Saturday, August 13, 2005

Bush Gives Stern Warning to Iran on Nukes. On Foxnews: U.S. & World [NewsIsFree: Popular Items] 8:59:00 PM    comment []

Blogosphere attacked. Shargh newspaper reports that Iran's Telecom company has ordered all ISPs to filter blogrolling.com. This could be a real attempt to limit the use of blogs in Iran. Please help publicize the news. I've posted more about it on stop.censoring.com.... [Editor: Myself (English)] 3:16:49 PM    comment []

Reformists begin soul-searching. The reformists have started a serious soul searching after their loss in the election. Although many like Mohammad Reza Jalaiee Pour, a sociology professor at Tehran university and the publisher of Jameah, the first and most popular reformist newspaper, believe the result of a fraudulent election can't be a stung base for scientific socio-political analysis. However, Reza Khatami, the chairman of the Iran Participation Front, identified three reasons for their candidate's loss. First, inability to organize and mobilise reforms potential supporter, he suggested, was a big problem and emphasises on plans for increasing members and strengthening organization around the country. Secondly the media problem, he said, the reformists have to reach ordinary Iranians who don't read newspapers and don't use the Internet. Thirdly, he said, the reformists have not been able to adopt a popular language in order to explain how democracy and human rights can affect ordinary people's daily lives and their economic well-being. In a gathering of the reformist party's yonug supporters, it was also suggested the reformist party have a shadow cabinet as soon as Ahmadinejad's cabinet starts working, in order to observe, watch and criticise them. From Iran Scan [Editor: Myself (English)] 3:16:34 PM    comment []

Property.com: another $750k domain sale. I thought about buying realestate.com, but the guy who owned the name wanted $5,000 for it, which I thought was nuts, so I took property.com and it worked out pretty well. Read it all (NJ.com; free subscription required) [Jottings.com] 3:15:52 PM    comment []

Awash in Information, Patients Face a Lonely, Uncertain Road. The modern patient copes with the blessing and burden of receiving a superabundance of information, often several treatment options and the right to choose among them. By JAN HOFFMAN. [NYT > Health] 3:15:44 PM    comment []

Are You Being Cached?. Handy tool for finding out if your site is being cached by Google at http://www.webuildpages.com/cache/cachetoolpublic.pl . Enter a URL and it'll scan it for a list of internal links. Then... [ResearchBuzz] 8:59:39 AM    comment []

Chinese Harry Potter fans form translation smartmob. Chinese fans of Harry Potter have been translating the book faster than the official publishers, causing IP conflicts. Potter author Rowling is OK with fan translations; Chinese publishers are not: (Thanks, Lyn!) People's Literature Publishing House is translating the new Harry Potter novel over the course of two months, down from the three months it took for the fifth volume. They're still too late, though, since Harry Potter fans have been collaborating on an online translation of the book from the moment it first came out, posting segments in forums and on message boards across the web. That translation is now complete. Shanghai Daily News noted in late July that Rowling's lawyer "confirmed in an e-mail that non-commercial fan fictions including online translations are permitted." The Chinese publisher, however, has a different view - it has not ruled out suing Baidu for hosting the translations on its BBS service, under the philosophy that even if fans can translate freely, hosting and transmitting such translations violates copyright. [Smart Mobs] 8:59:06 AM    comment []

Spunky Young Heroines in Sensible Outfits. Vicariously living the lives of a series of spunky teenage heroines. By CHARLES HEROLD. [NYT > Technology] 8:58:17 AM    comment []

Google's Book Scanning Hits Snag. The search giant suspends its work to convert millions of copyright books into digital format and gives publishers a chance to opt out of the project. Book publishers' concerns are not alleviated. [Wired News] 8:55:12 AM    comment []

Saudi youth flirt with Bluetooth. An AP story about young people in gender-segregated Saudi Arabia reaching out to each other through short-range wireless. [via boingboing] The women would not give their full names when talking about communicating with the opposite sex -- so strong is the taboo in this kingdom where men and women are strictly segregated. Unrelated men and women caught talking to each other, driving in the same car or sharing a meal risk being detained by the religious police. But connecting by Bluetooth is safe and easy. Users activate the Bluetooth function in their phone and then press the search button to see who else has the feature on within a 30-foot range. They get a list of ID names of anyone in the area -- names, mostly in Arabic, often chosen to allure: poster boy, sensitive girl, lion heart, kidnapper of hearts, little princess, prisoner of tears. Some are more suggestive, like "nice to touch" and "Saudi gay club." (...) Many images feature babies -- some blowing kisses -- perhaps because women consider them cute. Animated cartoons doing belly dances, dreamy Arabic songs and sappy, sentimental messages are also popular. "Last night I sent an angel to watch over you, but he came back soon," said one message. "I asked him why, and he answered, 'Am not allowed to watch over other angels." [Smart Mobs] 8:55:05 AM    comment []

Changes Considered for Flight Screening. The possible changes in airline screening include allowing small knives and scissors and skipping screening all together for members of Congress, governors and airline pilots. By THE NEW YORK TIMES. [NYT > Washington] 8:53:21 AM    comment []