“But he was the best person in the world about doing this. He would get… he would flip on something so fast, that you would forget that he was the person that was taking the 180 polar position on it the day before. He was fantastic at that. But he was - it was an art!. And he would never know that he thought the opposite. I saw it daily! I saw it daily! And this is a gift because things do change. And it takes courage to change, and courage to say - “I’m now wrong, maybe I was right before but maybe not - maybe I was never right.” It takes courage to do that and I think he had that.” - Apple CEO Tim Cook on Steve Jobs
Isaac’s Live Lip-Dub Proposal - so awesome.
Tim Ferriss: A Day In The Life
I’m not somebody who brings to the table here a lot of baggage from the past, and I want to look at these issues in a new and fresh way… I am sometimes puzzled by the degree to which countries that themselves have undergone enormous transformations, that have known the oppression of dictatorships or have found themselves on the wrong side of the ruling elite, and have suffered for it, why we would ignore that same principle here.
Inside Washington's high risk mission to beat web censors
“We want to keep the internet open for the protester using social media to organise a march in Egypt,” Clinton said in a major policy speech last year. “[For] the college student emailing her family photos of her semester abroad; the lawyer in Vietnam blogging to expose corruption; the teenager in the US who is bullied and finds words of support online; for the small business owner in Kenya using mobile banking to manage her profits; the philosopher in China reading academic journals for her dissertation … internet freedom is about defending the space in which all these things occur.”
Let’s hope the State Department and institutions around the world turn their attention towards Cuba as well. Remember - Iran models its intranet system after Havana’s - not the other way around.
Finalists Selected for National Mall Overhaul #Architecture #design
Beautiful concepts, this makes me want to move back to DC someday. Someday being the key word, if my past experiences with government are any indicator this project might not be finished quite by 2016 :p
Open for public comment if you want to weigh in:
Source: chbennett
William Levy opens up on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ about the realities of communism, and what life in Cuba was like before his family was granted political asylum in the United States.
Exclusive: Mashable CEO Conan O’Brien Steals and Tests Apple iTV
Internet Freedom: Diplomats Join The Dissidents, Geeks And Censors
Thank you so much Mr. Fontaine and TechCrunch for drawing attention to this incredibly important report from Reporters Without Borders. I work with a small think tank that promotes human rights and supports civil society in Cuba with new tech - the job is an increasingly complex one because of the nature of the totalitarian government limiting access to these tools and freedom of expression. Cuban self-censorship out of fear of repression is the icing on the cake for the Castros too. With U.S leadership and strong advocates in the tech sector pressing for internet freedom, we can continue to dismantle the information blockade these governments impose on their own citizens. Rock on
Cuba Needs a (Technological) Revolution: How the Internet Can Thaw an Island Frozen in Time - This was a great event I attended yesterday at Heritage featuring Senator Marco Rubio. I was so stoked to see Google Ideas as a co-sponsor, and Jared Cohen there in person to show solidarity with the cause for a free Cuba.
On top of having one of the lowest internet penetration rates in the world, the Cuban people live in a world of internet censorship at its most suppressive. Mauricio Claver-Carone remarked: “To give you an idea of just how repressive this policy is, remember that Iran is currently emulating the Castro’s Intranet system — not vice versa.”
So why does Cuba need a technological revolution? Marco Rubio believes the communist regime couldn’t possibly survive it, and I agree. The U.S. and our friends around the world need to continue to apply pressure for political reforms and sponsor programs and organizations who have this goal in mind. An open internet, more mobile devices, and free flow of information in the hands of some of the most creative, expressive, intellectual, artistic, and brave people in the world? Game over for the Castros.
