I've been following with great interest the recent developments in Iran.
The graphic novel "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi really opened my eyes about life in Iran and I've had a fascination with the country ever since.
Did Mir Hussein Moussavi win the recent election over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Moussavi's supporters claim? We may never know... but it seems like there is revolution in the streets of Iran. I always find it fascinating to watch history unfold before my eyes.
Ayatollah Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard are already fighting back and they have a history of quickly taking control in situations like this but it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few days.
For this techie guy one of the other very interesting things about this potential revolution has been the use of technology by the forces of reform. The opposition has been spreading the word through web pages and also by Twitter. Iranians are using Twitter to send constant, live, up to date, posts on what is happening before their eyes. They are making sure that the whole world is watching. They are also using these updates to send information out about marches and rallies.
Of course the government of Iran is doing as much as possible to disrupt this web activity and make things difficult for the opposition.
But you, yes you, can help if you have a spare PC around your house.
http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens-for-windows/
This site shows you how you can use a spare PC to set up a proxy server to help the opposition set up web pages that are harder for the Iranian government to track and take down. In many ways you are essentially opening up your machine to Iranian hackers. But in this case the hacking is done for a great cause. I'm planning on trying to set up a spare PC we have in the house this afternoon to help the cause.
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