Southern Sudan voting for Independence

My family spent the weekend watching the History channel's series The Revolution about America's split from England. So, it is with no small interest that I read Southern Sudan is ready to vote for independence from the North. But, like our Declaration of Independence, this vote may not be the end of the matter. The South contains 80% of Sudan's oil wealth, and the North has shown plenty of willingness to shed blood in order to protect their interests. Here's hoping the will of people prevails, and that the international community stands behind the vote.

Cloud Computing = Careless Computing?

Every technological advance has its downside. The automobile made transportation easy and democratic, but it also have us car crashes. The telephone made communication effortless, but it also made it that much harder to maintain privacy. Nuclear power brought cheap energy, but also brought the nuclear bomb. The question is always, does the upside outweigh the downside.

The newest buzzword in computing is "cloud computing", where companies offer us services over the internet that reduce our dependence on our local machines. A good example is DropBox, a backup/sync service that saves files online and syncs them across any number of computers and your iPhone/iPad/Android device. Having every file you need everywhere you need it can be invaluable. Google has fully embraced the idea of cloud computing, and has recently released a new laptop with ChomeOS - an minimalist operating system which does everything in the cloud. (It is actually useless without an internet connection.)

Internet pioneer and information freedom advocate Richard Stallman has come out against "cloud computing" in general and the ChomeOS in particular because of the loss of freedom and privacy we give up by using these services.

But Stallman is unimpressed. "I think that marketers like "cloud computing" because it is devoid of substantive meaning. The term's meaning is not substance, it's an attitude: 'Let any Tom, Dick and Harry hold your data, let any Tom, Dick and Harry do your computing for you (and control it).' Perhaps the term 'careless computing' would suit it better."

He sees a creeping problem: "I suppose many people will continue moving towards careless computing, because there's a sucker born every minute. The US government may try to encourage people to place their data where the US government can seize it without showing them a search warrant, rather than in their own property. However, as long as enough of us continue keeping our data under our own control, we can still do so. And we had better do so, or the option may disappear."

Be cautious this upcoming year, because everyone is trying to embrace cloud computing. Decide early which companies you trust, and whether the loss of freedom is outweighed by the convenience offered by this new technology.

Iran bans GMail

It appears that the Iranian regime has not learned the lesson of the election debacle - that the internet can not be easily controlled. In an attempt to suppress protests around the Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, they are banning GMail from the country in favor of a "national e-mail service". The ban is supposedly permanent.

Of course, this may simply drive users to other free (both as in no-cost, and as in freedom) e-mail services like Hotmail, Yahoo, AIM Mail, GMX Mail, Inbox.Com, Fastmail, Lavabit, MySpace, and more. This is clearly an attempt to stop an avalanche with a stop sign.

Iranian Students Demonstrate for Democracy

I am not a believer in George W. Bush's contention that it is America's duty to "export Democracy" around the world, the most visible expression of which is the War in Iraq. But I am a believer that people in all nations thirst for liberty and freedom. It is reassuring that at the same time Iran is flirting with nuclear oblivion to see students demonstrating against the dictatorship and for democracy. It is a reminder that even in nations held in bondage by a strong hand and a philosophy that supports tyranny, the light of freedom burns still.

Hundreds of students from different colleges gathered Sunday at Tehran University to protest against injustice and the dictatorship which runs their country and their lives.

The gathering marked "Students' Day," a commemoration of the day about 50 years ago when the Shah's police attacked students.

Iranian students inside the Islamic Republic and abroad have long used the occasion to call for political freedom and voice their struggle against dictators - first the Western-backed Shah, and now the hard-line Islamic regime led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I pray that in time these students can bring about transformation in their country. I am not naive enough to think it will be soon or easy, but I am hopeful that it may come in time.

A Good Reminder

Happy Easter!

Fighting Back Against Real ID

On May 11, 2005, the REAL ID Act was passed as part of a military spending bill. On March 2, 2007, enforcement was postponed to December 2009 and then again until 2011. What is the REAL ID Act? The theory is that it will tighten our borders and prevent another 9/11. One of the ways it attempts to do this is establish a national standard for driver's licenses / state identification cards and then establish a linked database. The problems with this act are numerous. First, the federal government is interfering with a state issue. Second, the federal government is not only mandating this, but requiring the states to foot the bill. Third, by linking the state databases together and having a national standard, we are basically at a national ID card - something that has been resisted because it brings to mind the idea of the Soviet Union and needing papers to travel from state to state. Fourth, it is wasteful spending in that most, if not all, of the 9/11 hijackers had valid ID. They would not have been flagged any differently than they were on that day. (Information about the REAL ID Act taken from Wikipedia.)

Unfortunately, my state, California has decided to go right along with the federal government. Montana, however, has led the charge in refusing to go along. Other states are also opposing the legislation. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that those who do not have a valid Real ID license (or other federally recognized ID such as a passport) will not be able to use their license as ID for federal purposes. This includes boarding airplanes without being subjected to increased security checks. The DHS is betting that citizens will complain to and blame their state governments. State governments are betting that citizens will agree with them and place the blame fully on the DHS. Citizens of these states will need to start providing alternative ID or be subjected to further security checks as of May 11, 2008. Not only will air travel be hindered, but you'll need a federal ID to "open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service."

I fear it's too late for California, but those in a state where there has not been major headway made can still contact your state leaders and push back against Real ID.

Update 1: Looks like there is some money available, but it basically amounts to pennies on the dollar.

Terrorists and Wile E. Coyote

Although this article was posted some time ago, I wanted to pass it on. In some ways, the fear of terrorism is even worse than terrorism itself. Our enemies want us to have our freedoms restricted and to live in fear. When we let our fear of terrorism overwhelm us, we "gladly" give up our liberties in exchange for "protection". Security is something we need to work on, but we need to have the security measures be things that actually protect us and not just give the government more power.

Typically, people who write articles about this come at it from an angle of how the "security measures" really do nothing, but Bruce Schneier over at Wired takes a different angle. Our security response needs to be proportional to the threat and many "terrorists" plans are so riddled with impossibilities that we needn't worry about them especially when traditional means are working fine.

Mod-Blog Embargo of NYT Ends

Today, the New York Times has announced their policy of charging for content has ended, and that over the course of the next week, the "New York Times Premium" content will transition over to a free ad-based model instead. With that news, the Mod-Blog embargo of NYT stories (imperfectly maintained, but generally in force over the last year) can finally end. I welcome this news, and the return to sanity that it represents. I appreciate the NYT's need to make money to support their efforts, but when every other newpaper on the web can do it with advertising, the old Grey Lady should be able to do the same.

This how I feel this week

Are we de-naturalizing our children?

I suspect BowHunter will have the strongest opinion on this particular story. It describes how children in only 4 generations have lost the freedom to wander and explore the natural world around them. A child born in 1926 was free to wander 6 or 10 miles from home in search of fun, and thus was able to explore the natural world. A child born in the 2000s, on the other hand, is likely to never be allowed more than 300 feet from his own lawn unsupervised and thus have very little interaction with the natural world.

"It's not just about time. Traffic is an important consideration, as is the fear of abduction, but I'm not sure whether that's real or perceived."

...The report's author, Dr William Bird, the health adviser to Natural England and the organiser of a conference on nature and health on Monday, believes children's long-term mental health is at risk.

He has compiled evidence that people are healthier and better adjusted if they get out into the countryside, parks or gardens.

Stress levels fall within minutes of seeing green spaces, he says. Even filling a home with flowers and plants can improve concentration and lower stress.

"If children haven't had contact with nature, they never develop a relationship with natural environment and they are unable to use it to cope with stress," he said.

"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety. Children are getting less and less unsupervised time in the natural environment.

"They need time playing in the countryside, in parks and in gardens where they can explore, dig up the ground and build dens."

I am hardly a good judge of this, since I have always been the great INdoorsman - preferring my own imagination to green spaces - but this makes a lot of sense to me. I know my mother spend most of the summer outside wandering the neighborhood and adjacent spaces, while I see most friends kids never allowed out of the sight of parents until they are well into their teens. Can this NOT have an impact on our development as human beings?