Huge interest brings Wikileaks offline
as published by wikinews.org

"The Wikileaks web-site, which publishes sensitive and censored material submitted by anonymous contributors, has experienced unprecedented levels of Internet traffic today through public interest. This interest has caused the website's servers to be unable to meet the enormous demand of over 164 gigabytes of download traffic within twenty-four hours, leading the site to be temporarily inaccessible." » Full story

I'd like to believe all that I read in this article, but I am suspicious for several reasons.

• First, and foremost, just about anybody that gets their news from the Internet has been aware for weeks that the video, 'Fitna' was going to soon be available in one form or another. That means Wikileaks, LiveLeak, youtube, and all the lesser host sites should have been prepared for the surge in traffic.

• It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or super-computer programmer to predict a leak. What hasn't been leaked in the last few years? Every thing from CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, to the private records of the Church of Scientology's 'Operating Thetan' documents has found their way onto the Internet.

• All of the Authorities, corporate or governmental seem to arrive at the same conclusion with little argument or disagreement ( stay calm, be happy ). It's just too...accepting. Too proactive to be real politics ( or show-business ).

LiveLeaks.com was also forced to pull it's video, 'Fitna' yesterday. You can view their video statement that there where threats, and that the decision was made for the good of the many. No one is saying if the video will ever be put back on-line. I have read nothing to indicate that LiveLeaks.com suffered from the same overload as Wikileaks.com. LiveLeaks.com enjoys less credibility than Wikileaks.com, and has suffered large Internet related problems recently ( The UN may have pulled some strings to block them from certain search engines, in retaliation for some scandals created...that's another story... )

A year ago, in February, Pakistan blocked youtube from broadcasting in their country. That's not so bad, but it had the net effect of shutting down youtube ( world-wide ) for several hours. Pulling the plug on a web-site is one thing, but worse things have been happening recently.

And that is the direction I'd like to take today. There are far worse threats to our life-style, and freedoms than the fate of a provocative video, that merely echoes the sentiments of a ultra-conservative fringe of global society. Our own efforts to fight Global Terrorism may actually jeopardize our own liberty. How so?

Besides the death and destruction caused by the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a rapidly escalating 'cyber-war' being fought silently around the world. I say silently, because governments and corporations are hesitant to broadcast their vulnerabilities ( and there are many ). At the risk of sounding like a 'conspiracy theorist', we should all be made aware of a pattern of events indicating that many governments are conducting exercises, maneuvers so to speak on the Internet, and in the blog-o-sphere. Exercises designed for defense against cyber-war, and more active than passive.

In these exercises, one would expect that the Powers would determine a certain level of acceptable collateral damage. That damage would be to our civil liberties that seem to be eroding with every act of censorship. One would also expect manipulation of the media ( Internet ), and propaganda to be a large part of the exercise, as the Powers develop their tools and their skills for larger battles. Provocateurs would most certainly be employed, with or without their knowledge or consent.  Implying that Geert Wilder is a small player, on the much larger world stage. All indications support this theory.

The Evolution of Cyber Warfare;
as published by cfr.org

• "In the spring of 2007, when Estonian authorities moved a monument to the Red Army from the center of its capital city, Tallinn, to the outskirts of town, a diplomatic row erupted with neighboring Russia. Estonian nationalists regard the army as occupiers and oppressors, a sentiment that dates to the long period of Soviet rule following the Second World War, when the Soviet Union absorbed all three Baltic states. Ethnic Russians, who make up about a quarter of Estonia’s 1.3 million people, were nonetheless incensed by the statue’s treatment and took to the streets in protest. Estonia later blamed Moscow for orchestrating the unrest; order was restored only after U.S. and European diplomatic interventions. But the story of the “Bronze Statue” did not end there. Days after the riots the computerized infrastructure of Estonia’s high-tech government began to fray, victimized by what experts in cybersecurity termed a coordinated “denial of service” attack. A flood of bogus requests for information from computers around the world conspired to cripple (Wired) the web-sites of Estonian banks, media outlets, and ministries for days..."» Full story 

• On March 1, 2008 the Armenian Government shut down all media, including the Internet for twenty days. I've been following these events closely, and would speculate that something similar to the events in Estonia was occurring in Armenia. Specifically, a riot was timed to coincide with an Internet Assault.

  While the Internet was indeed shut down, somehow, blogs were posting throughout the blackout. Their Government new this could, and probably would happen, as the people there have a long tradition; samizdat. That's Old School, and those techniques have been replaced by satellite technology. The point is; the Armenian Government had a different reason for the blackout ( necessarily a threat worse than the social unrest caused by the blackout, possibly a coup, but more likely extortion ) and the Armenian Government was a victim, rather than the perpetrator of the ( speculated ) crime.

These photos of former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan were posted by artmika Photos taken shortly after the police are said to have attacked the protesters.

Armenia is still under the strong influence of the Kremlin and a very closed society, unlike Estonia which has moved with leaps and bounds into the western, open model of society. It is appropriate to assume that Armenia would not openly solicit out-side aid, being entrenched in there own, very real shooting war.

These are two examples, of Governments under cyber assault. And the break-down of Wikileaks, LiveLeaks, and the short outage of youtube are  just a few among thousand of assaults on Internet Industries. The number of cyber assaults is growing exponentially, both in frequency, and in the size of the victim.

The Netherlands is a minor battle-field in this new-age cyber-war, and minor battle-fields are used to test new weapons. One of the first victims of war, is civil liberty. Fitna was an exercise in Civil Liberty. The overload was predictable, and will likely be the subject of much cyber-forensics. The collateral damage was in the hearts and the minds of people everywhere.

I should note one major difference between the two examples given, and the removal of Fitna. In both examples, there were well planned and coordinated riots, that took the lives of, and injured many.

Testifying before Congress;
as published at fbi.org

"...it is not enough to prevent foreign countries from stealing our secrets—we must prevent that from happening while still upholding the rule of law. It is not enough to stop the terrorist—we must stop him while maintaining his civil liberties. It is not enough to catch the criminal—we must catch him while respecting his civil rights. The rule of law, civil liberties, civil rights—these are not our burdens; they are what make us Americans..."

Robert S. Mueller, III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Statement Before the House Judiciary Committee

July 26, 2007

• Going Green

• Who gets to rule the world?

• Ralph Nader 2004 PBS interview
• Green Party

     There is a natural process of separation at work continuously, even in our most secure 'social network' relationships. While we enjoy each other’s company, this process may remain dormant. But when one party feels restricted, or perhaps bored, a more aggressive aspect of the process can emerge. Dormant in the sense that no overt attempt is made to separate, but active by omission. A person may begin to neglect the ongoing maintenance of their relationships.
     Tolerance is required in any friendship. When the desire to remain engaged is less than the urge to roam, the level of tolerance my not be enough to sustain a peaceful union. Small transgressions may appear as aggressive, or restrictive. The dynamics of the process of separation may have more control on the relationship than the individual is aware of, or is willing to think about. Conflicts may grow, feeding on available friction that was always dormant in the relationship, but then grow to a point of intolerance. It is near that point of intolerance, that an individual begins to protest; control, manipulation, exploitation, etc. It is after that point of intolerance that open hostility emerges.
      Whether the relationship is a marriage, business partnership, religious fellowship, or even an inter-net social web, there will always be this lurking, dynamic of change that can overpower a person’s desire or need to separate peacefully. When a member of a social network has a separation conflict, some member of the group may seem troll-ish. When a member of a religious organization has a separation conflict, the group may be seen as cult-ish by the one who wants to leave. I suspect that group dynamics are similar, in widely different types of groups or partnerships. And so, programs, agendas and activities intended to welcome an individual, may be recognized as restrictive, negligent, or even abusive regardless of the type of group, or partnership.
     Why can’t people just step away at this point in a relationship? I believe that for some, the relationship may be obsessive, and possibly phobic. Most folks can come and go from group settings  without conflict. But, there are also many people that are both attracted to, and repelled by the intimacy offered by a group. Inordinate desire can be coupled with inordinate fear to produce a certain type of madness that can consume the individual, and disturb a group the person is engaged with. And that madness concerns me much.
     Madness is the theme of this article.
     Have you ever heard this complaint?
     “I’m so sick and tired of you folks saying, ’I could care less’, any one with half a brain would say, ’I couldn’t care less! I can't stand you any more! I'm gone...”
     It's just one example of how one person says 'potato' differently than another, but it can lead to hostility.
     And so another minor conflict grows out of the germ of an irritation. What had been mildly irritating but tolerable friction with an individual in the group setting, has become the pivot point of change in the relationship with the entire group. Why didn’t the person just quietly leave the group? Conflict of desire, perhaps. A maddening need to associate, and separate simultaneously existing within an individual.
     I'd like to explore this phenomenon, in a series of blog entries. In a 'social-network', individuals come and go, some quietly, some with much ado about nothing. I'm sure that many of witnessed some of the more hostile exchanges between members, and are as curious as I am; Why do they make such a big deal about coming and going in such a liberal setting?  To answer some of the questions, I would ask for comments. Examples of this behavior is acceptable ( but please, no names, no flames ), also differing opinions are welcome.
     I've put links in the right column, that will lead you to some examples of folks breaking up. Some do it right, some fail miserably. I'll gladly post any relevant links suggested.

     As this entry is subtitled; Preface, the next entry should be titles Chapter 1.

RELATED MATERIAL

Maggie Mae
Exit Strategy

Contents;

Text

Hyperlinks

Images

Tables

Reference;

Microsoft

Color codes

     This is a brief tutorial, for those of us that aren't computer wizards, but do want to at least appear to be computer literate. 'Getting Started' is the first installment, of what I hope to be an on-going learning experience. As I learn, I will publish. There is a list of codes that I published in an earlier blog, and as I learn new codes, I will up-date that list as well. As of January 22, '08 several of the links you see to the left are innactive ( Hyperlinks, Images, and Tables ). I will activate those links, as the tutorial develops. For a profesional tutorial, click on 'Microsoft'.

      This video demonstrates how to use several of the examples of code found in this tutorial. You may find it practical to pause the video at times, and read the instructions below, that are related to the specific line of code being discussed. In the video, I open a note-pad that contains short lines of code from this tutorial that I use most often. This 'copy and paste' method is no substitute for learning to write code free-hand, but it is a very practical method of using code that you are familiar with.

GETTING STARTED

     Let's start with simple text. These codes will allow you to change the color, alignment, and strength of any text. These lines of code are not really necessary when you are composing a blog entry, because the blog generators usually have tabs on the their toolbars that allow you to edit text color, size, alignment, etc. automatically. But sometimes you need to edit text on other pages of your web-site. Comments on other peoples pages are also a good place to use these codes.

A LINE OF CODE THAT EDITS THE COLOR OF THE TEXT;

     <font color="COLOR YOU WANT HERE">Text You Want Here</font>

     Notice the arrows    >  <

     Type or past any text you want displayed between the symbols
          ( there are a few exceptions;    >    <    &    "   ( Don't use these in text! )

     Notice the parenthesis      "   "

     Substitute the name of any color you want between them.
          Example; "blue" , "red" , etc.

     Or, you can place the six digit custom color code between them.
          Example; "#000000" , will make the text black. ( see color codes )

     After you enter the color between the parenthesis, and the text between the little arrow thingys, highlight the entire line of code with your cursor:
          1-left click on the beginning of the line of code
          2-while holding down on the left button
          3-drag the cursor across the text to the end of the code
              ( this should turn the background of the line blue )
          4-then, right click on the highlighted line of code

     A pop-up window should appear, with a list of options;
          1-left click on the option 'copy'.

     Now you're ready to past the code in a module that accepts html code;
          1-go to your blog, and click on 'compose blog'
          2-look for a little box, that could say 'edit html', 'view html', etc.
          3-left click in that box ( before you paste the code )
          4-left click anywhere inside the borders of the module, and paste your code ( unclick box, to view results )

     The code you paste, is not what will be displayed in your blog! Only the content between the symbols   >  <  will be displayed, modified by the color code you used. At any time while you are editing, you can ‘uncheck’ the ‘html’ box, and view the end result. I toggle back and forth a lot.

ALIGNING YOUR TEXT ( LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER ) ON YOUR PAGE

     You might want to align the text, with the right side of the page, or perhaps center it in a module. This code will do that for you;

     <div align="center">Text You Want to Align</div>

     We can also use a line of code for editing color;

     <font color="COLOR YOU WANT HERE">Text You Want Colorized</font>

     This line of code also has   “  “   and   >  <   symbols. This time, the parenthesis contain the instructions, that tells the blog generator which text color option you want. And again, the arrows contain the text to be displayed.

     Let’s combine the two lines of code, so that the text is centered on the page, AND colored red. I have colored the line of code for alignment blue, and the line of code for color red. You will be pasting the entire red line of code, between the arrows of the blue line of code.

     blue >red< blue

     ( It helps me, to open a ‘notepad’, and do all of the editing of your line of code before pasting into a blog generator, or comment module )

     Start with the first line of code ( align ).
         1-Paste the align code ( blue line below ), in a notepad page
         2-Then copy the entire second line, ( colorize code, red line below ),  and paste it over these words in that notepad;  >Text You Want to Align<
         3-Be careful, don’t paste over either one of the black arrows   >  <
         4 -But, do paste over all of the text between them.
         5-’Uncheck’ the ‘html’ box

     <div align="center">Text You Want to Align</div>

     <font color="COLOR YOU WANT HERE">Text You Want Colorized</font>

     The blue line ( above ), will be combined with the red line ( above ).
     Combined properly, the two lines of code look like this;

     <div align="center"><font color="green">Text You Want Colorized</font></div>

     It should look like this, colored green, and centered, when you uncheck the ‘html’ box;

                                                Text You Want Colorized Here

THE STRENGTH OF YOUR TEXT

     Changing the strength of your text; Put the text, between the symbols below;

     <b>insert text</b>

     Then highlight, copy, and paste the edited line of code where ‘html’ code is accepted. Let’s combine this simple line, with the line above ( colored blue and red ). By inserting the two symbols directly before and directly after the text to be displayed,

     this;

     <div align="center"><font color="green">Text You Want Colorized</font></div>

     becomes this;

     <div align="center"><font color="green"><B>Text You Want Colorized</B></font></div>

     It should display like this, when you uncheck the 'html' box, colorized green, centered, and with bold text;

                                                          Text You Want Colorized Here

SOME FUNDAMENTALS OF HTML CODE

     Five commonly used elements, and how they are assembled
     to form a complete line of html code.

         1 - <div>      </div>
         2 - <font>    </font>
         3 - <div align=“left“
         4 - <font color=“red“
         5 - <font size=“+1“

     Notice;
              <div>     is followed by   </div>
     And;
              <font>   is followed by   </font>

     Those are tags, that start and end a line of code.
     Inserting the backslash     /    changes any opening element to a closing element.
     Nearly all elements must be closed!
     Notice that    =   is immediately followed by   "  "
     Instructions are inserted between   "  "  

         3. - <div align=“left“>
         4. - <font color=“red“>
         5. - <font size="+1">

     I have written a complete line of code that will be displayed;

         text to be displayed

     by placing the tag;

        </font>

     at the end of the line, and inserting multiple elements;

         font size="+1" font color="red" font align="left"

     within the tag   <font >           

         <font size="+1" font color=“red” font align="left">text to be displayed</font>

     The font size= element can be modified. +2 would display larger text than +1.