Agh! Pesky History!
11 Feb 2011 17:28Sometimes, history just creeps up on you.
I was having a bath when the news came in that in Egypt, Mubarak has stepped down, after 18 days of popular protest - and peaceful protest at that. It would be wonderful for one of these Middle Eastern countries to produce "the perfect government", a model for the world to emulate, after such upheaval - but that's hardly likely, is it? I can almost hear the religious groups sharpening their various implements of oppression, eager to pounce on whatever scraps of power they can get... and that's where the trouble starts. *sighs* Good luck, Egypt...
Development News... Chapter 1 of TDD-610 ...Third Movement is underway! Ground is most definitely broken, as a quite unlikely team-up takes centre-stage...
Meanwhile... Ugh - been busy assigning code-numbers to a new batch of dolphin deterrent gear for most of the morning, and inhaling waterproof marker vapours. Cue headache, and a need for some fresh air - but the rest of the day was without discomfort, and the rest of the code-marking can be sensibly spread out over Monday. This, I should say, is about as dangerous as my work gets.
More on Egypt... It does appear that the nature of this protest has made it very hard for the forces in power to do anything about it - there's been no leaders to arrest, or bribe, probably because of the involvement of social network technology, which the authorities were very quick to try and silence. Unfortunately for them, Egypt has been... shall we say a couple of steps behind on the technological front, and people still had dial-up 'net equipment, and short-wave radios, and the peoples' voice just couldn't be silenced. I just hope the military prove to be the heroes the people see them to be, and not just the "next generation" of tyrants.
And so, the sun sets on a changed world. Changed for the better, I very much hope.
I was having a bath when the news came in that in Egypt, Mubarak has stepped down, after 18 days of popular protest - and peaceful protest at that. It would be wonderful for one of these Middle Eastern countries to produce "the perfect government", a model for the world to emulate, after such upheaval - but that's hardly likely, is it? I can almost hear the religious groups sharpening their various implements of oppression, eager to pounce on whatever scraps of power they can get... and that's where the trouble starts. *sighs* Good luck, Egypt...
Development News... Chapter 1 of TDD-610 ...Third Movement is underway! Ground is most definitely broken, as a quite unlikely team-up takes centre-stage...
Meanwhile... Ugh - been busy assigning code-numbers to a new batch of dolphin deterrent gear for most of the morning, and inhaling waterproof marker vapours. Cue headache, and a need for some fresh air - but the rest of the day was without discomfort, and the rest of the code-marking can be sensibly spread out over Monday. This, I should say, is about as dangerous as my work gets.
More on Egypt... It does appear that the nature of this protest has made it very hard for the forces in power to do anything about it - there's been no leaders to arrest, or bribe, probably because of the involvement of social network technology, which the authorities were very quick to try and silence. Unfortunately for them, Egypt has been... shall we say a couple of steps behind on the technological front, and people still had dial-up 'net equipment, and short-wave radios, and the peoples' voice just couldn't be silenced. I just hope the military prove to be the heroes the people see them to be, and not just the "next generation" of tyrants.
And so, the sun sets on a changed world. Changed for the better, I very much hope.