Comments on: Would you follow Anne Frank?

By: Rob Champion

Rob Champion — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:32:08 +0000

………Day 234: Stayed inside, Day 235: Stayed inside, Day 236: Stayed inside………..Day 541: Wait did I hear German?” @ends@

@rob There’s more to Anne than just hiding too.

By: v

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:59:32 +0000

oops! should have used my security software first- dangit! it’s slovenia!

By: v

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:51:36 +0000

tomaz, what country are you originally from? i’m going to guess poland, but i’m going to further guess that you moved to australia before the age of 10. so i will also guess that if you are 30 to 40 years old, that you were born around 1970 to 1980, which means that you lived under communism for around 10 years or less. is this correct? however, putting poland into your blog search does nothing, and i can’t believe you wouldn’t blog about something like that, so i may be totally off.

By: Tomaz Lasic

Tomaz Lasic — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:15:41 +0000

Ah, rain welcome, no parade I am very aware of China shutting things down (I actually link to a very similar story in one of my earlier posts).

First thing that any (overly) oppressive regime does is it controls information – history has shown that time & time again. Information alone cannot move the people. But it has a much better chance than no information or solely ‘piped’ information. I come from a country where that had largely been the case for decades (not Australia).

And humanity, for all its flaws, cruel rulers (elected or otherwise) is the only thing I believe in.

Thanks again V, appreciate your time & counsel.

By: v

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:26:25 +0000

don’t mean to rain on your parade- i just think you should be informed. if china can shut down twitter etc, so can other countries, eventually. and greedy people everywhere, most especially a certain type of cockroach in the the good ole US, will help these police states, if they can come up with the cash.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye/print

By: Tomaz Lasic

Tomaz Lasic — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:24:46 +0000

Thank you for your thoughtful comment ‘V’. I have argued for many years about the ‘value neutrality’ of technology. Twitter, in this case, could be turned into a divisive force of oppression too, or indeed, as you point out, something that we simply grow tired of. How many times have we seen the starving children of Africa yet they are still starving?

In this case I merely raise the possibility, an ‘imagine’. The rest if up to people and the representatives they (hopefully?) elect. And those sometimes ain’t that benevolent either.

Twitter is the latest water cooler of humanity. Whatever breaks barriers and gets us talking – I support.

Thank you kindly for your comment

Tomaz Lasic

By: v

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:01:39 +0000

i agree twitter can help bring us closer. it will open our hearts more, and that will also require us to be compassionate and thoughtful about how we respond to events. tv images did something similar, but people develop ‘compassion fatigue’. we all need to have a code of action based on moral duty, which is in effect regardless of a momentary emotion, not just a quick emotional reaction. i’m not there yet, but i see the path i should take.

By: Tomaz Lasic

Tomaz Lasic — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:03:57 +0000

Of course, the thought did occur to me Andrew.

I don’t JUST ask to imagine her hiding for which she is mostly known for. I ask for a leap of imagination here really…

What if there were thousands of AF? Millions? Could you shut them all down?

Look what is happening in Iran? Authorities are surely following them on Twitter too. But plug one hole and the next appears to beam what is happening on the ground.

Thanks for dropping by.

Tomaz

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:06:15 +0000

I suspect Anne Frank would have been found by the Nazis a whole lot sooner than she was if she had been broadcasting her thoughts to all and sundry on twitter.