The Washington Independent » Web http://washingtonindependent.com National News in Context Thu, 10 May 2012 20:13:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 How the Distributed Attack Machine Works http://washingtonindependent.com/75330/how-the-distributed-attack-machine-works http://washingtonindependent.com/75330/how-the-distributed-attack-machine-works#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:03:26 +0000 David Weigel http://washingtonindependent.com/?p=75330 Glenn Thrush has a keen, insightful post on how “Republicans are absolutely killing Democrats when it comes to leveraging the web to go negative,” using the spinning of David Axelrod’s Sunday morning remarks about turning the interrogation of the Christmas bomber over to the FBI as an example. Read More...

]]> Glenn Thrush has a keen, insightful post on how “Republicans are absolutely killing Democrats when it comes to leveraging the web to go negative,” using the spinning of David Axelrod’s Sunday morning remarks about turning the interrogation of the Christmas bomber over to the FBI as an example. Read the whole thing, but note that the catalyst was Steven Hayes of The Weekly Standard, author of “The Connection: How al Qaeda’s Collaboration With Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America,” not usually counted among the most influential books on the Iraq War.

]]> http://washingtonindependent.com/75330/how-the-distributed-attack-machine-works/feed 1 ‘We Are Accessing Open Proxies’ http://washingtonindependent.com/46989/we-are-accessing-open-proxies http://washingtonindependent.com/46989/we-are-accessing-open-proxies#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:01:28 +0000 Spencer Ackerman http://washingtonindependent.com/?p=46989 The Iranian regime is able to shut down access to e-mail (by limiting bandwidth), SMS and Facebook. Lots of protesters and would-be protesters are unable to make phone calls or otherwise communicate with each other, thereby limiting the ability of the opposition movement to gather strength. But the regime is More...

]]> The Iranian regime is able to shut down access to e-mail (by limiting bandwidth), SMS and Facebook. Lots of protesters and would-be protesters are unable to make phone calls or otherwise communicate with each other, thereby limiting the ability of the opposition movement to gather strength. But the regime is unable to shut down Twitter, and so some of the most amazing accounts of what’s happening in Iran come through Iranian Twitter feeds. How? A protester called @PersianKiwi explains about an hour ago:

we are accessing twitter from open proxies. they are closing them as fast as we can find them.

and:

I have massive incoming mail from twitter. cannot possibly reply. our internet conection is 27kb.

@PersianKiwi sent that from the Web, by the way. I’ll check this out for later in the day, but it’s fascinating that the regime is unable to block this powerful social-media tool.

And as the media is getting increasingly booted from Iran — a reporter friend who just left Tehran emailed last night that the regime is blaming the street demonstrations on foreign journalists and is arresting some — @PersianKiwi is live-Tweeting a demonstration from Tehran’s Engelhab Square: Can hear helicopters, cannot see them… my last ISP downed. have redialed new ISP, slow process. streets are packed with people. seems peaceful… the city is very busy. seems like everone is out but most shops are closed, business all quiet. not much normal traffic… call in from Enghelab Sq. Baseej [pro-regime paramilitary] outnumbered, just watching people march… am being told that there are injured students stuck in Tehan dorms. surrounded by baseej…. hearing rumours that Mousavi and Khatami are in azadi square now, unconfirmed…


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