Day: December 13, 2008

What’s wrong with the Australian Firewall

While the government of Australia may have the best intentions, their wanting to test a web filter to block banned content is flawed in a number of ways. (nytimes.com has a good article on it).

First, it is unlikely to achieve the effect it wants to achieve. Anyone intent on getting around the filter will be able to using P2P networks, as Mike While, the COO of one Australia’s largest ISPs point out.

Second, the government plans to keep the list secret. How will that work if someone wants to legally challenge being on the filter list? And who will keep the government in check in situations where some overzealous censor starts adding sites that are legal?

With the number of countries increasing censorship on the Web, it is only a matter of time before individuals come up with ways to bypass the censorship.

On the joy of owning a tree

I have always loved birch trees. This tree of mine is a Himalayan Birch. I love the name, the exotic nature of it. But more than that, I love how it marks time for me. It marks the seasons. It marks the time when I bought it, how old my kids were when I bought it. It grows old along with me. And perhaps when I am gone, it will still be here, marking time and keeping company for someone else.

When I was a child and my grandfather was in his sixties, I was surprised that he planted apple trees in his yard. Especially when he told me it would likely take five years before any fruit would grow. That was mind boggling for me at the time. Now, I understand why he would have done that.

Be it ever so humble, if you have a chance, I recommend you plant a tree. When you do, and as you watch it grow, you will know why.