Author Archives: Andrea

New National Monument in the USA

On December 28, 2016 President Obama declared the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. There’s no website for it yet on NPS.gov, but some info is available at Wikipedia.

Boston Globe Big Picture: Bear Ears Buttes in Utah.

“Known as Bear Ears for the pair of purple buttes at the region’s center, the newly proclaimed 1.9 million-acre National Mounument will preserve a photographer’s checklist of high-desert drama: spires, bridges, canyons. Yet the region’s true distinction is not its topography, but its cultural significance; perhaps no place in America is as rich with ancient Native American sites as Bear Ears. In October 2015, a coalition of five Indian nations, including the Hopi, Ute, and Navajo, formally proposed the monument, attempting to preserve the parcel’s 100,000 archeological sites from ongoing looting and grave robbing. Last June, in a letter to President Obama, more than 700 archeologists endorsed the proposal, saying that looting of the area’s many ancient kivas and dwellings was continuing “at an alarming pace“ and calling Bear Ears “America’s most significant unprotected cultural landscape.“ “

(No typos added by me; the Boston Globe calls it Bear Ears instead of Bears Ears.)

Big Data

David Kriesel: SpiegelMining – Reverse Engineering von Spiegel-Online. “Wer denkt, Vorratsdatenspeicherungen und „Big Data“ sind harmlos, der kriegt hier eine Demo an Spiegel-Online.” Vortrag vom 28.12.2016 beim 33. Chaos Communication Congress [33c3] des Chaos Computer Club [CCC].

“Seit Mitte 2014 hat David fast 100.000 Artikel von Spiegel-Online systematisch gespeichert. Diese Datenmasse wird er in einem bunten Vortrag vorstellen und erforschen.

Der Vortrag gibt tiefe und überraschende Einblicke in das Verhalten des vielleicht größten Meinungsmachers Deutschlands. Ihr werdet Spiegel-Online danach mit anderen Augen lesen.

Dazu gibt er einen allgemeinverständlichen Überblick, was mit der heutigen Daten-Auswerterei alles geht. Ihr werdet also vielleicht auch mehr aufpassen, was für Daten von euch ihr ins Internet lasst.”

David Kriesel hat natürlich eine Website mit einer Liste aller Artikel zum Thema Spiegelmining.

Weißer Schwarzwald

We had a friend from the UK staying with us this week and went on a day trip to the Black Forest with her on Thursday. We had a little bit of snow at home (very low, very near to the Rhine river), but there was more than enough in the Black Forest! We stopped at the Mummelsee (elevation 1028m) and climbed the highest mountain in the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde (elevation 1163m). We experienced a few short snow showers, but mostly the weather looked like this:

(Click photos to enlarge.)

US Election hacked?

Deutsche Welle: US intelligence report: Putin ‘ordered’ targeted involvement in US election. “A new US intel report has found that Putin “ordered” a hacking campaign aimed at harming Hillary Clinton’s electability. The report also found the Russian government showed a “clear preference” for Donald Trump.”

Deutsche Welle: Trump tells US newspaper Russia hacking investigation is a ‘political witch hunt’. “US President-elect Donald Trump told “The New York Times” the investigation into potential Russian interference with the election was unfair. After a briefing by intelligence officials, he pledged action on cyberattacks.”

New York Times: After Security Meeting, Trump Admits Possibility of Russian Hacking. “President-elect Donald J. Trump acknowledged the possibility on Friday that Russia had hacked a variety of American targets, including the Democratic National Committee, after an almost two-hour meeting with the nation’s top intelligence officials. Mr. Trump asserted that the hacking had no effect on the outcome of the election.”

New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany

Deutsche Welle:

Germany: Cologne police’s New Year’s Eve security tactics spark political debate in Germany. “A year since the Cologne sex assaults, a debate has broken out after the city’s police allegedly “racially profiled” hundreds of North Africans. Authorities have also been criticized for referring to the men as ‘Nafris.'”

World: Is racial profiling illegal? Depends on where you live. “Cologne police have been accused of racial profiling after targeting men of North African appearance on New Year’s Eve. In the US racial profiling is illegal, but in Germany and the UK the law isn’t that clear.”

Silvestereinsatz: Kölner Polizei-Einsatz: rechtens oder rassistisch? “Hat die Polizei am Kölner Hauptbahnhof Menschen nach ethnischer Zugehörigkeit sortiert und kontrolliert? Es wäre illegal, aber ein Tweet lässt genau dies vermuten. Wieder stößt die Kölner Silvesternacht eine Debatte an.”