jorge.cortell.net

In Spain, the conservative PP government is planning to make “passive resistance” a crime (as well as organizing demonstrations using internet technologies).

I have these 4 criminals’ magnetic puppets on my fridge. 2 were outlawed (and had to flee) by German Nazis. 1 had to flee Spanish dictatorship because he was a Communist. And the other one was thrown in jail by British occupation forces for “passive resistance”.

I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.

Mahatma Gandhi

While I am preparing a loooooong post about technology and privacy (with a provocative twist, for a change ), I have decided to play with face.com‘s face recognition technology.

What do you think? On target (hint: no, not on target, I am not THAT old, and definitely I AM a male)? Scary (hint: only if we are unaware of these technologies and their uses)?…

Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport has been having one of those useless scanners that show passengers naked for a while now. But the last time I was there, they were being tested, and most passengers did not go through them. 

Today, though, as I approached the security line, I saw that next to every metal detector, there was one of those scanners. “Wow, this is getting worse”, I thought, while seeing how almost everybody was going through the scanners. 

When my turn came, I stepped in front of the metal detector, and the female TSA agent in front of the scanner told me: 

– Sir, you need to go through here.

– No, I don’t. –I replied– I prefer to go through the metal detector.

– Everybody has to go through here – she replied while a very large woman, a child, and an old man were being told by another (male) TSA agent to go through the metal detector.

– Obviously that is not true – I reply, looking at the line being formed in front of the metal detector.

Sensing a growing discomfort in my interlocutor, and not feeling like the situation called for a confrontation, I decided to explain further:

– I have medical, political, and personal objections to the use of those scanners, particularly on me.

– This sign shows there is no need for concern, sir – she stubbornly tells me, turning a sign that was not readily visible by passengers towards me.

The misleading sign basically said (too bad she would not let me take a picture) something along the lines that the scanner was safe, and it software allowed TSA agents to guarantee our safety. No mention of political, privacy, misuse, or medical concerns.

– Still, I refuse to go through the scanner, and since the metal detector is right here, and working, I prefer to go through the metal detector like those people.

– You then will have to be patted down by a male TSA agent. Is that OK? –She says.

– I don’t see those people who have gone through the metal detector before me being patted down.

– Sir, those are the regulations: if you opt-out you need to go through the metal detector and you need to be patted down.

I decided there was no use in arguing with her regarding the correct use and meaning of the word “need”. I also decided that the accuracy of her claims could be checked later, because going through the trouble of doing it on the spot could make me loose my flight, so I agreed, and went through the metal detector.

The TSA male agent standing by the metal detector told me as soon as I went through (without a “beep” or issue):

– Sir, you need to stand here –right next to him and the detector; there goes the “need” again.

I obediently stand where he points.

– ”Male opt-out on line 14-15!” –he calls for through his intercom.

And I wait there.

And wait some more.

And he calls again.

And I wait. 

And in the meantime, several people go through the metal detector without pat-downs. All kinds of ages, races, genders…

And wait some more.

I move about 3 inches to check my carryon luggage, shoes, laptop, phone, watch and wallet, waiting for me at the end of the object x-ray scanner, to make sure nobody takes anything “by mistake” (since the people that are “taking care of our security” do not seem to care about our property).

– Sir, I asked you to stand right here –he reminds me, pointing to what seem to be directly my feet.

I don’t know if my look conveyed the “WTF” correctly. I wish I could have typed it on my phone’s LED screen app.

He calls again.

I wait.

And wait.

Some 30 minutes later (one thing one learns after decades of air travel and security checkpoints is that there is no point in worrying about missing the flight once you are “on your way”) a female TSA agent comes and says “you pat him down, I got the line”.

So the male TSA agent, very professionally explains to me the whole procedure (his explaining took about double the time the procedure itself), and asks me several times if I understand and if I am OK with that, adding that we can go to a private screening room if I feel uncomfortable going through that in public.

I do feel uncomfortable in public, pat down or not, so the private screening room does not offer me any relief.

Then my luggage gets “screened” and a particle sample taken from my clothes is run through the explosives detector.

All that because I dared to choose? to exercise my rights? to speak up and stand up for what I believe?

I don’t care how difficult fascism (yes, I understand the severity of the word, know its history, and chose it accordingly) makes my life. I will fight, take it, or flee. But I am NOT jumping through their loop. And I will not keep quiet.

[Note: I am writing this while I wait to board my plane. On the TV screen, the news of yet another school shooting. And the CNN anchor woman asks "time for students to carry guns in campus to protect themselves?" WTF!! Yet, no word about the annoying uselessness of outrageously expensive airport security, who by the way NEVER stopped any "terrorist attempt"]

To top it off, I have missed the CUNY Graduate Center talk “The Brain” by Richard Axel and Lawrence F. Abbott.

Peter sends me this (thanks!):

Created by: Paralegal.net

Do you want to improve your online privacy? Go ahead, install HTTPS and Collusion.

Embarrassing. We should all be ashamed. At least we can access his words.

Yesterday I went to the New York Public Library to see Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to her”, as part of a series of Almodovar’s films screenings in the NYPL. But, to my surprise, the screening (and remainder ones) had been cancelled.

I talked to the person in the information desk, and she told me that the collecting society (that would be the despicable SGAE, which does not even deserve a link in my blog) and Almodovar’s Production company (El Deseo Producciones) had raised what they had previously been asking for as royalties or compensation for the (free) screening of the (not in movie theater) films, and the amount they were now asking was so high, the NYPL could not afford it, so they had to cancel the screenings.

Although obvious, my comments, surely shared by most people with more than one money-obsessed-short-term-neuron, are:

GREED: By asking for too much and “breaking the deal”, they get nothing.

SELF-DEFEAT: This does not only work against the publicity of Almodovar’s films, but also generates very bad press.

AGAINST-CULTURE: Forcing a free public movie screening in a not-for-profit library is definitely not defending culture (which is what those people constantly defend in the media and in front of politicians when talking about “copyrights” and “rights”, and “royalties”, etc).

CRIMINALS RUNNING THE SHOW: several members of SGAE’s former board of directors are up to their neck in formal accusations (pending trial) for money embezzlement, corruption, and other “cultural acts” such as paying for prostitutes and champagne and dinners for politicians with the royalties collected, after police investigation in Operation Saga.

And while the PSOE political party made all efforts possible to accomodate SGAE’s requests, demands (like Sinde’s Anti-Download Law, demanded in conjunction with the USA ambassador in Madrid at the request of the MPAA), and privileges, it does not look like the new PP government is going to improve things for culture (PP’s new Culture Minister considers killing bulls in “bull fights” is culture and needs “support and protection” with public money, in time of severe education budget cuts, although most spaniards oppose “bull fighting”) or internet users.

Last Saturday I went to the ArtHack Exhibit closing party at 319 Scholes St, Brooklyn (New York).

Located in an industrial complex in Brooklyn, at night, loooong two blocks from the subway, graffiti all over, small door… that gave way to heaven: young (I was the oldest hacker in that space, but I did not feel that way) energetic happy people tinkering with technology and proudly showing their “toys” (hacks, mashups, creations, or whatever). From the 15sec-at-a-time Star Wars fan-boy movie, to the shoot-the-DJ video game, including the bicycle computer interface, the “swim” in front of a kinect to navigate with a browser, the mesh-connected game-of-life sync router status lights, the iPhone jump-rope, the Tororo figure being sculpted by the MakerBots (Replicator and Thing-O-Matic), the GIF Booth Hack as demonstrated by Ashley and Katie… it was all great fun.

As a bonus, on the way back, I got a twilio tshirt, several stickers (Etsy, MakerBot, Alphaonelabs…) and great photo opportunities of the surroundings. That is what I call a great Saturday evening.

I just installed RePress: This plug-in enables you to magically uncensor any website on the internet from your own WordPress installation. Why and How.

Thanks to Sara, there is a very easy way to add code to your site to protest against SOPA:
Drop the following code in between your two <HEAD></HEAD> tags on your site, your users will be redirected to the blackout page that describes what you are doing and why.

<script>
window.location = "http://protestsopa.org";
</script>

Then, when the protest is over, simply remove the added code. The protest is starting at 12am on 1/18, and lasts 24 hours.