Another cold but supremely entertaining day in Berlin with friends from the Chaos Computer Club. The Chaos Communications Congress wrapped up earlier on Friday with excellent presentations on Bluetooth and Blackberry hacking together with a roundup of the top computer security vulnerabilities for 2006. The Congress was attended by 3,000 people working on a solid network with more connectivity than Africa.

The after party was held at the C-Base, a private hackers space built to resemble a starship fallen to earth. The C-Base crew threw another party last night and put on a splendid fireworks display. The DJs spun German house music all night and long into this morning. Much dancing, talking, and hanging out. Such a fine place, Berlin, with far stronger data privacy laws, humane drug policies, legalized prostitution, and a government that understands the dangers of incremental facism. An enormous relief to be here - so far from the immediate disfunction of the U.S.