Slashdot Mirror
Kazakhstan Disables the Internet , Telecomix Restores
bs0d3 writes "In the face of oil protests on their 20th independence day, Kazakhstan has blocked the internet and disabled cellphone towers in the city of Zhanaozen. As with previous internet blackouts, hactivist group telecomix is putting together free dial-up servers for people blacked out in this region."
Other than e-mail, what is the best way to get your message across (probably text only) to the largest number of people?
Some sort of newsgroup, bulletin board? Or is it twitter? (But then you need to have a following right? I don't know, I don't tweet).
Heaven forbid that we (in the democratic west) ever face this problem but maybe while traveling we might face a situation where just getting a few characters out of info could mean a world of difference. I'm reminded of the time when that Israeli scientist who blew the cover on their nuclear program was caught. As he was being transported via a van in front of a bunch of photographers, he pressed his palm up to the glass where, clearly legible, was a short message (I think it said where he had been kidnapped). I think there was another short message sent by a journalist right when he was being taken in by the Egyptian police (a long time ago) which helped keep him from "disappearing".
Hope that never, ever happens to me. Maybe having a tiny USB modem should be part of my travel kit.
Have not been repeated yet. People have been hurt. It's only a matter of time before some Occupy kids decide they've had enough and actually fight back; if some of the cops are willing to assault completely peaceful protesters, what will they do given a reason to be afraid? It seems very unlikely to me that they will suddenly become professionals with a modicum of restraint. It doesn't take a corrupt police force; just one coward with a gun. We've already seen that those are being deployed to these events. I think it is inevitable unless the protests die out fairly quickly.