Smithsonian X3D

The Smithsonian has initiated the X3D viewer, accessible via the web, to display 3D models of specimens from its collection of 137 million objects.  The viewer was developed by Autodesk and its operation will look familiar to anyone who has played with 3D drawing software.  The model may be manipulated and zoomed with the mouse controls, and the viewer also permits custom view settings including light controls.

The source images for the digital models are produced by drawing, laser scanning, photogrammetry and micro-ct scans.  In addition to making the images available through a web brower, there is also a possibility of supplying files in formats permitting the production of solid models with a 3D printer.

The Smithsonian site contains interactive models, and explanatory videos showing the digitization techniques and brief lectures about the potential of the idea for educational outreach.  There is also a conference planned for November which will be streamed live from the web site.
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update:
The X3D application is pretty resource intensive.  One of our home computers is an older Dell running XP, and it really cannot even support a small iframe running the the Autodesk viewer.  My Dell Precision 690 has more RAM and a faster CPU which does ok with X3D.  I'm wondering how people with tablets and similar platforms are doing with this technology.

historia de una foto

1.  Cuenta la historia de esta fotografia en 200 palabras:

Había visto antes la foto, pero no le presté mucha atención.  Mi impresión inicial era que representaba una escena del Carnaval, quizás un hombre en disfraz de pirata.  Al mirar más detenidamente la foto me di cuenta de que era una foto sacada durante una protesta política en forma de teatro callejero.  En el fondo hay una línea de policías con los escudos levantados. Las letras grabadas en los escudos identifican la unidad y la ciudad: Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (PMERJ). La figura de enfrente, desafiante y amenazadora, probablemente representa un guerrillero de la rebelión de Canudos en el fin del siglo XIX, descrito primero  por Euclides da Cunha, y después en forma novelística por Mario Vargas Llosa.  

Hice una copia de la foto con mi escáner fotográfico, y la cargué al buscador de imágenes de Google.  Resultó que la imagen apareció muchas veces en la red, y que era una foto hecha por el fotoperiodista japonés, Yasuyoshi Chiba, de la Agence France-Presse.  El fotógrafo estaba sacando fotos de una manifestación de protesta grande en Rio de Janeiro relacionado a las políticas económicas del gobierno Brasileño, incluyendo recortes a la educación y gastos de millones relacionados a la visita del Papa.

Al caer la noche, subía el nivel de la violencia.  Con su cámara, el periodista documentó la pelea entre manifestantes y policías, durante la cual alguien arrojó una bomba de fuego, quemando un policía.  Inmediatamente después de sacar aquella foto, el periodista fue agredido por un policía quien le dio un golpe fuerte en la cabeza con el bastón, causando una herida sangrante.  Se llevaron el fotógrafo al hospital, pero no sufrió graves lesiones.  El periodista hizo una denuncia de las acciones del policía después, apoyada por el testigo de varias fotos de la agresión sacados por asistentes a la manifestación y documentado mediante Twitter.

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This was my response to an assignment in the Spanish course I am taking at the National Hispanic Cultural Center under the able guidance of Fernando Gimeno Hermoso.  The most significant thing I learned from this exercise was the awesome ease with which one may find specific images on the web through Google's image search engine.

20 weeks

Wednesday morning was cool and clear.  I got on my bike an rode down 12th St. to Menual and then up a couple blocks to the early voting location near 6th St. where I cast my vote against the proposal to restrict abortions in the City of Albuquerque beyond the twentieth week.  I can't say I'm very optimistic about the outcome of this special election.  Democratic party spokespeople have encouraged the idea that a successful election outcome for the anti-abortion proponents will not survive a court challenge.  However, that outcome currently looks shaky given the recent appeals court decision upholding the anti-abortion election effort in Texas.

The local pro-choice position made its debut in the media only days ahead of the early voting launch date.  The full ad makes a pretty good case, but what gets aired in most instances is a truncated version that really doesn't get across the terrible burden that the 20-week ban puts on women who are found at that point to be carrying an unviable fetus.



update:
A more thorough look at the issue is provided by an article by Geoffrey Plant in the Alibi.  He suggests, for instance, that the probable conflict of the proposed ban with state and national laws is a double edged sword.  The proposed law could get stopped locally by a legal challenge, but the proponents would then be given the opportunity to push the issue into higher courts which are quite likely to be sympathetic to overturning Roe v Wade.  The obvious strategy for pro-choice supporters is to defeat the Operation Rescue effort now in the polls.

Also, an article at Salon provides some insight into the organizational tactics behind the Albuqurque election intiative, and points out that this is the first time such an effort has been undertaken in a major city.

on screen

Thanks to Alternet I came across this interesting brief interview by Bill Moyers of Sherry Turkle.

Sherry Turkle on Being Alone Together from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.

Turkle was promoting her latest book, Alone Together, in which she examines the phenomenon, particularly evident in the young today, of always being electronically connected.  It is a familiar topic for about anyone, but Turkle's thoughtful examination provides some insights into what it is, how it has developed and where it may be taking us.

I found particular resonance in Turkle's comments about the early years of the development of the internet and on-line networking.  Like her, I was optimistic about the potential of the medium for expanding access to information and achieving more effective self-realization.  However, as she points out, some of the early success and optimism was reliant on the fact that people were accessing the on-line world through stationary computers.  After the information was gathered and digested, people had the opportunity to turn off the machine and take their new information out into the real world.  Now, the machine is very often always with us; there is less opportunity for reflective consolidation and there is also a degradation in performance due to the toll taken by constant multi-tasking.

While I mostly agree with Turkle's take on the current state of the networked society, I think there is probably more to the issues than was apparent in Moyer's interview.  Some of the downside she sees seems likely to be a generational issue.  It would be interesting to see her ideas shared in a forum with some bright teenagers, some social networking promoters and maybe an anthropologist.

update:
I came across an opposing view of technology and networking in a recent review by Walter Isaacson of Smarter Than You Think by Clive Thompson in the New York Times book reviews.

The Cusp of Autumn

Decyphering Marinaleda

There is a fine new article at Design Observer about the Marinaleda rural cooperative of southern Spain by the journalist, Dan Hancox.  The author spent enough time in the place and talked to enough people living there to provide a more comprehensive view of the place than I have seen to date in other reports.  In addition to sorting out some of the generational issues of the residents, he also provides a good look at the challenges posed for the community by its connections to the wider world.

Hancox mentions a book about Marinaleda by the anthropologist, Félix Talego, Worker Culture, People Power and Messianic Leadership.  It looks to be worth a read, but I haven't yet found a copy available.  I did locate a student paper which references Talego's book and it can be accessed on line in pdf format:
MARINALEDA: UNA APROXIMACIÓN A SU ANTROPOLOGÍA ECONÓMICA Y POLÍTICA., by Silvia Mateo i Puente of the Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Geografia i Història.

garden flowers