Uhm

[la_vie_noire]

Wikileaks has released some new cables. One particularly disturbing in this one: GERMANY REQUESTS ASSURANCES ON VIRUS EXPORT, in which a German firm has the intention to export dangerous viruses to the U.S. army.

A German firm has applied for the approval of the export of
184 genetic elements with nucleic acid sequences of viruses
for the production of recombinant viruses. The viruses will
be used in optical imaging to identify host factors required
for viral replication. The recipient in the USA is,
according to the enclosed end use certificate, the Department
of the Army "US Army Medical Research Institute for
Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)" Fort Detrick, Maryland.
Specifications in English about the goods, the recipient and
end use can be seen from the end use certificate.
The goods are controlled by the Australia Group and are
subject to compulsory export approval (List position
C1C353A). This matter concerns the complete genome of
viruses such as the Zaire Ebola virus, the Lake Victoria
Marburg virus, the Machupo virus and the Lassa virus, which
are absolutely among the most dangerous pathogens in the
world. The delivery would place the recipient in the
position of being able to create replicating recombinant
infectious species of these viruses.

I don't know. Can someone give me a good explanation for this?

How they built a revolution: Narco News Bulletin went to Egypt to speak to some of the organizers.

[the_future_modernes]

TRIGGER WARNING FOR TRANSCRIPT OF A VIDEO THAT DEALS WITH POLICE BRUTALITY AND RAPE

So sorry I missed that the first time!

Here is the first video:
English Version: Egypt: How We Did It When the Media Would Not

On February 11, 2011 Egyptians toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. Blogger and viral video producer Aalam Wassef was one of the many people who worked for years to make it happen. This is first in a series on the daily life of
Egypt's revolution. It's a manual on how a civil resistance was built to win.

Spanish Subtitled Version: Egipto: Cómo lo hicimos cuando los medios no lo harían

El 11 de febrero de 2011, el pueblo egipcio derrocó al dictador Hosni Mubarak. El bloguero y productor de video viral, Aalam Wassef, fue una de las muchas personas que trabajaron por años para que esto sucediera. Este video es el primero en una serie sobre la vida cotidiana de la revolución egipcia. Es un manual sobre cómo una resistencia civil fue construida para triunfar.

G+/Google information everyone should know

[merhawk]

Andy Carvin of NPR spoke with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt for a few minutes. Per the conversation, Schmidt acknowledges/states that "G+ was build primarily as an identity service, so fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they're going to build future products that leverage that information."

Identity Service != Social Network, Eric Schmidt. And you're billing G+ as a social network. Just sayin'.

Todd Vierling looked into the Profile Real Name issues. He discovered that these issues are about more than just G+. It looks like the endgame will end up involving most, if not all, of Google Products.

[reposted from my journal]