Art from AA batteries. Fully functional batteries transformed into hip objets d'art.
Link (Thanks, Jean-Luc) [Boing Boing]

This is very cool...

Update: M chimes in saying that this would be a great POP/advertising medium...

7:19:00 PM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

I didn't post it. [Scripting News]

The problem with misunderstanding elitism is revealed in the interesting story behind Dave's cryptic post. At first I thought it was a paradox in Magrite's Ceci n'est pas une Pipe fashion, but the story is different.

As revealed by the BlogHerald, Halley had decided to invite only the "elitist bad-ass-A-list-bloggers" to an "exclusive event" (just drinks, so nothing to get excited about). After the BlogHerald printed the whole email exchange, where it is clear that Dave wanted something open (if it's not software code, Dave wants it open, most of the time), but Halley didn't, Halley accused Dave of being the BlogHerald's anonymous source, despite the fact that Dave had already denied it. To top it off, Halley either miswrote that Dave posted her email or was complaining that Dave linked to it in the mentioned first denial, hence, Dave cryptic denial. I hope they make amends and make up, since it is not a big deal. A little embarrassing for Halley, but we've all been there.

But the story is significant for its lesson Nobody gets to define an elite, elites define themselves. You don't call yourself a Hacker other people do. You don't call yourself a Genius (except in jest), other people do. You don't call yourself an elite, other people do. I think what is behind this is two fold. First, the perception that being noble or having power gives you rights, that's wrong, it gives you obligations. The perception that talent entitles you, that's wrong, talent is a whip that should only be used for self-flagellation. The Chinese have it right, doing good ennobles your ancestors, not yourself and your descendants. Second, the perception that perception itself is more important than reality. This is prevalent in a lot of corporations and I, for one, don't buy it for a minute. Reality will beat perception's ass at the end (perhaps, after everybody has left ) every single time. There was a Hollywood producer (his name escapes me) that didn't put his name in the credits of the movies he produced, if the movie was bad, it was better people didn't find out it was one of his, if the movie was good, people would search for the name of the producer...

So self-aggrandizing is always wrong and always back-fires. People do this all the time, they think they can define an elite without taking the time an effort to find out who is who. At the end, the stars shine on their own...

1:12:23 PM Google It! What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

Citizens can't just accept technology at face value. They need to open the lid, so to speak, understand how it works, beneath the surface,"

"We're attempting to technically confirm reports that we get in various countries that the reason why they can't access certain websites is because the government or the internet service provider is deliberately blocking access to those websites, as opposed to it being some network error or some other reason,"

Simply put, the Citizen Lab is trying to find out which websites a particular government or internet provider might be blocking, and how they are blocking it.

Saudi Arabia says explicitly that they censor the internet to preserve their Islamic culture and heritage, which is a pretty valid claim to make," explained the lab's Graeme Bunton.

"For us to start looking at ways to circumvent that is a difficult challenge for us. We do think that information should be free, but we do need to find a balance for respect for sovereign states to preserve their own culture."

But Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert says that nothing the group does is illegal, at least in North America.

"We probe networks, using methods I like to say that hackers, criminals and spies use all the time use all the time," he said.

"I think it's irresponsible for someone in my position as an academic not to use those tools to push the frontier of what's going on, in spite of the controversy that it raises with some law enforcement people.

"Some authoritarian regimes obviously don't like what we're doing. But we feel we're working in support of broader principles of human rights, so don't mind the controversy. Sometimes it helps."

I don't agree with some of it. The bit about preserrving culture is clearly wrong headed. You can't believe that information should be free and that culture is preserved by blocking information. Culture is nothing more than the product of the interaction of information with creativity. But I support the general idea of Citizens Lab, so... Hack off.
11:49:03 AM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []