My predictions for 2013

Last year I didn’t make any detailed predictions for the year (though I did for the decade). For 2013 I will.

(1) Bashar al-Assad will no longer be president of Syria by the end of the year

The best-case scenario (from his point of view) is to be in exile with a few million dollars and a guarantee he won’t be prosecuted. While he deserves to be prosecuted, this option would save a lot of suffering and shorten the war.

The worst case scenario would be for him to be lynched by an angry mob like Gaddafi was.

Somewhere in the middle would be for him to be holed up in an Alawite rump state along the coast, with his government no longer recognised as Syria’s government by the international community.

(2) More computing devices will be shipped with Linux than Windows

This is particularly due to the rise of Android.

(3) The Pirate Party will get elected to the lower house of a national parliament

Germany is the most likely country here. In general, public awareness and support of Pirates will increase worldwide.

Edinburgh Pirate Party: Christmas Drinks

Tuesday, December 11th from 7pm onwards, in the Links Hotel, Bruntsfield. Details here.

Facebook: snitchgate!

Reblogged from Paul Bernal's Blog:

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A story about Facebook went around twitter last night that provoked quite a reaction in privacy advocates like me: Facebook, it seems, is experimenting with getting people to 'snitch' on any of their friends who don't use their real names. Take a look at this:

Facebook has had a 'real names' policy for a while: this is what their 'Help Center' says on the subject:

Read more… 1,068 more words

Facebook wants its users to snitch on their friends

Is This You?

Tom Scott did a presentation on what privacy (or lack of it) will be like in 10 years time:

Edinburgh Pirate Party meeting, Wed 5 September

Edinburgh Pirates will be having an informal meeting on 5 September starting at 7pm in the Regent Pub.

All Pirates are welcome, as is anyone interested in the Pirate Party or who just wants to talk with us.

Details are on the Edinburgh Pirates website.

German Pirates come to Edinburgh

Reblogged from 3 Men In A Blog:

Scottish Pirate Party (http://edinburgh.pirateparty.org.uk/ ) activists met with fellow Pirates from Germany in Edinburgh this week.

Edinburgh spokesman Philip Hunt explained the meeting as a preliminary affair.

The German Party is the most successful electorally with politicians in the regional/States legislatures and is reaching out to other European Pirate Parties to develop international links. Activists Martina Poser from Bremen & Hauke Holtkamp from Munchen explained the Pirates recent electoral success.

Read more… 22 more words

Some photos of Monday's Edinburgh Pirates meetup

Edinburgh Pirate meeting, Mon 16 Jul

Edinburgh Pirate meeting, Mon 16 Jul.