Tuesday 31 January 2012

COMING SOONWorld premiere of The Opiates video for 'Silent Comes The Nighttime (Again)'


This video was made for the Opiates live shows by Ceven Knowles.
The Opiates is the latest project from the "queen of electronic soul" Billie Ray Martin, together with Norwegian musician Robert Solheim. Already dubbed by the press as 'The Carpenters of Electro', their album 'Hollywood Under The Knife' explores paths pioneered by the Chicago house and Detroit techno heroes, (not least Electribe 101), with the aim of taking things forward a step or two. Although Kraftwerk and Yazoo have been mentioned as influences, The Opiates' unique brand of electronic music is not readily categorised. Theirs is a pursuit without compromise; a rare match of songwriting and cutting-edge beats and bleeps.
Buy Hollywood Under the Knife: http://www.billieraymartin.com/?page_id=20
More work from Ceven Knowles can be found at: http://cerusmedia.com
The new official video directed by Jörn Hartmann will be released at 18:00 Berlin time but thanks to Billie Ray Martin it will be available to see here on 'Exile' a couple of hours earlier...

David Hockney: 'I followed reaction to my show on Twitter'

David Hockney poses for photographers during the press view of his Royal Academy show, David Hockney: A Bigger Picture. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images
This afternoon I went down to the Royal College of Art in London, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary. David Hockney, who graduated 50 years ago, was there to show the students David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, a film made by Bruno Wollheim about his blockbuster Royal Academy show. (Incidentally, it only occurred to me when I was there that A Bigger Picture is a reference to A Bigger Splash – doh!)
In the main gallery, students were putting the finishing touches to their installations. There was a table, set as if for a banquet, with models of fantastical buildings behind the place settings and vegetation including a cauliflower "growing" down the middle. Another featured a selection of posters based on the "Keep calm and carry on" meme, with slogans including "Post-human has no privacy settings" and "Would you invest in Slough?".
Amid this bustling activity, I had a quick chat with the great man, who had just enjoyed a fag (you may have seen his latest fervently pro-smoking letter to the Guardian at the weekend) and was, as usual, immaculately turned-out. He had a lovely spotted scarf on and his gold molars glinted as he spoke. His passionate engagement with the modern world, he told me, has now extended to Twitter.
"I watched the reactions to my show on Twitter – I read the reviews on Twitter," he told me. Not that he tweets, alas: "I follow it, I'm an observer on it, but I don't want to tweet because it's too time-consuming, but it's a very fascinating new space.
"The press don't quite describe it right," he added. "It isn't just about a little comment of 140 characters, it's much more than that because it's noticeboards: people post something, it takes you to another person, it moves along. It's very, very new and fascinating. They'll pick it up here," he said – "they" meaning the students.
"I'm fascinated following it all," he added, "and you can follow it in Bridlington. It's isolated physically, which we like, but it's not isolated in any other way now, and it's a more interesting place to follow things, I think. Often stepping back you see more, don't you?"
You do – especially when the pictures are the size of Hockney's latest mammoth canvases. Unsurprisingly, the artist seemed thrilled with the reaction to his show, which has been a massive hit with both the public and his fellow artists, though some critics have been less enthusiastic. "I knew it would get a good reaction," he smiled, tapping my arm. "The show is one actually – one enormous piece, and people who don't get that pick out bits and little points. Not very smart, really.
"Especially for a landscape show, if people are queueing for it it tells you something. I daren't go in now, I'm too deaf to be able to deal with it" – he meant being mobbed by fans – "but we're very, very pleased with the response to it – and I'm not complaining about the press, either. Of course not. It doesn't matter what they say, either."
Hockney said that he didn't have any memories of the current RCA building (next to the Albert Hall) since the college moved the year he graduated. He studied at a building behind the V&A. "All the painters used to just come in and walk round – there's too much security now, so you don't get that. Security kills so much, doesn't it? They don't realise."
He was also displeased when the RCA gave up the studios he used to work in as student: "They had wonderful painting studios with big north light and they built the studio here with windows facing east which was mad. Drawing and painting was the centre of the old college and I don't know whether it is now, but I always think the phrase 'back to the drawing board' tells you something, doesn't it? Drawing – it's still there. Nothing's altered in that way."
I asked what advice he'd give to today's students: "Follow your instincts," he said. "Don't believe that painting's dead, it's photography that's dying or changing anyway, because of technology, just as painting changes because of technology.
"I'll also point out – I mean, I don't want to plug the iPad but they're cheap for what they can do. Some people might think it's a novelty but after a while you realise how you can use it – I mean, it's a camera and video camera all for £450, it's unbelievably cheap actually." But not quite as good value as six minutes with David Hockney.
Charlotte Higgins @'The Guardian'

Nick Cave on The Pop Group

 
I remember being on the same London tube with Gareth Sager, Sean Oliver and Nick Cave after Gareth and Sean had invaded a Birthday Party gig by jumping up on stage and sitting down on the drum riser and just staring out at the audience. Cave was not pleased to say the least...anyway on the underground heading home Nick Cave was doing his best to ignore them and started reading a newspaper at which point Gareth set fire to it...(you had to be there :)
As a certain well known improv musician (who was nameless in the article then and shall remain so now) said in the NME about Gareth 'he could be the sort of person that you wanted to put across your knee and give a good slapping to' or words to that effect...
Bonus: 

Ad Break: Bon Iver 'We Are Music' Grammy Spot

Don’t mess with Dick: Twitter CEO speaks out against Google, censorship, and SOPA

David Rat : Happy Ending

'Miss- Anthropy' an audio chapter from the book HAPPY ENDING. Featuring David Ratt, John Myers, Michael Giblin, Lose Kiebler, Chad Divel.
alrightythen 
They only gave us the Internet because it was a newer, faster way to sell us shit. Instead, we found each other.

FUX

Via

Truth, Justice and The American Way

(Click to enlarge)

♪♫ PJ Harvey - The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore

Don’t let the big banks frame the ‘funding costs’ debate

Land of the Free?

Robert Fripp on 'Ethical Bootlegging' (August 1979)

RG: Are you opposed to people bootlegging...
RF: Yes.
RG: ...your performances?
RF: Yes. People who turn up to Frippertronics concerts need only bring their ears. They need have responsibility to nothing else but their ears. If they're not prepared to get involved in the spirit of what is trying to be created there, they really shouldn't come, and I don't say that in any callous way at all. If the idea is to come along to take photographs, this is not the idea of a music concert. This is a peculiar custom that one should listen to music through the lense of a camera and I don't like being put in a situation where the sound, the atmosphere is being punctured by theft. I understand that on the subject of bootlegging there is this notion that it's preserving music which is perhaps of some value to other people and all those other vague notions. When I recieve the traditional proportion of royalties which a record makes from all the different bootlegs and notice that the ... whoever wrote the music is getting their proportion as well, I shall perhaps look on bootlegging, the... if you like...the so-called public-spirited bootlegging, in a different way. Were I a bootlegger, I would deduct a portion of the royalties for the artist and the writer and send them off anonymously. That's what I should do. I know of no one yet who does that so my suspicions of bootleggers and their motives remain. In fact I've just obtained the address of a man who, against all my requests, bootlegged the Kitchen concert in New York and I'm considering exactly what to do. You see, the traditional approach is that three very large burly men go around and inflict a considerable amount of muscular and organic damage upon the body of the person who's bootlegged this and destroy a lot of material objects. That's not my approach. But I don't like having the idea of working through the traditional dinosaur structure of copyright law and so on but I sense that I may have to do it because in a situation where normal requests from one human being to another in a very straightforeward way, where this isn't met by a decent and honorable response, one is violated and that situation simply can't go on. And it's such a pity that a very, very small proportion of people have led, for example, to increased security at airports throughout the world which make traveling now, for me, personally, almost intolerableand in terms of performance situations the point is that within two and a half years, we shall all be frisked when we go to a rock 'n' roll event...
Via
(Thanx Fred!)

♪♫ Beck - Nicotine & Gravy (27/7/200)

For all those like me trying to give up the gravy cigs!!!

The Big Yin on Zappa

Now that would have been a dream ticket :)
(Thanx MarcS!)

:))

Irene Scott 
this site makes me want to wash my hands...then wash my hands...then dust for approximately the rest of my life
Spencer: For Hire 
. says she'll call national leaders. Umm what leaders?

Leonard Cohen - Songs From The Road

Leonard Cohen - Melbourne 5/02/09
(Photo by TimN)

THE BAND
Leonard Cohen - vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboard.
Roscoe Beck - bass, double bass, background vocals
Neil Larsen - keyboards, Hammond B3, accordion
Bob Metzger - guitar, steel guitar, background vocals
Javier Mas - bandurria, laud, archilaud
Rafael Bernardo Gayol - drums, percussion
Dino Soldo - keyboard, saxophone, wind instruments, dobro, background vocals
Sharon Robinson - vocals, shaker
Hattie Webb - vocals, harp
Charley Webb - vocals, guitar 
What can you say? The re-emergence of Leonard Cohen and the respect that has been shown to him is to me one of the greatest things to have happened in music in recent times, even if it was due to very sad circumstances.
I was lucky enough to catch him twice in recent years and they were two of the most joyous gigs I have ever been to.
His new album 'Old Ideas' starts with the lines:
I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit


But he does say what I tell him
Even though it isn’t welcome
He will never have the freedom
To refuse...
...and to be honest I cannot make up my mind as to whether this is a subtle reference that perhaps he is telling us that this will be his last album or not.
I can hope that it isn't but if there was ever a man entitled to enjoy his remaining years (and may there be many more) then it is Mr. Cohen.  Having said that boy does he enjoy performing as you will see for yourself in the video above.
Also please take time to visit 'Dangerous Minds' where Marc has posted an amazing documentary of the five years that Leonard Cohen spent at the Mt Baldy Zen Centre.
Bonus:
Leonard Cohen: Live at The Isle of Wight (1970)

???

How Spotify Could Restore Emotional Bonds

Julian Assange from forthcoming episode of The Simpsons

Via
(Thanx Gary!)
Uri Horesh 
NYTimes: A Police Training Film About Muslims: 2 Views // So the NYPD film was produced in Jerusalem. I'll say no more.

Biting!

(Thanx Sander!)

Dad of the Year Mass-Texts Teen Girl’s Nude Pic to ‘Teach Her a Lesson’

The 'Exile' editorial team are seriously digging Mr. Cohen today...

Are books dead, and can authors survive?

REpost: Brion Gysin at work

Massive Attack and Portishead (Live @ Bristol Academy February 2005)

Back in February of 2005, Massive Attack and Portishead shared the stage for the first time ever whilst preforming live as a part of the fund raising concert for the Tsunami Crisis in Asia @ the Bristol Academy. It was Portishead's first live show in 7 years at the time.
01. Massive Attack - Intro
02. Massive Attack - Karmacoma
03. Massive Attack - Black Milk
04. Massive Attack - Teardrop
05. Massive Attack - Future Proof
06. Massive Attack & Portishead - Improvisation & Glory Box
07. Portishead - Wandering Star
08. Portishead - Sour Times
09. Portishead - Mysterons
10. Portishead - Encore Break
11. Portishead - Roads

:)


HA!

The Future Bride?


The milky way she walks around
All feet firmly off the ground
Two worlds collide, two worlds collide
Here comes the future bride
Gimme a lift to the lunar base
I wanna marry a monster from outer space

I fell in love with an alien being
whose skin was jelly - whose teeth were green
she had the big bug eyes and the death-ray glare
feet like water wings - purple hair
I was over the moon - I asked her back to my place
Then I married the monster - from outer space

The days were numbered - the nights were spent
in a rent free furnished oxygen tent
when a cyborg chef served up moon beams
done super rapid on a laser beam
I needed nutrition to keep up the pace
when I married the monster from outer space

We walked out - tentacle in hand
you could sense that the earthlings would not understand
they'd go.. nudge nudge ...when we got off the bus
saying it's extra-terrestial - not like us
and it's bad enough with another race
but fuck me... a monster ...from outer space

In a cybernetic fit of rage
she pissed off to another age
she lives in 1999
with her new boyfriend - a blob of slime
each time I see her translucent face
I remember the monster from outer space
- John Cooper Clarke

Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society

♪♫ Dengue Fever - Gendjer Gendjer

Performed by Dengue Fever for "Quick Hits" in a back hallway at Amoeba Music in San Francisco, "Gendjer Gendjer" is about Indonesia, not Cambodia. According to guitarist Zac Holtzman (who formed the band with his brother, Ethan, the keyboardist), the song was originally written during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia during World World II when food was so scarce that people resorted to eating Gendjer, a weed that grew in rice fields.
The song re-surfaced in the 1960s in Indonesia when there was a violent military coup and government crackdown on communists and ordinary citizens -- a period of political turmoil dramatized in the movie, "The Year of Living Dangerously." "Anyone caught listening to or singing 'Gendjer Gendjer' was considered an enemy of the government," says Zac.

The man who hand-draws mathematical fractals

One of the subjects I work with, JP, has acquired synesthesia and acquired savant syndrome. This happened as a result of a brutal assault in 2002, during which he was kicked and hit on the head. He was subsequently diagnosed with a bleeding kidney and an unspecified head injury. What the doctors didn't know was that JP no longer saw the world the way he used to. Objects suddenly did not have smooth boundaries. Things no longer moved smoothly. Motion took place in picture frames. It looked like someone paused and unpaused the flow of the world very rapidly. Even more amazing: JP was suddenly able to see vivid fractal images of objects with a fractal structure (such as, broccoli)...
MORE

U.S. Intel Head: WikiLeaks a 'Terrible Event,' Forced Changes

Global Censorship Chokepoints

Global Chokepoints is an online resource created to document and monitor global proposals to turn Internet intermediaries into copyright police. These proposals harm Internet users’ rights of privacy, due process and freedom of expression, and endanger the future of the free and open Internet. Our goal is to provide accurate empirical information to digital activists and policy makers, and help coordinate international opposition to attempts to cut off free expression through misguided copyright laws, policies, agreements and court cases. Scroll down to see a list of countries currently featured for threatening free expression through copyright censorship. Learn more.
Our site is created and maintained by free speech advocates worldwide. Want to help us grow? Contact us.

Why I hate my band

The unspoken rule of rock ‘n’ roll memoirs — especially ones about drug-addled players who get clean — is that the author tends to mend fences rather than sling mud. Mike Doughty: not so much. In “The Book of Drugs,” the former Soul Coughing frontman writes with a lacerating candor about his family, his narcotic and sexual excesses, the idiocy of the music industry, and, most of all, his former band mates.
This will come as bad news to the small but persistent fan cult who harbor hopes of a Soul Coughing reunion. (And I might as well admit right now that I’m one of them.)
For a few years there back in the ’90s, Soul Coughing was making the most interesting music on the planet, a sonic collage of Doughty’s downtown beat poetry and guitar riffs, the monstrous syncopation of bassist Sebastian Steinberg and drummer Yuval Gabay, and the zany sampling of Mark De Gli Antoni. Doughty called it “deep slacker jazz.” The critics, by and large, raved. But the band minted only a few minor hits before imploding.
Doughty details this implosion in the new book, as well as his own stifling childhood, his descent into addiction, and his eventual recovery via the 12-step program. The 41-year-old has since built a thriving solo career, turning out albums full of catchy pop melodies and droll lyricism.
Salon interviewed him by phone from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y.
MORE

♪♫ James Chance & The Contortions - Contort Yourself (30/8/08)


James Chance & The Contortions performing live at the PS1 Warm UP in Queens, NYC on Aug 30 2008.
(Thanx Joly!)

Chris & Cosey: Different Hurdles To Tackle

Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti should require no introduction to Brainwashed's readers. Members of Throbbing Gristle, purveyors of fine electronic music under the names Chris & Cosey, CTI, and Carter Tutti and dedicated solo artists; there is not much out there that they have not had a stab at. John Kealy asked them about the recent Throbbing Gristle reissues, their current projects and the changing state of acceptability in art.
HERE

Monday 30 January 2012

Hearts On Fire

Via
Geoffrey H. Short

The Verdict of the Herd

Have you ever come across a web site that you could not access and wondered, "Am I the only one?" Herdict Web aggregates reports of inaccessible sites, allowing users to compare data to see if inaccessibility is a shared problem.

History Lesson


MORE

Secrets of the billionaire backing Gingrich's shot at the White House

An interview with William Gibson

Autocorrects 
That sad moment when someone attractive is grammatically deficient.

Gillard: just a matter of when

Dutch ISPs Refuse To Block The Pirate Bay

Two weeks ago, the Court of The Hague ruled that Ziggo, the largest ISP in the Netherlands, and competitor XS4ALL have to block access to The Pirate Bay.
The ruling was the first to bring broad censorship to the Netherlands and in a response XS4ALL said they were “bitterly disappointed”, noting that fundamental rights had been traded for “commercial interests.”
For BREIN, the Dutch anti-piracy group that started the court case, the verdict wasn’t quite enough. The Hollywood-backed group wasted no time issuing requests for other ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay as well. Or else.
After internal discussions two large ISPs – KPN and T-Mobile – are now on record stating they will not honor BREIN’s request. This means that millions of Internet users in the Netherlands will still be able to access The Pirate Bay without having to go through proxies.
Speaking out against censorship, both Internet providers state they will only block The Pirate Bay following a court order and that innovation is a better way to deal with the problem of piracy.
“KPN sees the blocking of websites as a drastic measure for which a court order is required,” KPN said in a statement, adding that innovation is needed to curb piracy.
“KPN doesn’t believe a blockade is the right solution. What is needed are robust, attractive business models that are easy to use and offer a fair deal to both producers and consumers of content.”
T-Mobile also said that it will only respond to court orders, while it emphasized the value of an open Internet.
“T-Mobile strongly supports an open Internet and is fundamentally against shutting off access to websites. Dutch law is very clear when it comes to blocking access to the Internet. T-Mobile will only respond to a court ruling, not to demands from a private party such as BREIN.”
If BREIN follows up on threats that were made earlier, both ISPs can expect to be sued by the anti-piracy outfit in the near future. Ziggo and XS4ALL, meanwhile, are expected to enforce the blockade this coming Wednesday, February 1st.
Whether the blockade will have much of an effect is yet to be seen. Judging from what happened in other countries when the site was blocked, users will quickly find ways to route around the blockade to regain access to the world’s largest torrent site.
Ernesto @'TorrentFreak'

Brownwashing: Why Green Consumers Buy Brown Things

Manufacturers have found a new way to appeal to eco-friendly consumers: Brown it. The Wall Street Journal lays out the trend: Dunkin' Donuts, Cinnabon, and Target are swapping their white napkins for brown ones. Seventh Generation dyes its translucent diapers brown. Cascade has introduced a new, fiber-heavy beige toilet paper it's dubbed "Moka."
When asked why they went brown, companies are transparent: The color "symbolizes" eco-friendliness. Brown paper products have been shown to make people "feel like they were doing something good for the environment." Consumers need "visual differentiation" to know which products are environmentally sound. It's not even so important that a product be brown, just "that it's not white."
The Journal points out the obvious: Brown doesn't necessarily mean green. Today, "white paper can be made from 100% recycled fibers and whitened without chemical chlorine, traditionally the primary complaint against it." Seventh Generation actually adds a step to the production process—brown pigmentation—to make its diapers appear eco. It's not clear whether Target, Dunkin', and Cinnabon's new napkins are any better for the environment than the old ones were, they're just browner.
And at this point, it doesn't really matter: Brown is firmly linked to green in the consumer's mind. Eco-minded consumers now reach for brown, flecked products because they assume less environmentally conscious paper companies would take pains to dye them white. In fact, they may be rushing to tint everything beige.
Amanda Hess @'GOOD'

Scholars speak out in favor of 'electronic Jihad' against the enemy

♪♫ Keith LeBlanc - Major Malfunction

Mysteries of Data Pool 3 give Rupert Murdoch a whole new headache

Just like that...
Not Rupert Murdoch 
Story about how 90% of Australians won't pay for online content....paywalled

Deathmatch on Mars: An Interview with Warren Ellis on Newt Gingrich, Space Realism and Future America

Josh Shahryar 
Finding comparisons of Oakland with Bahrain a bit idiotic? Maybe you should check this out: |

What really happened at Occupy Oakland on Saturday January 28

Arrests in Oakland protests rise to more than 400

Remember...

(Thanx GKB!)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards ®.
Film Awards Won by “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
To date, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” film has drummed up fans all over the world taking home the following awards:
· Cinequest Film Fest: Best Animated Short
· Palm Springs International ShortFest: Audience Favorite Award
· SIGGRAPH: Best in Show
To enjoy “Morris Lessmore” and other Moonbot Apps please visit the following links:
tinyurl.com/lessmoreipad
tinyurl.com/numberlys
tinyurl.com/bullseyeapp
Via

We Have Every Right to Be Furious About ACTA

Occupy Oakland January 28, 2012


Police round up Occupy Oakland protesters outside a downtown YMCA.: Spencer Mills (@OakFoSho)

Journalists—Myself Included—Swept Up in Mass Arrest at Occupy Oakland

Downtown Spokane Street Musician

Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

Leave Los Niños Alone! The Mental Costs of Linguistic Assimilation

HA!

Via

Rap music powers rhythmic action of medical sensor

Calligraphy Letterform Album



Johann Hering (?1580-1647) compiled his album of elaborate calligraphic letterforms, innovative type arrangements and traditional alphabets over a ten year period in the 1620s and 1630s in the Kulmbach region of Bavaria. (Or it was produced sometime during this time frame: it's not clear...)
MORE

Kalligraphische Schriftvorlagen von Johann Hering

Stream new Neil Young & Crazy Horse jam 'Horse Back'...

‘Horse Back’ was recorded at Audio Casa Blanca on Jan. 6, 2012
HERE

:)

Sunday 29 January 2012

Parents and staff in Australian schools have been caught taking kickbacks

♪♫ Christina Aguilera - At Last (Etta James Funeral)

Danny Thompson 
driving up to Glasgow remembering my curly-haired mate.play a John Martyn song today...missing him and the phone calls..love ya! x
Simon Sellars 
'It's like a jingle sometimes' My adolescent memories ripped from my skull & shat on: Grandmaster Flash, The Message - theme for new Kia ad

The Impact of Deleting Five Personality Disorders in the New DSM-5

Fuck Banks. Carry Cash!!!

Michael Hudson: Banks Weren’t Meant to Be Like This

♪♫ Dan Bull - Megaupload


How to be awesome:
1. Download my album : http://itsdanbull.com/face
2. Like me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/itsDanBull
3. Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/itsDanBull
4. Subscribe to me on YouTube: http://youtube.com/douglby
5. Add me on Google+: http://goo.gl/b8N35
6. ?????????
7. Profit
Now you can get the MP3 for free from here: http://mediafire.com/?ennu61ex30ba0bw

Liverpool 2 VS 1 Manchester Utd

What would life be without the usual Ferguson whingeing?

Ex-ruler charged with genocide in Guatemala

http://www.euronews.net/ Guatemala's former military dictator will face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the deaths of indigenous people killed under his rule.
A judge in the south American country has decided Efrain Rios Montt should be held accountable for brutality that occured while he was dicatator.

Topiary

Shetland teenager Jake Davis accused of hacking into websites under the pseudonym ‘Topiary’ has had his trial delayed until 11 May.
Davis was due to enter a plea at Southwark Crown Court in London along with fellow accused hacker 19 year old Ryan Cleary, but the trial was pushed back due to a continuing investigation into the “possible complicity of others”, with the case being described a “significant and complex international investigation”.
Mr Davis was arrested by police in July 2011 at his address in Hoofields, Lerwick, before being flown to London where he spent five days in the cells. He was eventually bailed to his mother Jenny Davis’ home in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
Police identified him as ‘hacktivist’ Topiary, who had been a spokesman for widespread hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec.
He faces five charges, including conspiracy to carry out a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), in which their website would have been flooded with traffic to make it crash.
As part of his bail conditions, Mr Davis is not allowed access to the internet or a mobile phone. These same conditions have carried forward with the new plea date.
Via

Just business: how Russian technology provides the eyes and ears for the world’s Big Brothers

Richard Dawkins’s Jury Delusion

Bahrain deports Australian over Facebook posts

An Australian English instructor went to Bahrain to teach at the state-run Polytechnic University. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave the country for posts he made on Facebook. Australian English instructor Tony Mitchell recently moved to Bahrain where he was offered a job at the state-run Polytechnic University. He described himself as a witness of the various horrifying events in the struggling country (see The Atlantic’s four-part series). Mitchell was eventually fired, evicted, and forced to flee because of posts he made on Facebook.
Bahrain’s government has been extremely thorough when trying to suppress any form of uprising. It has reached the point where the country is getting rid of anyone it can, just in case. At the university, investigations began in May 2011. Bahraini teachers were being identified from photographs taken at demonstrations showing they had attended the protests: Facebook was used to display them and pro-government supporters were asked to identify the circled faces so that they could be traced and detained.
One of the non-teaching staff was arrested and severely beaten, but was able to resume work. Students were also victimized: some were arrested while others were simply expelled. The rest tried attending class by passing through various check points as they commuted from their villages, which were being raided by police who regularly arrested suspects and damaged property.
A few were called to the administration building at the Polytechnic and taken to the nearby military building where they were all put in a room. They stayed in there all night and were interrogated the next morning. Some were handcuffed, hooded, and taken away on a bus, never to be seen again. Mitchell believed he was safe since the comments he had made on Facebook were not critical of the ruling family or the government. He said his posts simply tried to correct false or misleading information. On the other hand, he was unsure if he could continue working at the university if it was run by a government that resorted to unlawful arrests, torture, as well as identification from social networks.
Mitchell eventually received a text message asking him to visit John Scott, the Director of Human Resources, in the CEO’s office. The Ministry of Education knew all about Mitchell, and the comments he had made on Facebook. A number of his Facebook “friends” had kept copies of his posts, and they were presented to him, although he insists none of them could seriously be used to show that he was critical of the government.
Since classes finished in four weeks, Scott allowed Mitchell to continue teaching until June 30. He agreed to not making further comments on Facebook, as he did not want the university or anyone from management to get into trouble for his actions. Here’s how Mitchell felt about being fired: I had been sacked from my job, not because of my teaching ability or for any normal disciplinary reason, but because I had taken videos and made comments on Facebook. I now had to think of my future after June30, look for a new job somewhere and tell my wife that we had to leave our beautiful apartment and the life we enjoyed together in Bahrain.
On the other hand, I felt a huge sense of relief that I had been freed from having to work for the Bahraini government and that I would no longer have any association with them whatsoever.
Despite his promise, Mitchell couldn’t resist monitoring Facebook to keep track of the students that were being expelled. Some comments criticized Scott for the expulsions and for going back on his word that the Polytechnic would remain neutral. Mitchell knew Scott’s hands were tied by the Ministry so he posted the following comment: “I will tell you more about this after June 30th.”
Mitchell’s Facebook “friends” immediately informed the Minister of Education and the next morning, on June 14, he was called to the human resources director’s office and asked to leave immediately. The university had previously booked flights to Thailand for Mitchell and his wife. They were for July 1, but the university was willing to exchange the tickets. Mitchell asked if he could stay through the end of June as planned, but was quickly told he should seriously consider leaving the country as soon as possible. Mitchell and his wife flew out of Bahrain on June 23.
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