Kia's World

[this article appears as it was written for the October issue of my school newspaper] 

Google, the Olympian God of the Internet, announced on September 7, 2008 of its potential plans to move its entire server database out to sea. The plan is for the databases to be stored inside of ships that are anchored to the sea floor some seven miles off shore, with pumps sucking up sea water for coolant systems, and specially designed hydraulic rams to harness wave energy for conversion into electrical power. Google’s goal is to create a much more green internet, seeing as in 2005 “data centres consumed 1 per cent of the world’s electricity” said Murad Ahmen, a Technology Reporter for The Times in his September 15th article “Google search finds seafaring solution”.

This, in an environmentally worried society, is sounding like an amazingly inventive and doable idea. Concerns, in the media, only stem from (no joke) pirates and natural disasters (such as hurricanes). On this matter Google comments: “For example, a military presence may be needed in an area, a natural disaster may bring a need for computing or telecommunication presence in an area until the natural infrastructure can be repaired or rebuilt, and certain events may draw thousands of people who may put a load on the local computing infrastructure”.

However if you leave the media behind there is not one blog, one comment, one forum post about this new Google plan that doesn’t bring to light the most frightening concern of all. Being seven to eight miles offshore Google will not only be free of paying taxes to whatever nation they’re off the shore of, but they will also be free from the laws of that nation. This means that Google will not have to, legally, follow any privacy laws at all. Any search, any information, any text, any G-Talk message, any e-mail through Google’s G-mail feature will be completely unprotected by federal laws. Google can, at a whim, sell any and all this data to marketing companies or any individual or group with the finances to meet Google’s price.

It’s no secret that, at this current moment - with land based databases, Google sells search patterns to marketing firms for personal profit. You, under privacy laws in the United States, remain an anonymous user. However this could all change just by putting the databases out to sea.

So what is Google’s real motive? Extra profits for personal data? Or more environmentally friendly databases? We should all like to think it’s the latter but in today’s world, where politicians in the White House can circumvent the Constitution of the United States of America by sacrificing our civil liberties for the feeling - the illusion - of safety (meet the Patriot Act), no one’s motives are clear. Friendly Google could simply be being friendly Google and trying to make the world a better place for our future generations. However the likelihood that it will abuse it’s power over our privacy is very high. 

It would appear that it is time to find a way to stop mighty Google, either that or learn how to remain completely “off-the-grid”. For the first option: that’s probably impossible so just scratch the idea. For the second option: a strong suggestion to visit Kia’s World  (www.kiasworld.co.uk) and ask as many questions about how to  maintain your privacy is the best suggestion that could possibly be given to those worried about their privacy.

“Internet privacy is something that seems to have become a victim of our ever diminishing civil liberties” says Via Riviera, a participating member of Kia’s World who’d rather not have her real name used in the interests of protecting her anonymity (anonymity is a virtue amongst Kia’s World members). To further the ideas of Ms. Riviera, Google’s potential future immunity to privacy laws can only spell the potential for our civil liberties to be circumvented by a technicality and thus allow our privacy to be defiled.

Ultimately it is uncertain how this possible future Google endeavor will turn out, all that is known is that those who care about privacy must start preserving their privacy now. Or risk having none in the future. So, is it friendly Google or sneaky spy Google? Let come what may, we can do nothing to stop it. We can only prepare for the worst. 

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

The last week of September in the US is when all the libraries and bookstores get together and stick their tongues out at the idiots who try (and thankfully fail) to take good books off the shelves.  I don't know if they have an equivalent in Euorpe, but it's still worth celebrating.

Before I get started I want to make it clear that this article is not aimed as an attack against the American people, I hope that the American people can take it as it is meant - though I do realise that many people do have strong patriotic feelings and so I can only hope that I do not offend too many.

What follows was inspired by the news I read today that the US Treasury Secretary has announced the Federal Government is to takeover Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae.

Lets do our best to begin at the beginning - the formation of the United States - originally founded as a very liberal country - its foundation inspired by the ideas of great minds such as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and (obviously) Thomas Jefferson. It is this liberal idealism which probably inspires most of the patriotism of the American people - and rightly so.
For a while America ticked along quite nicely - they had some wars (both internally and externally) - but they were just another country, not great, but finding their feet.

Then came the wars in Europe - the superpowers of the day - the very wars which stripped European countries of their superpower status. The wars caused great questions to be asked about the ways in which governments should act - both with each other, and with their own citizens.
It was in these post-war days that the American Government shone - inspired by the likes of Friedrich Hayek (The Road to Serfdom) and the many, many others who turned away from the 'collectivist' government style - America pushed forward the strongest Capitalist economy the world had ever seen. The American Government fostered this situation greatly by controlling imports to strengthen the Americas position.
This created the attitude we now see in America - rightly or wrongly it is there - that Capitalism and the 'free market' is the 'American Dream' and that all forms of collectivism are 'Commies' and therefore evil.

So, here we are in modern-day America - Capitalism is king. The down side is that the capitalist economy is founded on exploitation - of both people and resources - this was fine while we had 'limitless' resources and Asia had no economy (fine for the west that is as long as we 'turn a blind eye' to the blatant exploitation of people (including children) working as slaves for the west - but that is for another day). We now find ourselves in a different world - Asia's (specifically India & China) economy is strengthening - and starting to replace America as the world superpower - the seemingly 'limitless' resources are running out - or are in exceedingly volatile places - and America are hitting the point which Europe did 100 years ago - and their first action? The nationalisation of two of their biggest mortgage lenders - a first tentative step on the 'Collectivist' path.

Now, before I blow this out of proportion, I do realise that this is a very small step - and as far as I can tell is being done with the 'best intention' of propping up the capitalist system, but it does set a worrying precedent - and one which will be paid for by the American tax payers.
I hope that as America becomes more disenchanted with their capitalist system of the past that they can move forward to a better way for ALL their American citizens - not just the richest 5%. I hope that they can find a third way - which will enable them (and us all) to move forward, and not back to a centralized, collectivist system.

True to form I am just pointing out the problems without offering a workable solution - but that will be for the American people to decide.

Where to go from here? Answers on a postcard to The President, The White House, USA - or just in the comments here - I am sure Bush will be reading this blog :-p

I know that I have no right to so much as bring the subject I am about to bring up to light, for there are people amongst our own ranks that have it far worse than I do. But, the reason I feel compelled to let surface that which will bring me under fire is because I’ve heard of what they must endure, of the scrutiny they undergo on a daily basis. What they have I desire to prevent myself from having.

My high school has stepped over, what its arrogant students see as, the line (in truth, the line is miles away and we are but one step closer). The administration has taken its CCTV monitoring one baby step further. No longer do the only CCTVs monitor the back parking lot, now we have one inside the school, monitoring the students. It is only one camera, not dozens, not ID cards, not RFID tags, not strict “Fascist” dress codes, all-in-all it is just one solitary camera.

Upon seeing it I rolled my eyes and examined the entire rest of the school, looking for more. My search ended, with much relief, fruitless. So I decided the camera was no big deal, it was extremely easy to avoid without even the slightest effort. later that same day, the first day of school, l I overheard a junior say the words: “They put a camera in the back lobby! What next? All over the rest of the school?” I bristled at my own arrogance for not asking that very same question: What next?

I instantly thought of throwing a sticker next to the camera, but they know who I am. At the end of last year they had to pry a sticker off of my locker, C323. Four characters that are directly linked to me. My mind, luckily, races (sometimes to fast for its own good) and, without missing a second (after realizing I couldn’t safely sticker the camera) I had my mouth open and an improvised rant ready for the questions this junior had, foolishly, raised in my presence. Unfortunately, my Psychology teacher (having had me last year for AP U.S. History and knowing full well my position on the matter) cut me off before sound could escape my mouth. She looked at me, saw me perk up and prepare to rant, then, looking alarmed, changed the subject. When I slouched back down in my seat she looked relieved…but this rant will be delivered

I have decided that flyers are needed, the only safe way to attack what they’ve done, and with that I hope you wish me good luck on my personal vendetta against that solitary camera. For I will not quietly allow my high school to become as privacy invasive as others.

To the administration I say: “I am Free Runner, unrelenting and motivated! Stop this here, before you’re faced with a bigger problem.”

◊◊◊

Delta62 Thorn

Protest political interference in the scientific process by voting for your favorite cartoon here!

Just read this BBC article.

Starts well:

"DNA profiles of those not convicted of a crime should be removed from the database in England and Wales, a government-funded inquiry has said.

Control of the database should be taken from government and police and given to an independent body, the inquiry urged.

Javed Aslam, one of the 30 panel members on the Citizen's Inquiry, said keeping the records would be "the first step towards a totalitarian state".

But the Home Office said the database helps to secure convictions.

The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file. "

What is more interesting - is the bit at the end:

"A spokeswoman said it welcomes an "open discussion on the issue of how the National DNA Database is used".

However, she said it provides the police on average with almost 3,500 DNA matches each month and is a "key" instrument in the fight against violent crime, burglaries and rape.

She added that, in a 12-month period between 2006 and 2007, DNA evidence had been used in police investigations into 644 rapes, 222 other sexual offences, 1,900 violent crimes and more than 8,500 domestic burglaries. "

Now - this is interesting, for a start "almost 3,500 DNA matches each month" that is 42000 a year (this figure will be needed later - I am going somewhere with this - honest). Then the last line states "DNA evidence had been used in police investigations" - It does not state that ANY crimes have be solved - just that DNA has been used in "investigations" - but, more interestingly, lets sum all those crimes up - between 2006 - 2007 DNA evidence was "used" in 11266 investigations - but hold on I hear you cry - just one sentence ago you stated that the police got 3500 matches per month (42000 a year) - so, of those 42000 'matchs' per year only about a quarter are used in "investigations".

To sum up: Why are the police running 30734 DNA tests per year that have NOTHING to do with investigations?

Certainly moderns society has gotten used to just throwing anything they need into the search engine titan Google. Society's addiction to the king of search engines has lead to the acceptance of the two word combo "Google It" as an actual verb in the english language. To be completely honest who really uses Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, or any of the other hundreds of search engines out there? Personally, until yesterday, I myself was an avid Googler. Now, thanks to a decision made by a few witty individuals a new search engine has risen from the abiss of the internet with the aspiration to challenge mighty Google.

Meet Cuil (pronounced "cool"). The avid Googler would have to get used to the completely different, but intuitive, interface that Cuil employs for its searches. Cuil, like Google, employs a mathematical formula called a page rank that they (Cuil) claim delivers more relevant hits than Google's page rank formula. This is, however, debatable. Cuil does return far more results than Google does in a much more eye appealing format. When searching on Cuil the search bar (like that found on YouTube) gives you suggestions based on what you're typing. This feature makes typing go buy that much faster, something those who use the "hunt & peck" or "search & destroy" typing methods will happily thank Cuil for.

Cuil has two big claims to fame, claims that could turn this into a "David vs. Goliath" story. Cuil announced that their searchable index is currently at 120 billion web sites. Google completely refuses to give a strait answer as to how many web sites they have indexed, the estimate is at 30 to 50 billion. Naturally a Google Search and a Cuil Search will not turn up the same results, and not just because of the different page rank algorithms. With almost twice the indexed web sites to search Cuil is guaranteed to produce more hits. Cuil's second claim to fame is, very much unlike Google, it does not log your searches or sell your search patterns to companies for personal profit.

Cuil or Google? You make you're choice, personally I have college searches to do. I'll be "Cuiling It" this time…

Link here:

"A central database holding details of everyone's phone calls and emails could be a "step too far for the British way of life", ministers have been warned...."  The article goes on to describe how not only does this data collection violate privacy, but how often the government tends to lose data or otherwise make mistakes with this sort of information.

I often get asked the question: "What can I do about the current attack on freedom?"

In other words: How do we fight the Vast Machine? 

Believe it or not, you've already started the process by being informed about what is going on -- and finding this website. If a core of people remain unafraid and independent of mass manipulation, it influences the society as a whole. 

I realize that most of you have jobs and responsibilities. Some of you have families. You can throw it all away and join a commune. Nevertheless, you can perform small actions on a daily basis and it mounts up over time.

I also believe this: that there will be one moment in your life, one issue, one cause, where you will have to step forward and risk. You'll know the moment when it comes. The choice will be clear: Are you a free human being or are you just going to go along with the crowd?

I just receved this news video sent at johntwelvehawks.com. It's about an ordinary man with an ordinary life who suddenly decides: "No, I won't agree to this decision. This is where I make my stand." 

This is the true Power of One...

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2930944

Earlier Wednesday, the Senate struck down three amendments that would have delayed, weakened or revoked a controversial provision in the bill to grant unconditional, retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted the White House in its warrantless wiretapping program....

Link to article here

"I am the LAW!"

From the BBC:

"Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels.

The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations governing Europe's telecom markets.

Other amendments added to the packet of laws allow governments to decide which software can be used on the web.

Campaigners say the laws trample on personal privacy and turn net suppliers into copyright enforcers."

Okay - piracy, you can argue the for or against till the cows come home - but this new law allows governments to dictate what SOFTWARE is used on the internet:

"Tomorrow, popular software applications like Skype or even Firefox might be declared illegal in Europe if they are not certified by an administrative authority," warned Benjamin Henrion.

"[The amendments] pave the way for the monitoring and filtering of the internet by private companies, exceptional courts and Orwellian technical measures," said Christophe Espern.

From the BBC:

"Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.

The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights".

The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details."

I don't have the words to express just how far off the mark the US courts are in this case.

Google are also to blame - they should just not store this data.

Link here:

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- An Islamic nuclear physicist on Thursday accused the U.S. Department of Energy of revoking his security clearance in retaliation for his criticism of the government's treatment of Muslims.

The Department of Energy denied El-Ganayni the right to appeal the revocation by saying its reasons are classified and could violate national security if made public. El-Ganayni is demanding that he be allowed to contest it before a "nonpolitical, neutral arbiter as mandated by DOE regulations."

Like we've never heard THAT one before

El-Ganayni has never received a negative report or evaluation from Bettis Laboratory, and even after the revocation process began, his superiors made it clear they would like to have him back, said Vic Walczak, the ACLU's Pennsylvania legal director.

In other words, there is no legit reason for this and the poor guy has just been screwed.  Very nice.

Link here:

Associated Press is now selling "quotation licenses" that allow bloggers, journallers, and people who forward quotations from articles to co-workers to quote their articles.

Yeah, you heard right.  In the past, quotes have always been deemed free, fair game.  Now AP expects us to pay for the privilege.  The fee table is:

5-25 words: $12.50

26-50 words: $17.50

51-100 words: $25.00

101-250 words: $50.00

251+ words: $100.00

The licensing system exhorts you to snitch on people who publish without paying the blood-money, offering up to $1 million in reward money (they also think that "fair use" -- the right to copy without permission -- means "Contact the owner of the work to be sure you are covered under fair use.").

*headdesk*  And now for the best bit:

If you pay to quote the AP, but you offend the AP in so doing, the AP "reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time if Publisher or its agents finds Your use of the licensed Content to be offensive and/or damaging to Publisher's reputation."

In other words, not only do we have to pay for the privilege of quoting AP, but we're only allowed to do it if we say nice things about them.  Censorship, anyone?

The people pushing for this stuff are not well-meaning, and they are not interested in making life better for artists, writers, or any other kind of individual creators. They are would-be aristocrats who fully intend to return us to a society of orders and classes, and they’re using so-called “intellectual property” law as a tool with which to do it. Whether or not you have ever personally taped a TV show or written a blog post, if you think you’re going to wind up on top in the sort of world these people are working to build, you are out of your mind.

So let's see.  If this article had been posted by AP, then I would owe them... $50.00!  Not to mention the other articles that have gone up on the Kia site.  That is, if AP hadn't revoked my "quotation license" already for not giving their news a positive spin.  If these guys had their way, the Bill of Rights would have been written with a disclaimer.