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Från och med den första december 2009 är Sverige en övervakad nation – det är då som FRA får tillgång till en stor del av vår Internet- och mobiltrafik.
Detta kommer att få ett antal konsekvenser. De mest påtagliga är att flera grundläggande rättigheter i praktiken kommer att sättas ur spel. En självklarhet som brevhemligheten kommer efter den första december 2009 inte att existera på Internet. Även andra grundlagsskyddade rättigheter som källskyddet är starkt hotat. Många organisationer har skarpt protesterat mot FRA-lagen, däribland Journalistförbundet och Advokatsamfundet. En majoritet av det svenska folket är emot FRAs avlyssning.
Flera juridiska experter uttrycker sig dessutom mycket tveksamt till om FRA-lagen är förenlig med Europakonventionen, dvs. den europeiska konventionen angående skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Sverige har förbundit sig att följa den konventionen och rimligtvis bör lagen alltså prövas i Europeiska domstolen för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Telia ansvarar idag för en majoritet av den trafik som FRA kommer att vilja avlyssna. Därför uppmanar vi Telia: ta FRA-lagen till domstol.
Earlier this week I spent time with one of my clients. He needed help with his computer, and I happily spend time doing this for him since he and his wife are wonderful people and I always enjoy helping them. The help consisted of upgrading his computer to the latest Ubuntu (yes, I converted him to open-source this summer and he hasn’t complained a bit since then) and installing his new printer.
The upgrade was completely uneventful and a complete success. Lasse (my client) was impressed at how easily it was done, and how little complications arose.
The printer was a different story though, we just couldn’t get it to talk to the computer. I returned the next day bringing a laptop, and -long story short- came to the conclusion that it probably was a bogus cable. Off to the computer store, bought a new cable and presto – printer was detected by Ubuntu and installed in about five seconds.
But that’s not the point of this posting.
Lasse has a penchant for collecting old pseudo-medical equipment from the early part of the 20th century. Think weird medical gadgets from before the first world war and you’re spot on. These are some seriously weird gadgets, and I doubt they had any kind of medical benefits, but they’re fascinating to look at.
He showed me this one thing, I have no idea what it is, but I called it the zapper. It’s an electric transformer in a very pretty velvet-lined case. The transformer plugs into the wall, and into the transformer is a kind of plug. This plug accepts any of the glass doodads that you can see in the case.
These weird glass vials are apparently filled with an inert gas of some kind. When plugged into the socket, they light up, buzz rather violently and exhibit a number of different effects when held close to either the transformer or human skin. According to the manual these prongs and vials were used on the body for various vague medical benefits.
We both found it rather amusing, and it was quite obvious that it probably impressed the hell out of common people back before WW1. However, we both agreed that eventual medical benefits were quite probably completely placebo.
The thing made me quite nervous though. It hummed like a doomsday-device and depending on the plug in the socket it either shot sparks or buzzed and glowed rather ominously when you put it close to your skin. The air filled quickly with the smell of ozone. None the less it was quite fascinating and interesting.
I also filmed two short movies that I’ve youtubed here for your please. This way you’ll get a better idea of what this thing look and sound like.
I have no idea what the purpose of the plug in the top video is, but the one in the lower video was apparently supposed to be used for dentistry! It had a chamber at the top that according to the manual was supposed to be filled with some liquid and then you could stick it in the patients mouth and cure toothache and other ailments.
Now, I don’t know about you but I would NEVER put that thing in my mouth.
I watched the premiere of the remade V earlier today. Setting aside my annoyance at the volume of television series being greenlighted in contrast to how little truly original programming (most things seem like either remakes or different versions of things that already has been done) we see today, I still felt this was a somewhat entertaining investment of time.
And I think PVP hit the head on the nail of how it would happen if it was real. We’re such a bland and media-soaked society that the aliens would have to do this in order to get our attention.
… of the season is melting away outside. Although, this isn’t really the first snow. The real first snow came the other day, but melted before it hit the ground.
I like snow. I like it because it brightens our northern world a bit. I like it because it means cozy mornings. I like it because it is winter, and winter means movie-nights with friends, hot chocolate, christmas, new years.
Of course, in March I’ll hate it. Just like I always do. But for now, I love it.
I’ve been trying to salvage the contents of a friends dying laptop. Unfortunately this has not been possible since something corrupted the filesystem (NTFS) beyond functioning, and the dying harddrive didn’t make it any easier.
This project begun last night, some time after midnight and when I decided to take a break for sleep and such things I began to wonder where my cat had gone. I couldn’t see here in any of her usual spots, so I turned on the light and discovered that indeed she was in one of her usual spots. The only problem was that I’d placed my friends laptop-bag on that very spot, and apparently the cat had figured it was a decent place for a nap anyway.
Of course it was mostly since I’d put the bag in her favorite spot, but amusingly enough she kept sitting in it even earlier today when I moved the bag from the couch and dumped it onto the floor. She simply moved into it and it wasn’t until about an hour ago that she lost interest in it.
