Since the dawn of the internet age, there has been no shortage of stories about hackers, malware-peddling malcontents, online scams and identity theft. Add to that the growing consensus that wars in the future will be fought online through “cyberwarfare divisions”, and you can understand why such positive statements once made about the internet – like how it would bring the world together and create “a global village” – would seem incredibly naive now.

However, despite the prevalence of hacking and cyberwarfare-related fear, very few people have actually experienced what it is like. After all, the effects of hacking are mostly invisible to the untrained eye, with the exception of very-high-profile database breaches. Now, though, a security company has produced a fascinating geographic map that shows global hacking attempts in real-time. And of course, the ongoing battle between US and Chinese forces accounts for much of it.

The real-time map

They call us team
And say we’re working
To build a better whole,
Deeds however
Show who’s the favored one
And who is
The red haired stepchild,
And I am not
Favored

Last Tuesday night, two teenage girls from India went out into the fields, looking for a place to relieve themselves, due to the lack of toilets in their village. On their way, they were brutally attacked by a group of men, gang-raped, and murdered. Their bodies were found the next day hanging from a tree, in a sickening display of complacence that speaks volumes not only about the men’s arrogance and lack of shame, but also their sense of entitlement to female bodies. Activists in India have rallied in protest against the problem of sexual violence in the country, and villagers have condemned police inaction relating to the incident.

Yesterday, an article appeared in The Guardian, citing the lack of basic sanitation as the main reason for the death of the girls. It was the lack of toilets in their village, the article suggests, that resulted in the…

Oh empty chair

Out on

The front porch,

How you

Rattle me.

You are a

Constant reminder

Of how lonely

The House

On the Hill

Has become.

That my home

Is haunted

By a

Heartbroken Ghost,

Who looks

Remarkably

Like me.

You are a

Throne

Without a

Queen.

The King

Wanders

His castle

Aimlessly,

More a jester

Than the

Rightful owner

Of the crown.

How long

Will you

Remain there,

Rocking

In the

Summer breeze?

I wish

I knew…

Will someone

Ever make use

Of you again?

I cannot handle

The idea

Of that

Chair

Remaining

Forever empty…

Just like

My heart.