Call for Action! blogs

Very good Python for S60 Networking Tutorial

nadav — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:59:41 +0000

This is an amazing new tutorial for many networking aspects on pyS60, and many general networking terms, including some pretty advanced things.
(the author is still adding things and expanding)
https://lists.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Basic_Network_Programming_%28Py...

Voice Amplification for Immigrants

jaekyung.jung@gmail.com — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:09:08 +0000

Jaekyung Jung & Sohin Hwang

Background & Problem

We investigated on and interviewed a Korean immigrant family who
have been suffering from a lawsuit with big corporation for eleven
years and still experiencing difficulties in finding a channel to
communicate their story publicly [1]. We also found that this
problem is not just about their case.

Immigrants who are suffering from the socioeconomic vulnerability
think that letting the organizations and the pressure groups to know
about their stories will potentially be helpful for resolving the
situation. However, the limited English skill is one big obstacle for
them to communicate to the world, while the unfamiliarity to the
internet media is the other barricade especially for the elderly to be
widely heard.

Service Concept

Voice Amplification for Immigrants service allows the immigrants,
who can not speak well and are not educated to communicate in
written English, to talk about their stories of being treated unjust and
unfair through mobile phone, which will be automatically posted
online to be heard by the world.

Upon calling the Voice Amplification for Immigrants service at the
specific number, users can directly talk to the phone to have the
stories uploaded to the website. In case a user cannot speak
English, the story still can be told and uploaded; A volunteer group
will translate the story into an English text afterward. The uploaded
voice and text can be subscribed by and forwarded to related
NGOs, research centers, activist groups and any other public
spaces to increase the exposure and recognition by the public.

[1] Choi Family Story
http://www.choifive.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152...

Underreporting of Epidemic Data

interdocserv@yahoo.com — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:03:20 +0000

[inline:dengue_mosquito copia.jpg]
Under normal circumstances, epidemiological data is published openly and should be readily accessible to the general public. Transparency and openess helps governments with the timely implementation of relevant public health policies. In a friendly and cooperative government environment, new and innovative data collection technologies such as the Call4Action Mosquito Trap™, for example, can be deployed successfully for the benefit of the population at large. More importantly, these technologies can be used for the development of an early warning system which is crucial in the prevention and control of an epidemic outbreak.

Unfortunately, there are specific situations where governments, for political purposes, actively manipulate and hide epidemiological data. Fearing a vast epidemic outbreak could have a negative impact on the image of its health care system, these governments create a hostile environment for the open collection and publication of epidemiological data. All physicians belonging to government subsidized health care networks are ordered not to report any incidences of epidemic disease. Moreover, previously published epidemiological reports are removed from public access and a de facto information black out is implemented, leaving the local population at risk.

This situation leaves physicians and medical workers in a predicament, having to choose between following their conscience or loosing their jobs. Given this context, the question arises: Whether some sort of clandestine local tracking/reporting system could be developed allowing for the publication of epidemiological data abroad without putting the local informants at risk? Increased international attention, in turn, would exert pressure on the local government to open up and admit to the epidemic outbreak.

For the purpose of this class, we propose a two-component tracking/reporting system comprised of:

A secure private web site located outside of the country which can be accessed in encryption mode by the local informants to report incidences of infectious disease on an ongoing basis.

A public web site located outside of the country which publishes to the world an online data base with information about local incidences of infectious disease

Further steps towards the implementation of this system would require:

A security analysis to develop a threat profile
The recruitment of a group of physicians and medical workers willing to act as informants
The creation of a distributed network of informants to conceal the identity of its members (Middlemen)
The training of informants in counter surveillance tools and strategies

A number of tools are available that allow anonymous web access:

Portable (runs from an USB Flash Drive) Tor Browser/IM Bundle for
- Accessing web sites
- Creating email accounts
- Instant Messaging
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Email encryption and decryption software
Disposable Webmail Addresses. For example, Gmail does not include the originating IP in email headers and using https://mail.google.com/mail encrypts session
Firefox FireGPG extension adds crypto
Riseup.net (supports PGP encryption)

Useful counter surveillance strategies and tactics:

Avoid using computers at home or at work
Use a decoy
Avoid sending original photo files as they contain camera information that can be traced
Make screen captures of photos instead
Use CD-ROM or Photo Memory Cards to store data
Encrypt file attachments
Avoid discussing sensitive information over the cell phone

Finally, for the above described system to be realized, the following challenges have to be taken into account:

Data itself can compromise informant's identity
Scientific credibility of public data base can be questioned unless underwritten by a major NGO
Government can block access to public blog
Not enough Tor users in the country
Write a security checklist
Built a support organization abroad

ChopWatch!

mesteno@mit.edu — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:44:42 +0000

[inline:ResultsSample_out.jpg]

ChopWatch is an aggregated database of upcoming timber cuts on public land which are proposed by various government departments and agencies. Users can see and connect with areas for the first and possibly last time before they are deforested. Users can input their address and visually see on a map the outline of the closest forests that are planned to be cut down within the next year. Additional information including acreage, GPS coordinates, cutting method (clear cut, partial, etc) are also available. ChopWatch is primarily a geo-spatial database enabling users to easily visualize proximity, scale, and frequency of timber management practices in areas of interest.

Additionally, the aggregated timber data will be accessible via an API so developers can use the data for their own application-speciic purpose. Whether it be a concerned citizens group automatically finding the nearest forest and the corresponding district representative or a radical environmental group generating a map of large forests near city centers where support can be mobilized from, ChopWatch provides the information and basic visualization while allowing users to creatively use the data for their own application. Eventually, increased transparency of public land use and timber management policy could lead to public pressure for improved timber policy and more democratic decisions of public land use.

The DigiActive Guide to Twitter for Activism

interdocserv@yahoo.com — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:11:07 +0000

The value of Twitter as a tool for digital activism. Download guide here: http://www.digiactive.org/2009/04/13/twitter_guide/

Is Internet Use a Superfluous Expense?

interdocserv@yahoo.com — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:13:07 +0000

The OpenNet Initiative published a post about the Internet Prioritaria campaign. Read the post here: http://opennet.net/blog/2009/05/is-internet-use-a-superfluous-expense

Campaign Update: Internet no es lujo

interdocserv@yahoo.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:34:15 +0000

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On May 17th --- proclaimed by the UN as World Information Society Day by resolution 60/252 --- an initiative (Internet Prioritaria) was launched by a group of Venezuelan academics and students to create awareness about the impending slash of government subsidy support for free internet access at public educational institutions, a move considered by some critics as an attempt to implement a disguised form of censorship and control.

To promote the campaign a web page was created along with groups in a variety of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in order to broadcast the campaign message to the world: Internet no es lujo (Internet is not a luxury), a reference to government decree No. 6649 which includes Internet Access in a list of non-essential lavish items subject to budgetary cuts except when approved by the Vice President.

Another objective of the campaign was to create a hashtag based on the campaign slogan that would gather enough support among Venezuelan Twitterers to become a Trending Topic. On May 17th, as the Venezuelan Twitter Storm started gaining momentum, international Twitterers began picking up the message and Retweeting the hashtag #internetlujo. One the highlights of the day was when Audioslave Lead Vocalist Chris Cornell joined the cause thereby instantly spreading the word to 348.144 of his followers and giving the campaign an additional boost. Thanks Chris!

At the end, #internetlujo didn't make it to the trending topics (competing against Star Trek, Norway, Notre Dame KOBE Angels & Demons, Go Lakers and some spam generated topics), however, it did achieve place number 63 on last week's Top Twitter Trends --- according to hashtags.org --- which is quite an achievement considering that millions of people are using Twitter.

Interestingly, while the Internet Prioritaria Campaign had been more or less ignored by the traditional media, the buzz created on the Internet, and on Twitter in particular, prompted El Nacional, one of Venezuela's leading newspaper, to publish a front page article about the internet campaign. A new relationship between the mainstream and citizen generated media seems to be developing.

In conclusion, despite the achievements on May 17th, the campaign is not over yet. So, please join the cause and show your support by signing the petition to exclude internet use from Decree No. 6649 titled Presidential Instructions for the Elimination of Luxury or Superfluous Expenses in the Public Sector, since the elimination of internet in the public sector is not an appropriate mechanism to optimize investment in the development and appropriation of information technologies.

Getting information from the influenza epidemic in Mexico through cellphones

alajous@mit.edu — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:11:09 +0000

This is an ongoing research project, please do not cite since all the information is preliminary

The main problem for the Mexican authorities and the scientific community regarding the recent influenza pandemic is that Mexico has limited capabilites to accumulate information from citizens regarding the spread of the H1NI virus. This is due to two factors 1) the limited physical resources of the Mexican health services, and 2) the limited knowldege about viral diseases in Mexico among the population. This means that the government does not have the necessary staff to detect infected people, and that infected people don't recognize flu symptoms.

More information on the people infected by the virus would give public health officials the possibility of calculating the epidemic curve of the virus, the rate of contagion, and maybe the mortality rate.

Considering these limitations and possibilities, SMS seemed to offer a good method for getting massive information from the population.

One Mexican cellphone company agreed to carry out the project, sending 1 million SMS around the country for the academic purposes of a group of researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Mexico's Secretary of Healthy. The technology used was a combination of SMS and USSD.

On May 12, 1 million subscribers received and SMS asking them to participate in a survey conducted by the Secretary of Health by entering a code which opened the USSD session in the company's network. (USSD sessions have no costs for the user)

The questions were the following:

1) Did you have a fever accompanied by cough, and throat ache?
1. Yes, 2. No
2) Please remember the approximate date when the fever started and type a number
(i.e. 16)
3) Did these symptoms incapacitate you to go to work, study or take care of your family?
1. Yes, 2. No
4) Apart from yourself how many people got flu symptoms during the month of April in your family?
(i.e.2)
5) Did you get vaccinated against flu last year?
6) What is your age?

If the first question was answered "No" then the session jumped directly to question 4.

The response rate was around 5.6% (56000 people) which is relatively low, although a large number regarding this type of information. Preliminary analysis of the information shows that it may be prove useful, except for that fact that in many cases the answers regarding dates were the date used by the example (16).

Internet Prioritaria (Critical Internet)

interdocserv@yahoo.com — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:38:35 +0000

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Due to recent budgetary problems, the Venezuelan government has decreed cuts in public spending deemed luxurious and superfluous. Curiously, among the items included in this list is government subsidized Internet access in public institutions such as universities. This contradicts directly previous legislation that made universal access to the Internet a matter of public policy in order to bring information technologies closer to citizens.

According to Article 2 of Decree 6649 the following items are considered luxurious and superfluous and only allowed subject to approval by the Vice-President:

Access to mobile telephony, international dialing, and Internet

Purchase and rental of executive vehicles

Official foreign trips

Contracting of special consultants for auditing, management and legal services, engineering, architectural, etc.

Alterations and renovations of public offices and residencies

Purchase of equipments and technological platforms

Purchase of publicity services and promotional materials

Parties related to public protocols

Floral arrangements and ornaments

The above list speaks for itself and, not surprisingly, has stirred up a lively debate, especially among members of the academic community. Critics of the decree are not against cutting down superfluous government expenditure, such as the purchase of floral arrangements, expensive foreign trips and arrangements of lavish parties. Rather, they are against labeling Internet access and the procurement of supporting technological platforms as superfluous and luxurious items.

By submitting internet use to the consideration of the Executive Vice-president, the decree violates the public policies of the Venezuelan state, since internet was declared a priority in Decree No. 825 and the State has made efforts to use internet for the benefit of efficiency in public administration, health and education. Decree No. 6649 could affect the development of projects linked to information technologies.

Recently, a cyber-campaign with the title Internet Prioritaria (Critical Internet) has been formed around this issue. The campaign brings together people from different countries, areas of knowledge and political views that agree with the view that properly used the Internet to effectively boost social awareness and contributing to national development and finest use of public resources.

Please visit the following links for more information and to support the campaign:

http://www.red.ula.ve/internetprioritaria/en/apoyarnos.html

You can also follow the discussion on Twitter. Search for the hashtag #internetlujo.

Or join the Facebook Group Internet Prioritaria.

Django / GeoDjango

csik — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:01:57 +0000

Hey All, quick note that I did an intro tutorial for how to get Django working on the image. Dan did a great job of installing everything you need to use Django to have a database-aware application and web site, and GeoDjango, allowing that to be geographically aware.

Details here: http://src.media.mit.edu/cfa/wiki/GettingStartedWithDjango