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HAcker Congress 07 Almost Done

Greetings once again from Berlin, where I am attending the 24C3, the conference hosted by Germany’s Chaos Computer Club one of the finest groups of hackers and humans on the planet. This year the topics revolve around Global Warming and how Nerds will survive the apocalypse. In many ways it is a humorous theme, but in between all the joking around, I do believe we should take it more seriously in terms of solutions to fight global warming and the forces behind it.

Somehow I’ve ended up at the more comedic, the world is over, enjoy yourself and wear good shoes type sessions, that have left me laughing but also longing for some new ideas. Of course, outside of the sessions, in the hallways and various dark corners of the congress, that is where I see the true geniuses creating – as always- something out of nothing. Among the things I’ve seen: the revival of old technology for modern day uses, namely the telex machine. I watched as someone telexed *interesting* images from somewhere else in the conference center to the machine next to me. Of course I’ve also seen the drones, 4 propeller flying machines with some improvements since the camp over the summer. Also this year there are at least 8 to 12 OLPC’s also known as the green machine/100 dollar laptop, being played with. I may do a followup on it, although clearly lots of people are getting their hands on them now (including madame l)

What else? A puppet show about steam power. Rebellious knitting. Infectious diseases in virtual worlds. Yes there are plenty of insanely interesting topics that occasionally have some social relevance as well. No podcasts recorded yet, but once I give my talk on the Arctic Cold War in a few hours… I’ll get on the podcasting.

For a live stream of it, click here (12h45 CET, 6:45am EST)

bmtv68 Green Spaces of Our Childhoods

During my recent visit to NEw JErsey, land where I was born and raised, I spent some time walking through the forest that my friends and I grew up playing in and around. It is a unique place and in this vlog entry I try to explain why.

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On the Road

24 Hours in Amsterdam has not allowed me to prepare a podcast. Mostly it involves unpacking, repacking, cleaning, and preparing my equipment for the 24C3 in Berlin.

If you have not yet seen the documentation video from last years Chaos Communication Congress, here is the link. I say a few lines in it, as do some nice folks that I know.

Some people might wonder what I say about the Bhutto assasination, sorry to disappoint but I don’t have much to say. They knew full well the risks they took and I commend her and her people for facing death so bravely. I’m not a huge Bhutto admirer, but the way she has carried herself in the face of so much pressure and hatred, I commend her and regret that this has happened. Unfortunately they will once again re-write history and hijack a tragedy by making this an excuse to dedicate more money for their crusade entitled “the war on terrorism”.

Missile Tests Mean…

Ok the two-day festivus is over. And just as many people sit down to eat the roast beast (or vegetarian roast-beast), over in Russia they are testing new Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Yes, the ICBM, an acronym usually associated with the cold war and the 80’s.

Welcome to the new cold war. In this version the US acts like Russia is their best friend and presidents look into each others souls and they drive around in pickup-trucks together.

Meanwhile behind the scenes, the US has military contractors who need to build missiles and fear in order to justify their existence and make a profit so you can trade shares in Boeing and help make the CEO’s very wealthy. The Russian government, on the other hand, has taken control of all the big oil and gas companies and if it gets the arctic claim they will control 1/3 of the world’s hydro-carbon energy. So Russia tests ICBM’s, launching them by land and from submarines like the year is 1981. The US tries to build missile defences in places like the Czech Republic, Poland, and Greenland, claiming that this is all necessary to protect the world from… Iran.

Then Russia protests and says — Hey, that missile shield seems to be pointed towards us! And the US responds, no no no, that missile shield that goes right up til your border is not a threat to you, you can still launch your ICBM’s at us, no problem. Plus we’re best friends remember?

That is my rendition of the high school play entitled, The Cold War Part Deux.

The Year was 2000

I sit in south jersey next to a warm fire place. I sometimes forget that it is a fake fireplace and the fire turns on with the flick of a switch.

On television I’m watching Public Broadcasting, and to my great surprise, the documentary film about Ralph Nader’s life is on. “Unreasonable Man” is an amazing film to watch, because the man himself is amazing and every bit of his life is inspiring and the definition of courage. I love that the title of this film is “An Unreasonable Man”. I hope that one day I too can be an Unreasonable Man in this tradition.

I had never seen videos, photos, and audio from the 60’s and 70’s… as Ralph took on the giant corporations and disfunctional government and became a force to be reckoned with, a force that reports directly to and represents, regular people.

My work revolves around questions of quality of life, the quality of life that humans could live versus the quality of life they are being denied, everyday, everywhere. Nader has worked his whole life effecting change in this very area. He made change when people thought it impossible, and he fought battles even when people lost the will to support him.. when people decided to settle for less than justice.. less than true democracy.

Some of the images on the screen as I type these words, are of the super-rallies back in 2000. I remember the one I attended so vividly; Madison Square Garden. I remember the Garden filled to the brim and the music and the speeches and the long list of inspiring people who took the stage that night. I found some old photos of those days in my closet here in New Jersey. I even found the old Nader/LaDuke poster from the 2000 election.

As I so often say, it is films such as this one that should be shown in high schools throughout not only the US but the world. Because when people want to understand what it means to be a citizen. Or what it means to care about your community and your neighbors… they can just look at the shining example of Ralph Nader… a true fighter and for this podcasting journalist, a hero.

Memories and Photos

As part of coming home to New Jersey for the holidays, I spend lots of time going through old photos. Scanning most of them and putting them up my flickr site.

In these photos I see faces and I see places that are sometimes overwhelming.. times when I was so happy, or unhappy as the case may be. People who meant alot to me, some of whom have disappeared from my life. I also spend time reading old letters. Letters from friends to me when I was living in France. Letters from myself that I never sent. Love letters that almost seem silly or naive all these years later.

It makes me appreciate what an amazing life I’ve lived up to now and all that I’ve done and admittedly, frequently take for granted or forget. That is one reason I blog and I post so much of my life online. I don’t want to forget and I have a hard time remembering all these adventures and all these people.. they seem to spill out of my memory and get lost in boxes and envelopes.

Naturally when I’m done looking at these photos and reading these words, I’ll put them away again, and get back to my life and my work that are so interesting and important to me. In the mean time… here are just a few places and faces that I’ve been remembering.