Deep Space Naan

50 years war Israel and the Arabs episode one (part1-29)

ipod touch

Ipod Touch

What are the transitions of electronic media in the world? We once celebrated debut of portable music player like MP3. We once embraced easy ways of enjoying photos by LCD frames. We even welcomed an era when people can legally download whatever movies they like at whenever they want. Those are all great developments in today’s electronic media revolution.

So let us image: if we put all the above-mentioned technologies in one cute and compact box, what will happen? Yes, we get the state-of-art multi-media player --- Ipod. Can we make our lives even more convenient? Yes. Here comes our star today: Ipod touch. With the advanced multi-touch technique, one can easily operate any functions by simply touching the aimed functional image. Instead of learning how to use various buttons and switches, a really cool touch on part of the screen will lead you to where you want to go in this digital library.

All the electronic products are under the trend of being compact in size, being comprehensive in functions and being simple in operation. Ipod touch greatly exhibits all the above advantages. It works like a personal art center where you can enjoys many forms of arts. With your LCD photo player, you would feel like walking into a miniaturized art gallery with various pictures and photos. With your music player, you would feel like being in a concert with your favorite songs. With your movie player, you would feel like being in a mini cinema with your choice of movies and stars. Moreover, the internet-based media technique would always update you with the latest trend and development of the whole world.

As one can tell, Ipod touch reveals the latest transition of electronic media in the world: building up your personalized media library base on the whole world resources with a simple “touch”.

Microsoft Joins the One Laptop Per Child Project

Microsoft announced on May 16th, 2008 that it will be joining the One Laptop Per Child project as a software partner. This business decision came three years after Microsoft expressed interest in adding its internationally popular Windows platform to the project for global distribution. But until now, the OLPC project has held off on allying itself with an international technological giant like Microsoft. And in turn, the New York Times states that Microsoft has “long resisted joining the ambitious project because its laptops used the Linux operating system, a freely distributed alternative to Windows.”

While countries and communities around the globe are already placing orders and bringing the XO laptops (with the open source software) to classrooms in diverse regions of the world, some large potential clients, including India, have rejected participation in the project from the start. The Register reports that the Indian Ministry of Education cast off the OLPC as “pedagogically suspect” for reasons including the lack of Western industry-standard tools like the Windows operating system.

Why the stand off? As a communication tool, the OLPC project is fundamentally rooted in Papert’s constructionist educational theory, which emphasizes experiential learning, or learning through doing.” By keeping the OLPC’s XO laptop fundamentally open source, the project has ensured that students and communities learn through developing their own software and by adapting preinstalled programs and layout aesthetics to fit the customized needs of each individual community. What then, will the inclusion of Microsoft in the project, mean for future learners?

Switching the laptops from open source to industrial software changes the educational purposes of the project entirely. Instead of creating ways to create new learning, the Windows-loaded laptops will be teaching future generations how to become workers in the existing capitalist market. The potential here is for the technology to become a communicative tool of oppression, restricting educational goals to those that coincide with the immediate needs of the global market instead of becoming a tool of resistance to such a situation by distributing a means of creating indigenous digital software and community-based learning and communication systems.

Still, some members of the OLCP project remain hopeful that the original goals of the program will continue to shine through the Windows (pun intended). On OLPC’s news website, a member of the OLPC Indian Student chapter reminds readers that at its heart, this is “an eduation project, not a laptop project.” The student also hopefully declares that “I know OLPC will get worldwide acceptance if it sticks to its original vision [of being open source].”


For more information:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/technology/16laptop.html?ex=1211860800&en=5c6fe04817a45890&ei=5070&emc=eta1

http://www.olpcnews.com/software/operating_system/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/26/india_says_no_to_olpc/

http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204701926

CAPITALISM THROUGH COMMUNICATIONS AND CONSUMERISM? A LOOK AT THE NEW CUBA.

The New York Times recently asked “Can a rice maker possibly be revolutionary?” The answer for now, at least in the case of Cuba, is a still tentative “maybe.” Appliances including rice makers, DVD players, televisions and home computers have gone on sale to the general public in Cuba, following President Raul Castro’s declaration that these items should be available to the average Cuban citizen (BBC, 2008). While Fidel Castro fought for years to maintain a strictly communist political and economic system in place, Raul’s actions are quickly beginning to weave threads of capitalism into the system with consumer goods and increased access to communication devices.

Castro has also taken other leaps toward bringing 21st century technology to the hands of many more than his brother’s previous policies by expanding access to personal communication devices. Earlier this year, he opened the doors for privately owned cell phones in the country. Prior to the change, only government employees and foreign workers could use them. Other policy changes include allowing farmers to manage their unused land for profit and lifting a ban on Cubans using tourist-designated hotels. However, we must not be too quick to view these policy changes as indicators of larger steps for the Cuban population until the impact of these changes become clearer.

The New York Times article quoted government officials as saying more restrictions will be eased up in the near future as Raul continues to settle in to his new role. Possibly up next on the agenda? Allowing Cubans to buy and sell their own vehicles and relaxing restrictions on traveling abroad. However, it is worth noting that while the restrictions that have been relaxed in the first part of 2008 may seem like huge steps for the previously rigidly socialist nation, these changes are still only a reality for a small portion of the public. The Times notes that a rice maker, at $70, currently costs three times the average monthly income in Cuba and a home computer will not be a reality for many Cuban families for quite some time to come.

Still, according to the BBC, over 7000 cell phone contracts have already been sold in the two weeks since the devices became accessible to nongovernment workers and ordinary citizens, demonstrating a clear demand for such products. And Etecsa, the mobile service provider, anticipates selling over a million new phone contracts by 2013, despite a new contract costing six times the average monthly salary in Cuba.

Not all obstacles to communication lie within the Cuban government. For instance, the BBC reports that while personal computers may be on sale, the ban remains on Internet access across Cuba. However, the Cuban government is insisting that the cause of the disconnect is the inability to complete undersea fiber optic cables, due to the US trade embargo with the country, limiting Internet access at the moment to spotty and expensive satellite service. So where does Cuba go from here?

With China now serving as Cuba’s second largest trading partner, could the development of a more complex system of consumerism be on the rise side by side in both countries as more goods and services become more reasonably priced? Possibly. Economists and politicians are at work asking questions about how significant these recent changes are to Cuba in the big picture. Is this a sign of a much larger change in Cuba’s economic and political infrastructure? Or just a sign of the current structure adapting to the times in order to continue to go strong?

Many news sources are focusing attention on the symbolic freedom of such policy changes, regardless of how accessible these freedoms may be for regular Cuban citizens. For example, the Havana Journal, a Massachusetts-based publication, reported that the unrestricted sale of these new appliances and electronic communications devices was “the first sign President Raul Castro is moving to improve access to consumer goods for Cubans.” B

The recently relaxed policies discussed here create just one example of how, while Cuba is clearly shifting away from the rigid consumer and communications restrictions of Fidel Castro’s rule, we must still wait and see just how far his brother is willing to take these new implementations into the twenty-first century.


For more information:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7381646.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7364791.stm

http://havanajournal.com/politics/entry/cuba-allows-cuban-people-to-own-computers/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/world/americas/02cuba.html?em&ex=1209873600&en=8cbea22a8fcc2025&ei=5087%0A

Comparing Taiwan and the U.S.’s media of the overall reporting perspectives on Taiwan’s presidential election

March 22, 2008, the historical moment for Taiwanese to practice the democracy again by voting for the next president. Ma Ying-Jeou, the candidate of Nationalist’s Party, was elected in the forth direct presidential election in Taiwan. It is quite interesting to look at this event through the reports from different countries, especially form local, and the U.S perspectives.

From the U.S. media, such as the New York Times, we can see more descriptions about Ma Ying-Jeou himself, and his family, emphasizing he is a Harvard-educated elite. It is a fair treatment because most Americans are not familiar with the candidates, not to mention the domestic issues in Taiwan. But interestingly enough, when it comes to Taiwan’s standpoint to Chinese Government, the New York Times reporter said the two parties provide “slightly different” approaches to maintain a relationship with China, while Taiwan’s media often use more strong adjectives such as “opposing viewpoints”, “strongly disagree to each other’s opinions ”, or “condemn the counterparts’ attitude on the issue across the Taiwan Strait” to illustrate two election campaigns’ very different standpoints. Another article on the New York Times indicates that the result of this election is positive news for the U.S., and this article also points out that since Taiwan elects a supporter of closer Mainland ties, Washington will be relieved that at least the relationships among the U.S., China and Taiwan could be more stable than past few years. The application to join the U.N under the name of Taiwan and the referendum provoked a lot of issues between supporters and opponents in Taiwan, in China, as well as the White House. And it seems that most people in the U.S who follow the presidential election in Taiwan are optimistic about the results.

Nationalist’s Party and Democratic Progress Party (DPP) are two major political parties in Taiwan, and the biggest difference between these two is their attitude toward Mainland China. Nationalist Party holds a view that “One China” is negotiable and seeks for closer relations with China. While DPP, a relatively young party established in 1986, insists that Taiwan is an independent entity and should has a self- government. Therefore, what happened in Tibet few weeks ago has been a big surprise during this election, and Chinese government’s suppression on Tibet raised an intense debate. Since Tibet is unrest, it has quickly became a domestic issue in Taiwan’s presidential election and both parties showed that they’re going to be tougher now when facing Chinese government. In Taiwan, the bleeding rebellion became the headline news on prime-time newscasts and the No.1 issue discussed in several famous talk shows. Besides showing sympathy about Tibetan, somehow I think the two election campaigns, and the news programs were both overdone with the Tibetan rebellion during the election period, repeating day after day for the similar speeches from two presidential candidates, and many Taiwanese people were upset with the situation in Taiwan and worried about being the next victim under the threaten of Chinese government, which I think is an unnecessary and imbalanced comparison.

But anyway, I am so glad to see that the presidential election in Taiwan finished peacefully. One should never forget the fundamental obligation of being a leader of a country is to build up a harmonious society first, than he or she is qualified to lead the country to a prosperous, promising future. Democracy is either a tool for politicians to fool people around or a slogan for citizens to be proud of. Rather, it is only through reasonable practices that could manifest the value of democracy. President-elect Ma, Ying-Jeou is going to become the new president of Taiwan after the inauguration on May 20. It is time for him and his team to demonstrate their abilities to people in this island as well as people around the world that if they are qualified to lead this country. Time will tell, and people will use their ballots to make a choice.



Sources:

The New York Times:
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/for-the-us-positive-news/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/world/asia/24taiwan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


News form Taiwan:
http://www.cna.com.tw/2008PresidentialElection/ShowTopicNews.aspx?TopicNo=0463&NewsID=200803210129&strType=&PageNo=1

http://www.worldjournal.com/pr/taiwanvote/twv_news.php?nt_seq_id=1688626&sc_seq_id=3825

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NATS1/4265334.shtml

http://times.hinet.net/SpecialTopic/2008_vote/news.jsp?id=1421220

Chinese News Regulation

The United States and European Union are taking action through the World Trade Organization to push China into lifting restrictions on foreign news distribution within the country. Currently, outside news organizations (such as newswire distributions) must distribute content through a Chinese-government regulated agency such as Xinhua. The New York Times stated that the proposed change in policy would open doors for business information & news companies including the Dow Jones, Bloomberg, Reuters and others. The news organizations argue that China's restrictive policies currently limit their abilities to sell news information to banks, businesses, and other customers throughout China.

But, as trade restrictions between U.S./Europe and China relax in the the 21st century, are severe actions such as filing claims with the W.T.O. hurting or helping international relationships? In the NY Times article, a Unites States trade official, Susan Schwab said "China's restrictive treatment of outside suppliers of financial information services places U.S. and other foreign suppliers at a serious competitive disadvantage." But, isn't that the point of such regulations?

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry says the regulatory action will help standardize news releases and help protect intellectual-property rights for foreign news services in the country (Asia Times Online).

With high speed internet and satellite communications able to beam information around the globe in milliseconds, it's no wonder that countries like China are taking steps to protect domestic communications agencies from being dominated in the open market by Western communications superpowers. Schwab's comments reveal that this is not merely a communications or a free speech issue for either the West or China. This is a business issue at its heart. To begin a serious discussion of opening further communication services between China and the U.S./Europe, we need to take a step back to examine this issue in the much larger context of mismatched economic policies among these nations.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/business/worldbusiness/04trade.html?ref=todayspaper (requires NY Times login)

Additional resources:
Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HI14Ad01.html

International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/03/business/3wtofw.php