war

Army 2.0

You might be excused for getting the impression that the US military is struggling to understand how they should be using Internet technology. On the one hand they recently began an effort to control what their soldiers are posting online (War blogs silenced) and now they have blocked access to sites such as YouTube and Myspace.

The reason for this? Bandwidth.

The US says the use is taking up too much bandwidth and slows down the military’s computer system.

But a US Strategic Command spokesman said a “secondary benefit” was to help operational security.

At the same time the military have realised the potential impact of sites such as YouTube and have started putting material online.

The Pentagon only recently started posting its own videos on YouTube, showing soldiers in action in Iraq in a move designed to reach out to a younger audience and to show the successes of the US military. (More on this over here).

But the best quote in this BBC article is the honest: “The cyberspace battle space was not one that we were particularly operating well in” Lt Col Christopher Garver, US Army.

Yes… we have noticed…

Lex Ferenda has more including the order (AP report | full text of order) and a increased list of blocked sites:

â??To maximize the availability of DoD network resources for official government usage, the Commander, JTF-GNO, with the approval of the Department of Defense, will block worldwide access to the following internet sites beginning on or about 14 May 2007.â??

www.youtube.com
www.1.fm
www.pandora.com
www.photobucket.com
www.myspace.com
www.live365.com
www.hi5.com
www.metacafe.com
www.mtv.com
www.ifilm.com
www.blackplanet.com
www.stupidvideos.com
www.filecabi.com

Posted on by mklang

Stallman in Town

Tomorrow Richard Stallman arrives in Göteborg. During his stay here he will be giving a speech on the 16th May entitled Free Software and Beyond: Human Rights in the Use of Software and Other Published Works. More info on the rms2007.se website.

Stallman’s visit and speech can best be described as a very popular event. Originally we hoped that we would have about 200 attendees but we now have over 1000 people who have registered to come and listen to the talk.

When the registrations started pouring in we were happy then, after reaching 600, we were concerned. And now, after moving the venue to the Draken movie theater we think we have the situation under control. Whatever happens now we will have a good event…

Posted on by mklang

War blogs silenced

Wired News reports that In a directive (dated 19th April) US troops have been ordered not to blog without first clearing each post with a superior officer. There is also a discussion going on at the Wired Blog Danger Room.

Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq — the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.

The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.

It’s hardly a surprising move. It’s doubtful whether blogs were revealing security information (US troops should be better trained in this case) but on several occasions information on blogs and films of YouTube (for example Iraqi kids run for water) have caused embarrassing situations which hardly have improved anyone’s opinions of the war.

Posted on by mklang

Greener Apples

No need to be cynical or pessimistic about the effect of lobby campaigns or the power of collecting people online. Greenpeace launched an environmental campaign against Appleâ??s lack of environmental policy. On 2nd May Steve Jobs published a second public letter (the first was against DRM) listing environmental hazards connected with Apple computers and the steps Apple was taking to remedy the situation.

It is generally not Appleâ??s policy to trumpet our plans for the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished. Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Appleâ??s desires and plans to become greener. Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and theyâ??re right to do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today weâ??re changing our policy.

This is a good first step towards taking Apple to the forefront of environmental concerns as well as its firm position as a design leader. This approach also shows that design and environmentalism are not incompatible.

Greenpeace has responded on their campaign site with the words “We are cheering!”…

It’s not everything we asked for.  Apple has declared a phase out of the worst chemicals in its product range, Brominated Fire Retardants (BFRs) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) by 2008. That beats Dell and other computer manufactures’ pledge to phase them out by 2009. Way to go Steve!

It’s nice to know that the machine of my choice has just made a little less guilty.

Posted on by mklang

Social Idiocy

Historian Barbara Tuchman has written several fascinating books (many of which have been top sellers). One of her most interesting books is March of Folly (1984). In which she studies human stupidity in history.

Tuchman sets specific standards to what is to be defined as stupidity (or folly as she prefers to call it). To be understood as folly, acts have to be clearly contrary to the self-interest of the organization or group pursuing them; conducted over a period of time, not just in a single burst of irrational behavior; conducted by a number of individuals, not just one deranged maniac; and, importantly, there have to be people alive at the time who pointed out correctly why the act in question was folly (no 20/20 hindsight allowed).

Itâ??s easy to understand why this book is fascinating. We are often fed with success stories but I believe that we have more to learn from failures. Success can always be attributed to a number of vague and contradictory reasons but never really pinned down â?? success can be a result of dumb luck. Failure on the other hand can be studied.

But Tuchman has a specific type of folly in mind. My thought for today is more concerned with the stupid move the idiot idea. Not quite a total nutcase but more the act of sheer dumbness that is done unintentionally. OK so we have the Darwin Awards for those who manage to remove themselves from the gene pool and phenomenon like Jackass for pubescent humor â?? but who studies the fuck up?

What I am thinking about is the social Darwin awards. People who manage to remove themselves from a social group (friends, job, hobby) through an act of sheer dumbness.

If man is a social animal then how is it that we can be socially so inept? Sorry about this strange rant. If you are still reading this you must be wondering about my weekendâ?¦ It was very nice thanks!

Posted on by mklang

Devil's Bible on Tour

Devil_medium_small_1News from Humaniorabloggen (the humanist blog) about the Codex Gigas, more often referred to as the Devils Bible.

From the Royal Library website (The Swedish National Library): The Devil’s Bible contains the Old and New Testaments in pre-Vulgate Latin translations, Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, Josephus’ History of the Jews in a Latin translation, the Chronicle of Bohemia, written by Cosmas of Prague, etc. The manuscript was written in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlazice in Bohemia. It is called the Devil’s Bible after the impressive picture of that potentate. According to legend the scribe was a monk who had been confined to his cell for some breach of monastic discipline and who, by way of penance, finished the manuscript in one single night with the aid of the Devil whom he had summoned to help him. In 1594 the manuscript was acquired by the Imperial Treasury in Prague. When the Swedish army conquered the city in 1648, it was brought to Sweden and presented to the KB the following year.

The Codex (89,5 x 49 cm, weighs 75 kg and is 624 pages long) and was written on, the calf skin vellum (previously believed to be ass skin vellum). During the last year it has been analyzed and digitalized and is now going to be sent to Prague for a few months for an exhibition at the Prague’s Klementinum palace, the National Library seat, from this September till January 2008.

digitalization process at The Royal Library

The name “The Devils Bible” comes from the fact that the Codex Gigas contains images of the devil (pictures above). The Czech Republic will receive copies of the high quality digitalization and will borrow the Codex. The results of the digitalization and analysis are available online at the Royal Library’s website later this year. There has naturally (?) been discussions concerning the return of the work but apparently The Czech Republic does not contest Swedish ownership.

Cultural artifacts are always a sensitive issue in particular if they were taken in times of war or imperialist occupation. Some items in museums are more connected to specific cultures (the Egyptian collections in Berlin and London for example) but works such as the Codex Gigas are much more complicated to associate with one specific nation state.

Posted on by mklang

Offensive Report

Infocult writes about a report from ScanDefender which shows that 80% of the blogosphere contains “potentially offensive content,”  the majority of the medium is seen as threatening. This is the typical kind of scare tactics which is just annoying. What is it that is offensive? According to ScanDefender’s definition this is widely described as “rang[ing] from adult language to pornographic images”.

The focus of the report is on malware but it does find a small space to invoke the dangers of the blogosphere (download the report here). The whole point of the 80% offensive content seems to be only there to create a catchy headline.

Naturally there is offensive content on the Internet and also in blogs. But define your terms! What is offensive? To whom? By which objective standards? The blogosphere is huge so how did you arrive at 80%? etc, etc… The methodological questions are too many to list. Unfortunately this validity of claims such as these are not questioned – people seem to prefer the snappy headlines.

I find reports such as this offensive…

Posted on by mklang

On writers block

Writing can be a heavy experience but not as difficult as surviving writers block. Writers block is a nasty experience which poisons any creativity left inside the would-be author. In my case it leads to extreme procrastination where cleaning the oven suddenly becomes a vital challenge which must be met before returning to the keyboard.

Scott Berkun has written a list of things which may help the stuck writer to move beyond writers block. It is well worth reading and saving in a safe place for the day when nothing seems to work and the stress begins to choke you.

Here are some of his points (but you should go to the article itself)

  1. Start with a word
  2. Write about how it feels not to be able to write
  3. Have a conversation
  4. Read something you hate
  5. Warm up
  6. Make lists
  7. Switch to something harder
  8. Run like hell
  9. Whiskey
  10. Rummage your scrap pile

I really like his suggestions – except for whiskey, if I was to drink when I was blocked I would just lose another day and return to the keyboard the next day with a higher level of anxiety. Not a good idea for me. Also I would like to add one more to the list: blog. The feeling of producing text is, for me, addictive. When I blog I am more likely to be able to write in other areas. But beware blogging can also be a powerful form of procrastination…

Posted on by mklang

Landmines – ban the technology

Certain technological artefacts should never have been designed, manufactured or used. Among these is the landmine. Its horrible impact is not only on the combatants but rather on the civil population which needs to live with the slowly decaying lethal devices for decades after the land was sown with them. Organisations such as the No More Landmines in the UK are working to ban them as legitimate weapons. These organisations need all the support that they can get.

The problem is that people are interested in a conflict while it is active and making headlines. When “peace” is achieved public interest declines considerably. This is unfortunate as the landmines remain. The cost of removing landmines is extremely high and almost impossible to meet for worn torn countries.

So how does one attempt to ensure that people’s interest remains focused on the landmine problem? Well artist & activist Will St. Leger came up with a novel and shocking approach. On Sunday 1st April he placed 100 fake ‘landmines’ made from stenciled metal plates in park around Dublin, Ireland.

Will explains: “The reason for doing this was to get people asking themselves “what if the world I walked in was littered with landmines?” They’re nearly all gone now, the Police took away most of them when a tourist called the emergency number to report ‘Landmines’. Afterwards, I wondered who the people of Laos, Cambodia and Iraq gonna call when they step on real landmine?”

landmines1.jpg

 (via Wooster Collective)

Posted on by mklang

2nd International Faslane Academic Blockade and Conference

Call for participation in the 2nd International Faslane Academic Blockade and Conference

Wednesday 27th-Thursday 28th June 2007

Trident Nuclear Weapons Base, Faslane, Near Glasgow, Scotland

 

The 2nd Faslane International Academic Blockade & Conference (FAB Conference) will provide a forum for presenting and discussing papers focused on the impacts of, and alternatives to, the nuclear state. In particular it will focus on the academic arguments against Blairâ??s proposed â??son of Tridentâ?? which it is estimated will cost the UK £76 billion by 2030, equivalent to the cost of bringing our CO2 emissions down by 60% over the same period. The conference is simultaneously a blockade of the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane, since it will take place directly at the North Gate of the base, on the road. All who work and study in universities,  including students, and all who are trying to think critically about the nature of the world, are invited to join us.

 

You can participate in a range of ways. You may present a paper at the conference. We hope that papers will take a variety of forms and reflect a variety of perspectives and disciplines. You are also very welcome to come along to listen to papers and participate in discussion groups. If you choose to do so, you may join those who are willing to continue the conference on the road in order to close down the base, thus risking arrest. We also need participants who do not risk arrest and who can, for example, continue our educational work by handing out papers to workers trying to enter the base on the morning of the 28th. Finally, our action overlaps with a studentsâ?? week-long anti-nuclear summer camp, taking place close to Faslane from the 28th. The students will join us on the 28th and would welcome you to stay on and offer workshops or talks at their camp if you wish.

 

REGISTER NOW!

Register for the conference by emailing D.Webb@leedsmet.ac.uk with the following info:

1)         your full name, university affiliation (if any), contact details

2)         whether or not you intend to present a paper

3)         whether or not you intend to blockade the gate and thus risk arrest

4)         whether or not you are likely to require accommodation

5)         which days you intend to participate (27th, 28th, any days of the student camp?)

 

If you intend to present a paper, please also supply an abstract to D.Webb@leedsmet.ac.uk, of 50-100 words, by 16th May 2007. You are welcome to send full papers before the event which we can upload onto our webpage (see http://www.faslane365.org/academics_and_scholars). Papers should be no longer than 4000 words.

If you have not already done so, please sign up to our email list to ensure you receive further information: send a blank email to faslane.academic.block-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.

 

The 2nd FAB conference is part of Faslane 365, a one-year continuous peaceful blockade of the Trident base at Faslane from 1st October 2006 to 30th September 2007. See http://www.faslane365.org. The Faslane 365 actions are entirely non-violent, respectful of people, and are part of the broader peace and global justice movement.

 

We look forward to seeing you on the 27th and 28th of June! The FAB Organisers: Stellan Vinthagen, Justin Kenrick, Jill Gibbon, Maud Bracke, Becka Kay, Catherine Eschle, Mark Blaxter and David Webb

Posted on by mklang