Sky’s Blog @ The Dalai Lama Foundation — Spreading the word in a networked world

·GlobalVoices ADVOCACY has a page they call the Access Denied Map. On it they track visually, including pop-up annotations, countries that prohibit access to web sites. The thing that made the biggest impression on me is the number of countries that block bloggers or Flickr. (You can check this yourself by going to their site and clicking the pushpins on their Google map.)

·Opennet.net also tracks blocking/filtering worldwide. They look at the reasons given for filtering and compile maps tracking four different types of filtering. Political content (illustrated at right) - Content that expresses views in opposition to those of the current government, or is related to human rights, freedom of expression, minority rights, and religious movements. Social content - Content related to sexuality, gambling, and illegal drugs and alcohol, as well as other topics that may be socially sensitive or perceived as offensive. Conflict/security - Content related to armed conflicts, border disputes, separatist movements, and militant groups. Internet Tools - Web sites that provide e-mail, Internet hosting, search, translation, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service, and circumvention methods.

(more…)

One of the first things I just had to do with my 3G iPhone was to supplement those Apple-supplied ringtones with my own. I have written, performed and recorded enough music that I wanted to use snips from my own recordings as my ringtones. This was easy on my old Moto RAZR, which accepted mp3 files as ringtones.

But for the iPhone I discovered there’s a bit more complex process that works equally well. There’s a publicized shortcut which involves taking an m4v file and changing its extension to m4r and then dropping it into iTunes where it is recognized as a ringtone and can be loaded into the iPhone.

But even though these files can be copied to an iPhone, they don’t appear properly in the list of custom ringtones.

So Apple’s recommended procedure, which does work flawlessly, is to use GarageBand to make a loop and export it from GarageBand to iTunes as a ringtone. Try it - it works great.

I spent a really interesting and entertaining four hours in line at the Apple Store in Palo Alto (California, USA) last Friday morning, waiting to purchase an Apple iPhone “3G.” I had a great four-hour conversation with the guy in line behind me [see footnote Social Behaviors, below. And then I bought my iPhone.

And like most of the fanboys and fangirrls who have their phone already (it’s my first 48 hours) I am just really pleased with this communication device. And it has given me its own set of challenges as well. (more…)

Silence is… well, it’s just amazing that a modern industrialized, developing and supposedly participatory country could jail hundreds (or thousands) of dissidents in order to keep them from speaking in public. And in contravention of principles of religious freedom (which, incidentally, is not guaranteed in China).

Tibetan monasteries empty as China jails monks to silence Olympic protests in TimesOnline UK

“Chinese authorities tightened security around Tibet’s main monasteries and banned visits to a sacred site on the edge of the capital, Lhasa, for fear of a fresh outburst of unrest on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

“Few monks remain, however, in the province’s three most important monasteries. Many have disappeared, their whereabouts a mystery. Chinese officials have deployed troops and paramilitary police around the ancient religious institutions, suspecting these sprawling hillside communities are at the heart of the unrest that has swept the region since early March.”

Seems to me that the theory must be that silencing protest during the Olympic Games is intended to remove it from the world’s stage (Shakespeare “All the world’s a stage…”) at a time when China is receiving increased attention - but it certainly will backfire because it is happening at a time when China is center-stage, and even after the restraints are removed, it will keep China center-stage in the human rights spotlight for a longer time.

This report has naught to do with electronic media, networks or technology. It’s just unfortunate to see how governments  deal with the things that embarrass those in power by muzzling the mouths (and sometimes the bodies) of those who disagree with the powerful.