2009

Human Rights Watch, February 10 2009: Authorities arrested Omid Memarian, Roozbeh Mirebrahimi, Shahram Rafizadeh, and Javad Gholamtamimi in September and October 2004, and detained them without charge. The four said that they were subjected in detention to physical and psychological abuse, as well as prolonged periods of solitary confinement in a secret detention center without access to counsel or family. Three of the men subsequently described the abuse at a meeting with Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the…

As a little preview to my appearance this week on CBC’s Spark, the team up in Toronto has posted a 35-minute interview that I did with Vint Cerf a couple weeks ago while at the LIFT conference in Geneva. The full podcast should be available later this week. Also, if you’re in Canada, let me know if you hear me on the radio!

Africa Forward with Cyrus Farivar Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30pm – 5:30pm 5055 Vilas Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, WI Need inspiration on how to apply your interests in African Studies and Journalism after graduation? Come and meet Cyrus Farivar to find out how he went from studying abroad in UW’s Senegal program in 2003 to reporting for National Public Radio and The New York Times within five years of graduation. Cyrus Farivar is a freelance technology journalist, radio reporter/producer,…

Update (March 12, 2:17 am Pacific): Hillar Aarelaid points out to me in an email that this was reported almost two years ago in the Russian-language press. Google Translated version here. Financial Times: By Charles Clover in Moscow Published: March 11 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 11 2009 02:00 Members of a Kremlin-backed youth movement have claimed responsibility for May 2007 cyber attacks that crippled Estonia’s internet in the midst of a diplomatic argument with Russia. It is believed…

LA Times: A video game company lets go a writer, who then lays off his nanny, who stops visiting his barber, who can no longer afford the waitress’ meals. Wall Street on the Tundra: Global financial ambition turned out to have a downside. When their three brand-new global-size banks collapsed, last October, Iceland’s 300,000 citizens found that they bore some kind of responsibility for $100 billion of banking losses—which works out to roughly $330,000 for every Icelandic man, woman, and…

The Economist: DANES faced the fewest restrictions on travel in 2008: they were able to visit 157 countries or territories without a visa according to an annual report by Henley & Partners, a consultancy. The Irish, Finns and Portuguese were only marginally less welcome abroad, with visa-free travel available to 156 countries. Those with the least freedom were citizens of countries suffering from war, terrorism or repression. South Koreans could visit 144 countries, whereas North Koreans could visit just 29…

I can now die a happy tech journalist. I interviewed Vint Cerf last week at Lift!

The highlight of my weekend was a visit to the Verrollet goat farm in Preslette, a tiny village in Haute-Savoie (Eastern France, near the Swiss border). Turns out fresh goat milk is pretty flippin’ awesome — and not as creamy as I expected. Thanks to Lucy for inviting us along, and taking awesome photos, like this one:

A few weeks ago I was contacted out of the blue by an old UW-Madison professor, James Delahanty. As the academic advisor to my group (and current groups) of Madison students studying in Senegal, he was our stateside pointman for those of us trying to navigate our experience abroad. (I also slept on the floor of his Dakar hotel room in January 2007.) Jim recommended me to the UW-Madison chapter of Engineers Without Borders, who was looking for someone to…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on the use of Helios in the university election at Université Catholique de Louvain is airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): New York – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston –…