Janet Haven

By chance, I came across two new projects within a week dedicated to ending online censorship and surveillance in Middle Eastern countries. The first, OpenArab.net (English here), is a project out of HRInfo.net in Egypt.

The Initiative For an Open Arab Internet is an initiative by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) advocating free use of the Internet without censorship, blocking or spying. In this context, the initiative seeks to provide international and Arab information and internet related documents. The initiative also defends internet users, web-designers, and writers by organising legal and media campaigns and highlighting practices restricting Internet freedom.

Through HRInfo.net's human rights blogging project, Katib, I also found Article 19's campaign against online censorship in Iran, The Persian Impediment. Where OpenArab.net's project is mostly in Arabic and appears to be aimed at people in the region, The Persian Impediment site is entirely in English (so far as I've seen) and is probably internationally directed. There hasn't been a lot of activity on the site that I can see since early January (the site allows contributors to join a blogged discussion on suggested topics, and/or to report cases of censorship), but it's worth a look regardless.

Posted by Janet at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, has written a very useful article for the non-technical crowd on country-level internet filtering. "The Geopolitics of Asian Cyberspace", was published in the December issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review. For those who are new to the topic or would like a broad overview of the level of filtering that happens regularly, the corporate players facilitating that filtering, and a few projects that are trying to track censorship around the world, it's a good read.

Professor Deibert also showed up on NPR last week, talking about the Citizen Lab's new circumvention software, Psiphon. Unlike other circumvention tools like Tor or TorPark, Psiphon works by harnessing social networks and establishing individual nodes of "host" computers that allow internet access to known users; Deibert mentions in the interview that they had had 30,000 downloads of the software in the first week.

I wish the interviewer at NPR, Bob Garfield, had asked somewhat more pointed quesitons about specific differences between these tools and the theory of how they work -- there are a number of tools out there, and one may be more appropriate than another depending on geography, political situation, and your access to networks outside your own country.

With perfect timing, a correspondant pointed me to Peacefire founder Bennett Haselton's article on Slashdot last month that does some of that work. Bennett is generally annoyed with the attention the "politically correct" Psiphon has received in the media (as opposed to the more suspicious attention Peacefire's similar circumvention tool, Circumventor, received a few years ago). Beyond that, though, he provides a useful 101 on circumvention tools and how they work, as well as offering some commentary on how useless the tools are if a citizenry is apathetic about using them. He says:

This is not to downplay the enormous good that programs like Tor, Circumventor and Psiphon can do in bringing free speech to the people in censored countries who want it. But it's easy to forget that those often do not comprise a large part of the population....The moral is, no matter how much your movement believes in its efforts to help oppressed people, you can't just assume you'll be greeted as liberators (ahem).

Good to keep in mind.

Update: Professor Deibert pointed out another very useful article on Psiphon, this one which talks about Psiphon's aims -- that is, not a be-all end-all anti-circumvention tool, but a way for individuals to help other individuals through direct, personal connections.

Psiphon is not designed to solve all secure Web browsing dilemmas. Rather, it is a means by which those in uncensored countries can assist specific individuals in censored countries access blocked Web content -- without placing any technical (or personal security) burden on those individuals.

It's important to reiterate the point that, as with all technologies, this is not a one-size-fits-all game. There isn't an "unbreakable" anti-censorship tool; all of them can be defeated in one way or another. The crucial issue is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the options well enough to choose one that offers the least risk given the environment.

Posted by Janet at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (54)

The O'Reilly gang is putting on a new conference this year called Tools of Change for Publishers. The Civil Society Communications proejct that I run is, of course, very interested in "tools of change" -- although within the non-profit sector rather than in publishing. The incredible pace of change in the technology space means that we face unending difficulty in educating organizations in useful technology solutions; once you step outside the world of tech bloggers, Wired magazine, and conferences where no one will show up unless wifi is provided, you find that most people flinch when you cheerfully mention "web 2.0", or the seemingly more user-friendly "read-write web". I was struck, therefore, by O'Reilly's explanation for throwing the conference:

For publishers, these shifts are taking place so rapidly that it's challenging to keep current--let alone create new, profitable opportunities.

The first O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference is being launched to raise the level of technology knowledge and discourse in the publishing industry and to provide a meeting ground for those leading the charge into the future of publishing.

It's nice to know that confusion and frustration over integrating innovative technology solutions are not only limited to the sector I work in; on the other hand, once you extrapolate outwards from a single industry (publishing, or the non-profit world) to all industries, you get a lot of confused people. From there, cube that number to include everyone who isn't yet online, or is only online in the most rudimentary way. We've got a lot of work to do to make this stuff more useful and more understandable.

Posted by Janet at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Admitting that the holidays are really and truly over is a painful act, so despite the fact that I've been back at work this week, I'm posting my Holiday Reading List Book Reviews as if I were still at leisure. This holiday season I've managed to plough through a good number of books, fiction and non-, and acquired even more that are waiting for a moment of calm. In case you're looking for something to read, here are some suggestions (and warnings):

• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: Recommended by one of my most trusted book friends, Cloud Atlas was possibly the best piece of fiction I've read in years. My reading of "serious" contemporary fiction has dropped off in the past five years or so, largely because every time I delve in I'm disappointed, annoyed, or overcome by the schlockiness of it all. The last book I found as satisfying as Cloud Atlas was Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. While I don't think The Corrections is for everyone, I can't imagine a reading friend who wouldn't appreciate Cloud Atlas. Go buy a copy.
• Casino Royale by Ian Fleming: Been watching Bond movies for years but you've never read any of the books? Well, don't bother, if the first one is any guide. Casino Royale was a real snooze; the movie, which I saw over the holidays with my family, was ten gazillion times better. Ian Fleming's young Bond seems an arrogant dolt, deeply unperceptive (I wonder if Vesper's nightly sobbing and daily secret phone calls during our romantic getaway spell T R O U B L E...? Bond's conclusion: no, girls are just weepy), and frankly sounds unattractive (not unimportant if you're claiming to be James Bond, right.) Also, predictably, the girls are real sissies, and not nearly vixenish enough to entertain. Ugh. Go see Daniel Craig instead.
• A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes: I actually read this over Thanksgiving, but am including it in holiday reading since Favorite Husband read it over Christmas, sparking much Russian history discussion at the Haven-D'Amato dinner table. The long and short of it is: read this book, if you have any desire to understand the underpinnings of the revolution. It's excellent, a 900-page page-turner, which is something one wouldn't usually expect in a brick-sized tome. Figes packs the book with anecdotes illuminating the tidal shifts in power, particularly from the 1914-1919 era. A main point that both FH and I took away from the narrative was how unlikely the Bolshevik seizure of power really was -- for much of the period under discussion, the country was entirely up for grabs, and much of the reason that the more moderate socialists didn't step forward was their hilarious and tragic belief in the rule book of revolution: we can't seize power, they explained to each other, because the book says that we need to have another twenty years of bourgeois development before the glorious socialist revolution could happen. Of course, anyone who has studied Marx knows that theory, but the idea that a group of so-called revolutionaries were presented with the possibility of taking on the reigns of state and stepped back from because of a theoretical map laid out by a 19th century philosopher is astonishing in 2006. Lenin, of course, only worried about that issue for, say, five minutes before shoving everyone aside and making the fatal grab for Russia.
• Best American Short Stories 2006 edited by Ann Patchett and Katrina Kenison: Usually, I enjoy this collection, but this year, it's draaaaging. I'm only halfway through, so hope lies in the next 10 pieces, but the stories so far have been ethereal, very atmospheric rather than character or plot driven. I mention it because I think my reaction actually points to a good thing about this series, that is, they pull in a new editor every year who brings their own slant to the choices. As Patchett says in her introduction, these aren't the *best* short stories of 2006, they're *her* 20 favorite stories of 2006. I wasn't a big fan of Patchett's book Bel Canto (although it won all sorts of awards), so I'm not surprised, on reflection, that I'm not moved by her short story choices. A word to the wise: know your anthologist.
• American Pastoral by Philip Roth: Like every dutiful American fiction reader, I feel like I should read AND appreciate Philip Roth. I made it through The Human Stain a while back and did, you know, appreciate it, although it left a bad taste...I always find it hard to read novels peopled with wholly unlikable characters. Nevertheless, occasionally when I know I'm headed for a long flight, I choose to bring a book that I have been meaning to read and that I think in other circumstances, I might set down after the first few pages. So I picked up American Pastoral on my way out the door for the flight from London to Los Angeles back in December, and resisted the urge at the airport to pick up any other reading material that might offer me an easy out, should I regret my Roth. Oh, what a mistake. Six hours into the twelve hour flight, my laptop was out of juice, my iPod had mysteriously shut itself off and poutingly refused to turn on again, and I was two agonized hours into American Pastoral, possibly my least favorite forced reading experience of a decade. Why is Roth The Man of contemporary American letters? Why? Why? Why? Although the flight offered me many, many hours to review this question, I did not manage to come up with an answer, despite the fact that I got three-quarters of the way through AP before touching down in LA. Perhaps the last quarter of American Pastoral holds the key to this puzzler, but since I set fire to the book in the backyard barbeque upon reaching my parents' house, I guess we'll never know, will we?
• Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology by David Gelernter: If you need an anecdote to Roth (or your version of Roth), pick up a copy (and go for the hard cover, you cheapskate) of David Gelernter's lovely long essay on beauty as a driver of innovation in technology. It's counterintuitive but obvious in retrospect, and so engaging that you may not even smell the charred Roth wafting in from the backyard.
• December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith and The Moscow Vector by Robert Ludlum: Let's acknowledge the private, dirty joy of an airport spy novel. What more can I say, except that in truth, the 12 hour flight back to London passed much more quickly with Martin Cruz Smith in hand than with Philip Roth on the way out. And my second iPod also broke directly after takeoff, so it was a completely level playing field. I don't recommend either of these books, but then I also wouldn't recommend that you eat an entire bag of Reeses Peanut Butter cups in one sitting, if you get my drift.



• The Elements of Style by Strunk and White: Possibly you read this, or exerpts of this, if you were once an American schoolchild. Read it again. William Strunk's clear, cool advice will resonate. As he tells you to use "definite, specific, concrete language," to "avoid a succession of loose sentences," to "omit needless words", you will think: guilty. My version is new and illustrated by Maira Kalman, which makes it more fun. A large part of the fun is not in her illustrations themselves, but in evaluating her choice of phrases to illustratrate. I would have illustrated the book entirely differently than she did, and imagining your own visuals alongside Strunk and White's spare, wise remarks makes for an amusing afternoon. And perhaps improved writing.

And books to look forward to...my father and brother ganged together and bought me, luxuriously, three of Edward Tufte's toothsome books on information design: Envisioning Information, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, and Beautiful Evidence, his most recent. I also have Julian Barnes latest, Arthur and George, on the stack, Gogol's Dead Souls (which I started in California but haven't finished), and eternally, that bastion of the bedside table, Jonathan Spence's The Search for Modern China (five years and counting).

Recommendations for further reading always more than welcome.

Posted by Janet at 03:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (72)

Ethan tagged me in a little bloggame going around to spill five things about yourself that people don't know about you. So here are the first five that come to mind:

1. Because I've lived a big chunk of my adult life in Hungary, most people assume I have some kind of Magyar in the ancestral closet. I don't, not a single one (that I know of). I just like living here.

2. When I travel, I try to bring home textiles from wherever I've been. Every culture makes textiles of some sort or another, whether they are printed, woven, embroidered, silk, wool, cotton. They travel well, and can be pressed into a wide range of services once you get home. I wear, sleep on, sit on, bathe with and frame textiles I've brought home from various corners of the world.

3. Despite the fact that I grew up in Southern California (or because of it?), my favorite beach is not in a particularly warm place: Cannon Beach in Oregon, where Haystack Rock is.

4. I (ineptly) played water polo in college. It was without a doubt the most terrifying but exhilarating athletic activity I've ever participated in. My only near-death experience to date was an away game in a swimming pool at MIT where a very powerful woman held me underwater until my struggles tore the strap on my regulation speedo bathing suit. For this very reason, the women's team members always wore two bathing suits at once, to guard against having to flee the pool with only a shredded suit as cover. I had found it hard to believe that a speedo could give way, but I'm here to tell you that it will, and that that second suit is a life-saver.

5. I despise lima beans with all my heart. (My mother knows this, of course.)

Now I'm supposed to tag others...so Scotty and Peter, if you're still looking at your trackbacks, how about it?

Posted by Janet at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)