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request for whitty article
by Denise Carter 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

is there anyone with a copy of this article they could let me have please regards denise Whitty, M.T. (2002). Liar, Liar! An examination of how open, supportive and honest people are in Chat Rooms. Computers in Human Behavior, 18 (4), 343-352.

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Re: Denial of Service attack against al Jazeera
by Alexandra Samuel 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

A few points to keep in mind re: the downing of the Al Jazeera web site this week: 1) There were reportedly 2 different incidents. One was a loss of service that was probably due to a denial of service attack, but could conceivably be due to a traffic overload. If it was a denial of service attack, it could (and most likely was) the work of just one or two crackers. The other was a domain hijacking in which would-be visitors to Al Jazeera's web site were redirected to (over time) a few different sites, including ones featuring porn and pro-US slogans. 2) This kind of thing has become a totally standard part of international conflicts. Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis, and Chinese and US crackers have defaced and attacked each other's sites for years. Nobody should be very surprised to see Arab OR American sites attacked these days, and frankly, it's not worth reading too much into these kind of attacks. Experience with other conflicts suggests that this kind of activity is mostly undertaken by teens or young men (mostly men), working alone or in very small groups. It's hard to judge whether they speak for many Americans. 3) There's no reason to assume that the US government is behind these attacks, even if some people with .mil addresses were encouraging such behaviour (for which I'd want to see some hard evidence, anyhow). The only evidence of any government-backed hacking was some stuff against Falun Gong web sites, a few years ago, that might have been backed by China...and even that was sketchy. If anyone found real evidence that the US government was sponsoring this hacking it would be interesting, but surprising....As the reactions on this list indicate, it's not the most effective way of selling a message. These are certainly not the last such attacks we'll see as the war wears on. I think the most important thing to remember, and to underline for students and for the media, is that this is NOT "cyber-terrorism". It's more like cyber-graffiti. After all, nobody got physically injured or even endangered by the attacks on the Al Jazeera web site. Wish I could say the same for what's going on in the Iraqi desert... Alex -- Alexandra Samuel samuel(a)fas.harvard.edu http://www.alexandrasamuel.com

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Re: lt-smash.us 'fraud'
by Bram Dov Abramson 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

JASON NOLAN <jason(a)jasonnolan.net>, 30-3-2003: >I found out that although CNN says that lt-smash >is a popular blog of a solder who has been in the US for months, the >blog is probably a fake. Running the Unix whois command shows that >the blog was started after the war started (created March 21) and >that... ... it may well be a fake, of course. But it seems that lt-smash.us was previously at lt-smash.com (registered 26 Dec 2002), and perhaps on some subdirectory before that. A google search (lt-smash and hosting) turns up an lt-smash thank-you to a "Kevin and his brother in California again for registering and hosting this web site for me", and another "We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the folks over at Chinpokomon.com for graciously hosting this site and helping to maintain the author's anonymity." Chinpokomon.com turns out to be the personal site of a "Kevin" who "used to have a job doing computer stuff in San Diego - and I will get it back when I return." Kevin presented himself in October 2002, when registering the chinpokomon.com domain name, as Kevin Mickey of La Mesa, California. And so on. cheers Bram

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protest records
by Nancy Baym 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

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call for nominations: Technology Innovator Award
by Cogdill, Sharon E. 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

Technology Innovator Award The CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication will honor an innovator in our community at the 2003 Computers and Writing Conference at Purdue University, and we need your help to identify a person who has pushed our field to better excellence in teaching, more rigorous scholarship, and deeper levels of service. Among other qualities, this year's innovator will be the person who has done the most to help other teachers use computer-mediated learning and teaching and has served as a mentor to those new to computers and composition. In more friendly terms, this award might be called the Troublemaker Award. This year's recipient should be a person who pushes the envelope, who moves us beyond the cutting edge to the bleeding edge, who is willing to open the technological Pandora's Box, knowing full well that the challenges and work that we'll meet as that Box is opened will strengthen our community and make our classes better. The recipient of the Technology Innovator Award might be referred to as a living legend, an outstanding leader, or an electronic pioneer who calls our assumptions into question, urging us to engage in an active search for new and exciting ways to accomplish our pedagogical goals in the composition classroom. Successful nominees for the award might be independent scholars; graduate students; adjuncts; contract staff and academic professionals; contingent faculty; tenure-track faculty; scholars at community colleges; teaching colleges; other non-research based institutions; and other non-tenured individuals. Criteria for the Award The recipient of the Technology Innovator Award - has made a groundbreaking or foundational contribution to the field of computers and composition - demonstrates outstanding teaching achievements with computer technologies - provides on-going support and encouragement to the community, in particular to those who teach with computer technologies - contributes to the field through scholarship & publication in print and electronic media (including such media as journal articles, discussion lists, hypertexts, book authorship, and editorial work) Method of Selection Nomination Process A nomination should consist of a message which includes specific details on the nominee's award qualifications. Nominations should contain information on accessing materials that demonstrate the nominee's work. Nominations can be submitted by an individual, a group of individuals, or a professional organization or (e.g., the Assembly for Computers on English, the Alliance for Computers and Writing, or the CCCC Caucus on Intellectual Property and Composition). Self nominations are encouraged. Nominations may be sent to: Keith Dorwick, Asst. Professor Department of English The University of Louisiana at Lafayette P.O. Box 44691 Lafayette, LA 70504-4691 Nominations for the Technology Innovator Award may also be sent via email to 7C's Awards Committee at innovator(a)louisiana.edu. DEADLINE: April 27, 2003.

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Perceptions: Where Al-Jazeera & Co. Are Coming From
by Karim R. Lakhani 29 Mar '03

29 Mar '03

A very nice, thoughtful and disturbing commentary on Al-Jazeera and the rest of the Arab media in WashPost. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45183-2003Mar28.html I am my self very conflicted about this type of coverage. On the one hand I cringe at the sight of such carnage and blood and think that it is just "political porno." However on the other hand I think that we should all be witnesses to the true cost of war on both sides. War is *not* a video game and I now am reflecting about all the violent PS2 games I have played and how much desensitized I may have become after numerous hours of playing GTA3 and the many first person shooter games. Kind of depressing. K

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lt-smash.us 'fraud' Re: War blogs from US soldier
by JASON NOLAN 29 Mar '03

29 Mar '03

>Message: 3 >Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 13:39:11 -0800 (PST) >From: "robert m. tynes" <rtynes(a)u.washington.edu> >To: air-l(a)aoir.org >Subject: [Air-l] Re: War blogs from US soldier >Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > >Has this one been posted yet? ...a war blog from a US soldier... > >http://www.lt-smash.us/ > >-robert In preparation for an interview with CBC radio (Canada's NPR) I did some searching, and I found out that although CNN says that lt-smash is a popular blog of a solder who has been in the US for months, the blog is probably a fake. Running the Unix whois command shows that the blog was started after the war started (created March 21) and that... oh, here's the information: http://jasonnolan.net/archives/001916.html#001916 It may be real, but with all the well known warblogs that predate the war and are done by people who are less anonymous, I wonder. But then again, I !believe everything I read online ex officio.

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lt-smash.us 'fraud' Re: War blogs from US soldier
by JASON NOLAN 29 Mar '03

29 Mar '03

>Message: 3 >Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 13:39:11 -0800 (PST) >From: "robert m. tynes" <rtynes(a)u.washington.edu> >To: air-l(a)aoir.org >Subject: [Air-l] Re: War blogs from US soldier >Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > >Has this one been posted yet? ...a war blog from a US soldier... > >http://www.lt-smash.us/ > >-robert In preparation for an interview with CBC radio (Canada's NPR) I did some searching, and I found out that although CNN says that lt-smash is a popular blog of a solder who has been in the US for months, the blog is probably a fake. Running the Unix whois command shows that the blog was started after the war started (created March 21) and that... oh, here's the information: http://jasonnolan.net/archives/001916.html#001916 It may be real, but with all the well known warblogs that predate the war and are done by people who are less anonymous, I wonder. But then again, I !believe everything I read online ex officio. -- ------ Jason Nolan, PhD Knowledge Media Design Institute Bahen Centre for Information Technology University of Toronto --- mailto:jason@jasonnolan.net phone:416-946-8513 http://jasonnolan.net/

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ICT & young protest movement in Berlin
by Frank Thomas 29 Mar '03

29 Mar '03

The authors of the following article published in German by DER SPIEGEL and translated in today's New York Times link the mobilisation of young Germans for the peace movement and their use of SMS and the Internet. I guess the real effect of these ICTs is on the speed of mobilisation. There already was a peace movement a couple of years before anyone dreamed of the Internet. Frank Thomas The Gulf War Generation March 25, 2003 By DER SPIEGEL Most of those involved in the peace movement are young people. A genuine and simple faith in the good is taking the place of ideology. ... Last Thursday, seven hours after the start of war in Iraq, 50,000 demonstrators surged out of the U-Bahn [subway] tunnels at Alexanderplatz and the Friedrichstrasse train station. By the time the police, who were taken by surprise, managed to block access to all vehicular traffic, the young peace marchers had already arrived at the Brandenburg Gate. ... The effects of ideological disarmament on the new protest culture vary. ... In Leipzig where 30,000 people are once again routinely coming to the Monday Demonstrations, Pastor Christian Führer had to explain to the newcomers that one does not make telephone calls or applaud in a House of God. ... Professional guidance and support is only requested from the organizers. ... The basic data can be accessed on their Internet Web pages - the rest is done through the demonstrators’ own means of communication. This new form of mass movement would be inconceivable without the Internet, cell phones, or SMS. And when like-minded people from Tokyo, Sydney, and Rome penetrate the Berlin youth scene via e-mail chain letters, you get the feeling they’re helping turn the political setscrews on an international level. ... STEFAN BERG, ALEXANDER KÜHN, CAROLINE SCHMIDT http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/international/europe/25SPIEGEL.html?ex=10…

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Re: Denial of Service attack against al Jazeera
by Alexandra Samuel 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

A few points to keep in mind re: the downing of the Al Jazeera web site this week: 1) There were reportedly 2 different incidents. One was a loss of service that was probably due to a denial of service attack, but could conceivably be due to a traffic overload. If it was a denial of service attack, it could (and most likely was) the work of just one or two crackers. The other was a domain hijacking in which would-be visitors to Al Jazeera's web site were redirected to (over time) a few different sites, including ones featuring porn and pro-US slogans. 2) This kind of thing has become a totally standard part of international conflicts. Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis, and Chinese and US crackers have defaced and attacked each other's sites for years. Nobody should be very surprised to see Arab OR American sites attacked these days, and frankly, it's not worth reading too much into these kind of attacks. Experience with other conflicts suggests that this kind of activity is mostly undertaken by teens or young men (mostly men), working alone or in very small groups. It's hard to judge whether they speak for many Americans. 3) There's no reason to assume that the US government is behind these attacks, even if some people with .mil addresses were encouraging such behaviour (for which I'd want to see some hard evidence, anyhow). The only evidence of any government-backed hacking was some stuff against Falun Gong web sites, a few years ago, that might have been backed by China...and even that was sketchy. If anyone found real evidence that the US government was sponsoring this hacking it would be interesting, but surprising....As the reactions on this list indicate, it's not the most effective way of selling a message. These are certainly not the last such attacks we'll see as the war wears on. I think the most important thing to remember, and to underline for students and for the media, is that this is NOT "cyber-terrorism". It's more like cyber-graffiti. After all, nobody got physically injured or even endangered by the attacks on the Al Jazeera web site. Wish I could say the same for what's going on in the Iraqi desert... Alex -- Alexandra Samuel samuel(a)fas.harvard.edu http://www.alexandrasamuel.com

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