Friday, September 22, 2006
Report from OneWebDay Vienna
Before it was over, some 40 people took part in the OneWebDay celebration in Vienna, Austria. Most came thanks to the generous cooperation of Quintessenz.org, an Austrian EFF-like posse. But some were there thanks to net-o-genic serendipity -- let me explain. (a) I didn't remember that Lee Dryburgh was a part-time Vienna resident until I saw him on my Skype buddy list with "Vienna GMT+2" by his name. Lee and his girlfriend showed up. (b) On some list or other Elliot Noss mentioned in passing that he would be in Vienna. I emailed him, and learned that he and his wife would arrive from the airport around 1800! And they did!!!
Of course Dave Farber and I were there -- that decision was at least two weeks old. The Quintessenz gang decided to host the event, oh, maybe 36 hours ago, and they did the bulk of the heavy lifting, including a competent remix of the OneWebDay logo for local consumption (lousy photo, sorry):
Here's an early picture of the crew, taken while there was still daylight:
Here's one of Dave Farber and me in the Quintessenz office, cruising for OneWebDay info while Big Brother looks over our shoulder:
Here's Erich Moechel, who does the Big Brother Awards with Simon Davies:
Here's Erich and Adrian on what "OneWebDay means to me." (video at 11):
And here's another shot of the celebration!
Of course Dave Farber and I were there -- that decision was at least two weeks old. The Quintessenz gang decided to host the event, oh, maybe 36 hours ago, and they did the bulk of the heavy lifting, including a competent remix of the OneWebDay logo for local consumption (lousy photo, sorry):
Here's an early picture of the crew, taken while there was still daylight:
Here's one of Dave Farber and me in the Quintessenz office, cruising for OneWebDay info while Big Brother looks over our shoulder:
Here's Erich Moechel, who does the Big Brother Awards with Simon Davies:
Here's Erich and Adrian on what "OneWebDay means to me." (video at 11):
And here's another shot of the celebration!
Technorati Tags: OneWebDay
Thursday, September 21, 2006
OneWebDay Vienna!
Item from Dave Farber's List:The Vienna, Austria nucleus of OneWebDay, [which includes the Austrian ISP Association, ispa.at and the cyber-liberty group Quintessenz -- David I] along with Professor Dave Farber and David Isenberg, will convene at the Museums-Quartier hotspot this Friday, September 22, at 1700. Please come, and please invite all of your friends who appreciate the Internet.
If we can, we will try to get an audio feed of the London Lord Mayor's OneWebDay speech at 1700 Vienna time and the New York City event (1800 Vienna) featuring Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Scott Heiferman, founder of Meetup.com, and Susan Crawford, founder of OneWebDay. The most recent OneWebDay press release is attached; the most recent info can be found at http://onewebday.org
Please see the OneWebDay wiki entry for Vienna and for other OneWebDay events around the world.
If you're in or near Vienna, please come to MuseumsQuartier on Friday anytime after 1700!
David I and Dave F
Technorati Tags: OneWebDay
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Woods Hole School Reunion
I've been affiliated with a lot of big name schools -- Harvard, Johns Hopkins, CalTech, MIT, to name a few -- but I'm proudest to be an alumnus of the Woods Hole School, a public elementary school. One of the highlights of my summer was the Woods Hole School Reunion on August 19. It was open to anybody who was affiliated, and it attracted not just former students but also teachers, parents of students and some erstwhile summer kids who wished they were alumni.
The Falmouth School System's bean-counters closed the Woods Hole School as a public elementary school in 1982, but the Woods Hole Community Association continues to maintain the building and administer it to host numerous educational programs, including the Children's School of Science, of which I am also a proud alum. Here's a picture taken on June 25, 1982, the Woods Hole School's last day as a public elementary school:
And here's Mrs. Robinson's second-and-third grade class, which includes at least two future scientists, a future oil tanker captain, a future champion sportfisherman, a future Episcopal priest, the future head of BBC's Iraq bureau and a future Internet pundit.
Out of my 16-kid class, seven showed up at the reunion. Here's five of us, or six if you count the fellow in the blue baseball cap:
The Falmouth School System's bean-counters closed the Woods Hole School as a public elementary school in 1982, but the Woods Hole Community Association continues to maintain the building and administer it to host numerous educational programs, including the Children's School of Science, of which I am also a proud alum. Here's a picture taken on June 25, 1982, the Woods Hole School's last day as a public elementary school:
And here's Mrs. Robinson's second-and-third grade class, which includes at least two future scientists, a future oil tanker captain, a future champion sportfisherman, a future Episcopal priest, the future head of BBC's Iraq bureau and a future Internet pundit.
Out of my 16-kid class, seven showed up at the reunion. Here's five of us, or six if you count the fellow in the blue baseball cap:
Technorati Tags: WoodsHole
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Avi Rubin's day as a poll worker
Avi Rubin, the Johns Hopkins comp sci professor who originally raised big questions about the incompetent, insecure source code on Diebold voting machines, writes a gripping account of his day as an ordinary poll worker in the Maryland primary yesterday.
The Washington Post has a story on poll mishaps with a major emphasis on human errors. If Professor Rubin is right, the Post missed the main point. The Baltimore Sun seemed to have a better handle on the ubiquity of the problems in "Maryland's first statewide run of an all-electronic voting system," but Professor Rubin's blog post got to the heart of the real story.
The question re-opens: if we can't trust the electoral process -- and why should we, given stories like these? -- wherefore our democracy?
Thanks for the pointer to Joseph Lorenzo Hall on Dave Farber's list.
The Washington Post has a story on poll mishaps with a major emphasis on human errors. If Professor Rubin is right, the Post missed the main point. The Baltimore Sun seemed to have a better handle on the ubiquity of the problems in "Maryland's first statewide run of an all-electronic voting system," but Professor Rubin's blog post got to the heart of the real story.
The question re-opens: if we can't trust the electoral process -- and why should we, given stories like these? -- wherefore our democracy?
Thanks for the pointer to Joseph Lorenzo Hall on Dave Farber's list.
Technorati Tags: Elections, ElectronicVoting, AviRubin
