Ethan Zuckerman has a fantastic post about his recent trip to Zimbabwe, and the real story about the Internet outage there and the proposed Internet wiretapping law:

There’s a bill pending in Zimbabwe’s parliament - the Interception of Communications Bill - which would establish a government center for the interception of communications: email, web page downloads, instant messaging, financial transactions, as well as postal mail and courier services. The Chief of the Defence Intelligence, the Director-General of the President’s department on national security, the Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority would be able to apply to the Minister of Transport and Communications to intercept communications - requests will be granted if the minister has reason to believe “a serious offence has been or is being or will probably be committed or that there is threat to safety or national security of the country.”

To comply with the bill, Internet Service Providers would - at their own cost - have to install hardware and software to allow such communication interception to take place. Because of the financial burden this would put on providers - and because they’re concerned about the loss of privacy of Internet users - ZISPA is challenging the bill and has written a detailed response to the bill.

Link (Thanks, Ethan!)

The EFF is hiring a new activist. I've worked in some pretty amazing places, but no place so amazing as EFF -- the best day-job I've ever held, a truly life-changing experience:

Job responsibilities include:

* Creating powerful images about key issues for our website
* Coordinating and developing graphics for grassroots awareness campaigns that can drive people to our website and to take action
* Working with other public interest groups on grassroots campaigns
* Editing written materials for the website

Required:

* Intimate knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator
* Experience designing for web and print
* Excellent writing skills
* Great project management skills
* A passion for internet civil liberties issues

Link

The latest awesomely crazy watch from Tokyoflash is the Bingo Watch, whose face resembles a Bingo-card, and which tells time by filling in different positions on the board. Link

My friend Kevin Kelly, a co-founding editor of Wired and author of several excellent books, including Out of Control and Asia Grace, is a documentary movie junkie. True Films, his 56-page PDF book, reviews 100 of his favorite documentaries. Kevin says:

(Click on thumbnails for enlargement)"True Films" contains the best 100 documentaries I've reviewed on True Films as of December, 2004. I winnowed some from the larger list, and came up with an alphabetical collection of 100 documentaries I feel are worth your time. Most people will enjoy the majority included. There's been one private film club launched around this list. What you get for your $3: a downloadable PDF file of a color version of the book (which was printed in B&W).

Buy for $3 | Other items for sale at the Boing Boing Digital Emporium

Bruno sez, "Under the newly adopted, very controversial DADVSI French law, it became illegal to bypass, help bypass, or suggest one bypasses DRM protections. Offenders are liable of up to a € 30,000 fine ($38,000) and six months in prison. Three DRM activists went, accompanied by a cheerful crowd of supporters, to their local police station and admitted the following:"

* Stéphane used DVDdecrypter to transfer a legally purchased DVD onto his portable DVD player, and risks a € 3,750 fine;

* Tangui read a DVD on an open-source Linux software; and

* Jérôme bypassed DRMs on music legally purchased on iTunes and another French online provider, explained how to bypass DRMs on a webpage, and translated a software that gets rid of protections on digital content; for all that, he risks a € 30,000 fine and up to six months in prison."

Link (Thanks, Bruno!)

Make Blog has a monster post rounding up steam-powered bicycles past and present -- these boiler-bikes look like they're likely to explode on the crossbar and take your nads with them, but they also look like they might be worth it. Link

Kullin sez, "Seven months ago, Flickr reached 100 million photos. Today it reached a quarter of a billion." Link (Thanks, Kullin!)

Bill sez, "A new statue of Nikola Tesla now stands at Niagra Falls, in Victoria park on the .ca side. Tesla stands atop his famous AC motor while scribbling in the dirt with a walking stick (which refers to the event when the rotating-field principle appeared in a flash to Tesla while he was walking in Belgrade park.) The statue commemorates the 150th anniversary of Tesla's birth." Link (Thanks, Bill!)

Fortean Times posted an interview with Alexandre Philippe and David Marchiori, respectively the director and producer of Earthlings: Ugly Bags of Mostly Water, a new documentary about the Klingon Language Institute. The film explores the line between reality and fiction through profiles of the likes of Louise Witty, who, according to the film's Web site, "becomes fascinated with the language from her interest in Star Trek boots (and then fabricates and sells them), to a paintball fanatic who shouts his strategic commands in Klingon. From the interview:

FT: The film, as you say, doesn’t take the easy route of poking fun at what some ‘normal’ folks might consider to be weird behaviour, even when it borders on the absurd…

(AP:) Truthfully, of course, some of the film is funny; but Klingon speakers would see that too – they’re definitely in on the joke, and that’s what makes it great. But there’s a difference between finding this weird and laughing at what they do and dismissing their activities. Yes, it’s funny. Yes, it’s absurd. But that’s precisely the type of subculture that makes our world so endlessly fascinating. In this era of globalisation, I think it’s great that people try to assert their identity by embracing such communities. And what I’m personally particularly proud of is that I was there to create a lasting document proving the existence and the worth of this unique linguistic phenomenon...

DM: Everyone we met during the filming process, and all the Klingons we have met since, are virtually the same – gentle, intelligent people. Many of them are genuine Trek fans and this is their way of exploiting their love of the franchise. Many are linguists and language experts; in some cases Klingon is the sixth or seventh language they speak. And many of them are in it for the social aspects. I will say that while KLI members for the most part don’t indulge in dressing the Klingon way, they do take on a different persona when in Klingon mode. The large groups of people who like to dress as Klingons really take on different personalities while in the role. They act boisterous and aggressive... but when they change back, all is normal.

Link

My friend Kirsten Anderson, editor of Pop Surrealism, just bought this beautiful drawing by Dutch artist Femke Hiemstra. It's titled "Halloween Shepherds." She currently has work hanging in New York City's MF Gallery as part of their Halloween Art group show. And in the spring, Hiemstra will have her own show at Kirsten's incredible Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle.
Link to Femtasia

Nick Gillsepie, editor-in-chief of Reason says: "I thought you might be interested in our interview with Chris Anderson, which is now online."

Among the highlights:

• Anderson says he was a "complete fuck-up" who graduated high school late and flunked out of the University of Maryland with "a 0.0 G.P.A."
• Calls himself a "small 'l' libertarian" who nonetheless voted for Al Gore in 2000: "But I’m not proud of this. I wish the system would put forward politicians that I could vote for."
• Says being a parent of four young children "has made me a better boss."
• Dismisses the Wall Street Journal's Lee Gomes' criticism of The Long Tail: "I struggled a little bit with some of those statistics in my first week of researching this, too, but fortunately, I had time to actually do the math."
• Takes on social theorists such as Paradox of Choice author Barry Schwartz who fear that too much choice is paralyzing: "The answer to the paradox of choice is help."
• Talks about his musical past in a band called R.E.M., which lost a Battle of the Bands to the famous band of the same name.
• Discusses his proudest achievement at Wired: "What I’m most proud of is that we made our very optimistic message about how technology can change the world [matter again] after many people had written that off after the dot-com bust. I’m very proud that we stuck to our mission and that that message resonates [again]. I don’t think we caused it to resonate, but when the world recognized what sort of felt obvious to those of us who live in this world, I was very proud that we were still leading that."

Link

Stephen D. Levitt, co-author of the excellent book Freakanomics says he was on a flight a few days ago, and before the plane was about to take off, the flight attendant announced:

“According to the reading on my equipment up front, there is still one cell phone turned on, so please check that you have turned yours off.”

Obviously, she has no equipment for detecting this, but you should have seen the passengers scramble to check their bags. Except for me, of course. My laptop hummed happily along under the seat in front of me. Still, brilliant on the part of the flight attendant, although I think it would have been more convincing coming from the pilot.

He also adds this tidbit:

... TSA just confiscated my deodorant and my toothpaste. Of course they let me keep my contact lens solution. Hmmm…if I were a terrorist, don’t you think that I could figure out how to take the top off a bottle of contact lens solution and put my explosive liquids in there? It is totally pointless to enforce rules which impose costs on innocent people, but are easily circumvented by terrorists. Can anyone think this is accomplishing anything productive?

Link

An ad agency in Chile made little notes that looked like cigarettes, and dropped them on sidewalks. Nicotine-junkies desperate enough to pick up the fake cigarettes unrolled them to read the following message: “It seems not only do you need a cigarette, you also need help.” Link (Via Neatorama)

Slobs who work at home can look their best for videoconferences with the Businessbib, a pullover half-suit that has a built in shirt and tie.

Businessbibs are hand-made from recycled materials and are supposed to be sturdy and stylish. Priced between $135-150, they can be ordered online.

Link

WFMU's Beware of the Blog reviews a new book of doodles by US Presidents. It looks good. As Michael Kinsley wrote, "If you read only one book on presidential doodles this year, make it this one."

What the fuck is up with Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) and his "freaky jack-o-lantern head contemplating sacred desert bird doodle?" If that's not a 'shroom-fueled Meat Puppets album cover, I'm a mindless idiot on the lake of fire.

Link

My friend Bonnie Burton works at Lucas and she takes excellent photos for her Flickr stream. I especially like this one. Link

Pierre Scerri's 1:3 scale Ferrari represents 20,000 hours of love and devotion.

It took Pierre 15 years and more than 20,000 hours to build this car. He learned to make glass so he could make the exact pattern lens for the operating headlights. He learned to make rubber so he could mold his own tires. His computer mainframe design background with the French telecommunications system allowed him to duplicate the Ferrari electronics system in exact miniature. It also provided him with the understanding needed to make a 1/3 scale operating fuel injection system identical to that in the full-size Ferrari.

Link

(Click thumbnail for enlargement). The gloomy weather was appropriate for the unhappy event I photographed a few days ago: the replacement of a resplendent 76 Ball with a hideous new sign at an Encino service station. The feeble bump on the new sign is a shameful mockery of the grandeur of the extinct orb. More about the 76 Ball here.

The Swarm of Angels project (which is raising £1,000,000 from 50,000 small personal donations to make a feature film) has reached one of its critical milestones.

With the inaugural 700 members all settled in and working on opening up the next membership opportuntity as well as the setup for the film, they're opening up the first "voting day" to settle the big questions that the project is working on now:

* How to reward members who complete tasks in the critical path?
* What the project's tagline should be
* What to do with any excess money from the project?
* Which poster should the project use? Link (Thanks, Matt!)

(Disclosure: I am a proud member of the advisory board of the nonprofit Swarm of Angels project)

Squid Soap's mission is to "train tomorrow's great hand washers." The pump-bottle is decorated with a plastic squid, and the top of the pump has an ink-stamper that leaves a ring on your hand when you pump your soap. Once you've scrubbed enough to remove the ink-stamp, you've also scrubbed enough to kill the germs on your hands. Link (via Collision Detection)

Jam-maker F Duerr & Son has debuted a commemorative £5,000 pot of marmelade made from rare whisky and champagne and decorated with edible flakes of gold.

The Fine Cut Seville Orange Marmalade with Whisky, Champagne and Gold mixes the finest Seville fruit with vintage Dalmore 62 whisky from Whyte & Mackay (valued at £32,000 per bottle), topped off with a splash of Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1996 vintage champagne and garnished with flakes of 24-carat gold leaf.

The resulting spread, encased in a custom-made crystal jar valued at £1,100, would cost £76 to cover a single slice of toast.

Link (Photo thumbnail from a larger picture on the Daily Telegraph site, credited to Eddie Mulholland) (Thanks, Nandini!)

A blogger recounts the unbelievable crap she was fed by her doctor, pharmacist and local hospitals when she tried to get emergency contraception after the condom broke. She has three kids and doesn't want a fourth, but no one would give her EC -- instead, they asked her nosy questions about her sex-life, told her she couldn't have "abortion pills" and eventually turned her away:

"No." I state plainly. "I am not married. I've been in a relationship for several years and I have three children, I don't want a fourth." I respond tersely.

"Oh, I see." He says and then he hurries on, "Well, see. *I* understand. I want you to know that I understand what you're saying. But see, the problem is that we have 4 doctors here right now but only one of them ever writes EC prescriptions. But see, the thing is that he'll interview you and see if you meet his criteria. Now, I called the pharmacy but I also talked to him and well....*clears throat*....you can come down and try to get it. You know, if you meet his criteria he'll give you a prescription, I mean, there's really no harm in trying." the nurse trails off, his voice falters as I realize what I'm being told.

He continues, almost over eager at this point to distance himself from the hospital, "See, I understand what you're saying and all. I think it's a good thing that it's going over the counter. I just thought I should tell you what he told me. You know, you'll just have to have an interview with him and he'll see if you meet his criteria. He'll only be on duty until 2pm today though and you should ask for him if you decide to come down because he's really your only chance."

I sigh and thank him before hanging up. I know exactly what he was telling me. If I wasn't raped and wasn't married then too damn bad for me.

Link (via Making Light)

The Guardian newspaper has combed through the last statements of the 376 people executed by the state of Texas (Texas has an online repository of last statements) and published the highlights. They're quite a collection, ranging from moving, sad, infuriating and brave:

"What I want people to know is that they call me a cold-blooded killer when I shot a man that shot me first. The only thing that convicted me was that I am a Mexican and that he was a police officer. People hollered for my life, and they are to have my life tonight.

"The people never hollered for the life of the policeman that killed a 13-year-old boy who was handcuffed in the back seat of a police car. The people never hollered for the life of a Houston police officer who beat up and drowned Jose Campo Torres and threw his body in the river. You call that equal justice. This is your equal justice. This is America's equal justice.

"A Mexican's life is worth nothing. When a policeman kills someone he gets a suspended sentence. When a Mexican kills a police officer this is what you get. From there you call me a cold-blooded murderer. I didn't tie anyone to a stretcher. I didn't pump poison into anybody's veins from behind a locked door [ ... ] I hope God will be as merciful to society as he has been to me. I'm ready, Warden."

Link

Today on xkcd, a way-funny comic for trufans of the amazing video-game Katamari Damacy. In KD, you roll a giant ball around a landscape, trying to kock over and pick up the objects that litter it -- as you pick up more objects, you get bigger, which increases the objects you can grab, all the way up to mountains, clouds and worlds. KD hacks your brain the way that Tetris does -- after a lot of Tetris, the whole world seems to be composed of polygons that want to be slid together, and after a lot of KD, the world seems made of objects that you should knock down and roll up. Link

An 82-year-old woman with a rental phone ended up paying over $14,000 $2,000 for the rotary set over 40 years. She began renting the phone at a time when AT&T would not sell you a phone -- and they wouldn't let you buy a phone from someone else and plug it in to your wall.

These days, DRM hardware and media seems to all come on terms like this: a license, a rental, anything except a plain, old-fashioned sale where you end up owning property.

The DRM people tell us that rentals are great for the poor and disenfranchised, since these rental "offers" can be made for less than a real purchase would cost. But I think this is more representative of the trajectory of rentware models: you pay, and pay, and pay, and pay.

It's not a coincidence that rich people who have a choice almost never choose to rent. They own their homes, their cars, and their TVs. Rich people don't sign "agreements" that let repo men come over and take away their stuff. Even if you know you'll never miss a payment, we all know that owning enriches you, renting enriches someone else.

The number of customers leasing phones dropped from 40 million nationwide to about 750,000 today, said John Skalko, spokesman for Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent Technologies, a spinoff of AT&T that manages the residential leasing service.

"We will continue to lease sets as long as there is a demand for them," Skalko said.

Benefits of leasing include free replacements and the option of switching to newer models, he said.

Link