the Armchair of El Diablo

“There are three things a man should have: a fast horse, a...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:04:31 +1000

“There are three things a man should have: a fast horse, a hound and a golden eagle”.

From an article on eagle hunters in Mongolia in today’s South China Morning Post. Time to get me an eagle.

Photo

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:32:35 +1000

Amazing photos from the “2nd revolution” in...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:09:19 +1000

Amazing photos from the “2nd revolution” in Egypt. More at here The Atlantic

Best political poster ever. Thanks Singaporean elections.

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:45:02 +1000

Best political poster ever. Thanks Singaporean elections.

nickholmes: There you have it.

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:16:49 +1000

nickholmes:

There you have it.

When is revolting, revolting?

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:43:01 +1000

What is a Good Revolution? We’ve spent the last year celebrating the democratic reforms of the...

Throughout London parts of the mobile network have crashed. SMS...

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:34:00 +1000

Twitpic: Woman jumping from flames

Front page madness

Twitpic: Fashion conscious Looters

Google Maps tracking riots

Trendsmap: chatter around the world

Throughout London parts of the mobile network have crashed. SMS being used to coordinate which places to attack and loot. Twitter announcing new places every 20 minutes that have erupted in riots, spreading some unbelievable photos.

Stunning, horrible stuff. There’s no protest here - just “opportunistic violence”, according to a BBC reporter.

We proclaimed an ‘Arab Spring’ when riots erupted, coordinated by SMS and Twitter, to challenge governments. This is a London Winter.

Some initial analysis from The Guardian here.

Moncktonosaurus

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:51:56 +1000

Moncktonosaurus

Stuxnet… an open source game changer. This gives me the...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:55:00 +1000

Stuxnet… an open source game changer. This gives me the heebies. From the talented cats at Hungry Beast.

News Cycles & AntiTwitterganda

Fri, 06 May 2011 15:32:00 +1000

By now, you’d know that Twitter broke the bin Laden operation story, via IT Consultant, Sohaib...

"In all my time in journalism, 40 years plus, there has never been a year quite like this. And we..."

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:18:37 +1000

“In all my time in journalism, 40 years plus, there has never been a year quite like this. And...

How Al Jazeera leads the world in social media for news reporting

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:19:00 +1000

Stilgherrian writing in today’s Crikey newsletter… when is this guy not worth...

Meme-olution

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:38:14 +1000

Meme-olution

Amid the violence, an iconic photo emerges. by Lefteris...

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:33:09 +1000

Amid the violence, an iconic photo emerges.

by Lefteris Pitarakis for AP (via BoingBoing.net)

Senior tech editor at The Atlantic, @alexismadrigal, scores and...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:39:05 +1000

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Senior tech editor at The Atlantic, @alexismadrigal, scores and publishes the pamphlets being used to organise the Egyptian protest marshes that due to kick off in earnest in a few hours.

Nice scoop. But scary stuff. Note the warning “Please distribute by email and phone and print only: Twitter and facebook are being monitored”.

The protests will be taking place amid pretty grave concerns for safety. Word is the full internet black out occurred 10 minutes after AAP uploaded video of an Egyptian protester being shot (I won’t link to it, but if you need to see it look on the AAP site).

#Egypt is trending in twitter pretty solidly. There seem to be a lot of understandably very nervous folk there.

Here’s wishing them safety.

Meanwhile in Egypt… Former UN inspector, Mohamed...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:28:00 +1000

Egyptian Internet Cafe

Despite the blackout still Twtr activity

Protesting girl via http://tiny.cc/gjip9

Meanwhile in Egypt…

Former UN inspector, Mohamed El-Baradai, is preparing to lead the opposition in what looks to be the latest North African-Middle East region’s uprising.

Thing is though, as far as I can see, the protests have been rolling for days without a public leader - and only now one is appearing. (Surely that topsy-turvey oddness is a sign that social media is both a cause and a facilitator of social movements?)

So the government’s response to street protests over the past week has been to block access to Twitter… then Google and facebook… and now the whole internet. Ah screw it, throw in SMS as well.

Nicolas Thompson wrote in the New Yorker, “Movements that centre around hashtags, tend not to centre around leaders”.

So, without a leader to negotiate with, governments feel they have no choice than to respond disproportionately, and blanket-bomb communications. Which, of course, only casts them in a more oppressive light.

Egypt is just the latest government to not have realised that napalming the interwebs is no way to put out the fire.

tiphereth: Sydney New Years Eve Fireworks Time lapse, looks...

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:55:34 +1000

tiphereth:

Sydney New Years Eve Fireworks Time lapse, looks like a tilt shift

Overstating Twitter in Tunisia

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:54:21 +1000

This is an interesting article about the current turmoil in Tunisia and Twitter’s role...

"There are plenty of reasons to distrust soundbites and the kind of journalism that produces them."

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:11:58 +1000

“There are plenty of reasons to distrust soundbites and the kind of journalism that produces...

My rule with buskers: if they add to the ambience of the moment,...

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:30:00 +1000

The Courier trumpeter...

... my fav Sydney busker

My rule with buskers: if they add to the ambience of the moment, you owe them some coin.