Sunday, July 14, 2019
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Why the 'Great Wave' has mystified art lovers for generations
From CNN by Dan Tham
A massive wave threatens to engulf three fishing boats, its foam crown extending like claws, menacing the rowers below.
It's an epic scene of human struggle and natural terror that dwarfs the sacred Mount Fuji just behind it.
This is "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and one of the world's most iconic pieces of Asian art.
If this climactic moment seems ubiquitous -- think T-shirts, coffee mugs, laptop decals -- that's because it was designed to be.
The artwork is considered a fine, if somewhat hackneyed, example of "ukiyo-e," a genre of mass-produced Japanese woodblock prints that displayed everything from theater announcements to the most salacious of erotica.
Ukiyo-e prints were cheap to produce and widely distributed in Edo (today's Tokyo) between the 17th and 19th centuries.
As many as 5,000 impressions were made from the original woodblocks for "The Great Wave.
" Back then, the prints were sold for the price of a bowl of noodles.
By the time "The Great Wave" made its debut, in around 1830, Japan was flirting with the idea of ending more than 200 years of isolationism.
The story of growing foreign influence is evident in Hokusai's masterpiece -- the rich shade of blue used in the prints was imported from Europe.
Prussian blue, as it's commonly known, was a synthetic color created in the 18th century and prized for its depth and durability.
That Hokusai employed the hue as the principal actor in his oceanic drama suggests that he was depicting Japan on the cusp of change.
As much as the wave portends instability and danger, it also suggests possibility and adventure.
'Essence' of Japan
Hokusai spent most of his life in the riverside district of Sumida, Tokyo, where he adopted at least 30 pseudonyms and, perhaps, just as many different styles.
"The Great Wave" was the first in his series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," a virtuosic study of Japan's highest and most revered mountain.
The term "aizuri-e" refers to woodblocks made predominantly from blue inks.
"Many people view the painting as the very essence of Japanese culture," says Atsuko Okuda, chief curator of the Sumida Hokusai Museum in Japan.
"The simple and powerful composition of the mountain and the shape of the wave strikes right at the heart of the observer."
Observers famously included French Impressionists Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, as well as Dutch master Vincent van Gogh, who was enamored with "The Great Wave."
They were not alone: In the 1860s, the proliferation of ukiyo-e in Europe led to an artistic fascination with Japan in the West, known as "Japonisme."
The bold colors and outlines found in Van Gogh's "Courtesan (after Eisen)" shows the influence of Japanese woodblock prints.
Credit: Courtesy Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam/Vincent van Gogh Foundation
Yet, the woodblock prints weren't considered art in Japanese society during the Edo period, according to Yukiko Takahashi, the sixth-generation owner of the Takahashi Kobo publishing house.
"At some point, ukiyo-e was brought to foreign countries," says Takahashi, whose family has been making ukiyo-e for more than 150 years.
"We Japanese didn't realize how wonderful they were, because we took them for granted in our daily lives."
An endangered art
At Takahashi's workshop, craftsman Noriyasu Soda works on a replica of Hokusai's "Great Wave.
" He first dampens the "washi" paper, before applying paint and a small amount of rice glue to the woodblock to ensure that the colors stick.
Each side of any given block represents a different color that will be layered into the ukiyo-e.
This piece alone requires a black outline, various blues for the water, and shades of yellow and pink for the sky.
The process is painstaking and demands utmost precision.
Takahashi says it takes about a decade to become a true ukiyo-e "shokunin," or master craftsman, and that there are only 25 left in Tokyo today.
"We have to succeed in passing down this wonderful technique of ukiyo-e woodblock prints," she says.
"The craftsmen involved in this work are trying their best to teach these skills to the next generation."
The Great Plastic Wave Illustration
A reimagined version of Hokusai’s - ‘The Great Wave’ by Nic Mac, illustrative response to the issues regarding the record levels of Plastic in our oceans.
Links :
Friday, July 12, 2019
Is 5G a reality for Superyachts in 2019
From SuperYachtTechnology
5G is set to be ‘mainstream’ by 2019.
But what does 5G mean for superyachts?
5G has for a long time seemed like something far away in our technological future, often talked about but never given serious clout in the present.
Despite the excitement surrounding it, when predictions of 5G delivery were made there were seen as premature and unrealistic.
In a 2016 interview Richard McLaughlin, cofounder of marine WiFi solutions business Aigean Networks expressed how he had been convinced by claims of early 5G plans only for reality to fall short.
“I wasn’t sure Wi-Fi was going to be where it was at with 5G data plans coming along.
I was proven wrong.
Cellular hasn’t rolled out the big speed increases they’ve been promising.
They’re always a few years away,” he said.
Yachts spend over 80% of their time inshore
Now however, 5G is very much on its way and the possibilities it will bring seem to be endless.
At Qualcomm’s 2018 CES press conference, the company predicted that 2019 will be the year that 5G becomes mainstream for mobile (though others say 2020).
These bold claims are substantiated by the fact that the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an organisation which works to provide complete system specifications for cellular telecommunications network technologies, finalised its first 5G specs late last year.
Members of the 3GPP approved the suggested Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) specification, meaning commercial vendors now have the necessary guidelines from which they can start building products.
Director of technical marketing at Qualcomm Matt Branda backed this sentiment, saying: “This is really the step that enables vendors to start building equipment.”
The Standalone (SA) version, which will define the full user and control plane capability for 5G NR using the new 5G core network architecture, is due for completion in June.
3GPP have by no means been the only body committing resources and conducting in-depth research into 5G.
Various research bodies have looked into 5G and how it will affect different industries; NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks, which claims it has shaped the industry of wireless communication for the past 12 years) and GSMA (an organisation representing the interests of mobile operators worldwide) have both published papers on the topic.
In GSMA’s research paper, titled The 5G era: Age of boundless connectivity and intelligent automation, it recommends the new technology as “an opportunity for operators to move beyond connectivity and collaborate across sectors such as finance, transport, retail and health to deliver new, rich services.”
But what about the marine sector, barely mentioned in these papers?
How quickly will the 5G revolution benefit our superyachts?
An UAV connected in 5G, flying over the world's leading yachting market in Monaco
see gouv.mc
When Superyacht Technology News contacted the GSMA to enquire about our industry, a representative said that its 5G specialists were not aware of any specific examples of how 5G connectivity would profit the maritime sector.
This is not to say that it won’t.
NGMN’s White Paper emphasises the importance of good-quality broadband access being available everywhere, surely including the remote locations frequented by yachts.
The authors describe how with 5G, the entire world’s internet expectations will be allowed to grow.
The minimum user data rate (expected at between 50 and 100 Mbps) will be delivered consistently across coverage areas, even at cell edges where speeds would have previously dropped.
This should allow superyachts to access these higher speeds for longer.
The NGMN White Paper also states how 5G is expected to be deployed for ultra-low-cost requirements, meaning coverage areas will be expanded to include underserved and underdeveloped areas.
This will surely mean that cheaper data plans will be available for yachts in previously unattainable places.
Although there seem to have been no 5G sea trials to date, in September last year Tallink, Telia, Ericsson and Intel announced the first public, live 5G network in Europe at the Port of Tallinn, Estonia.
This trial aimed to deliver 5G connectivity to the commercial passenger cruise ships and their passengers while in port.
Each Tallink cruise ship can carry as many as 2,000 passengers, so from the perspective of area to cover and number of devices onboard, superyachts have nothing on them.
With 5G connected to the on-ship WiFi network, those onboard the vessels could use this high-speed Internet connection during mooring and departure.
This solution used Ericsson’s 5G antenna integrated radio and baseband in conjunction with the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform to transfer passenger data traffic along with data from the ship’s own information and communications systems to a millimetre wave, extending Telia’s mobile network to 5G.
So, it’s clear that achieving this level of connectivity would necessitate an infrastructure upgrade on most yachts.
As Dermot Crotty, Sales Manager at e3 Systems France & Italy joked, “Most yachts’ IT structures can’t support 4G speeds, never mind 5G!”
This kind of refit would no doubt be costly and time-consuming, but the long-term benefits would be worth it.
The Port of Hamburg is the testing ground for 5G, the next generation mobile standard that is set to transform communications.
After six months of preparation the project partners - Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Deutsche Telekom and Nokia - have now launched a testbed that stretches across some 8,000 hectares of port area. 5G is seen as the communication standard of the future.
It is an entirely new network concept that combines terrestrial and mobile networks.
The testbed in the Port of Hamburg has primarily been set up to test 5G applications in an industrial environment.
The 5G trial programme in the Port of Hamburg forms part of a two-year research project.
Earlier this month, Deutsche Telekom, Nokia and the Hamburg Port Authority also announced that they will commence 5G testing in the busy Port of Hamburg.
As a major logistics hub but also a tourist attraction, the port will test a variety of use cases that place very different demands onto a 5G network.
The Port Authority wants to use 5G to manage traffic lights within the port area, as well as collecting and processing environmental measurement data in real-time.
Virtual reality applications will also be applied to monitor critical infrastructure such as water gates and construction areas to ensure safety in the port.
However, there are no reported plans to test it on the boats moored there.
Team New Zealand to use augmented reality, 5G during America's Cup
These port trials seem like they could be the gateway to future sea trials.
From a superyacht industry perspective, we certainly hope so.
After all, the potential damage caused to the industry if 5G does not develop at a similar speed within yachting could be serious.
It is likely that the difference between communicating on land and at sea would discourage a new generation from becoming owners, dampen the fun of the guests looking to charter out these superyachts and make working on a yacht a whole lot less appealing, with our dependence on and demand for connectivity on an upward spiral that shows no sign of stopping.
Luckily the superyacht sector is typically an early adopter of new technology, and with the sheer amount of money in the industry it tends to be true that when there is a will, there is a way.
It will be a challenge, but if ferries of 2,000 passengers a piece can achieve 5G connectivity then who is to say we can’t?
The pressure is on.
Links :
- MarketingWeek : 5G is the latest hot topic on the bullsh*t roadshow
- VentureBeat : In the 5G era, spectrum sharing is key to cellular and Wi-Fi growth
- BusinessWire : OceanAlpha’s 5G Unmanned Ship Unveiled at Mobile World Congress
- E3S : Islander March 16 Technology Update – 3G/4G/5G – Data Roaming – iPhone boom over?
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Amazon asks FCC for approval of Project Kuiper broadband satellite operation
Amazon began simply with the task of selling books over the internet.
Yet, CEO Jeff Bezos never intended to stop there and in the past 25 years to the present day the company has expanded its aspirations to cover novel concepts such as drone-based deliveries and flying warehouses.
Now, according to recent reports spotted by Geek Wire, Amazon intends to release a constellation of 3,236 satellites into low-Earth orbit to provide internet access to underserved communities around the planet.
Digital Trends reports that the filings, for what Amazon terms “Project Kuiper,” were made with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency within the United Nations that is responsible for issues including satellite orbits.
According to an Amazon spokesperson: “Project Kuiper is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet. "
From Geekwire by Alan Boyle & Taylor Soper
Amazon is asking the Federal Communications Commission for approval of its Project Kuiper satellite broadband venture, and referring to potential synergies with Amazon Web Services as a strong selling point.
GeekWire first reported news of Project Kuiper in April, when Amazon revealed plans to put more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit for global broadband coverage.
That revelation was contained in documents that were filed with the International Telecommunication Union.
On Thursday, Amazon’s wholly owned Kuiper Systems subsidiary followed up with a fresh set of FCC filings.
Satellites could extend cloud computing to the final frontier.
"The Kuiper System covers the area between 56°N and 56°S latitudes," the Amazon subsidiary told the FCC. "Accordingly, customers throughout [the] continental US, Hawaii, and all US territories will have access to Kuiper System services. So too will customers in many other countries within the coverage area. The Kuiper System will not provide FSS [fixed-satellite service] in the majority of Alaska, however, because the state's high latitude is outside of the coverage area."
Amazon is the latest in a string of companies with plans to use a network of thousands of satellites to offer broadband around the world.
Amazon is the latest in a string of companies with plans to use a network of thousands of satellites to offer broadband around the world.
Unlike traditional satellite internet, these plans involve the use of satellites in low Earth orbit, which can be operated cheaply and with lower latencies. SpaceX has plans to launch as many as 12,000 satellites as part of its Starlink constellation, OneWeb wants to launch 650 satellites, and Facebook is also developing an internet satellite of its own.
Lockheed Martin illustration
The filings confirm that the project would consist of 3,236 satellites in 98 orbital planes, at altitudes ranging between 366 and 391 miles (590 and 630 kilometers).
“Amazon’s mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, and the Kuiper System is one of our ambitious projects to fulfill this mission,” the application reads.
“The Kuiper System will deliver satellite broadband communications services to tens of millions of unserved and underserved consumers and businesses in the United States and around the globe.”
In the filings, Kuiper Systems cites studies showing that 3.8 billion people around the world lack reliable broadband service, and that 21.3 million Americans don’t have access to fixed broadband.
Last month, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos emphasized the rationale for the risky project during a fireside chat at the company’s Amazon’s inaugural re:MARS conference.
“The goal here is broadband everywhere,” Bezos said.
Kuiper Systems’ application says the satellite system would take advantage of the Seattle tech giant’s expertise in providing consumer services, as well as the ground-based infrastructure that’s been built for Amazon Web Services:
“Amazon sells products and services to hundreds of millions of customers today via physical and online stores, entertainment content streaming, design and manufacturing of consumer electronics devices, and leading public cloud computing web services.
Amazon also has global terrestrial networking and compute infrastructure required for the Kuiper System, including intercontinental fiber links, data centers, compute/edge compute capabilities and the tools, techniques, and know-how to securely and efficiently transport data.”
The application says “Amazon will leverage its resources and capabilities to develop, implement and interconnect the Kuiper System and terrestrial networks to delight customers.”
Such statements seem to suggest links between Kuiper and other lines of business ranging from online sales to cloud services and video streaming.
Other companies besides Amazon have big satellite ambitions as well: SpaceX, for example, has begun deploying satellites in low Earth orbit, or LEO, for its Starlink broadband constellation.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that the revenue from Starlink could amount to $30 billion or more annually.
OneWeb, Telesat and LeoSat Technologies also have plans for providing broadband via LEO satellites.
That’s led some experts to wonder how many mega-constellations the world needs, and how many satellites the night sky can handle.
In fact, the FCC filings acknowledge that Project Kuiper’s satellites would have to play nice with other companies’ satellites when it comes to sharing broadcast spectrum and avoiding interference.
Kuiper intends to use Ka-band radio frequencies, including a part of the spectrum that Iridium is already using for its next-generation telecom satellite constellation.
Kuiper Systems’ filings note that the FCC has laid out procedures for different companies to share spectrum, and so the venture is seeking waivers from the agency to proceed with systems and procedures that would address interference concerns.
It’s also seeking a waiver from an FCC requirement to serve all of the United States and its territories, on the grounds that parts of Alaska are too far north to get satellite reception from Kuiper’s constellation.
In its technical analysis, Kuiper Systems says it can start offering satellite broadband service once it finishes the first of five phases of deployment by putting 578 satellites in their proper orbits.
Like SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, Kuiper’s satellites would be launched into lower orbits at first, and then have those orbits raised once they’re checked out.
The filings don’t go into detail about Project Kuiper’s satellite design, but they do say the spacecraft would use phased-array antennas to produce “steerable and shapeable” beams.
The satellites would use an “unpressurized, non-explosive propellant” for safety’s sake.
And to address concerns about orbital debris, the satellites would be designed to deorbit themselves in less than 10 years, even if they fall out of contact with ground controllers.
There’s no mention of when Kuiper’s satellites would be launched, or which company would launch them.
Bezos’ privately held space venture, Blue Origin, could conceivably take on the job — but that could get tricky, because publicly traded Amazon would have to guard against conflicts of interest.
The filings confirm that Rajeev Badyal, the satellite engineer who once led SpaceX’s Starlink effort but was reportedly fired last year, is the president and manager of Kuiper Systems.
And although most of the jobs listed for Project Kuiper are in Bellevue, Wash., the headquarters for Kuiper Systems is listed as 410 Terry Ave. N. in Seattle’s South Lake Union district — which is Amazon’s headquarters building.
Links :
- MIT Technology reviews : The number of satellites orbiting Earth could quintuple in the next decade
- Geekwire : Lockheed Martin joins the discussion about cloud computing services in space
- Gizmodo : Keeping Up With SpaceX, Amazon Seeks to Launch More Than 3,200 Internet Satellites / Earth's Low Orbit Needs Legal Protection Before It Becomes a Cosmic Junkyard
- Arstechnica : Amazon plans nationwide broadband—with both home and mobile service
- The Verge : Amazon will launch thousands of satellites to provide internet around the world
- Space : Amazon Planning 3,236-Satellite Constellation for Internet Connectivity
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