 15:30 at London Gallery West

BT plans wi-fi world-beater

FT.Com has an interesting post titled 'BT plans wi-fi world-beater' which describes how the BT Group is attempting to create the world’s largest wi-fi network by persuading millions of UK customers to turn their home wireless “hubs” into public hotspots:

The move could create blanket urban wi-fi coverage, and allow the fixed-line operator to compete at least partially with mobile phone operators in offering internet services on the go.

“It is a potentially disruptive move. BT may see this as an opportunity to get into the mobile market through the back door,” said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.

At present most people mainly use wi-fi to connect their laptop computers to the internet, without wires, in their homes or offices.

Is this the future of extensive distributed wi-fi?

Intelligent Parking Meters & Parking Problems

Here are two latest stories coming out regarding the issue of car-parking. One involves the introduction of intelligent parking meters in a UK town; the other is about the effect of building parking for many US cars.

The Guardian writes in 'Car park meters can call for help':

A town is introducing "intelligent" car-park ticket machines which can automatically text for help if anyone attempts to break into or damage them. The 150 pay-and-display ticket machines equipped with Sim cards will also automatically request a service if they malfunction and, if full, will call for their money boxes to be emptied.

The £3,000 solar-powered wireless machines will come into operation in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on Monday. Their cries for help will be sent via text and picked up at a 24-hour control centre in Bristol and a new parking information centre in Eastbourne.

Worldchanging's post titled 'How To Fix Our Parking Problems' discusses how

Roadbuilding unleashes a chain of detrimental effects on the natural world. Cars produce greenhouse-gas emissions; roads produce sprawl; sprawl necessitates more cars; more cars need more roads; the cycle continues.

What's been less fully explored is the effect of building parking for all those cars. Or, more accurately, building surplus parking. According to a surprising new study out of Purdue University, parking spaces "in a midsize Midwestern county" (Tippecanoe) actually outnumbered cars three to one. Because the study did not count every floor in multi-level parking garages, the actual number was probably higher, with those excess spots including oversized suburban lots in front of strip malls, driveways and residential carports; and parking garages to serve large office parks.

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Digital Planet: 01 Oct 07

This week's Digital Planet podcast:

How technology has changed the face of political protesting in Burma; whether social networking is key to the US presidential elections; a new way to connect to the internet using QR codes; Gareth visits an exhibition of work by architects Neutral, who use digital dynamic approaches to communicate their designs.

Download here

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Privacy row over UK mobile mast website

Ofcom's website offering details on all the mobile phone masts in the UK is in doubt following a row over divulging "commercially sensitive" information:

The Sitefinder website is maintained by media regulator Ofcom, following a request from the government in 2000. But mobile firms stopped giving data to the site last year after Ofcom was told it must publish grid references of all the masts in a searchable database.

Ofcom is appealing the order from the Information Commissioner and Tribunal. Sitefinder also shows which type of mobile phone signal is being used, the name of the operator, the frequency of the signal and the height of the mast.

Ofcom was ordered by the Information Commissioner to publish all of that information, including the grid reference of each mast in the country, in a single database file.

Read full story - 'Data row hits mobile mast website'

I just let go of my balloon...

Now here's a lovely story on how mobile connections can form friendships... even when there is no high-technology involved.

In 'I just let go of my balloon – and found a friend in China' The Times reports on a story of a young girl's balloon travelling 6000 miles to find a recipient:

A helium balloon released at a school fête on a rainy day in Manchester has been found in southern China. After a 6,000-mile journey that has meteorologists baffled, the shrivelled remains were found by Xie Yufei in a park in Guangzhou, a sprawling metropolis 75 miles north of Hong Kong. The latex balloon had been released on July 15 by Alice Maines, 4, and was one of 100 launched in a balloon race at Flixton Junior School’s annual summer fair.

Distances do not necessarily have to be tech-mediated!

UK to Log Phonecalls and Texts

It has been revealed that under new laws information about all landline and mobile phone calls made in the UK must be logged and stored for a year:

Data about calls made and received will also be available to 652 public bodies, including the police and councils.

The Home Office said the content of calls and texts would not be read and insisted the move was vital to tackle serious crime and terrorism.But critics said it was another example of Britain's "surveillance society".

The new law, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, was signed off by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in July. It requires phone companies to log data on every call or text made to and from every phone in Britain.

Here we go, slipping and sliding into 'full information dominance'.

Read in full - 'Phonecalls and texts to be logged'

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Biofuel trial flight set for 747

BBCNews reports that Air New Zealand has announced it plans to mount the first test flight of a commercial airliner partially powered by biofuel:

The 747 flight is one part of a deal signed by the airline, engine producer Rolls-Royce and aircraft manufacturer Boeing to research "greener" flying.

One of the four engines will run on a mixture of kerosene and a biofuel, and is set for late 2008 or early 2009. But Virgin Atlantic is planning to beat Air New Zealand to the punch by having its own biofuel flight early next year.

Will these posturings really solve the solution for a resource-depleted future?

Read in full - 'Biofuel trial flight set for 747'

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

Nothing else needs to be said on this post - its a great visual treat - a 'must see'!

From Time Magazine: The 50 Worst Cars of All Time



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UK Police & PDAs

Now that its peak-politics time in the UK with all the party conferences - lets see whats been on offer!

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has 'pledged to arm police with thousands of "handheld computers" so officers can make more effective use of their time and increase the amount of frontline policing they do'. According to a recent article:

Brown, who was making his maiden speech as leader to the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, said: "We will provide hand held computers - 1,000 now, by next year 10,000 right across the country - cutting paperwork so that officers can log crimes on the spot, stay on the beat and not waste time returning to the station to fill out forms."

Mobile data devices are currently being trialled by several police forces in the UK, including Cheshire Police, while the British Transport Police completed a rollout of handheld data devices back in March.

Read post in full - 'Police to be armed with 10,000 handhelds'

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'Wiki City' Creates Real-Time Maps

A recent post entitled ''Wiki City' Creates Real-Time Maps' described that 'While drivers are accustomed to using traffic reports to assess road conditions, pedestrians who navigate cities are typically left without aid to determine the best route'.

Now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are using wikis and the Semantic Web to examine the way people map and navigate their cities:

The Wiki City project, run by MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory, aims to apply wiki technology to the map-making process. The project's ultimate product will permit anyone to upload content to a map and utilize Semantic Web principles to cross search multiple layers of information.

Wiki City Rome, an early incarnation of the project's user-generated maps, used GPS (Global Positioning System) and cell-phone data to produce a real-time map during an all-night festival held in the city on Sept. 8.

Via Roland’s Sunday Smart Trends

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The world's first eco-region in Libya

NewScientist describes in a post called 'Norman Foster to design Libyan 'eco-region'' how Norman Foster group is involved in plans to develop the world's first eco-region in Libya - the 550,000-hectare site of desert and forest that stretches inland from the Mediterranean coast of Libya is to be developed into the world’s largest sustainable area:

Over the next year, the group will firm up regional plans to create a national park, a renewable energy infrastructure, a public transportation infrastructure fuelled by biofuels, sustainable agriculture irrigated through desalination plants, and an eco-tourism resort. The latter could, according to some preliminary plans, have buildings built into the side of mountains to minimise their visual impact and take advantage of the stone's insulating properties.

The project is still very much at the visionary stage. "Until the regional plan is finished by Fosters, we cannot say anything for sure," says Anthony Kleanthous, a spokesman for the Green Mountains project.

"But the idea is to show how these things are not just applicable to the Green Mountains. [Fosters] are trying to build a model that can be built elsewhere – not just in Libya, but also in other African countries," he adds.

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The Costs of Social Networking

An important point about social networks has just been made by Anthony Townsend in his brief, yet valid, rant 'I Keep Updating, So I Have Less Time to Actually Do Anything'. Anthony makes us realise that digital social networking can often impede too far upon our physical networks and available time resources. Being more mobile often means we are further stretched - is this the convenience we crave?

Ok, the social web is officially ridiculous.

What I'm referring to is the amount of crap I have to update everytime I want to do anything. It's gotten so bad today, as I prepare to leave for 10 days in Budapest, I'm almost afraid of missing my flight.

What's there to do?

Twitter something witty
Update my FaceBook status
Add the trip to Dopplr
Set iChat and Skype status
Blog about it in various places

And finally, check in for my flight. 7 blessed hours offline.

When are the social web integration apps coming? Please, when? I'll invest.

Thanks Anthony.....

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Town tries out Cybercar concept

BBCNews reports in that a driverless car, which is controlled by computer and uses lasers to avoid obstacles, is being demonstrated in the UK in a Northamptonshire town:

Daventry is investigating ways to increase the use of public transport and reduce reliance on cars.

The town council believes the Cybercars, which are called by pressing a button on the route and go direct to their destination, could be the answer.

The vehicles can be seen on a test track at the town's Eastern Way.

Is this a plausible future for town congestion and pollution?

Read in full - 'Town tries out Cybercar concept'

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Youngsters 'prefer TV to family'

It's official! BBCNews reports in 'Youngsters 'prefer TV to family'' that children spend little time with their parents, and much more time watching television than reading books:

Research accompanying the government-backed Booktime literacy project shows that youngsters spend little of their spare time with adults.

It says that, in some families, shared meal times are only 17 minutes per day.

A survey of 1,800 families suggested it was a struggle for UK parents to find more time to read with children.

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Paper payment expected to go mobile

The Guardian reports on a move in London to bring closer the prospect of using the mobile phone to pay for low-cost goods; in this case, swiping the phone to buy a newspaper on the move:

When Britain's first newspaper swipe card launches today it will be available only to a handful of London commuters. But the inventors of the cashless payment system say the pieces are in place for similar schemes across the country and that before long we could all be buying newspapers by merely tapping our mobile phones on special readers.

The Evening Standard's Eros loyalty card will be distributed at Waterloo station today before being extended across the capital next month. The card, which is similar to London Transport's Oyster card, can be topped up with credit online and used at special readers to buy the paper...

..."The first time you'll see this is sooner than you think," says Mr Tymm. "Within a year we'll see the very first signs and within three years Visa cards, Oyster and so on could all be on phones."

Read in full - 'Paper payment expected to go mobile within three years'

Parking-space tax will raise

The TimesOnline writes that commuters face a '£350 tax on workplace parking spaces in an attempt to encourage them out of their cars and on to public transport'. The report goes on to say that,

The tax is being planned as an alternative to congestion charging because it is thought to be much cheaper and easier to collect. Nottingham City Council is the first local authority planning to introduce the tax. Eight other councils, including Devon County Council, are understood to be considering similar schemes.

Under the Nottingham initiative, employers with more than ten parking spaces will have to pay the tax and most are expected to pass the cost on to staff. The scheme is widely thought to be more politically acceptable. Unlike the Central London congestion charge, shoppers and other drivers who are not travelling to work will not have to pay.

The Government gave local authorities the power to introduce the tax under the Transport Act 2000 but none has yet done so because it was believed that congestion charging was the best way to control rising traffic levels. However, the 1.8 million-signature petition against congestion charging on the Downing Street website this year has prompted many authorities to reconsider.

Read in full - 'Parking-space tax will raise cost of driving to the office by £350 a year'

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Google plans multi-terabit undersea communications

Google is planning a multi-terabit undersea communications cable across the Pacific Ocean for launch in 2009. According to Communications Day:

The Unity cable has been under development for several months, with a group of carriers and Google meeting for high-level talks on the plan in Sydney last week.

Google would not strictly confirm or deny the existence of the Unity plan today, with spokesman Barry Schnitt telling our North American correspondent Patrick Neighly that "Additional infrastructure for the Internet is good for users and there are a number of proposals to add a Pacific submarine cable. We're not commenting on any of these plans."

However, Communications Day understands that Unity would see Google join with other carriers to build a new multi-terabit cable. Google would get access to a fibre pair at build cost handing it a tremendous cost advantage over rivals such as MSN and Yahoo, and also potentially enabling it to peer with Asia ISPs behind their international gateways - considerably improving the affordability of Internet services across Asia Pacific.

Read more at - 'Google plans new undersea "Unity" cable across Pacific'

Black market goods between India and China

Virtual China notes that there has been an increase in black market cross-border mobilities between India and China:

The Asian Studies WWW Monitor points toward this analysis of unofficial cross border trade between India and China. It gives the geographic details of routes between Arunachal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Tibet and Xinjiang. These routes have been in operation for centuries if not longer, and despite official customs efforts, apparently there's a lot going on. Excerpts:

Despite our bureaucracy's whimsical reluctance to acknowledge it Indian goods are going to China and Chinese goods are being brought in large quantities all along the border, and China monitors this trade quite closely.

...coarse wool, pashm wool, tiger eye & other precious and semi precious stones, gold pellets, daggers, boots, hats, blankets, quilts, jeans, jackets, fur caps, felt hats, inverters, electronic equipment, cycles, foot wear, confectionery, crockery, thermos flasks, raw meat (during winter in Ladakh), saddles, yaks, and horses come into India and liquor esp. rum, medicines (large quantity of Indian medicines go through Kyrghystan and Kazakhstan to Sinkiang), woollen carpets, tea, utensils, petrol and diesel, car parts, tool kits, solar panels, shawls, bicycles & sometimes even cement bags go from India.

Read in full - 'Black market goods on the move between India and China'

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Beijing drivers ignore No Car Day

Today - Sep. 22nd - being 'No Car Day', Chinese authorities were expecting that car drivers would heed their encouragement to 'give up the car' in more than 100 Chinese cities... yet it doesn't look like that has been the case, especially not in Beijing.
Katie Melua once sang: 'There are nine million bicycles in Beijing. That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny'.

Well, it seems there are nine million cars in Beijing instead, with more than 1000 new cars being bought in Beijing alone each day. Further, the BBC reports:

Cars have been banned on some central streets in Beijing and all drivers are being encouraged to leave their cars at home voluntarily. But correspondents say that in the capital National No Car Day appears to be making little impact.

Millions of vehicles are on the roads every day in Beijing, causing massive air pollution. The BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing says that cars are coming and going as normal, and most streets in Beijing are not adhering to No Car Day.

Environmental campaigners say China must overhaul its transport system, not just with a few ad hoc No Car Days but by putting in cycle lanes, reducing the price of public transport and making it much more difficult for people to buy private cars.

Read in full at - 'Beijing drivers ignore No Car Day'