cityofsound

Devil's architect

Fascinating documentary on BBC Radio 4 about architect Nicholas Hawksmoor and the stories around him (generally about him being an occultist, ordering his buildings around London along some series of significant axes) - familiar to anyone who's read Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor, Alan Moore's From Hell, and Iain Sinclair Lud Heat.

I'd say it was on this morning (and it was) but it's available online on our Radio 4 site for the next 7 days. Click the link below and check the 'D' section for Devil's Architect .. it'll be up for a while [in RealAudio]

BBC Radio 4: Programmes A-Z

UPDATE! Sorry, it's gone.

20six

Azeem Azhar informs me of a new blogging application. Like TypePad, this is the kind of thing that could Make A Difference in the real world.
20Six

La ville et le réseau

"A French telco is to assess the feasibility of setting up a city-wide public Wireless LAN (WLAN) network for Paris. The company, Naxos, is to piggyback off the data networking cabling system installed in the Paris Metro to deliver Wi-Fi access points above ground in a year-long trial. The pilot, dubbed WIXOS (Wi-Fi eXtensible aux Operateurs de Services), is limited in scope - 12 locations along the Bus 38 route, which connects the Gare du Nord and Porte d'Orleans, the two main rail termini in the City. But if it all works out, Naxos will roll out Wi-Fi throughout the city, underground as well as above. Some of the big Metro stations could have up to ten access points on each concourse ... It could be pie in the sky. But Paris, compact and with a ready-made networking infrastructure supplied courtesy of the Paris Metro, means that there should be little in the way of technical barriers."

The Register: Paris moots city-wide Wi-Fi
Salon: Paris becoming world wireless leader

There's a great spot in Manchester, down by Castlefield, whereby you can see a visual history of the layers of transportation of people, goods, and services. Down by Duke's 92 pub, you're on the early Victorian canal side (no doubt based around medieval packhorse routes), with a late-Victorian rail arch above that, then a mid-20thC electric railway line above, then the late-20thC Metrolink electric tram network above that. With power lines and telephone cable above it all ... 

I like the idea of wifi access being pinned around the existing Metro stations in Paris - as well as being thoroughly pragmatic, it reinforces the ideas of nodes and networks, of transit and transport, of change and flow.

The adaptability of Ethernet

More cases of Adaptive Design over at The Economist; this time, Ethernet!

"The first reason is simplicity. Ethernet never presupposed what sort of medium the data would travel over, be it coaxial cable or radio waves (hence the term 'ether' to describe some undefined path). That made it flexible, able to incorporate improvements without challenging its fundamental design ... Second, it rapidly became an open standard at a time when most data-networking protocols were proprietary. That openness... enabled a horde of engineers from around the world to improve the technology as they competed to build inter-operable products... This ensured that the technology never became too complex or over-designed ... Third, Ethernet is based on decentralisation. It lets smart 'end-devices', such as PCs, do the work of plucking the data out of the ether, rather than relying on a central unit to control the way those data are routed."

"As Dr Metcalfe quips, 'When something rises up to defeat Ethernet, it's very likely that they're going to call it Ethernet.' Now that, indeed, is adaptability."

Yup.

The Economist: The big three-O

More Texting <> Talking

Following up on a previous post about texting, the FT's Creative Business section reported recent research by the Henley Management Centre and research group Taxonomy on 'm-communications' (I can't find the research online - can you?). I think it backs up a little of what I was saying about the unique nature of texting vs. talking:

"15% of mobile phone users claim never to have made a phone call on their handsets. They send text messages, buy new fascias, even play games. But talk to someone? How so last century. Consumers are twice as likely to text as ring someone. They use the medium to 'filter' personal contact by carefully editing what they communicate and requiring people to ask for attention, rather than get instant access via a call."

There's more in the research, but that was my point about the difference between a text 'asking for attention' rather than demanding instant access via a voice call - they're two entirely different modes of interaction, rather than competing analogues.

Also, a few people responded to my previous post (thanks!), pointing out further valid reasons why Americans don't text (many to do with the financial model). But I still don't buy that the user interface is a major problem in itself though, at least in terms of preventing being a success. The principles of adaptive design would indicate that 'good enough' is, well, just that. Yes, the UI for texting is pretty ridiculous, and probably should never have been designed that way - but it's good enough, and will be improved upon. Yet another example of a less than perfect design being no hindrance to a product/practice taking off massively. Sometimes we (particularly us designers) overplay the importance of trying to create a perfect user interface in order to achieve a successful user experience - SMS texting is a good example methinks ...

EastEnders' Primal quality; iTunes Music Store; Portable PS2

A few stories in my daily BBC News mailout tweaked my antennae ...

"A new study says the BBC's soap EastEnders is so popular because the plotlines echo primal human behaviour. The survey, released by New Scientist magazine on Wednesday, said the BBC One soap's issues of infidelity, deceit, rape and murder all harked back to basic animal instincts."

BBC News: EastEnders has 'primal quality'

"Apple's new iTunes online music store has continued its run-away success, with more than two million songs downloaded within its first 16 days."

BBC News: Apple doubles online music success [Been thinking about Apple's 'music architecture' (sorry, and no, that's not an excuse to say 'marketechture', Matt) a lot recently - more to follow]

Electronics giant Sony has surprised the gaming world by announcing plans for a portable game console. The handheld will build on its success of the PlayStation 1 and 2 consoles that dominate the gaming world. The move pitches it into direct competition with Gameboy maker Nintendo as well as phone maker Nokia which is also producing a gaming handset. The console should be on sale by the end of 2004.

BBC News: Sony to launch portable console

AOL to offer services for Sony PS2

"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - America Online, the largest Internet service provider, says it is planning to introduce a service that would allow users of its instant messaging to talk to each other through Sony's PlayStation 2 video game console. The "AIM Talk," service would allow PS2 owners with voice headsets to communicate with other instant messaging users on other PS2s or PCs, the company said on Wednesday. As part of its tie-up with Sony, AOL, a unit of AOL Time Warner, also said it would introduce features allowing PS2 users to listen to streaming music and watch movie trailers and TV clips. The service, expected to be available in the first quarter of next year, will also feature a new AOL Games product called "AOL Players Club", showing members executing special moves in Sony games. In order for the new AOL service to work in the United States, Sony will need to release a 40-gigabyte hard drive for the PS2, an add-on that is already available in Japan."

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2744925

Benugo

My new daily routine. Sitting in Benugo, Berwick St, Soho, before work, getting half an hour of wifi free if you spend more than £2 (which is easily done with a macchiato and a muffin). That's a nice simple business model - I hope it works out for them ... My new flat still hasn't got a phone/cable in yet, so this is the best way to access mail etc. ... most civilised.

Access was easy - Airport does all the hard work, tho when there was a slight delay on Benugo's server responding this AM, the staff were fairly clueless - which is hardly their fault. They make a mean macchiato, but trained SysAdmins they are not. But they were attentive and sympathetic, which is a start. After 5 mins, everything was working fine (as if someone had rebooted at the other end) and I ended up helping one of the barristas with his powerbook settings ;)

Roadside Peek

"Roadside Peek will take you on a roadside journey in time. As you travel, visit old motels, bowling alleys, drive-in theatres, neon signs, petrol pumps, googie sites, tiki villages, and much more."

http://www.roadsidepeek.com/

ETech presentations central

O'Reilly: Emerging Technologies presentations