Message from Kabul 776
When his message came, the Taliban had just fled, Northern Alliance soldiers had taken over his village, and everybody rushed to barbers to cut off their beards and to nearby holes and hiding spots to dig up their Walkmen, VCRs, TVs, CD players, and -- in Junis's case -- his ancient Commodore, one of four in the village. Cafes had popped up all over, with impromptu dances and parties everywhere.
Junis's e-mail -- routed to Kabul, then Islamabad, then London -- was a reminder that there are civil liberties, and then there are civil liberties. Computers had been banned under penalty of death by the Taliban (except for the Taliban themselves), along with music and TV. Junis, a computer geek obsessed with Linux, had first e-mailed me years ago while I was writing for Hotwired. He was genial and obsessed with American culture. He loved martial arts movies, anything to do with Star Wars, and rap. He was perhaps the Taliban's prime kind of target. (Now he's furiously trying to download movies he's missed and is mesmerized by open source and Slashdot.)
"I could still see the dust of the pick-up trucks carrying the Taliban out of my village," he wrote, "and some friends and I went and dug up the boards of a chicken coop where I had hid the computer. They might have beaten or killed us if they'd found it. It was forbidden, although they used computers all of the time." He claims American commandos are skulking around dressed as Northern Alliance tribesmen.
Junis describes life under the Taliban as brutal, terrifying and profoundly boring. What the people in his town -- especially the kids -- missed most was music, posters of Indian and American movie stars (he'd kept his own decaying poster of Madonna), and American TV. Junis missed the fast-changing Web and sees, he says, that he has fallen "forever behind," and that programming is more complex than ever. But at least "Baywatch," which everyone in his town acutely missed, is back, and there's already a lot of talk about "Survivor." Junis predicts "Temptation Island" will be the number one show in Afghanistan within a month.
If the world needed another demonstration of America's most powerful weapon -- not bombs or special forces but pop culture -- it got it again this week. People all over the planet fuss about whether this healthy and democratic or corrupting and dehumanizing, but people's love for American techno-toys, TV shows, music and movies is breathaking. Watching TV pictures of tribesman on horseback, it's easy to forget that technology reached deep into this culture as well. Junis says phone service around Kabul remains spotty, but reporters, U.N. workers and foreign soldiers are wiring up. He's already made his way to some sex sites, and wishes he had a printer.
There are many computers in Afghanistan, Junis said, many in clusters in cities like Kabul and Kandahar (news reports have frequently mentioned that Bin-Laden's organization used both e-mail and encrypted files to communicate). Computer geeks are already hooking up with one another all over the country; Junis isn't the only Afghan e-mailing these days. He says other coders and gamers hid their PC's as well. Meanwhile, he's especially eager to get his hands on the Apple iPod, and has been drooling over the Apple website site since he got back online. And some things, of course, never change. "I thought they were going to get Microsoft," he wrote. "I guess not."
A decade ago, when East Berlin teenagers stormed the Wall and crossed over into West Berlin, the first thing many of them did was rush to music stores to buy tapes and CD's they'd been secretly, illegally listening to for years.
The Taliban worked to create the antithesis of the American world, one without technology, computing, the Net, music, or any vestige of popular culture (not to mention women's rights, elections, a free press or any religion except fundamentalist Islam. Junis said people in his town risked their lives repeatedly, not to fight the Taliban, but to try and listen to CD's and watch videos smuggled in from Pakistan, watched in the dark under blankets and in cellars. It seems the outcome was inevitable.
Hmmm. (Score:5, Interesting)
He's trying to download movies on a Commodore?
Well, half the population is less oppressed... (Score:5, Interesting)
But the women aren't allowed in the theater, they can't function in public, and they still aren't allowed to see doctors. It's not that removing the Taliban is a bad thing, but for a significant part of the population, the current status really hasn't gotten any better.
Food for thought, and it makes me thankful that I was born in the US and have the ability to say such things...
maybe too fast (Score:3, Interesting)
Answer some questions? (Score:3, Interesting)
Global Village Returns... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd never really thought of it before seeing this post, but the one common factor you always hear small town residents use to describe their lives is "Everyone Knows Everyone." I'm probably being a pollyana here, but I believe that the "Global Village" is doing the same thing, helping people throughout the world understand (and hopefully get along) with each other.
I had a grandfather who went to West Point and served with distinction in the U.S. Army in WWII. A good, honorable man in many ways, but also a bigot down to his bones. I can't help but wonder what sort of man he'dve been if he could've clicked on a website growing up and learned how people live in Saudi Arabia or Tokyo or even just the "wrong side of the tracks" in his hometown.
What the people want... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hmmm. (Score:3, Interesting)
There hasn't been enough time for the "little village" to be sent new computers
Sheesh... All you people saying things like this. Did you read the whole piece? He dug it out from under a chicken coop where it was hidden. Since he can watch movies with it, we should probably assume it's the more capable Amiga and not the C-64. A lot of people buried their contraband and waited out the Taliban. That itself is interesting--I'm sure some of those people died and left behind techno time capsules.
and how does he even know how to connect to the internet? Dial into his local IP? Junoweb?
It wouldn't surprise me if they were using some ancient phone system that was really easy to bluebox. The threat of losing your right hand has proven more effective than 128-bit encryption. Also, if he can dial Pakistan, he can probably dial a Pakistani ISP. Also, no FCC there! I bet they can amp their 802.11b all the way to Islamabad and back. If it were me though, I'd just waltz into what used to be the Taliban NOC and run CAT-5 from there.
Anyone who can "first post" from a former Taliban NOC should get some kind of a prize... Penguin mints or something.
Re:Just a reminder... (Score:5, Interesting)
I know, it's a little odd when you get hit with demands for factuality and proof. I mean, any of us who'd spent so much time writing opinion-based fluff would probably have a slightly hazy view of reality.
But for god's sake man.
Leaving aside the technical details already well-discussed, do us all a favor, and if it's not entirely a hoax, save whatever remains of your reputation and post the original email.
We're mostly big-boys here, post us a copy with the routing headers intact, give us the text, and then spend two or three hundred words pointing out how great it is.
We might still belive you got rooked, but at least we're less likely to attribute what prima facia appears to be a load of... um, horse-shit to you.
Apology? Retraction? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:ipod (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't felt this way before, but this is the first article I have really wanted to see withdrawn from slashdot. It scares me that a news orginization with the readership of its magnitude could post this crap.
-Sean
No. (Score:5, Interesting)
Still, the guy must be brilliant - not only has he got a five year old Commodore to get onto the Apple site, with a five year old browser, over non-existent phone lines but he's planning on spending five years wages on an ipod too?
It's bollocks.
I've been to the area [benhammersley.com] and know the sort of conditions. First up, if anyone is using email in Afghanistan it is not over the standard POTS. If much of that is still remaining, it is in no way any condition to get a data connection over. Internet connections in Afghanistan are satellite (Bin Laden's is, so are the Aid Agencies and the journalists). So unless our hero has a either a sat phone, or a 3ft dish in his back garden, I doubt he sent an email from anywhere in the area.
"Junis's e-mail -- routed to Kabul, then Islamabad, then London" is not the way it would go - if I remember correctly, the main Pakistani bandwidth goes via Singapore. Unless Katz means this email was sent to someone in Kabul who forwarded it to someone etc etc etc.
In which case I'd hazard a guess to say the first passing was on paper, not electronically.
Next, "Junis, a computer geek obsessed with Linux, had first e-mailed me years ago while I was writing for Hotwired. He was genial and obsessed with American culture. He loved martial arts movies, anything to do with Star Wars, and rap. He was perhaps the Taliban's prime kind of target. (Now he's furiously trying to download movies he's missed and is mesmerized by open source and Slashdot.)"
Well, Hotwired's URL was first registered on 21-Apr-1994, but Katz's first writings were on Netizen. That started in 1996. The Taliban took Kabul in 1996, so Junis must have been quick. Obsessed with Linux then, sure - but now mesmerized by open source?
Which brings us to I thought they were going to get Microsoft," he wrote. "I guess not."
How did he know of the court case? Meanwhile, where did he learn perfectly idiomatic English? "Get" Microsoft? I "guess not"?
Temptation Island? Survivor? Riight - an area that until a week ago was isolated from the rest of the world is now aware and anticipatory of a tv show that is not even being aired on a nearby satellite network?
I'd love to believe this, I really would. But it's smelly as all hell, not to mention the highly dubious "they did it all for the toys" politics.
Still, if JK posts the email, with the headers, I'll be happy to believe, and drink a toast to Junis and his friends.
smells like propaganda to me. (Score:2, Interesting)
So whats the deal? Katz is now a dupe of the man as well? Remember right after the 9/11 there was an email from muslim man circulating around the interenet? Yep.. Propaganda.
So while Katz is airing out his complete crap about *nothing* in particular, nothing but a heart warming tale spun to augment the beard shaving, women baring their faces, and the possiblility that MTV is coming [msnbc.com] to Kabul soon. Lets not forget the reality of the situation:
The Northern Alliance [ananova.com] is a brutal regime as well. People welcomed the Taleban after being ruled by these losers.
On the homefront, the administration is taking power in sweeping [msnbc.com] gestures whose effects will leave us reeling for possibly fewgenerations [msnbc.com].
Like the fancy stories you see above. People from the less fortunate countries in the world like Australia and Europe think our media is full of shit, and lying to us point blank [smh.com.au].
But never fear, America is the home of the free [talkpath.com]. The best country in the world dude. And all that shit [bushnews.com].
Anyway, just a reminder to use that search engine of yours and get the facts, see some other perspectives, especially now since Mr. Katz has obviously become a tool as well. Yeah maybe he was a tool before, but at least he had the power in his court to say something to Slashdot readers. I guess no more.
Bull all the way (Score:3, Interesting)
Stupidity.inc?
Re:Hmmm. (Score:2, Interesting)
I've seen some hairball setups in Southeast Asia that would have gotten a Slashdot mention if they'd been submitted as an MIT hack.
But put together in a week by someone who hasn't touched a computer in years? And who isn't up to date on the current ISP situation? I'm having trouble buying that. And a lot of other details set off my BS detector: downloading movies, the iPod, the mention of the Microsoft trial (no Columbine reference!?!) ... I can't believe Katz would make this up, even if I do think he frequently presents paraphrases as eral comments he's received, but I'm thinking he got hoaxed.
Truth is, that would be more interesting. If this story isn't true today, it certainly will be a year from now. As a hoax, it's a hell of a social engineering hack.
So how do we contact somebody in Afghanistan? (Score:3, Interesting)
Disgusting (Score:5, Interesting)
1.) Please remove this article at once. It is a filthy assortment of random lies and is an embarrassment to the
2.) Please strongly consider firing Jon Katz for his lack of journalistic integrity. Better yet, decide via a Slashdot poll.
3.) A major improvement to Slashcode would be a system by which readers can moderate the posting of articles on the main page.
That being said, I am all for the overthrow of the Taliban regime and the restoration of the rights and freedoms of the Afghan people.
No, I don't think the story is real either (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hmmm. (Score:3, Interesting)
I checked the number of users from Afghanistan who were using Audiogalaxy [audiogalaxy.com]. There were TWO. Today (as of this moment) there are ONE HUNDRED TWENTY THREE. Allow for some errors here. They may not all truly be from Afghanistan but I'd bet that a good portion of them are. It certainly sounds like an increase.
What should be required to back up a story? (Score:3, Interesting)
The way I see it, sufficient proof would be full email headers, substantiating email from each member of the forwarding chain, photos of the much ballyhoo'd Commodore (preferably playing a downloaded copy of The Phantom Edit), and ISP records proving that movies could be (and had been) downloaded on the outskirts of Kabul. Or alternatively, I guess a video interview with the dude in Afganistan might suffice, though it's not like Jon can just hop on a flight to Kabul (unless he enlists in the special forces
Frankly, that's a pretty heavy burden of evidence to place on any journalist and especially here on Slash-(We'll post obvious product advertising literature sent from company email addresses)-dot. I'd be curious what sort of evidentiary standard reporters are generally held to at upstanding newspapers and magazines.
Screw on-topic! Let's start a thread...
What is reasonably required to back up a journalist's story? And especially here on Slashdot (Katz, Taco, rest-of-crew feel free to chime in [unlikely]... or mod down [more likely])
- StaticLimit
Internet in Afghanistan (Score:2, Interesting)
She was evacuated to Pakistan for a few weeks and she's now back in Peshawar, where she works for an ONG.
The Internet exists in Afghanistan, and the Talibans could never eradicate it completely. There are a limited number of Internet cafes in University Town (very deserted right now but this will change when Torkham opens again). The sessions are very cheap (about 20 roupies) and the bandwidth is of course very limited, but they seem to offer the minimal needed to send emails.
A lot of the Internet cafes have booths and are mostly used for porn, as are some of the few movie theaters left open. In those, the beginning of the movie is usually Taliban-related and it switches after a few minutes to the juicy stuff.
That's it for now, I can elaborate if there's interest.
Propaganda (Score:2, Interesting)
Firstly, I would just like to congratulate the author: this story is the most transparent example of propaganda I've been privileged to see.
Something over a million people are at risk of starvation in Afghanistan because of the US' air invasion but little Timmy has never had it so good because of the magic of western technology and baywatch?
The intent of whoever writes propaganda is to appeal to our prejudices (technology good, food is something you get out of the fridge.) In this case, we are distracted from any issues that we might conceivably do something about. Its overt project here is to pacify the readers.
In that first aim, it has largely failed: good propaganda hooks straight into deeply held beliefs and anxieties, and bypasses the critical faculties, it seeks a direct emotional effect, which in this case (due to the overdeveloped critical faculties of computer weenies) it has not directly achieved.
Look at the subtext, though, look at what's not being said directly, think of it as a fable, or a just-so story: ``Technology thrives even through the most repressive regime. Little Timmy kept the spirit of innovation and connectedness alive even through 5 years of political and social repression.''
Consider, for a moment, that you geeks in the US, and probably we geeks on the periphery, are witnessing exactly the kind of erosion of civil liberties that the Taliban would approve of, and in the same cause (godless heathens at the gates, pull the wagons in a circle, accept arbitrary rule to preserve your culture.)
Consider the buried message in this piece of propaganda: If little Timmy could survive the Taliban by burying his C64 in chickenshit, then surely *I* can survive the radical restrictions of a US at `war', the GW Putsch, the suppression of free speech, by just keeping my head down - burying my processing power under the warm pile of steaming chickenshit which is JKatz's story.
Hell, I can even download porn and videos under martial law. Good deal! Where do I sign?
I have to say ... (Score:3, Interesting)
... this is a ridiculous concoction. Digging up a computer after it's been buried 4-5 years? Um, even leaving a computer in a hot trunk all weekend can cause it to fry ... 4-5 years of climate changes, dirt, moisture ???? Watching video on a Commodore computer? Correct me if I'm wrong, but an "ancient" Commodore is not even as powerful as a gameboy or an old HP scientific calculator. And internet access - from a string tied between two empty bean tin cans?
Katz, either you are (A) purposely perpetrating a propaganda fraud or (B) so fucking clueless that you would buy into a hoax email and trot it out as a feature story or (C) got your dates confused and thought it was April 1 today but that would be a sick joke ...
That does it ... as soon as I post this, I'm going to set my /. preferences to filter out all "stories" by Katz. If I want Cinderella tales or bedtime stories, I'll go see the new Harry Potter movie ...