Transcending Technology – Michael J. Russell

Friends in Asia, Europe and Oceania have been telling me for years they’re positively dumbfounded by how North American businesses and consumers are willing to put up with the oligopolistic tyranny of wireless carriers, their inconsistent service, overburdened data networks, locked handsets, dubious charges and a litany of other grievances, especially in the U.S.

After all, in many parts of the world, you choose your handset and your carrier…in whichever mix-and-match combination strikes your fancy.

Well, the OpenBTS technology discussed in this MIT TechReview piece is a harbinger of things to come already here, along with the decentralization and democratization of almost every other meaningful digital technology, so now there may be some intriguing alternatives.

Consider the possibilities represented by cheap, sustainable, easily-deployable wireless networks for community resilience/resiliency, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery, much less the opportunities for leapfrogging failed, obsolete (or non-existent) infrastructure in the developing world.

—Mike Russell

NightWatch For the Night of 25 April 2010 North Korea: North Korea warned South Korea and the United States on 24 April that it will employ “all means, including the nuclear deterrent” if they intrude into the North’s territory, The Associated Press reported, citing the official Korean Central News Agency. The Chief of the General [...]

NightWatch For the Night of 5 April 2010 South Korea: Update. An article in the Korea Times about the sinking of the frigate Cheonan hints at the possibility that the ship might have been sunk by friendly fire from the frigate Sokcho, which also was patrolling near Baengnyeong Island. The hour or so difference in [...]