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Censorship

Sharp Rise In Jailing of Online Journalists; Iran May Just Kill Them 233

bckspc writes "The Committee to Protect Journalists has published their annual census of journalists in prison. Of the 136 reporters in prison around the world on December 1, 'At least 68 bloggers, Web-based reporters, and online editors are imprisoned, constituting half of all journalists now in jail.' Print was next with 51 cases. Also, 'Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business.' China, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma were the top 5 jailers of journalists." rmdstudio writes, too, with word that after the last few days' protest there, largely organized online, the government of Iran is considering the death penalty for bloggers and webmasters whose reports offend it.
Google

Submission + - Google-Microsoft Crossfire Will Hit Consumers 1

theodp writes: Newsweek's Dan Lyons doesn't know who will be the winner in Google and Microsoft's search battle, but that's not stopping him from picking a loser — consumers. As we head towards a world where some devices may be free or really cheap, consumers should prepare to be bombarded by ads or pay a premium to escape them. 'The sad truth is that Google and Microsoft care less about making cool products than they do about hurting each other,' concludes Lyons. 'Their fighting has little to do with helping customers and a lot to do with helping themselves to a bigger slice of the money we all spend to buy computers and surf the Internet. Microsoft wants to ruin Google's search business. Google wants to ruin Microsoft's OS business. At the end of the day, they both seem like overgrown nerdy schoolboys fighting over each other's toys.'
IT

Submission + - Do you hate being called an "IT Guy"?

An anonymous reader writes: The phrase "I.T." is so overused, I'm not sure what it means any more. Ok maybe it's an ego thing, but I spent a lot of years in grad school, lots of years getting good at creating software, and lots of years getting good at creating technical products and I don't want the same label as the intern who fixes windoze. I'm looking at a tech management job at a content company that is trying to become a software company, and they refer to everything about software development, data center operations, and desktop support as "I.T.". I'd like to tell the CEO before I take the job that we have to stop referring to all these people as "IT people" or I'm not going to be able to attract and retain the top tier talent that is required. Am I just being petty? just forget it? change it slowly over time? These folks are really developing products, but we don't normally call software creators "product developers". Just call them the "Tech dept" ?, "Engineering Dept"? I like labeling what is normally sys admins, the "service delivery" group because ultimately it's not about just admin'ing the servers up, it's about delivering a SaaS product to our customers.

Comment Re:The carriers will attempt to unite and squash t (Score 1) 324

Is it that the phone has all the radios in it, or is it that the manufacturer makes different models of the same phone with different radios in it? I know the Motorola RAZR was one that came out on all the networks, but each phone was still tied to the radio in it, as there weren't any multi-radio phones available from the carriers.

Comment Nothing has changed (Score 1) 262

Really, consider the fact that what is going on here is nothing more than the same gossip from before, but now in electronic format.

People talk, people gossip, people are social creatures, and as it often appears to be, people are cruel. Just because someone wrote a comment about you on some internet 'bathroom wall' or even a real bathroom wall doesn't mean you have to do anything about it, or even recognize it. In both cases, the anonymity of the posting is its very downfall. On the other hand, if you have people outright spreading gossip and clearly linking it back to themselves (the real-world equivalent of saying "yeah, I wrote that"), then the problem is more pronounced, but still the same as before. You can deal with gossip if you know who starts it, or you can deal with gossip by ignoring it.

If colleges can't teach to their students that gossip is best ignored, then we have more things to worry about than the gossip itself.

Comment Re:The carriers will attempt to unite and squash t (Score 1) 324

Yes, I see your point. And it's a valid one at that, because (at least in the US) I don't know of any wireless carriers that are of common-carrier status. Google will have trouble, with whichever technology they choose for the job. Which also leaves one to ponder, that other than the battery life issues of running two different radios: why not use both?

Comment Re:The carriers will attempt to unite and squash t (Score 2, Informative) 324

Or will the carriers detect a "foreign" SIM card and block access, similar to how my AT&T phone won't work on a Sprint cell network.

Actually, this particular instance is not a case of Sprint rejecting a Ma Bell SIM card, it's a case of two entirely different wireless technologies. AT&T and T-Mobile in the US run on a more globally accepted standard, known as GSM. However, Verizon and Sprint run on a faster, but less accepted, standard known as CDMA. These two are incompatible with each other; your AT&T phone won't work on the Sprint network because it speaks the wrong language.

Submission + - Optus Dropping ball on Android (apcmag.com)

Phroghollow writes: Optus have traditionally been terrible with their support of Android, they were first to market with an Android Phone in Australia with the HTC Dream, however support since then has flown downhill rapidly, 3 months behind T-Mobile in releasing the 1.5 Cupcake update to their customers, they have still not released the 1.6 Donut release and have advised customers of a release date "Sometime in December" nearly 2 months after Vodafone/3 Customers received the 1.6 Donut Update. Now they have started their own App store in what seems to be a grab for the App store money, they are actively blocking Optus customers from accessing paid apps available to every other carrier in Australia, forcing customers to either root their phone and use the Market Enabler App or purchase and use a second sim to access paid apps.

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