World Bloggers: Support detained and imprisoned bloggers throughout the world!

Bucharest, 17th of November 2009 – World Bloggers outspeak their support to two imprisoned video blogging youth activists in Azerbaijan as well as all persecuted, detained and imprisoned bloggers throughout the world. Continue to read.

and other issues in CyberWorld

Internet blocking balancing cybercrime responses in democratic societies

Prepared by
Cormac Callanan (Ireland)
Marco Gercke (Germany)
Estelle De Marco (France)
Hein Dries-Ziekenheiner (Netherlands)

Google Chrome OS To Launch Within A Week

Google’s Chrome OS project, first announced in July, will become available for download within a week, we’ve heard from a reliable source. Google previously said to expect an early version of the OS in the fall.

What can we expect? Driver support will likely be a weak point. We’ve heard at various times that Google has a legion of engineers working on the not so glamorous task of building hardware drivers. And we’ve also heard conflicting rumors that Google is mostly relying on hardware manufacturers to create those drivers. Whatever the truth, and it’s likely in between, having a robust set of functioning drivers is extremely important to Chrome OS’s success. People will want to download this to whatever computer they use and have it just work.

Britain’s new internet law,

The government has revealed details of its Digital Economy Bill, trailed in the Queen’s Speech. One proposal which has already attracted a great deal of attention is the introduction of new penalties for those suspected of internet piracy, from disconnection to hefty fines. Laws which allow the swift termination of pirates’ internet connections (often on a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ basis) have been spreading across the world recently, from France to South Korea.

Featured Author: Filip Stojanovski

Filip Stojanovski is a Global Voices author and translator based in Skopje, Macedonia. He is the Program Coordinator of Metamorphosis, a think tank which seeks the development of democracy and prosperity by promoting knowledge-based economy and information society. He has been blogging in both English and Macedonian since 2003 and has written a number of essays and research papers. His essay “Some Sources Of Bias In Reporting About Macedonia” is especially relevant to those interested in global perceptions of Macedonia.

Featured Author: Diego Casaes

This past week at the Brazilian Digital Culture Forum [pt] I had a chance to meet up with Diego Casaes, a dedicated Global Voices author and translator from Salvador, Brazil. Much of Diego’s writing on Global Voices has spread awareness about legislative threats to online freedom in Brazil, such as the infamous “Azeredo Bill“. He has also profiled cyber-activists like João Carlos Caribé and Daniel Pádua (who just lost his life to cancer) and their attempts to protect the individual freedoms and social bonds enabled by the Internet.

Microsoft and News Corp in Discussions to Remove Newspaper Content from Google

Yes, really. Rupert Murdoch’s crusade to blame Google for the failing newspaper business model continues today, as it emerges that News Corp has conducted talks with Microsoft about de-indexing the company’s sites from Google and (presumably) being paid to include them in Bing instead.

Murdoch-Microsoft deal in the works

Microsoft is ready to pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to remove its news content from Google, according to the Financial Times. Microsoft has also approached other “big online publishers” with similar deals.

“Struggle for Rights Media Guide”

CFCM: Rethinking News

This post covers presentations at MIT’s Center for Future Civic Media at MIT’s communications forum.

Cristina Xu leads off a segment focused on the future of news. She introduces her project, the News Positioning System, by digging into American history to talk about “transient newspapers”. When the US postal system heavily subsidized the mailing of newspapers, they began being used as mementos, or as post cards, underlined to make certain points. The practice became so widespread that Congress had to intervene, deciding that underlining a sentence in a newspaper was okay, while underlining letters to send a letter was not.

War Correspondence: The Digital Revolution’s Dangerous Turn

An article in Sunday’s New York Times by Chris Nicholson brings home an important lesson about digital life under The Law of Disruption. When social contracts are formed, the medium is often the message.

The story involves the Second Life virtual environment. A couple met and married online through the site, and with virtual currency called Lindens, purchased and furnished an island retreat. After the husband died in real life, the wife could not continue to make maintenance payments on the island. Linden Labs, which runs Second Life, erased all of their shared digital possessions.

Why we fall for fast news

Friend and colleague Dan Gillmor came up with a powerful idea at a Berkman retreat this past week – the need for a “slow news movement” in journalism, a focus on reporting that’s about careful, reasoned analysis, not about speed. (Dan credits the term to me – that’s too kind. I’m merely the wiseass who took the complex idea he was putting forward and reduced it to a soundbite.)

Dan offers two reasons why news outlets publish news as quickly as possible, forcing themselves to correct and retract when following a story like the tragic Ft. Hood shootings. A newsroom veteran, Dan credits journalists’ natural competitive instincts for some the need for speed. And he points out that speed is a way of maintaining an audience: “Being first draws a crowd. Crowds can be turned into influence, money or both. Witness cable news channels’ desperate hunt for ‘the latest’ when big events are under way, even though the latest is so often the rankest garbage.”

Double threat to quality journalism: Tighter deadlines, fewer copy editors

Readers who have come to rely on sports journalist Tom Boswell’s quality baseball coverage for the Washington Post, might not have been quite so impressed with Monday’s offering: His column, covering Sunday’s World Series game, was sent to the printers awash with typos, grammatical errors and misspellings; generating a number of complaints.

Hossein Derakhshan’s Arrest: One Year Later

It’s been over a year now since the arrest of Hossein Derakhshan, popularly known as Hoder. Ever since he wrote the first Persian-language blogging guide in November 2001, he has helped pioneer the Iranian blogging community while living in his adopted home of Toronto. (Derakhshan is a dual citizen of Iran and Canada.)

However, beginning in 2006, Derakhshan’s views started changing. He called for Iran to have nuclear weapons, and engaged in personal attacks against people that he disagreed with politically. He was even sued for libel by another Iranian in September 2007.

Slow News: designing reflection and contemplation into the news-cycle

Dan Gillmor sez, “Slow food was a great idea. Maybe we need ’slow news’ in an era of accelerating — and wrong — information.” Like many other people who’ve been burned by believing too quickly, I’ve learned to put almost all of what journalists call “breaking news” into the categories of gossip or, in the words of a scientist friend, “interesting if true.” That is, even though I gobble up “the latest” from a variety of sources, the closer the information is in time to the actual event, the more I assume it’s unreliable if not false.

Murdoch vows to remove Newscorp’s websites from Google searches

In his latest move, Murdoch has vowed to remove newspapers in his media empire – including the Sun, the Times and the Wall Street Journal – from Google’s search index. The mogul sees this as step towards encouraging people to pay for online content, the Guardian has reported.

YouTube Direct launches to help news outlets gather citizen videos

YouTube is releasing a new open-source interface called YouTube Direct that aims to make it easier for news organisations to have access to relevant clips from citizen journalists, it was widely reported. The application, to be unveiled today, will allow media outlets to integrate a video upload tool into their sites, where they can accept and screen user footage, described TechCrunch. All content uploaded will also appear on the YouTube site.

YouTube Lets Anyone Create Their Own iReport

If you watch CNN, you’ve probably seen iReports – videos submitted by users around the world about news events via the company’s citizen journalism website. The site played a key role in helping the network obtain footage during the Iran election crisis.

BBC joins growing list of media outlets using SEO

Search engine optimisation, the process of creating content for the web that will easily fall under the radar of search engines and therefore draw in more readers, has become an integral part of newsroom life. Many media outlets have been in on the act for a good few years, but only today has the BBC decided to latch on to this newsroom trend, increasing the length of its headlines on its news website, in the hope that this will generate more unique visitors to the site, the Guardian reported.

A while back I reported on a website, known as Miley Save Fuzzy (external link). After a deadline extension, Miley made no return whatsoever to Twitter, and as such, under the premise of the site, Fuzzy, an innocent cat, died at the hands of his owner yesterday.

While I can not truly confirm the fact of Fuzzy’s death nor can I confirm that he was indeed consumed by aforementioned owner, I wanted to express my opinion on this one last time.

A cat was killed by his irrational, obsessive owner because the owner couldn’t deal with a celebrity leaving Twitter.

(It wasn’t even for a good celebrity! I mean, come on, Miley Cyrus? Who cares? In 5 or 10 years we’ll be seeing a washed-up, whinier, attention-craving nutball who nobody likes anymore, except for the tabloids.)

Some people just take stupid to new levels, I suppose. I’m glad I’m not one of them.

There’s nothing better than when you’re talking to someone, casually mention the time, and watch as the other person yanks at their pocket, stares just to the right or left of their crotch, and then continues their part of the conversation.

Congratulations, you’ve completed the third grade. It was touch and go there for a minute, but you pulled through.

If this has been too much for you, though, I’ll summarize: Cell phones have made us lazy. Do we REALLY need a digital readout of the time in small, somewhat grainy numbers in order to know where the Earth is in relative rotation to the Sun for that day? Goodness knows what would happen if we needed to go back to sundials. Most of our technology-wired personalities would panic, and we’d impale ourselves on these ancient monoliths of time.

Come on, people. Learn to do stuff for yourselves, and not have everything handed to you on a small, smudged, easily breakable screen.

Let Using Your Cell Phone As Your Primary Time Source Die

Photo Credits: Here

Social and economic implications of Social Computing

The European Commission JRC, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
released a comprehensive report on social and economic implications of Social Computing [aka Web2.0, social media].

‘The Impact of Social Computing on the EU Information Society and Economy’
(Eds.) Yves Punie, Wainer Lusoli, Clara Centeno, Gianluca Misuraca and David Broster
Authors: Kirsti Ala-Mutka, David Broster, Romina Cachia, Clara Centeno, Claudio Feijóo, Alexandra Haché, Stefano Kluzer, Sven Lindmark, Wainer Lusoli, Gianluca Misuraca, Corina Pascu, Yves Punie and José A. Valverde

Report: http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC54327.pdf
News release: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm?id=1410&obj_id=9410&dt_code=NWS&lang=en

This wide report covers different thematic areas. In addition to a cross-cutting analysis across areas in
Ch1: Key findings, Future Prospects and Policy Implications

It contains thematic analysis:
Ch2: The adoption and Use of Social Computing
Ch3: Social Computing from a Business Perspective
Ch4: Social Computing and the Mobile Ecosystem
Ch5: Social Computing and Identity
Ch6: Social Computing and Learning
Ch7: Social Computing and Social Inclusion
Ch8: Social Computing and Health
Ch9: Social Computing and Governance

WTO May Challenge Internet Censorship

WTO May Challenge Internet Censorship: “Reuters is reporting that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is set to release a study claiming that censorship of the Internet is open to challenge by the global regulatory body due to its restrictions on trade.”

Belle de Jour revealed

The Guardian One of the best kept literary secrets of the decade was revealed last night when 34-year-old scientist Dr Brooke Magnanti announced she was the writer masquerading as call girl Belle de Jour.

Featured Editor: Onnik Krikorian

Onnik Krikorian is a British blogger, journalist, and photographer of Armenian decent who has been living in Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest continuously-inhabited cities, for the past 11 years. He is the Caucasus Editor for Global Voices where he amplifies the latest discussions taking place among bloggers in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Most recently he has focused his efforts on covering the case against two Azeri bloggers who were sentenced to two and two and a half years in jail.

Social media in South America: Orkut & Brazil

The first in a series of posts on social media in South America by Raquel Recuero for DMLcentral.net, University of California Humanities Research Institute.

To start my participation here in DMLcentral, I want to write about social media outside the U.S., specifically in South America. Let’s take the case of Orkut in Brazil, an interesting and relatively-unknown subject that I’ve researched and followed closely for years. Orkut is very much a cultural phenomenon in Brazil. Although Brazilians had experience with other social networking sites (Fotolog, for example, was very popular among young Brazilians in 2003 and 2004, before Orkut appeared), Orkut caused a revolution in Internet access in Brazil.  As Orkut grew quickly in Brazil starting in 2004, it became synonymous with the Internet. Being on the Internet meant being on Orkut. The question of course is, why?

Against Crowdsourced Politics

The last post begins with the seemingly benign phrase “the promise of digital activism is to crowdsource global political transformation.”  I wrote it and I was pretty proud of myself.  I thought it succinctly summed up the potential of decentralized politics, where power is defined at the edge and by the grassroot, by thousands of ordinary citizens mobilizing together.   Well, Michel Bauwens set me straight.

An Unpoular View of Google Books

I’m starting to feel like the only person who thinks the Google Books settlement with authors and publishers is a good deal. One voice that seems not to be heard, however, over the din of Google competitors, panicky law professors, and regulators who wouldn’t know a workable solution to a copyright problem (created by regulators) if it bit them, is anyone speaking for consumers.

The effects of blogging on small business websites

HubSpot conducted a study recently with more than 1,500 of its customers and determined that small businesses that blog saw, on average, 55% more visitors than those that didn’t.

BBC appoints Alex Gubbay as first social media editor

After announcing late last month that it would create the role of Social Media Editor, the BBC has appointed Alex Gubbay as the first to fill the position.

Currently the Interactive Sports News Editor for BBC Sport, Gubbay will commence his new title in January.

The creation of the position come amidst a wider general campaign run by the BBC to be more ’social media conscious’ and Nic Newman, the BBC’s future media and technology controller, journalism has previously said: “Like a lot of other news organisations, we are at the beginning of something very exciting.”

Italy: Online activism fires up “No Berlusconi Day”

On October 9, Italy’s highest Court ruled that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s immunity from prosecution while in office — guaranteed by a special law passed by his own center-right government in 2008 — was unconstitutional. This decision has reopened two pending trials that accuse Berlusconi of false accounting and bribery.

The Internet, Obama and the Chinese Censors

By Patricia H. Kushlis

I’ve been dubious about the efficacy of social networking for government – or commercial – communication purposes for some time.   At least, I’m skeptical of too much reliance on social networking and the Internet in lieu of all other forms of communication – especially abroad. It is no panacea. Especially in countries like China.

OK.  So call me Neanderthal.

NSeries Nokias Say Goodbye to Symbian, Hello to Maemo

Here’s a bold statement: Symbian S60 is simply not good enough. I’m sure that many Nokia owners and analysts who know that Symbian currently holds around 50% of the smartphone OS market would disagree. But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the new generation of smartphones – primarily Androids, the iPhone, and webOS based devices – are simply better than Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile (up to) 6.5 when it comes to doing what the today’s users want from a smartphone: browsing the web, using Facebook and Twitter, gaming, and finding simple apps that will satisfy their specific needs.

JOURNAL: How to Break and Open Source Insurgency

Short Answer:  divide it.

It’s long been my contention that Iraq was stabilized at an acceptable level of controlled chaos due to a happy accident by al Qaeda (in an attempt to expand/lead the loose insurgency in a new direction).  What did they do?   They blew up the Golden Mosque in Samara in 2006.  This act of symbolic terrorism did indeed disrupt social networks as anticipated, however the consequences were ultimately disastrous for the Iraqi open source insurgency.

5Across: Social Media Marketing 101

There’s a new series of demands being made in company meetings everywhere: “What is our social media strategy? What are we doing on Facebook and Twitter? I want followers and fans, and I want them now!”

Henry’s hand gets Twitterers texting

Last night’s tension filled 2010 World Cup Qualifier between France and Ireland exploded in extra time when French captain Thierry Henry set up what would be the decisive goal after keeping the ball in play with his hand from an offside position.

This is an arbitrary list. These are what I basically use/rely on and what I recommend when my students ask. I intend to develop the list and of course all recommendations and comments are welcome:)
1. A blogging software: Blogger or WordPress.com Nowadays, I prefer WordPress. Inbuilt statistics, better templates…
2. A Gmail account. Gmail. All Google Applications require a Gmail account. I wonder why you don’t have one already…
3. Google Docs. It is a great tool to produce collaborative work. It has also Forms to creating surveys..
4. Open Office. In case you are pissed off with Microsoft Office. You can download this Office software which is free. Not as good as Microsoft Office yet but it is still satisfactory. Well, I have written my dissertation by using Google Docs and Open Office programs…
5. Bibme. A free, simple place to create your bibliographies in several Biblio formats. Honestly, I used this to create my bibliography for my dissertation.
6. Paint.Net. A free image editor. That’s the one I use constantly. Some recommend GIMP but I haven’t tested that at all. Let me know if you recommend, too.
7. InfraRecorder. An open source cd burner. That’s what I use for my CDs I listen to when I drive:)
8. For file storage and sharing, in addition to Google Docs, I use Box.net. For a better sharing, I feel like Scribd becomes a better place though…
9. Google Reader. An excellent tool to follow blogs and sites through RSS feeds. I follow more than 400 at the moment and Reader is just great…
10. Tweet Deck. Saved my life. I could not figure out how to use Tweeter more effectively and now I am getting used to Twitter usage:)
11. For microblogging: Twitter and Friendfeed. In Turkey Friendfeed is more popular at the moment. People share great stuff and this becomes a more important source for my blog posts… Friendfeed has some applications so that I can automatically announce my blog posts, youtube activities, last.fm likes at twitter…
12. Youtube. There are many rivals but I still use Youtube. More and more liking its Recommendations… And of course for video hosting it is still a great place…
13. Speaking of recommendations, LastFm is a great music place to find new good musical stuff. Not for downloading but exploration…
14. Speaking of recommendations, Amazon, my beloved, has also great recommendation services based on what you have, what you bought and what you rated.. in books, music, and movies.
15. Speaking of movies, can there be a rival to IMDB, best film database?
16. For music downloads/sharinng. I totally rely on SoulSeek.
17. For a region free open source DVD player software, I use VLC Media Player.
18. For a music player, WinAmp has always been my favorite.
19. In order to bypass Web Censorship in Turkey I rely on Open DNS which worked fine so far… So that I can use YouTube and many hmmm other sites…
20. For free ebook downloads. I start with Aaaarg and PDF Search Engine.
21. For time management, I test Rescue Timeat the moment. Seems cool but I have no final decision yet.
22. In addition to networking, I use Facebook for sharing links and storing my photos online. I could never like much Picasa or Flickr. But these are huge photo storage and sharing places out there… In case you need…
23. In case you want to read some stuff later then here you have InstaPaper. There is a bookmarklet so that when you surf, you can easily mark stuff to read later. Well, so far I bookmarked a lot and did not go back to read but they are there waiting for me:)
24. Do I have to mention Wikipedia. A basic source of knowledge and good to give links to when you write about some stuff your readers may not know…
25. Best social bookmarking site: Delicious.
26. Still testing: Mendeley. Seems to be a great bibliography tool you download and sync with your online profile. Glue. A recommendation service with a pluging to your Firefox.
27. Speaking of Firefox, well my favorite browser. I tried Flock, Chrome and I hate IExplorer and I ended up continuing to use Firefox…
28. For wiki-based work, I use from time to time Wikispaces.
29. Doodle. For event organizations. Decision making about time especially. I used once, it worked fine…

(We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.)

For those of you that use cell phones, and I’m assuming that’s a majority of you, you may have noticed that when calling someone, you can sometimes hear yourself through the other end. It may only last for a couple of seconds as the person on the other end switches their hand position or something, but it’s kinda neat.

Alternatively, if you continue to hear yourself talk as you’re talking, it can get incredibly distracting. I christen this phenomenon the Constant Cell Phone Echo. What it boils down to is your ability to hear yourself a second after each word you say is said. Also, your ability to hear yourself as you speak plays into the distraction factor. For instance, while this is occurring, you may hear something like “How-ow are-re you-ou doing-oing?”. The delay may be shorter or greater than this, depending on a variety of factors. As such, it is still distracting to most.

Then again, this technique is sometimes used intentionally. You may have noticed in things like live TV news broadcasts that the anchor or reporter has some earbud in their ear. It’s not to jam out during the show; rather, it’s used so that the person speaking is able to hear what they’ve spoken, and make corrections to errors as necessary if they are able to catch it on the repeat. It also gives them a more clarified version of how they are sounding to their television audience.

Meanwhile, we turn now back to phones that do this. As many of us are not attuned to the constant echo, we get disoriented by it when we’re trying to talk. It is detrimental to a conversation, and is an overall annoyance. It serves no purpose, and, therefore, must be obliterated in some manner from this ever-changing technology.

Let Constant Cell Phone Echo Die

Photo Credits: Here

As humans, we’ve come to know a lot of brand names, no matter how long one has existed on the Earth. McDonald’s, Starbucks, Hewlett-Packard — “big name” companies that stick in our minds.

Anyway, sometimes companies change their names to make a bigger impression on the public. Recently, there have been two companies that are making a big push for this: Pizza Hut and Radioshack. Pizza Hut, as they now offer quite a bit more than just simple pizza, wants to simply be known as “The Hut”. Hmm. Yes, I suppose a hut reminds me of an establishment that is large scale, and serves a variety of bread-based foods. Sure. Also, Radioshack wants to be just “The Shack”. Now, they haven’t changed their logo at all for this, but they’ve referenced just “THE SHACK” in odd colorations in recent commercials. This is probably due to the sharp decline in the use of radio technology. Then again, a shack reminds me of a loosely built, small storage area designed to hold odds and ends. So it makes perfect sense that a building like that should sell advanced computing equipment, right?

Part of the problem seems to be that these new names are rather vague. It takes away a little of what we could expect from the establishment. For instance, what if IHOP suddenly changed its name to just the “International House”? I’d be expecting an embassy of some sort. Or, even the (now defunct) Circuit City? The City could come off as an open social area with shady dealings in the background.

Photo Credits: Here

I haven’t realized any reactions to Azeri bloggers’ verdict in Turkish cybersphere but reaction certainly grows around the global blogosphere….

last Updated: 18 Nov, 00:15

EU Presidency Statement on Azerbaijan

Council of Europe: Conviction of bloggers in Azerbaijan ‘a blow to freedom of expression’, say PACE rapporteurs

Azerbaijan: More reaction to video blogger trial verdict

Days after the sentencing of two video blogging youth activists in Azerbaijan, other bloggers are starting to speak out about the imprisonment of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. The two online activists will spend 2 and 2.5 years in jail after a trial which most consider to be politically motivated and an attempt to silence dissent in the country.

Two Azerbaijani bloggers jailed

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Two Azerbaijani bloggers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for “hooliganism”, after posting a satirical video on allegations that the Government paid for twelve US$41 thousand (€27.5 thousand) donkeys from Germany. In a ruling on Wednesday, blogger Adnan Hajizade received a sentence of two years and Emin Milli two and a half years. Both have been in prison since their arrest on July 8 for fighting in a cafe in Baku.

Parvana Persiani speaks at first ever World Blogging Forum in Bucharest, Romania

Having just returned from the first-ever World Blogging Forum in Bucharest, Romania, it’s time to reflect on the past few days. For one, the event brought many heavy-weight names from the world of online new and social media in the Palace of the Romanian Parliament. The event was even opened by the country’s president, although there were elections underway, it has to be said.

Georgia: Reaction to lack of media attention on Azerbaijan bloggers’ trial

Following last week’s sentence on two video bloggers in Azerbaijan, some blogs in neighboring Georgia have posted critical entries condemning the arrest, trial and imprisonment of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. This also extends to the relative lack of coverage on the case in the local mainstream media as Dv0rsky notes angrily.

[I will probably update this post- and now updating 2 days later:)]

last updated: 17 November 2009: 20:00

An Atatürk statue in Bucharest streets

I cannot escape from Atatürk. He is everywhere:)

ASLS people did a great job, we have finished a very well organized conference thanks to Mihaela and her friends. And how hospitable they were! Among the people I met, Onnik (Armenia) and Jacop (Poland) has to be mentioned particularly but I was also excited to meet people from Azerbaijan (Emin and Parvana) and Georgia (especially Dodie!). Although Turkey is very close to Azerbaijan through national ties and all, I don’t think I have had made any intelligible conversation with any Azeris before.So this was the first time.

WASP, old school heavy metal band, will be also playing in Istanbul! I attend the concernt on Thursday!

Thanks to David Sasaki who mentioned it and who will show in Istanbul soon, I began to use Productivity Monitoring and Time Management Software | RescueTime which seems to be another cool toy to play with… I had also made my way into TweetDeck through which I hope to use Twitter more efficiently…As of now, I use tweetdeck regularly and RescueTime is in my arse, asking how I use my time constantly…

Well, let me pack up because I have limited time and Carmen volunteered to guide me in downtown… I will be back, you know it…

Yes, Carmen showed me around a bit until noon and that was what I needed: Talking to a native, hanging out at where people actually hang out. Cafes, University of Bucharest campus etc. I had bought Romanian dailies and was ready to go back.

"A Family photo". Organizers in the front, bloggers at the back- mostly

This was my first visit to a post-Socialist country…

As I had previously noted, I would argue that there were two lines of work in the Forum: a) Citizen journalism in countries where freedom of though is strictly limited (China, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran etc) and b) Use of social media in marketing and personal branding and ways of monetizing the effort (!). I think both lines are necessary and intertwine at some moments. Of course, networking itself is important. I am so excited to meet with people with quality. Apart from whom I already mentioned: Dvorit Shargal (Israel), Ritchie Pettauer (Austria), Matthias Lüfkens (Switzerland). (I had asked Matthias to invite me to Davos: “Matthias, I am from Turkey, too. I can make a scene there and thus Davos will be more colorful, newsworthy like PM Erdoğan did last year:)”

My speech video is here. Thanks to Iyli, a dear Romanian blogger.

All WBF09 tweets can be found here. A nice chat with Loic here. (Loic Le Meur, LeWeb and PR)
Sum up in Georgian http://dodka.ge/2009/11/14/sumup/
another sum up: http://datadirt.net/du7
another sum up: http://danucblog.wordpress.com/
A final post: http://www.presse-citron.net/world-blogging-forum-2009-retour-sur-une-premiere-edition-prometteuse
iyli: http://www.presse-citron.net/world-blogging-forum-2009-retour-sur-une-premiere-edition-prometteuse privilege to make an interview with Wael Abbas.

Photos:
http://bit.ly/2B9Jvq
http://bit.ly/qmwrt
374 photos on Flickr titled #WBF2009: http://bit.ly/30m8YL
http://bit.ly/3UQkCQ
http://w2.ro/uploads/2009/1... more photos on http://z.pe/CPc
http://bit.ly/6bKiF

Ashley covers the event brillantly:

Day 1: Three countries, three airports, four currencies, three taxi rides, two bus rides, two metro rides, one boat ride, one Starbucks drink and a partridge in a pear tree.

Day Two: Not your typical conference

Day Three: Final Thoughts

It seems that there is LIVE free coverage at the moment. We are notified that Azeri bloggers are actually sentenced today:(

Our session begins now… Online journalism…

Last updated: 16:30

Pre-conference notes. It is very likely that I will not able to see Bucharest at all. Except the route from the hotel to the Parliament Palace. We stay all day in the conference hall. I don’t really mind though. If only I could get the Romanian dailies to add to my newspaper collection, my mission will be completed:)

Pork is very dominant in Romanian food. That means I am a little malnourished in terms of proteins (!) Well, I don’t eat pork. A Turkish hypocricy. I consume alcohol but not pork. Anyway, the conference is about to start… Today I am presenting sometime between 14-16. Today there seems to be a shift in focus: more about what can be done with blogging politically and financially then dealing with oppressive regimes…

As of now, I am done with my presentation. Today’s lunch was non-pork (!) and i relieved and happy.

Loic speaks now (I paraphrase as I wish, pls don’t take my writings as direct quotes from Loic):

… Advice to students: Best way to find a job is to get noticed. To get noticed you have to share online. He focuses on twitter again. In fact check out his post: 30 predictions for the future of Twitter

Being open is a key to spread where Facebook loses…

Entrepreneurship will work at Twitter but dating not. People follow what brands, restaurants to see updates. But in dating issues, people prefer to use indirect ways/communication (!)

We learn to talk short. Language evolves…

A question from the blogger:

- You have become a major personal brand. Are there any tips for us like a person who has only 20 followers?

Answer:

Just be yourself! Don’t be ashamed to be yourself. Don’t overpromote yourself. Failure is all right. You might fail from time to time.

Matthias Lüfkens speaks. The beauty of it is to share. Tony Blair has a YouTube account but not interactive at all. We share photos and videos and open to conversation…[it seems that Major organizations take social media really seriously]

Matthias Lüfkens, social media architect at the World Economic Forum, aspires to inspire. After bringing Davos to the world for five years, he now brings the world to Davos through his innovative use of social media, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, Qik and Livestream included.

Previously a journalist, he was Baltic States correspondent for Agence France Presse, Libération and the Daily Telegraph (1991-96); and later Deputy Editor-in-chief of EuroNews television (1996-2004).

http://www.weforum.org

Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/davos

12:00

Emin Huseynzade speaks.

Notifies us that the first blogger sentencement in Azerbaijan just happened…

Azerbaijan Bloggers Get Two-Year Jail Sentences

Youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade at an October 9 court appearance;Bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada have been sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to at least two years in prison on hooliganism charges that the defendants and rights groups have dismissed as politically motivated, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reports.

Azerbaijan: Bloggers sentenced

from Global Voices Online by Onnik Krikorian

To use new and future tools to continue to the function of blogging…

12:50

Pedja is actually doing business through his twitter and facebook account!

Pedja PUSELJA – Blogowski - Blogger and independent web-consultant.
After years spent as a webmaster and front-developer, he made a career-change and professionally dedicated himself to a personal passion: social media and online identity.

He is probably one of the best Twitter, video-blogging and IT evangelists on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Corporate: http://Blogowski.com
Blog : http://Blogowski.eu | http://Blogowski.tv

Twitter : http://twitter.com/blogowski
Facebook : http://fr.facebook.com/PedjaPuselja

14:50

Onnik asks how the Statement of the Forum is written out now… First drafted by the organizers but we will be working on the final form on a wiki site….After the Azeri bloggers sentenced this morning, some bloggers demand a stronger worded Statement. I wonder how will that happen since the President of Romania is one of the sponsors of the event. Can bloggers’ statement is significant that might anger Azeri gov’t against Romania?

Ah, procreation. Usually applied as a recreational activity, our culture finds limitless pleasure with the…er…”potential” of our bodies. Our obsession with this facet of life has led to the invention of many products and methods to provide fulfillment. Yes, I’m being intentionally vague. Anyway, this desire for intimacy in a more or less physical way has spread across all major means of communication. If you need to see this in action, go to a high school – the conversations are usually flavored towards the discussion of the intricacies of the act.

“Wat r u wering?”
     “Wudn’t u lyk to kno <3″
“lol come on baby giv me sum sugar”
     “i tendrly kiss ur nek and whispr in ur ear ‘i luv u’”
“thats so hawt”
     “u place me on the bed facedown in ur strong manly arms”
[This continues for a bit]
“omg omg omg omg omg omg o….m…..G…..”
     “wow u wer g8″
“that wus amazin”
     “ya i kno. lets do this sum mor l8er”

That hurt to type. Mostly because I protest with the way that dialogue is so formed, but that’s another matter. So, what have we learned? Well, there’s a whole lot more blanks to be filled in…there’s not a lot of emotion that can really detect…and I exaggerated a bit near the end. Now, this “scandalous behavior” really is nothing more than words, and text at that. Now, imagine how the situation comes off as if every comment was said in sarcasm. Paints a different mental picture, doesn’t it? But one can’t know that from the mere words alone.

The ability to share pictures, though, does aid the parties a little. Yet, the entire idea is still rather obscure and depressing. What ever happened to love letters?

Let Sexting Die

Photo credits: Here

E-Democracy Panel. 14:00-16:00

Parvana Persiyani highlights the cause of Emin Mili and Adnan Hajizade, two bloggers who have been arrested in Azerbaijan because of a satirical video they made…

Parvana Persiyani, was born on November 5, 1986. Got her Bachelor from Azerbaijan University of Languages in International Relations and European Studies in 2007.

Starting from 2008 OL Youth Movement created OL Media, which is involved in making social videos, reporting different events and news on its blog www.ol-en.blogspot.com.

One of the last vidoes created by OL Media was the satirical video about donkeys purchased by Azerbaijani Government from Germany. After posting this video on Internet, the activists of OL Youth Movement Adnan Hajizada (director of the video) and coordinator of AN Network Emin Milli (promoter) were arrested with false charges on hooliganism. Being a co-founder of OL Media and Youth Rights Protection Movement, created just after arrest of bloggers, Parvana is involved in protection of violated rights of these two bloggers at the moment.

Giorgi Jakhaia of Georgia mention how his blog was attacked during the Georgia-Russia crisis. Bloggers in Georgia and Russia are under pressure… [listening to them, I feel like Turkey is again somewhere between free Western countries like Netherlands or Canada and oppressive countries like Egypt and China...]

Giorgi Jakhaia a.k.a. Cyxymu’, is a Georgian blogger who was targeted in a co-ordinated series of attacks on social networking sites Facebook, Google  Blogger, Live Journal and Twitter.Cyxymu’s Russian-language LiveJournal blog was a source of information from Georgia for the news media during the 2007 state of emergency and 2008 South Ossetia war.

Emin Huseynzade from Azerbaijan emphasizes the fact that as soon as Azeri bloggers began political commenting, pressure began. I had time to make small chats with Mr. Huseyzade. He knows his stuff.

Emin Huseynzade is a new media specialist and trainer who has worked for numerous Azerbaijani and international organizations.He is working for Transitions www.tol.org as Caucasus Project Manager for new media development program. He is promoting blogging all over the Caucasus. Up until now, he has conducted more than 20 local workshops in Caucasus and Europe.

This is a post to be built all day…

WBF in Twitter.

Erkan decides to be think more about microblogging. This conference turns out to have main focus on microblogging.

Ramon Stoppelenburg narrates his story. He says any innovative move in internet will win… Boy, it is such a story. Who is this crazy dutch guy? Check out the links below:

The Dutch Ramon Stoppelenburg (1976) started blogging from his student loft somewhere in 1998. But he became world famous for being the first ever person to travel the world for free, totally relying on the hospitality of strangers from all over the world, who invited him over through his website www.letmestayforaday.com. Over 3,577 people from 72 countries invited him over and from 2001 to 2003 he travelled through 18 countries in total, varying from Norway to South Africa and from Australia to Canada. In return for the offered hospitality he received, he wrote extensive daily reports about his whereabouts, his hosts, their life and the culture of the country he was visiting. His website had once processed over 1,2 million visits in one month. The British Sunday Times even called him the Internet Personality of the Year 2001.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Stoppelenburg (wikipedia)
• http://www.ramonstoppelenburg.com/ (English blog)
• http://www.letmestayforaday.com (travel site, the archives)

12:30

Michael Reuter from Germany speaks. Money and political content are not necessarily mutually exclusive… There might be platforms in internet free countries to host/aggregate political content from the web censorship countries…

Michael Reuter, entrepreneur, michaelreuter.org

Michael is the co-founder and CEO of YiGG, a leading German social news community based in Munich. YiGG.de has about 800.000 unique visitors a month reading, discussing and publishing 500+ news per day. Prior to YiGG, Michael started two other businesses such as ferium, travelgate and arsmovendi.com…

Web presence:
Activity: http://twitter.com/michaelreuter
Blog: http://michaelreuter.org
YiGG: http://yigg.de
Snapshots: http://historilla.com
WebTV: http://isarrunde.de

Jeff Jedras speaks. Blogs are in fact read by journalists to see what goes on, more than mere users…Twitter is more informational… We passed blogging behind…

Jeff Jedras | As both a journalist and a blogger, Jeff Jedras has his feet in the worlds of both old and new media……When he’s not working, for four years Jeff writes a well-known political blog called A BCer in Toronto, focusing primarily on federal politics and his support for Canada’s Liberal Party. His blogging has included interviews and videos with political leaders and coverage of events across the country, and has also led to media interviews on political and blogging topics. He is also a contributor to the blog section of the National Post, a national Canadian newspaper.

11:50

Wael Abbass from Egypt speaks. Fluent English. His laptop was confiscated before so he did not bring his laptop this time. Bloggers are treated like drug smugglers but they smuggle data in their case. Mainstream media is under real pressure in Egypt. This means blogs can easily become news resources… Bloggers are taken seriously by the authority, which means they feel the same pressure mainstream journalists have including arrests and harassment…  The power of bloggers comes from their independence. They use free tools that can be found in the internet. But of course free tools can be limited like having Youtube account disabled. Bloggers use social media not for organizing but for networking. Because emergency rule does not allow assemblies. Egypt state is still interested in saving face. If Mr. Abbass is imprisoned in future, this will not be because of blogging  itself but another fabricated pretext such as drug dealing…

Wael Abbas is an internationally renowned Egyptian journalist, blogger and human rights activist who blogs at Misr Digital (Egyptian Awareness). He reported an incident of mob harassment of women, and broadcast several videos of police brutality. His actions lead to the conviction of police for torture, but he has been harassed by the Egyptian government, and his accounts with YouTube Yahoo were closed. YouTube has since restored his account and most of his videos. Facebook has deleted Wael’s account………..

CNN named him Middle East Person of the Year 2007 and he was considered one of the Most Influential People in the year 2006 by BBC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wael_Abbas

http://www.misrdigital.com
http://www.youtube.com/waelabbas
http://twitter.com/waelabbas
http://waelabbas.jaiku.com

11:30

Looks like Chinese web users are relying on RSS feed subscription to bypass Great Firewall of China. Zhou Shuguang from China states…One commentator who was in China a month ago stated many users use microblogging, like twitter. another way to bypass for the moment?

Zhou Shuguang, a.k.a. Zola, is a self-taught internet technologist and former network administrator who received his certification as a network engineer in 2004. Since May 2004, Zola has maintained a blog at http://www.zuola.com where he shares often useful and interesting information, occasionally focused on social issues.

My stomach is better. Damn it, I puked in the break. Self-restrain in drinking is needed.

Someone asked me in the break: Why PM Erdoğan reacted like that to the swine flu vaccination? What should I say? I said he is crazy, doesn’t mind PR at all… Oh I have just seen a good article by Aslı Tunç on drug industry and Turkish journalists…

10:30

Loïc Le Meur speaks about old vs. new media. I shook hands with him last night whom I would call the king of bloggers though he does not blog much any more:)

he says everyone should at least microblog!

Loïc Le Meur
serial entrepreneur & blogger
loiclemeur.com

Loic is the founder and CEO of Seesmic, a software company that makes one of the most popular Twitter and Facebook social software clients. Seesmic got more than two million downloads and its website, Seesmic.com, has about a million unique visitors a month even though it was just launched……….

……

Recently, Business Week Magazine named Loic one of The 25 Most Influential People on the Web. Loic was also named “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. He advises the World Economic Forum as well as covers the Annual Summit every year in Davos. Originally from the South of France, Loic lives in San Francisco, California and has three boys.

Loïc Le Meur on WikipediaTop 10 French blogs- Technorati – Edelman Europe blog survey in 2006

Web presence
What is Loïc doing ? - Twitter
Loïc Le Meur blog - english
Loïc Le Meur blog – french
Flickr photos
Vpod.tv loiclemeur videos
LeWeb3 conference, photos

09:30:

Traian Basescu, President of Romania, welcomes us....

The President of Romania, Traian Basescu, welcomes us! We are in the Human Rights Hall of the Palace of the Parliament, which is the biggest buildings of its kind in Europe. Mr. Basescu speaks now.

Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj5dTonMHvs (Australian TV report)

This article will by no means be remembered as one of the most inspirational and thought-provoking pieces of our time, but I’m going somewhere with this. Stay tuned for the fanatical conclusion.

Remember, this story will have a more important follow-up tomorrow. Maybe two, if I can churn out this other related idea.

U’ll c.

Let Shortening Already Short Words Die

PowerPoint is a tool designed to aid in presentations. It includes transitions, effects, graphs, 3-D stuff, and other presentation helpers. However, one of the biggest problems with this is the user input. An effective PowerPoint highlights the main points of your presentation, while you yourself go into detail about the significance of each idea. Also, it gives your viewers something to look at.

Because it gives everyone “something to look at”, I’ve noticed that it’s become somewhat common to stick ALL your information on a PowerPoint. Then, a few things can happen:

1. Laziness - The presenter decides to go without notes, as, after all, the information is right there! So, all one has to do is say everything word for word. Then, if you have used poor grammar or horrid spelling, you get to inadvertently point it out to everyone as you reach the trouble area, where everyone else has already read the potential problem and is anticipating how the presenter will handle it.
2. Boredom – You can’t speak faster than one can read, usually. So, your audience is awaiting the next slide while you’re still reading the first bullet point.
3. Apathy – This is especially prevalent when you’ve given handouts of your presentation. If all that the presenter plans to say is on there, why should you, as an audience, care? You can look over it any time you like, without missing any information. So, feel free to take your time playing with your phone or doodling in the margins. You’ll get to the material later.
4. Monotone – It. Gets. Very. Tedious. When. You. Are. Reading. What. You. Are. Trying. To. Say. Without. Any. Feeling. Whatsoever.
   

Now, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t make clear the truly important points of your presentation – in fact, it’s a good idea to read aloud and type out those ideas, for added effect. Also, explain any graphs you may use, especially if you can make the data look nice while demonstrating the importance it has to your overall idea.

Seriously, let the PowerPoint be an outline; the real meat and potatoes of your presentation should come from your ability to speak with emphasis and influence. Also, your eye contact with people and not the glow of a screen will help you gauge how well you’re doing, and may let your audience feel like you’re connecting with them.

Let Putting Everything That You Plan to Say On Your PowerPoint Die
(Ironically, that sounds a bit wordy.)

Congratulations, Jack Thompson, you are the first person to appear on the list of Things That Need To Die.

Though, it’s almost a staple of many internet hate groups to attack Jack Thompson. For those of you who do not know who he is, I’ll give you a little bit of background information.

If everything were butterflies and rainbows, life would be a lot less interesting.

Let Jack Thompson’s Idealistic View of Society and his Imposing Nature Die

(Special Thanks to Kristin F. for this idea. If you’re reading this, I owe you a favor.)

Myspace, while currently overshadowed by Facebook, is a oh-so-infamous yet popular social networking site. And as such, because it’s the Internet, it’s a free-for-all for ideas, transfer of information, and transfer of….er…”information”. Now, Myspace is just that – a space where you can express yourself and connect with friends, new and old.

But, there’s a problem, now, isn’t there? Men can’t take advantage of the Myspace Angle in the chest region! So here are some solutions to that problem, in no particular order:

• The Natural – Perhaps you have your own male boob definition and separation, due to weight or peculiar fetishes. So, all you need now is a low-cut shirt and a camera! Easy!
• Melons – More specifically, cantaloupes. This provides a rough, wrinkly look that may interest older users. Ensure that melons are of even diameter – the eye is attracted to symmetry.
• Balloons – Smooth yet fragile, balloons can provide a realistic if not almost opaque look to your improvised chest surface. Careful, coarse chest hair may cause popping!

There. Now we can all show off what people want to see – our shameless attempts to showcase our bodies. You know, to get people to like you. And where’s the harm in that?

Let The Myspace Angle Die

Proxy list for: 4th November 2009.
Tested time: 20:22 GMT London
# of proxies: 270.

Preview:
82.131.192.212:8080
80.240.202.170:8080
80.193.72.145:80
78.25.173.34:808
77.88.66.251:8000
75.40.150.160:80
75.148.118.189:80
74.88.208.197:7212
74.54.156.73:80
65.111.184.207:80

Download: click here to download the full list!

Introducing Threatened Voices

Never before have so many people been threatened or imprisoned for what the words they write on the internet.

As activists and ordinary citizens have increasingly made use of the internet to express their opinions and connect with others, many governments have also increased surveillance, filtering, legal actions and harassment. The harshest consequence for many has been the politically motivated arrest of bloggers and online writers for their online and/or offline activities, in some tragic cases even leading to death. Online journalists and bloggers now represent 45% of all media workers in prison worldwide.

Crowdsourcing Authority in the Classroom

“A wacko holding forth on a soapbox.  If Ms. Davidson just wants to yammer and lead discussions, she should resign her position and head for a park or subway platform, and pass a hat for donations.”

Crowd sourced creativity and voice over chaos

The podcast is ready to run. It’s full of interesting online antics as usual. If there is a link or a name you missed in the podcast, you can always check back here where we have all the links.

First up I had a chat with Nick Wadham-Smith is the deputy director of Counterpoint, the think tank of the British Council. They’ve been working on fresh methods of communication since 1934. Some of the latest work includes podcasting and blogging and you can also get involved.

EU replaces definition of “open standards” with meaningless drivel

Lobbyists at the EU have gutted the definition of “open” (part of a proposal to require more open standards and open source tools in European government) to mean “the willingness of persons, organisations or other members of a community of interest to share knowledge.” This meaningless drivel replaces a more robust definition that included, “The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an open decision-making procedure available to all interested parties (consensus or majority decision etc.).”

10 Projects that Help Citizens Become Government Watchdogs

With the 2010 U.S. elections coming into view, many people are looking for more information about the people running for office — and the individuals and organizations funding these candidates.

Fortunately, there are dozens of initiatives that mine and share the data that influence policy and policy-makers. Many are funded by The Sunlight Foundation, which aims to use “the revolutionary power of the Internet to make information about Congress and the federal government more meaningfully accessible to citizens.”
Politicians Use Social Media to Bypass the Press Corps

Politicians are figuring out what social media technologies like blogs, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have to offer: direct access to voters. More than ever before, they can bypass the professional press and deliver an uncensored, unfiltered — and unchecked — message.

E-Readers search for place in the market

POLL: Illegal Downloaders Buy the Most Music

The UK’s Independent newspaper picks up on a curious study today: people who download music illegally also buy more music legally, according to a poll’s results. The study comes as the UK plans a controversial “three strikes and you’re out” rule that would disconnect copyright infringers from the Internet – it’s set to become law in April 2010.

The Top Internet Memes of 2009

from Mashable! by Christina Warren

BASIC SYSTEMS DISRUPTION

Here’s a simple overview of what is increasingly becoming the dominant method of offensive warfare in the 21st Century.  Early applications of this methodology to modern conflict have been very successful.  In short, it’s better to understand its dynamics than to assume it doesn’t exist.

I am honored to be invited as a guest speaker to World Blogging Forum that will take place in Bucharest, Romania (9-12 November 2009). I am excited to meet some of the great bloggers. In fact, I feel like an amateur among them but that’s all right. I will happy to meet them. Mihaela is doing a great job in organizational matters. If only I can drag my ass to the consulate and get my visa, I will be flying next week to Bucharest… I will do it, I know!

Proxy list for: 2nd November 2009.
Tested time: 17:39 GMT London.
# of proxies: 221

Preview:
35.9.27.26:3127
35.9.27.26:3128
222.124.212.196:8080
221.212.177.97:1080
221.130.13.232:80
221.130.13.211:80
221.130.13.210:80
221.130.13.208:80
221.130.13.207:80

Download: click here to download the amazing proxy list

Webrazzi analysesthe ComScore report’s Turkey section (in Turkish). I quote the statistics from the report…

Social Media for Social Change in the 1800’s

A massive system of human rights abuse is occurring in the United States.  Activists, intent on putting a human face on the mass tragedy, appropriate photographs of victims and disseminate them through their social networks.  Soon the mainstream media catches on, furthering the outcry.  The year is 1863 and the human right abuse is slavery.

Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2009

Technorati released its annual blogger survey results recently. The 2009 State of the Blogosphere report is available on Technorati’s site (follow the preceding link to view it).

EU – European internet freedom law agreed

EU – European ‘internet freedom’ law agreed: “(ZDNet UK)
Europe is set to get a major overhaul of its telecoms regulation, after the European Parliament and Council of Telecoms Ministers reached a compromise on the rights of internet users across the continent. The Telecoms Reform Package is a raft of new laws that tackle issues ranging from data-breach notification to faster number porting.

10 steps to becoming a Euroblogger

Some time ago, I have already given an answer on why I blog, but I think there might be some interest in knowing how to actually become a Euroblogger – in 10 steps, because anything can be done in 10 steps.

New EU Legislation Protects File Sharers…To a Certain Extent

We’ve said over and over that we’re against the three-strikes law, proposed in countries such as France and the UK, under which illegal file sharers would be disconnected from the Internet after three offenses. The European Union has long held the same position, and now the EU lawmakers have put together a proposal that brings some degree of protection for people accused of illegal file sharing.

Engaged society vs Twittering society

David Sasaki, of the Global Voices fame, recently challenged me to write at least one positive post or essay for evern ten that are negative. I can’t yet live up to that challenge but I am eager to try bit by bit.

There is an interesting (and somewhat too upbeat for my taste) story in the Jakarta Globe today on how the Indonesian civil society has been mobilized to get two senior members of the country’s anti-corruption body out of detention:

Is “aggregate-and-forget” the future of cyber-extortion?

Dancho Danchev, who is one of my most favorite bloggers on all things “cyber-security”, has a great post about the rapidly changing market for DDOS attacks (btw, I think that the next supermegaduper-sequel to Freakonomics should definitely include a chapter about the markets for DDOS attacks)

Net Neutrality: Why You Should Care

America could easily mistake its head for its ass. The fact that some subjects are even debatable shows not only the gullibility of humanity, but the insidious influence that power-hungry corporations have over the officials that we elect into office. The two main debates of the moment are that of healthcare reform and that of Net Neutrality. As a rational, compassionate, middle-to-lower-class, independent consumer, these two initiatives get a giant thumbs up from me; they address exactly what I am concerned about as an individual and as a society. Healthcare reform has been in the news for months now and you’ve probably already made up your mind about it, so I am going to focus this article on Net Neutrality.

3 New Social Media Studies Worth Reading

from Social Media Examiner by Amy Porterfield

Digital Media and Democracy: Early Returns

The relationship between digital media and democracy is complicated, because it is difficult for researchers to draw causal connections between adopting new social computing technologies and promoting what Joseph Kahne, Mills College professor and head of the Civic Engagement Research Group, has characterized as behaviors and values consistent with an “effective, just, and humane democratic society.” Kahne asserts that there is “no doubt” that multimedia literacies can promote civic participation, because “looking up information,” “having access to networked communities,” and “communicating and sharing perspectives” depends on having developed those literacies, but having basic literacies with computational media and content on distributed networks does not necessarily translate into more meaningful and robust democratic participation.<!–break–> He observes that the Internet serves as a “real site for activism in all its glories and frustrations,” and having access to information and opportunities to share one’s perspective that is “not mediated by elites” can be “both good and bad.”  “It provides access to both information and misinformation, for example.”

Study Finds Texting Lingo Doesn’t Harm Spelling

The Washington Post reports that a University of Alberta study found that texting probably does not mean students will become bad spellers. They also found that text lingo or “chatspeak” has its own set of emerging rules and that young people already seem to know the correct way to spell words in text language.

Kindle for PC. — I just downloaded and installed this; looks good. Digital is the wave of the future but I still doubt that this will ever entirely replace actual printed bound books. We shall see…

Amazon.com: The Noble Eightfold Path of Christ: Jesus Teaches the Dharma of Buddhism eBook: Thomas Ragland: Kindle Store