About the Author
Cyrus Farivar
سیروس فریور
English: [suh-ROOS FAR-ih-var]
Persian: [see-ROOS-eh fàr-ee-VÀR]
Freelance Technology Journalist
Freelance Radio Reporter/Producer
Author, "The Internet of Elsewhere"
cfarivar [at] cfarivar [dot] org
Current location: Oakland, CATwitter
Foreign Affairs Archive
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Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda’s Secrets
Posted on October 9, 2007 | No CommentsWashPost: The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings... -
Our Man in Pyongyang (or rather, Hackensack)
Posted on October 1, 2007 | 1 CommentBoth Vanity Fair and The New Yorker have astonishing profiles of Bobby Egan, a “freelance diplomat” to the DPRK who otherwise runs a BBQ joint in Hackensack, NJ. The New Yorker: Egan, who has run Cubby’s for twenty-five years, is well known in Hackensack, though... -
Estonia urges UN Member States to cooperate against cyber crimes
Posted on September 26, 2007 | No CommentsUN: 25 September 2007 – The international community should step up its efforts to defeat cyber crime, starting by acceding to an international convention on the issue and eventually building to the development of a globally negotiated and comprehensive law of cyberspace, Estonia’s President Toomas... -
What I’m reading
Posted on August 7, 2007 | 1 CommentUniversities Install Footbaths to Benefit Muslims, and Not Everyone Is Pleased The New York Times August 7, 2007 But as a legal and political matter, that solution has not been quite so simple. When word of the plan got out this spring, it created instant... -
The cunning use of flags
Posted on August 6, 2007 | No CommentsOr, The Izzard Doctrine shows how history repeats itself. LA Times: The flag-planting ritual and the thinking behind the Russians’ audacious territorial claims have their roots in the development and use of the Doctrine of Discovery by European and American explorers from the 15th through... -
What I’m Reading
Posted on August 2, 2007 | 2 CommentsCanoe.ca New Pornographers battle Internet leaks on their own terms July 30 2007 “Personally, I don’t have a huge problem with leaks, I’m of the belief that if people get your record for free but they come to your show and buy a T-shirt or... -
‘Why Do They Hate Us?’
Posted on July 22, 2007 | No CommentsMohsin Hamid, The Washington Post, July 22 2007: The residue of U.S. foreign policy coats much of the world. It is the other part of the answer to the question, “Why do they hate us?” Simply because America has — often for what seemed good... -
DoD has more musicians than Dept. of State has diplomats. Um, what?
Posted on July 18, 2007 | No CommentsFP Passport, via David J. Kilcullen, a senior advisor to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq: “At present, the U.S. defense budget accounts for approximately half of total global defense spending, while the U.S. armed forces employ about 1.68 million uniformed members. By comparison, the State... -
Estonia Fun Facts
Posted on July 18, 2007 | 1 CommentCIA: Population of Estonia: 1,315,912 Mobile Telephones in Estonia: 1,445,000 Industries: engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textile; information technology, telecommunications Or, as my friend, the astute Aaron Azlant quipped in an IM conversation: “haha one of these things is not like the other. specialties:... -
“Thank you so much for comfortable stay. Fight Terrorism!”
Posted on May 5, 2007 | 2 CommentsSo here I am, minding my own business, reading The New York Times online, when I come across this article about Bush’s upcoming dinner with the Queen of England. The article mentions that it’s a “white tie” dinner, and not knowing what that is, I...
