Abu Muqawama: Post
Abu Muqawama retains its autonomy and the views and beliefs expressed within the blog do not reflect those of CNAS. Abu Muqawama retains the right to delete comments that include words that incite violence; are predatory, hateful, or intended to intimidate or harass; or degrade people on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. In summary, don't be a jerk.
Guess everyone's schedule got cleared up, huh?
February 1, 2009 | Posted by Carlos - 4:33pm | 16 Comments
Yes, Carlos has been absent these last few...yeesh, that long, huh?
Well, he got buried under grading assignments, and taking advising Master's students, and a few other things. But mostly, he's been tweaking his new toy.
(Of course, you'd think that would have given Carlos greater connectivity and time on the 'net, and you'd be right. He's just not been hanging out at the AM section of cyberspace).
So, how do decompress after all that work? Road trip, baby! Carlos will be giving a talk on terrorism and the internet just a few hours away from Tampa, Florida. (He's typing this draft in the airport lounge right now, though the wireless network seems a bit wonky, it might not get posted until after. Shall he see if the expense account will pass a Super Bowl ticket? Let's not, but let's dream).
On “Terrorism and the Internet,” Carlos had been tempted to pull the “terrorists use the internet for exactly what everyone does—to find cheap airline tickets and free porn.” But no, he likes these occasional trips, so he'll keep the wise-assery to a minimum. Though really, the idea that the use of the internet is something special for terrorists should have gone out with acid wash denim. Terrorists want to pass information secretly. They need to send lots of information quickly. They want to pass both open messages and closed ones, and they need to do so with relative anonymity. If geeks and Al Gore hadn't invented the internet, terrorists would have had to.
(One of Carlos' favorite cartoons remains the “classic” 1993 New Yorker cartoon. This is truer on most dating sites, but holds as a general rule).
In terms of passing funding and information, Carlos had thought about being a little circumspect here, but this is more out than not, and might be of interest to readers here.
For moving lots of data, virtual drives/web storage are obviously great. Connecting them to torrent sites is even better. Most torrent sites (think Napster for more than music for you somewhat old-school folks) are all about copyright violations (movies, programs, music, you name it), but there's a ton of other stuff out there, buried but relatively easily to find. Carlos first came across torrents when he was looking for a PDF of the classic Marine Corps Gazette publication The Guerrilla and How to Fight Him. His search pointed him to a massive file of guerrilla warfare publications. While many were classical historical type texts, there were a few “how-to” pubs included as well.
(The scariest thing about the torrent world isn't even, sadly, the copious copyright violations, but a fair amount of what looks to be child porn, and no, I'm not even going to joke about that. But with most of these sites and servers outside the US, I'm not sure what can be done there).
Moving money? Lots of non-tech ways to go, but how about ways that aren't connected to cash at all? The site Second Life is where people can create “avatars” of who they, well, want to be and lead “second lives.”(We'll leave the social commentary aside for now). “Enhancements” on the basic avatar, as well as things like property and other possessions, can be bought in Second Earth, with real funds transferred to Second Life banks. (The largest bank recently had a run and had to shut down when people were taking money out of Second Life to buy things for, um, real life). The point being of course is that one can deposit money into Second Life and have it withdrawn from someone, somewhere else.
What this all is, bottom line, is another manifestation of the “better mousetrap, better mouse” syndrome. Or its lesser-known but no less powerful variation: Just because you made it for something, doesn't mean it won't get used for something else. Case in point: Carlos' Christmas present linked above. The models for these ultra-mobile PCs were for the whole “One Laptop per Child” campaign intending to “link the world” (a whole Tom Friedman wet dream), and while they still are working in that area, the main market for “netbooks” today are techno-geeks like yours truly.
Well, he got buried under grading assignments, and taking advising Master's students, and a few other things. But mostly, he's been tweaking his new toy.
(Of course, you'd think that would have given Carlos greater connectivity and time on the 'net, and you'd be right. He's just not been hanging out at the AM section of cyberspace).
So, how do decompress after all that work? Road trip, baby! Carlos will be giving a talk on terrorism and the internet just a few hours away from Tampa, Florida. (He's typing this draft in the airport lounge right now, though the wireless network seems a bit wonky, it might not get posted until after. Shall he see if the expense account will pass a Super Bowl ticket? Let's not, but let's dream).
On “Terrorism and the Internet,” Carlos had been tempted to pull the “terrorists use the internet for exactly what everyone does—to find cheap airline tickets and free porn.” But no, he likes these occasional trips, so he'll keep the wise-assery to a minimum. Though really, the idea that the use of the internet is something special for terrorists should have gone out with acid wash denim. Terrorists want to pass information secretly. They need to send lots of information quickly. They want to pass both open messages and closed ones, and they need to do so with relative anonymity. If geeks and Al Gore hadn't invented the internet, terrorists would have had to.
(One of Carlos' favorite cartoons remains the “classic” 1993 New Yorker cartoon. This is truer on most dating sites, but holds as a general rule).
In terms of passing funding and information, Carlos had thought about being a little circumspect here, but this is more out than not, and might be of interest to readers here.
For moving lots of data, virtual drives/web storage are obviously great. Connecting them to torrent sites is even better. Most torrent sites (think Napster for more than music for you somewhat old-school folks) are all about copyright violations (movies, programs, music, you name it), but there's a ton of other stuff out there, buried but relatively easily to find. Carlos first came across torrents when he was looking for a PDF of the classic Marine Corps Gazette publication The Guerrilla and How to Fight Him. His search pointed him to a massive file of guerrilla warfare publications. While many were classical historical type texts, there were a few “how-to” pubs included as well.
(The scariest thing about the torrent world isn't even, sadly, the copious copyright violations, but a fair amount of what looks to be child porn, and no, I'm not even going to joke about that. But with most of these sites and servers outside the US, I'm not sure what can be done there).
Moving money? Lots of non-tech ways to go, but how about ways that aren't connected to cash at all? The site Second Life is where people can create “avatars” of who they, well, want to be and lead “second lives.”(We'll leave the social commentary aside for now). “Enhancements” on the basic avatar, as well as things like property and other possessions, can be bought in Second Earth, with real funds transferred to Second Life banks. (The largest bank recently had a run and had to shut down when people were taking money out of Second Life to buy things for, um, real life). The point being of course is that one can deposit money into Second Life and have it withdrawn from someone, somewhere else.
What this all is, bottom line, is another manifestation of the “better mousetrap, better mouse” syndrome. Or its lesser-known but no less powerful variation: Just because you made it for something, doesn't mean it won't get used for something else. Case in point: Carlos' Christmas present linked above. The models for these ultra-mobile PCs were for the whole “One Laptop per Child” campaign intending to “link the world” (a whole Tom Friedman wet dream), and while they still are working in that area, the main market for “netbooks” today are techno-geeks like yours truly.
Add your comment