“What are social media, anyway?”
For your surfing pleasure:
Vaspers the Grate, a/k/a Steven Edward Streight, offers a quick guided tour of Web 2.0:
How to Succeed in Social Networks 
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Entries Tagged 'Gleamd' ↓
Want a quick guided tour of Web 2.0?
September 30th, 2007 — Pownce, Twitter, Facebook, Gleamd, MSM corruption, YouTube, smiley, LinkedIn, social media, StumbleUpon, Web 2.0, tech tips, social bookmarking, social news, Digg, blogging
You’ll be surprised to hear why Panera Bread and SonicWALL blacklisted Foehammer’s Anvil!
August 26th, 2007 — blog censorship, political correctness, smiley, Panera Bread, SonicWALL, censorware, The Religion of Peace, Islam, e-jihadis, security, censorship, blogging, Wi-Fi, Foehammer's Anvil, cyberwars, Gleamd, Internet
For rolling updates on this topic:
Stop Blog Censorship!
- It looks as though we may have won this battle!
See this comment! - For Round 1 of Panera Bread vs. Foehammer’s Anvil, see
Tell Panera Bread and SonicWALL to Stop Censoring Foehammer’s Anvil!
As I explained earlier this week, SonicWALL is a company that provides content-filtering or “censorware” for the WiFi system at Panera Bread. They’ve been blocking access to the antijihadist site Foehammer’s Anvil, with no explanation given, so I blogged the contact information for both companies, and emailed them to complain about this inexcusable censorship.
I got a response back from Panera Bread telling me to use this form to ask SonicWALL to reevaluate any sites that were wrongly blocked. So I went over there and entered the URL for the Anvil…
Yep, that’s right - SonicWALL has been censoring the Anvil as pornography. Of course, if anybody at SonicWALL had actually bothered to check the Anvil for raunchy videos or ribald humor, they would’ve been awfully disappointed.
Evidently, if some anonymous liar tells SonicWALL that a blog is pornographic, that’s all it takes to get it blocked from a whole lot of places. No inspection, no notification, no appeals process. Several months later, when the blogger is losing traffic and figures that somebody may be interfering with access to the blog, then maybe the truth will come to light. But by that time, the blog owner will already have lost readership and money.
If you’re a blogger, the same thing could happen to your blog. Even if you are not a blogger yourself, and even if you never heard of Foehammer’s Anvil before, the same thing could happen to other blogs that are full of valuable information that you have every right to read.
So go ahead and use this form to tell Sonic Wall to reclassify Foehammer’s Anvil. Obviously, the more people contact them, the better!
But even if they do, the matter doesn’t end there. Clearly, SonicWALL is not the only “censorware” company that has been blocking antijihadist sites.
“What else can I do?”
- Pass the link to this article along to your family and friends.
- Ask them to use this form to contact SonicWALL about Foehammer’s Anvil and any other site that they might be censoring.
- Find out whether these sites are blocked where you work, study, or use WiFi:
- Foehammer’s Anvil
- The Religion of Peace
- Jihad Watch
- The Jawa Report
- Any other antijihadist sites that you want to access.
- If antijihadist websites are blocked:
- Try to find out what type of censorware or content filtering system is blocking your access.
- Here are two quick ways to pass this information along to us:
- Bookmark this link for rolling updates:
Stop Blog Censorship!
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Gleamd: Shed a little light on someone
July 31st, 2007 — Facebook, Twitter, Gleamd, social media, search engine, wikis, Digg, Web 2.0
Looking for the next big thing? We Web 2.0 aficionados hear about the latest and greatest social web applications every day, but each one seems to be described in terms of its competition. Each fledgling “killer app” entering the field is touted as the next “Digg killer” or “Twitter killer” or “Facebook killer.” But here’s an application, still in beta test, whose purpose differs enough from what’s already out there to warrant being considered on its own merits.
What makes Gleamd so different? Let’s start with what Gleamd isn’t. Unlike other fixtures of the social web, gleamd isn’t primarily about its own user base. In other words, if you’re a Gleamd user, it isn’t about wowing everybody with your own multimedia talents, your eye for cool websites, or your nose for news scoops. It isn’t primarily about making business or personal connections with other users, even though you certainly may meet like-minded fellow users on the system.
Then what is Gleamd all about? It’s about promoting other people whom you find interesting and worthy of notice. This can include anyone other than yourself who has at least some presence on the Web, and merits more attention than he or she has received thus far. The media superstars and A-list bloggers already have their ways of reaching the public - this is about promoting lesser-known people who may be more deserving.
Who’s behind gleamd? Let’s hear from developer Matt McInerney, a/k/a mattmc on Twitter, who also runs graphic design website and blog Pixelspread, Twitter sci-fi novella ZombieAttack, among other things:
Right now I’m the only person working on Gleamd. It was my idea that I decided to put together and get out in the world. I created it basically because it was a resource I wanted to use myself. We’ve been featured in a lot of blogs so far, and I hear a lot about “popularity contests”, but to be honest, I really think the site is proving to be more than that. First of all, it’s definitely not HotOrNot 2.0. I wanted to create a meritocracy, so submitted people are going to be judged on their accomplishments. Of course there are the web celebs like Leo Laporte and Kevin Rose that are bound to be submitted, but I’ve been pleased to see that the A listers don’t dominate the popular list all the time. The way we calculate the recently popular, which is based on votes just from that day, new and interesting submissions have been given a chance to rise to the top.
I’ve seen comparisons of Gleamd to people search engines like Spock, but I think we differ by giving our users something to look at. Spock is great if you know what you’re looking for, but you aren’t just going to Spock and find interesting people you haven’t heard of without doing a lot of digging around. Gleamd solves that problem pretty quickly by letting users put in their two cents.
Comparing to other social media or social networks, I don’t think we’re competing with places like MySpace, Facebook, or VIRB. We’re not trying to replace your favorite social networks at all. We’re trying to give you the opportunity to find interesting people and maybe even make connections you would have never made otherwise. Maybe you’ll find someone cool on Gleamd, find them on VIRB, and go add them. Who knows. So while we have profiles and friends on Gleamd, they are kind of minimal, and definetly not the focus of the site.
So how can I get involved? If you want to join the private beta, stop by Gleamd and leave a message for Matt. Gleamd still in the private-beta stage only because it’s very new, not because Matt wants to exclude anybody. He’s eager for more users who want to participate actively and give the system a good workout, so don’t be shy!
Now what? As soon as you get a user ID, you can start inviting buddies (like-minded fellow users on Gleamd), and you can begin submitting biographical information about what Matt calls “interesting people doing interesting things on the Web.” Go ahead and submit some people who aren’t already well known, such as interesting people you know from other social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, YouTube…you name it.
You don’t need to be an experienced writer or blogger yourself to participate; it’s perfectly fine to put in a few words of your own about why the person is cool, and link to other sites such as Wikipedia or your subject’s own blog to round out the details. If you enter a website or email address, the Gleamd editor will automatically post it as a link. Then check one or more category boxes that apply to your subject (e.g., Artist, Athlete, Entrepreneur, Vlogger) and submit the bio. If you realize that you’ve made a typo or have forgotten to check a box, not to worry; you can edit your own submissions later.
What keeps Gleamd from being infested with spammers, self-promoters, and other Web 2.0 bad actors? Matt has explained that Gleamd already provides some safeguards:
- Gleamd has a team of moderators. They don’t intervene to promote or block bios according to their own tastes, but they do weed out the clowns who are spamming fake Viagra or pimping the latest penny-stock scam. Unlike Digg, the moderators at Gleamd are actual, identifiable human beings! You can notify Matt himself or the moderators if you notice somebody abusing the system.
- Gleamd automatically checks for duplicate submissions.
- Gleamd users are allowed to make only one submission every thirty minutes. This hampers the unwanted activities of spambots and pay-per-submission promoters.
- Gleamd discourages users from submitting themselves. In my opinion, this is a good idea, though I have no personal knowledge about how strictly this is enforced.
What would I like to see in the new Gleamd user interface? I’d like to see more robust searching and filtering, perhaps on geographical keys, as well as the ability to see what your buddies have submitted and voted on. That way, when Gleamd scales up to handle a larger user base, each user will have the tools to navigate to the biographical pages that match that user’s interests.
What’s coming next? Gleamd has attracted some investors, so a new user interface is in the offing. There’s also a brand-new Gleamd wiki, where beta test participants can leave comments and suggestions. So if you join the beta test and you think something is missing or needs to be tweaked, go for it!
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Welcome to the New Home of 1389 Blog
July 30th, 2007 — Gleamd, Pownce, Ft. Hard Knox, 1389 Message Blog, 1389 Blog - Antijihadist Tech, e-jihadis, counterjihad, 1389, StumbleUpon, blogging, Slashdot, Blogger.com, Grasshoppers, Wordpress
1389 Blog on Blogspot has been migrated to 1389 Blog on Wordpress.
The WordPress blogging system will allow more features to be added to the blog, but the purpose will be the same. It’ll be an antijihadist/techie blog, as it is now, with emphasis on exposing jihadism and particularly cyberjihadism, and of providing access to the technical news, tools, and techniques that help antijihadist activists to be more effective on the Web.
Other blogs are not affected:
- I blog regularly at Ft. Hard Knox, either as 1389, or under my FHK forum name, AntiJihadist.
- 1389 Message Blog is one place where I post various links that I consider interesting. Others are welcome to use them.
Also see 1389 Elsewhere on the Web.
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1389 Blog Pages Backup
July 23rd, 2007 — Ft. Hard Knox, Gleamd, 1389 Message Blog, 1389 Blog - Antijihadist Tech, trolls, Pownce, Twitter, Technorati, Web 2.0, StumbleUpon, Grasshoppers, Kosovo, blogging
About This Blog
Welcome to the counterjihad!
We offer news, views, and tech tools for the antijihadist activist: Web 2.0, mobile computing, tech tools and tips, confronting e-jihadism, censorship and media spin. We also offer news and information on the Balkans counterjihad, Serbia, Russia, and the Orthodox Christian Church.
1389 was the year of the Battle of Kosovo. The Serbian army, along with some allies, under the leadership of Prince Saint Lazar, knowing that they were about to die, sacrificed themselves to fight the Turkish invasion to a standstill. Their sacrifice prevented much of Europe from being overrun at that time. In their honor, I have chosen 1389 as the name of this blog, and as my nom de guerre.
For the record:
- 1389 Blog - Antijihadist Tech is a team blog. There are several blog authors and admins, including both men and women.
- 1389 is the founder and primary admin. 1389 is a female.
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For more information, please see the following:
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Reference Material
News:
Networking on the Web:
- Twitter 101
- Why Bloggers Need to Ping
- Blog Troubleshooting: “Uh oh, my blog won’t display!”
- What’s an RSS Feed?
Reporting Suspicious Activity:
- DHS “Contact Us” web page
- Citizen Line Operator Number: 202-282-8000
- Citizen Comment Line 202-282-8495
- Mailing Address: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
- DHS “Report Incidents” web page
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Report Suspicious Activity 866-347-2423
- FBI “Tips and Public Leads” web page
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
Detecting and Reporting Wikipedia Spin Jobs:
- Virgil Griffith’s Wikipedia Scanner
- About Wikipedia Scanner and how it works:
See Who’s Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign - Submit the evidence to WikiWatch at Wired.com:
Submit a Wikipedia Spin Job - Government involvement in Wikipedia spin jobs: Biggest Internet Fraud: Wikipedia
Contacting Google Blogger.com:
- Reporting an abusive blogger to Google Blogger.com:
- Look at the top of the offender’s blog for the words Flag this blog. Click on the link to flag the blog as offensive.
- Use the Google Blogger Reporting Form to report the offender to Blogger.
- Contacting Blogger Support directly:
- Google makes it especially difficult to contact anyone at Blogger.com. But at least for now, you can email them at support@blogger.com.
- How to Contact Blogger Support is a website with rolling updates on contacting the elusive Blogger.com.
- Dealing with ordinary Blogger glitches:
- Advice from Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna:
For anyone who has problems: try closing your browser, deleting all cookies that end in “@blogger.com”, and then start all over again. That sometimes clears up problems with Blogger.
- Advice from Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna:
Contacting Google YouTube:
- To send email to YouTube support:
Resisting Blog Censorship:
Stop Blog Censorship
The Voice of Free Speech for the Counterjihad
Welcome to our resource page!
Scroll down to learn more!
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
- Winston Churchill
We Have Tons of Articles!
Want to see them all? Click on this Stop Blog Censorship! category link to view all of our articles about blog censorship and how to combat it, starting with the newest.
Our articles are filled with practical information about what to do if your blog is being blacklisted via censorware.
We also track instances of hacking, threats, and other efforts to muzzle freedom of expression in the blogosphere.
There’s been a real problem lately with people maliciously making false reports to “censorware” providers, so as to inhibit access to conservative blogs, especially those that discuss counter-terrorism issues. We are also greatly concerned with other censorship issues, including the recent examples of fatwas and other threats made against bloggers for publishing political cartoons.
FAQ
- “Why are counterterrorist/antijihadist blogs under attack?”
- We are exposing some truly evil people, and they are fighting back. That’s to be expected.
- If you doubt that our adversaries mean business, put your ears on and listen to Foehammer’s 9/21/07 podcast.
- “What about terrorist propaganda and training sites?
I am in favor of censoring those!”- So are we! After all, we are at war, and we are entirely in favor of taking down enemy propaganda and other communications. These include, but are not limited to, terrorist training and recruitment videos. Such communications are not covered by any Constitutional or other legal protections for free speech. We want them taken down entirely, not merely blocked by censorware!
- At the same time, we work to uphold (or restore) the U.S. Constitutional protections for speech, press, assembly, and petition, and to uphold (or restore) similar protections in other parts of the world.
- Our jihadist enemies have no lack of computer savvy. They are constantly attempting to game the system in various ways, so as to interfere with access to legitimate, constructive political speech in the US, the EU, and elsewhere - particularly counterterrorist and antijihadist speech - often under the guise of “political correctness.” At the same time, they abuse the system - sometimes by hacking, spamming, or vandalizing our websites and blogs - to get their own messages out at our expense!
- The bottom line: We must reclaim control over our own avenues of communication.
- If you want to help get jihadist videos taken down, please visit the following link:
- More details here:
Hankering to go after some bad guys?
- “How do I report a problem with YouTube?”
- YouTube is part of Google, and its management has often been criticized for bias. YouTube has taken down videos that criticize anything having to do with Islam or Muslims, and has allowed overt jihadist propaganda, recruitment, and terrorist training videos to remain available.
- Let YouTube know what YOU think! Click here for the YouTube contact form.
- “What is censorware, and how does it work?”
- For a brief introduction, see Tell Panera Bread and SonicWALL to Stop Censoring Foehammer’s Anvil!
- “How do I find out if my site is blacklisted?”
- You can check your site’s URL with each of the major censorware vendors.
- See Censorware is Outta Control! (Calling All Cyberwarriors) for what to do.
- “What’s with Panera Bread and SonicWALL?”
- Panera Bread offers a public WiFi in its stores, but with a major catch. They use SonicWALL censorware to blacklist a vast range of sites, including many of the blogs that provide news that you can’t get anywhere else.
- See our Panera Bread and SonicWALL articles for regular updates on this topic.
- Also be sure to read Jihad Watch Unblocked, including the comments accompanying that article. If necessary, other bloggers who have been wrongfully blacklisted by SonicWALL or other censorware providers should do as Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch did, and consult an attorney!
- “I’m having trouble with Google Blogger!”
- You aren’t the first! If your blog is locked out or malfunctioning, it may be an attempt at censorship, or it may be just plain old bugs. Our articles can help you figure it out.
- Click here for our Blogger.com articles.
- Our Reference Material page shows how to contact Google about Blogger issues.
- “My website has received a ‘takedown request’ - what should I do?”
- If someone has asked - or demanded - that you take down an article from your blog or website, your first step should be to verify that the “takedown request” is legitimate and is not a bogus request coming from a troll or prankster. (See Musings of Wired Pig 2.1: Takedown Request (Updated) for an example.)
- Be aware of any laws that may apply to the material that you are being asked to remove. If you determine that the takedown request is from a legitimate source, but you believe that the request is unjustified, you would be well advised to consult an attorney.
- “My Wikipedia article has been vandalized!”
- Our Reference Material page has that covered also.
- “I am unable to access a Bible!”
- Our Download page contains downloadable Bibles and links to other sites.
- “I’m being sued by an Islamist organization!”
…or…
“I’m being threatened with arrest and prosecution for blogging!”- Yes, we’re tracking that issue too! We suggest that you start by finding a good attorney. If necessary, set up a legal defense fund for others to contribute to your defense.
- Be sure to contact us so that we can post information about the lawsuit on 1389 Blog.
- More articles about Litigation Jihad.
- British government attempts to silence intrepid British blogger Lionheart.
- “I’ve been banned from Digg!”
- Digg is a world of its own, and not a pleasant one. If your Digg user ID, your blog domain, or your IP address has been banned from Digg, you must be doing something right!
- These articles discuss censorship and other problems on Digg, as well as alternatives to Digg.
- Here’s what Foehammer has to say about Digg.
- Tex and Jenn’s research shows why Digg’s management is not on our side.
- The Fort Hard Knox team weighs in on censorship.
- “What about hackers, spammers, trolls, cyberstalkers, and vandals?”
- Take regular backups, use spam filters on your blog, and use antivirus and antispyware products on your own computer.
- The more traffic you get, the more important it is to moderate your comments.
- “Reverend” Jim Sutter wants to bully us all out of existence.
- Foehammer’s MySpace page was deleted without authorization.
- GM’s Corner has been hacked.
- Are jihadists visiting your blog? Good blog statistics will tell you!
- Our Reference Material page shows how to report suspicious persons and activities, including suspected terrorist activities, both on and off the Web.
- “Are there any proxies or other ways to get around censorware?”
- We have run across some websites that offer information about proxy services, or provide links to sites that do. (See “Other Sources of Information” below.) However, we have not tested these methods ourselves, so we are not in a position to recommend any specific software, service, or method. Nor can we guarantee that your efforts to get around the censorware will be undetected by the censorware firm or your local system administrators.
- Be sure to use an up-to-date source! Censorware firms change and adapt their methods to ward off any attempts to get around the firewall. If you want to try using a proxy, get your information and your software from the most up-to-date sources that you can find.
- Keep in mind that these workarounds do not address the real problem of blog censorship. You might be willing and able to set up proxies so that you can continue to read all of your favorite blogs. But if your blog is being blocked by censorware firms over much of the world, how many other people will take the same effort and risk to get to your blog? The fact is that only a tiny fraction of your potential audience will have courage, the know-how, and the opportunity to set up proxies and use them to read your blog in secret somewhere. This will not propagate your blog’s message to the general public, most of whom haven’t seen your blog and don’t know why it might be worth their trouble to read it!
Visit Sites that Support Our Efforts
Join us and show your support!
Here’s how:
- Click here for the email form.
- Provide your email address and your blog URL.
- Tell us that you want to join the blogroll for Stop Blog Censorship!
- Submit the form.
- On your site, display the badge, the blogroll, or both.
- That’s it!
Click here to get this badge!
Click here to display our blogroll on your site!
Other Sources of Information
Disclaimer: These sites offer information that may be useful to you. The presence of a link in this list does not necessarily imply that 1389 Blog, its primary administrator, or any of its team members agree with, vouch for, or endorse the site in question.
- Current Websites:
- OpenNet Initiative
- Reporters sans frontières (RSF) - Reporters Without Borders
- RSF - Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
- Boing Boing’s Guide to Defeating Censorware
- Censorship Wikia: Bloggers Against Censorship
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
- TOR: anonymity online (EFF)
- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
- Freedom to Tinker
- Committee to Protect Bloggers
- Ronald J. Deibert
- The Great Firewall of China
- Hide It Now
- Archive Websites:
- The Censorware Project (not currently updated)
- HOWTO bypass Internet Censorship (not currently updated)
- MIT Student Association for Freedom of Expression (SAFE) (not currently updated)
- Peacefire (not currently updated)
- Free Expression Clearinghouse (site being replaced)
- Useful Articles and Category Links:
- Pertaining to Specific Bloggers and Journalists:
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1. Display the badge from your own host:
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- While this method is perhaps easier to use, the Word of Blog server has been down on occasion.
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