Inside a Missile Factory

Gizmodo has a link to a Russian blogger, who "broke" into a working Russian missile factory and took a whole lot of pictures. Apparently there was no real security, and although it is a working factory, next to no workers. The photography of the decaying, mostly rusted plant is amazing ... wonder how long it will remain live ...

Gizmodo Link
Blog Link

Mr Magic's Chameleon

On New Year's eve, the City of Johannesburg, holds a carnival on the streets of the CBD. Even though it is 8 years old, it does not seem to be very well supported. In fact, I would guess that UCT's RAG float procession gets more support than this carnival.



This year's theme was on the environment, and of the lot, Region B's Chameleon stood out. Designed by "Mr Magic", a magician by trade. The chameleon was built with simple materials - cloth, a few shopping trolleys and some bamboo - but like all magic tricks; the effect was brilliant. And the rationale was profound - the earth is changing, and we need to change our ways to halt the destructive effects of the change. The chameleon represents the change, and the fact that we can and must adapt to the change.





Incidentally, there seems to be quite a few "Mr Magic"s in Johannesburg ... leave a comment, and I will send his contact details to you ...

The Personalisation of Computing

The Computer History Museum has a special feature on Steve Jobs, and one of the artifacts is a film clip from the early 1980s, where Steve Jobs talking about Apple. The Apple-II had been released, and this was before the modern PC era of Intel and Microsoft; so the insights are particularly interesting given what would come to be in the following 30 years.

The two highlights of his rather short talk (10 minutes with another 10 minutes of questions) was his observations on how the next generation will really be able to leverage the tool that is a personal computer; and why the personal computer was more powerful than the mini-computer or mainframes of the day. With the move to cloud computing, there is now a reversal of the personal computer in many respects - we are now going back to using shared resources and shared systems; although it is now far more accessible than the comparable systems of the day.

The video is here, and the full Steve Jobs special is here.

Movie: The One Percent

Jamie Johnson, one of the descendants of the founders of multinational Johnson & Johnson, made an interesting documentary a few years ago on the growing wealth gap in America - particularly between the richest 1 percent and the rest. With the emergence of Occupy Wall Street and after the recession; the movie becomes quite interesting viewing.

The movie also resonant with South Africa - years earlier, Jamie's father, Jim, made a movie on the wide income disparity in Apartheid South Africa - something that has yet to be addressed after nearly 18 years of political freedom. The trappings of wealth in the US shown is eerily similar - rich estates with high security, broad open spaces, almost next to run down inner city slums; the huge political clout of the rich and the almost hopelessness of an escape for some.

There are some interesting interviews; especially with Nobel laureate Milton Friedman; but I am not really sure of what he was trying to achieve? To show that there are some rich people who care? Or to show that there are rich people who don't believe that there is a problem with a wealth gap? The most interesting criticisms, such as the effect on politics are not explored enough - while scenes such as that of Hurricane Katrina, while powerful does not seem to have any real point.

While interesting, it comes across as a half baked thesis - it could have been so much more.

You can watch the full movie on YouTube.

Uncomfortable Shouting Match

After flying back to Johannesburg this evening, decided to meet with M at Eastgate for a snack/light supper. With Christmas round the corner, the mall was full, with all the shops open until 9pm. We decided to go to the Bread Basket - it is the only place in the mall with somewhat healthy food, and seating away from the crowds.

As we came in, it was quite clear that the manager (or owner of the franchise) was quite agitated. She kept on muttering and shouting at the employees, with no regard to the customers in the store. When I was in the queue to pay for our order (you pay and then sit down), she interrupted the cashier to get her to do something without apologising to the customer she was interrupting. From her mutterings, it seems that two of her more senior employees were out for their lunch break (it was about 7pm).

A short while later, the two employees returned; and each got dragged to her "office". There a one sided shouting match erupts, with a few expletives, a few "is this normal" etc. etc. In fact it was so loud, that even the baby that was crying (outside the store) was drowned out. A few customers who were browsing quietly left; while another old lady commented "has she gone mad". The other employees looked quite sheepish and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. We learnt from our waitress that she was actually working 8am - 9pm, and I was quite impressed that she still had a smile on her face; and that also easily explains why someone can have a lunch break at 7pm!

It sort of brings an ethical conundrum - does one support a business where the owner/senior manager has no respect for their customers, and are happy to openly berate their employees; or should one support it because the employees are actually very warm and helpful? The manager/owner's conduct was disgraceful and it felt really uncomfortable to be there. I don't think I will go back there soon - despite how good their food is.

Wonderful World

Despite the recent controversy, BBC still has some of the best nature documentaries. Assembled from a cross section of a number of such documentary series, BBC's ad of "Wonderful World" (with David Attenborough narrating Louis Armstrong's classic) captures the sentiment wonderfully.

Mass Public Transport

South Africa in general does not have good mass public transport. Yes, there is Reya Vaya in Jo'burg, MyCiti in Cape Town, a host of bus companies and off course the ubiquitous taxi; but it is very dysfunctional if compared to some other countries - both developed and developing.

Good mass public transit (comprising a combination of trains, subways, trams and buses) is a combination of

• efficiency (helped by initiatives such as dedicated bus lanes and co-ordinated timing reducing waiting at stops),
  
• coverage (for example in Germany, despite the love of cars, it is possible to get almost anywhere by public transport),
  
• economical (public transport will not be faster, but should be cheaper) and
  
• good usability (easy to search for transport, availability at most times of the day, fairly frequent buses etc)

Some of South Africa's efforts in this space has been good - Gautrain is a shining example - but they do not really tick all the boxes. For example, even though there are integrated Gautrain buses, their coverage is pretty small - and other public transport options, including taxis, are not integrated well.

In the US, Washington DC has a great public transport system, though its coverage is not as good, as say New York. The Atlantic has an interesting article on research looking at, not only the economical impact of the system, but also what the impact would be if the system didn't exist. The impacts are not surprising - more traffic, more parking requirements in the cities, more roads. But it is a nice parallel to why South Africa should perhaps spend a lot more and go towards an integrated mass public transport system. It does not need to be all state owned - there should be no reason why taxis and existing bus companies cannot be part of the integrated system. We cannot just continue to expand highways and build parking lots.

Nightwish's Imaginaerum

After a fairly long hiatus since their last studio album (Dark Passion Play was released about 4 years ago), Nightwish is back with a new album. And it was certainly worth the wait.

Dark Passion Play was the first album featuring Anette Olzon, replacing Tarja Turunen, whose operatic voice was certainly a key component of the Nightwish sound. I loved the album, but the sound had certainly changed, and this split off a number of fans. Part of the problem was that Anette's voice just didn't really fit all the tracks. It just did not seem to come across as metal.

All that is rectified in Imaginaerum. Anette's voice just fits the songs perfectly; and every song in the album brings something interesting. Starting off with the very first song, which starts off with the tune of an old music box, it is a rare Nightwish track in Suomi. Then there is the brilliant, jazzy "Slow, Love, Slow", which works surprisingly well for a metal album. The most interesting song, "Song of Myself", is one of the long Nightwish suites (14 minutes or so); based on the poem of the same name by Walt Whitman. In between, the songs features orchestral elements (the London Philharmonic), choral backing and the bagpipes from Dark Passion Play make a reappearance.

Imaginaerum was conceptually pieced together as a movie, telling the tale of an old songwriter suffering from dementia; and his recollections. The accompanying movie will be released sometime next year; certainly looking forward to it.

Fry's Planet Word

In an earlier post, I mentioned the series on languages by the BBC, Fry's Planet Word, presented by author, comedian and actor Stephen Fry. For a number of reasons, I only got round to finishing the series today - watching the last 3 (of 5) in one go.

It is an absolutely stunning series; with each episode giving something to think about. Starting with the very essence of language, and exploring the concept that language is what sets homo sapiens apart from other animals (in episode 1), to the cultural and societal differences that have an impact on language and expression (in episode 2).

Episode 3 focused on "bad language", with gems such as why swearing is actually a primal reaction, and off course a liberal sprinkling of "fuck" (especially considering that it is a BBC documentary). Bad language is not only about swearing, but also about innuendos, propaganda, slang and derogatory words. The discussion on propaganda, not only on the traditional Nazi propaganda topics; but also the more recent "collateral damage" was particularly illuminating.

Episode 4 was on writing - exploring the history of writing, and how writing has fundamentally changed humnan society. Writing off course leads to books, and my argument on digital vs physical books was expressed and debated so much more elequently! Episode 5 rounded up on a more personal view on literature, from Joyce to Tolkien to Shakespeare to Orwel and Woodhouse.

The series is an exploration of language; on its universality and its regional nuances. It is thought provoking and manages to have interviews with a wide variety of very interesting people. It is certainly a gem in the long line of great BBC documentaries.

The Economy and Business Travel

In the past few months, I have made almost weekly trips between Johannesburg and Cape Town; which has meant a lot of flights. It initially started around April, when the regularity was around every 2 - 3 weeks, but in the past 3 months; it has been every week. In comparison to previous years, I have spent a lot more time in airports than previous years.

Surprisingly, on my return flight this week; for the first time this year, I was upgraded to Business Class. It is surprising because of a simple reason - late last year, when I had a period of regular travel - my seat on every domestic flight was upgraded. Having sufficient "status" on frequent flyer programs has meant that I am often earlier in the queue to get upgraded - but upgrades require full planes; and flights are just not that full. Airports are certainly busy; but flights are not that full to the extent of having stand-by passengers; and often the middle rows are empty on the flights. This is an observation many of my frequent flyer colleagues have also made.

This brings me to the economy - South Africa, while not in a recession does not currently have a strong economy. And trade is a big indicator of a strong economy, as is a healthy business travel volume. And it is not because business is buckling down and getting on Kulula et al. - in fact my SAA and BA flights are sometimes cheaper that the "low cost" airlines; and the same observation of a few empty seats also apply to them.

Foxconn

Techcrunch has a nice series on the future of Foxconn - the company behind the manufacturing of almost every major electronic gadget. It's an interesting read; although tinted with American expectations.

I find Foxconn city to be the most interesting discussion. In my opinion, it is almost the perfect realisation of the Utopian society/communist ideal - everyone has a job, every one has a place to stay, food, entertainment etc. What breaks this ideal off course is the fact that this is a city run by a conglomerate, who has taken the idea of economies of scale to the next level. But the efficient operation does give some credence to the view that business could operate cities more efficiently than politicians - but then, they don't have the same goals (or income sources).

Sardines in the bay

I had initially planned to go up Table Mountain this afternoon (on yet another trip to Cape Town). Unfortunately it was raining with the tablecloth on the mountain, so I decided to get some fish and chips from the take-away in Hout Bay's Mariner's Wharf; one of the best places to get fish and chips in Cape Town.

There was a lot of activity on the beach, with a number of fishermen catching fish using nets. The bay was full of sardines - and it was not only the fishermen having a blast - seals were having feast as were seagulls. In the clear water of the bay, the sardine shoals were clearly visible, and the fish bones littered the rocky edges and shallow areas of the beach - remnants of a higher tide.

Speaking to a few fishermen, it seems that this is a fairly irregular occasion, with at least one claiming this to be the first time ever. No matter - it is quite impressive to see. Some pics and commentary here, here and here.

Woolworth's Cafe Cloud

The local British Airways (Comair) struck a deal with Woolworths a couple of years ago to supply the meals. I think that the food on Kulula is also from Woolies actually. Unless you fly business, airline food is usually rather crap; but there was promise of good things with Woolies - after all, the food options are the same as the ready to eat meals ...

However, except for the sandwiches or the snack food you get on the non breakfast/lunch/dinner flights; Woolies version of the airline food is actually quite bad. I have been traveling between Johannesburg and Cape Town a lot this past year, so I have had the opportunity to try out all the various options - and they are all horrible - especially the dinner options; which is inevitably something smothered in cheese. I have often eaten the same options as the ready to eat meals; and they are far superior - so where are they going wrong? I will go so far as to say that I have even been turned off from buying some of the ready to eat meals after a flight.

Most of us are Neanderthals

This article in The New Yorker, has a profile on how most persons in the world, other than Africans themselves have Neanderthal genes. This off course does have an implication (which is strangely not explored in the article) on the meaning of the political idea of race. The idea that modern humans (Homo Sapiens) won in the real species war/race consisting of at least tow, possibly more competing species in achieving dominance is interesting - the fact, that this could have arisen due to cross breeding is even more so.

The Earth's Children Series, by Jean M Auel explores the idea of human-neanderthal interaction; as well as the ostracisation of each others species - in an almost modern racial sense. While the entire series is fiction, a lot of the theories and concepts used in the story telling - especially with regards to human-neanderthal interaction, is seemingly on the ball. Since much of this was written before current evidence, especially a prophetic vision of the "mixed children" inheriting the earth is particularly interesting.

The New Yorker article is also notable for giving a wider overview of paleogenetics; which in itself is interesting. While the idea of recreating Jurassic Park is written off (apparently genetic material just won't survive that long) what is possible, and what is being revealed is very interesting.

Digital vs Physical Books

I love books - those that you can hold, put on a bookshelf, use as a paperweight, leave it lying about in the lounge, use as a prop to hold other things in their place. I have a fair number of books, including a whole box (and more) unread ...

But the same things that I like about books, are the same things that make them difficult - they are heavy, they are unwieldy, difficult to carry around. I was on my way to Cape Town on the day that Walter Issacson's biography of Steve Jobs launched; and for me, it became an interesting decision on whether to buy the digital copy on iTunes or the hard cover at Exclusives (before boarding the plane).

There was an interesting contrast in pricing - the hardcover was approximately R300, while the iBooks version was USD 16, roughly 50% of the hardcover. This is exactly the type of business models I envisaged in my thesis on DRM - the digital copy, which is effectively licensed (as opposed to owned), has a lot more restrictions (e.g. restrictions on sharing, resale) compared to the physical copy; and one would expect a difference in cost. This cost difference extends to the US also (and is not just a result of exchange rates etc) - the retail price for the book is USD 35; though it can be found now at a much more discounted price.

In the end, I did buy the digital copy - mostly because I was going to be reading most of it while traveling - on the plane, on the Gautrain, in my hotel/BnB room. I like reading on my iPad - but strangely, this is the only book I have exclusively read on it (I have some "textbooks" on PDF that I have also read; though I actually prefer the physical book to the PDF). I do however miss it on my bookshelf ...

Movie: Columbiana

Leon (The Professional), which introduced Natalie Portman, is one of my favorite movie. Columbiana, was promoted, locally at least, as the spiritual successor to Leon; and hence my interest in going to see it. Unfortunately, beyond the theme of a young girl wanting to learn how to kill, so that they can avenge their family's murders - there is very little in similarity.

It is a fairly good action movie; with enough guns and explosions; and the two assassinations that show off the skills of the heroine are quite well thought out (in terms of execution). But the movie does not have the same depth of character development, wit, or even dialogue. It is fun to watch; but nothing impressive.

Exotic - JPO's 4th Season 5th Concert

Since the first draft of the 4^th season program, published at the back of the program for the 3^rd season - this is the concert I was really looking forward to. And I made sure, that I would be back from Cape Town in time to attend. Unfortunately, the general attendance of the concert was poor; with a lot of empty seats - they missed one of the best concerts in recent times for the JPO.

The concert started with The Overture from Rossini's opera, La Cenerentola (or Cinderella). A very lively piece, it defined the mood of the concert in general. It started in a somewhat halting fashion, as various instruments in the orchestra played short pieces; but it slowly merged together to really showcase orchestral music in full flow.

I had never heard a double bass concerto before, and this was the reason for my initial interest. The soloist, Venezuelan Edicson Ruiz, is a product of the El Sistema (as was the conductor, Christian Vásquez); and has a claim to fame as the youngest ever member of the Berlin Philharmonic; further piqued my interest. The first concerto, Hoffmeister's Violone Concerto, D major was interesting, but I wouldn't say remarkable. The second concerto, following the break Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's Doublebass Concerto, E-flat major - oh wow. The first and third movements were fast and lively - but it is the second, middle movement, which is fairly slow (and quite somber) that really shows off the double bass as an instrument. It was quite mesmerising; and Edicson Ruiz is a very lively performer (unlike most classical soloists), shadow conducting the orchestra or swaying with the music, as if he was dancing with the double bass; while not performing. He really looked fully engaged with the music and nothing else - and it was a performance to behold.

After the classical European composers, the next set of pieces were from Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's ballet Estancia (The Ranch). The selection was particularly notably for the wide variety of percussion instruments, making the pieces very lively - as one would associate with Latin dances; and there was a rousing applause from the audience after the performance.

The last piece of the evening, was Mexican composer Arturo Márquez's Danzón no. 2. There is a romantic musical feel about it, but at the same time feels like it is part of a dance; or perhaps even a party. It was a great piece to end of the evening; and the performance got a well deserved standing ovation from the audience.

It is unfortunate that the hall wasn't packed - and perhaps, the JPO should consider holding cut price sales - half price or even lower, but only 1 hour before the show. It makes no sense to have an empty theater after all. There is one more performance - tonight at the ZK Matthews Hall in the Unisa campus. This is a concert that should not be missed ...

It wasn't only RSA

Back in March, RSA Security, disclosed that it had been the target of a spear phishing attack, that led to the compromise of one of its crown jewels - the RSA SecureID token system. The attack was brilliant in its execution - a phishing email that was simple but did not look like a 419 Scam, usage of a zero day flaw in Adobe Flash, and a multi-level attack that slowly, but carefully infiltrated the organisation. The techniques themselves, as discussed here, are not that advanced - but it was certainly well thought out and put together.

In a recent blog post, the author discloses a number of other organisations that have also been attacked by the same set of attackers. The blog post is scant on details on the mechanisms deployed or even where the data comes from; but it does make interesting reading.

Yes, there is a group that runs the world

The idea of a group of people who secretly control the world, is staple fare of many fictional novels. From the Free Masons to the Illuminati, to various groups in between; the fiction is lined with controlling agendas, secret hangouts and off course rituals. It seems that it is not all fiction ...

As reported in New Scientist, a research group from ETH Zurich conducted an analysis of 43 060 corporations, untangling their capital ownership structures and creating a network of ownership of these corporations. Once all the networks are untangled, only 147 companies remain as the sole owner of capital - so the Illuminati group is not a small clandestine group; but it is far smaller than one would have thought.

It is not surprising that the list is dominated by financial companies; though there are a few notable exceptions - such as Walton Enterprises and China Petroleum. The data is understandably old, and thus the pecking order may have changed; but the order also shows why Lehman Brothers' failure was so catastrophic - in 2007, it was 34^th most powerful corporation in the world in terms of economic power; and thus it is no wonder that its failure affected so many others globally.

Also interesting to see is the various nationalities of the companies represented; with one South African company, Old Mutual, on the list (although Old Mutual now claims to be a British company, although it is still largely based in South Africa in terms of workforce and revenue). There is not much detail beyond the top 50 companies, but on the top 50 list, I was surprised to see no South American or Indian companies, or even a lot more of the sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East.

The full paper can be found here. It does not mention any prospective future research areas, but given the impact of Lehman Brothers' failure, I would suggest that the next step should be to look at the impact of a network node failure. For example, should there be another failure of a major financial institute, what other corporates would be impacted?

Choir and Orchestra - JPO's 4th Season 4th Concert

M loves choral performances, so a full performance of Mozart's Mass was very enticing, regardless of the fact that neither of us have any religious persuasions, or even any catholic history. Last year's scheduled performance was postponed as it was felt that the choristers were not ready. There was a change in choir (now the Opera Africa choir) and soloists from Opera Africa; the only thing missing was a full blown organ (the orchestra had an electronic organ I think). It was a brilliant performance, with the soprano Kelebogile Boikanyo being particularly impressive. One change I would make in the program though - include the text and translation in the program!

In addition to the choral mass, the first part of the program featured Berio's Rendering for Orchestra. Based on Schubert's uncompleted 10^th symphony, it was different to JPO's usual fare - more eerie (perhaps gearing up for Halloween), slow and rather unenergetic. I didn't really like it, but can't really work out why.