Breaking The North Korean Information Blockade
Visitors look at the military wire fences at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, South Korea, on Feb. 14.
North Korea is considered the most reclusive country in the world. Outsiders know very little about what happens inside the Hermit Kingdom.
North Koreans, in turn, know very little about the outside world. The regime of dictator Kim Jong Un bans nearly all forms of outside media. North Koreans are exposed only to what their government tells them, giving them a skewed view of their own country.
A group of nonprofits in the U.S. is trying to change that with USB drives. The group is asking Americans to donate thumb drives, which are then loaded with Western TV and movies and smuggled into North Korea.
The idea for Flash Drives for Freedom was started by the Human Rights Foundation. Sharon Stratton is the U.S. program officer with the North Korean Strategy Center, one of the groups involved. She spoke with NPR's Rachel Martin about what goes on the flash drives and what the risks are for the people involved.
On what information goes on the flash drives
Essentially what we do is we load up these memory storage devices with very different kinds of content. So, not only South Korean or Western films, shows. We put on documentaries, radio recordings, PDFs with South Korean newspapers as well as an offline version of Wikipedia. So we load these memory storage devices, including USBs, with this content. And we work with a network of trusted partners who work on the North Korea-China border. And they distribute these into North Korea.
On what they want the information to show
Through focus groups in South Korea, we're able to sit down and have more in-depth conversations with recent defectors about what kind of media North Koreans are seeking, what they're amenable to, and what they want to see more of.
We don't put in any content that's inflammatory or critical or antagonistic toward the North Korean government. Not only would that compromise potentially the safety of North Korean users who are accessing this foreign media, but it's also just not going to be very effective and North Koreans aren't really interested in that kind of content.
Other kinds of content that we put on USBs are documentaries that are made by North Korean defectors who are adjusting to their new lives in South Korea. So they're able to show them through the eyes of a North Korean: What it's like living in South Korea — the challenges that come along with that, but also the opportunities.
On the risk involved in watching
It is technically illegal in North Korea to access and to distribute foreign media. Security of these individuals in North Korea is our primary concern. It's important to remember that access to information in North Korea has been increasing. It's not just ordinary North Koreans who are accessing foreign media, it's actually also elites — people who are in government positions, people of rank and privilege. So it's becoming more common. Simply possessing a USB itself is not going to see someone get thrown immediately into jail.
On the types of punishment for being caught watching
It's difficult to confirm what these punishments are but defector accounts that we get range from ... open trials, or maybe you that have to pay off an official to avoid any kind of punishment. It is difficult to get information exactly on what kinds of punishments are being meted out.
On the smugglers who take the flash drives into the country
The North Korea-China border is much more porous than maybe many people would expect. There's somewhere in the tens of thousands of Chinese and North Koreans who are moving across that border. They're moving information, they're moving goods. And it's risky work for them and there is a cost involved, so we do pay them.
On the goals of the campaign
The end goal of our information dissemination efforts is not to get people to defect. It's more about North Koreans who are in North Korea being able to have a changed worldview. Change their perspectives and then lead and sort of speak to any changes they want to see in their country themselves. The end goal is not to say, "We want you to leave North Korea." We want North Koreans to be able to say, "Well this is what I want for North Korea."


IPFA 2005 - Lucio Flavio Pinto
International Press Freedom Awards
Galima Bukharbaeva | Beatrice Mtetwa | Shi Tao | Peter Jennings
Covering corruption in Brazil's lawless Amazon
Lúcio Flávio Pinto reports from the lawless and isolated Amazon region of Brazil, one of the most dangerous beats in Latin America. As publisher and editor of Jornal Pessoal in the northern state of Pará, he covers an area that is almost twice the size of Texas and is home to corrupt ranchers and land speculators.
He has reported on drug trafficking, environmental devastation, and political and corporate corruption. In return, he has been threatened and subjected to a wave of spurious lawsuits. A powerful local media owner, also a local politician, attacked Pinto in a restaurant in January, beating and kicking him. The assailant's bodyguards provided cover during the assault.
Writing columns and directing coverage in his small bimonthly paper, Pinto has challenged the self-dealing and domination of a prominent media company. In retaliation, the company's principals have unleashed a barrage of legal complaints.
Judges, politicians, and business owners have also filed criminal and civil complaints against Pinto, who has exposed illegal corporate appropriation of timber-rich land, as well as corruption involving land titles.
Acceptance remarks (English)
Read an interview in Caros Amigos (em português):
http://carosamigos.terra.com.br/do_site/sonosite/entrev_ago04_lucio.asp
Following are transcribed excerpts from a videotaped interview with Pinto, airing as part of CPJ's International Press Freedom Awards Dinner:
Q: What are the main difficulties a journalist may find when working in the Amazon region?
A: Well, the difficulty, in general, that a journalist faces in the Amazon is that he's isolated. His headquarters are far, if he's a correspondent, and the region itself--be it in Belém or Manaus--it's the long distances. So, in general, he's by himself and he's like a firefighter, because the Amazon is always going through social fires, economic fires, environmental fires. So, he feels unprotected. He feels permanently exposed to the actors behind those developments, and many of those actors are violent, aggressive people who don't live by the rules of civilized coexistence. So, I believe this is a very serious problem for journalists to do the journalism that the Amazon needs.
Q: What is happening in the Amazon that makes it a center for so many illegal activities? Why is there so much crime in the region?
A: A criminal seeks impunity and the Amazon is an excellent place to go unpunished. So, I think it attracts criminals because the arms of legality and modernity take a long time to come to the Amazon, and that's why it attracts that marginal fauna. ... An important figure in the history of the Amazon was a minister in the military regime, the most powerful minister in the military regime, Delfim Neto--currently a federal legislator for the state of São Paulo. He used to say, "The Amazon is living the time of the bandit. It's wild and primitive, a land for pioneers. So, first bandits have to come and tame the land, the rest will come later."
Q: Why do you think the Amazon has become one of the most dangerous places to practice journalism in Latin America?
A: If you want to do serious journalism, you have to do a journalism of denunciation, a journalism that sees what is happening. So here, where the only ethics is the ethics of the criminal, it's crucial that journalists point to the real facts, and the real facts are in contradiction with [official] discourse and rhetoric.
So, journalists are always running risks, because journalists are always displeasing people. And, unlike in a major city such as Rio, São Paulo, or New York, where a journalist sometimes doesn't run into the person he denounced, here you run into--sometimes the same day--the person you said was a thief. And that person doesn't like to be called a thief. So, journalists are always facing major and immediate risks.
Q: Why do Brazilian media ignore or fail to investigate issues as important as environmental degradation, rainforest devastation, and political and corporate corruption in the Amazon?
A: Well, there was a time when Brazilian media, which is concentrated in the South and Southeast, had a stronger presence here: regional offices, correspondents in state capitals. Today that has virtually disappeared. So, press coverage is episodic: when there's an accident or a conflict, when there's a traumatic development, the Brazilian press covers it. So, because it's not a systematic coverage, the media do not have an in-depth vision of the Amazon, they have an exotic vision. There's a discontinuity in the press coverage of the Amazon. ... The media don't realize, for instance, that some goods currently produced in the Amazon are in world markets. The state of Pará is the world's single largest producer of iron ore. And that is not covered. The state of Pará has the world's largest bauxite mine. And that is not covered either, because it's not exotic.
Q: You say that your main feeling about the Amazon is hopelessness. Why?
A: My feeling of hopelessness is more in retrospect. It's hopelessness considering what has happened, what we have lived through in the Amazon. But in order to stay here, to keep reporting the news, to keep trying to establish the truth, I have to be optimistic and hopeful.
When I started working as a journalist, the deforestation of the Amazon was less than 1 percent. Today's it's 18 percent. There was never a people in the history of mankind who destroyed as much rainforest as has been destroyed in the Amazon, in less than half a century. What was destroyed in the Amazon was 400,000 square kilometers. So, that's shocking, and not because mine is a poet's vision, or an ecologist's vision, it's because the rainforest is the Amazon's reason of being. Could you imagine if Egypt wanted to fill the Nile River with silt? It would finish off Egypt. Egypt is a product of the Nile, and we are a product of the rainforest.
Q: Why do you continue to fight to change things for the better?
A: We still have that chance, of making a different history in the Amazon, a history in which the settlement model in the region is based on the rainforest. All peoples in the history of mankind destroyed the forests, they were homo agricola. We, who have the world's largest rainforest reserve, we can be for the first time people of the rainforest. That's not what's happening. On the contrary, we are the ones who have destroyed the rainforest the most. Even so, we still have a unique chance in the history of mankind. The moment the Amazon is devastated--and the consequences will be terrible--we will be just like all the other. That's why it's worth it trying to make a different history.
Acceptance remarks
Lúcio Flávio Pinto remarks
I am an ordinary Brazilian who has never worn a tuxedo. I wish I could be there among you wearing a stylish outfit. A dinner jacket highlights some of our best qualities. It shows us at our most glamorous.
At this ceremony, however, the outfit is, above all, a symbol. A symbol of a link between the rich and the developing world. You are honoring four people who have worked hard to diminish--even eliminate--the distance between rich and poor, who have worked hard to build a bridge between the few who have so much and the many who have so little.
I come from a region that has 18 percent of this exhausted planet's freshwater and one-third of its tropical rainforest. In these forests you will find the greatest biodiversity on the planet, a volume of genetic information that we are currently incapable of even measuring and yet are unwilling to preserve. Despite this great gift, we prey on our own riches.
We should not, however, disdainfully blame the settlers of the Amazon. It has been this way throughout human history. The history of physical expansion of human society is the history of deforestation. Our culture is a culture of deforestation.
However, we now have a unique opportunity to use what we have learned from this destruction as well as our knowledge of nature to write a new story in Amazonia, focusing on sustainability and not eradication.
This chapter of Genesis that the Creator did not write but rather assigned to those he has created -- is still possible. Yet as time passes, it becomes increasingly less probable. If it is feasible at all, it will be done only with the help of people of good will throughout the world.
On this day that I could not wear my black tie and come to this beautiful ceremony in the world's capital, I am caught in a sordid web created by those who want to suffocate my critical (investigative) journalism, a journalism which remains committed to turning the truth into a weapon of freedom. I wish to make an appeal to you from the jungle, in the spirit of Jack London, the great reporter who wrote from many of the world's frontiers. Extend your bridge to this part of the world. Join us in building a new civilization and culture in this Eden that the great creator delegated to humanity.
May our drafts of this chapter be turned into well-written pages in which intelligence creates a new better and more just world. This what everybody always wanted--whether they are wearing a dinner jacket or a t-shirt. It does not make a difference.
Sou um brasileiro comum, que jamais usou um black tie. Mas bem que gostaria de estar neste momento entre os senhores envergando um traje a rigor. Ele realça ou superdimensiona algumas das nossas qualidades. É nossa vitrine glamourosa.
Nesta festa, porém, o traje é, sobretudo, um símbolo. É um traço de união entre o mundo rico e o mundo pobre. Os cidadãos afortunados que aqui se encontram concederam, referendaram ou estão a aplaudir quatro cidadãos que têm empenhado seu engenho & arte para diminuir - se não acabar - com a distância entre ricos e pobres. Têm colaborado para construir uma ponte entre os poucos que têm muito e os muitos que nada têm.
Sabemos nós que os senhores são uma boa platéia, uma plenária bem vestida e bem alimentada de ouvidos sensíveis, de olhos perspicazes. Mas querendo contribuir para que todos possam vestir-se bem, comer bem, pensar bem, fazer o bem.
Venho de uma região que abriga 18% da água superficial doce desse nosso maltratado planeta e um terço das florestas tropicais que nele ainda restam. Nessas matas há a maior fonte de diversidade de vida, um volume de informações genéticas que ainda somos incapazes de dimensionar - e mais incapazes ainda de preservar. Apesar dessas duas grandezas básicas, temos nos notabilizado como predadores justamente dessas que são nossas maiores riquezas.
Não se lance culpa execrável sobre os colonizadores da Amazônia. Foi assim em toda história da humanidade. A história da expansão física da sociedade humana é a história da devastação de suas florestas. Nossa cultura é a do desmatamento.
Agora, porém, temos a oportunidade única de usar a experiência da destruição e os conhecimentos já acumulados no trato com a natureza para escrevermos na Amazônia uma história inédita, centrada na manutenção da floresta e não na sua extirpação.
Esse "capítulo do Gênesis" que o criador não escreveu, transferindo-o para a responsabilidade de sua criatura, ainda é possível. Mas a cada dia essa possibilidade se distancia do plano da realidade. Se ela for exeqüível, só o será com a participação dos homens de boa vontade do mundo inteiro.
Neste dia em que não pude vestir meu black tie e vir a esta bonita festa, na capital do mundo, atado que me encontro nas teias sórdidas montadas pelos que querem sufocar meu jornalismo crítico, comprometido em transformar a verdade na arma de libertação, mando-lhes o apelo das selvas, à maneira de Jack London, o grande jornalista de outras fronteiras no mundo: estendam suas pontes a este lado do mundo. Embarquem no desafio de construir uma civilização e uma cultura da floresta nesse Éden que o grande criador delegou à nossa criação - humana, demasiadamente humana.
Que os ensaios de garranchos sejam substituídos por uma página bem escrita, na qual a inteligência crie um mundo novo, melhor e mais justo, como nós todos desejamos. Com black tie ou em mangas de camisa, não faz diferença.
Press Freedom Awards By Year 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
Amal Khalifa Idris Habbani (Sudan), Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (Vietnam), Luz Mely Reyes (Venezuela), Anastasiya Stanko (Ukraine)
Ahmed Abba (Cameroon), Patricia Mayorga (Mexico), Afrah Nasser (Yemen), Pravit Rojanaphruk (Thailand)
Mahmoud Abou Zeid, Shawkan (Egypt), Malini Subramaniam (India), Can Dündar (Turkey), Óscar Martínez (El Salvador)
Cándido Figueredo Ruíz (Paraguay), Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (Syria), Zone 9 Bloggers (Ethiopia), Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, "Zunar" (Malaysia)
Aung Zaw (Burma), Siamak Ghaderi (Iran), Mikhail Zygar (Russia), Ferial Haffajee (South Africa)
Janet Hinostroza (Ecuador), Bassem Youssef (Egypt), Nedim Şener (Turkey), Nguyen Van Hai (Vietnam)
Mauri König (Brazil), Dhondup Wangchen (China), Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan), Mae Azango (Liberia)
Mansoor al-Jamri (Bahrain), Natalya Radina (Belarus), Javier Valdez Cárdenas (Mexico), Umar Cheema (Pakistan)
Mohammad Davari (Iran), Nadira Isayeva (Russia), Dawit Kebede (Ethiopia), Laureano Márquez (Venezuela)
Mustafa Haji Abdinur (Somalia), Naziha Réjiba (Tunisia), Eynulla Fatullayev (Azerbijan), J.S. Tissainayagam (Sri Lanka)
Bilal Hussein (Iraq), Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad (Afghanistan), Andrew Mwenda (Uganda), Hector Maseda Gutiérrez (Cuba)
Dmitry Muratov (Russia), Mazhar Abbas (Pakistan), Adela Navarro Bello (Mexico), Gao Qinrong (China)
Jesús Abad Colorado (Colombia), Jamal Amer (Yemen), Madi Ceesay (The Gambia), Atwar Bahjat (Iraq)
Galima Bukharbaeva (Uzbekistan), Beatrice Mtetwa (Zimbabwe), Lúcio Flávio Pinto (Brazil), Shi Tao (China)
Svetlana Kalinkina (Belarus), Aung Pwint and Thaung Tun (Burma), Alexis Sinduhije (Burundi), Paul Klebnikov (United States)
Abdul Samay Hamed (Afghanistan), Aboubakr Jamai (Morocco), Musa Muradov (Russia), Manuel Vázquez Portal (Cuba)
Ignacio Gómez (Colombia), Tipu Sultan (Bangladesh), Irina Petrushova (Kazakhstan), Fesshaye Yohannes (Eritrea)
Jiang Weiping (China), Geoff Nyarota (Zimbabwe), Horacio Verbitsky (Argentina), Mazen Dana (West Bank)
Zeljko Kopanja (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Modeste Mutinga (DRC), Steven Gan (Malaysia), Mashallah Shamsolvaezin (Iran)
Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández (Cuba), Baton Haxhiu (Kosovo), Jugnu Mohsin and Najam Sethi (Pakistan), María Cristina Caballero (Colombia)
Grémah Boucar (Niger), Gustavo Gorriti (Panama), Pavel Sheremet (Belarus), Ruth Simon (Eritrea)
Viktor Ivancic (Croatia), Freedom Neruda (Ivory Coast), Christine Anyanwu (Nigeria). Ying Chan (United States) and Shieh Chung-Liang (Taiwan)
Ocak Isik Yurtçu (Turkey), Daoud Kuttab (Palestinian Authority), J. Jesus Blancornelas (Mexico), Yusuf Jameel (India)


Andy Murray Movingly Opens Up About Cancer In Players' Tribune Post
by Tom Gainey | November 13th, 2015, 10:50 am
In a new post on the Players' Tribune, Andy Murray opens up about Ross Hutchins' and Elena Baltacha's battles with cancer.
A sample:
I got married the year I turned 28. In a few months, when Kim and I become parents for the first time, I'll be 28. Twenty-eight feels like the beginning of something.
As a tennis player, 28 is an age at which I have much I still want to accomplish. 28 feels like a peak, a prime, a moment open with possibility.
28 is … it's barely anything. It's no time at all.
My best friend, Ross Hutchins, got cancer at 28.
I remember my exact internal reaction when I found out the news. It wasn't stress. It wasn't sadness. It was: Sorry, what?
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11 Comments for Andy Murray Movingly Opens Up About Cancer In Players' Tribune Post
RZ Says:
I really enjoyed reading this, and as mentioned on the previous thread, nice to see Rosco doing so well.
SG1 Says:
As Ben said, Andy's tennis isn't always likeable but Andy definitely is. He has remarkable perspective for someone who's still quite young.
How can people not like this guy. He is simply the best.
J-Kath Says:
Ditto Margo.
it's true: 28 is so young! it's awful what ross hutchins has gone through. or anyone with this disease, for that matter. : /
Gypsy Gal Says:
My nephew went through a similar experience some years ago too,he was the same age as Ross is now,and thankfully hes also clear too,i feel so sad for Bally who wasnt so lucky….
My other half has non-hodginson's – has regular testing – thought to have been caused by exposure to chemicals (is/was a geologist). In remission approx. 6 years – however too long a period on steroids has brought its own problems…..
J-Kath im sorry to hear that my dear,all the best to you both….
My daughter-in-law has Non Hodgkinson's and is in remission at present, but she is middle aged, so there is no comparison with Baltacha's plight.
In the USA, and increasingly in the UK, a big problem is the tendency of patients to embrace ineffective pseudo-science, generally homeopathy. In our current climate of austerity, with the National Health Service being squeezed ever more tightly financially, the government is considering blacklisting homeopathy,on which the NHS wastes several million pounds annually. This won't be easy given the addiction of Prince Charles and the whole Royal Family to homeopathy.
J-Kath, you talk of exposure to "chemicals", but don't you mean "bad chemicals"? Everything is chemicals, including ourselves and all that we eat and drink, even plain old water!
When you are testing for the presence and or the depth of possible new oil fields..& rock sediments there are a load of different chemicals used….the product is soaked, cooked and quite often the Lab. was filled with fumes….there's no proof of course that this caused it except he had two glands operation prior. He is also no longer young so no comparison with Baltacha…but her cancer was in the liver I think.
GG – Thank you…I'm OK …I think….I never go to the Doctor's for the so-called yearly check-up until I'm threatened (they even come round to my door to try and catch me – Needles at the alert).
madmax Says:
Everyone knows someone touched by cancer. The most vile of diseases. Vile. A cure is supposed to be on the horizon.
Thankfully.
Top story: Novak Djokovic Releases Statement: My Good Intentions Have Been Misconstrued
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Slender "magic" tower to soar above Melbourne
By Emma Doherty
Australia's tallest tower could grace the CBD skyline courtesy of the Royal Society of Victoria.
The super slender tower dubbed "Magic" is promising to revitalise Melbourne's 159-year-old science hub, on the small parcel of land bounded by Exhibition, LaTrobe and Victoria streets.
If planning is approved for the 60-storey tower, which will stand at 330 metres high, it will become Australia's tallest building.
The Royal Society of Victoria hopes the residential tower will enable it to continue investing in science and technology.
Society CEO Mike Flattley said it had proposed the tower idea as the most profitable way of raising funds.
"We are a very small organisation and we don't have the funds to capitalise on that site ourselves. So the only way we can do anything on the site is if we raise funds through the building itself," Mr Flattley said.
Working alongside builder Grocon, the society intends the building to lead the way in construction and technology innovation. This is imperative in supporting its the aims.
"The importance of the tower being in itself innovative, and having the latest technology to return sustainability features for a very tall tower in Melbourne is because it needs to symbolise what the Royal Society is here to do, which is to resource Victoria with the latest science, technology and ingenuity and wherever possible, use Victorian science, innovation and ingenuity in conducting any particular project," Mr Flattely said.
For construction to go ahead, the site will be approved for the heritage permit and it also needs to be assessed against the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The site is heritage listed due to its historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria and, according to plans, will remain untouched. However, the relevant issue will be whether it can be approved under a landscape exemption. Heritage Council of Victoria records show landscaping exemptions for the site are limited to surrounding trees and vegetation, the adjacent carport and surrounding fence.
The site falls just outside of the CBD's planning scheme and doesn't have National Heritage listing, under which it may have been protected under the EPBC Act.
Mr Flattely said it would take "some time" to achieve planning approval for the tower.
He said: "It will be some time. This is a very difficult project and difficult proposition so at the moment, this is very much a proposal and something we are taking to our membership and also letting the general public know that we are pursuing the opportunity, but are going to need the support of every level of government in Australia to see it through."


Images in the Library – Hieroglyphs, Emblems, Rebuses
By Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499) by Francesco ColonnaKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Umberto Eco characterized the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, first published in Venice in 1499, as "the most beautiful book of all time." The novel with the enigmatic title – which means "Poliphilo's dream of love-struggle" – was composed in a sonorous mixture of Latin and Italian, and illustrated with plentiful woodcuts. The book reflects the Renaissance reader's fascination with 'pagan mysteries,' which drew inspiration from hieroglyphs, emblems, and picture puzzles.
Poliphilo, the fictive narrator of the Hypnerotomachia, wanders in a dream through surreal landscapes in which he reawakens the architecture, sculpture, and gardens of antiquity to life through the resonant quality of his speech. On page after page, the remains of antiquity are described and interpreted by Poliphilo. In addition to numerous sculptures, he also discovers a rebus, or picture puzzle, which he admires as an inscription consisting of Egyptian hieroglyphs. In reality, it is the author's own invention.
Below the woodcuts of the 'hieroglyphs,' the sequence of signs is translated by Poliphilo into a Latin text: "From your labor to the God of nature sacrifice freely. Gradually, you will make your soul subject to God. He will hold the firm guidance of your life, mercifully governing you, and will preserve you unharmed ." An image can stand for a concept (the "bucranium lashed to hoes" for "labor"), or for a series of concepts ("eye and vulture on an altar" for "God," "nature," and "sacrifice."). Even the sinuous, ornamental band at the end stands for the Latin conjunction "que," which elegantly conjoins the final two ideograms.
Symbolicarum quaestionum libri quinque (1555) by Achille BocchiKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
In subsequent years, Poliphilo's hieroglyphic message was cited frequently. In a book by the Italian humanist Achille Bocchi, a teacher at Bologna University, this rebus is even presented by an angel, like a reliquary of the True Faith. Even heathen hieroglyphs can be transformed without further ado into a Catholic message of justice and probity in study, transmitted to a son by his father as a moral principle.
Hieroglyphica (1551) by HorapolloKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Appearing in Venice in 1505, six years after the publication of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, was the first edition of the Hieroglyphica, two books, painting poetic explanations of hieroglyphic symbols by a late-antique author named Horapollo, for whom the actual ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system had in fact already become alien. Now, the fashion for hieroglyphs, emblems, and rebuses was unstoppable. Read with enthusiasm by the cultural elite of the 16th century, Horapollo's Hieroglyphica was understood as the purportedly long-lost paradigm of a 'sacred' pictorial idiom.
For the 16th century reader fascinated by 'pagan mysteries,' the distinction between phonograms (phonetic symbols) and the ideograms (logograms) of hieroglyphic writing systems had no significance. In deciphering symbols, they pursued their own logic. Celestial bodies like the sun and moon, hence, or a basilisk arched around the gods to form a circle, might stand for "eternity" or the "course of time."
During the 16th century, the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs still lay far in the future. In reliance upon the classical historiographer Diodorus Siculus, it was asserted that any educated humanist was capable of interpreting such figures. This opened the door to the most fantastical pictorial inventions, which integrated the iconic sign into a spatial and scenic image.
In Horapollo, an individual who derives (excessive) delight from music and dance is referred to as a turtledove, a bird that was captured by means of melodies played on the flute – in the image, the symbol is translated into a surreal scene, with the large dove in the tree listening, captivated, to the quartet of musicians, consisting of flute, harp, and a pair of violas da gamba.
Heydenweldt (1554) by Johannes HeroldKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
In his adaptation of the history books of Diodoros Siculus, the Swiss publicist Johannes Herold added a translation of Horapollo's Egyptian 'picture writing.' The woodcuts have been inserted directly into the text, making a strongly memorable impression even within this tiny pictorial space, and in a way that is reminiscent of the images found in primers, or the ABC books through which pupils learn to read.
Libro nel qual s'insegna à scrivere (1548) by Giovanni Battista PalatinoKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The 16th century vogue for Egyptian hieroglyphs inspired authors to create their own rebuses, in which individual words are represented by pictographic images, an early form of encryption. In his textbook on artful writing, the Roman calligrapher Giovanni Battista Palatino included a "Sonetto Figurato," a poem consisting of figural elements. The key to deciphering the cryptic series of letters and graphic symbols lay in the sound of the pictured object: a phonetic combination of "uova" (egg) with the letter "d" produces the interrogative "dove" (where).
Emblematum Libellus (1534) by Andrea AlciatiKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The survival of the hieroglyphs is owed in particular to the emblematic literature. In 1531, a publisher in Augsburg produced a book entitled Emblematum liber (Book of Emblems), a collection of poems illustrated through woodcuts. The author, the Milan attorney Andrea Alciato, was however dissatisfied with this edition. A new edition of the emblem book appeared in Paris in 1534; here, the text and images were arranged typographically in such a way that a Latin motto, a woodcut, and a Latin epigram stood together on each page
The hieroglyphic model of reading shaped the depiction and interpretation of images, for example the symbol of the "lute" in the emblem for "foedera" (alliance). The harmoniously tuned strings of the lute emblematize the powerful political alliance between the Italian princes. In Horapollo, however, the image stood for those people who possess the dubious capacity for "making himself agreeable to others."
The hieroglyphs seen by Poliphilo in his dream recur in emblematic rebuses. Enjoying great popularity was the image, familiar from antique coins, of a dolphin wound around an anchor, hence combining rapid maneuverability with firm support. Poliphilo had discovered it as ornamentation on a bridge, engraved alongside the image of a circle, and had interpreted to mean "Semper festina tarde" (Make haste slowly).
Coin displaying the Emperor Titus (Back)Bode-Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The dolphin that winds itself around an anchor is found on Roman coins bearing portraits of the Emperor Titus. The image of an anchor with a dolphin also served as the trademark of the Venetian printer Aldo Manuzio, who opened his printing shop in 1494, and soon became famous for his philologically exemplary editions of ancient texts.
Le Imprese Heroiche et Morali (1559) by Gabriele SimeoniKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The image of an anchor with a dolphin was characterized by the Italian author Gabriele Simeoni as the "imprese" of the Roman Emperor Titus – on the opposite page, he shows a variant with a crab and a butterfly, standing for the Roman Emperor Augustus. A derivation of the Italian word "impresa" (enterprise), the term "imprese" denotes the connection between an image and a personal motto or epigram.
The dolphin with anchor reappears in the emblem book of Andrea Alciati. Now, it serves as a political memento, and admonishes sovereigns to protect their subjects in turbulent times, and to base their rule on firm foundations, like the anchor of a ship in stormy seas.
On his dream wanderings, Poliphilo encounters a hieroglyph of a half-seated, half-reclining woman who holds a wing in one hand and a turtle in the other, both in perfect balance, one leg planted firmly on the ground, the other suspended in the air. He explains the image with the epigram: "Temper speed by sitting, and lethargy by standing."
This pictorial idea of balanced opposites was varied like a musical motif and elaborated contrapuntally. Appearing in the emblem book of Andrea Alciato is a nude, standing boy. One leg is stretched out for support, the other bent dynamically; the left-hand, which has wings, is raised into the air, while the other, to which a stone has been tied, is hopelessly burdened: "Poverty hinders the advancement of the greatest abilities."
Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (1540) by Guillaume de La PerrièreKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
In the French emblem book of Guillaume de La Perrière we find a parody of this pictorial model. The winged walking stick on the turtle serves as a warning to pilgrims not to wander about aimlessly, as though there were no greater goal "than to rush across seas and over land. But such roving about is not always the right way. The winged walking stick must keep us in check, so that we move along like a turtle."
Emblemata (1599) by Johannes SambucusKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Employing an excessively complex system of references, the Hungarian universal savant Johannes Sambucus incorporated this now barely recognizable allegorical emblem. Nature, represented as Artemis of Ephesos, holds the contrary aspects of physics and metaphysics in her hands, the "falling blossoms" and the "flying falcon." There is also a "Temple of Vesta" with a globe and a "Temple of Divine Providence," which hovers above clouds with an astrolabe. This means that metaphysics is preferable to physics – although the meaning of the bird and the moon above the shoulder of nature remains puzzling.
Emblematum Tyrocinia (1581) by Mathias HoltzwartKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
In the emblem book of Mathias Holtzwart, the merging of opposites acquires a new significance: "What good for a man to gain the entire world if God Himself refuses him eternal peace?" In the image, the work of the Swiss artist Tobias Stimmer, this plainspoken admonition is transformed into a fantastical image of despair: in place of a stone (for poverty), a large moneybag hangs from the man's feet, preventing him from using his winged arms to soar upwards.
Emblematum Centuria (1613) by Gabriel RollenhagenKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Through the Magdeburg preacher and pedagogue Gabriel Rollenhagen, in the end, a different reading proved more up-to-date: poverty, as heavy as a stone, weighs us down, while talent allows us to soar into the heights, as though on wings. It was not least the artistic quality of Crispijn van de Passe's engravings that sustained the success of this emblem book, even when the fashion for hieroglyphs and emblems faded during the age of Enlightenment and neoclassicism.
Uschabti of Psamtik by UnknownNeues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Despite all of this enthusiasm for 'pagan mysteries,' attempts to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs were unsuccessful. Only during the nineteenth-century did archaeological excavations unearth increasing numbers of objects bearing inscriptions, such as the "ushabti," statuettes which accompanied the deceased into the tomb. Hieroglyphs are the symbols found in the ancient Egyptian writing system, and they remained in use from circa 3200 BCE until the fourth century CE. At first, individual pictographs were used to convey simple information. But in development as early as the third millennium BCE was a highly complex writing system employing circa 700 hieroglyphs which can be categorized as phonetic symbols (phonograms), logograms (ideograms), or additional characters (determinatives). During the Ptolemaic periodic, numerous combinations of individual hieroglyphs, along with new variant readings, increased the number of hieroglyphs to more than 7000.
Description De L'Égypte (1822) by Edme François JomardKunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The abiding mystery of the Egyptian hieroglyphs was solved as the result of a happy accident. The so-called Rosetta Stone was discovered near Rašīd (Rosetta) in the Nile Delta by a French officer during the Egyptian military campaign (1798-1801) of the French General Napoleon Bonaparte. The "Commission des sciences et des arts" (Commission for the Sciences and Arts), which accompanied the campaign on assignment by Napoleon, recognized the significance of the find. Engraved on the stone stele in three different writing systems (hieroglyphic, Demotic, and ancient Greek) is a royal decree dating from the year 196 BCE. Although the stele had to be surrendered to the British after the French defeat, it was the French linguist Jean-François Champollion who first successfully translated hieroglyphic inscriptions through a comparison of the three writing systems. This decisive moment is documented in the monumental publication Description de l'Égypte (Description of Egypt).
Text: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Concept and Text: Michael Lailach
Translation: Ian Pepper
Realisation: Justine Tutmann
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Photo: Dietmar Katz
Bode-Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Neues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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Social media remains key to Venezuela's opposition, despite efforts to block it
Opponents of Nicolás Maduro face off against troops loyal to the government on Tuesday. (Ariana Cubillos/AP)
By Drew Harwell and
Drew Harwell
Reporter covering artificial intelligence
Mariana Zuñiga
Venezuela's state-run Internet service on Tuesday appeared to cut off broad swaths of the nation's social-media and messaging sites, taking aim at the most critical ways Venezuelans had organized protests and communicated with family amid military clashes and violent unrest.
Internet-monitoring groups said CANTV, the state-run Internet provider through which most people access the Web, appeared to block or restrict access to a range of websites, including Twitter and Instagram, that opposition leader Juan Guaidó and other groups have used to mobilize growing protests against President Nicolás Maduro.
The video giant YouTube, the search engine Bing, the live-streaming video service Periscope, and chat and messaging services run by Google also appeared to be blocked as part of the latest sweeping move by an authoritarian regime to squash online dissent.
The blocks contributed to the chaos of a challenge spearheaded by Guaidó and backed by an unknown number of soldiers as thousands of protesters clashed in the streets with pro-government militias and Maduro loyalists. But the cutoff did not entirely disrupt the uprising, and many Guaidó supporters in the streets said that the networks had first alerted them to the protests.
[Dozens wounded in Venezuela as protests against Maduro turn violent]
"In the Venezuela we are living today, social media is vital," said Veronica Caña, a 40-year-old woman who was at the eastern Caracas highway on Tuesday morning heading to join the Guaidó protests. "I woke up at 5 a.m. and I started to receive information of what was happening in La Carlota and, well, my whole scheduled plans for the day changed. I had to do my duty and join."
Governments facing political turmoil often seek to shut off all or some of the Internet access in their countries to hinder organizing by opponents and the spreading of information that might fuel protests. The Egyptian government in 2011, for example, blocked overall Internet access during the Arab Spring uprisings for nearly a week.
More often, though, national governments seek to block social media and other communication tools while keeping online the overall Internet, which can be essential to commerce and government operations. Sri Lanka, for example, blocked some social media sites after the Easter Day bombings that left hundreds of people dead, and restored access to the sites two days later. Monitoring services reported that the Internet in Venezuela, though spotty in places, remained functioning Tuesday amid the blocks to social media services.
Blocking individual services, such as major social media sites, is technically easy when there are only a few major telecommunications providers in a country, though individual users can sometimes evade such roadblocks using software tools such as virtual private networks, or VPNs, that allow a user to obscure the origin of their Internet use.
[Analysis: Is what's happening in Venezuela a coup?]
Michael Camilleri, a director at the Washington-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, said social-media and online messaging services had become the most critical ways Venezuelans communicated beyond the reach of government censors. The opposition to Maduro has publicly mobilized on Twitter and Instagram and privately communicated through group chats on the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.
But Maduro's attempts at an "information monopoly," and the Internet restrictions that have followed, have hampered people's ability to understand the state of a country suffering growing violence and near-total economic collapse. For news on the unrest, many Venezuelans had to rely on family members back in the U.S. messaging them via WhatsApp.
"The Venezuelan government going back years now has essentially co-opted or silenced any independent media in the country. So the Internet has become an essential source of information for anybody who doesn't want to take government propaganda as truth," he said.
If "there's a democratic revolution in Venezuela," he added, it will be one that "was very much organized and inspired by these" networks.
[White House blames Maduro 'regime' after footage shows armored vehicle striking protesters]
NetBlocks, a Europe-based watchdog group that tracks Internet censorship, said their tests found that social-media services, independent news sources and other sites appeared to be blocked in a way that could not be explained by outages or other natural disruptions.
Some VPN services, such as the public VPN app TunnelBear, also appeared to be taken offline. VE sin Filtro, a Venezuelan-based firm that also tracks Internet blocks, said its tests found similar interference.
Alp Toker, the executive director of NetBlocks, said the blackouts began early Tuesday and proceeded through three distinct phases, beginning with brief disruptions to Twitter and video-streaming sites and concluding with a mass degradation of some of the country's most-used services, including Instagram. "There's impact across the board," he said.
Twitter has been a key network for both sides of the Venezuelan crisis. Maduro's communications minister tweeted Tuesday that government forces were confronting a "coup" in the capital launched by a "reduced group of military officials who are traitors."
But the platform also helped drive protesters such as Leonel Mendoza into the action. "I saw it on Twitter and decided to go to the street right away," said Mendoza, 29.
['We keep fighting:' Stories of resilience from across Venezuela]
Guaidó's team has struggled to reach the masses because most TV and radio stations are censored by a pro-government regulatory agency, CONATEL, and most newspapers have been bought over the years by sympathizers of the socialist government of the late president Hugo Chávez. Many international outlets have been banned, dozens of radio stations have been closed, and state-run TV networks largely transmit propaganda by the Maduro government. NetBlocks said YouTube, Periscope and other sites also have been blocked in recent weeks during Guaidó's speeches; they were generally brought online shortly after the speeches ended.
Opposition leaders inform their supporters and call for protests through Twitter and Instagram, and relay messages through WhatsApp. To reach people in the slums and remote areas where Internet access is limited, Guaidó's team has also launched an election-style grass-roots campaign, dubbed "Operacion Libertad," designed to boost their social-media reach.
Pueblo de Venezuela:
El Centro Nacional de Comunicación ha creado la cuenta @Presidencia_VE en las redes sociales. Invitamos a seguirla y a difundirla para combatir las noticias falsas y al G2 cubano.
La defensa de la democracia también la hacemos desde las redes.
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) April 29, 2019
"The defense of democracy is also led through social media," Guaidó tweeted on Monday through an account, @Presidencia_VE, through which he said all official information would be announced. "Let's spread this new channel of official information, this window of freedom," he said.
Craig Timberg contributed to this report.
Drew Harwell Drew Harwell is a technology reporter for The Washington Post covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. He joined The Post in 2014 and has covered national business and the Trump companies. Follow


James Garner's Husqvarna 400 Cross
Ben Branch January 5, 2017
James Garner was an A-list actor from the golden age of Hollywood who shared the motorsport addiction that also afflicted the likes of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Garner was the co-owner of the AIR (American International Racers) team, which ran endurance road-racing Corvettes in the late 1960s, and he was also contracted to American Motors Corporation (AMC) for a number of years, with his garages preparing 10 1969 SC/Ramblers for the brutal Baja 500 desert race. 7 of his 10 cars finished the race, taking out 3 of the top 5 places in the their class.
Garner also drove the "Goodyear Grabber" Baja racer, which he piloted to a second-in-class finish in the 1969 NORRA Mexican 1000, and he drove the pace car at the Indy 500 in 1975, 1977, and 1985.
Garner became firm friends with Steve McQueen during filming of the 1963 classic The Great Escape, and it's likely to be this friendship that resulted in him and fellow actor James Coburn ordering a pair of Husqvarna 400 Cross off road racing motorcycles in 1970. James' daughter Gigi recalls McQueen and her Dad racing their matching Huskys up and down the street outside the Steve's estate in Brentwood (a quiet neighborhood on Los Angeles' Westside), it's very likely that the two men also took the bikes off road, possibly joined by the likes of Malcolm Smith.
In 1970, the Husqvarna 400 Cross was nearing the peak of its lifecycle. The model had won both the 1969 and 1970 500cc World Championships in the capable hands of Bengt Aberg, and the Swedish machines were by far the best designed off road racers in the world. Each was powered by a 396cc, single-cylinder two-stroke, with 40hp, a 4-speed transmission, and a chromoly frame – the dry weight was just 105 kilograms (231 lbs), giving it a power-to-weight ratio that even many modern motorcycles would struggle to match.
Garner's 400 Husky is due to be sold by Bonhams on the 26th of January with an estimated value of between $20,000 and $25,000. Although that might not be cheap, it is a beautifully restored piece of Hollywood history with a direct connection to two of the biggest names in mid-century cinema. If you'd like to read more or register to bid you can click here to visit the official listing.
Published by Ben Branch - January 5th 2017
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HBO's Vice News Tonight Interviews Jon Lenzner on Representing White House Employees in Government Investigations
Jon Lenzner discusses representing government employees on HBO's Vice News Tonight
In June 2017, IGI's CEO Jon Lenzner was interviewed by Evan McMorris-Santoro on HBO's Vice News Tonight about representing government employees, including White House personnel, during investigations of high-level staff.
As Lenzner said, "There may be a lower-level or mid-level staffer who works for a senior official that is under investigation. Those individuals who work for them may want to hire their own counsel because they may have been privy to conversations or meetings that investigators are going to want to ask them about."
Watch the episode here on Vice.


ESA Celebrates 70 Years — A Look Back at Morris F. Weinstock
by Merlin Guilbeau, IOM - Executive Director & CEO
The Morris F. Weinstock Person of the Year Award is considered to be the most esteemed honor in the electronic security and life safety industry. Awarded since 1970, the achievement recognizes outstanding volunteer leadership. This award is a great honor to everyone who receives it, but especially to those who know the story behind it – a story that begins before ESA or even the NBFAA, and has threads connecting the award's namesake to key points in the development of the electronic security industry. The Morris F. Weinstock Person of the Year Award is considered to be the most esteemed honor in the electronic security and life safety industry.
Awarded since 1970, the achievement recognizes outstanding volunteer leadership.
This award is a great honor to everyone who receives it, but especially to those who know the story behind it – a story that begins before ESA or even the NBFAA, and has threads connecting the award's namesake to key points in the development of the electronic security industry.
In the early 1930s, Morris F. Weinstock worked in his father's butcher shop in Cleveland, Ohio. According to Weinstock's son, George, crime was becoming an issue for the family business — to the point that Morris' father slept in the shop with a pistol in his lap.
Repeated break-ins prompted Weinstock to use the skills he acquired from technical school to design a way for the family to alert each other quickly. With no knowledge of how systems were already being installed around the country, the first alarm system Weinstock ever installed was rudimentary yet inventive.
The system consisted of a doorbell button under the butcher shop counter that rang a bell in the family home behind the store.
Soon, other merchants were calling for systems like the one he had installed. So, the Weinstock brothers obliged. Jack and Morris formed Morse Signal Devices to meet the demand for their alarm system. According to George Weinstock, the newly awakened security men accepted calls on the butcher shop's phone and rode a bicycle to install systems around town.
In no time, the company could afford a car. Then, the brothers made a couple buyouts, leapt into direct wire monitoring — bought a bigger office and before Weinstock knew it, the small business was a well-established name in the Cleveland area.
It was around this time that he received a visit from Ben Call. The fellow businessman from Boston came to Weinstock in 1948 with an idea: a trade association for the growing alarm industry. Many installers across the nation had already rejected Call by the time he spoke with Weinstock, but Morris caught the vision and believed in the idea.
In fact, he liked it so much that he paid half of Call's expenses to start the association.
From there, the course was set for a rapid formation of the National Burglar Alarm Association in 1948, which became the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association a year later, and is now known as the Electronic Security Association. Weinstock attended the meeting where the association was formed, and hosted the second meeting of the association, which brought displays by manufacturers for the first time.
Weinstock also served as president of the newly formed NBFAA from 1955-1956, while still helping to grow a skyrocketing family business.
In 1969, at the age of 59, the visionary died from a heart attack. His impact on the industry impressed his peers so much that upon his death, his family partnered with the NBFAA to establish an award in his honor. His sons wanted the award to recognize excellence in service to the industry, because, as George Weinstock wrote of his father, "how would the history of the alarm industry have been changed – and what would the present be like – if Morris Weinstock had not followed through with his dreams?"


Star Alliance Biometrics
Touchless travel by means of facial recognition: Vienna Airport commences as a provider of Star Alliance Biometrics in November
As of 09 November, passengers at Vienna Airport can benefit from facial recognition when passing through selected checkpoints prior to the security control and at specific boarding gates in a touchless manner by means of biometric identification with Star Alliance Biometrics, a Star Alliance product already in place at both Frankfurt and Munich Airports.
How does Star Alliance Biometrics work?
Registered Miles & More members of Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS, who agree to participate in Star Alliance Biometrics, can now pass through the boarding pass control in Terminal 3 and the boarding gates in selected test areas at Vienna Airport in a touchless manner.
Once a registered passenger enters a biometric access point, there is no need to manually present a boarding pass. Rather, the passenger's face will be automatically detected by the camera and the image will be matched against their biometric profile in the Star Biometric Hub, which also confirms the passenger has a current flight booking on that day. In case of a positive match, the access point will open automatically, and the passenger can continue their journey through the airport.
In this respect, the currently mandatory face masks can still be worn during the biometric identity check since identification is also possible with a mask.
All biometric touchpoints at Vienna Airport are clearly signed with the Star Alliance Biometrics logo.
Vienna is the third European airport to offer this service alongside Frankfurt and Munich.
Registration for Star Alliance Biometrics
Any Austrian Miles & More member can register for Star Alliance Biometrics straight away via the Miles & More App.
After logging into the Miles & More App, the registration can be started by selecting Star Alliance Biometrics within the profile settings. If the passenger does not yet have a Miles & More account, they can register for free.
The registration on the Star Biometric Hub consists of a few very simple steps:
Create a PIN and security questions
Take a selfie
Identity with a passport
Provide consent, stating at which airports and with which airlines they would like to use the service
Passengers only need to register once and can then use their biometric data multiple times at the biometric touchpoints in participating airports whenever they travel with a Star Alliance airline that offers Star Alliance Biometrics.
Miles & More APP
Data protection and security
The registered passenger's personal data, e.g. photos and other identification features, is encrypted and stored securely within the Star Alliance Biometrics platform. The system was developed in accordance with applicable data protection laws and based on the latest facial recognition technology. The storage of personal data is limited to a necessary minimum. For example, no customer names are stored.
Only the images of those persons who enter the clearly identifiable biometric touchpoints are captured on site at Vienna Airport. The captured images are deleted immediately after successful identification or after rejection (e.g. if a non-registered passenger enters the biometric touchpoint by mistake). More detailed information on data protection can be found here.
Registration and Data Processing
Use at Airports
What is Star Alliance Biometrics and where can I use it?
What is Star Alliance Biometrics?
Star Alliance Biometrics is a Star Alliance product that allows passengers at Vienna Airport to pass through the boarding pass control point and selected boarding gates in a touchless manner by means of facial recognition.
When a registered passenger travels through a participating airport and with a participating airline, the Star Alliance Biometrics facial recognition software matches the passenger's live image with their boarding pass information and biometric profile, allowing the passenger to pass through enabled touchpoints in a touchless manner.
What do I have to do in order to use a biometric access point?
Once a registered passenger enters a biometric access point, there is no need to manually present a boarding pass. Rather, the passenger's face will be automatically detected by the camera and the image will be matched in the Star Biometric Hub. The matching not only takes into account whether the passenger is registered, but also whether the passenger has a current flight booking on that day. In case of a positive match, the access point will open automatically, and the passenger can continue their journey through the airport.
Where is Star Alliance Biometrics available?
The system is currently available at Vienna Airport (VIE), Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Munich Airport (MUC) for passengers travelling with Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa or SWISS.
Is Star Alliance Biometrics a Vienna Airport product?
No. Star Alliance Biometrics is a Star Alliance product.
How can passengers register for Star Alliance Biometrics?
Any Austrian Miles & More member can register for Star Alliance Biometrics via the Miles & More App. After logging into the Miles & More App, the registration can be started by selecting Star Alliance Biometrics within the profile settings. If the passenger does not yet have a Miles & More account, they can register for free. The registration on the Star Biometric Hub consists of a few very simple steps - create a PIN and security questions, take a selfie, confirm identity with a passport and provide consent, stating at which airports and with which airlines you would like to use the service.
Miles & More members of Lufthansa and SWISS can register via the Lufthansa App.
Do passengers need to register before every flight?
No, passengers only need to register once to use Star Alliance Biometrics at all participating airports.
How soon is the Star Alliance Biometrics profile active once registered?
The Star Alliance biometric profile will be active 24 hours after registration, at the latest.
What personal data is stored by Star Alliance Biometrics?
Star Alliance Biometrics stores the registered frequent flyer number, up to five images of the passenger, the passport expiration date, the PIN and security questions. The passenger's name is not stored.
Where are the biometric profiles and data stored?
Star Alliance encrypts and stores the passengers' profiles and data in the Microsoft Azure Cloud hosted in Europe. The data is subject to and protected by EU privacy laws. Airlines and airports will not have access to passengers' biometric profile data.
Why is the name and Miles & More number of the passenger transferred to the Star Alliance App?
The Star Alliance App requires the validated Miles & More number of the passenger, as Star Alliance Biometrics connects the number to the passenger's biometric profile. The passenger's name is only required to match the name on the passport to the name on the Miles & More account. After a successful match, the name is not stored.
How long does the registration process take for Star Alliance Biometrics?
The registration process usually takes around three to ten minutes. If the process is idle for too long, a timeout will occur, and passengers may have to restart the registration.
Can passengers delete their biometric profile?
Yes, passengers can delete their biometric profile at any time. Simply select "Delete Biometric Profile" under "Profile Management" in the Star Alliance App.
Who can passengers contact if they have questions or feedback about Star Alliance Biometrics?
Passengers can use the "Send Feedback" function under "Settings" within the Star Alliance App.
What happens if passengers forget their Star Alliance Biometrics PIN or the answers to their security questions?
Passengers can use the "Send Feedback" function under "Settings" within the Star Alliance App, in order to be routed to the appropriate service desk.
Can passengers register using a tablet or iPad, instead of a mobile phone?
No, passengers are required to register using an Android or iOS mobile phone. Tablets or iPads are not recommended for the registration process.
What do passengers need to do in order to use biometric identification at a participating airport?
Passengers need to register for Star Alliance Biometrics, enter their Star Alliance Biometrics-registered frequent flyer number in their flight booking and use the clearly designated Star Alliance Biometrics access points at the airport.
How do passengers recognise the touchpoints that are equipped with the system?
All touchpoints that are equipped with the biometric identification system are clearly signed with the Star Alliance Biometrics logo and the text "Biometrischer Zugang/Biometric Access".
I am required to wear a mask in the airport terminal. Will I have to remove this for biometric identification?
No. It is not necessary to remove a mask for the biometric identity check. The system works for passengers wearing masks.
What happens if a person cannot be biometrically identified at a touchpoint despite registering for Star Alliance Biometrics?
Passengers can still proceed at a touchpoint by using their boarding pass.
Do passengers still need to carry their ID or passport, even if they have a biometric profile?
Yes, passengers are always required to carry their ID/passport. The biometric identification at certain touchpoints does not replace the ID/passport check at the airport.
Do passengers still need to carry their boarding pass?
Yes, passengers are required to carry their boarding pass as there are touchpoints that are not equipped with biometric identification.
Who receives the images captured at the biometric touchpoints?
The images are transmitted to Star Alliance Biometrics exclusively for identification.
How long are the images captured at the biometric touchpoints stored?
The images are deleted immediately and completely after transmission to Star Alliance Biometrics.
Are images stored at biometric touchpoints, even if the passenger does not have a Star Alliance Biometrics profile?
No, images of non-registered passengers are not stored at biometric touchpoints. Only registered passengers are generally permitted to use the biometric touchpoints. Nevertheless, if a non-registered passenger wants to pass through a biometric touchpoint, this can only happen by presenting a boarding pass. More detailed information can be found at https://www.viennaairport.com/dataprotection.


Stimulate your neurons!
That&s the advice of a physician who has spent more than six decades caring for patients. She&s never actually billed a patient, but they have paid her, in more ways than one.
A Medical Economics Web Exclusive
"Stimulate your neurons"
That's the advice of a physician who has spent more than six decades caring for patients. She's never actually billed a patient, but they have paid her, in more ways than one.
By Talia Krohn
At a time when many doctors can't wait to get out of medicine, others have made their profession a lifelong career. We profiled a number of them in an article that you can find on this Web site, "Still practicing after all these years," which appeared in our January 10, 2000 issue. Here we profile another one of these extraordinary physicians, Milly G. Halberstadt, who at age 89 is taking a "temporary leave" after 64 years in practice. She and her son Marc were interviewed by Medical Economics editorial intern Talia Krohn, who is now a junior at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Milly Halberstadt, a family practitioner in the small town of Malone, NY, always wanted to be a doctor–but the path was not destined to be a smooth one. Born to orthodox Jewish parents in Germany in 1911, she studied at universities in Frankfurt, Freiburg, Vienna, and Berlin. One of a small group of women in medical school, and one of the very few to make it all the way through, she graduated with high honors in 1935. She soon earned an internship at a university-affiliated hospital in Berlin, at a time when Adolf Hitler had declared that only 10 internships in the entire country would be awarded to non-Aryans. Her student ID card at the University of Berlin had a yellow stripe identifying her as a "non-Aryan."
As the anti-Semitic fervor swept Germany, it became clear that her Jewish heritage would prevent her from practicing medicine in her native country. With the help of friends and relatives, Milly emigrated to the United States just a few months before the Nazi regime tightened its hold, making it virtually impossible for Jews to escape. In October 1937, a year before Kristallnacht, she arrived in New York City, where she wasted little time obtaining her medical license and getting a volunteer position with Good Samaritan Hospital. She resumed a relationship with, and soon married, a childhood friend, Joseph Halberstadt, who held a doctorate in chemistry. A job change for Joseph took them north to Malone, a town of about 10,000 in the "North Country," nestled against the Canadian border. There she set up a medical practice in the basement of their home.
And there she has been ever since, on her own in practice, and on her own at home since Joseph's death in 1972. Sixty years of practice and thousands of patients later, her days of seeing patients are finally drawing to a close. But this twice board-certified physician isn't ready to give up medicine just yet. "I didn't officially retire," she says. "But I'm not practicing at the moment. I think retirement is the worst thing to do unless, of course, it becomes necessary. The best way to stay young is to work."
Halberstadt was honored by the American Academy of Family Physicians in 1998 for her lifetime contributions to the practice of family medicine. Last year, the AMA bestowed a Certificate of Merit recognizing her more than 50 years of service to the profession. When she was interviewed by her hometown newspaper, The Malone Telegram, she said, "If someone offered me a choice–to have $100,000 or to continue working—I'd choose working. Stimulate your neurons."
A month later, the Telegram received a letter from a former patient who had moved to Louisiana and had seen the article about her: "Even though I have been away from home in Trout River for many years, I will always remember her," the patient wrote. "Her firm but warm professional manner and wide knowledge base never seemed taxed or burdened no matter how many patients were in the waiting room… I remember her calling our home (and I'm sure many other patients' homes) in the evening to check on a family member's condition if she had concerns."
Retired or not, Halberstadt's career has been nothing short of exceptional. As her son Marc recently discovered, his mother never billed people for her services. "A lot of patients couldn't afford to pay," he explains. "I remember people bringing us carrots, milk, and fruit instead of money. Once, someone brought kosher food for Passover. She never had a secretary, never had billing stationery. Actually, I don't think she had any stationery, period."
Milly's attitude toward collections was philosophical: "If they are honest, they will pay. If not, it is a waste of a postage stamp."
As her son recalls, "Money didn't come up a lot in conversation. My parents were extremely frugal. It was a different era."
Marc also remembers the devotion his mother had for all her patients. "She practiced day and night, refusing to turn patients away," he says. "This sometimes meant going out 30 miles in the country at 30 degrees below zero at 3 o'clock in the morning to deliver a baby." Patients appreciated her dedication, and to them she was always "Dr. Milly."
But perhaps the most amazing thing about Milly Halberstadt is her impeccable record. "I never lost a baby or a mother," she recalls. "I never had a malpractice case, never had a flaw on my license or credentials." Her son says his mother attributed this good fortune to the power of her prayers.
"We lived near a Mohawk Indian reservation," he remembers. "Once, an Indian woman had a premature baby and brought it to her doctor. He said it would die shortly. The mother then went to a specialist in Montreal; the baby was given a couple weeks to live. As a last resort, she came to my mother, who gave unorthodox medication and started praying for the baby. The baby survived. I asked my mother later what medicine she had used to save the baby's life, and she replied, 'It wasn't the medicine. It was the prayers.'"
Whether it's through competent and skillful medical technique, or through compassion and prayer, Milly Halberstadt has made a lasting difference in the lives of her patients.
Talia Krohn. Stimulate your neurons!.
2001;2.


Melville House Books
The UK Parliament has voted How to Stop Brexit its non-fiction book of the year
by Nikki Griffiths
Well, who would have thought it. As the British prime minister, Theresa May, attempts to plough ahead with a hard Brexit, parliament has voted former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's book How to Stop Brexit the best non-fiction book of the year. This all took place at at the 2017 Parliamentary Book Awards.
The awards were launched in 2016 by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association. There are three categories: best memoir and fiction by a parliamentarian, best non-fiction by a parliamentarian, and best work about politics by an by a non-parliamentarian. Publishers are called upon to suggest entries, and the shortlist is picked by a panel of booksellers and voted on by Parliamentarians.
Stephen Lotinga, chief executive of the Publishers Association, said in an official statement when the awards launched, "These awards and reception aim to recognise the contribution publishing makes to the UK's economy and society, while also celebrating the creativity of the people who are at the centre of politics."
Clegg vocally supported the Remain campaign, and according to his publisher's website his book "categorically debunks the various myths that have been used to force Brexit on Britain, not by 'the people' but by a small, extremely rich, self-serving elite, and explains precisely how this historic mistake can be reversed — and what you can do to make sure that it is."
How to Stop Brexit won the secret ballot by only a narrow margin. It's a blow to May's continuing push to wrap up a Brexit deal as soon as possible, showing the unrest and disagreement in parliament and in her own party over exiting the EU. On Monday another kick was dealt to Brexit negotiations when May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker failed to broker a deal after the Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who teamed up with the Conservatives after they only managed to win a minority holding in the last general election, were unhappy with the proposed future of the Irish border. Political unrest is on the rise.
Best political book by a non-parliamentarian was awarded to Jo Cox: More in Common. Jo Cox, an MP with the Labour Party, was murdered last year in the lead up to the referendum by fifty-two-year old Nazi Thomas Mair, who shouted, "Britain first" as he attacked her. The book was written by Cox's husband, Brendan Cox. The Bookseller's Lisa Campbell covered the award ceremony at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday night, reporting that Cox said, as he accepted the award:
"To be living at a time we have a US president who is an active purveyor of hate and loathing… to be living at a time when hatred is being driven against different groups in a way it hasn't been since the 1930s… Jo's message of 'more in common'… that encapsulates how we win that battle. It is saying fundamentally 'there is more in common than what divides us.'"
Best memoir went to Britain's longest-serving female Labour MP Harriet Harman, for A Woman's Work. In her acceptance speech she said:
"My male colleague would write their memoirs… as I would look in the pictures (of the books) the only pictures of women were of their wives or the women working for them and nothing about that great time which was the women's movement… I would run my finger down the index and I would not be in it. Like Sheila Robot, hidden from history. So I stepped into the world of writing my memoir which I was hugely delighted to do because it took me into the world of publishing and bookselling and I'm delighted it did."
At the ceremony, Lotinga made his approval of the winners clear, saying, "All three winning titles make vital contributions to our thinking on important political issues, whether this is on the position of women in politics, by helping us come to terms with the tragic death of Jo Cox MP or by weighing into the divisive issue of our decision to leave the European Union."
The Guardian's Danuta Kean recorded the response of the Booksellers Association's head of marketing, Alan Staton. Highlighting the topical nature of the winning books, he said, "They have become even more so in the last two or three weeks, as Brexit has been in the news and Brendan Cox responded to Donald Trump posting Britain First videos on Twitter."
Not only are the winning books extremely current, calling for fight and change and addressing discontent, but they demonstrate a strong showing against far-right policies and ideas. In grim times, this feels hopeful.
Nikki Griffiths is the managing director of Melville House UK.
Awards and ceremonies
First Irish woman to win International Dublin Literary Award
Nobel Nabobs Named; Swedes Suffer Rep Wreckage
Booker Prize moves online; digital tomes abound
Science Fiction writers protest Saudi Arabia as possible conference site
Finally! ebooks become exempt from tax
An online petition to stop Brexit crashes government website due to sheer number of supporters.
Order, order! Publishers set to clean up in the wake of tidying craze
Brexit explained, via the medium of Ladybirds for Grown-Ups
A Woman's WorkAlan StatonBrendan CoxDanuta KeanHarriet HarmanHow to Stop BrexitJo CoxLisa CampbellNick CleggParliamentary book awardsStephen LotingaTheresa May
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