Abandon Integrity, All Ye that Gain Power?

If we had any doubt of the reason we need to be extra vigilant in our work, this month has provided them in spades. But there is one thing that ties everything together, and that is the matter of integrity, and accountability. Through all the issues, those that take the lead are never held to account. Often, ironically, they do these acts while trying to hold others to account, in some sort of twisted egotistical irony powertrip.

Early Hands-on with Dotcom's new MEGA

Tonight, the tech world news will contain Mega coverage of Kim Dotcom, as his much-publicised service launches in New Zealand. The launch comes exactly 1 year after the US-led armed raid of Dotcom’s mansion.

I was lucky to get an early invite, and eagerly tested it to see if it has been worth the hype. Is it the new big thing or is it just another file locker?

IPO Rejects Censorship Transparency Request

Colour me UNsurprised. The final decision of the Freedom of Information Request filed after the long, ongoing saga of censorship finally responded. The response of the internal review was to, surprise surprise, keep the sordid details to themselves, and in doing so, they’ve produced what might be one of the most inadvertently funny lines I’ve ever seen in a FOI case.

Alpha Geeks (and Pirates) Explained

LHC's ATLAS detector, with Alpha Geek
 Copyright Maximilien Brice, CERN

For some time, there has been a misunderstanding of how to deal with Pirates, or even just getting their viewpoint. They’re seen as arrogant, hard-headed, brash, and full of wacky ideas. More interestingly, they find it hard to work together smoothly, to find a common consensus. Why is that? Ladies and Gentlemen, the answer is simple, it is ‘Alpha Geek’.

How the Police and Politicians Can Regain the Public Trust.

CC-BY Thunderchild7

A few months ago, I asked what we should do about law enforcement officials that broke the law in a piece called "Is it time to police the police?". It’s taken me some time, but now I've compiled the responses and got some suggestions to float to the global hive-mind that peruses FoI (and my own site)

First, let’s be clear. Not all cops are ‘dirty’, but at the same time, not all citizens are criminals. Yet since it’s considered acceptable that in many western countries, you have to prove you’ve done no wrong to a police officer, rather than they have to prove a criminal act has been committed, it’s only fair to consider them the same way.