A few thoughts on the troubled past weeks of Middle East's history.
Protests in Tunisia, bring protests in Egypt, bring protests in Yemen, bring protests in Jordan and let's see if it stops there. People on the streets generally shout for democracy (fortunately, no religious motives have been brought up so far, which is a sign that the movement may not be specific to the Middle East), while entrenched dictators find it hard to give up their seats. The spread of protests was significantly helped by the internet, so Egypt shuts down entire servers blocking regular internet service pretty much everywhere. Still, technology prevails with a voice-base platform that allows voice messages to be recorded and then sent to twitter to be heard by all. Nicholas Kristof, for the New York Times, flies to Cairo and blogs from close to the center of events in Tahrir Square, whenever he manages to get access to satellite phones that allow for a very slow internet connection. Easy or hard, the world's netizens* are checking pulse on Egypt. Meanwhile Mubarak nominates a vice-president to dialog with protesters and a few days later pledges not to run for re-election in September, while in Jordan, king Abdullah II swiftly sacks government replacing it with a new cabinet to bring serious reform.
Protests in Tunisia, bring protests in Egypt, bring protests in Yemen, bring protests in Jordan and let's see if it stops there. People on the streets generally shout for democracy (fortunately, no religious motives have been brought up so far, which is a sign that the movement may not be specific to the Middle East), while entrenched dictators find it hard to give up their seats. The spread of protests was significantly helped by the internet, so Egypt shuts down entire servers blocking regular internet service pretty much everywhere. Still, technology prevails with a voice-base platform that allows voice messages to be recorded and then sent to twitter to be heard by all. Nicholas Kristof, for the New York Times, flies to Cairo and blogs from close to the center of events in Tahrir Square, whenever he manages to get access to satellite phones that allow for a very slow internet connection. Easy or hard, the world's netizens* are checking pulse on Egypt. Meanwhile Mubarak nominates a vice-president to dialog with protesters and a few days later pledges not to run for re-election in September, while in Jordan, king Abdullah II swiftly sacks government replacing it with a new cabinet to bring serious reform.
In a pre-emptive move, China's (right, still not a democracy) major search engines block all searches including the word "Egypt"... hardly comes as a surprise in a country where the internet is already censored big time. Let's see what the near future brings us in the protest ridden Middle East countries. And dictators in general... wake up! The internet seems to be a very convenient tool to enable credible threats. There are however, unfortunate recent historical events to worry about. Tiananmen 1989. Tehran 2009. Let's hope we don't add Tahrir 2011 to the list.
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Google does not cease to impress. After Earth, Maps, and Street View, just to say a few, Google has now plunged into the world of art. Google's Art Project brings the general Street View concept out of the street an inside the museum. Among adhering institutions are New York's MOMA, London's TATE gallery, Amsterdam's Van Gogh's Museum, and Madrid's Reina Sofia's, again, just to say 4 out of 17. Check out what the project is all about in this excellent article of the Times. Clicking on the Art Project link above will bring you directly to random (though famous) works of art... in astonishing detail!
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*I was surprised to see how widespread the usage of the word has become in the press... these are changing times indeed!
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*I was surprised to see how widespread the usage of the word has become in the press... these are changing times indeed!
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