Electronic War 2009: Iran

I wish more mainstream media would admit to the fact that they're totally using info from Fark.com in order to report. (Hard to believe? Check this out: http://vator.tv/news/show/2009-06-20-with-iran-on-razors-edge-fark-takes-sides)

I think they're probably ashamed to admit that regular people on the internet have been pretty good at gathering information and collecting it, and more often than not, they have better sources and better commentary--and better objective analysis.

Few (if any--I haven't actually seen any of this reported anywhere) have said what's really helping to keep this Iranian movement alive: hackers. Lots and LOTS of hackers. For the first time (possibly ever, minus the Russian government's hacking of the Georgian networks), hackers are helping wage an infowar. Proxies are being set up and regular people are following instructions to set them up on home computers. The techniques used to get around the Great Firewall of China are assisting an active and interested populace in getting around the Iranian government's crackdown. Those with a more devious streak are launching waves of attacks against pro-Ahmadinejad websites. Websites used to track down protesters are being attacked by those that support protesters.

This is opening the door to a new sort of war that I don't think any country is ready for. Of all of them, the USA and Russia may be the most prepared (think back again to what happened in the invasion of Georgia--don't discount that, they certainly learned quite a bit about their capabilities). I'll think more about this and write a full blog entry on Electronic Warfare and more support for my theory that this is only the first of many future battles waged in the intertubes.

Twitter gives the finger to the mainstream media

I'll note the following: the swine flu pandemic was blown dangerously out of proportion in the United States due to twitter hysteria. People heard this and that from everyone. In some cases, even the mainstream news picked up on it, but I'm never surprised to see the mainstream channels/papers/etc. blow things entirely out of proportion.

I'll also note this: I don't have a twitter account. I have one for my band.

I was crawling online earlier to see what happened with the election in Iran, since I missed the tail-end of it and had simply forgotten it was going on.

As it turns out, all sorts of things have happened. Major news sites are reporting on some of it. The thing I'm pointing out here has nothing to do with that, though--you can go read the news or just browse the internet for anything confirmed.

This weekend may prove to be the weekend that technology in developed countries has trumped attempts to blackout the media. Iranians are posting on twitter with what's happening. My skepticism-meter beeps a bit on this sort of thing, mostly due to my lack of belief in anything present on the internet--yet if these things are backed up (or at least not immediately refuted) by other news sources (both major and minor), then what are we coming to?

Is it really possible that Twitter could be the reason that the rest of the world knows about something that is being suppressed? Did Twitter just make itself irreplaceable?

Here's what I think: now that technology is in the hands of so many citizens of so many countries, those that can will do what they can to support those that fight for freedom. I don't mean the bullshit "freedom fight" between Democrats and Republicans in America--I mean legitimate power struggles between the people of a nation and those that would seek to oppress them and their freedoms. I'm seeing news spread from the computers of those in Iran to those that can repeat it. People are trying to verify it, doing their best to spot things that would mark a video or statement as complete fabrication or hoax. Some of the more proactive internet "freedom fighters" are staging DOS attacks on select Iranian websites (and I'm not surprised at their success thus far).

That little voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me, "Hey, you know--tomorrow or next week, you might realize that this was just another 'swine flu' problem." If so, I'll be glad to eat my words and ignore twitter. Until then, I'll keep bouncing back and forth between news media that has been shut down in Iran, and sources that are purported to be IN Iran.

A One-Sided Conversation

"Hey, man. I heard about what happened. It's really a shame."

"No, no--I mean, it's really a shame that you're not over it yet."

"Yeah, I think you're bitter about it..."

"What gave it away? Maybe the bitching. Hey, look--let me give you some advice. Just take a minute and listen, alright? You don't have to say anything, just sit back and listen. I want to help you out."

"Grow up. Sure, you didn't get your way, but there's no need to act bitter about your breakup with America, the beautiful. She decided to go with someone different. Dragging her new beau through the mud every day isn't going to make you look more intelligent--it's going to make you look like a tremendous douchebag. If you want her to get back together with you, you're going to have to figure out why you lost her. Since you still live next door, she and her new guy both agree that you should either come over or let them come over and talk some things out. (It's a little difficult to do that when you throw these tantrums.)"

"Don't blame her for your problems. You know, she left you for several reasons. You're generally pathetic. You whine about everything that goes wrong. You yell and fume about all of the other guys and tell her how horrible they are. Maybe she left you because she wanted someone that isn't such a whiny bastard. Remember that tree that fell into the garage? Yeah, you weren't doing much to clean it up. If I remember right, you and the new guy (you weren't really "friends," but drinking buddies at the time) chopped the damn thing down. Sure, he's not doing a great job cleaning up the mess, either--but at least he's trying. Maybe you could go help if you weren't so bitter about your loss."

"It's not the end of the world. Most of your fuming has a grain of truth, but it's hyperbole at best. You keep telling everyone that they named your old dog "Socialism," and you got really pissed off about it since it was YOUR DAMN DOG. Let's not get too hasty about anger, here--let's go check the dog's collar. What's his name? There's a little sticky note taped over the metal that says "Socializm," but it's in your handwriting (and misspelled). You keep complaining about how much rent costs and how it's going up every day, and it's going to be horrible for you over the next few years. Okay, let's take a step back--who owns the house? Apparently she does; you're paying rent on it. Okay, so how much is the rent? Oh...you mean it's actually going down for you? Do you think you might have been exaggerating a little bit? (It makes me wonder if your story about how she is taking over your medical decisionmaking is also a fabrication, but for the sake of breaking this metaphor, we won't go into that one.)"

"So...that's what I've got."

"What?"

"It wasn't helpful?"

"Well, look--I like the new guy alright. I don't despise him as much as you. Maybe you should-"

CLICK.

"Hello?"

*sigh*