TedXKrakow – my script for talk on “New Lens” plus Libyan Revolution

[holding glass / water bottle] In 1660, a ‘crazy’ Dutch scientist called Anton van Leeuwenhoek started writing scientific papers about how he saw small things moving about in water. The man was clearly mad. Because if you look at a glass of water with the naked eye, even if you really squint, you can’t see […]

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The Zimbabwe Election Monitoring Project 2008

My first ever big ‘change the world (for better)‘ initiative was helping the MDC opposition in Zimbabwe win the 2008 elections. I have told the story many times (in person, and sometimes with a glass of wine in hand). In order to provide more detail around the story, plus some photos of what actually happened, […]

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Saif Al-Islam’s non-arrest – the importance of hoaxes in war (inspired by Guardian)

So, now the world knows that Saif did not really get arrested, or maybe that if he had been arrested, he somehow escaped. The initial response was despair, and a feeling of distrust of the NTC leadership and communications team. (see Guardian article of 23 Aug for a sample) The thing is, as a professional in […]

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Extremist Ideas – and Some American History

At its peak, how many people in America were members of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK)? Was it: a) Less than 10,000 b) 10,000 – 50,000 c) 50,000 – 100,000 d) 100,000 – 1,000,000 e) more than 1,000,000 And the answer? E. The Klan claimed 4 – 5 million members in the mid-1920s (dropping down […]

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Preemptive funeral marches

[NOTE: I wrote this draft on 17 February, the first day of the Libyan revolution. At the time there had been no reports of deaths. This article sadly became irrelevant to the Libyan situation very quickly. Still, there are many revolutions out there waiting to happen, so I thought I would share my thoughts anyway. […]

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Letter to Saif Gaddafi – formerly a Young Global Leader

Sent: info@algathaficall.org 23:49 21 Feb 2011 Attn: Saif – YGL contact [[[ note YGL is the Young Global Leader network of the World Economic Forum - Saif Al Gaddafi is no longer a member - blog post from WEF]]] Hi, We have never met, and are in all likelihood unlikely to ever meet. I’d just like to […]

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