Anti-austerity parties soar in Spanish elections as Greece threatens default Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow Two new, anti-establishment parties (including one that grew out of the indignados movement — a kind of Spanish precedent to Occupy) took key seats in regional and municipal elections in yesterday’s Spanish election, which is a kind of dress rehearsal for the … Read more
How Richard Stallman does his computing kottke.org by Jason Kottke Richard Stallman, the free software activist and author of some of the world’s most used and useful software, probably uses his computer and the Internet a lot differently than you do. For starters, ethics and privacy concerns trump his need for convenience. EZTV Shuts Down After Hostile … Read more
Stage set for biggest-ever Eurovision BBC News | Europe | World Edition Sweden, Russia and Italy are among the favourites to win the 60th annual Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place in Vienna later. Juncker greets Orbán with ‘Hello dictator!” EurActiv.com European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker teased Hungarian Premier Viktor Orbán over his strongman reputation Friday, jokingly … Read more
MAIN FOCUS: EU at odds over refugee quotas | 12/05/2015 euro|topics The European Commission will present plans for a quota system that distributes refugees among the 28 member states on Wednesday. Several countries oppose the initiative. This is the right response to the refugee crisis, some commentators note approvingly. Others argue that Brussels is overstepping its … Read more
VIDEO: Policeman punches journalist on May Day Turkish authorities have launched a probe into a policeman who was filmed while punching a journalist during a demonstration Press freedom: the dark cloud gathering over Europe open Democracy News Analysis – by Thorbjørn Jagland Today is a day to celebrate free media expression—except for those journalists, even in Europe, … Read more
Your Mobile Phone can Detect Earthquakes Digital Inspiration Technology Blog by Amit Agarwal Was it just you or did the ground really shake? Your iPhone, iPad and most newer mobile phones can work as basic seismometers, the same instrument that is used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes and volcanoes. You don’t need to install any apps, just … Read more
Why the Finnish elections matter for Europe Open Europe blog by Mats Persson Why the Finnish elections matter for Europe The Finnish elections on Sunday are unlikely to lead to a radical change in the country’s Eurozone policy – however, they will still have relevance for the rest of Europe. Mats Persson investigates. Finland elections: Candidate putting … Read more
EU tackles Google over search ‘abuse’ BBC News | Europe | World Edition The European Union’s competition commissioner has announced details of its case against Google over its search engine. 400 immigrants drown off of Libya, say survivors EurActiv.com Up to 400 illegal migrants died after their vessel capsized off the Libyan coast on Sunday (12 April), … Read more
How the Pirates in Germany have lost their way open Democracy News Analysis – by Alessio Colonnelli Is there any connection between the decline of the Pirate Party and the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany? MAIN FOCUS: Milk quotas come to an end | 01/04/2015 euro|topics The EU will abolish the milk quota system … Read more
Infographic based on ICO FOI request data by Egress Software Technologies, providers of email security as well as large file transfer and encryption software. Twitter Data Mining Reveals the Origins of Support for Islamic State MIT Technology Review Studying the pre-Islamic State tweets of people who end up backing the organization paints a revealing picture of … Read more
New version of SecureDrop, open-source whistleblower submission system originally created by Aaron Swartz Boing Boing by Trevor Timm At Freedom of the Press Foundation, we’re excited to announce the release of a brand new version of SecureDrop, our open source whistleblower system which media organizations can use to communicate and receive documents from sources. Facebook has open sourced … Read more
MAIN FOCUS: Merkel and Tsipras seek conciliation | 24/03/2015 euro|topics Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted a conciliatory tone in Berlin on Monday, after politicians and media in both countries repeatedly attacked each other in recent weeks. Finally Tsipras has realised that he needs Merkel, some commentators write in delight. … Read more
Pirate Party Becomes Iceland’s Most Popular Political Party TorrentFreak On January 1, 2006, Rick Falkvinge founded the Swedish and first Pirate Party. The party has survived more than nine turbulent years while provoking heated discussion on copyright reform, privacy and freedom of speech. Icelandic Pirates soar: citizenship for Snowden? Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow The Icelandic Pirate … Read more
Most of web users may be aware of but Friendfeed had a real role in Turkish cybersphere. I have followed many power users there. I have learnt a lot. I wonder where this bunch of power users will migrate. They already have Twitter accounts but I guess it is never the same thing… Facebook is killing … Read more
Why we occupy: Dutch universities at the crossroads open Democracy News Analysis – by Enzo Rossi, Johan Hartle, Robin Celikates and Nicholas Vrousalis The Netherlands, a mere 10 years behind the UK, seems eager to catch up. Twin pressures of authoritarianism from above and neoliberalism from below make it necessary to develop the democratic alternative put … Read more