Saturday, August 21, 2010
HUMOUR:
THE ULTIMATE END OF OUTSOURCING:
Either laugh of cry...it's real. There's a huge industry in China made up of people who play games all day to gather imaginary "gold" for online games. Something about "world", "hell" and "handbasket". Reality moves far ahead of satire.
Labels: cartoons, computer games, humour, internet, jokes, wierd stuff
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
PERSONAL
HERE AT MOLLY'S BLOG:
Molly has a confession to make. I was a murderous little kid. Of course a lot of my detractors knew this all along. Back where I grew up in rural Saskatchewan it was considered something of a patriotic duty to wage perpetual and unrelenting war against the gophers and crows. I did my part, though I have to admit that other kids outdid me in sadistic ways to dispose of the cs and gs. What I specialized in was the eternal war against the insects. Well the crawling ones anyways. Most of the flying ones were exempt. I actually liked them.
One of the residues of my childhood is what may be an unreasonable attachment to spiders. To this day, even as I enter into the first stage of my dotage, I get upset when I see someone kill a spider, and I do my best to plead for their lives. If I find a spider in an less than advantageous place I carry him or her to a place where it is likely to find prey. We were always on the same side after all.
This is a meandering way of explaining why I don't set up this blog so that commentators have to sign in via a code to post here. My "liberalism" here means that Molly's Blog gets more than its fair share of spam comments. Well....I love them. Every once in awhile I sweep through the old posts and amuse myself by killing these bugs ie deleting them. The fools usually make my task quite easy by "building nests" ie they will post dozens of comments on one blog post. To an unreformed insect killer this is like stumbling on the pot of gold. Kill, kill, kill with minimal effort.
Thank you spammers. You help me relive the "innocence" of childhood.
Labels: blogging, childhood., insects, internet, personal, spam
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
PERSONAL:
HERE AT MOLLY'S BLOG:
Can you imagine ? It's mid-July and I'm still planting flowers. Rain, rain and rain. They aren't likely to do well, but I make the effort anyways. It's been a very busy spring and summer, and, of course, my productivity at this blog has fallen off. Hopefully this will change in the next few weeks.
On a rather happier note I can say that the project of listing the SAC contacts is finally coming near to the end of the tunnel. I've even managed to learn a tiny, itsy bitsy bit of Swedish during this. Or at least how to type their accents. Not enough for sure to get me more beer and complain about the price in Stockholm, but it is interesting nonetheless.
On an even happier note the hacking into my personal email seems to have ended. The last "check" as to what I was writing about Siemans came in through the usual front door rather than through my email. I went all the way up to have the most secure password possible as the first password change was also 'decoded". It is also possible, however, that they simply lost interest in me. I hope to rectify this situation. As an even greater chuckle Siemens itself, according to Business Week, has been attacked in its operating system by something called the 'Stuxnet Worm'. Somehow I have extreme difficulty working up sympathy for them. Or suppressing my giggles for that matter.
That's it for now. The squirrels continue their antics in the backyard. Put the nuts out last night. The grey squirrel came early, and, as they say, "the early squirrel gets the nut". At the same time, however, as I was loading the car for the day one of the lazy red squirrels showed up. Big squirrel fight with the red chasing a grey at least three times its size. Over the garage and far away. I still am in amazement at people who report that grey squirrels "replace" red squirrels in various localities (anecdotal here in Winnipeg, documented and fretted about in England ). Maybe all that it is is that they are less than double plus thick to the 3rd power as to where they bury the nuts. That may be hard to believe if you have ever seen a grey squirrel close up (I have). They tend to project stupidity.
Labels: blogging, hacking, internet, links, personal, SAC., Siemens, squirrels
Sunday, July 04, 2010
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM:
FREE KARIM AMER:
Karim Amer is an Egyptian blogger who has fallen afoul of the authorities in that country for daring to publish opinions critical of both Islam (which Islam ?) and the Egyptian government. The latter rather than the former is probably the reason that he has been sentenced to four years in prison. There is an internet petition calling for his release. Here's the story and appeal.
KAKAKAKAKA
Free Egyptian Blogger Karim Amer
Target: President Hosni Mubarek
Sponsored by: Care2.com
One of the luxuries of the internet is that it's a forum of expression. And in this forum, anyone should be able to contribute to a discussion and speak their mind.
But Karim Amer, a young blogger from Egypt, was sentenced to four years in prison for this very act.
Amer was charged with publishing material critical of Islam and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarek and imprisoned, despite the fact that he acted within his universal right to peaceful freedom of expression. Amer claims that while imprisoned, he has been beaten at least twice under the supervision of a prison officer.
All people should have the freedom to peacefully express their opinions. Tell the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek to free this prisoner of conscience and accept all people's right to the freedom of expression.
deadline: Ongoing...
Goal: 15,000
15,222
signatures so far!
Free Egyptian Blogger Karim Amer
Target: President Hosni Mubarek
Sponsored by: Care2.com
One of the luxuries of the internet is that it's a forum of expression. And in this forum, anyone should be able to contribute to a discussion and speak their mind.
But Karim Amer, a young blogger from Egypt, was sentenced to four years in prison for this very act.
Amer was charged with publishing material critical of Islam and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarek and imprisoned, despite the fact that he acted within his universal right to peaceful freedom of expression. Amer claims that while imprisoned, he has been beaten at least twice under the supervision of a prison officer.
All people should have the freedom to peacefully express their opinions. Tell the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek to free this prisoner of conscience and accept all people's right to the freedom of expression.
deadline: Ongoing...
Goal: 15,000
15,222
signatures so far!
KAKAKAKAKA
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to Hosni Mubarek, President of Egypt.
KAKAKAKAKA
Dear President Mubarek,
Karim Amer is a blogger who was sentenced to four years in prison for publishing material critical of Islam and Egypt on the internet. At the time of his arrest in 2007 he was 23 years old.
Amer's actions are within his universal right to peacefully express his opinion, regardless of whether those opinions are critical of religious or political figures and ideals. While imprisoned, he has been beaten multiple times by a fellow prisoner and a prison guard, under the supervision of a prison officer.
[your comments will be inserted here]
All people should have the freedom to peacefully express their opinions. Free Karim Amer and accept all people's right to the freedom of expression.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
Dear President Mubarek,
Karim Amer is a blogger who was sentenced to four years in prison for publishing material critical of Islam and Egypt on the internet. At the time of his arrest in 2007 he was 23 years old.
Amer's actions are within his universal right to peacefully express his opinion, regardless of whether those opinions are critical of religious or political figures and ideals. While imprisoned, he has been beaten multiple times by a fellow prisoner and a prison guard, under the supervision of a prison officer.
[your comments will be inserted here]
All people should have the freedom to peacefully express their opinions. Free Karim Amer and accept all people's right to the freedom of expression.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
Labels: blogging, Egypt, freedom of speech, individual liberty, internet, internet censorship, Karim Amer, repression, solidarity.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
LOCAL NEWS WINNIPEG/BLOGGING:
THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED:
Molly is happy to see the return of the Insurrectionary People's Picture Show Theater from here in Winnipeg after a far too long hiatus (since last October). The IPPST comes back with an improved design and also a commitment to cover music as well as video and film. Well worth checking out. See their website from which the Godzilla graphic has been stolen.
Labels: blogging, blogs, Insurrectionary People's Picture Show Theater, internet, local news, Winnipeg
Monday, February 22, 2010
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR:
AN END ROUND AROUND RONNIE:
The world is full of sneakiness, and it does my old heart good when I see the "forces of good" do an end round around the "forces of evil". The following from the online labour solidarity site Labour Start is one such instance. It seems that the evil clown Ronald McNasty has tried to suppress criticism of the corporation by buying up internet domain sites, but, as is usual when you pay a manager 150,000 per year or a consultant a one time payment of $500,000, the uselessness of such people comes through. In this case David has done an end run around Goliath. Here's the story.
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
McJobs
McJobs -- we all know what those are.
One online source defines a McJob as "a low-paying, low-prestige job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement". McDonald's was never very happy about the use of this term.
McJobs
McJobs -- we all know what those are.
One online source defines a McJob as "a low-paying, low-prestige job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement". McDonald's was never very happy about the use of this term.
In fact, the company bought the domain name "mcjobs.com" just to make sure that no one could use it.
But they forget to acquire "mcjobs.org"( To "oops" is management-Molly ) -- and the global union federation for food workers, the IUF, together with LabourStart, bought the name and today are pleased to announce the public launch of McJobs.org, the website for McDonald's workers around the world.
If you work in McDonald's, or know anyone who does, or are just curious, please do check it out:
Eric Lee
Labels: international labour, internet, IUF, labour, Labour Start, McDonalds
Thursday, January 28, 2010
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR:
RADIO LABOUR:
The following item came to Molly's attention via the online labour solidarity site Labour Start. What is it / It's a great new weekly series of podcasts on labour issues available at the new Radio Labour site. Here's the promo.
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
RadioLabour launching next week:
A new weekly presentation of international labour news is being organized on the Internet.
The audiocast - called Solidarity News - will be available on RadioLabour.net every Monday morning.
RadioLabour is the brainchild of Marc Belanger -- the founder of SoliNet, which was the first trade union online network back in the 1980s.
Solidarity News will focus on union and workers' activities and issues from around the world with special emphasis on emerging market and developing countries.
RadioLabour reporters will provide regular weekly presentations, but a special feature of the audiocast will be reports from unionists who want to report on particular events or publicize an activity of their organization.
Scripts of the audiocasts will be available as aids for unionists who want to learn the use of English as an additional language in the international labour movement.
For more information about RadioLabour, listen to the audiocasts, or provide reports, visit the RadioLabour site. Or write directly to Marc at m.belanger@radiolabour.org .
Labels: international labour, internet, labour, Labour Start, podcasts, RadioLabour
Friday, September 25, 2009
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:
FOR A FREE INTERNET:
For those familiar with recent history it is, of course, a truism that the internet began as a melding of the authoritarian needs of the US military and the libertarian needs of the international scientific community Despite the nonsense spewed out by many so-called 'anarchists' in the USA there is no more libertarian enterprise afoot in the world today than the scientific enterprise-decentralist, internationalist, egalitarian, without dependency upon a central authority. And, for those who wish to be fashionable, without any of the "isms" that right thinking graduates of political science departments are taught to consider as heresy deserving of the modern equivalent of witch hunting. Well, there is always the "law of unintended consequences" and in a few short decades the internet became what it is today, far outside of the control of the military and far removed from the concerns of science.
Today there are those who want to reign in this anarchic enterprise, to establish corporate and governmental control over it. Governmental attempts to censor the internet are the merest tip of the iceberg. The real threat to internet freedom comes from corporate control. To read more about this threat see Noam Chomsky on 'Microsoft and Corporate Control of the Internet' and the Canadian website 'Save Our Net.ca'. There are. of course, thousands of other examples that I could adduce. The following, from the Petition Site, is an online campaign to promote internet freedom. I have to admit that it is rather 'empty' in that it fails to identify the enemies of such freedom, but it may still be worthwhile for public awareness of the issue. Here's the pledge that they would like you to take. The first thing to do is to educate yourself about who exactly is the enemy of internet freedom. See One Web Day to sign the pledge.
IPIPIPIPIPIPIP
Free the Internet and End the Digital Divide:
Sponsored by: OneWebDay
The Internet belongs to everyone, yet all over the world, government regulators as well as powerful corporate entities, are making important decisions about the future of the Web. Are you at the table ?
The Internet belongs to everyone, yet all over the world, government regulators as well as powerful corporate entities, are making important decisions about the future of the Web. Are you at the table ?
The Web is a vital resource, but many people around the globe cannot breach the barriers to access.
Right now, governments, corporate entities and technical elites decide the fate of the most powerful, inclusive communications platform ever created. They're making decisions about who will have access, at what speeds, and at what price. They're deciding how to invest in training and education in 21st century communications.
Even the principles that make the Web an open platform for the creativity of every user are in question. The global economy is in crisis, and the open Internet is a pathway to economic opportunity. Everyone should have access, and everyone should help in deciding the future of the Web.
Sign the pledge to free the Net and increase Internet access to all citizens around the world!
The Pledge:
I pledge to work to extend access to the Internet -- the open, free Internet -- to all, across boundaries of place, culture and class.
IPIPIPIPIPIPIP
Very nice, but it should have a lot more content than that-Molly.
Labels: appeals, freedom of speech, freedom., internet, internet censorship, internet freedom, One Web Day, petitions, pledges
Friday, July 10, 2009
BLOGGING:
STUPID COMPUTER TRICKS:
Every once in awhile you just gotta get away from the old political grind. It seems that the folks over at the online magazine Straight Goods feel that way too. The following item comes Molly's way via SG. Its original source is a commercial site called Support.Com. Here, for your entertainment and education is one selection of the ten stupidest things you can do with your computer.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Top 10 dumbest things PC users do with their computers:
Don't blame the technology if you click on that pop-up that promises to "protect" your PC.
from support.com
Who hasn't received that frantic call from their retired father or kid who's away at college, when their computer suddenly goes on the blink, due in part to something they've done? In the spirit of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," support.com®, the remote technology service company that makes owning and maintaining technology pain-free, offers its list of the Top 10 Dumbest Things people do with their home PCs.
"We know first hand how frustrating it is when a PC owner finds that his or her computer has been compromised by viruses, malware or some other insidious infection that can leave their computer totally useless," comments Anthony Rodio, COO of support.com. "Yet so many of the problems our customers bring to us are avoidable with just some common sense practices."
Top 10 misconceptions users have about computers.
To keep your computer running smoothly, when you need it most, support.com offers its Top 10 misconceptions users have about computers:
Misconception #1.
Pop-up warnings while you browse the web are all telling the truth.
Fact: More than likely the pop-up you've received that's warning you of an imminent threat to your computer is rogue anti-virus or anti-malware software. At its worst, it's a delivery system for even more viruses and malware. If you install it, whether for free or paid for, try to uninstall it right away. But if that proves difficult, you may require professional assistance in having it removed. The best advice: Ignore those pop-up warnings, and, if necessary set your browser's pop-up blocker to limit or completely refuse pop-ups.
Misconception #2.
Recommendations to install Windows Updates don't apply to you.
Fact: They do, and ignoring them or putting them off is leaving the door open to more problems. These important Windows updates address security holes that have been discovered that allow viruses and malware to get into your system. If you refuse these updates or disable the whole Windows Update system, your system will be vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. Windows Update makes it easy to update your computer automatically in the middle of the night. The best advice: Don't disable the Windows Update feature or ignore when Windows is trying to alert you to something important. If you choose to leave your system un-patched, you could be turning your computer into an open book to hackers.
Misconception #3.
Email attachments are all safe because I have an antivirus program.
Fact: Antivirus programs are only as good as their last update and only if that update contains detection for the thing that just arrived in your email box. Most of the time, antivirus updates lag one to three days behind the release of new viruses. If you don't have the update for a virus, you're not protected from it. When it comes to email attachments, it's better to be safe than sorry. As a general rule, if you were not expecting something to come from someone, don't open it. And don't fall for scary email subjects, such as "is this really a naked picture of you?" If you open it, you won't be exposed, but your computer will be.
Misconception #4.
But that email attachment from my BFF is definitely safe, right?
Fact: Even if you recognize the name of a sender, be wary. Many viruses send themselves out automatically without your friend's knowledge. Viruses will infect your friend's system, go through their address book and send out an email to each of those addresses. In fact, you're MORE likely to get a virus from someone you know. Again, if you were not expecting an attachment to an email, don't open it.
Misconception #5.
Backups are only for big companies.
Fact: Think of backups like this — how important are the files on your computer and how long will it take to replace them? Enough said. You don't need to back up the entire hard drive every time you do a backup. But find a good backup program that backs up only the data that you create. Once you start backing up your data, you'll never again worry that your library of family pictures is gone forever or the novel you've been writing for three years is no longer there.
Misconception 6.
All peripherals work with all computers.
Fact: In a perfect world, all printers, scanners, video cameras, webcams, monitors, etc. would work with all computers. Unfortunately, the computing world just doesn't work that way. Not every version of Windows will handle all new hardware, even though Microsoft does its best to make sure your old hardware will work with their new version of windows. The bottom line is, as you upgrade your operating system, you just might have to upgrade some, if not all, of your peripherals.
Misconception #7.
Microsoft takes care of all my updates.
Fact: As nice as this thought is, it's just not true. There are many other technologies in your computer apart from Microsoft's, including Sun's Java and Adobe Flash, to name a couple. Just like with those Microsoft updates, don't ignore the update requests you receive from other important technologies and software.
Misconception #8.
You can put your faith and belief in everything you read in forwarded emails.
Fact: According to Dughael McLean, the "Godfather of Technology" at support.com, "99.999 percent of stuff that you get forwarded from someone else are bald-faced, dyed in the wool, 100% un-authentic, complete and utter lies." But to be sure, McLean suggests checking the authenticity of forwarded emails at http://www.snopes.com/.
Misconception #9.
You can always believe that an email that appears to come from a company, actually came from them.
Fact: That email from what appears to be a legitimate company, banking institution, or government agency is likely to be the work of a Phishing scammer. Phishing is a process of sending out thousands (sometimes millions) of emails that look very legitimate and that ask you to visit their website and enter your personal data, including your password. If you've followed the instructions, you've just given the scammers the key to your identity. The easiest way to thwart a Phishing scam is to avoid it. But if you're not sure, you can click on the link. Then before you type anything into the webpage, go to the "address bar" at the top of the page which contains the address of the website you're currently at. If, for instance, you expect to be at support.com, the address bar will read http://www.support.com/. If you're not there, you're somewhere else and you're about to reveal your personal information and password to someone else. Identity theft through Phishing is almost always caused by someone getting fooled like this. Be wary of those emails and you'll keep your information safe.
Misconception #10.
Thinking that computers don't need maintenance by a human.
Fact: You take your car in for service every 5,000 miles. So why wouldn't you do that with your personal computer. It too is complex machinery. To be safe, every once in a while have your computer looked at by a professional, human technician, who has years of experience and the tools needed to properly assess and address any problems your computer may be experiencing.
Related addresses:
URL 1: http://www.support.com/
URL 2: http://www.snopes.com/
Labels: blogging, computers, internet, Straight Goods, Support.Com
Saturday, June 20, 2009
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS-IRAN:
MESSING WITH THE MULLAH'S MINDS:
Here's an interesting suggestion for possible help for the insurgent people in Iran. This comes from the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board. Whether this sort of thing would actually work and whether it would be of assistance is hard for Molly to say. What is interesting is the large role that Twitter has taken in this revolt. If the recent Greek rebellion could be said to have run on text messaging this Iranian rebellion seems to be running on Twitter. If the suggestion below were to actually become popular I can foresee one potential difficulty...the vast majority of the Twitter posts would be in English or Spanish. Seems like an easy one to filter out. But, there again, there may be something that I don't know. The paradigm behind the idea is actually quite valid. If you want to tie a secret police force in knots feed it an overwhelming amount of useless and trivial information. Recipes for hamburger anyone ? Paying the employees of spy agencies overtime can only go so far. Eventually they do little but count grains of sand on the beach and never get to do anything else. It's actually an old tried and trusted tactic has been used in a different context in syndicalist free speech fights and other civil disobedience ie "clog the courts and the jails" rather than the information gathering apparatus. Sometimes it works.
Would it work in this case, at least temporarily ? Who knows. See what you think. Here's the suggestion...
TTTTTTTTTTTT
From friends in Iran :
Dear all:
Set your twitter time and location to Tehran. Makes it harder for the Iranian secret service to track people down in Tehran.
We need your help. Thank you.
Please repost widely!
Labels: Anarchist Black Cat, human rights, internet, internet solidarity, Iran, Iranian opposition, tactics, Twitter
Saturday, March 07, 2009
BLOGGING:
BLOGGERS UNITE CAMPAIGNS:
One should neither overestimate nor underestimate the influence of the 'Blogosphere'. In our brave new world the major news media more than frequently consult the blogs to get the news that they eventually disseminate. Still, most blogs are like Molly's, very much of an acquired taste and with only a handful of visitors in a day. My present "baseline" is 100 visitors in a day. It rarely drops below this. But, and it's a big but, this is hardly any mass influence. We all hope to reach more and more people, and I hope that Molly's Blog will do just that in the future.
Now, from the Blog Catalog people is yet another tool to reach people. Their 'Bloggers Unite' site is designed to give your causes the maximum possible exposure. Here's the ad.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
BlogCatalog Presents BloggersUnite.org:
Since 2007, Bloggers Unite has been become one of the most visible social awareness campaigns driven by bloggers like you. If you have not seen the sneak previews of how Bloggers Unite has evolved from a small initiative into its own dynamic social network, please visit BloggersUnite.org today. You helped build it!
While we'll still coordinate three major under served social awareness campaigns every year, Bloggers Unite members can now submit and support their own causes as well. Currently, there are 24 international events listed in the new network.
These events are joined by ten local events recently chosen by BlogCatalog members to encourage even more nonprofit organizations to become involved. We're asking for your help too. Bloggers Unite is about bringing bloggers together to do good. With international, national, and local events from all over the world, we can help people think online and act locally offline. After you join, feel free to add any local events that you care deeply about. This will also help bring attention to many events that are global, but take place on different days on the local level.
Supporting each other by doing good can help you make friends online or in your area, as we all work together to make the world a better place. Even better, once you become a member and write about any worthwhile events that you care about, your blog will automatically be promoted on Bloggers Unite. I'm even including a list of the first ten local events so you can see for yourself that this is a global movement by BlogCatalog members.
Labels: Bloggers Unite, blogging, internet
Sunday, February 01, 2009
LOCAL EVENTS-WINNIPEG:
NEW IWW SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE IN WINNIPEG:
There's a new Facebook networking site for members and sympathizers of the IWW here in Winnipeg. The site is located at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51644555457 . Here's the lowdown.
.......................
Winnipeg IWW:
Description:
We are the Winnipeg General Membership Branch (GMB) of the Industrial Workers of the World.Our meetings are held at 5:30pm, on the second Thursday of the month, at the Workers' Organizing Resource Centre (WORC), which is on the Mezzanine level of 280 Smith Street.
Contact Info
Website:
http://www.iww.org/branches/Canada/Winni...
Location:
Winnipeg, MB
Labels: anarcho-syndicalism, internet, IWW, local events, social networks, Winnipeg, Winnipeg IWW
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-GREECE AND BEYOND:
ELECTRONIC SOLIDARITY WITH GREEK ANARCHISTS:
The following is from the Greek Blog Katalipsi Asoee, and it's for those of you who have a little time tomorrow before heading out for the annual booze-up.
................................
Hackers Against Oppression
Hackers Against Oppression have called for Electronic Civil Disobedience in Solidarity with Greek Anarchists on Wednesday Dec 31, the final day of December. :
Hackers Against Oppression have called for Electronic Civil Disobedience in Solidarity with Greek Anarchists on Wednesday Dec 31, the final day of December. :
December is the month in which Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old Anarchist, was murdered in cold blood by Greek Police. It is also the month that will forever be remembered by all those who struggle.
Minutes after his murder, thousands of Greek residents took to the streets as did thousands around the world. Even liberal groups have called for the resignation of the Greek government. The streets were taken back for the people, police buildings were firebombed, and banks were turned into empty charred-out boxes. This entire time, the Greek government has been fighting and oppressing people with guns, tear gas, and the media. It's time that we take them down.
We will be attacking the websites of...
To a thousand more Decembers of resistance!
Labels: events, Greece, Hackers Against Oppression, internet, Katalipsi Asoee, protests, solidarity
Friday, August 01, 2008
BLOGGING:
PROBLEMS WITH MOLLY'S BLOG SOLVED- FOR NOW:
I've managed to regain access to the blog. As you may gather from the previous post I found out that I could publish, but I couldn't open the blog. I'd get an "Internet Explorer cannot open the site 'blah, blah, blah'" message. Looking around I found that several other blogs were experiencing the same problem. Looking further I found that the problem was not "directly" with Blogger. This is not the today's problem of some blogs being classified as spam. If this happens you cannot publish to the blog.
The problem seems to lie with the 'Sitemeter' site. Several commentators on 'Blogger Help' noted that eliminating the Site Meter part of their template returned their blog to functionality. Molly did this, and lo and behold it worked. I can view the blog once more. If you try and access the Sitemeter site itself you get exactly the same message.
So...for all those bloggers who have had the same problem as I have- delete the Sitemeter. I'll try and re-enable the Sitemeter later- as soon as I can reach the main website itself. I hope this helps some other people who may have been worried.
Molly with steady fingers.
Labels: Blogger., blogging, internet, Site Meter
Thursday, April 03, 2008
ROMANIA:
CYBER-ATTACK ON CONTRA-DOXA CONFIRMED:
This morning both the Contra-Doxa site and the Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej sites are working. The Romanian comrades confirm that there has been a denial of service attack on their site (see below). They hope to keep the site up and running, but the attack is ongoing. They, therefore, offer other alternatives for information. The now working site also has two videos of the police attack on the gathering point for the planned protests. More on this matter later. I reproduce the following without my usual nit-picking editing.
.....................................................................................
Flooding on Contra-Doxa and SummitNato
Published in : The News, NATO
Starting the day of 1st of april the sites www.contra-doxa.com and www.summitnato.ro are a continuous attack from different ip's.
We will try to keep the sites up as much as possible.
The sites aren't canceled they are just flooded using a D-DOS attack.
whoever can offer us a better hosting ... let us know using this email:
contradoxa@gmail.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
we will post updates as fast as possible
it the sites are down use the following: romania.indymedia.org summitnato.wordpress.com balkans.puscii.nl
Last update: 03-04-2008 12:16
Labels: anarchism, Contra-Doxa, internet, internet censorship, Romania
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
EASTERN EUROPE:
IS THERE A CYBER-ATTACK AGAINST EASTERN EUROPEAN ANARCHISTS ???
As Molly has mentioned here before there have been problems with the connection to the Romanian anarchist site Contra-Doxa in the last two days. Molly was agnostic about the cause of this though she was suspicious because it was occurring at the same time as the Romanian state was attacking their local anarchists. When you attempt to access Contra-Doxa you are diverted to a page from Ask.Com, a search engine. No amount of trying will get you from there to Contra-Doxa. Ask.com is the successor to the old 'Ask Jeeves' search engine. This company has been engaged in some past shady practices as you can see from the article on them on Wikipedia.
All that is fine and good. As I said before I have never seen this happen in the many months that I have been accessing and reading Contra-Doxa via my Links section. Imagine my surprise when I attempted to access the Polish Centrum Informacji Anarchistcznej site, which has been linked to this blog for far longer. The exact same thing came up. Now the C.I.A. (an unfortunate acronym) has never seen such a thing before. I've started to go through other eastern European sites. Avtonom and three Czech sites haven't been affected. But I think that the fact that both the Romanian site and the Polish one have had their connectivity cut is much more than coincidence.
Who to blame ? Perhaps Ask.com, as some sleazy business maneuver. Perhaps fascist groups. Perhaps the Romanian government. perhaps some other set of secret police. Who knows. All that I can say is that something seems to be happening that is rather disturbing as it points to a vulnerable spot in present day anarchism.
Labels: anarchism, Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej, Contra-Doxa, internet, internet censorship, Romania
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
INTERNET CENSORSHIP:
FIGHTING INTERNET CENSORSHIP- THE CITIZEN LAB:
The last post mentioned one organization, Wikileaks, that is fighting internet censorship, especially in the case of recent events in Tibet. There is another one, a Canadian project, that has been in the news because of the events in Tibet. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for international Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. It is focused on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics.
It is a "hothouse" that brings together social scientists, filmmakers, computer scientists, activists and artists. The Citizen Lab sponsors projects that explore the cutting-edge of hypermedia technologies and grassroots social movements, civic activism and democratic change within an emerging planetary polity.
The centre and its website is an invaluable resource for those who are concerned about and wish to make a "run-around" internet censorship. The following news item about one of their recent products- Psiphon- and the award it has won is just one of the exciting things to be found at the Citizen Lab....
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Canadian software tool blows away Net censorship, wins global award
Posted Feb 25, 2008 in MediaCoverage by sarahb
Canadian software designed to evade government censorship of the Internet is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris in mid-February.
From ITBusiness.ca
Canadian software tool blows away Net censorship, wins global award
Psiphon - designed by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab - is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris this month.
2/25/2008 5:00:00 AM
by Grant Buckler
Canadian software designed to evade government censorship of the Internet is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris in mid-February.
The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab designed Psiphon for citizens of countries that block access to many Web sites.
Psiphon evades such censorship through an encrypted connection between the user's computer (in the country with Internet censorship) and another piece of software – essentially a Web proxy – on a volunteer's computer in a country where Internet access is not controlled.
Psiphon was chosen from about 100 technology projects from around the world that were nominated for the Netxplorateur of the Year Grand Prix award.
Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin presented the award to Ronald Deibert, a University of Toronto professor and director of the Citizen Lab, and Michael Hull, head of spinoff company Psiphon Inc., at a Paris ceremony in mid-February.
An international network of specialists chose the initial list of 100 projects considered to be “concrete and innovative at the same time, but also loaded with meaning,” according to Ingrid Brégeon-Fall, a spokeswoman for the awards.
This was narrowed to a short list of 10 Netxplorateurs of the Year, from which the Citizen Lab was chosen the Grand Prix winner.
This is the first year the prize has been given, Brégeon-Fall says. There is no cash award associated with the prize.
The Citizen Lab has been researching Internet censorship for several years, Deibert says.
It has seen a gradual growth in the number of countries practicing it, from only two or three in 2002 to 26 countries where there was some evidence of sites being blocked in 2006.
The six countries that censor Internet access the most are China, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran and Uzbekistan, Diebert says.
Danny O'Brien, international outreach co-ordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group concerned with Internet freedom, describes net censorship as “a growing problem.”
That's due partly to the advance of filtering technologies, he says. “More and more countries are finding ways to do fine-grained censorship of the Internet.”
O'Brien says that is fueling a technology arms race between censors and groups like the Citizen Lab.
Citizen Lab senior researchers came up with the concept of Psiphon in 2004, Diebert says.
According to the Citizen Lab, Psiphon's design makes it virtually impossible to detect and block.
A computer user with unrestricted Internet access can download and install a small Psiphon application from the Web site at the Psiphon Web site.
They then give the unique connection information for this node to a friend or relative in a country with restricted access.
This connection information is the computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address with an extension chosen by the user.
Only people who know the address of a Psiphon node can use the software to evade Internet censorship.
The Citizen Lab and Psiphon Inc. are now working on a plan to host Psiphon nodes themselves on behalf of trusted individuals in censored countries, Diebert says.
Those people would be able to control the nodes and give out access information to people they trust.
A government that monitored Internet use and became suspicious of repeated connections to an IP address in a distant country could detect that someone was using Psiphon, and could block access to the specific node, says Deibert, but that would not affect the many other nodes.
Being detected could be dangerous for citizens in some countries, he adds.
So a person who is being watched would probably not be safe using it, but for ordinary citizens, detection is unlikely.
Psiphon is free, open source software and has been available from the Citizen Lab since 2006.
As of last week, Diebert says, 145,000 copies had been downloaded. He adds that the Citizen Lab has had no reports of any of those nodes being detected and blocked.
Recently, the Citizen Lab launched a startup company called Psiphon Inc. which will provide professional services for media outlets and other organizations that want to use the software for unrestricted Internet access.
Reporters covering the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer will need a way of gaining unrestricted access to the Web while working in China.
Psiphon Inc. is working with several media companies – which it can't name because of possible repercussions from the Chinese government – to provide open communications from Beijing, says Hull.
Psiphon is also working with non-governmental organizations such as Witness.org, which operates a Web site documenting human rights violations.
Witness.org wants to ensure access both so that people in countries with censored Internet access can both view the site and send information to it, Hull says.
Psiphon has previously been recognized by Esquire magazine, which named it one of Six Ideas to Change the World in December 2007, and by Fast Company magazine, which listed Psiphon Inc. as one of 50 companies to watch for in 2007.
Labels: Citizen Lab, internet, internet censorship, Psiphon, University of Toronto
TIBET PROTESTS ON THE INTERNET:
WIKILEAKS- BREAKING ALL CENSORSHIP:
The following is a reprint from the 'Notes of an Anarchist Physicist' e-list, run by George Salzman presently resident in Oaxaca Mexico. For instructions on how to subscribe to this list see the end of this article. This article gives connection to a valuable internet resource, the Wikileaks list, that aims to break through internet censorship to bring the actual news to people across the world. The Wikileaks people have prepared a digest of videos on what is actually happening in Tibet, and hope that this may serve to help break the Chinese government's attempts to censor the news.
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Breaking all censorship – the Wikileaks goal
I’m with them, one-hundred and ten percent
Oaxaca, Mexico, Tuesday 18 March 2008
Friends,
Absolute freedom of communication among all the world’s peoples is The Rock-Bottom Necessity we must achieve if we are to have any realistic hope of changing the savage dominant global society in which most of us are living into a humane world for all peoples. In this struggle the Wikileaks group is exemplary. Today I got from them an e-mail on censorship by the Chinese government. Following their e-mail are some personal, slightly critical comments.
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Subject: Wikileaks releases 35 censored videos of the Tibet protests
Wikileaks Press Release
Tue Mar 18 10:00:00 GMT 2008
Wikileaks has released 35 censored videos relating to the protests in Tibet and has called on bloggers around the world to help drive the footage through the so called 'Great Firewall of China'.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Censored_Tibet_March_2008_protest_videos_-_AVI_format
The transparency group's move comes as a response to the the Chinese Public Security Bureau's carte-blanche censorship of youtube, the BBC, CNN, the Guardian and other sites carrying video footage of the Tibetan people's recent heroic stand against the inhumane Chinese occupation of Tibet.
I’m with them, one-hundred and ten percent
Oaxaca, Mexico, Tuesday 18 March 2008
Friends,
Absolute freedom of communication among all the world’s peoples is The Rock-Bottom Necessity we must achieve if we are to have any realistic hope of changing the savage dominant global society in which most of us are living into a humane world for all peoples. In this struggle the Wikileaks group is exemplary. Today I got from them an e-mail on censorship by the Chinese government. Following their e-mail are some personal, slightly critical comments.
___________________________________________
Subject: Wikileaks releases 35 censored videos of the Tibet protests
Wikileaks Press Release
Tue Mar 18 10:00:00 GMT 2008
Wikileaks has released 35 censored videos relating to the protests in Tibet and has called on bloggers around the world to help drive the footage through the so called 'Great Firewall of China'.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Censored_Tibet_March_2008_protest_videos_-_AVI_format
The transparency group's move comes as a response to the the Chinese Public Security Bureau's carte-blanche censorship of youtube, the BBC, CNN, the Guardian and other sites carrying video footage of the Tibetan people's recent heroic stand against the inhumane Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Wikileaks has also placed the collection in two easy to use archives together with a HTML index page so they may be easily copied, placed on websites, emailed across the internet as attachments and uploaded to peer to peer networks.
Censorship, like communism, seems like a reasonable enough idea to begin with. While "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need" sounds unarguable, the world has learned that these words call forth a power elite to administer them with coercive force. Such elites are quick to define the needs of their own members as paramount. Similarly "from each mouth according to its ability and to each ear according to its need" seems harmless enough, but history shows that censorship also requires an anointed class to define this 'need' and to make violence against those who continue talking. Such power is quickly corrupted.
The first ingredient of civil society is the people's right to know, because without such understanding no human being can meaningfully choose to support anything, let alone a political party. Knowledge is the driver of every political process, every constitution, every law and every regulation. The communication of knowledge is without salient analogue. It is living, unique and demands its rightful place at the summit of society. Since knowledge is the creator and
regulator of all law, its position beyond law commands due respect.
James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and other Enlightenment framers of the US Bill of Rights understood this well when they began the First Amendment's constitutional protections of speech and of the press with 'Congress shall make no law....'.
As knowledge flows across the world it is time to sum great freedoms of every nation and not subtract or divide them.
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The Wikileaks folks implied criticism of communism is flawed in its evident belief that the concept "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need" necessarily “call[s] forth a power elite to administer them with coercive force.” The Wikileaks statement is urging us to move in a very good and essential direction, freedom of communication unencumbered by any elite power structure. This is precisely what those who believe in anarchist-communism advocate and work towards. No nation-state has ever existed, so far as I know, that was communist, despite some states declaring themselves to be Communist (with a capital C!). We ought to recognize that anti-communism is an important component of the ideology of capitalism. That in and of itself doesn’t imply that it is bad, because there are parts of capitalist ideology that are good. But this is not one of them.
Sincerely,
George
All comments and criticisms are welcome. <george.salzman@umb.edu>
Note. I have finished transferring addresses from my former personal e-mail distribution list to the listserv, An anarchist physicist’s notes, and do not plan to make any further use of the former. If you know of anyone who I might have inadvertently missed (I did it all by hand) or anyone who you think might like to get these occasional notes, please let them know of the change. Anyone can subscribe by writing me and asking. I prefer to have full names and e-mail addresses. One can also subscribe also by sending an e-mail (no message is necessary) to an-anarchist-physicists-notes-subscribe@lists.riseup.net .
It is easy to unsubscribe by sending an e-mail (no message is necessary) to an-anarchist-physicists-notes-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net .
Labels: China, George Salzman, Great Firewall of China, internet, Tibet, Wikileaks
Friday, March 14, 2008
ANARCHIST DISCUSSION:
MORE FROM THE CAT'S MEOW-NOW ON AT THE ANARCHIST BLACK CAT:
Molly has blogged before about the Anarchist Black Cat discussion group- dedicated to raising the level of anarchist discourse. Now playing out on that board...
1)A further discussion of the still ongoing Barcelona Transit strike, led by the Spanish CGT in collaboration with an independent bus-drivers union. Opposed, of course, by the socialist-controlled local government and the CCOO (Workers' Commissions), controlled by the usual set of ex-Communist party bureaucrats.
2)A discussion on the relevance of "Infoshops", the almost ubiquitous anarchist community centres. You'll have to sign up to the board to view this one as it is in the 'Sealed Train' section. No real reason to hide anything, but it landed there by chance. Great points being made on all sides.
Labels: anarchism, Anarchist Black Cat, internet
