bicyclemark

Privacy, Voting Computers, and Insanity

They actually didn’t cover the insanity part, but that just comes automatic.

I’ve never seen so many laptops in my life.

As one strolls the outside-conference environment, you may encounter the many different collectives of the Chaos Communication Congress. In this corner, with laptop and internet cable strewn everywhere, it’s the mesh network kids. Over there, below the wikimedia banner, a bunch of people are allegedly working for wikipedia. (maybe they can un-ban me, those bastards) Down the hall, its the Deck phone guys who do cool shit with phones. I can’t even get into the lockpickers, lego-robotics, RFID mapping, and solar robot creating corners. It’s all just too much. I get tired very quickly as the senses are overloaded with this creative energy that bursts from every corner.

If you come to a hacker conference.. one thing not to forget.. which I just happen to have… ethernet cable. Its important. Take that bit of wisdom with you, free-o-charge.

As the evening wound down, after a whole day of god knows what, I found myself in this room, (photo taken yesterday, tonight it was bustling with people), sitting next to Rop who just slammed home a presentation on the Dutch voting computer battle (which I covered in my podcast way back when), drinking ze beers with Catarina.. who taught me all kinds of hacker history and general communication factoids this evening. She also awarded me with a rare PRess Pass… yehaw.

All this is my excuse for not doing a podcast or a vlog tonight. Too much to tell.. too much to do.. and the night is almost over… so I’ll get on it tomorrow, at some point.

I’ve said it alot lately, but this conference is one of those things in life.. not to be missed and not likely to be forgotten.

Just Flew Into Berlin… Ouch

A little over 24 hours ago I was celebrating xmas with family in a tiny town in Portugal.

This morning I awoke warm and happy in Amsterdam.

And now I write to you from somewhere in the heart of Berlin.

As you can imagine.. I can’t think straight at the moment. I’ve focused on small tasks.. like making sure the hot water works here in the most unique and spacious apartment Tim has let me use. (Tim is, of course, the greatest)

I’m here for 23C3… the amazingly circus-like hacker conference that brings hordes of people together for the last days of the year.. right here in Berlin. So that’s where I’ll be all week and I planned some additional days as well since Ive got lots of time on my hands and work I can do from anywhere in wonderfully WIRED Berlin.

There’s lots more to tell, but I need to figure out where my pajamas are and maybe add some layers as this place has a pretty limited heating system.

Prepare yourself.. all week you will be bombarded with reports from Berlin filled with the participation of some very special people.

Old People Make XMAS

Here I sit at my cousins computer… the air is filled with the smell of fried dough, fish soup, sweet rice, port wine, and well.. who knows what else.

At the table tonight, which I just got up from, picture a long table with about 10 people, almost all of which are above the age of 78. In my grandparents case, way above 80. And, as usual, how the stories flow. We reunited 2 brothers and a sister, not to mention a brother-in-law and some old friends. It is, historically speaking, an amazing occurance.. like a solar eclipse, only you can actually stare and enjoy. Ive taken lots of photos and video, not so much to share with the internet, but to share with my children and my childrens children.

And the night is only half over… soon its time to brave the treacherous roads of portugal.. and head to the next dinner party.. which will involve presents and desserts Im guessing.

Happy Festivus.

Holiday Recommendations

Being that most of you are home with some days off, some with lots of time to kill, others with no time (like me!) as you’re forced to drive from place to place on some unspoken quest to see every one of your favorite family and friends within a 150 kilometer radius. I think tonight I’ll recommend some excellent content that has stood out for me lately:

One is a show I constantly recommend, Radio Open Source. The particular show that I really enjoyed was focusing on Gorbachev, Russia, and looking back, asking the question.. what happened and why are things in Russia the way they are. It is a really good discussion and actually attacks alot of opinions Ive long held about Russia and Putin.. Ive actually had to rethink things.. which is always good.

My next recommendation is a very different one from my usual focus. Madge Weinstein recently interviewed Rebecca also known as the Trannywreck from Trannywreck radio. She just had her gender re-assignment surgery to change her penis into a vagina. This interview is great, Rebecca really comes through (in my opinion) as a very calm, thoughtful, and interesting person.. with such a unique experience as a trans-person!

And finally today I want to point out my friends over at the Lounge Chicken. The blog rolls on and i got an email from Jesse recently about some noteworthy citizen journalism projects that are in the works. Hopefully I can get involved, but nevermind all that, first I recommend people read the blog.

I almost forgot, here’s a typically Portuguese gift on xmas, nevermind if you celebrate the holiday or not.. you need COD.

Goodnight Lisbon

Over dinner, BadHareDay and I discuss everything two friends can discuss.. just like old times. He taught me about the 12 official languages of South Africa, which are extremely difficult to list… and then we got into the upcoming vote on the abortion issue here in Portugal. I’m working on getting photos of the billboards of the YES and NO campaigns.. it is really both fascinating and comical… so stay tuned for that.

But this post is my goodbye to the fair city in 2006. And that was what this evening was all about… stepping out on the town with a good friend, eating dinner at one of the few dirt cheap local holes in the wall, and heading to Ler Devagar (Read Slowly) the finest bookstore that serves wine and tea til all hours of the night. Tonight was the big book sale where prints from 1975 were going for around 1 euro a-piece; good times! Afterwards we walked around the Bairro Alto, which is just like we used to do back in the day. To finish off the evening, a trip down to the municipal market to try and drink some hot cocoa from the all-night Cocao da Ribeira. It turned out to be closed, but again.. it was the thought that counted. Thoughts that take me back to 2002.. when work wasn’t easy or well paid, but I lived the Lisbon life.

It is good to know I can still relive the glory and that even in 2006.. there are still places in Lisbon where I can walk in and the chef comes out to shake my hand, the waitress knows my favorite drink, and the cutey at the bank knows my name by heart. This town may seem a little intimidating at night, and life might not be easy here in Portugal, but there is still plenty to be said for Lisbon as one of the finest cities I’ve ever known.. and loved.

Hard to Defend

Greetings once again from the drivers seat of this car somewhere in Portugal.

Briefly, as my hands are cramping up and I predict the neighbors will call the cops or sic the dogs on me…

I have spent a decent amount of energy doing what some might characterize as defending the president of IRan. Of course its not that i want to defend him exactly, but I disapprove of how the media uses and twists his rather odd and conservative words. Most of all I think the media have done a poor job of reporting about him without using sweeping generalizations that adhere to exactly what the warmongers of America would like to hear: the same ol pitch about him being so dangerous that we must attack and bla bla bla.

But recently with the whole haulocaust deniers convention… I gotta say it was extremely hard to lift a finger to defend the man anymore. Not that i want the war mongers to get there way, but man… you work so hard trying to understand and explain a very ignorant man and poof… he holds one of these conferences.

Finally with the recent election results in Iran I got the ray of hope and clear sign that I was needing to boost the “Iran is not the boogy man campaign”. The reformists made some big gains, which means anyone who says the country is out of control and dangerous, has to face the fact that actually the country has some terrible politicians but it also has some brave and politically able citizens who see things very differently and can take back power using the political mechanisms in place (even if it isnt easy).

Not that Americans are so easily fooled these days, I certainly hope not. But I also like to prepare for the worst, and I know that the worst involves military leaders who love to plot wars and sit back and watch them unfold would love for the reformers to disappear and for the hardliners liners like Ahmedinejad to take over and hold lots of loony conventions. But if you ever needed one, here’s a clear sign…. peace is the solution here and if you respect a country and its citizens, let them make change from within and respect their decisions.. don’t threaten to destroy them.

Time to turn the engine on.. its cold in here.