Un fin de semana de lo mas aquel......
Viernes en Yelloween. Voy junto a la Cariben~a y su hermanita para el Coliseo Roberto Clemente. Nos perdimos el set de DJ Santos asi que nos quedamos viendo a Liquid Todd y a Paul Oakenfold. Llegar a la barra fue mision y media pero se hizo. Liquid Todd estuvo bien cool pero Oakie cansaba al tiempo. Vimos toda una serie de personajes y disfraces de lo mas creativos. Desde Super Mario Brothers, Ghostbusters, V, El Guason, El Papa, Edward Scissorhands y otros personajes.
Sabado > Hice el show de FA y despues nos tiramos directo al Taller Ce a ver el show de Halloween de Davila 666. Una buena mezcla de covers y originales, amigos, Panda Davila en draga de zombie new wave, Vero jodiendo, El Chuma y Orlando el Furioso de Luchadores, Ana T de diva y su amiga Monica de Rainbow Brite. Vi a cierto pana bloggero por ahi pero no lo quiero tirar al medio.
Domingo > El dia estuvo depresivo por falta de suen~o. Pero despues la mision a Guns and Roses cambio todo. No esperaba que el concierto fuera tan bueno. Sebastian Bach y su banda abrieron las festividades, contrario a los rumores que decian que no vendria. A pesar de que el no es un santo de mi devocion, reconozco que tenia una buena banda, todavia tiene su voz y su presencia. Le siguio Papa Roach que a pesar de ser los odd men out en este show, se ganaron al publico cantando en espan~ol y paseandose frente al publico. Pero era un concierto de Guns N Roses o como yo los llamo, la Banda Tributo a Axl Rose. Son buenos musicos y montaron tremendo show con piromania, efectos y demas. Pero lamentablemente los an~os no le han hecho bien a la voz de Axl Rose. Lo que el hizo para poder tirarse la mision de 2 horas plus, fue cantar canciones clasicas seguidas de algun estreno del material nuevo para entonces que alguno de los musicos hiciera un solo para el poder descansar su voz, etc. Aparte del problema de la voz de Axl Rose, el show se dio bueno.
Lunes > Rutina, aburrimiento, trabajo.
Hoy > NPI. Vine vestido de veterano de guerra de los 60. A ver que ocurre.
A Meeting Of The Minds
Iggy Pop y Tom Waits en "Coffee and Cigarrettes" de Jim Jarmusch. Una peli con un concepto de lo mas aquel. Jarmusch filmo esta pelicula a lo largo de varios an~os entre sus peliculas y el dialogo es improvisado. Tambien sale Kate Blanchett *drools*
I wish you a Happy Halloween.
What is the scariest thing you've ever seen?
Besides 1. Michael Jackson 2. Yo' Mama 3. Possums! They freaked the fuck outta me when I was living in Trashville, Tennessee.
(From Consumating)
Besides 1. Michael Jackson 2. Yo' Mama 3. Possums! They freaked the fuck outta me when I was living in Trashville, Tennessee.
(From Consumating)
Bohemia Curate!!!
De Endi.com por Pedro Bosque
El jurado determinó que Carlos Ayala López fuera condenado a cadena perpetua, esté tendrá que cumplir 99 años de prisión por asesinar a policía federal José Oscar Rodríguez Reyes.
Mientras tanto, medio centenar de personas de diversas creencias religiosas, abogados, estudiantes y ciudadanos, en general, se mostraron felices en las afueras del Tribunal federal, en Hato Rey.
La pena de muerte está proscrita en Puerto Rico desde 1929, pero una ley federal permite su aplicación en este territorio estadounidense.
Nadie es ejecutado en la isla desde 1927, año en que el boricua Pascual Ramos fue hallado culpable de asesinato y terminó en la horca.
El jurado determinó que Carlos Ayala López fuera condenado a cadena perpetua, esté tendrá que cumplir 99 años de prisión por asesinar a policía federal José Oscar Rodríguez Reyes.
Mientras tanto, medio centenar de personas de diversas creencias religiosas, abogados, estudiantes y ciudadanos, en general, se mostraron felices en las afueras del Tribunal federal, en Hato Rey.
La pena de muerte está proscrita en Puerto Rico desde 1929, pero una ley federal permite su aplicación en este territorio estadounidense.
Nadie es ejecutado en la isla desde 1927, año en que el boricua Pascual Ramos fue hallado culpable de asesinato y terminó en la horca.
If you could roll back one hour from your life, which hour would it be?
It would?ve been nice to actually roll back 1 hour so I could?ve slept longer. Unfortunately we don't do the Daylight Savings Time thingie.
(From Consumating)
It would?ve been nice to actually roll back 1 hour so I could?ve slept longer. Unfortunately we don't do the Daylight Savings Time thingie.
(From Consumating)
0.24
Este fin de semana se perfila como uno de mucha diversión. Aún así esta mañana la morra me cae encima y siento esta niebla de inercia que me está nublando todo. Ya le dije a mi jefecito que me iba temprano. Estoy esperando por un pana y me largo. Quiero dormir, descansar y levantarme con nuevos bríos. Cosa de que la joda sea máxima. Man up. Cheer the fuck up and enjoy the weekend.
Let him dangle
(El título robado de una canción de Elvis Costello. Quien estaría en desacuerdo con lo que voy a expresar a continuación)
Bueno, lo siento por mis amigos de la izquierda, liberales, jipis, de mente abiera, etcétera, pero les tengo que confesar algo que los va a decepcionar.
Estoy a favor de que le impongan la pena de muerte al convicto federal por asesinato Carlos Ayala López.
Éste no es un caso donde hay duda razonable. Éste no es un caso donde el acusado padecía de sus facultades mentales. Ëste no es un caso donde la evidencia de DNA o de otra índole evidencia de que otra persona pudo haber cometido ese crimen. Los hechos están evidenciados en blanco y negro. El asesino no tuvo compasión de su víctima y lo mató a sangre fría, ignorando los pedidos de su víctima. El acusado no tiene ningún factor que me motive a mí a abogar porque le salven la vida. Sus propios padres no pudieron disciplinarlo ni inculcar en él algún valor que pueda redimirlo de ésta condena. El cometió el crimen sin importarle las consecuencias. Que las pague. Lo que más me da risa es que quieren hacer de ésto, toda una causa.
Enseñan a la madre llorosa. Esa misma madre que no se ocupó de su hijo cuando más lo necesitaba. Enseñan al padre del acusado rogando por la vida de un hijo al cual éste no le prestó atención. ¿Que hay de la familia de la víctima? ¿Acaso su sufrimiento no es válido? ¿No cuenta? Algunos dirán que ejecutar a Ayala López no va a traer paz a esta familia. Tal vez sí. Talvez no. Pero en mi opinión y en esta ocasión se haría justicia. Si. Los que me conocen saben que creo en la retribución, ojo por ojo, etcétera. Y para nada me molesta manifestarlo.
Aclaro que normalmente me opongo a la pena de muerte, pero sólo en el principio de que en muchos casos hay duda razonable, evidencia exculpatoria, prejuicio racial y otros factores. En este caso, no hay nada de esto. Esta sería la primera vez que se implanta este castigo en Puerto Rico desde el 1927. Y en este caso, Carlos Ayala López se merece que lo ejecuten al igual que el ejecutó a su victimario. Un compañero de trabajo a quien estimo y respeto mucho me increpó sobre mi opinión porque diferimos y no cree en la pena de muerte. Respeto su opinión y él lo sabe, pero también le advertí de el peligro de creer en absolutos. Rara vez la vida puede definirse en algo tan simple como en blanco y negro.
Ok, chinches a mí.Los dejo con una canción del inmortal Nick Cave y sus Bad Seeds.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat
It began when they come took me from my home
And put me in Dead Row,
Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.
And I'll say it again
I..am..not..afraid..to..die.
I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner meals
The meal trolley's wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
Interpret signs and catalogue
A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.
The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath gathering at my hind
I hear stories from the chamber
How Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
Died upon the cross
And might I say it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that's what I'm told
Like my good hand I
tatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist
That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I'm told
All history does unfold.
Down here it's made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.
Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.
`Tis a long-suffering shackle
Collaring all that rebel blood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this weighing up of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this looks of disbelief.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
Nor a motive why.
And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way I'm helping
To be done with all this twisted of the truth.
A lie for a lie
And a truth for a truth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is melting
And I think my blood is boiling
And in a way I'm spoiling
All the fun with all this truth and consequence.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And anyway there was no proof
But I'm not afraid to tell a lie.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
But I'm afraid I told a lie.
Bueno, lo siento por mis amigos de la izquierda, liberales, jipis, de mente abiera, etcétera, pero les tengo que confesar algo que los va a decepcionar.
Estoy a favor de que le impongan la pena de muerte al convicto federal por asesinato Carlos Ayala López.
Éste no es un caso donde hay duda razonable. Éste no es un caso donde el acusado padecía de sus facultades mentales. Ëste no es un caso donde la evidencia de DNA o de otra índole evidencia de que otra persona pudo haber cometido ese crimen. Los hechos están evidenciados en blanco y negro. El asesino no tuvo compasión de su víctima y lo mató a sangre fría, ignorando los pedidos de su víctima. El acusado no tiene ningún factor que me motive a mí a abogar porque le salven la vida. Sus propios padres no pudieron disciplinarlo ni inculcar en él algún valor que pueda redimirlo de ésta condena. El cometió el crimen sin importarle las consecuencias. Que las pague. Lo que más me da risa es que quieren hacer de ésto, toda una causa.
Enseñan a la madre llorosa. Esa misma madre que no se ocupó de su hijo cuando más lo necesitaba. Enseñan al padre del acusado rogando por la vida de un hijo al cual éste no le prestó atención. ¿Que hay de la familia de la víctima? ¿Acaso su sufrimiento no es válido? ¿No cuenta? Algunos dirán que ejecutar a Ayala López no va a traer paz a esta familia. Tal vez sí. Talvez no. Pero en mi opinión y en esta ocasión se haría justicia. Si. Los que me conocen saben que creo en la retribución, ojo por ojo, etcétera. Y para nada me molesta manifestarlo.
Aclaro que normalmente me opongo a la pena de muerte, pero sólo en el principio de que en muchos casos hay duda razonable, evidencia exculpatoria, prejuicio racial y otros factores. En este caso, no hay nada de esto. Esta sería la primera vez que se implanta este castigo en Puerto Rico desde el 1927. Y en este caso, Carlos Ayala López se merece que lo ejecuten al igual que el ejecutó a su victimario. Un compañero de trabajo a quien estimo y respeto mucho me increpó sobre mi opinión porque diferimos y no cree en la pena de muerte. Respeto su opinión y él lo sabe, pero también le advertí de el peligro de creer en absolutos. Rara vez la vida puede definirse en algo tan simple como en blanco y negro.
Ok, chinches a mí.Los dejo con una canción del inmortal Nick Cave y sus Bad Seeds.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat
It began when they come took me from my home
And put me in Dead Row,
Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.
And I'll say it again
I..am..not..afraid..to..die.
I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner meals
The meal trolley's wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
Interpret signs and catalogue
A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.
The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath gathering at my hind
I hear stories from the chamber
How Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
Died upon the cross
And might I say it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that's what I'm told
Like my good hand I
tatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist
That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I'm told
All history does unfold.
Down here it's made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.
Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.
`Tis a long-suffering shackle
Collaring all that rebel blood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this weighing up of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this looks of disbelief.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
Nor a motive why.
And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way I'm helping
To be done with all this twisted of the truth.
A lie for a lie
And a truth for a truth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is melting
And I think my blood is boiling
And in a way I'm spoiling
All the fun with all this truth and consequence.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And anyway there was no proof
But I'm not afraid to tell a lie.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
But I'm afraid I told a lie.
Fucking hell!!!!!
Es gracioso cuando encuentras tus trabajos en los sitios más recónditos del Internet.
Especialmente cuando usan tu música para un anuncio en Brasil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Idi42AUuhQ
Hey! Al menos el del anuncio lo supo usar bien bajo la licencia de Creative Commons.
O cuando ves una colección tuya en un directorio de mp3{s.
http://descojon-urbano-search-downloads.kohit.net/_/
No tengo ni idea de estos cabrones. Fucked, innit? Pero na. Dense la vuelta por http://www.rojoynegro.org y eso.
En cuanto a lo prometido....
The Departed
Pues esta película al principio no me atraía mucho. Y era por el hecho de que Scorsese estaba haciendo un refrito de una excelente película de Hong Kong llamada Internal Affairs. La premisa es la siguiente: al mismo tiempo que a un policía lo reclutan para infiltrar una organización criminal, el criminal tiene a uno de los suyos infiltrado en la policía. La cinta se convierte en un peligroso juego de gato y ratón con consecuencias nefastas.
Scorsese ha hecho refritos buenos (Cape Fear), y tiene un elenco excelente. Pero aún así era motivo de preocupación de mi parte. Lo que puedo decir es que mi preocupación está mal infundada. La cinta es excelente, el elenco y sus actuaciones son de primera, tanto en los actores principales como los secundarios. Como siempre, Scorsese también se vale de la música como recurso adicional para crear una buena atmósfera. El binomio Scorsese y Di Caprio está rindiendo buenos frutos y es bueno ver a actores establecidos como Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone y al genial Jack Nicholson trabajando con Scorsese. Es una cinta que te mantiene tenso hasta su violenta conclusión.
Lo mejor de todo es que Scorsese le imprime tu toque especial a esta cinta y logra trasladar la acción a la ciudad de Boston y sus particularidades a esta cinta. Eso en sí es un logro. Renten Internal Affairs y The Departed. No
se arrepentirán.
Especialmente cuando usan tu música para un anuncio en Brasil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Idi42AUuhQ
Hey! Al menos el del anuncio lo supo usar bien bajo la licencia de Creative Commons.
O cuando ves una colección tuya en un directorio de mp3{s.
http://descojon-urbano-search-downloads.kohit.net/_/
No tengo ni idea de estos cabrones. Fucked, innit? Pero na. Dense la vuelta por http://www.rojoynegro.org y eso.
En cuanto a lo prometido....
The Departed
Pues esta película al principio no me atraía mucho. Y era por el hecho de que Scorsese estaba haciendo un refrito de una excelente película de Hong Kong llamada Internal Affairs. La premisa es la siguiente: al mismo tiempo que a un policía lo reclutan para infiltrar una organización criminal, el criminal tiene a uno de los suyos infiltrado en la policía. La cinta se convierte en un peligroso juego de gato y ratón con consecuencias nefastas.
Scorsese ha hecho refritos buenos (Cape Fear), y tiene un elenco excelente. Pero aún así era motivo de preocupación de mi parte. Lo que puedo decir es que mi preocupación está mal infundada. La cinta es excelente, el elenco y sus actuaciones son de primera, tanto en los actores principales como los secundarios. Como siempre, Scorsese también se vale de la música como recurso adicional para crear una buena atmósfera. El binomio Scorsese y Di Caprio está rindiendo buenos frutos y es bueno ver a actores establecidos como Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone y al genial Jack Nicholson trabajando con Scorsese. Es una cinta que te mantiene tenso hasta su violenta conclusión.
Lo mejor de todo es que Scorsese le imprime tu toque especial a esta cinta y logra trasladar la acción a la ciudad de Boston y sus particularidades a esta cinta. Eso en sí es un logro. Renten Internal Affairs y The Departed. No
se arrepentirán.
Mas informaciones. O algo.
Bueno malas noticias para los cultitas de la Mac. Ubuntu les está comiendo los dulces. Sorry.
Un rant de lo más aquel en cuanto al diseño de páginas de Internet.
Pronto verán la tecnología de BitTorrent en otros aparatos. Vélenlos.
Continúa la gran ironía de que la tierra de la libertad, sigue hundiéndose en la represión. Reportaje cortesía de Reporteros Sin Fronteras.
Google lanza una nueva propuesta.
Y anoche vi The Departed. Genial. Reseña mañana.
Un rant de lo más aquel en cuanto al diseño de páginas de Internet.
Pronto verán la tecnología de BitTorrent en otros aparatos. Vélenlos.
Continúa la gran ironía de que la tierra de la libertad, sigue hundiéndose en la represión. Reportaje cortesía de Reporteros Sin Fronteras.
Google lanza una nueva propuesta.
Y anoche vi The Departed. Genial. Reseña mañana.
Monday Madness
Con los cambios que se aproximan en la proxima version del sistema operativo de Microsoft, Windows Vista, hay muchos que no son muy buenos para los consumidores. Y estos están despertando y dándose cuenta de lo que viene. Yo creo que me quedo con Linux, gracias.
Bueno dicen que el amor y el Internet se juntaron un día y.......bueno. Lean. Por aquello de. Y mientras tanto para las damas que se encuentran que tienen un geek en sus manos, aquí les tiro unos consejitos. Si si si, ahorita abro un blog titulado Querido Popu. Espérenlo pronto.
Bueno geeks y geekettes prepárense que esta semana llegan las versiones nuevas de Internet Explorer, Firefox y (K)(X)Ubuntu. Entreténganse.
Con tanta interferencia de los creacionistas y la derecha religiosa, en Wired salió un artículo de lo más aquel sobre lo que ellos denominan como el Nuevo Ateismo.
Para los derrrrrrr currrrrrrrrto a la Mac, aquí hay 10 aplicaciones para la Mac que son buenas, bonitas y baratas. Y una publicación australiana dedicada a la Mac.
Bueno y aquí les traigo dos artículos que son de interés para los amantes del Software Libre y los que estamos pendientes a la seguridad de nuestras máquinas.
De Forbes.com
Toppling Linux
Daniel Lyons 10.30.06
Software radical Richard Stallman helped build the Linux revolution. Now he threatens to tear it apart.
The free Linux operating system set off one of the biggest revolutions in the history of computing when it leapt from the fingertips of a Finnish college kid named Linus Torvalds 15 years ago. Linux now drives $15 billion in annual sales of hardware, software and services, and this wondrous bit of code has been tweaked by thousands of independent programmers to run the world's most powerful supercomputers, the latest cell phones and TiVo video recorders and other gadgets.
But while Torvalds has been enshrined as the Linux movement's creator, a lesser-known programmer--infamously more obstinate and far more eccentric than Torvalds--wields a startling amount of control as this revolution's resident enforcer. Richard M. Stallman is a 53-year-old anticorporate crusader who has argued for 20 years that most software should be free of charge. He and a band of anarchist acolytes long have waged war on the commercial software industry, dubbing tech giants "evil" and "enemies of freedom" because they rake in sales and enforce patents and copyrights--when he argues they should be giving it all away.
Reader Forum: Discuss This Article
Despite that utopian anticapitalist bent, Linux and the "open-source" software movement have lured billions of dollars of investment from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Red Hat and other tech vendors, plus corporate customers such as Wall Street banks, Google and Amazon and Hollywood special-effects shops. IBM has spent a billion dollars embracing Linux, using it as a counterweight to the Microsoft Windows monopoly and to Sun Microsystems' Unix-based business.
Now Stallman is waging a new crusade that could end up toppling the revolution he helped create. He aims to impose new restrictions on IBM and any other tech firm that distributes software using even a single line of Linux code. They would be forbidden from using Linux software to block users from infringing on copyright and intellectual-property rights ("digital rights management"); and they would be barred from suing over alleged patent infringements related to Linux.
Stallman's hold on the Linux movement stems from the radical group he formed in 1985: the Free Software Foundation. The Boston outfit, which he still runs, is guided by a "manifesto" he published that year, urging programmers (hackers) to join his socialist crusade. The group made Stallman a cult hero among hackers--and ended up holding licensing rights to crucial software components that make up the Linux system.
Stallman hopes to use that licensing power to slap the new restraints on the big tech vendors he so reviles. At worst it could split the Linux movement in two--one set of suppliers and customers deploying an older Linux version under the easier rules and a second world using a newer version governed by the new restrictions. That would threaten billions of dollars in Linux investment by customers and vendors alike.
Click here to see which tech companies Stallman's attack could hurt.
A cantankerous and finger-wagging freewheeler, Stallman won't comment on any of this because he was upset by a previous story written by this writer. But his brazen gambit already is roiling the hacker world. His putsch "has the potential to inflict massive collateral damage upon our entire ecosystem and jeopardize the very utility and survival of open source," says a paper published in September by key Linux developers, who "implore" Stallman to back down. "This is not an exaggeration," says James Bottomley, the paper's chief author. "There is significant danger to going down this path." (Stallman's camp claims Bottomley's paper contains "inaccurate information.")
Simon Lok, chief of Lok Technology in San Jose, Calif., a maker of cheap wireless-networking gear, dumped Linux a few years ago in fear of the Stallman bunch. "I said, 'One day these jackasses will do something extreme, and it's going to kill us.' Now it's coming to fruition," Lok says. "Some of this stuff is just madness. These guys are fanatics." He adds: "Who do these people think they are?"
Even the Linux program's progenitor and namesake, Linus Torvalds, rejects Stallman's new push to force tech companies to design their software his way and to abandon patent rights. Torvalds vows to stick with the old license terms, thereby threatening the split that tech vendors so fear. The new license terms Stallman proposes "are trying to move back into a more 'radical' and 'activist' direction," Torvalds says via e-mail. "I think it's great when people have ideals--but ideals (like religion) are a hell of a lot better when they are private. I'm more pragmatic."
But then, Richard Stallman rarely is pragmatic--and in some ways he is downright bizarre. He is corpulent and slovenly, with long, scraggly hair, strands of which he has been known to pluck out and toss into a bowl of soup he is eating. His own Web site (www.stallman.org) says Stallman engages in what he calls "rhinophytophilia"--"nasal sex" (also his term) with flowers; he brags of offending a bunch of techies from Texas Instruments by plunging his schnoz into a bouquet at dinner and inviting them to do the same.
His site also boasts a recording of him singing--a capella and badly--his own anthem to free software. ("Hoarders can get piles of money / that is true, hackers, that is true. / But they cannot help their neighbors, that's not good, hackers, that's not gooood," he warbles, which culminates in polite applause from his followers.) He hasn't hacked much new code in a decade or more. Instead he travels the world to give speeches and pull publicity stunts, donning robes and a halo to appear as a character he calls "St. IGNUcius" and offer blessings to his followers. (GNU, coined in his first manifesto, is pronounced "Ga-NEW" and stands for "Gnu's Not Unix"; the central Linux license is known as the GNU license.)
And though he styles himself as a crusader for tech "freedom," Stallman labors mightily to control how others think, speak and act, arguing, in Orwellian doublespeak, that his rules are necessary for people to be "free." He won't speak to reporters unless they agree to call the operating system "GNU/Linux," not Linux. He urges his adherents to avoid such terms as "intellectual property" and touts "four freedoms" he has sworn to defend, numbering them 0, 1, 2 and 3. In June Stallman attempted to barge into the residence of the French prime minister to protest a copyright bill, then unrolled a petition in a Paris street while his adoring fans snapped photos.
Long ago Stallman was a gifted programmer. A 1974 graduate of Harvard with a degree in physics, he began graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology but dropped out and took a job in an MIT lab. There he grew furious that companies wouldn't let him tinker with the code in their products. A Xerox laser printer was a key culprit. In the early 1980s he called on hackers to fight their oppressors by helping him create a free clone of Unix, naming it GNU.
Stallman and his allies hacked away for nearly a decade but couldn't get GNU to work. In 1991 Torvalds, then an unknown college kid in Finland, produced in six months what Stallman's team had failed to build in years--a working "kernel" for an operating system. Torvalds posted this tiny 230-kilobyte file containing 10,000 lines of code to a public server, dubbing it "Linux" and inviting anyone to use it.
Soon people were combining Torvalds' Linux kernel with Stallman's GNU components to make a complete operating system. The program was a hit. But to Stallman's dismay people referred to it as Linux, not GNU. Torvalds became famous. Stallman got pushed aside. The ultimate insult came in 1999 when his Free Software Foundation was given a "Linus Torvalds Award." Stallman accepted but said it was "like giving the Han Solo award to the Rebel Alliance."
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As programmers wrote hundreds of building blocks to add to Linux, Stallman's Free Software Foundation persuaded them to hand over their copyrights to the group and let it handle licensing of their code. Stallman wrote the central license for Linux: the GNU General Public License or GPL. For his part, Linux creator Torvalds never signed his creation over to the group--but he did adopt the GNU license, granting Stallman further sway.
In recent years Stallman and the FSF have been cracking down on big Linux users, enforcing terms of the existing license (GPLv2, for version 2) and demanding that the big tech outfits crack open their proprietary code whenever they inserted lines from Linux. Cisco and TiVo have been targets; Cisco caved in to Stallman's demands rather than endure months of abuse from his noisy worldwide cult of online jihadists. Nvidia, which makes graphics cards for Linux computers but won't release enough of the code behind them to satisfy Stallmanites, also came under attack. "It's an enemy of the free software community, so we call them 'inVideous,'" says Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation.
Now the Stallman stalwarts are pushing a new version of the Linux license--GPLv3, with its tougher restrictions and a ban on anything that would protect or enforce copyright and other digital rights. Thus Stallman is living an anarchist's dream: The tech giants he has spent his career attacking send lawyers to sit at his feet and beg. Stallman has invited companies to comment on his drafts but insists he alone decides what goes into the final version, due in early 2007.
Often he won't listen. HP suggested changes in patent language in the new license. In a sign of how much fear Stallman inspires even at the largest tech company in the world, HP's lawyers emphasize they didn't "ask for changes"--they merely "suggested modifications." Whatever. Stallman rejected them.
In September a committee of leading Linux companies spent two days in Chicago discussing the GPLv3 with Stallman's representatives--and left worried. Stallman's camp refused to answer even simple questions about whether v2 and v3 code will be able to coexist. "They've been at this for nine months, and it's time to clarify. Everyone wants to make sure that Linux keeps accelerating," says Stuart Cohen, chief executive of Open Source Development Labs, a vendor-funded consortium in Beaverton, Ore. that employs Linus Torvalds and supports Linux development.
Most major tech vendors declined comment rather than risk tangling with Stallman's enforcers, such as his sidekick and attorney, Columbia Law School professor Eben Moglen. A spokesman for Novell, the second-biggest Linux distributor, says the company won't comment because negotiations are ongoing. Red Hat also declined to comment. Privately some Linux vendors say they hope Stallman will relent and soften the terms of GPLv3.
One big potential victim of the Stallman stunt is Red Hat, the leading Linux distributor, with 61% market share. Red Hat bundles together hundreds of programs contributed by thousands of outside coders. If Linus Torvalds sticks with his old kernel under the older and less restrictive version-2 license, and Stallmanites ship version-3 code, what is Red Hat to do? The two licenses appear to be incompatible. There's also the problem of forfeiting patent enforcement rights if Red Hat ships v3 code. Red Hat could stay with an entirely "v2" Linux system, taking on the burden of developing its own versions of whatever programs move to v3. But it's not clear that Red Hat has the staffing to do that.
"Red Hat gets a lot of code from people who don't work for Red Hat. They would have to replace all that and do the work in-house," says Larry W. McVoy, chief executive of software developer Bitmover and a longtime Torvalds collaborator. Even then, however, Stallman and his loyalists may carry on developing their own v3 versions. This "forking" of multiple incompatible versions could lead to "Balkanization" and derail Linux, the Torvalds camp warns.
Red Hat and other Linux promoters also may find themselves in an awkward spot with customers. "IT managers want to buy stuff that puts them at as little risk as possible. If there was a risk that Stallman could become such a loose cannon, that's something most IT managers would have wanted to know before they bet their companies on Linux," McVoy says.
Some customers are wary. ActiveGrid, an open-source software maker in San Francisco, originally planned to distribute its program under a gpl license but changed plans after a big European bank declared it wouldn't use products covered by the gpl, says Peter Yared, chief executive of ActiveGrid.
The biggest beneficiaries of Stallman's suicide-bomber move could be other companies Stallman detests: the proprietary old guard--Microsoft, which pitches its Windows operating system as "safer" than Linux, and Sun, which lost customers to Linux but now hopes to lure them back to an open-source version of its Solaris system, which doesn't use the GPL.
And a big loser, eventually, could be Stallman himself. If he relents now, he likely would be branded a sellout by his hard-core followers, who might abandon him. If he stands his ground, customers and tech firms may suffer for a few years but ultimately could find a way to work around him. Either way, Stallman risks becoming irrelevant, a strange footnote in the history of computing: a radical hacker who went on a kamikaze mission against his own program and went down in flames, albeit after causing great turmoil for the people around him.
The New York Times - Web Surfing in Public Places Is a Way to Court Trouble
By SUSAN STELLIN
August 22, 2006
Any business traveler who has logged on to a wireless network at the airport, printed a document at a hotel business center or checked e-mail messages at a public terminal has probably wondered, at least fleetingly, “Is this safe?”
Although obsessing about computer security is a bit like worrying about a toddler — potential hazards lurk everywhere and you can drive yourself crazy trying to avoid them — the fact is, business travelers take certain risks with the things they do on most trips.
“If you go into the average hotel and sit down in the business center and have a look at their computer, I’m sure you’ll find some interesting things that people shouldn’t have left behind,” said Paul Stamp, a security analyst with Forrester Research.
“The first step companies need to do is to educate people about how valuable the data is and also how small the circles are in which they travel,” he said, noting how loudly many people discuss business on cellphones, without a thought for who may be nearby.
Or what may be in the air. Robert Vamosi, a senior editor with the online technology publisher CNET, said wireless networks at airports — or for that matter, hotels or cafes — are not as secure as most people think.
“Someone may have some software on their computer that allows them to look at all the wireless transactions going on around them and capture packets that are floating between the laptop and the wireless access point,” he said.
These software programs are called packet sniffers and many can be downloaded free online. They are typically set up to capture passwords, credit card numbers and bank account information — which is why Mr. Vamosi says shopping on the Web is not a great way to kill time during a flight delay.
“Where I’d draw the line is putting in your bank account information or credit card number,” he said, adding that checking e-mail messages probably is not that risky, but if you want to be cautious, change your password once you are on a secure connection again.
That said, if you gain access to your corporate network through a V.P.N., or virtual private network, you are safer using public hot spots, because your data is encrypted as it travels between Gate 17 and your office’s server, where it is decoded before going to its destination.
In other words, your communications are automatically encoded by software on your computer so the data looks like gibberish to anyone trying to intercept it. If your company does not offer a V.P.N. for employees working away from the office, there are services you can subscribe to for about $10 a month that do the same thing.
Michael Sellitto, a graduate student studying international security at Harvard, said that even though he encrypted any sensitive data on his laptop, he planned to sign up for a service like HotSpotVPN to add another level of security when he is traveling, especially when using poorly protected networks at cafes and hotels.
“The problem is, the really good people have written sniffer programs so that the less-sophisticated people have access to the same technology,” Mr. Sellitto said. “Say a Microsoft Word document gets transmitted. The sniffer program will collect that and someone could open it up on their computer.”
While it is hard to say how likely it is that someone is lurking on a public network, many public networks do not have adequate security.
Last fall, InfoWorld magazine published an article about a security researcher who managed to collect more than 100 passwords, per stay, at hotels with lax security (about half the hotels she tested).
Gathering reliable statistics about security breaches is notoriously difficult, since companies are reluctant to reveal this information. Still, the most recent computer crime and security survey, conducted annually by the Computer Security Institute with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, found that the average loss from computer security incidents in 2005 was $167,713 per respondent (based on 313 companies and organizations that answered the question).
As Jim Louderback, editor of PC Magazine, noted, the statistics may not matter given the problems one data breach can cause.
“Even if it’s 1 or 2 percent,” he said. “You don’t want to run that risk.”
Using a public computer can also mean courting trouble, because data viewed while surfing the Web, printing a document or opening an e-mail attachment is generally stored on the computer — meaning it could be accessible to the next person who sits down. (To remove traces of your work, delete any documents you have viewed, clear the browser cache and the history file and empty the trash before you walk away.)
“You also run the risk that somebody has loaded a program on there that can capture your log-ins and passwords,” Mr. Louderback said, recalling an incident a few years ago when a Queens resident was caught installing this type of “key logger” software on computers at several Kinko’s locations in New York.
One way to foil these programs, which record what you type and can send the transcript to a hacker, is to use a password manager like RoboForm. This $30 software encrypts all your user names and passwords for various Web sites, then enters the data at the click of a mouse when you are prompted to log in.
There is a mobile version that can be stored on a flash drive that plugs into a U.S.B. port — making your passwords secure and portable.
There are also simple measures you can take to protect your hardware, like using a cable lock to secure your laptop in a hotel room or even a cafe (in case you leave the table for any reason), and making sure you lock your computer bag in the trunk rather than leaving it on the back seat.
For travelers who do carry around sensitive data, it is worth looking into programs like Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops, which can help recover a missing computer. The software reports its location when connected to the Internet — and some versions can even be programmed to destroy data if a computer is reported lost or stolen.
But perhaps the most common snoop that business travelers encounter is someone nearby “shoulder surfing” to see what is on a laptop, out of curiosity or mere boredom.
To foil prying eyes, 3M sells a Notebook Privacy Filter, a plastic film that makes it impossible to view a laptop screen from an angle.
Trevor Stromquist, a sales analyst for a manufacturing company in Minneapolis, has been using one for the last two years to dissuade nosy neighbors on the road, but he has noticed an added benefit back at the office.
“To be honest, it’s kind of a nice thing when you’re sitting in one of those long drawn-out meetings,” he said. “You can do what you need to do and no one will notice."
Bueno dicen que el amor y el Internet se juntaron un día y.......bueno. Lean. Por aquello de. Y mientras tanto para las damas que se encuentran que tienen un geek en sus manos, aquí les tiro unos consejitos. Si si si, ahorita abro un blog titulado Querido Popu. Espérenlo pronto.
Bueno geeks y geekettes prepárense que esta semana llegan las versiones nuevas de Internet Explorer, Firefox y (K)(X)Ubuntu. Entreténganse.
Con tanta interferencia de los creacionistas y la derecha religiosa, en Wired salió un artículo de lo más aquel sobre lo que ellos denominan como el Nuevo Ateismo.
Para los derrrrrrr currrrrrrrrto a la Mac, aquí hay 10 aplicaciones para la Mac que son buenas, bonitas y baratas. Y una publicación australiana dedicada a la Mac.
Bueno y aquí les traigo dos artículos que son de interés para los amantes del Software Libre y los que estamos pendientes a la seguridad de nuestras máquinas.
De Forbes.com
Toppling Linux
Daniel Lyons 10.30.06
Software radical Richard Stallman helped build the Linux revolution. Now he threatens to tear it apart.
The free Linux operating system set off one of the biggest revolutions in the history of computing when it leapt from the fingertips of a Finnish college kid named Linus Torvalds 15 years ago. Linux now drives $15 billion in annual sales of hardware, software and services, and this wondrous bit of code has been tweaked by thousands of independent programmers to run the world's most powerful supercomputers, the latest cell phones and TiVo video recorders and other gadgets.
But while Torvalds has been enshrined as the Linux movement's creator, a lesser-known programmer--infamously more obstinate and far more eccentric than Torvalds--wields a startling amount of control as this revolution's resident enforcer. Richard M. Stallman is a 53-year-old anticorporate crusader who has argued for 20 years that most software should be free of charge. He and a band of anarchist acolytes long have waged war on the commercial software industry, dubbing tech giants "evil" and "enemies of freedom" because they rake in sales and enforce patents and copyrights--when he argues they should be giving it all away.
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Despite that utopian anticapitalist bent, Linux and the "open-source" software movement have lured billions of dollars of investment from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Red Hat and other tech vendors, plus corporate customers such as Wall Street banks, Google and Amazon and Hollywood special-effects shops. IBM has spent a billion dollars embracing Linux, using it as a counterweight to the Microsoft Windows monopoly and to Sun Microsystems' Unix-based business.
Now Stallman is waging a new crusade that could end up toppling the revolution he helped create. He aims to impose new restrictions on IBM and any other tech firm that distributes software using even a single line of Linux code. They would be forbidden from using Linux software to block users from infringing on copyright and intellectual-property rights ("digital rights management"); and they would be barred from suing over alleged patent infringements related to Linux.
Stallman's hold on the Linux movement stems from the radical group he formed in 1985: the Free Software Foundation. The Boston outfit, which he still runs, is guided by a "manifesto" he published that year, urging programmers (hackers) to join his socialist crusade. The group made Stallman a cult hero among hackers--and ended up holding licensing rights to crucial software components that make up the Linux system.
Stallman hopes to use that licensing power to slap the new restraints on the big tech vendors he so reviles. At worst it could split the Linux movement in two--one set of suppliers and customers deploying an older Linux version under the easier rules and a second world using a newer version governed by the new restrictions. That would threaten billions of dollars in Linux investment by customers and vendors alike.
Click here to see which tech companies Stallman's attack could hurt.
A cantankerous and finger-wagging freewheeler, Stallman won't comment on any of this because he was upset by a previous story written by this writer. But his brazen gambit already is roiling the hacker world. His putsch "has the potential to inflict massive collateral damage upon our entire ecosystem and jeopardize the very utility and survival of open source," says a paper published in September by key Linux developers, who "implore" Stallman to back down. "This is not an exaggeration," says James Bottomley, the paper's chief author. "There is significant danger to going down this path." (Stallman's camp claims Bottomley's paper contains "inaccurate information.")
Simon Lok, chief of Lok Technology in San Jose, Calif., a maker of cheap wireless-networking gear, dumped Linux a few years ago in fear of the Stallman bunch. "I said, 'One day these jackasses will do something extreme, and it's going to kill us.' Now it's coming to fruition," Lok says. "Some of this stuff is just madness. These guys are fanatics." He adds: "Who do these people think they are?"
Even the Linux program's progenitor and namesake, Linus Torvalds, rejects Stallman's new push to force tech companies to design their software his way and to abandon patent rights. Torvalds vows to stick with the old license terms, thereby threatening the split that tech vendors so fear. The new license terms Stallman proposes "are trying to move back into a more 'radical' and 'activist' direction," Torvalds says via e-mail. "I think it's great when people have ideals--but ideals (like religion) are a hell of a lot better when they are private. I'm more pragmatic."
But then, Richard Stallman rarely is pragmatic--and in some ways he is downright bizarre. He is corpulent and slovenly, with long, scraggly hair, strands of which he has been known to pluck out and toss into a bowl of soup he is eating. His own Web site (www.stallman.org) says Stallman engages in what he calls "rhinophytophilia"--"nasal sex" (also his term) with flowers; he brags of offending a bunch of techies from Texas Instruments by plunging his schnoz into a bouquet at dinner and inviting them to do the same.
His site also boasts a recording of him singing--a capella and badly--his own anthem to free software. ("Hoarders can get piles of money / that is true, hackers, that is true. / But they cannot help their neighbors, that's not good, hackers, that's not gooood," he warbles, which culminates in polite applause from his followers.) He hasn't hacked much new code in a decade or more. Instead he travels the world to give speeches and pull publicity stunts, donning robes and a halo to appear as a character he calls "St. IGNUcius" and offer blessings to his followers. (GNU, coined in his first manifesto, is pronounced "Ga-NEW" and stands for "Gnu's Not Unix"; the central Linux license is known as the GNU license.)
And though he styles himself as a crusader for tech "freedom," Stallman labors mightily to control how others think, speak and act, arguing, in Orwellian doublespeak, that his rules are necessary for people to be "free." He won't speak to reporters unless they agree to call the operating system "GNU/Linux," not Linux. He urges his adherents to avoid such terms as "intellectual property" and touts "four freedoms" he has sworn to defend, numbering them 0, 1, 2 and 3. In June Stallman attempted to barge into the residence of the French prime minister to protest a copyright bill, then unrolled a petition in a Paris street while his adoring fans snapped photos.
Long ago Stallman was a gifted programmer. A 1974 graduate of Harvard with a degree in physics, he began graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology but dropped out and took a job in an MIT lab. There he grew furious that companies wouldn't let him tinker with the code in their products. A Xerox laser printer was a key culprit. In the early 1980s he called on hackers to fight their oppressors by helping him create a free clone of Unix, naming it GNU.
Stallman and his allies hacked away for nearly a decade but couldn't get GNU to work. In 1991 Torvalds, then an unknown college kid in Finland, produced in six months what Stallman's team had failed to build in years--a working "kernel" for an operating system. Torvalds posted this tiny 230-kilobyte file containing 10,000 lines of code to a public server, dubbing it "Linux" and inviting anyone to use it.
Soon people were combining Torvalds' Linux kernel with Stallman's GNU components to make a complete operating system. The program was a hit. But to Stallman's dismay people referred to it as Linux, not GNU. Torvalds became famous. Stallman got pushed aside. The ultimate insult came in 1999 when his Free Software Foundation was given a "Linus Torvalds Award." Stallman accepted but said it was "like giving the Han Solo award to the Rebel Alliance."
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As programmers wrote hundreds of building blocks to add to Linux, Stallman's Free Software Foundation persuaded them to hand over their copyrights to the group and let it handle licensing of their code. Stallman wrote the central license for Linux: the GNU General Public License or GPL. For his part, Linux creator Torvalds never signed his creation over to the group--but he did adopt the GNU license, granting Stallman further sway.
In recent years Stallman and the FSF have been cracking down on big Linux users, enforcing terms of the existing license (GPLv2, for version 2) and demanding that the big tech outfits crack open their proprietary code whenever they inserted lines from Linux. Cisco and TiVo have been targets; Cisco caved in to Stallman's demands rather than endure months of abuse from his noisy worldwide cult of online jihadists. Nvidia, which makes graphics cards for Linux computers but won't release enough of the code behind them to satisfy Stallmanites, also came under attack. "It's an enemy of the free software community, so we call them 'inVideous,'" says Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation.
Now the Stallman stalwarts are pushing a new version of the Linux license--GPLv3, with its tougher restrictions and a ban on anything that would protect or enforce copyright and other digital rights. Thus Stallman is living an anarchist's dream: The tech giants he has spent his career attacking send lawyers to sit at his feet and beg. Stallman has invited companies to comment on his drafts but insists he alone decides what goes into the final version, due in early 2007.
Often he won't listen. HP suggested changes in patent language in the new license. In a sign of how much fear Stallman inspires even at the largest tech company in the world, HP's lawyers emphasize they didn't "ask for changes"--they merely "suggested modifications." Whatever. Stallman rejected them.
In September a committee of leading Linux companies spent two days in Chicago discussing the GPLv3 with Stallman's representatives--and left worried. Stallman's camp refused to answer even simple questions about whether v2 and v3 code will be able to coexist. "They've been at this for nine months, and it's time to clarify. Everyone wants to make sure that Linux keeps accelerating," says Stuart Cohen, chief executive of Open Source Development Labs, a vendor-funded consortium in Beaverton, Ore. that employs Linus Torvalds and supports Linux development.
Most major tech vendors declined comment rather than risk tangling with Stallman's enforcers, such as his sidekick and attorney, Columbia Law School professor Eben Moglen. A spokesman for Novell, the second-biggest Linux distributor, says the company won't comment because negotiations are ongoing. Red Hat also declined to comment. Privately some Linux vendors say they hope Stallman will relent and soften the terms of GPLv3.
One big potential victim of the Stallman stunt is Red Hat, the leading Linux distributor, with 61% market share. Red Hat bundles together hundreds of programs contributed by thousands of outside coders. If Linus Torvalds sticks with his old kernel under the older and less restrictive version-2 license, and Stallmanites ship version-3 code, what is Red Hat to do? The two licenses appear to be incompatible. There's also the problem of forfeiting patent enforcement rights if Red Hat ships v3 code. Red Hat could stay with an entirely "v2" Linux system, taking on the burden of developing its own versions of whatever programs move to v3. But it's not clear that Red Hat has the staffing to do that.
"Red Hat gets a lot of code from people who don't work for Red Hat. They would have to replace all that and do the work in-house," says Larry W. McVoy, chief executive of software developer Bitmover and a longtime Torvalds collaborator. Even then, however, Stallman and his loyalists may carry on developing their own v3 versions. This "forking" of multiple incompatible versions could lead to "Balkanization" and derail Linux, the Torvalds camp warns.
Red Hat and other Linux promoters also may find themselves in an awkward spot with customers. "IT managers want to buy stuff that puts them at as little risk as possible. If there was a risk that Stallman could become such a loose cannon, that's something most IT managers would have wanted to know before they bet their companies on Linux," McVoy says.
Some customers are wary. ActiveGrid, an open-source software maker in San Francisco, originally planned to distribute its program under a gpl license but changed plans after a big European bank declared it wouldn't use products covered by the gpl, says Peter Yared, chief executive of ActiveGrid.
The biggest beneficiaries of Stallman's suicide-bomber move could be other companies Stallman detests: the proprietary old guard--Microsoft, which pitches its Windows operating system as "safer" than Linux, and Sun, which lost customers to Linux but now hopes to lure them back to an open-source version of its Solaris system, which doesn't use the GPL.
And a big loser, eventually, could be Stallman himself. If he relents now, he likely would be branded a sellout by his hard-core followers, who might abandon him. If he stands his ground, customers and tech firms may suffer for a few years but ultimately could find a way to work around him. Either way, Stallman risks becoming irrelevant, a strange footnote in the history of computing: a radical hacker who went on a kamikaze mission against his own program and went down in flames, albeit after causing great turmoil for the people around him.
The New York Times - Web Surfing in Public Places Is a Way to Court Trouble
By SUSAN STELLIN
August 22, 2006
Any business traveler who has logged on to a wireless network at the airport, printed a document at a hotel business center or checked e-mail messages at a public terminal has probably wondered, at least fleetingly, “Is this safe?”
Although obsessing about computer security is a bit like worrying about a toddler — potential hazards lurk everywhere and you can drive yourself crazy trying to avoid them — the fact is, business travelers take certain risks with the things they do on most trips.
“If you go into the average hotel and sit down in the business center and have a look at their computer, I’m sure you’ll find some interesting things that people shouldn’t have left behind,” said Paul Stamp, a security analyst with Forrester Research.
“The first step companies need to do is to educate people about how valuable the data is and also how small the circles are in which they travel,” he said, noting how loudly many people discuss business on cellphones, without a thought for who may be nearby.
Or what may be in the air. Robert Vamosi, a senior editor with the online technology publisher CNET, said wireless networks at airports — or for that matter, hotels or cafes — are not as secure as most people think.
“Someone may have some software on their computer that allows them to look at all the wireless transactions going on around them and capture packets that are floating between the laptop and the wireless access point,” he said.
These software programs are called packet sniffers and many can be downloaded free online. They are typically set up to capture passwords, credit card numbers and bank account information — which is why Mr. Vamosi says shopping on the Web is not a great way to kill time during a flight delay.
“Where I’d draw the line is putting in your bank account information or credit card number,” he said, adding that checking e-mail messages probably is not that risky, but if you want to be cautious, change your password once you are on a secure connection again.
That said, if you gain access to your corporate network through a V.P.N., or virtual private network, you are safer using public hot spots, because your data is encrypted as it travels between Gate 17 and your office’s server, where it is decoded before going to its destination.
In other words, your communications are automatically encoded by software on your computer so the data looks like gibberish to anyone trying to intercept it. If your company does not offer a V.P.N. for employees working away from the office, there are services you can subscribe to for about $10 a month that do the same thing.
Michael Sellitto, a graduate student studying international security at Harvard, said that even though he encrypted any sensitive data on his laptop, he planned to sign up for a service like HotSpotVPN to add another level of security when he is traveling, especially when using poorly protected networks at cafes and hotels.
“The problem is, the really good people have written sniffer programs so that the less-sophisticated people have access to the same technology,” Mr. Sellitto said. “Say a Microsoft Word document gets transmitted. The sniffer program will collect that and someone could open it up on their computer.”
While it is hard to say how likely it is that someone is lurking on a public network, many public networks do not have adequate security.
Last fall, InfoWorld magazine published an article about a security researcher who managed to collect more than 100 passwords, per stay, at hotels with lax security (about half the hotels she tested).
Gathering reliable statistics about security breaches is notoriously difficult, since companies are reluctant to reveal this information. Still, the most recent computer crime and security survey, conducted annually by the Computer Security Institute with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, found that the average loss from computer security incidents in 2005 was $167,713 per respondent (based on 313 companies and organizations that answered the question).
As Jim Louderback, editor of PC Magazine, noted, the statistics may not matter given the problems one data breach can cause.
“Even if it’s 1 or 2 percent,” he said. “You don’t want to run that risk.”
Using a public computer can also mean courting trouble, because data viewed while surfing the Web, printing a document or opening an e-mail attachment is generally stored on the computer — meaning it could be accessible to the next person who sits down. (To remove traces of your work, delete any documents you have viewed, clear the browser cache and the history file and empty the trash before you walk away.)
“You also run the risk that somebody has loaded a program on there that can capture your log-ins and passwords,” Mr. Louderback said, recalling an incident a few years ago when a Queens resident was caught installing this type of “key logger” software on computers at several Kinko’s locations in New York.
One way to foil these programs, which record what you type and can send the transcript to a hacker, is to use a password manager like RoboForm. This $30 software encrypts all your user names and passwords for various Web sites, then enters the data at the click of a mouse when you are prompted to log in.
There is a mobile version that can be stored on a flash drive that plugs into a U.S.B. port — making your passwords secure and portable.
There are also simple measures you can take to protect your hardware, like using a cable lock to secure your laptop in a hotel room or even a cafe (in case you leave the table for any reason), and making sure you lock your computer bag in the trunk rather than leaving it on the back seat.
For travelers who do carry around sensitive data, it is worth looking into programs like Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops, which can help recover a missing computer. The software reports its location when connected to the Internet — and some versions can even be programmed to destroy data if a computer is reported lost or stolen.
But perhaps the most common snoop that business travelers encounter is someone nearby “shoulder surfing” to see what is on a laptop, out of curiosity or mere boredom.
To foil prying eyes, 3M sells a Notebook Privacy Filter, a plastic film that makes it impossible to view a laptop screen from an angle.
Trevor Stromquist, a sales analyst for a manufacturing company in Minneapolis, has been using one for the last two years to dissuade nosy neighbors on the road, but he has noticed an added benefit back at the office.
“To be honest, it’s kind of a nice thing when you’re sitting in one of those long drawn-out meetings,” he said. “You can do what you need to do and no one will notice."
Es uno de esos fines de semana que son largos y vacíos. Bueno, en cierto sentido es lo mejor que puede pasar. Tiempo para descansar. Aun así espero que el próximo sea mejor.
Después de tanto tejemeneje y pensarlo, suspendí mi cuenta en Netflix y me metí a Emusic. El equivalente de 7 discos por $20 al mes no está nada mal. Anyway, no es bueno ver Nip/Tuck en estas circunstancias. Tanta jodienda tóxica en el departamento de relaciones no la hace. Gracias a "bob" que es una serie. Na. Por ahí viene The Wire.
La vida continúa corillo.
Después de tanto tejemeneje y pensarlo, suspendí mi cuenta en Netflix y me metí a Emusic. El equivalente de 7 discos por $20 al mes no está nada mal. Anyway, no es bueno ver Nip/Tuck en estas circunstancias. Tanta jodienda tóxica en el departamento de relaciones no la hace. Gracias a "bob" que es una serie. Na. Por ahí viene The Wire.
La vida continúa corillo.
altas y bajas
Estos dias han sido de lo mas aquel. El viernes de la semana pasada vi junto a la Caribenya y Carmelo a Cine Mesmer y el individuo tiene una propuesta musical de lo mas interesante. Musica, poesia y cortos en un buen recital. La musica que tenian de fondo no estaba nada mal. Eso y pr de copitas de vino hicieron la noche muy buena. Recibi de el un demo y a ver si me reuno con Andres para ponerlo a guisar en el Giratorio de Ekspresion que viene por ahi.
Al dia siguiente me tire la mision con La Caribenya y sus ahijados de ver esa joya del cine moderno: Jackass 2. Que puedo decir de ella que no hayan dicho otros blogeros? Pues lo mismo. Graciosa con cojones. Asquerosa en momentos, pero uno paga por lo que vas a ver. Un chorro de imbeciles tirandose par de maromas que otros seres con mas cerebro no se tirarian. Pero no dejan de ser graciosas. Confieso que hay par que estaria nice hacer, pero estuve riendome como nunca. Si. Sobrepasa la primera. Asi que si todavia no las visto, meta mano. Los ahijados de ella son un tripeo surreal. Fue divertido por demas.
Domingo - En casa. Aburrimiento total. Inercia. Oh well. Algun dia tengo que tomarme un descansito, no? The Wire como siempre me agarra y no me suelta ni pa' Dioj. Y vi a Nip/Tuck y sigue terriblemente buena.
Esta semana ha tenido sus altas y sus bajas. Altas de las buenas.De las que se gozan. Altas laborales y personales. Las bajas no son tan laborales pero personales. Esta man~ana amaneci un poco deprimido. Memorias de un pasado ya lejano invadieron la mente. Pero nada. Espero despejarlas mientras pasa el dia. Ahora mismo estoy esperando a un tecnico para resolver un problema laboral. Espero que el cabron no pichee porque ODIO levantarme temprano para trabajar.
Espero tocar en el Giratorio de Ekspresion. Y el sabado tengo otro show en la estacion. Wiiiiiiii. O algo. Seguiremos informando.
Al dia siguiente me tire la mision con La Caribenya y sus ahijados de ver esa joya del cine moderno: Jackass 2. Que puedo decir de ella que no hayan dicho otros blogeros? Pues lo mismo. Graciosa con cojones. Asquerosa en momentos, pero uno paga por lo que vas a ver. Un chorro de imbeciles tirandose par de maromas que otros seres con mas cerebro no se tirarian. Pero no dejan de ser graciosas. Confieso que hay par que estaria nice hacer, pero estuve riendome como nunca. Si. Sobrepasa la primera. Asi que si todavia no las visto, meta mano. Los ahijados de ella son un tripeo surreal. Fue divertido por demas.
Domingo - En casa. Aburrimiento total. Inercia. Oh well. Algun dia tengo que tomarme un descansito, no? The Wire como siempre me agarra y no me suelta ni pa' Dioj. Y vi a Nip/Tuck y sigue terriblemente buena.
Esta semana ha tenido sus altas y sus bajas. Altas de las buenas.De las que se gozan. Altas laborales y personales. Las bajas no son tan laborales pero personales. Esta man~ana amaneci un poco deprimido. Memorias de un pasado ya lejano invadieron la mente. Pero nada. Espero despejarlas mientras pasa el dia. Ahora mismo estoy esperando a un tecnico para resolver un problema laboral. Espero que el cabron no pichee porque ODIO levantarme temprano para trabajar.
Espero tocar en el Giratorio de Ekspresion. Y el sabado tengo otro show en la estacion. Wiiiiiiii. O algo. Seguiremos informando.
If you were in politics, what would your career ending scandal entail?
Lots of kinky sex, lots of booze, millions in misplaced money, the extinction of several endangered species, dead politicians, lots of lovechildren and somehow I would get away with it so I could live the rest of my days sipping drinks in some faraway place.
(From Consumating)
Lots of kinky sex, lots of booze, millions in misplaced money, the extinction of several endangered species, dead politicians, lots of lovechildren and somehow I would get away with it so I could live the rest of my days sipping drinks in some faraway place.
(From Consumating)
Pa que crean en Dioj.........
Damas, caballeros, papitas, refrescos y golosinas surtidas. Aqui les presento a Diamanda Galas
Algo pa los geeks. No me he olvidado de Ustedes.
Stop Viruses for Free! - Softpedia - Antivirus Gratis y eso.
Un programa que tira al medio a depredadores sexuales en MySpace.
Quieres un servidor de Ubuntu con Linux Apache MySQL y PHP? Toma pa que te jartes!!!!!!!!!
Y como detectar el lenguaje corporal cuando te estan mintiendo. O algo.
Un programa que tira al medio a depredadores sexuales en MySpace.
Quieres un servidor de Ubuntu con Linux Apache MySQL y PHP? Toma pa que te jartes!!!!!!!!!
Y como detectar el lenguaje corporal cuando te estan mintiendo. O algo.
Labels:
música
1 observations
burning face live at the longbranch aguadilla, pr 1994
Another Burning Face live clip. Goth and noisy goodness live at the legendary Longbranch Pub.
Another Burning Face live clip. Goth and noisy goodness live at the legendary Longbranch Pub.
Labels:
música
1 observations
burning faces live 1994
One crazy gig at the Longbranch Pub in Aguadilla. Of course it's dark, and I'm invisible as always, but I was there and played keyboards. Thanks to Tommy Stellarscope for posting this.
One crazy gig at the Longbranch Pub in Aguadilla. Of course it's dark, and I'm invisible as always, but I was there and played keyboards. Thanks to Tommy Stellarscope for posting this.
Happy birthday KDE! ? Irfan’s /root on the Web
Happy birthday KDE! ? Irfan’s /root on the Web Y queeeee cumplaaaaaas mucho maaaaaaaaaas EEEEEEEEE!
Linux; the operating system for those to whom resistance is not futile...
Linux; the operating system for those to whom resistance is not futile...
La camisa perfecta para ponerte cuando vas a esa entrevista con Microsoft. :D
La camisa perfecta para ponerte cuando vas a esa entrevista con Microsoft. :D
Tony's Journal - 101 Sex Tricks ToTry Before You Die.
Para el arsenal.Cosas para leer y luego practicar.
Disney-ABC: "We understand piracy now as a business model"
Disney-ABC: "We understand piracy now as a business model"
Disney-ABC is starting to have a clue. Nice one!
Disney-ABC is starting to have a clue. Nice one!
Kim Jong-il has the bomb. How do you make people pay attention?
I have no shame. Make of it what you will.
(From Consumating)
I have no shame. Make of it what you will.
(From Consumating)
Vino, Pac Man, Frankenstein y Música en el Taller Cé
Viernes. Tiempo de salir y bachatear. El Taller Cé estaba celebrando el lanzamiento de su nueva producción "Café Teatro". Carmelo y La Caribeña ya estaban adentro cuando llegué, así que raudo y veloz fui a la barra a darme un vinito de lo más aquel en lo que la actividad comenzaba. Mientras los cantautores daban derroche de su talento, veíamos a varios regulares del café disfrutar del espectáculo en su estilo único. Había un señor mayor que estaba activado cuando Antonio Cabán Vale "El Topo" cantó una canción y el tipo estaba activando y dando sus machetazos. El vino estaba haciendo sus efectos en la audiencia. El caballero que se pasa por ahí que Jimmy le dice Danny Glover estaba acicalado, trajeado y todo.
Mientras tanto, Jorge Medina presentaba a los diferentes cantantes y Carmelo estaba ahí tirando sus chistes, gritos guturales y one-liners, la Caribeña estaba esmorcillada de la risa y ya yo estaba con mi pata de Frankenstein (el zapato ortopédico) y por mi cuarta copa de vino. Después de todo esto creo que me merezco par de copas, ¿no? De cualquier manera sube a escena Sebastián "Batty" Paz, un cantautor argentino radicado en la isla, que tenía un sweater bien particular. El siendo el más rockero de todos, y lo digo de buena manera que conste, el muchacho tenía una camisa que tenía elementos de Pac Man en el diseño. Al decirle esto a La Caribeña, la pobre no paraba de reírse. I love it when a plan comes together, como diría Haníbal Smith de Los Magníficos.
Los efectos del vino rojo continuaron durante la velada, la música estaba de lo más aquel, pero lo más que me gustó de todo fue el sentido de camaradería entre ellos. Unos tocando en canciones de otros o haciendo coros, etcétera. Es algo refrescante y es bueno ver ese sentido de solidaridad. El Taller Cé, además del Teatro Diplo, el Taller Yerbabruja y el Atelier de Vilma están realizando una labor encomiable en la revitalización cultural de Río Piedras. De por sí, felicidades tardías al Taller Cé por su aniversario.
Si Caribeña, te debo la foto del Pie de Frankenstein.
Posdata: Agradecimientos a la amiga de La Caribeña, que también fue testigo presencial de los hechos.
Posdata, Part Deux: Recogido de una conversación.
Individuo: Pues sí. A mi me botaron de los blogs de (Nota del Editor: A esos cabron@s no les damos promo gratis. sorry)
Caribeña: Yo tengo un blog.
Individuo: ¿De veras? ¿Quién te auspicia el blog?
Caribeña: Nadie. Mi blog es gratis.
Individuo: Pero, ¿yo puedo tener uno?
Y se las dejo ahí. Saquen sus propias conclusiones. :D
Mientras tanto, Jorge Medina presentaba a los diferentes cantantes y Carmelo estaba ahí tirando sus chistes, gritos guturales y one-liners, la Caribeña estaba esmorcillada de la risa y ya yo estaba con mi pata de Frankenstein (el zapato ortopédico) y por mi cuarta copa de vino. Después de todo esto creo que me merezco par de copas, ¿no? De cualquier manera sube a escena Sebastián "Batty" Paz, un cantautor argentino radicado en la isla, que tenía un sweater bien particular. El siendo el más rockero de todos, y lo digo de buena manera que conste, el muchacho tenía una camisa que tenía elementos de Pac Man en el diseño. Al decirle esto a La Caribeña, la pobre no paraba de reírse. I love it when a plan comes together, como diría Haníbal Smith de Los Magníficos.
Los efectos del vino rojo continuaron durante la velada, la música estaba de lo más aquel, pero lo más que me gustó de todo fue el sentido de camaradería entre ellos. Unos tocando en canciones de otros o haciendo coros, etcétera. Es algo refrescante y es bueno ver ese sentido de solidaridad. El Taller Cé, además del Teatro Diplo, el Taller Yerbabruja y el Atelier de Vilma están realizando una labor encomiable en la revitalización cultural de Río Piedras. De por sí, felicidades tardías al Taller Cé por su aniversario.
Si Caribeña, te debo la foto del Pie de Frankenstein.
Posdata: Agradecimientos a la amiga de La Caribeña, que también fue testigo presencial de los hechos.
Posdata, Part Deux: Recogido de una conversación.
Individuo: Pues sí. A mi me botaron de los blogs de (Nota del Editor: A esos cabron@s no les damos promo gratis. sorry)
Caribeña: Yo tengo un blog.
Individuo: ¿De veras? ¿Quién te auspicia el blog?
Caribeña: Nadie. Mi blog es gratis.
Individuo: Pero, ¿yo puedo tener uno?
Y se las dejo ahí. Saquen sus propias conclusiones. :D
Lust For Laughs - October 4, 2006
Lust For Laughs - October 4, 2006
El mejor rider del mundo y del universo le pertenece a Iggy Pop y Los Stooges. 18 paginas de pura fucking comedia.
El mejor rider del mundo y del universo le pertenece a Iggy Pop y Los Stooges. 18 paginas de pura fucking comedia.
Land Of The Free? Si. Claro.
Why I'm Banned in the USA
By Tariq Ramadan
Sunday, October 1, 2006; B01
LONDON
For more than two years now, the U.S. government has barred me from entering the United States to pursue an academic career. The reasons have changed over time, and have evolved from defamatory to absurd, but the effect has remained the same: I've been kept out.
First, I was told that I could not enter the country because I had endorsed terrorism and violated the USA Patriot Act. It took a lawsuit for the government eventually to abandon this baseless accusation. Later, I reapplied for a visa, twice, only to hear nothing for more than a year. Finally, just 10 days ago, after a federal judge forced the State Department to reconsider my application, U.S. authorities offered a new rationale for turning me away: Between 1998 and 2002, I had contributed small sums of money to a French charity supporting humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories.
I am increasingly convinced that the Bush administration has barred me for a much simpler reason: It doesn't care for my political views. In recent years, I have publicly criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East, the war in Iraq, the use of torture, secret CIA prisons and other government actions that undermine fundamental civil liberties. And for many years, through my research and writing and speeches, I have called upon Muslims to better understand the principles of their own faith, and have sought to show that one can be Muslim and Western at the same time.
My experience reveals how U.S. authorities seek to suppress dissenting voices and -- by excluding people such as me from their country -- manipulate political debate in America. Unfortunately, the U.S. government's paranoia has evolved far beyond a fear of particular individuals and taken on a much more insidious form: the fear of ideas.
In January 2004, I was offered a job at the University of Notre Dame, as a professor of Islamic studies and as Luce professor of religion, conflict and peace-building. I accepted the tenured position enthusiastically and looked forward to joining the academic community in the United States. After the government granted me a work visa, I rented a home in South Bend, Ind., enrolled my children in school there and shipped all of my household belongings. Then, in July, the government notified me that my visa had been revoked. It did not offer a specific explanation, but pointed to a provision of the Patriot Act that applies to people who have "endorsed or espoused" terrorist activity.
The revocation shocked me. I had consistently opposed terrorism in all of its forms, and still do. And, before 2004, I had visited the United States frequently to lecture, attend conferences and meet with other scholars. I had been an invited speaker at conferences or lectures sponsored by Harvard University, Stanford, Princeton and the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. None of these institutions seemed to consider me a threat to national security.
The U.S. government invited me to apply for a new visa and, with Notre Dame's help, I did so in October 2004. But after three months passed without a response, I felt I had little choice but to give up my new position and resume my life in Europe. Even so, I never abandoned the effort to clear my name. At the urging of American academic and civic groups, I reapplied for a visa one last time in September 2005, hoping that the government would retract its accusation. Once again, I encountered only silence.
Finally, in January, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and PEN American Center filed a lawsuit on my behalf, challenging the government's actions. In court, the government's lawyers admitted that they could establish no connection between me and any terrorist group; the government had merely taken a "prudential" measure by revoking my visa. Even then, the government maintained that the process of reconsidering my visa could take years. The federal court -- which issued a ruling recognizing that I have been a vocal critic of terrorism -- rejected the indefinite delay. In June, it ordered the government to grant me a visa or explain why it would not do so.
On Sept. 21, the long-awaited explanation arrived. The letter from the U.S. Embassy informed me that my visa application had been denied, and it put an end to the rumors that had circulated since my original visa was revoked. After a lengthy investigation, the State Department cited no evidence of suspicious relationships, no meetings with terrorists, no encouraging or advocacy of terrorism. Instead, the department cited my donation of $940 to two humanitarian organizations (a French group and its Swiss chapter) serving the Palestinian people. I should note that the investigation did not reveal these contributions. As the department acknowledges, I had brought this information to their attention myself, two years earlier, when I had reapplied for a visa.
In its letter, the U.S. Embassy claims that I "reasonably should have known" that the charities in question provided money to Hamas. But my donations were made between December 1998 and July 2002, and the United States did not blacklist the charities until 2003. How should I reasonably have known of their activities before the U.S. government itself knew? I donated to these organizations for the same reason that countless Europeans -- and Americans, for that matter -- donate to Palestinian causes: not to help fund terrorism, but because I wanted to provide humanitarian aid to people who desperately need it. Yet after two years of investigation, this was the only explanation offered for the denial of my visa. I still find it hard to believe.
What words do I utter and what views do I hold that are dangerous to American ears, so dangerous, in fact, that I should not be allowed to express them on U.S. soil?
I have called upon Western societies to be more open toward Muslims and to regard them as a source of richness, not just of violence or conflict. I have called upon Muslims in the West to reconcile and embrace both their Islamic and Western identities. I have called for the creation of a "New We" based on common citizenship within which Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims and people with no religion can build a pluralistic society. And yes, I believe we all have a right to dissent, to criticize governments and protest undemocratic decisions. It is certainly legitimate for European Muslims and American Muslims to criticize their governments if they find them unjust -- and I will continue to do so.
At the same time, I do not stop short of criticizing regimes from Muslim countries. Indeed, the United States is not the only country that rejects me; I am also barred from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and even my native Egypt. Last month, after a few sentences in a speech by Pope Benedict XVI elicited protests and violence, I published an article noting how some governments in the Muslim world manipulate these imagined crises to suit their political agendas. "When the people are deprived of their basic rights and of their freedom of expression," I argued, "it costs nothing to allow them to vent their anger over Danish cartoons or the words of the Pontiff." I was immediately accused of appeasing the enemies of Islam, of being more Western than Muslim.
Today, I live and work in London. From my posts at Oxford University and the Lokahi Foundation, I try to promote cultural understanding and to prevent radicalization within Muslim communities here. Along with many British citizens, I have criticized the country's new security laws and its support for the war in Iraq. Yet I have never been asked to remain silent as a condition to live or work here. I can express myself freely.
I fear that the United States has grown fearful of ideas. I have learned firsthand that the Bush administration reacts to its critics not by engaging them, but by stigmatizing and excluding them. Will foreign scholars be permitted to enter the United States only if they promise to mute their criticisms of U.S. policy? It saddens me to think of the effect this will have on the free exchange of ideas, on political debate within America, and on our ability to bridge differences across cultures.
web@tariqramadan.com
Tariq Ramadan, a fellow at Oxford University, is author of "Western Muslims and the Future of Islam."
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
By Tariq Ramadan
Sunday, October 1, 2006; B01
LONDON
For more than two years now, the U.S. government has barred me from entering the United States to pursue an academic career. The reasons have changed over time, and have evolved from defamatory to absurd, but the effect has remained the same: I've been kept out.
First, I was told that I could not enter the country because I had endorsed terrorism and violated the USA Patriot Act. It took a lawsuit for the government eventually to abandon this baseless accusation. Later, I reapplied for a visa, twice, only to hear nothing for more than a year. Finally, just 10 days ago, after a federal judge forced the State Department to reconsider my application, U.S. authorities offered a new rationale for turning me away: Between 1998 and 2002, I had contributed small sums of money to a French charity supporting humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories.
I am increasingly convinced that the Bush administration has barred me for a much simpler reason: It doesn't care for my political views. In recent years, I have publicly criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East, the war in Iraq, the use of torture, secret CIA prisons and other government actions that undermine fundamental civil liberties. And for many years, through my research and writing and speeches, I have called upon Muslims to better understand the principles of their own faith, and have sought to show that one can be Muslim and Western at the same time.
My experience reveals how U.S. authorities seek to suppress dissenting voices and -- by excluding people such as me from their country -- manipulate political debate in America. Unfortunately, the U.S. government's paranoia has evolved far beyond a fear of particular individuals and taken on a much more insidious form: the fear of ideas.
In January 2004, I was offered a job at the University of Notre Dame, as a professor of Islamic studies and as Luce professor of religion, conflict and peace-building. I accepted the tenured position enthusiastically and looked forward to joining the academic community in the United States. After the government granted me a work visa, I rented a home in South Bend, Ind., enrolled my children in school there and shipped all of my household belongings. Then, in July, the government notified me that my visa had been revoked. It did not offer a specific explanation, but pointed to a provision of the Patriot Act that applies to people who have "endorsed or espoused" terrorist activity.
The revocation shocked me. I had consistently opposed terrorism in all of its forms, and still do. And, before 2004, I had visited the United States frequently to lecture, attend conferences and meet with other scholars. I had been an invited speaker at conferences or lectures sponsored by Harvard University, Stanford, Princeton and the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. None of these institutions seemed to consider me a threat to national security.
The U.S. government invited me to apply for a new visa and, with Notre Dame's help, I did so in October 2004. But after three months passed without a response, I felt I had little choice but to give up my new position and resume my life in Europe. Even so, I never abandoned the effort to clear my name. At the urging of American academic and civic groups, I reapplied for a visa one last time in September 2005, hoping that the government would retract its accusation. Once again, I encountered only silence.
Finally, in January, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and PEN American Center filed a lawsuit on my behalf, challenging the government's actions. In court, the government's lawyers admitted that they could establish no connection between me and any terrorist group; the government had merely taken a "prudential" measure by revoking my visa. Even then, the government maintained that the process of reconsidering my visa could take years. The federal court -- which issued a ruling recognizing that I have been a vocal critic of terrorism -- rejected the indefinite delay. In June, it ordered the government to grant me a visa or explain why it would not do so.
On Sept. 21, the long-awaited explanation arrived. The letter from the U.S. Embassy informed me that my visa application had been denied, and it put an end to the rumors that had circulated since my original visa was revoked. After a lengthy investigation, the State Department cited no evidence of suspicious relationships, no meetings with terrorists, no encouraging or advocacy of terrorism. Instead, the department cited my donation of $940 to two humanitarian organizations (a French group and its Swiss chapter) serving the Palestinian people. I should note that the investigation did not reveal these contributions. As the department acknowledges, I had brought this information to their attention myself, two years earlier, when I had reapplied for a visa.
In its letter, the U.S. Embassy claims that I "reasonably should have known" that the charities in question provided money to Hamas. But my donations were made between December 1998 and July 2002, and the United States did not blacklist the charities until 2003. How should I reasonably have known of their activities before the U.S. government itself knew? I donated to these organizations for the same reason that countless Europeans -- and Americans, for that matter -- donate to Palestinian causes: not to help fund terrorism, but because I wanted to provide humanitarian aid to people who desperately need it. Yet after two years of investigation, this was the only explanation offered for the denial of my visa. I still find it hard to believe.
What words do I utter and what views do I hold that are dangerous to American ears, so dangerous, in fact, that I should not be allowed to express them on U.S. soil?
I have called upon Western societies to be more open toward Muslims and to regard them as a source of richness, not just of violence or conflict. I have called upon Muslims in the West to reconcile and embrace both their Islamic and Western identities. I have called for the creation of a "New We" based on common citizenship within which Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims and people with no religion can build a pluralistic society. And yes, I believe we all have a right to dissent, to criticize governments and protest undemocratic decisions. It is certainly legitimate for European Muslims and American Muslims to criticize their governments if they find them unjust -- and I will continue to do so.
At the same time, I do not stop short of criticizing regimes from Muslim countries. Indeed, the United States is not the only country that rejects me; I am also barred from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and even my native Egypt. Last month, after a few sentences in a speech by Pope Benedict XVI elicited protests and violence, I published an article noting how some governments in the Muslim world manipulate these imagined crises to suit their political agendas. "When the people are deprived of their basic rights and of their freedom of expression," I argued, "it costs nothing to allow them to vent their anger over Danish cartoons or the words of the Pontiff." I was immediately accused of appeasing the enemies of Islam, of being more Western than Muslim.
Today, I live and work in London. From my posts at Oxford University and the Lokahi Foundation, I try to promote cultural understanding and to prevent radicalization within Muslim communities here. Along with many British citizens, I have criticized the country's new security laws and its support for the war in Iraq. Yet I have never been asked to remain silent as a condition to live or work here. I can express myself freely.
I fear that the United States has grown fearful of ideas. I have learned firsthand that the Bush administration reacts to its critics not by engaging them, but by stigmatizing and excluding them. Will foreign scholars be permitted to enter the United States only if they promise to mute their criticisms of U.S. policy? It saddens me to think of the effect this will have on the free exchange of ideas, on political debate within America, and on our ability to bridge differences across cultures.
web@tariqramadan.com
Tariq Ramadan, a fellow at Oxford University, is author of "Western Muslims and the Future of Islam."
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Television Para Extraterrestres
2051 space oddity: TV station aims at an alien audience
Derek Scally in Berlin
Eurotrash goes intergalactic tonight when two naked television presenters host the first programme conceived for aliens and broadcast to a star located in the Big Dipper, 45 light years away.
Despite the English language title, the programme, Cosmic Connexion, as conceived by the channel Arte, assumes the aliens will have a working knowledge of German and French - the station's two working languages.
The TV show has been conceived as an idiot's guide to humankind, or close encounters of the nude kind. The hosts will explain how the human body is created - thus justifying their own nakedness - and will tell about the main elements of daily human life.
Cosmic Connexion will talk to sociologists, scientists and space experts, as well as explain to viewers - on earth and in space - about previous attempts to contact other life forms such as the gold and aluminium disc placed on board the Pioneer 10 probe launched in 1972 and last contacted in 2003.
The station has a clear message for viewing aliens: "We have seen your crop circles. Stop by and say hello." Arte has also asked viewers to submit messages they would like to be broadcast into space as part of the programme. The few halfway intelligible messages on the website yesterday were rather political. "Maxmax" from Germany wrote: "Dear friends of the sun (or whatever) . . . George W. Bush: bullshit3 Us - music = rather not."
The broadcast signal will reach the star Errai in the year 2051. Arte producers say they are looking forward to receiving alien viewer feedback to their programme - in 2096.
© The Irish Times
Derek Scally in Berlin
Eurotrash goes intergalactic tonight when two naked television presenters host the first programme conceived for aliens and broadcast to a star located in the Big Dipper, 45 light years away.
Despite the English language title, the programme, Cosmic Connexion, as conceived by the channel Arte, assumes the aliens will have a working knowledge of German and French - the station's two working languages.
The TV show has been conceived as an idiot's guide to humankind, or close encounters of the nude kind. The hosts will explain how the human body is created - thus justifying their own nakedness - and will tell about the main elements of daily human life.
Cosmic Connexion will talk to sociologists, scientists and space experts, as well as explain to viewers - on earth and in space - about previous attempts to contact other life forms such as the gold and aluminium disc placed on board the Pioneer 10 probe launched in 1972 and last contacted in 2003.
The station has a clear message for viewing aliens: "We have seen your crop circles. Stop by and say hello." Arte has also asked viewers to submit messages they would like to be broadcast into space as part of the programme. The few halfway intelligible messages on the website yesterday were rather political. "Maxmax" from Germany wrote: "Dear friends of the sun (or whatever) . . . George W. Bush: bullshit3 Us - music = rather not."
The broadcast signal will reach the star Errai in the year 2051. Arte producers say they are looking forward to receiving alien viewer feedback to their programme - in 2096.
© The Irish Times
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