Tag Archives: US

bm125 Hackers, Freedom, and Tim from the Chaos Computer Club

In the public perception battle between hackers and the media, it is the hackers that have long been painted as criminals and dangers to society. However I now know of at least one area of the world where this is not the case, and the hacker community has remained creative, vibrant, and growing. Tim Pritlove of the world famous CCC was in Amsterdam this weekend, and this podcast features an interview with him on the topics of hacking, freedom, the CCC, and the future of the world in relation to access to technology.

AudioCommunique #125 (mp3)

Useful Links:

Chaos Computer CLub
Chaos Radio International
Tim’s Own Podcast with Me conducted on the Boat last friday.

Music:

Gogol Bordello – Lets Get Radical
Anti-Flag – Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL)
Neil Young – The Restless Consumer

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podcast made possible by you the listener and also Springheeljack.net

bmtv6 Video Proof of QD’06

I’m not putting it into the main feed this time, but for those wanting something for sunday evening/monday morn, here’s a vlog about Queen’s day. Starring lots of famous Amsterdam and Netherlands characters from my life who will not be named in this post. Cept the mindcaster… of course I’ll use his name, my co-pilot on board the red august.

All in all, the red august braved the Amsterdam waters despite bumper to bumper bigass boats with DJ’s and people shakin their booties on board. It was certainly not the August’s first queens day, as I was a guest on board back in 2003. Still, this time I was captain and owner of the vessel, it was a big responsibility, but I survived and enjoyed taking the friends around town in style.

For full coverage of Queen’s day from the view of expats and nonexpats, consult BlondeButBright, Todd over at Waking up in Amsterdam, Gabe Mac of Xolo.tv, and of course the Mindcaster himself. Just to name a few.

She said, I just got back from Colombo

One of today’s graduates gave me a warm greeting today during the ceremony. I noticed her Eastern European skin looking quite tan, and I asked where she’d been. “Sri Lanka,” she said, “not a very good time over there right now.”

At that moment I thought back to the last few years and what has taken place in Sri Lanka, a place I’ve long paid attention to. I thought about the disastrous and destructive civil war that tore the country apart for so long. Then in 2002 there came the peace agreement between the Tamil Tigers and the government. My feeling and my hope was that people were tired of war, and that even the soldiers themselves, on both sides, were ready to seek some other (any other!) means of resolving their conflict.
But it has been a shakey cease-fire, with occasional incidents on both sides. And as she spoke she mentioned the recent escallation of violence and how everyone where she was outside Colombo was talking about it and getting crazy-concerned. It was also interesting to hear the contrast, while a fragile peace agreement is on the brink of falling apart, she was looking for peace and quiet at a Sri Lankan resort… very odd.

Hey and while I’m talking Asia, GOOD NEWS, the Nepalese parliament has re-convened for the first time in 4 years! This sounds like a good step.

Is it that amazing?

Photo Hosted at Buzznet.comWith another graduation for international masters fish about to take place tomorrow, as I sat in the fishtank today there were a few old familiar faces from last year, wandering around. They typically go home to finish their masters thesis, or they go off to Uganda to observe Ugandan underwater basketweaving and by the time I see them again they are expert basket weavers and ready to graduate.

One particular familiar face came up to me in the fishtank and greeted me with the warmest of smiles and kisses. She came back to Amsterdam just for the weekend, to graduate. After that, she told me, maybe it’s back to Uganda or Uzbekistan, or Ulan Bantuur. (refusing to spell check tonight) After I grilled her about what life plans she has, she turned the heat onto me. It went something like this:

“So you’re here, you’re doing well! I mean, it can’t be that bad to be living in Amsterdam after all?”

Me: Yeah. No big deal really, semesters melt into semesters, it hasn’t really been that long.
Her:

“No it’s great, you’re still here, it’s amazing.”

Me: Is it? I don’t know. But I did get a boat last week. So life is good.

That’s my snippet for today. Tomorrow we can delve into the anniversary of Chernobyl, the future of Thailand, and maybe a little on how I don’t care if Al Gore re-invents himself, again.

Oh, and a vlog about riding in a Duck is now available on my video blog.

bm124 The Other Big Election in Europe: Hungary

Atop any list of underreported nations in Europe, Hungary has handled huge changes over the past 15 years. Henrik of the Hungarian Accent blog joins me to discuss Hungary: from the end of the communist regime, to joining the European Union, to the cold hard truth of what lies ahead for the Hungarian people.

AudioCommunique #124 (mp3)

Music:

K’Naan – In the beginning
Clap Your Hands Say YEah – Over and Over
Pink – Dear Mr. President

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podcast made possible by you the listener and also Springheeljack.net