The Internet is increasingly falling prey to censorship round the world. The 13 "Enemies of the Internet" are blocking access to news which displeases them and imprisoning bloggers who express themselves too freely.

More than 60 cyber-dissidents around the world are currently in prison for expressing themselves online. Something that is fairly simple for anyone to do in most countries is nonetheless banned in 13 of them. You can go to prison for posting your views on a blog or website in China, Tunisia or Egypt, for example. In order to combat this kind of censorship and to make as many people as possible aware of the situation, Reporters Without Borders is for the first time launching a major protest: 24 hours against online censorship. The general public, Internet users, bloggers, journalists, students - everyone is invited to register their opposition to censorship with a simple click.

How to take part in the 24-hour online demo against censorship:

The Reporters Without Borders website will be given over to this protest from 11 a.m. on 7 November until 11 a.m. on 8 November.

Expression Rights, Blogs, CMO, Web | post a comment

Since I decided to write a blog two weeks ago, it happens that I bearly have time once a few days to fill it in. It is really hard to find time, even if there are a number of issues to discuss.

Now I am wondering more whether it is because of lack of time or because of lack of a concept. In fact, because I am asking myself so many questions, i decided my next university paper to cover a research related to blogs and bloggers. The main idea is that the bloggers are Internet users who produce their own information, and not just receive or read other people’s information. This is part of the Web 2.0 concept.

Blogs | post a comment

• bg: Истината за живота през погледа на старите хора

In Ottawa this weekend I visited the Museum of Civilisation. A great place of history! It tells about the native indians and the life of North-Americans in the past centuries. Here is an interesting quote I found there:

"I go to visit the old people, the elders. We talk about the weather, we joke a bit, we pass along the news, and then they tell how things used to be a long time ago. They tell us a legend. It’s one long rambling conversation. But the things that come up over and over again in the conversation are important and you know it’s important. They do not tell you that you must do this or that. They tell you a story. You go home and you think about it and you know they have been telling you a truth." — Blake Debassige, Anishnaabe. Quoted in Mary E. Southcott. Anishnaabe of Manitoulin Island.

What touched me in this qoute was the memory of our conversations with my grandfather. He would never tell me what to do and how to do it. But he would always tell me how they did it in the old times, and methodology is always the same.

We need to preserve the relationships with our ancestors as much as we can, and I hope that my kid will also be able to meet my grandfather. If not, that at least it finds its own grandparents who will tell him/her greatest stories.

And here is one more that I found:

"As you grow up, you learn different things from the legends at different stages. It stays with you all the rest of your life. You learn something out of each story each time it is retold because if you are growing as a person, you are ready for new truth each time. You learn something new from a legend each time, just as you learn something new from a painting each time." — Leland Bell, quoted in Mary E. Southcott, Anishnaabe of Manitoulin Island

Made in Canada, Life, universe and everything, Quotes | post a comment

Here is what one can find in Canada: a stop sign in local language. This one is in Nunavut, where Inuktikut is one of the three official languages.

Nunavut in Inuktikut means "our land". It is a Inuit homeland, "a growing society that blends the strength of its deep Inuit roots and traditions with a new spirit of diversity." It is a Northern territory of two million square km where inuit people live. As they say: "a Territory of extraordinary variety and breathtaking beauty."

Read more about Nunavut.

Made in Canada, Expression Rights, Images | post a comment

Clay Bennet and his work have impressed me a couple of days ago, when I looked at the caricautures on his website. He is expressing his view and protest against government decisions, war and some social habits in a greatest way - through image. I loved this one, because of its so clear statement:

I imagine it hanging in people’s office, where clients and staff enters and smokes in the room, while there are other non-smokers at the same place...

Животът, вселената и всичко, Images | коментирайте

37 000 000 of blogs online (May 2006), and almost double in November (60 000 000)... yet another one to come!

I have had a continuous discussion on whether a blog is necessary and why there are so many people who wish to express their minds and thoughts online. What were they doing before blog was created - would they write on paper, or simply keep all their thoughts inside?

I was in fact thinking long time on whether I should to start a blog and for what purpose exactly... So, probably it is time now to say I have a global view on this issue and that I am ready to jump in. Let’s see if it will last.

Life, universe and everything, Blogs, Технологии | post a comment