With the exciting (largely) nonviolent overthrow of the Tunisian and Egyptian authoritarian governments, there has been talk of the effects of Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools on these events. Techdirt points us to the use of Usenet to keep the outside world informed of what was going on in the Soviet Union during the 1991 coup. It is an interesting, albeit brief read.
Certainly in the Tunisian revolution, Anonymous seems to have had a hand in helping to take downgovernment servers. Certainly, if they were able to hack the computers and phone system of the presidency and make it difficult communicate with others then that would have contributed to Ben Ali's ouster. Certainly, the internet can allow local nonviolent activists to work together and abroad to plan their efforts and craft fliers to distribute about goals and tactics.
Different articles have downplayed the effects of the internet and social media on the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and else where, but one of the keys to a successful nonviolent revolution is that large numbers of people must not fear government repression and realize that others do not fear such repression as well. By increasing communication between people, the internet and social media help that process. Hopefully these tools will get used to help overthrow authoritarian governments in the Middle East and beyond.
As a long-time Palm user (though not for over a year – anyone want a used Verizon Treo 600?), I am happy that HP will be releasing a new webOS tablet computer, the TouchPad, and two new phones. The articleson it look positive, though none of them mention the devices' battery life.
With any luck the TouchPad is faster than the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which was increadibly slow when I tried it at Bust Buy. However, the phones are not out until the Spring and the TouchPad won't be out until the Summer, so my guess is that HP's plans to be the next Apple will get dashed when Apple releases the iPad2 in the next few months.
I finally revised my star ship fleet combat rules with the comments from the last playtest. I added a few more changes to the mechanics and a number of additions as well. Expanded the number of ships for which I have stats, though they will need to be revised as we play with them.
I also wrote a summary sheet that players can use to keep track of their ships during a game. Each ship is on a single line which is an idea I got from A Fistful of TOWs.
We will do another play test and then I will release it to a wider set of folks. I plan to keep it to two pages, if at all possible, though I may add one more page with my design notes and motivation.
Suggestions for a name for the game are most welcome.
I was showing my five year old daughter panoramic photos of different cities when she started to touch the screen to make it do things, ala my iPhone. Her efforts only put finger prints on the screen, but had no measurable effect on what the computer did of course. I think Steve Jobs assertion that no one would want to use multitouch on a laptop/notebook screen is one that will get reconsidered in a year.
Eventually, I will finish The Landmark Thucydides, if only to say I did. However, after reading Hanson's rant, some Marx might be a welcome change, either Karl or Groucho.
I finally watched the last few episodes of Caprica. The pacing of the last episode was fast and it is a shame the rest of the series didn't have a quicker pace. More people would have watched it. The ending of the remake of Battlestar Galactica left something to be desired. However, thankfully, Caprica ended very cleanly and with a good ending.
Chris Hedges over at TruthDig has a well thought out article on our transition from Huxley’s Brave New World to Orwell’s 1984. Corporate/Governmental domination R Us. A few exerpts:
“The façade is crumbling. And as more and more people realize that they have been used and robbed, we will move swiftly from Huxley’s “Brave New World” to Orwell’s “1984.” The public, at some point, will have to face some very unpleasant truths. The good-paying jobs are not coming back. The largest deficits in human history mean that we are trapped in a debt peonage system that will be used by the corporate state to eradicate the last vestiges of social protection for citizens, including Social Security. The state has devolved from a capitalist democracy to neo-feudalism. And when these truths become apparent, anger will replace the corporate-imposed cheerful conformity. The bleakness of our post-industrial pockets, where some 40 million Americans live in a state of poverty and tens of millions in a category called “near poverty,” coupled with the lack of credit to save families from foreclosures, bank repossessions and bankruptcy from medical bills, means that inverted totalitarianism will no longer work.
…
Those who do not comply with the dictates of the war on terror, a war which, as Orwell noted, is endless, are brutally silenced. The draconian security measures used to cripple protests at the G-20 gatherings in Pittsburgh and Toronto were wildly disproportionate for the level of street activity. But they sent a clear message—DO NOT TRY THIS. The FBI’s targeting of antiwar and Palestinian activists, which in late September saw agents raid homes in Minneapolis and Chicago, is a harbinger of what is to come for all who dare defy the state’s official Newspeak. The agents—our Thought Police—seized phones, computers, documents and other personal belongings. Subpoenas to appear before a grand jury have since been served on 26 people. The subpoenas cite federal law prohibiting “providing material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations.” Terror, even for those who have nothing to do with terror, becomes the blunt instrument used by Big Brother to protect us from ourselves.”
On the face of it I don’t buy that high government deficits mean that the US government will be crippled. The Fed can easily print money to pay those deficits and we could inflate our way out of our debts albeit slowly and reasonably. A bit of inflation tends to improve the situation better than the deflation we are approaching.
That all said, the one and half parties of the wealthy will attempt to convince us otherwise, cut the deficit by imposing austerity on the poor and middle class, not the wealthy or the military. They never willingly impose austerity on the wealthy or the military. Chris’ suggestions of our path looks true to me.
UPDATE: A friend suggested that Chris Hedges’ article reminded her of this Barbara Ehrenreich talk, put to cartoons – Smile or Die!
We ran another play test of the star ship rules for fleet sized games we are working on. It was Deisho vs Whitestars. The Deisho proved to be more powerful than they should have been, raining missiles and fighters on the Whitestars and losing far too few ships considering their technological level.
I put up the pictures I took of the game. The Deisho ships haven't been fully detailed yet.
Lots of good feedback on improving the rules. I'll post them once we have another playtest, but if you want to see them now, email info at whenimaginationfails dot org and I will send you the version with the latest edits when I add them.