Monitoring the North Pole

I've blogged about the importance of studying failures, but the most recent Fail Faire inspired me to speak out today about the tech team's most disappointing failure to date: the persistent status of the North Pole as the last truly closed society. Even North Korea regularly leaks reports and video via channels of dedicated citizen journalists using stealthy new technologies.

And while I can't speak to the details of our (*cough*netfreedom*) work, I can say that I'm sorely disappointed that not a single report from rumored "Reindeer games" to select the sleigh-leader has surfaced. This being a season for hope, I'd like to believe this is because the happy elves simply don't have any messages to broadcast to the outside world. But we all know just how unaccountable the Workshop can be, so if you find any curious images or recordings on your shiny new Christmas electronics, please let us know.

The new year brings new opportunities, and we welcome suggestions on methods to reach the elves and ensure that Santa's leadership is subject to appropriate checks, balances, and electoral review. And if any brave mesh networking experts care to test new advances in extreme climes, you know where to send your project proposal... In the meantime, merry Christmas to all.