When the Internet Actually Helps Dictators

Eygeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion, in the interview with CNN talked about how dictators use the internet to control their societies. He indicated that many authoritarian rulers use the internet to their advantage to keep everyone under their regime. The rulers in countries, such as Russia and China, utilize the online tools to promote propaganda in support of the government or to show how the bloggers promoting democracy are ‘the advocates of the West’ or ‘CIA employees’. All of the discussions online are regularly monitored and under strict censorship. Morozov also indicated that people generally tend to believe the online bloggers and various other online sources than the media, as people speak up and are not as corrupted as the media is. Little do they know, however, that in China, for example, the government pays the bloggers to post propaganda blocks in favor of the government to keep people on their side. What is more, the government in the countries which currently deal with protests, use facebook and different facial recognition tools to decipher the people who posted the pictures of themselves during the protests, so that they can find them and ‘handle the situation’.

He agrees that internet can definitely be used to promote democratic views, spread the information and news to other communities; however, it is not possible in the countries with such high censorship as in Russia and China.

It is very troubling to know that people in those countries cannot have freedom even online. It is also somewhat amazing, however, how such underdeveloped countries can have so much technological power over their people and control them in every aspect of their lives. Those poor people cannot do anything without fearing that somebody might be watching and hunt them down for them speaking up their minds. Looking at all the protests and governments fighting its people, I realized how much we don’t appreciate all the freedoms we have and we just take everything for granted. I’m not saying that we live in a perfect country, as we are obligated to live ‘under certain internet rules’ as well, however, they are not nearly as strict in China or Russia. We definitely do not leave in a country, which supports freedom of speech as much as it says it does, but I’ll take that over leaving in a propaganda-type country any time.

It leaves me wondering, however, what will come first- democracy, so that people are free to speak up, or people need to speak up more so that democracy can be installed and promote the freedoms? Is that even possible in the countries, where the regime is so strict and everyone is under such control? I’m still hopefull…

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/22/authoritarian.internet.morozov/index.html#

Gadhafi appears on Libyan TV

Today, Gadhafi, Libyan dictator who ruled now for over 30 years, has appeared on public Libyan TV causing an outrage among the protesters. He wanted to ensure everyone that he is still in charge and that he did not fled Tripoli. The demonstrations are growing stronger and so is the opposition resulting in violent episodes throughout Libya. Gadhafi is not planning to resign anytime soon and his son is ready to take over the country as the new leader. The pro-Gadhafi militia is scaring the people by opening fire near them, and is also violently trying to put an end to the protests, which don't seem to subside.
There is surely a lot of violent turmoil going on lately  in Libya right now as well as in other surrounding African and Middle Eastern nations. What is setting up here? Another war maybe?
Besides, the TV media played an important role in strengthening the dictator's position and sending a threatening message to the public of Libya that he is not giving in and will stay in power as long as possible. Gadhafi used the TV as a tool to diminish people's hopes and to boost his image, which he hopes will slowly stop the protests. I don't think that is happening anytime soon, however.
What are your thoughts on this topic, and how the TV can have an impact on a nation on a brink of civil war?

How One Teacher's Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Debate About the Modern Classroom

Natalie Munroe, a high school teacher was suspending from her job for ‘venting online’. She wrote a blog, which she claims she kept for fun for her husband and friends to read, in which she described her students and lazy, whiners and even that she hated one of the students. She signed the blog with only her first name and the first initial of her last name and posted a picture of herself. Her attorney claims, that nothing she did was illegal and she should not have been suspended for what she’s done, as she didn’t use the names of the school or her students in her blog to give out anyone’s identity. Many of the teachers found this blog distasteful, and although they sympathize with her, as it is unbelievably hard to be a teacher in high school and it takes a lot of patience to survive there, venting online is not the best idea as it is very unprofessional.

I think Ms. Munroe didn’t realize that whatever you put online is never private. This type of information was bound to be read by somebody outside of her ‘circle of trust’. Internet is not a very safe place to post things of that sort as information spreads quicker than we think and many people got burnt that way. Nowadays even potential employers use internet to filer out their potential candidates based on what they post online, if they have any distasteful pictures, comments, etc. We have to be really careful about how we present ourselves online as anyone could be watching. Every small step we make can be viewed by others; strangers as well as people close to us. Although, what Ms. Munroe posted was not overly harmful to anyone, it was very unprofessional and she should have kept her thoughts to herself. All of us have tough days and want to vent, but once you have a professional carrier, you should watch what you say.

Link : http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2052123,00.html

Bye Bye Valentine

       A recent article explained that there is actually somewhere in this country where the people have gone completely insane and decided to cancel Valentine’s Day for the kids.  The town is Golden, Colorado, and it left 100 preschoolers and kindergarteners very upset.  The reason for this apparent cancellation was due to a “cultural conflict” with other students that attended the school.  To me, this is just ridiculous. How can giving a valentine to somebody be offensive?  The last time I checked we were all living in America, and this country has accepted many cultures, so why other cultures accept America?  To add to the insanity, the school proposed an alternative by celebrating Literacy Day, which is a Canadian holiday where kids share something with someone they love.  Despite the installment of this rule, parents still snack their kids’ valentines in with them.  The school tried to enforce a separation by only allowing the older grades to bring valentines.  This didn’t go over well, as it was in the hands of the teachers who voted against keeping the tradition.  They are currently working on a solution with principal.

Link:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26889412/detail.html 

Egypt-inspired protests gain pace across region

Protesters in countries, such as Libya, Yemen, and Iran follow Egypt’s steps in their fight for their rights. Many people lost their lives already trying to fight for their freedoms. The military controls how thing should be done in those countries and the citizens of those countries do not agree with that. The protest in the streets, have human rights activists speak out and have the media notice them, so that some change is possible in their countries. Many people, like Egyptians, use Facebook as their means to convey their message to the world and calling for support. In Algeria, protestants organized pro-democracy marches. People are hoping for the best, but many get hurt during the protests.

            Although, many of the protests are political in nature trying to get the democratic government installed in their countries and get some rights and better living situation, many also fight for religious reasons. It seems like religion is a big part in their political system and if they don’t sort things out, it will be very hard to come to any kind of an agreement between the parties. I am glad, however, that there is some movement in the world and people are not afraid to speak out anymore. It is nice to see people want to fight for their freedom and didn’t give up just yet. I hope they will finally be heard, but to be honest it is very difficult to say, at least for now, how it all will turn out for those countries. I just trust that other countries will not get themselves involved into the striking nations, as that may turn into something much bigger.

 Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110216/wl_nm/us_protests;_ylt=AiC_FycJPZS626039UiL8tRvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJjZ2xocm9jBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMjE2L3VzX3Byb3Rlc3RzBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I-

The Hunt for the Massive Hidden Space Object

According to a recent article, there has been an “uncovering” per say, of a giant object in outer space that is easily considered to be four times bigger than Jupiter! Now, if anyone’s familiar with the planet sizes in our solar system, you’ll know that about 915 Earths can fit into Jupiter, so imagine just how big this discovery is! They call it a low mass star, it’s pretty much a failed-star that gives off very little heat so it’s hard to detect.  It was first hypothesized back in 1984, but with limited technology it was hard to tell.  Nowadays, we have a better idea of what we’re looking at millions of miles away. Nasa has sent out an infrared telescope call WISE, which is planned to confirm the location and existence in about two years. They say that it won’t have a solid surface, but will most likely have moons.

            This concept is pretty interesting because it just shows that if we look a little farther, there is more to be discovered in this universe we live in.  Ultimately, not everything can always be seen at first glance.  It took these guys close to 30 years to be certain of what they were seeing.  Anything is possible.

Link:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/15/scientists-telescope-hunt-massive-hidden-object-in-space/?hpt=C2

Facebook in Egypt

President Mubarak of Egypt has recently resigned from office. The people of Egypt celebrated on the streets as soon as they heard the news. Their demands have finally came true after many violent protests and turmoil in public spaces. But is this enough for them or do they want more? People of Egypt hold the voice now and will shape the future of their nation.
Facebook use in Egypt played an important role in communicating plans and ideas across the web. It helped to mobilize protests and events, especially among the young Egyptians. Facebook has become a very powerful tool in communication and even organization of movements in the times of need.
What does the future hold for Egypt? We just have to wait and see what will unfold.