Uwe Hermann | A slightly paranoid Debian developer

If you're coming to LinuxTag 2007 in Berlin (May 30 - June 2), you might want to also visit the LinuxBIOS booth (Hall 12, Stand 80).

We will be showing a couple of different systems all using LinuxBIOS to boot. There is a boot time competition in the booth (nice T-shirts to win!).

On Saturday there's a hands-on LinuxBIOS workshop by Peter Stuge titled "Bring your EPIA, EPIA-M or EPIA-MII board and make it run LinuxBIOS!". Please register in advance at LinuxBIOS booth (Hall 12, Stand 80).

If you always wanted to know what this LinuxBIOS stuff is all about — here's your chance to find out!

If yes, please consider signing this online petition which asks the government to completely prohibit the usage of voting machines in Germany. Actually, you should sign this replacement petition, as the first one was getting "too big", a.k.a the software or server they use couldn't handle the sheer numbers of recorded votes anymore (ironic, isn't it?)...

Note: the deadline for the petition is today, i.e., November 28, 2006!

Ca. 45.000 people have signed already. If 50.000 signers are reached, there's sort of a guarantee that the government has to formally put this issue on their agenda (or something in that direction, I don't remember the exact details right now).

If you haven't followed the latest news regarding the voting machine issues, I urge you to get informed by reading the recent blog entries of Frank Rieger and Tim Pritlove (for example). The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has a very good collection of information and further readings. Take a look.

Nice... the Nouveau project, which aims at creating Free Software drivers with accelerated 3D graphics for NVIDIA cards, is making some progress...

I'm looking forward to the day when I can replace "nv" with "nouveau" in my xorg.conf.

Update 2006-11-27: Yes, I know it's spelled "nouveau" (not "noveau"), which means "new" in French. Need more coffee ;-)

(via Pro-Linux News)

This demo is initiated and backed by a number of organizations in Germany, among others the Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung, Chaos Computer Club e.V., FoeBuD e.V., STOP1984, Attac AG Wissensallmende, Indymedia Germany, and the German Pirate Party.

Place: Bielefeld, Germany (exact meeting place)
Time: 15:00 o'clock on Friday, October 20, 2006
Motto: Freiheit statt Angst (Freedom instead of fear)

Goals and Demands

• Reduce the pervasive surveillance in Germany!
  No public video surveillance, no automatical face-recognition, no data retention, no RFID and biometry in passports, no "Lauschangriff" etc.
• In-depth investigations of current surveillance laws by independant organizations/experts!
  Find out how effective (or rather not!) currently implemented surveillance laws have been, and what their downsides, problems, and dangers are for democracy in Germany.
• Stop all plans for further surveillance laws!
  Any further surveillance laws, "anti-terror"- or "security"-laws must be halted immediately! Their implications are extremely dangerous for privacy and democracy in Germany!

Materials: Banners, flyers, mottos for transparents and more are available in the wiki of the site. Donations are possible and welcome, too.

Demo participants can visit the Big Brother Awards 2006 right after the demo (for free).

If you value your privacy and democracy in this country, now is the time to speak up and let the whole world (and especially the German politicians) know! This surveillance-madness has to stop!

Ok, this list should be pretty old news by now, but — by definition — the content of it is not. Because... it's simply not in the news:

The Top 25 stories ignored by media in past year (via Project Censored):

• Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
• Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
• Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
• Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
• High-Tech Genocide in Congo
• Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
• US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
• The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
• Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
• Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
• Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
• New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
• Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
• Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
• Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
• Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
• Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
• Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
• Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
• Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
• $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
• US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
• Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
• US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

Full list with more details here...

(via Boing Boing)