Arthur C. Clarke The Godfather of Satellites. "An 'artificial satellite' at the correct distance from Earth would make one revolution every 24 hours, i.e. it would remain stationary above the same spot and within optical range of nearly half the earth's surface...(this) could give television and microwave coverage to the entire planet" Wireless World, February 1945 Seen the movie'2001: A Space Odyssey', but haven't read the Book(s)? Don't worry, you've probably encountered more of Dr. Arthur C. Clarke, CBE than you realize. In many ways, Clarke has played the role of catalyst ... with much more verve than as either just a writer or scientist. As Oscar Wilde said "It is personalities, not principles that move the age" Long before that famous opening scene of 'the black monolith rising amidst the primordial consciousness' captured the imagination of an era on celluloid, and way before the young RAF man from Minehead, Somerset was propelled to international fame as the worlds most respected and prolific science fiction writer, author of over seventy books - Clarke had postulated a theory, which would baptize him into History. Forty years ago - in the midst of war. While operating the prototype GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) radar during the Battle of the Atlantic, a 28 year old Clarke envisaged that rockets could reach orbital velocities, carrying instrumental payloads as opposed to weapons of destruction. This vision, for which he received the Eighth Marconi International Fellowship Award, sent shock waves into the future that we are still coming to terms with, for it pre-empted, by several decades, the reality of the modern communication satellites (COMSAT's) that we now take for granted. Satellites are beaming the very Future closer. Not just in terms of communications, meteorology, navigation and surveilance as well as the countless other ideas whose development has been accelerated, aided no less by the phenomenal rise in information sharing , but also in terms of how people are viewing themselves and others on this Blue Planet. In this mileau, NetSurfers may proudly claim they are riding the frontier crests of the Information Revolution, but its building, converging currents (the least of which is already evolving before our eyes -the mass consumption of densely complex yet smoothly sophisticated clusters of information via dial-up virtual-reality retailers) will soon engulf us all. For better or for worse everyone will be caught up in the rising tide. Is it any easier for Clarke than it is for the rest of us? I recently (1995) visited Dr Clarke in his high-tech oasis on the tropical island of Sri Lanka, his home since 1956, which by uncanny virtue of being the most stable point in the earth's gravitational field, has attracted miles above him, circling in a salutary halo, the debris of countless senescent satellites. Sri Lanka and Clarke; a mutual seduction. He is well liked. From the Jazz Club to The Otters, people smile when you mention his name. The first non-citizen to be granted the status of 'Resident Guest', Clarke, a regular contributor, is respectfully introduced in the local press with the sanscrit title of Vidya Jyothi; one who is well versed in science. Despite being affected by post-polio syndrome, the 76 year 'young' author still manages a ten hour work day with the assistance of seven secretaries in three continents, plays a mean game of table-tennis, scans the equatorial skies on clear nights with a 14Ó telescope, and has recently, via the country's first videophone, given satellite interviews to Japanese Newsweek and WIRED magazine . "I recently dived 100 feet, five miles out at sea. Man's will is immense, if only he chooses to use it" I spoke to him to find out what the famous futurist had to say about ... Telecommuting and the Net His Forthcoming books Teledesic Cold Fusion Political & Moral censorship on the Data Highway Telecommuting The journey to Dr Clarke's takes one along lush tree-lined avenues deep into the diplomatic enclave of the nations capital, Colombo. The Ambassador of the Future's residence is landmarked apart from the other consulates and embassies by the 'more than usual' cluster of skyward dishes. Upstairs, past the giant lunar photograph of the blue -distant earth that greets all his visitors, his aquarium-sombre Jeeves-like secretaries, and a celebration of assorted technological debris, I find myself in a spacious book lined room. "Who doesn't, if they can, work from home these days? was Clarke's response to a tentatively general query on the future of telecommuting. Dressed in traditional sarong, mid-Atlantic accent and stateless demeanor, Clarke is, as only a British eccentric can be, uniquely at home with himself - that in itself takes a little getting used to - Interviewing a man where he lives. And works. Working from home suits him. Satellites, fibre-optics and personal computers really have set the scene for private global telecommuting. Clarke isn't further than a phone call to anyone. Anywhere. Even from Sri Lanka. If there were ever to be an advertisement for telecommuting, then Clarke's lifestyle would have to be it. After all, he was among the first to imagine it as a possibility. On his desk for example, the first thing one notices is a small, prematurely antiqued-by-humidity, AT&T videophone, reputedly the first in Sri Lanka. Telecommuting Heaven. The room literally hummed with understated technologies, here the latest Hewlett-Packard sent for a test drive, sandwiched between slabs of larger books, there a die-sublimation printer murmering Postscript behind an Atlas. Clarke obviously likes his technology to know its place - as tools, not sacred artifacts with polished whiz taking up centre-desk. Thinking he would extol the virtues of modems, I launched into the predictable InterNet questions, only to have all my assumptions short-circuited. While acknowledging the advantages of data communication for those frequent correspondence situations such as necessitated for a book or movie, Clarke, well aware of the impact his comment would make, casually intimated that he'd long since thrown his modulator/demodulator out the window. Out the window? "I've avoided E-mail like the plague, I've seen the samples of it and those hideous addresses (protocols) are enough to put anybody body off." Dr Clarke was equally laconic about the InterNet, "I've never been plugged into it, so to me it's just a huge amorphous monstrosity that I'm scared stiff of" When asked why, and I felt I should for after all here was the Godfather of Satellites, turning his back on the greatest Network of networks... he smiled and answered "I see you've quoted Wilde here in the introduction, so I will quote him again... "I can resist everything but temptation" ... I'm afraid that if I got plugged into the InterNet, that's the last anybody would see of me." Seeing my drowning recognition, (I felt like I had struck out, that I had frivolously disturbed the great man...all my questions were about the Net ..I could see my interview fast disappearing, in fact just moments before he had even announced his intention to take a short nap) but he continued.. "How often have you received a press clipping and found the article on the back much more interesting - that's what the InterNet is to me, (an endless chase) you find things you didn't even know you wanted" Too true. In more ways than one. Recalling that Pepsi, his dimiutive canine companion, had refrained from barking at me (presumably a case of 'any friend of Pepsi's is a friend of mine') Clarke granted me a series of private interviews. A series. And the InterNet? At the end of the day he just doesnÕt like to go on-line. It's that simple. It's personal. That doesn't mean though, that Clarke has turned his back on data communications. His very name has acted as a catalyst in promoting, along with other related technologies, local e-mail. A case in point. The Arthur C Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies, established in Sri Lanka through an Act of Parliament and the assistance of UNESCO, was instrumental in introducing the Mallard point to point PC-independent mailbox, a low-cost modem technology designed with typical third world telecom conditions in mind. Where line quality is often poor due to antiquated switching systems or the humming of overhead copper wires, error free transmission is of a higher priority than speed. And that's exactly what Martin Allard, a Somerset colleague of Clarke's took into account. "Because the mailboxs work independently of PC's," said A Kularatna, the Centre's principal research engineer, "They are able to automatically answer and store messages directly, instead of having to receive them from a remote server." In other words the Mallard offers a system of decentralized, point to point communication that not only ensures data security, but does away with unecessary and expensive subscription and on-line charges for gateway access and related network services. A spectacular feature, especially when, as in most cases, the country concerned doesn't even have a network. Maybe a lesson here for other developing countries? Undoubtedly. While The Dataphile was in Sri Lanka, TOOL (Technologie Overdracht Ontwikkelings Landen) a NGO (non-governmental organization) from the Netherlands, was busy installing an even newer e-mail facility at the AC Centre. The TAP (ToolNet Access Point) node which when implemented later this month will provide local users with an InterNet Address, is part of a network established in November just last year, but which already boasts a membership file of over 250 organizations in seven countries. "We aim to provide a multi-lingual development aid research and referral service,Ó said Jan-Hans Scheen, TOOL director Òsuch that, for example, a Spanish ethno-botanist would be able to channel his enquires through us and receive the best possible feedback, either from other Spanish speakers half-way across the world in Brazil, or via our transalation facilities, and perhaps, even encounter a kindred spirit he should have know about all along" Apart from acting as a focus for technology, involved as it is in a number of other projects outside the scope of this article, the AC Centre located near the Universitiy of Moratuwa of which Clarke is Chancellor, is also an archivists dream. The history of Space exploration, satellite communication and imaging, not to mention Clarke's own illustrious career are well documented. For those travellers wishing to drop in; an added bonus, no tourists. yet. But none of this has much to do with the Clarke of 1994, the universities, societies, awards and organizations only borrow credence from his name. The real action is in the man, and the man is sadly, growing old. Great bursts of energy and enthusiastic speech are regularly interspersed with sudden emphatic assertions that he is exhausted and must lie down. Immediately. In those moments, it's easy to think one has bored him to death. His pallor is frightening. His slurred speech gravels dangerously close to that dirty, dirty word Ôsenility'. But it isn't age speaking, its the burden that would have felled the spirit of a lesser man; the debilitating post-polio syndrome, contracted in Japan. Bringing him down. Then like a power surge, he is back outlining his two forthcoming books. The Snows of Olympus, describing the colonization of Mars, and The Colours of Infinity, a collection of Essays. His various book introductions, such as for GG Simpson's novella The Exploration of Time. His ongoing documentaries, such as the 26 part ACC's Mysterious Universe for The Discovery Channel and Yorkshire Television. Oh, and did I mention the video greetings for the Lowell Observatory Centennial and the forty other projects. Unlike the malfunctioning HAL, it is Clarke's lucidity which is unnerving. One gets the impression that while his body falters, his mind is working overtime plucking and stitching together the thoughts of those around him, to have them sewn-up, ready as embroirderd pronouncements before they can even phrase their questions. Any question. Fast. When he surfaces, you feel like cheering. A physiotherapist shows up daily for rehabilitation work, and in the afternoon Clarke naps for an hour or two in the adjacent spartan bedroom. Time is short and he works hard. The Greening of Mars So it should come as no surprise why Clarke has shied away from allowing e-mail to further add to the flood of letters and faxs he receives each day. He has been busy gardening. On Mars. Using Vista Pro, a virtual reality programme invented by, in ClarkeÕs own words, 'a young genius' John Hinkly, Clarke has been busy generating photographic-quality images of Mars from digitized contour maps courtesy of NASAÕs intrepid space probe, Viking. In particular, what Olympus, the famous six hundred kilometre wide volcano would look like in the event of colonization. The pictorial work is for his forthcoming book, The Snows of olympus A Garden on Mars. Clarke was so impressed with the possibilities of Vista Pro, that he had Hinkley flown out from California to personally install and demonstrate the system. Bill and Craig's excellent Idea _ A Necklace of Satellites. The big news in civilian satellites has long been MotorolaÕs 66 satellite communication system Iridium, designed to provide roving international cellular phone services. Recently Bill Gates of MicroSoft and Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular Communications announced their own ambitious 840 satellite system Teledesic. Yes, 840! The dynamic duo have already each invested $5million on the venture that seeks as customers large institutions such as hospitals, government agencies and universities. Orbiting along 21 different paths and covering 95% of the earth, Teledesic, if it ever get off the ground, is set to link computer users all over the world. Skeptics, and Dr Clarke is one of them, say that if it weren't for the personalities involved, the project would have been laughed out of the boardroom. In seconds. "I think it's absolutely crazy" dismissed Clarke, referring to the following paragraph from BSI "The collision risk for satellites operating in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) have been determined....The risk is greatest for satellites in near polar orbits... ultimately, the LEO altitude regime may become inaccessable to operational satellites" and then dryly "though they may be able to get away with it; they have (planned) so many satellites, they can well afford an enormous (rate of) redundancy". Presumably, Bill and Craig wouldn't like to think of their satellites as being disposable! Martin and Stanleys Miracle Cure Pointing to the Premier issue of Wayne Green's (of BYTE fame) much awaited publication Cold Fusion, Clarke said "That, that is the end of the world as we know it." The Cold Fusion phenomenon, first brought to world attention by Pons and Fleischmann, promises abundant. non-polluting and inexpensive power. Since their announcement on March 1989, the yet unexplained energy producing phenomenon that occurs when ordinary hydrogen and and a special form of hydrogen called deuterium are brought together with metals such as palladium, titanium and nickel has generated world wide skeptism and interest. Both hydrogen and deuterium are abundant in ordinary water - so the process, if and when developed commercially is likely to end the world's energy concerns. Whether it is as plausible as Bill and Craig's excellent idea remains to be seen. "I don't think anybody can reasonable doubt (its veracity)," said Clarke after watching the latest BBC Horizon programme. "There has been a breakthrough, MIT's own technology review(which has been traditionally biased towards hot fusion) has just published a pro-cold fusion piece" Political Moral Censorsip on the Data Highway As early as the fifties, Clarke had made the observation that satellites could and most probably would be recruited to convey undesirable information. "Living as I do in the Far East, I am constantly reminded of the struggle between the western world and the USSR for the uncommitted millions in Asia..... When TV transmissions become possible via satellite, the propaganda effect may be decisive.".. The Next Ten Years in Space, 1959-69 (House of Representatives Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration, 86th Congress) More recently in 'How the World was One' 1992, he identified two new threats; pornography and televangelism. "In excess" warned Clarke "the first can destroy the soul - the second the mind." Whatever one's sensibilities, one has to acknowledge that there is a plethora of information in the public domain encouraging patterns of behavior and reinforcing paradigms (ways of looking and experiencing) that are not only disempowering but socially and environmentally suspect. It is now possible for example, for the Pope, whom Clarke has been quoted as describing on the BBC as the "Most Dangerous Man in the World" to exhort his irresponsible dogma to an Africa at the mercy of AIDS, poverty and over-population, more efficiently. Satellites, unlike some clergymen, convey asinine messages obediently and indiscriminately. They are not about to be asked to wear condoms for anybody's protection. Whether it be the word according to Saatchi & Saatchi or CNN, satellites will impregnate the minds of millions. Their progeny will be the infantalized icons of modernity writ large across the face of this Big Blue Planet - Coca Cola Consciousness; Commodity Fetishism, the Glib Plastic Aesthetic - The New World Order. name your poison. You, Dr Clarke, and myself may be ready for this flood of information, but is the rest of the world? It's not just a personal question; how well other peoples adapt will soon become a global issue, say anthropologists and social historians who see Satellite television as having an unprecedented and questionable impact on millions of rural people, especially in China and India-the world's most populous, volatile and environmentally exhausted nations. Such a reaction, Clarke had countered in How The World Was One, 1992, "is typical of those who come from developed (or overdeveloped) countries, and who accept libraries, telephones, cinemas, radio, TV, as part of their daily lives. A fat man preaching the virtues of abstemiousness to the hungry would deserve an equally sympathetic hearing." But then privately, in a quiet moment, perhaps feeling he needed to differentiate between his public pronouncements and his private view "I am worried about this, that civilization will collapse under the sheer weight of information pollution, and the world described in science fiction magazines where everybody just sort of lies in a glass coffins, plugged in permanently to entertainment or whatever... his voice trails. And then the Clarke's tenacious optimism having to assert itself "But, the point is, who will change the light bulbs?" Debate about the 'suitability' of 'laissez faire' TV, however, is ultimately futile, for the Global Information Revolution of Satellite Communication and its attendant ramifications are an inevitable and irrevocable consequence of Global Development. There are other modern notions, like the concepts of disposability and 'the implicit right to pollute', germinated from that much promised, double-edged Industrial Revolution of 'mass production', that we or rather the lungs and diets of our children, similarly, cannot turn back from. For better or for worse. There is much good and much that is bad associated with Technological Progress. Some personalities and cultures respond better to change, some unfortunately don't. To be exposed to information is one thing, to select wisely and act upon it, another. The difference is in a matter of degrees, and contingent on an individuals strength of character. But that's a non sequitur, respond the critics and doomsayers, who prefer to focus on the rise of 'information pollution', rather than man's response to it, which is not surprising for is anyone really prepared to comment on ones faith in human nature? Well yes. In a recent Washington Post interview, Clarke declared that it was his faith in humankind's collective resilience that had shaped his writing for decades. With his body failing him, the world unravelling unimagined horrors as it races on around him, that faith is been sorely tested "The best we can hope for, he said quoting the poet Robert Bridges "is the masterful administration of the unforeseen" Ride the whirlwind. Either way, to paraphrase Dr Clarke, despite being inexorably linked there is an important difference between the 'threat of TV' and the 'promise of satellites'. Satellites add value to televisions, in much the same way as modems add value to computers. They open up the world, but they do not ensure quality of content. Admittedly, access to just one extra ÔqualityÕ channel can dramatically change the nature of TV viewing. Consider the French Canal+Plus, the Australian SBS, the BBC etc... This is especially true in the context of repressive regimes. Although sometimes a regime is not so much repressive, as it is concerned with the symbolic invasion of its airspace. With regard to the cessation of the BBC on the northern beam, a move attributed to political pressure from Mainland China, Clarke offered with a chuckle that "Perhaps some very clever Chinese bureaucrats who want to open up China had suggested that satellite dishes be banned, so that more people would view them (international feeds)" Whether satellites will influence human nature for the better by facilitating sophisticated communications, is another matter. Mere knowledge cannot impersonate wisdom, but with a good heart it can be one step along the way. "I am an optimist" Dr Clarke has always maintained in his writings "Anyone interested in the future has to be, otherwise he would simply shoot himself."
	Background Mr Hanibelsz' last formal appointment was as Senior Writer for PCMarket - a Technology supplement to both the Sing Tao Daily and the Hong Kong Standard newspapers with an independent distribution of over 80,000 - a position which he left shortly thereafter in order to devote his full energies towards managing Esanam East Asia, a research firm specializing in short-turnaround investigative projects in the Asia Pacific region. An Australian citizen, of Sri Lankan/Burgher origin, Mr. Hanibelsz has lived and studied in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), Manama (Bahrain), Karachi (Pakistan), Singapore and Melbourne (Australia) before settling in Hong Kong. He has undertaken Projects as far afield as San Francisco, Kerala (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Hakone (Japan), Singapore, Boracoy (Philippines), Malacca (Malaysia), Beijing, and Jakarta. Hobbies include: hiking, photography, cooking, immersion in other cultures, tabla, sketching and JOY. Mission Statement This company was formed in response to the psychology of large organizations - those faceless companies where mediocrity and image are rewarded over substance and effort. I've seen how smaller clients, employees and subcontractors are treated in an environment where only a few take responsibility for their actions. Where common sense is subverted by corporate policy. I believe no one should be allowed to buy your imagination only to subvert it. I believe you can't change the world - human nature being what it is - but you can evolve, take pride in your work, and make your own immediate world - work, family, friends - a better place. A human space. Work Smart, Live Clean, Love Hard. ..... and the rest will follow Cover Page Stories Hongkonglife - Sunday Magazine supplement to the Hongkong Standard "Fantasies in Fiber - Cotton Vs Polyester" "Crimes of Fashion - An Expensive way to Die" "Shaking the Bamboo Curtain - Home is not where the Heart is" PC Market - Technology supplement "Green Computing - The Solar Solution" "Digital Expressionism - On the Road in Hong Kong" "Screen Special" Dataphile - Online Access in Asia "Rendezvous with Arthur C. Clarke" Nedlloyd Word - Corporate Publication "Emerging China" Back to the Begining Company Description | Regional Network | Strategic Alliances | Recent Projects | Membership Details | Contact | Tel: +[852] 2609-2017 **-** Fax: +[852] 2603-4166