The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    cmaukonen's picture

    Communication

    By cmaukonen on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 12:08am |

    This was going to be a blog about communication styles between the left and right and the common folk. But that will have to wait, I am afraid. With the protests in Tunisia and now Egypt it has become obvious to this blogger that our current methods of personal communication with cell phones and the Internet and social media will simply not cut the mustard when we need to get the messages out and among ourselves about what is happening in the streets, what we want and plan to do about it and what the world needs to know. When it is obvious that a government can shut down the internet and cell phone access when ever it wants. Prevent news agencies from covering a situation and hassles and/or detians those who are reporting, it is imparitive that a method of communication that is not dependent on the private sector or goverments is necessary. At least temporrarally.

    The technology exists now like it never has before. What is necessary is to learn and create alternatives. To use our natural invenetiveness to make a system that can be put into place so that our story gets out regadrless of the circustances. It would not need to be pretty or evenmperfect. It just has to work.

    Comments

    There's another technology (and it's not new) that, combined with just a little creativity, could insure that no government could easily shut down the internet: peer-to-peer. The OLPC project had this idea built into it, and I'm pretty sure the only way to shut it down would be through deliberate jamming.


    by Verified Atheist on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 8:43am

    This would work using point-to-point over wifi routers that are connected using high gain directional antennas.


    by cmaukonen on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 10:01am

    It occurs to me that the military via DARPA has no doubt already explored both offensive and defensive aspects of this issue.  

    I may be able to find something at their website [darpa.mil] but I am about 90% certain I would not understand it. 

     


    by EmmaZahn on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 10:59am

    I am also sure the hacker community has already found ways to hack cell phones and wifi and what not to do what ever would need to be done as well. They would be a very good resource.


    by cmaukonen on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 11:05am

    One thing on a more broad sense is that I feel that people need to become more self reliant in general. The lees you have to rely on the "system" the hold the "system" has on you and the more real freedom you have.


    by cmaukonen on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 8:28pm

    Like reading a real book instead of an electronic one on a kindle, Ipad or whatever.


    by Beetlejuice on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:59pm

    Just about every PC/laptop nowaday has a built-in modem port. Since everyone is so busy in the wireless world, a group could establish a land-based communications link via POTS (plain ole telephone system) virtually undetected all while the authorities are busy shutting down wireless exploits by the masses...no one uses a phone line anymore. It might only pass 56Kbps, but all on-line games are toggled at that speed because there are still some places on the planet where the high-speed and wireless networks has yet to clear a path thru the jungle.


    by Beetlejuice on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:57pm