Cory Doctorow wrote this Creative Commons-licensed fiction story for Radar Online magazine.

  Une version française est disponible ici

“Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men, and I will find an excuse in them to hang him.” –Cardinal Richelieu

“We don’t know enough about you.” –Google CEO Eric Schmidt

Greg landed at San Francisco International Airport at 8 p.m., but by the time he’d made it to the front of the customs line, it was after midnight. He’d emerged from first class, brown as a nut, unshaven, and loose-limbed after a month on the beach in Cabo (scuba diving three days a week, seducing French college girls the rest of the time). When he’d left the city a month before, he’d been a stoop-shouldered, potbellied wreck. Now he was a bronze god, drawing admiring glances from the stews at the front of the cabin.

Four hours later in the customs line, he’d slid from god back to man. His slight buzz had worn off, sweat ran down the crack of his ass, and his shoulders and neck were so tense his upper back felt like a tennis racket. The batteries on his iPod had long since died, leaving him with nothing to do except eavesdrop on the middle-age couple ahead of him.

“The marvels of modern technology,” said the woman, shrugging at a nearby sign: Immigration–Powered by Google.

“I thought that didn’t start until next month?” The man was alternately wearing and holding a large sombrero.

Googling at the border. Christ. Greg had vested out of Google six months before, cashing in his options and “taking some me time"–which turned out to be less rewarding than he’d expected. What he mostly did over the five months that followed was fix his friends’ PCs, watch daytime TV, and gain 10 pounds, which he blamed on being at home instead of in the Googleplex, with its well-appointed 24-hour gym.

He should have seen it coming, of course. The U.S. government had lavished $15 billion on a program to fingerprint and photograph visitors at the border, and hadn’t caught a single terrorist. Clearly, the public sector was not equipped to Do Search Right.

The DHS officer had bags under his eyes and squinted at his screen, prodding at his keyboard with sausage fingers. No wonder it was taking four hours to get out of the god damned airport.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2007, 24, access, account, air, airport, analysis, arc, arms, art, ATT, batteries, blog, book, brown, bt, camera, card, cars, ces, columbia, communication, computer, CTU, design, digital, dress, engine, explain, Festival, fiction, find, flash, free, Fun, google, google maps, History, HP, ia, ict, identify, im, International, internet, ipod, ITU, keyboard, King, lan, laptop, launch, law, LED, LG, light, live, map, MIT, money, network, nomadcom.net, nyt, officer, online, organize, pair, personal data, pet, photo, picture, police, politics, post, power, press, privacy, project, public, raw, release, science, sco, screen, scroogled, search, security, simple, social, soviet, storm, story, suspect, technology, term, terror, theme, touch, upgrade, USA, usage, user, violation, web, webcam, wifi, wonders, world, wp, www, XP, yahoo

 A single image created by Frédéric COZIC that explains more or less all about Web 2.0 vs. Web 1.0

Source : Aysoon.com 

Tags: 2007, blog, explain, im, internet, lan, nomadcom.net, post, space, tutorial, web, web 1.0, web 2.0, what is, wp, www, XP

When I saw this list on Bruno Giussani's "Blog over IP" post about Internet prices in Europe I could not resist to add some prices for Internet broadband access in Asia.

I did not add prices paid in most countries of Pacific rim but what they pay in Sweden for a monthly  broadband connection is equivalent to what they pay per minute in Kiribati or Cook islands for a noisy dial-up 14.4 kbps.   

Price comparison for consumer broadband in Europe (average monthly price per 1Mbps, from The Telegraph/MoneySupermarket):

1. Sweden GBP 0.32 (EUR 0.48)
2. France GBP 0.83 (EUR 1.23)
3. Finland GBP 1.41
4. Italy GBP 1.71
5. Norway GBP 2.05
6. Holland GBP 2.19
7. Denmark GBP 2.50 (EUR 3.7)
8. Iceland GBP 2.54
9. Germany GBP 2.64 (EUR 3.9)
10. Austria GBP 3.04
11. Belgium GBP 3.40
12. UK GBP 5.60 (EUR 8.3)
13. Portugal GBP 5.84
14. Spain GBP 6.33
15. Poland GBP 6.60
16. Ireland GBP 7.02
17. Luxembourg GBP 9.39
18. Switzerland GBP 11.03 (EUR 16.8)
19. Czech Republic GBP 12.25
20. Greece GBP 16.86
21. Hungary GBP 24.48
22. Slovakia GBP 25.48 (EUR 37.8)
23. Turkey GBP 58.82 (EUR 87.3)

Spectacular differences. Some of the them can be explained by technical reasons (fiber optic vs copper wires etc), some by the overall living costs in a given country. Most of the high prices however are tied to lack of  competition and of innovation in a specific market.

On this part of the World, the gap is definitively lots wider:

1. South Korea KRW 300 (EUR 0.25)
2. Japan JPY 400 (EUR 0.51)
3. China CNY 175 (EUR 17)
4. Singapore SGD 43 (EUR 21)
5. Thailand (BKK) THB 952 (EUR 22.27)
6. Sri Lanka LKR 4500 (EUR 30)
7. Philippines PHP 1995 (EUR 32)
8. Australia AUD 53 (EUR 33.25)
9. Pakistan PKR  4800 (EUR  59)
10. Malaysia MYR 300 (EUR 65)
11. India INR 3600 (EUR 65)
12. Myanmar USD 260 (EUR 192)
13. Fiji FJD 560 (EUR 260)
14. Indonesia USD 2440 (EUR 1800)

nota: On prices above there is no details about the carrier (ADSL, Wireless Local Loop, Fiber, Wimax, etc..) nor specifications about monthly download limits which are usually ridiculous low for a xDSL subscriber (e.g 2 GB) and still applicable in most countries (particularly on the second part of the list).

Internet for everyone at an affordable price is still far from reality.

Tags: 2007, 24, access, art, asia, blog, cable, ces, connection, europe, explain, gap, HP, ia, im, internet, iso, japan, lan, LG, list, MIT, money, myanmar, nomadcom.net, paris, pet, Philippines, post, public, space, switzerland, Telecommunications, Thailand, uk, wireless, world, wp, www, XP

Tags: 2007, blog, explain, faith, im, lan, nomadcom.net, Our World, religion, science, science vs. faith, wp, XP

Sept 19
8.00 am Thaksin Shinawatra calls an urgent teleconference with all armed forces' commanders at Government House, but none attends. Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkarin, the army chief, later says the meeting is hastily called. Rumor then spread around the capital and the stock market that a coup de tat is under way.

12.00 am After finishing the webcamera teleconference with Thaksin, who is New York, several Cabinet members check with reporters if there would really be a coup.

6.30 pm The Army's special forces from Lopburi move into Bangkok. Gen Prem Tinnasulalonda, president of Privy Council, has an audience with HM the King, reportedly on a meritmaking ceremony for ML Bau Kittiyakala.

6.55 pm Thai News Agency reports that Thaksin will return to Bangkok on Thursday, instead of Friday.

8.00 pm 191 police receive M16 rifles to prepare for an antiriot assignment.

9.00 pm The Army'[s special forces from Lopburi arrive at the Army's Bangkok headquarters. Web surfers post messages on Pantip.com asking if there is a coup de tat.

9.10 pm The armyowned TV Channel 5's mobile TV broadcast unit arrives at the Army's Bangkok headquarters.

9.30 pm TV channel 5 cancels regular programming and puts on air royallyauthored songs. Reporters at Government House say situation is normal, but rumour was rife that deputy premier Pol Gen Chidchai Vanasatit and defence minister Gen Thammarak Isarangkun have been under custody. Panthongthae, Thaksin's son, reportedly has left Thailand for the UK.

9.40 pm Police commandos arrive Baan Chansongra, Thaksin's residence

10.00 pm Army tanks take position at Bangkok Makkawan Rangsan Bridge and Rajdamnern Avenue.

10.10 pm CNN reports Bangkok situation

10.20pm Thaksin declares a state of emergency via the phone from New York. He also issues two orders, transferring en Sondhi from the post of army chief to the PM's Office, and naming Gen Rungroj Mahasaranond as the officer in charge of the crisis.

11pm "The Administrative Reform Council" (ARC) issues a first statement on TV network, saying the armed forces and national police have peacefully seized control of Bangkok and surrounding areas. Soldier seize the Shinawatra Building, iTV television stationand Thaksin's residence.

11.15pm Soldiers put steel barricades at Sri Ayudha and Rajdamnoen Roads
11.50pm ARC issues the second statement explaining the reasons for the coup d'etat, citing national disunity and rampant corruption. ARC says it plans to return power quickly to the people

12.39am ARC issues third statement, nullifying the constitution, the caretaker Cabinet and the Constitutional Court.

Chronology continues on Nation Website 

 

Tags: air, api, arc, art, ATT, Bangkok, blog, bridge, camera, capital, ces, emergency, explain, HP, ia, im, ITU, King, lan, LED, mobile, nasa, network, nomadcom.net, officer, Our World, phone, police, post, power, quickly, space, sun, Thailand, uk, vision, web, webcam, website, wp, www, XP