Archive for June, 2001

Posted on June 27, 2001 - by deCadmus

Mediums Writ Large, Part III

[In which the author attempts some closure on this accidental essay--three parts released over two weeks? how rude!--and after which will bundle the whole mess up and place it in the articles section, where it rightly belongs.]

So what do we know about this medium–this Internet?

We know that there are three laws that govern the Internet, and none was penned by a legislator. The first of these is Moore’s Law–a nifty bit of insight offered by Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel. Moore’s Law states that every 18 months, processing power will double, while costs remain constant. It’s the principle on which Gordon Moore built his business, and it’s proved remarkably accurate. Moore’s law has been essential not only in terms of how it has driven innovation, but in how it’s made basic computing capability more affordable for a mass audience.

That brings us to the second law that governs the Internet. Metcalfe’s Law, offered by Bob Metcalfe–a guy who knows quite a lot about networks–he invented Ethernet, and founded 3Com. Metcalfe’s Law states that the utility of a network equals the square of the number of its users. Consider the computer you’re looking at now… Imagine it unplugged from the network. Alone. Isolated. It’s still a computer. You can run a spreadsheet, edit a document, play a game. But once you connect that computer to even just one more, the power of your own computer increases dramatically. You can now share those documents, or send messages to the other computer on your network. The utility of your computer continues to increase–geometrically–with each additional node that is introduced to your network.

And that brings us to the third law that governs the Internet. At a certain point–critical mass–the power of the computing network is so great that it extends beyond the realm of technology alone, and affects the social, economic and political worlds in which it operates. This is the Law of Disruption, described by Chunka Mui in Unleashing the Killer App. Between the accelerated curve of technological change and the incremental curve of human change there is a widening gap–a vacuum–and a vacuum is a powerful force. I believe that both the fundamental cause for that gap, and the vehicle that will fill it–the agent of change–are one and the same… the Internet.

And so we are where we began, with the birth of a new medium–the invention of a vehicle for communication that disrupts as it transforms. The effects of this particular medium will be especially powerful, and likely unusually disruptive. While other mediums have empowered the individual to communicate with the masses, to do so on a large scale has always required an intermediary–an art gallery, a publisher, a theatre or broadcast company. These are powerful organizations, groups that are rarely content merely to replicate a message, when they can edit and augment it as well.

The Internet, however, is inherently a many-to-many medium. Virtually anyone who has the ability to browse the web has the capability to publish on the web, without the services–or the editorial predilections–of any intermediary whatsoever. It’s interesting to imagine what might have transpired if Thug’s cave art were instantly transported to every cave that chose to tune in. Or if there had been a printing press in every kitchen.

It’s just as interesting to imagine where the Internet will lead us. I don’t claim to know. But I expect it’ll be a helluva ride.

Posted on June 27, 2001 - by deCadmus

Smart Tags?

Microsoft plans to introduce a new hyperlink widget in Internet Explorer on the Windows XP platform, expected to be released in October. I imagine you may have read quite a lot about these tags already. In case you haven’t, here’s a distilled version… The XP version of Internet Explorer automatically places “Smart Tags” on web pages you call into the browser window. These tags underline key words and phrases that have been identified by Microsoft, and link to sites that Microsoft believes you should be aware of. The Smart Tag links appear as wavy purple underlines, so they can be distinguished from the regular sort of links placed by the author of the material you’re viewing. Microsoft has released corresponding software development tools so that third party developers can also insert Smart Tags in your browser window–though you’d need to download tag libraries that weren’t produced by Microsoft and its partner companies.

As you might imagine, Microsoft’s critics are crying foul. As for me–once a Microsoft fan and now more or less ambivalent to Redmond–even I think this one smells. It’s bad enough to introduce yet another browser-dependant extension that flies an extended digit in the direction of the W3C [yet again]. In this case, Microsoft has gone far beyond exploiting a derivative of a proposed standard. Instead, Microsoft appears to be jockeying for editorial control of the entire Internet.

Does Microsoft–or anyone else–have the right to insert their editorial or “advertorial” viewpoint into web sites and documents that they do not own? Of course not. Whether or not editorial gerrymandering was ever the intent of the Smart Tag feature, it offers far too much opportunity for abuse to be released in its present form. Chris Kaminski has offered some great advice on making Smart Tag technology palatable to site owners. Frankly, I’d like to see more.

First, implement the W3C XML Linking Language [Xlink] proposal to provide more sophisticated link capabilities to site authors: technologies like two-way links and link descriptors which are, frankly, long overdue. Second, put your inestimable engineering talent to work providing users the ability to create local and remote hyperlinks, annotations and other private mark-ups on web pages they browse. Bookmarking [sorry, the Favorites folder] was a workable start, but it’s entirely inadequate to the task of connecting relevant dots between billions of available web pages.

Link technology has remained virtually unchanged–that is to say, underdeveloped–since the release of Mosaic. Updates to link technology should be squarely focused on improving the lot of the user. Not Microsoft. Not even the web site owner.

That, Mr. Gates, is where I want to go today.

Posted on June 25, 2001 - by deCadmus

Just another really great Central…

I’ve been spending a lot of time of late getting familiar with Central American coffees. Maybe too much time. I recently sprang for some of the recent Panama “Cup of Excellence” auction winner, Finca Lerida, and the best I can say about it is that it’s another really great Central American coffee. Zingy acidity. Clean cup. [Yawn.] I’ve got a shipment en route of the #8 place finisher, Finca Maunier, with hopes that it’s got more character.

I like the auction idea a lot… I can’t think of a better way to reward estates that try to produce a really great coffee. But if the judging is all about acidity, and not about flavor and complexity, I think we’re losing out on something.

By way of contrast, I’ve been awfully impressed with the Nicaragua La Illusion estate’s new crop. It’s a bright cup, but it’s got some real depth of character, too–some mysterious middle notes that are darkly pungent–and far more body than I’ve come to expect from a Central. Highly Recommended.

Posted on June 25, 2001 - by deCadmus

Chip

There is a chipmunk looking in my window. I think it’s watching television. Given that the tele is tuned to TechTV, does that suggest the critter’s name is Chip?

Posted on June 25, 2001 - by deCadmus

Mediums Writ Large, Part II

So what is this invention, this medium, that has evidently caused us fits throughout the ages? Is it a tool? A toy? A myth?

A medium is vehicle for communication. It’s a transport for the expression of ideas… a means for transmitting a message from the sender–the person who wants to express something–to an audience–those who might receive that message. This could be an audience of one, or an audience of thousands, or even millions.

Even as a medium transports a message, it also shapes it, and manifests in that message properties that are unique to that given medium. Likewise a medium lends the message its own limitations. The stark lines of a rock chip scratched against a cave wall, the gilded manuscripts of the thirteenth century, an analog broadcast beamed through the airwaves… each has its strengths and its limitations. To master a given medium it’s critical to learn what those strengths and limitations are. Which is precisely why the Internet–and in particular, the Web–is such a mess today.

It’s not immediately apparent how a new medium is best used. If our early cave artist was given a paintbrush would he paint a prehistoric Mona Lisa? More likely he’d try to use the handle to scratch on the walls. It’s no surprise, then, that early television broadcasts were little more than televised radio plays, or that today’s web sites try so hard to look like television screens with hyperlinks. We’ve got a new set of tools, but we’ve yet to master the techniques required for the medium. For that matter, we’re still trying to discover what they are.

Posted on June 20, 2001 - by deCadmus

Guatemala Huehuetenango, Asobagri Co-op, 2001 Crop

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My First Fair Trade Coffee

Guatemala is home to some really good coffees–clean, fragrant, and fruity. While the Antigua region garners the lion’s share of attention for their complexity, chocolate and spice flavors, Huehuetenango tends to produce some fruitier stuff.

Guatemala is also a place that has suffered more than its share of political problems. Coffee farmers here live hard lives, and low market prices have eaten into what little profit–if any–remains. The Fair Trade system provides family farmers and small co-ops with subsidized pricing, a network of buyers that are committed to maintaining equitable trade… sometimes micro-loans so that farmers don’t fall prey to “coyotes”–local middlemen with reputations for shoddy business practices. (more…)

Posted on June 13, 2001 - by deCadmus

Mediums Writ Large, Part I

When Thug the caveman first scrawled an image of himself on a wall of stone, we can imagine the prehistoric critics� �Arg! Ick dannae throg!� Which, roughly translated, imparts that the cave art lacked passion, and what�s more Thug would be better off spearing dinner. Little did the critics know that someday we might define the dawn of recorded history by Thug�s efforts.

When in the Middle Ages Gutenberg created the printing press, the voices of his critics echo still� �What�s the use! The people cannot read! And if they could they would not understand without us to tell them what it means!� Which suggests that Johannes� critics may have had some idea how the printed page would usurp their power, though even they could not know how profoundly it would change the world to come.

When Bell uttered his first words through his electrical speech machine, his critics were dumbfounded� �Who would you talk to? And won�t you disturb their dinner?!� True enough, dinner would never be the same. What�s more, dinner would never be the same wherever you might go, as one day everyone over the age of 12 would have a phone in his or her pocket.

When Zworykin patented his kinescope, his critics were confused� they argued amongst themselves whether the thrust of their criticism would be the tried and true �It�ll never work� or the more obscure �mid-season replacements will confuse your audience.� In either case, they surely couldn�t imagine a live broadcast of man taking his first steps on the moon, or Ally McBeal�s dancing baby.

When Berners-Lee made the Internet accessible to everyone, the critics on Wall Street were frantic. �Buy!� they screamed. And then, �Sell! Sell!� Which suggests that critics haven�t changed all that much through the ages� they still don�t understand the creation of a medium any more today than they understood it in Thug�s time. Or Gutenberg�s. Or Bell�s. Or Zworykin�s.

A medium has the capacity to not only change our thinking, but to change how we think� how we communicate, experience, and understand. And to tell the truth, we still don�t know what the implications of the Internet and the Web really are. This much is fairly certain, though� we�re not finished. We�re only just begun.

Posted on June 11, 2001 - by deCadmus

A Tarrazu Triple Play

I am — nearly every day — amazed by coffee. By its infinite variety, its complexity, its capability to surprise and delight… and all this within just a single growing region of the world, the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica.

There is a story to be told of the tempests that occur when people debate what is, and what is not Tarrazu. The short version is this — Tarrazu can at once be defined by the geo-political border that is Tarrazu county, by the ICAFE designation of what is a Tarrazu finca, and by the micro-climate that exists within a particularly mountainous region of Costa Rica that produces very hard coffee beans with distinctly spicy, aromatic qualities and bell-like brightness. I’m running with the latter of these three definitions, and I’m willing to let ICAFE and the SCAA sort out the rest.

With this in mind, I’ve assembled a number of Tarrazu coffees with the idea of formally cupping them to compare their characteristics — but I keep drinking them instead! It doesn’t help that I’ve had little time at the roaster recently — the lion’s share of what I roast lately is straight away ground and brewed. Even so I’ve managed to pull out the silver spoon long enough to jot down a few notes…

La Minita Estate
What can I say that hasn’t already been written a thousand times before, and more eloquently? La Minita, a pioneering estate run by Bill McAlpin — something of a organizational and horticultural wizard — year after year produces some of the very finest coffees in the world. Long before I was a fan of roasting my own coffee, I was a fan of La Minita.

At a light city roast it is richly aromatic and spicy. Its acidity is sparkling and clean. It’s layered with complex spice flavors… when I hit just the right spot in the roast it tastes something of apple pie with its fruity and savory notes. It’s still clean and refreshing as the coffee cools. If you like iced coffee, this is your cup.

That much said, it’s all too easy to destroy the unique characteristics of this super premium coffee. A moment or two of distraction is all it takes… anything beyond a City roast, and you might as well be drinking just about any other Central American coffee. Full City? Second crack? Fughetaboudit.

Dota “Conquistador”
Dota is a valley within Tarrazu some distance removed from many of the other growers. While still a Tarrazu coffee [and these days brokered by La Minita] it’s got its own personality. Not quite so fragrant as La Minita, not quite so bright either. It’s got a winey characteristic that fans of East African coffees will appreciate, with some fairly powerful bitter chocolate notes as well. While not a full-bodied coffee by most measures, it does have a surprisingly long, lush finish. I think if I were to cup it blind I’d think it more related to a Yemen than a Tarrazu.

Dota has a bit more range in terms of roasts… some heat after first crack will burn away some of the brighter notes and reinforce the chocolate. Still, go easy… this coffee shouldn’t stray too far from the City limits.

Tres Rios
The appellation for this coffee comes from Sweet Maria’s… Tom Owen says it was brokered as Holland Especial, and the name didn’t seem to fit. No matter, by any other name, this is one sweet coffee.

Tres Rios is not the product of a single Tarrazu finca, it’s a co-op blend of regional coffees. As such, there’s really no telling what next year might bring to the region… so get some of this fine stuff while you can. Not quite so bright as La Minita, but nearly as spicily aromatic, Tres Rios is another Tarrazu cup that’s brisk and clean right to the finish. Unlike the other Tarrazu’s compared here, Tres Rios is quite forgiving of the roaster, and can take a range of roasts from a very light City to a very deep Full City — and if you want to experiment with a deeper roast, this bean will take some heat.

At a City roast the Tres Rios reminds me very much of coffees from the Kona coast… it’s got something of that same “evergreen” quality to it — piney, balsamy, call it what you will — it’s a flavor that I thought was distinctive of Kona, and I couldn’t be more pleased to find something of it in a cup that costs less than half as much.

And there you have it… Three coffees from Tarrazu — one of the very best growing regions in the world — and each distinct in flavor and aroma. What traits do they share? They are each bright, clean coffees, and beautifully prepared. Maybe someday the Tarrazu appellation won’t matter so much… what counts, after all, is what’s found in the cup.

Posted on June 8, 2001 - by deCadmus

One of *those* people…

“Oh… you’re one of *those* people.”

I keep hearing that phrase. It inevitably pops up when I’m asked about what I do, and where I started out, and what a long, strange trip it’s been. One of *those* people, in this case, means somebody who thinks with both lobes… a left brain / right brain person. Artist / Architect. Thinker / Feeler.

I am an emotive analyst.

Posted on June 7, 2001 - by deCadmus

Another one bites the dust.

EEK! They do come in threes!

It appears that An Entirely Other Day has joined the land of the lost…