Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Google Ventures begging letter....
http://www.google.com/ventures/contact.html
To: ventures@google.com
Subject:Sustainable IT, Smart Energy Homes and modular platforms...
Hi,
I am working on a non-profit co-op startup called http://www.nodecity.com/ out of Melbourne, Australia which will scale globally as a decentralist movement; think of it as permaculture for IT. I will be at the SecurityMetrics conference in your headquarters April 20th, San Francisco, CA. -> http://www.securitymetrics.org/content/Wiki.jsp?page=Metricon3.5 e.g. visiting SF from April 18th to April 24th 09'. I would love to just chat to someone or buy them a coffee rather than pitch :) I am hingeing my plans on mesh and 3G/4G backhaul including geo-arbitrage of eco cloud services.
This is my background http://donalcv.blogspot.com/ and this is my passion http://tr.im/zentramp <--video explaining my 3 passions, as startups are about *people* and ideas methinks. The video is a rehearsal I did for a unique un-conference here in Melbourne http://trampolinemelb.com/ this past Saturday... I removed most of the 'ums' and 'ehs'... while actually speaking!
Essentially I wish to foster the coming awareness, social change, and sustainability via 'teaching people to fish'. I am sick to death of the snake-oil, silver bullet sales and profiteering by IT in general.
Thanks for reading my email and hopefully you'll take a peak at my video/cv http://tr.im/zentramp
Humble regards,
Donal
To: ventures@google.com
Subject:Sustainable IT, Smart Energy Homes and modular platforms...
Hi,
I am working on a non-profit co-op startup called http://www.nodecity.com/ out of Melbourne, Australia which will scale globally as a decentralist movement; think of it as permaculture for IT. I will be at the SecurityMetrics conference in your headquarters April 20th, San Francisco, CA. -> http://www.securitymetrics.org/content/Wiki.jsp?page=Metricon3.5 e.g. visiting SF from April 18th to April 24th 09'. I would love to just chat to someone or buy them a coffee rather than pitch :) I am hingeing my plans on mesh and 3G/4G backhaul including geo-arbitrage of eco cloud services.
This is my background http://donalcv.blogspot.com/ and this is my passion http://tr.im/zentramp <--video explaining my 3 passions, as startups are about *people* and ideas methinks. The video is a rehearsal I did for a unique un-conference here in Melbourne http://trampolinemelb.com/ this past Saturday... I removed most of the 'ums' and 'ehs'... while actually speaking!
Essentially I wish to foster the coming awareness, social change, and sustainability via 'teaching people to fish'. I am sick to death of the snake-oil, silver bullet sales and profiteering by IT in general.
Thanks for reading my email and hopefully you'll take a peak at my video/cv http://tr.im/zentramp
Humble regards,
Donal
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wikileaks:Re-post
Western internet censorship: The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?
From Wikileaks
Jump to: navigation, search
March 29, 2009
EDITORIAL (WikiLeaks)
We're arresting you for speeding.
What's the speed limit officer?
The speed limit is secret.
Cathy Wilcox
Cathy Wilcox
Shortly after 9pm on Tuesday March 24, Wikileaks related buildings in Dresden and Jena, were raided by 11 plain clothes German police.
Why?
Over the last two years, Wikileaks has exposed detailed secret government censorship lists or plans for over eight countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Germany.
Although Wikileaks' main site has been censored by the Chinese Public Security Bureau since early 2007, last week saw the site placed onto a secret list of sites "forbidden" by the Australian Media and Communications Authority, or ACMA.
The pro-censorship governments exposed by Wikileaks can be divided into three broad categories:
1. Countries with a mandatory censorship system in place: Thailand, the UAE, and Lebanon (films).
2. Countries proposing a mandatory censorship system: Australia and Germany.
3. Countries in which the internet censorship system is an unregulated agreement between several large ISPs and the police: Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Australia and Germany are the only liberal democracies proposing a mandatory internet censorship regime.
All of the schemes operate, or are proposed to operate, through multi-million dollar national networks of censorship machines.
The machines spy on the nation as each citizen attempts to read on the internet, and compares requested pages to those listed on a secret government "blacklist".
If the page is on the blacklist, the government forcibly prevents the citizen from viewing the information by intercepting his or her internet communication and diverting it to a machine controlled by the censorship system. This machine is often configured to record the identity of the person attempting to access the forbidden information. If the page is not on the blacklist, the government grants permission for the citizen to view the page.
Although originally marketed, in all countries, as a way of combating child pornography, the blacklists obtained by Wikileaks show that the systems have already been corrupted into censoring other content, including political content.
For instance, the secret blacklist for Thailand censors thousands of sites per year deemed to be critical of the Thai Monarchy, from academic books and YouTube to the Economist magazine and Wikileaks itself.
Similarly, the blacklist for Australia contains an anti-abortion site, fringe religions, a dentist clinic, gay sites, gambling sites, islamist sites, euthanasia activist sites, an astrologer's blog, misclassified material, and, like Thailand, Wikileaks itself. Even the Australian government's "Minister for censorship", Senator Stephen Conroy, has admitted that fully half of the sites on the secret list are unrelated to child pornography.
As newspapers and other publications migrate to an exclusive life on the internet, such totalizing censorship systems are able to instantly snatch "pages" from the laps of citizens across an entire nation, interdicting communications between publisher and reader, and the new civil discourse between readers and each other. The scale, speed and potential impact of this centralized intervention has no historical precedent.
Secret national censorship systems are dangerous and unaccountable. They are an afront to natural justice, due process and the balancing power of the fourth estate. They must be, and will be, stopped.
The Australian Government has stated it plans to increase the size of its blacklist list by 10 fold, from roughly 1,200 blocked pages to over 10,000, although the plan is now seems unlikely to pass the Australian Senate after the revelations of the last month.
* * * * *
To make what has happened clear to those who understand traditional book censorship, we provide the following simple analogy:
Within the libraries and book catalogues of Germany and Australia there are books (web pages) forbidden by the state.
The government of Australia has compiled a secret list of books it forbids. About 1,200 books are on the list.
Not even authors or publishers whose books are placed on the list are told their book has been banned.
Germany plans to adopt and expand a version of the Australian scheme.
Under the plans of the German and Australian governments, every attempt to borrow a book (read a web page) will be checked against the secret "forbidden books" (forbidden web pages) list.
If a book is on the list, the attempt to borrow it is noted down in another secret list and permission is refused. If the book is not on the blacklist, permission is granted.
The list of forbidden books (the blacklist) is a forbidden book.
The lists of books forbidden in other countries are also forbidden books.
Any book that mentions the title (URL) of a forbidden book is itself a forbidden book.
An international investigative newspaper (Wikileaks) reveals key internal documents on the censorship expansion plans for Germany, Australia and other countries. For Australia this expose includes the lists of forbidden books and the presence of clearly political books on the list. The newspaper warns that Australia is acting like a "democratic backwater" and risks following the censorship path of Thailand.
The article and lists, and then the entire newspaper secretly added to the list of publications banned by Australia.
The Australian "Minister for censorship", Senator Stephen Conroy, states "Any citizen who distributes [the blacklist] is at serious risk of criminal prosecution". The Minister threatens to refer the leak to the Australian Federal Police.
That same week, the newspaper releases three more articles on censorship and updates the lists of forbidden books.
Two buildings related to the newspaper in Germany are then raided by 11 plain clothed police. The police demand the keys (passwords) to a protected room (server) containing the newspaper's printing press so they can disable it. The newspaper staff refuse to comply--both the keys and the press itself have been sent to Sweden, a country with stronger legal protections for journalists.
The German police then seize what they believe to be the newspaper's archives (a hardrive) and a typewriter (laptop) "for evidence".
* * * * *
The story might end there, but 12 hours after the police raid, on Wednesday the 25th of March, the German Cabinet announced the completion of a proposed law for a nationwide, mandatory censorship system--to be pushed through before national elections in September, 2009.
For every noble human desire, in this case, the strong protective feelings most adults have towards children, opportunists such as Senator Conroy and his German equivalent, CDU Minister Ursula von der Leyen, stand ready to exploit these feelings for their own power and position.
Von der Leyen apparently hopes to raise her profile before a national election by promoting a national censorship "solution" to child pornography.
But forcibly preventing the average parent from seeing evidence of what may be an abuse against a child is not the same as stopping abuses against children. Absense of evidence is not evidence of absense.
Censoring the evidence promotes abuses by driving them underground, where they are difficult to track. Such schemes divert resources and political will away from proven policing solutions which target producers and consumers.
Children depend, even more than their parents, on the quality and viability of government. An assault against those systems and ideals which keep government honest and accountable - public oversight, natural justice, and protection from state censorship - is not just an affront to Enlightment ideals, but an assult on the long term interests of children and adults alike.
The March 24th raid is not the first time the German state has attempted to censor Wikileaks; back in December 2008, Ernst Uhrlau, former police chief and current head of the BND, Germany's equivalent to the CIA, threatened to prosecute the site unless it removed a BND dossier on corrupt officials in Kosovo and other information. The dossier was not removed. There is no evidence that the police action and the BND incident are related, but the situation, together with a recent Bundestag inquiry documenting illegal BND spying on the German press, does not paint a flattering picture of the state of German government.
From Wikileaks
Jump to: navigation, search
March 29, 2009
EDITORIAL (WikiLeaks)
We're arresting you for speeding.
What's the speed limit officer?
The speed limit is secret.
Cathy Wilcox
Cathy Wilcox
Shortly after 9pm on Tuesday March 24, Wikileaks related buildings in Dresden and Jena, were raided by 11 plain clothes German police.
Why?
Over the last two years, Wikileaks has exposed detailed secret government censorship lists or plans for over eight countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Germany.
Although Wikileaks' main site has been censored by the Chinese Public Security Bureau since early 2007, last week saw the site placed onto a secret list of sites "forbidden" by the Australian Media and Communications Authority, or ACMA.
The pro-censorship governments exposed by Wikileaks can be divided into three broad categories:
1. Countries with a mandatory censorship system in place: Thailand, the UAE, and Lebanon (films).
2. Countries proposing a mandatory censorship system: Australia and Germany.
3. Countries in which the internet censorship system is an unregulated agreement between several large ISPs and the police: Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Australia and Germany are the only liberal democracies proposing a mandatory internet censorship regime.
All of the schemes operate, or are proposed to operate, through multi-million dollar national networks of censorship machines.
The machines spy on the nation as each citizen attempts to read on the internet, and compares requested pages to those listed on a secret government "blacklist".
If the page is on the blacklist, the government forcibly prevents the citizen from viewing the information by intercepting his or her internet communication and diverting it to a machine controlled by the censorship system. This machine is often configured to record the identity of the person attempting to access the forbidden information. If the page is not on the blacklist, the government grants permission for the citizen to view the page.
Although originally marketed, in all countries, as a way of combating child pornography, the blacklists obtained by Wikileaks show that the systems have already been corrupted into censoring other content, including political content.
For instance, the secret blacklist for Thailand censors thousands of sites per year deemed to be critical of the Thai Monarchy, from academic books and YouTube to the Economist magazine and Wikileaks itself.
Similarly, the blacklist for Australia contains an anti-abortion site, fringe religions, a dentist clinic, gay sites, gambling sites, islamist sites, euthanasia activist sites, an astrologer's blog, misclassified material, and, like Thailand, Wikileaks itself. Even the Australian government's "Minister for censorship", Senator Stephen Conroy, has admitted that fully half of the sites on the secret list are unrelated to child pornography.
As newspapers and other publications migrate to an exclusive life on the internet, such totalizing censorship systems are able to instantly snatch "pages" from the laps of citizens across an entire nation, interdicting communications between publisher and reader, and the new civil discourse between readers and each other. The scale, speed and potential impact of this centralized intervention has no historical precedent.
Secret national censorship systems are dangerous and unaccountable. They are an afront to natural justice, due process and the balancing power of the fourth estate. They must be, and will be, stopped.
The Australian Government has stated it plans to increase the size of its blacklist list by 10 fold, from roughly 1,200 blocked pages to over 10,000, although the plan is now seems unlikely to pass the Australian Senate after the revelations of the last month.
* * * * *
To make what has happened clear to those who understand traditional book censorship, we provide the following simple analogy:
Within the libraries and book catalogues of Germany and Australia there are books (web pages) forbidden by the state.
The government of Australia has compiled a secret list of books it forbids. About 1,200 books are on the list.
Not even authors or publishers whose books are placed on the list are told their book has been banned.
Germany plans to adopt and expand a version of the Australian scheme.
Under the plans of the German and Australian governments, every attempt to borrow a book (read a web page) will be checked against the secret "forbidden books" (forbidden web pages) list.
If a book is on the list, the attempt to borrow it is noted down in another secret list and permission is refused. If the book is not on the blacklist, permission is granted.
The list of forbidden books (the blacklist) is a forbidden book.
The lists of books forbidden in other countries are also forbidden books.
Any book that mentions the title (URL) of a forbidden book is itself a forbidden book.
An international investigative newspaper (Wikileaks) reveals key internal documents on the censorship expansion plans for Germany, Australia and other countries. For Australia this expose includes the lists of forbidden books and the presence of clearly political books on the list. The newspaper warns that Australia is acting like a "democratic backwater" and risks following the censorship path of Thailand.
The article and lists, and then the entire newspaper secretly added to the list of publications banned by Australia.
The Australian "Minister for censorship", Senator Stephen Conroy, states "Any citizen who distributes [the blacklist] is at serious risk of criminal prosecution". The Minister threatens to refer the leak to the Australian Federal Police.
That same week, the newspaper releases three more articles on censorship and updates the lists of forbidden books.
Two buildings related to the newspaper in Germany are then raided by 11 plain clothed police. The police demand the keys (passwords) to a protected room (server) containing the newspaper's printing press so they can disable it. The newspaper staff refuse to comply--both the keys and the press itself have been sent to Sweden, a country with stronger legal protections for journalists.
The German police then seize what they believe to be the newspaper's archives (a hardrive) and a typewriter (laptop) "for evidence".
* * * * *
The story might end there, but 12 hours after the police raid, on Wednesday the 25th of March, the German Cabinet announced the completion of a proposed law for a nationwide, mandatory censorship system--to be pushed through before national elections in September, 2009.
For every noble human desire, in this case, the strong protective feelings most adults have towards children, opportunists such as Senator Conroy and his German equivalent, CDU Minister Ursula von der Leyen, stand ready to exploit these feelings for their own power and position.
Von der Leyen apparently hopes to raise her profile before a national election by promoting a national censorship "solution" to child pornography.
But forcibly preventing the average parent from seeing evidence of what may be an abuse against a child is not the same as stopping abuses against children. Absense of evidence is not evidence of absense.
Censoring the evidence promotes abuses by driving them underground, where they are difficult to track. Such schemes divert resources and political will away from proven policing solutions which target producers and consumers.
Children depend, even more than their parents, on the quality and viability of government. An assault against those systems and ideals which keep government honest and accountable - public oversight, natural justice, and protection from state censorship - is not just an affront to Enlightment ideals, but an assult on the long term interests of children and adults alike.
The March 24th raid is not the first time the German state has attempted to censor Wikileaks; back in December 2008, Ernst Uhrlau, former police chief and current head of the BND, Germany's equivalent to the CIA, threatened to prosecute the site unless it removed a BND dossier on corrupt officials in Kosovo and other information. The dossier was not removed. There is no evidence that the police action and the BND incident are related, but the situation, together with a recent Bundestag inquiry documenting illegal BND spying on the German press, does not paint a flattering picture of the state of German government.
The Plan
From: http://soli.inav.net/~catalyst/Humor/plan.htm
In the beginning was the Plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
And the assumptions were without form.
And the plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the faces of the workers.
And they spoke among themselves saying, "It is a crock of shit and it stinks."
And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a pail of dung and we cannot live with the smell."
And the supervisors went unto their Managers saying, "It is a container of organic waste and it is very strong such that none may abide by it."
And the managers went unto their Directors, saying, "It is a vessel of fertilizer and none may abide by it."
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another, "It contains that which aids plant growth and it is very powerful."
And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him, "This new plan will actively promote growth and vigor of the company with very powerful effects."
And the president looked upon the plan and saw that it was good.
And the plan became Policy.
And this is how shit happens.
In the beginning was the Plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
And the assumptions were without form.
And the plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the faces of the workers.
And they spoke among themselves saying, "It is a crock of shit and it stinks."
And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a pail of dung and we cannot live with the smell."
And the supervisors went unto their Managers saying, "It is a container of organic waste and it is very strong such that none may abide by it."
And the managers went unto their Directors, saying, "It is a vessel of fertilizer and none may abide by it."
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another, "It contains that which aids plant growth and it is very powerful."
And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him, "This new plan will actively promote growth and vigor of the company with very powerful effects."
And the president looked upon the plan and saw that it was good.
And the plan became Policy.
And this is how shit happens.
Friday, March 27, 2009
FEAR
Maybe you're right and I should play it safe and not express myself.
I don't think you understand what or where my mind is moving to... or the construct in which everyone is trapped. FEAR.
I'm sick to death of being sick to death of some 'future', playing it safe and bending to this future you speak of.
I am a good person, that's all anyone needs to know. My intent is honorable. Fuck em' fuck em all.
Now I am going to sleep. I think your concern is nice but misplaced, you need to try and understand fully and more deeply what you are afraid of on my behalf, what construct it is, why it scares you and not me....... and this is Donal the geek who can probably see further and faster than most in to the 'future'.
I appreciate your concern, however I will stand by my instinct and convictions.
I repeat. Fuck em' , fuck em' all, I don't want a part in any future that doesn't want a part of me. All of me. Do you understand now?
I can't live my life afraid or in fear. If it doesn't work, I will create my own reality or find others that share MY reality. Ask yourself what you are afraid of and then use the past to project a different future.
I don't think you understand what or where my mind is moving to... or the construct in which everyone is trapped. FEAR.
I'm sick to death of being sick to death of some 'future', playing it safe and bending to this future you speak of.
I am a good person, that's all anyone needs to know. My intent is honorable. Fuck em' fuck em all.
Now I am going to sleep. I think your concern is nice but misplaced, you need to try and understand fully and more deeply what you are afraid of on my behalf, what construct it is, why it scares you and not me....... and this is Donal the geek who can probably see further and faster than most in to the 'future'.
I appreciate your concern, however I will stand by my instinct and convictions.
I repeat. Fuck em' , fuck em' all, I don't want a part in any future that doesn't want a part of me. All of me. Do you understand now?
I can't live my life afraid or in fear. If it doesn't work, I will create my own reality or find others that share MY reality. Ask yourself what you are afraid of and then use the past to project a different future.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Questions for Conroy
#nocleanfeed #censorship #wikileaks
With props to Dan Geer's essay on Convergence.
With props to Dan Geer's essay on Convergence.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Censorship:Getup.org.au:Children
Dear Tim/Getup re: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet&id=576
**** How about toddlers speaking with adult voices, with plain white backgrounds engaging in critical free speech and educational paradigms? ****
Won't someone think of the children? Well has anyone actually asked them about the internet and bad stuff? It's their future, not ours. Maybe you have a baby or child and each iteration of generation ~ 10-15 years speaks with the voice of a generation 20-25 years older? Then a very old person speaking with a toddlers voice to complete the circle and enforce the concept.
When you apply reductionist thought akin to 'give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime', unfettered access to information which provokes critical thought and enforces personal and parental responsibility is paramount. Privacy, identity, global networks with no geo-political boundaries, censorship, free speech, autodidactic education, decentralism, human organisation, publishing, commerce, literacy, all salient and prominent issues... we need to get toddlers/kids to speak on their own, and our behalf.. it will also provoke thought and positive/negative publicity to catapult this topic in to the pscyche of this fledgling nation.
As @Wadeis pointed out many moons ago a viral video "akin" to this *will* work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&hl=en-GB&v=0vtHwWReGU0 , albeit I see kids speaking with adult voices about important memes. Perhaps sound bytes from both sides of the debate from prominent opponents/proponents?
We need some public faces/voices and simple messaging. We need to leverage existing memes while creating a new one.
Additional:
I have been collecting internet history/safety information videos on your behalf: http://bsdosx.blogspot.com/2009/02/histornet-history-of-internet.html , for any historical or future references as unfortunately a lot of this is underpinned by technology that changes the playing field.
**** How about toddlers speaking with adult voices, with plain white backgrounds engaging in critical free speech and educational paradigms? ****
Won't someone think of the children? Well has anyone actually asked them about the internet and bad stuff? It's their future, not ours. Maybe you have a baby or child and each iteration of generation ~ 10-15 years speaks with the voice of a generation 20-25 years older? Then a very old person speaking with a toddlers voice to complete the circle and enforce the concept.
When you apply reductionist thought akin to 'give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime', unfettered access to information which provokes critical thought and enforces personal and parental responsibility is paramount. Privacy, identity, global networks with no geo-political boundaries, censorship, free speech, autodidactic education, decentralism, human organisation, publishing, commerce, literacy, all salient and prominent issues... we need to get toddlers/kids to speak on their own, and our behalf.. it will also provoke thought and positive/negative publicity to catapult this topic in to the pscyche of this fledgling nation.
As @Wadeis pointed out many moons ago a viral video "akin" to this *will* work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&hl=en-GB&v=0vtHwWReGU0 , albeit I see kids speaking with adult voices about important memes. Perhaps sound bytes from both sides of the debate from prominent opponents/proponents?
We need some public faces/voices and simple messaging. We need to leverage existing memes while creating a new one.
Additional:
I have been collecting internet history/safety information videos on your behalf: http://bsdosx.blogspot.com/2009/02/histornet-history-of-internet.html , for any historical or future references as unfortunately a lot of this is underpinned by technology that changes the playing field.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Internets
I spent a lot of time at the weekend talking about how information,
ideas, awareness and cirtical thought spreads; and it's all about
unfettered access and freedom/transparency of information(and/or
non-contextualised raw data).
Information pollution/signal to noise ratios are required as both a
contrast and training mechanism e.g. duality. The internet is the
largest human mirror and 'community of practice' we know. The ultimate
'connected' neural net.
Warts and all.
Fun eco links:
http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/
http://www.inhabitat.com/
ideas, awareness and cirtical thought spreads; and it's all about
unfettered access and freedom/transparency of information(and/or
non-contextualised raw data).
Information pollution/signal to noise ratios are required as both a
contrast and training mechanism e.g. duality. The internet is the
largest human mirror and 'community of practice' we know. The ultimate
'connected' neural net.
Warts and all.
Fun eco links:
http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/
http://www.inhabitat.com/
Monday, March 16, 2009
Back to my roots
So you know you're entering fun new territory when you see signs like this for Cassawaries!! I was heading in to one of the oldest jungles in the world for a weekend off the grid. Welcome to the Daintree
This is Dave's house. Note the solar panels on the roof. Water is running straight from one of the creeks. We swam in many of the non-croc infested creeks, hung out on beaches with sea-eagles, checked out the mangrove flora and fauna.. and sampled the Wine Doctors resveratrol enhanced wine all while eating local produce and muggins here being introduced to fruit that tasted like creme caramel (called Abiu[s]).
Many of the worlds problems were solved this weekend in Cape Tribulation; however, as the solutions weren't documented in the moment, they have unfortunately been lost to mankind. I will have to go back up soon and chill wit' da junglists once more. Cheers Dave and Sarah...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)