Some very random items of interest:
- TOR project. A P2P networks that allows anonymous browsing. Essentially, it bounces your browsing activity through a network of peers to protect your identity (hundreds of thousands of members already). A good way to get around gov't firewalls that block this site and potentially a mechanism that can be replicated within a bot-based communications network.
- Black Globalization saved the global economy in 2008? Lots of people sent me a link to this news item. Thanks much. In short, the UN drugs and crime czar said that hundreds of billions in profits derived from drugs/smuggling was one of the only big pools of liquid capital available during the financial crisis of 2008 -- this capital prevented the system from melting down.
- Patriots. A novel on a militia based survival scenario in a post crash US.
It's selling well, #725 on Amazon.
- Secondary bombs on the rise in Afghanistan.
- Men in Hijabs. Using new media to turn a government effort to demean a political prisoner into an opportunity.
- Surgically changing fingerprints to evade immigration controls. China/Japan.
- Crisiswire. Building tools for citizen journos. More.
- Wired. DIY book scanners.
- Tech Review. Harnessing cloud computing for hacking.