Cyrus Farivar

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on the world’s first custom-designed Islamic search engine, IMHalal.com, is airing this week on CBC’s Spark! It will be available on CBC Radio 1 at the following times: Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. (12:00 NT) Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. (4:30 NT) If you find yourself outside the reach of the CBC’s antennae, feel free to listen to it online, here, or of course, via podcast.

I’m a little behind, but I just read Maziar Bahari’s account of his 118 days in an Iranian prison in Newsweek. It’s frightening to say the least, and confirms similar accounts I’ve heard by others who have had the pleasure of Evin Prison’s hospitality. Robert Mackey in The Lede blog writes: Mr. Bahari’s account of his 118 days in captivity offers a fascinating insight into the government’s attempts to understand and stifle the dissent that followed the election. It is…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on the recent UCLA conference on the 40th anniversary of the Internet is airing this week on CBC’s Spark! It will be available on CBC Radio 1 at the following times: Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. (12:00 NT) Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. (4:30 NT) If you find yourself outside the reach of the CBC’s antennae, feel free to listen to it online, here, or of course, via podcast.

Remember the announcement earlier this summer about how a Silicon Valley company had patented podcasting? Not surprisingly, the EFF is none too thrilled about this: EFF and the law firm of Howrey, LLP aren’t willing to just sit by and watch. This patent could threaten the vibrant community of podcasters and millions of podcast listeners. We want to put a stop to it, but we need your help. The Volomedia patent covers “a method for providing episodic media.” It’s a…

The Associated Press, November 14 2009: TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has formed a special unit to monitor Web sites and fight Internet crimes, in a clear attack on an opposition that relies almost exclusively on online means to broadcast its message, local newspapers reported Saturday. Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads the Internet crime unit, said the committee will fight “insults and the spreading of lies,” terms widely used by the judiciary to describe opposition activities. “Given the spread of…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on the creation of the world’s longest California roll, is airing today on, appropriately enough, The California Report. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): FRI – San Francisco – 4:30/6:30/11 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org SUN – Los Angeles – 10:30 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg You can also find it on The California Report site later…

Yesterday afternoon, I reported on the creation of the longest California Roll yesterday for an upcoming edition of The California Report. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Center for Japanese Studies at UC Berkeley. The new record, set at 330 feet, apparently defeated the old record set in Hawaii in 2001 by 30 feet. I interviewed student Zach Brown, Chef Ming Hwang, Prof. Duncan Williams, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, and Consul General Yasumasa Nagamine, who certified…

After the success of October’s taco truck tour, it’s time for another! Taco Truck Tour Numéro Dos: When: Sunday, November 22, 2009 Meet: 12:30 pm, Lake Merritt BART station (9th and Oak St., Oakland). Start: ~ 12:45 pm End: ~ 3:30 pm ish, Fruitvale BART station Twitter: @catacotrucks / #tacotrucktour Itinerary (follow along at Oakland Taco Truck Map 2007) 1) Tacos Alonzo at Foothill Blvd./27th Ave. 2) Tacos El Mazatlan at Foothill Blvd./Fruitvale Ave. 3) Tamales Mi Lupita at Foothill…

So I just got off a Skype call with Farhad Ardalan to learn more about the early days of the Iranian Internet back in 1989. It wasn’t until 1992 that Iran was connected via EARN to the Internet. Fun fact: According to Ardalan, the man who authorized Iran’s first Internet connection was Mohammad-Javad Larijani (pictured). At the time, Larijani was the director of the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics in Tehran. He is currently an adviser to…

Yesterday, on MetaFilter, readers figured out that Hoder.com was about to expire at the end of this month and they wanted to make sure that it stayed in Hossein Derakhshan’s name. Some had suggested that they wouldn’t allow the domain to be renewed until he did it himself — and he obviously can’t as he’s in prison. However, later in the day, the domain’s whois records showed that someone had renewed it for a year, but it was unclear how…