AmCham Dinner in Russia

More of Esther Dyson's interesting people! This was "cutting up the rug" at the American Chamber of Commerce Dinner in Russia on April 14, 2007.

Peter Pettibone, Esq.
- official biography on Hogan & Hartson
- Space Law Probe blog entry, 11-22-05. Byline: "Not for lawyers and space tourists only" This is a blog of Jesse Londin (aka
Buzz), who also writes "Law Buzz." She "is a lawyer, writer, online editor and Web forum host. She lives in New York where she sometimes sleeps but her browser windows never close." Anyone interested in space travel should read her blog. The blogroll is also impressive!
- Finance article written by Peter and Sergey Komolov (who runs the Moscow office of Space Adventures). Scroll down to the end for an informative short bio.

Pat Cloherty
- Official bio on Delta Private Equity Partners
- Rainbow Recognition (Press release, 21 Dec. 2005)
- Press release on her appointment as CEO of Delta Capital Management / The U.S.-Russia Investment Fund (15 Dec. 2003). She was already chairwoman of the Fund before this appointment.

London's Eye

When I was last in London, there was no Eye! Ester Dyson's photos (April 11, 2007) keep me up to date with the world outside New York.

A few links for the Eye:
(+) Starting with this other photo by Esthr
(+) Official Site of the Eye and an Alternate address to same site
(+) Wickipedia on London Eye which gives the most info on how it was built, its history and interesting photos. It includes a panaroma view from the Eye (1MB). There is also some discussion of possible eviction from their present site.
(+) British Airways London Eye from a guidebook perspective
(+) an areal representation from New London Architecture showing the size of the installation
(+) Photo Guide to BA London Eye

My friend from high school was also snapping photos of the Eye. Here it is seen from a boat. Here is a view from on the Eye. Here is from inside the capsule.

Tracking and Data Relay Satellites at Russia's Mission Control

Another photo by Esther Dyson taken on April 9, 2007 in Russia during the Soyuz space flight of Charles Simonyi. One should really click over to Esther's photo on Flickr where she has posted notes on the photo explaining what each area of the screen is.

Jüri Kaljundi added this comment to Esther's photo: "Basically there used to be 6 TDRS (tracking and data relay) satellites which can provide "no rest period" communication between the spacecraft and customer (or NASA). Out of the 6 only half should be operational online at any time, while 3 are in backup mode. ISS is one of many customers of the system. TDRSS 2 was destroyed in Challenger accident so satellite no 7 was built. Now I believe generation 2 of TDRSS is operational with 3 additional satellites. "

See Esthr's blog posting for more information.

Nice graphic representation of TDRSS

Wikipedia entries for
TDRSS
TDRS

Adam Greenfield

Esther Dyson posted this photo of Adam Greenfield on March 27, 2007 at the Emerging Technology Conference or E-Tech. So I decided to find out who Adam Greenfield is.

Adam on himself
Adam on Wikipedia
Adam in the introduction to his book, Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (Paperback)
Adam's award-winning website
Adam's personal blog, Speedbird
Adam's involvement in Etech

And one more: Adam on Studies and Observations, which focus on the ideas in his book.

Wanna see a video of his talk given at Keio University (Japan) on July 15, 2006 (about the ideas in the book)? Be prepared for a 4.5 minute intro followed by one hour 20 minutes. You may find yourself listening longer than you think. The site says the video was downloaded 873 times. The panel discussion is not included n the video.

In the video, Adam discusses ubiquitous computing that exists today such as the
- octopus card in Hong Kong,
- BodyMedia Senseware pack (called bodybugg on the web site where the photo matches the photo in Adam's presentation),
- Georgia Tech's Smart floor (1999),
- Sensacell (used in a club in NYC),
- Japan's Shinjuku RFID lamppost that tells you your location and services nearby to you such as public restrooms, transit stops, and
Starbucks special on a French vanilla latte.
- Internet toilet (Matsushita) that measures your weight, fat, blood pressure, heart beat, urine sugar, albumin and blood in urine and sends the report to your doctor (and whom else) using an Internet capable cell phone built into the seat (read 2/3's of the way down in the N.Y. Times report),
- New Songdo with a N. Y. Times article describing it. New Sondo is a complete community built from the ground up with ubiquitous computing devices.
- Mastercard Paypass 2005 which costs the consumer 25% more and which was poorly implemented,
- and more!

Adam's article on Institute for the Future with many of the same ideas as on the video above.

Bruce Schneier at the EFF Pioneer Awards

Another one of Esther Dyson's people snapped on March 27, 2007.

EFF Pioneer Awards
Press Release

Quote from the Press Release
"Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist acclaimed for his criticism and commentary on everything from network security to national security. His books -- including the highly influential "Secrets and Lies" and "Applied Cryptography" -- his monthly newsletter, and his security blog have reached hundreds of thousands of people with candid and lucid analysis of security issues. Schneier has often testified before Congress on security policy."

"Benkler, Doctorow, and Schneier were nominated by the public and then chosen by a panel of judges. This year's panel includes Kim Alexander (President and founder, California Voter Foundation), Esther Dyson (Internet court jester and blogger, Release 0.9; founding chairman of ICANN; former chairman of EFF), Mitch Kapor (Chair, Open Source Applications Foundation; co-founder and former chairman EFF), Drazen Pantic (Co-director, Location One), Barbara Simons (IBM Research [Retired] and former president ACM), James Tyre, (Co-founder, The Censorware Project; EFF policy fellow) and Jimmy Wales, (Founder, Wikipedia; co-founder, Wikia; chair emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation)."

Cory Doctorow

Another one of Esther Dyson's people snapped on March 27, 2007.

EFF Pioneer Awards
Press Release

Quote from the Press Release
"Cory Doctorow is an activist, writer, blogger, and public speaker about copyright, digital rights management, and electronic freedom. As a co-editor of the Boing Boing blog, he highlights critical technology issues for more than a million readers a day. Doctorow has lectured around the globe and has been nominated for Hugo and Nebula Awards for his science fiction. Doctorow is currently the Canadian Fulbright Chair at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. He was EFF's European Affairs Coordinator until December of 2005."

"Benkler, Doctorow, and Schneier were nominated by the public and then chosen by a panel of judges. This year's panel includes Kim Alexander (President and founder, California Voter Foundation), Esther Dyson (Internet court jester and blogger, Release 0.9; founding chairman of ICANN; former chairman of EFF), Mitch Kapor (Chair, Open Source Applications Foundation; co-founder and former chairman EFF), Drazen Pantic (Co-director, Location One), Barbara Simons (IBM Research [Retired] and former president ACM), James Tyre, (Co-founder, The Censorware Project; EFF policy fellow) and Jimmy Wales, (Founder, Wikipedia; co-founder, Wikia; chair emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation)."