Isn't this very different to the way twitter works?
I follow this account and get links that I have to click on and then click on the "play" button again in order to listen to some(or any)one's broken english?
Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
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Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#22Thousands of years seemed to go by where uprisings didn't need social networking. The Babylonians didn't need Twitter when they rose up against the Assyrian Empire. The Inaros' didn't need Facebook when they confronted the Persians in Egypt (although they did have the help of the Greeks). Julius Caesar didn't tweet 'hey watch out Pompey' when he marched on Roma. Did the Sicilian Vespers need Twitter to alter the bala…
1. How many revolts have succeeded as a proportion of those that have failed?
2. Think about how the organisation, weaponry, instruments of control and scale of governments has changed over the last several decades from anything ever seen before. Decentralised communications now mean a people can communicate perhaps even faster than their military, for example.
3. Perhaps you've missed that communication allows the voice of the people to reach the outside world in a more personal and representative way than traditional media, and inspires more people to bring pressure onto those governments and remind them the world is watching their actions. If you think that's unimportant, it's precisely what Amnesty International uses on a relatively small scale to great effect.
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#23Thousands of years seemed to go by where uprisings didn't need social networking. The Babylonians didn't need Twitter when they rose up against the Assyrian Empire. The Inaros' didn't need Facebook when they confronted the Persians in Egypt (although they did have the help of the Greeks). Julius Caesar didn't tweet 'hey watch out Pompey' when he marched on Roma. Did the Sicilian Vespers need Twitter to alter the bala…
This reasoning fails to take into account the oppressors' possession of technology. Slower forms of communication may have sufficed in the situations you've cited (wherein the oppressor had faster-but-still-slow means of communicating), but when the oppressor has access to instantaneous communication and you do not you are at a severe disadvantage. This is precisely why public access to instantaneous communication is being revoked at this time.
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#24Thousands of years seemed to go by where uprisings didn't need social networking. The Babylonians didn't need Twitter when they rose up against the Assyrian Empire. The Inaros' didn't need Facebook when they confronted the Persians in Egypt (although they did have the help of the Greeks). Julius Caesar didn't tweet 'hey watch out Pompey' when he marched on Roma. Did the Sicilian Vespers need Twitter to alter the bala…
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Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#25Telecomix are working on their own system - they are taking faxes which they will then post. Unfortunately they do not have the resources to set up on the trunk in egypt like google so its an international call to germany.
http://interfax.werebuild.eu/2011/01/31/fax-to-interfax-for-...
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#26Seeing Americans companies take sides in the politics of foreign countries in such enthusiastic, carefree ways leaves me feeling very uneasy.
To my knowledge it doesn't come with a censorship mechanism that prevents pro-government tweets.
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#27Hopefully the result of the revolution gets them a better government, unlike pretty much every other revolution in history (America is a special case).
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#28Seeing Americans companies take sides in the politics of foreign countries in such enthusiastic, carefree ways leaves me feeling very uneasy.
I feel just the opposite; actually proud and inspired that there are mainstream companies with the moral confidence to both take sides and act on their convictions.
Many of our ills as a society are caused or perpetuated by too many individuals and corporations remaining amoral in the public arena.
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#29Seeing Americans companies take sides in the politics of foreign countries in such enthusiastic, carefree ways leaves me feeling very uneasy.
Just a guess, you supported Paypal, Visa, Amazon, etc. in the WikiLeaks case.
Amiright?
Re: Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard
#30Hopefully the result of the revolution gets them a better government, unlike pretty much every other revolution in history (America is a special case).
So what you're saying is "pretty much every" current government is the worst it's ever been?
Come on.