Hmmm... Now we've come all this way, I guess we'd better do some
work...
The plan is to try and set up a local web/mail/news server with easy local
access, either through a physical presence, or dialup. We have the kit
and software up and running, but still have two problems to solve: where
to put it, and how to connect it to the backbone.
There are several possibilities, but each one has it's pluses and minuses.
We try and meet as many other groups as possible and find out what they
are doing and where there is room for collaboration. What we don't want
to do is tie ourselves in with any organisation that can then use the facilities
to gain political advantage, or simply stall the project for similar reasons.
We head into the office which IHAC shares with DIA, and fill out the forms
applying for our UN blue cards. These will allow us some freedom of movement,
and, more importantly, the possibility to get home without having to make
the trip back to Split. Crucially, the IHAC rubber stamp has been left
in London. This means we can't stamp the forms and make them "official",
so cannot get the cards. Luckily, technology comes to the rescue, thanks
to messrs. Hewlett Packard, and their instant rubber stamp kit: the original
graphic that was used to make the stamp is on the office machine, so all
we have to do is laser print it over the top of the completed application
and presto! an offical document...
We hang out for a bit in case someone phones - it's almost impossible to
dial out from here - you have to book a call with the exchange, then they
come back to you at some point in the next couple of hours, so regular
calls are made from the UK end to see if we need anything. No calls come
in, so we head down to the nearest cafe for coffee and lung damage, where
we meet Eric Bachmann, who set up and maintains the Zamir network of store
and forward email/BBS machines that kept the world in contact throughout
the conflict. While we are there, an old bunker buddy,William
Hunt arrives, and they starting talking about the old days, hiding
in cellars and ducking sniper fire etc.
I get chatting to a shady character leaning on the bar...
"So what do you do then?"
"I'm a smuggler"
"What do you smuggle?"
"What do you need?"
Ouside we wander the streets for a bit, and pop into the university technical
engineering facility, where they have set up a network of SGIs and PCs.
They have a satlink to The
Internet, but their router keeps crashing due to lack of memory - a bit
like me, only I do it through lack of sleep. It seems to be stable enough
to allow me to send these updates though, so it is to become a regular
stopping off point.
In the old town we find the usual collection of souvenir shops, but these
trinkets have a twist.. they are made from empty cartridge cases, beaten
into new shapes, or simply engraved or engineered into coffee grinders
etc. We decide they are simply oozing with street cred and Tim stocks up
with gifts for back home, no doubt to be exchanged for perverted sexual
favours and dubious combustibles.
Dinner at our old favourite, King Patisserie, which serves a comprehensive
menu of small or large pizza... What toppings? Small or large, I just told
you. We're introduced to Henry Peirse who is working with IHAC, heading
up the local UN Radio project, who's function is to publicise the UN and
IPTF missions here in Bosnia. During the fighting, he was a freelance war
correspondant, and tells us some hairy tales of his days in the L.I.T.
(Low Intelligence Team), so named because they kept getting themsleves
in and out of the most incredible and newsworthy situations completely
by accident. He is a cool dude, and promises us some sound bites of some
of the more exciting bits...
As usual, the curfew intervenes, and we head our seperate ways.
Left to right.. Adam, Simon, Eric Bachmann, German 2600?, William Hunt and Tim  |
|
|---|---|
DIA / IHAC HQ  |
Babe-a-Lela and Andre Djerkovic  |
Faculty of Electro Technical Engineering, MC Harris on the desktop
 |
Tim's twin brother |
SGI get everywhere don't they!!!  |
|
Can I go out to play, mum?
Mmm... OK... It's not shelling at the moment...
Hello? Hello?... Why isn't my phone working?
Satellite's gone, way up to Inmars...
Lovely green and yellow building...
River & Fort on hill
Fat young square in Old Town Square  |
Old Town  |
|---|
Town Centre
Art Centre
 Back to day2... |
 Back to Sarajevo Diary |
 On to day4... |