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GeekNights 20110131 - Egypt vs. The Internet

MrPeriodMrPeriod
edited January 2011 in GeekNights

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the largely successful attempt of the Egyptian government to cut off the Internet. In the news, complaints about alleged increased spam on Google are largely unfounded, and the Golden Gate Bridge is going all-digital in its toll collection.

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Comments

  • WyattWyatt
    Speak2tweet.
    Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
    1/31/2011 02:27:00 PM
    Like many people we’ve been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground. Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection.

    We worked with a small team of engineers from Twitter, Google and SayNow, a company we acquired last week, to make this idea a reality. It’s already live and anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.

    We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.

    Posted by Ujjwal Singh, CoFounder of SayNow and AbdelKarim Mardini, Product Manager, Middle East & North Africa
    That's pretty fucking cool.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    So you want a HD camera eh? I know several people that use the web video as their full time job, before I blindly recommend something I would need to know how much you are willing to spend and what exactly you are using the camera for. Once I get that I can peace meal a setup for you guys.
  • BrandBrand
    Have you guys seen the Complete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris? The talk about revolution on this week's show really reminded me of it.


    A lesson more governments need to learn is don't be a dick to your people, a government is nothing with out them. After so long of being treated poorly they are going to come and punch the government in the face (or behead everyone).

    On another separate note, I've actually been on the road and not had enough for a toll. And basically as you guys talked about, they just take a photo of the plate and send you a bill for it later. Though some states are more of dick about it. Maryland just sends you a bill for the cost of the toll but in Virgina if you don't call them in like 3 days time or something and pay for it they will send you a bill with an expensive surcharge.
  • RymRym
    Have you guys seen the Complete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris?
    Yes! It was a Thing of the Day a while ago, and thanks to you, it's stuck in my head again...
  • Mycroft000Mycroft000
    What all do you want out of the camera you're looking to get? 1080p resolution, or 720p; XLR inputs, or stereo 1/8"; interchangeable lenses, or fixed lens; and finally budget?
  • ChurbaChurba
    Actually, wierdly, I know how - if you manage to get that protocol sorted out (general you, not you specifically scrym) to get it widespread pretty fast.

    Cory Doctorow.

    Seriously - He loves that kinda "Fuck you, government, can't take this shit down without taking yourself down too" kinda government-against-us stuff, he'd pretty much immediately post it EVERYWHERE, and once that occurs, other sites start reporting on it, and essentially, thanks to Cory having such a fanbase, and so many people within that fanbase who agree with him and like this sort of thing, and who know people who feel the same way, that critical mass of people to make it work well would be pretty easy to get.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    I like Cory's politics a lot. Not such a huge fan of his actual writing, but his concepts (whuffie, time-sync tribes) and his politics are pretty cool.
  • MattMatt
    On the topic of going through a toll booth with a rental car, I actually did this recently. I got a threatening letter from a very official-appearing yet totally bogus company called something like the "New York Toll Collector Authority". Would have to dig up the letter to remember the real name of this scam, but they basically try to get a $25 fee out of you. In the fine print it says you can go online and fill out a form saying you have an ezpass tag number. I filled out the appeal charge and the result was that Budget just hit my credit card for 35 cents.

    As for HD cameras, I've been using a Kodak Zi8, which is the best product right now if you're looking for something in the $300-and-under line. On the $2,000 front, all of the TV shows now are using Canon 5D DSLR cameras with fix-focus rigs with a VR lens (think 8mm-200mm, super wide range).
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