Aside

I’m speaking at this event in San Francisco on August 3! August 3, 2009 WHAT: The recent protests over the elections in Iran have shown that social media can be a force for good — and a target for misinformation and censorship. How can technologists build tools for freedom, and defend Net users across the world? WHEN: Monday August 3rd – 7 pm to 9 pm WHO: Danny O’Brien is EFF’s International Outreach Coordinator. He works to help us collaborate…

Al’s hiring again: I wanted to ask for your help again in getting the word out about a high-responsibility (short-term) ICT4D role with TechnoServe’s East African dairy program. It’s a technical job that would involve interesting travel and work on a cutting-edge development project. Note: Do not email me (Cyrus)! Please follow the instructions below. TechnoServe: Database Process Design, Development, and Implementation East Africa Dairy Development Program (EADD) REPORTS TO: EADD Regional Manager or his designee POSITION LOCATION & TRAVEL…

Late last night, the Senate passed the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act. Nico links to the presser just co-released by a number of senators, including leads McCain, Liberman and Graham, Casey, Kaufman and others. Important bits: • Authorizes $30 million to the Broadcasting Board of Governors to expand Farsi language broadcasting into Iran by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s Radio Farda and the Voice of America’s Persian News Network. The funds may be used to develop additional transmission…

For the uninitiated: Haystack is an awesome, new, anti-filtering software that’s custom-designed for Iran. It’s run out of San Francisco run by my new friend and green hat hacker extraordinaire, Austin Heap. Haystack is moving along quite quickly — heck, they’ve even got a swank new website! — and in addition to donating money, you too can help in a really easy, but meaningful way, too: If you’ve got a spare USB thumb drive (at least 128MB or greater), send…

How Geeks (and Non-Geeks) Can Help Iranians Online By CYRUS FARIVAR in Oakland | 17 July 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] In the past few weeks, I’ve seen a surprising number of my non-Iranian friends utterly captivated by news coming out of Iran. It’s easy to understand why — the power struggle in Iran’s post-election aftermath is dramatic, to say the least. Indeed, some of the best English-language blogging about Iran has come from non-Iranians, including The New York Times, The Atlantic…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on the rise of the Pirate Party in Europe (including France, Switzerland, and yes, Estonia) is airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 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 –…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my commentary on California IOUs will be on Weekend Edition Sunday (July 12)! It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams). New York – 8 to 10 am Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 to 10 am Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 5 to 10 am Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 8…

About a month ago, I received a comment on my blog from Fred Sandsmark, a bandmate of mine at the Castro Valley Community Band, which is where I normally play clarinet during the school year once a week. Fred wrote, in response to my June 1 blog entry on my latest piece for PRI’s The World: I heard this report while driving (I don’t typically hear The World) and found it really interesting. Listening to it made me wonder about…

I had the honor of speaking on PBS’ new online program, called 5Across. It’s a program hosted and produced by PBS MediaShift’s Mark Glaser. This conversation was taped in San Francisco on July 6, 2009. In a crisis, governments will often curtail freedom of the press, censoring or shutting broadcasts and newspapers. But blocking websites, slowing the Internet or cutting off SMS messaging can be harder to do. Stopping the flow of information online can be a difficult task, as…

خدا با ماست / او را هم فیلتر میکنید؟ God is with us / Are you filtering him too? Geeks Around the Globe Rally to Help Iranians Online By CYRUS FARIVAR in San Francisco | 8 July 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] In his converted loft apartment in the semi-sketchy-meets-startup SoMa neighborhood, Austin Heap, 25, spends most of his time in front of his computer — a PC tower that he built himself and hacked to run Mac OS X. Heap didn’t…