Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
What is the situaton in Chilé following the massive earthquake that struck late last month? How bad is the damage and how is the recovery effort going? My friend Nick Farr joins us via skype from somewhere in Chilé as he travels through the country observing what is going on. He explains the reality on the ground.
If you’re interested in hearing more from Nick who leads a most interesting life – follow him on twitter.
Watch my talk “Not Soy Fast: The Silent March of the multinational GM Soy industry” Tuesday at 12h45pm CET, 6h45 EST. Streaming from one of these links.
Inside we are several thousand, over the past 3 days, shuffling about the Berliner Congress Center. Some for the first time, some for the third time, and many for the 25th time. The voices are loud and plentiful, people waving a laptop in one hand, planting them in front of neighbors to show them something they’re working on. A whole line of guys in one corner all have those Madonna headsets, though none of them has said a word in the last 30 minutes.? The flying object guys connect their flying objects to various sockets, an occasional test to see how the take off would look or the propellers are spinning. They don’t notice the Italian hacker walking around in his flowing robe with a bottle of grappa and a stack of plastic cups for anyone who wants to partake.? He comes over to the group of people I am withContinue reading “This World, That World”
The German minister who famously believes in law and order and high security and knowing as much about citizens as possible, has now – himself- been fingerprinted. Whats more, the fingerprints are being distributed all over the world as part of a very strong statement and critique of what is supposed to be such a safe and secure method of identification.
This podcast is recorded at the CCCB in Berlin, and it features the participation of some very kind and socially conscious hackers. As we sat around assembling the magazines, finger prints and all, I took out the recorder and asked them to explain how it is they got hold of the German interior minister’s finger prints and what the larger meaning of this action, will be.
By the end of the recording they realized we hadn’t spoken in detail about many of the OTHER examples of what the German government is trying to do when it comes to data retention and privacy. Below is a list of links they recommended I include for better details about what is going on.
EU-Wide implementation of the data retention
German minister defends ‘Trojan horse’ spy tactic as needed to fight terror
Schäuble: Facts Obtained Through Torture Should be Used
Oh and as a bonus, the Finger Print story in Wired.
Last weekend I attended the annual hacker congress in Berlin. As usual, being surrounded by some of the world’s most brilliant and creative minds left me inspired, enlightened, and exhausted. This vlog only captures about 1/10 of the interesting things that took place during the congress, these are my video highlights.
Numerous messages are streaming in asking me to write about and put out more content related to the notorious camp I just spent a week at. And while it is true I saw amazing things and met wonderful people, I refuse to do any further cheering as the internet has plenty of material about the inventions, parties, achievements, and so on.
At some point during the last days of the CCC the film crew asked me to stand in front of the camera and talk about how I saw the camp and the talk I was going to give. While I did say kind words about the things going on at this former soviet military base, I also took the opportunity to share my concern and disappointment about the level of social and global consciousness at such events.
While they love to discuss and worry about such societal topics as privacy and ownership, over the past year I have observed that hackers are not so in tune to other issues that involve human rights or global poverty.
They have a wealth of knowledge and access to amazing power as a result of their skills and equipment, yet focusing them on issues related to human rights is not often enough a priority… if ever. Lectures or discussions on related topics go significantly under attended compared to the full house you get if you talk about hacking something or how to build your own drone.
While this correlation might be seen as only natural to many, as someone who has witnessed first hand what such a group is capable of, I still get disappointed. Bringing various cultures together in the spirit of cooperation and knowledge sharing, that they have and it is great. Attempting to connect what you can do with a computer or technology with the needs of a world that is plagued by poverty, corruption, and indifference…(not including a minority working on very important social issues like voting computers and sustainability) there the hacking community could use a nice motivating kick in the ass.