Cyberculture

Here comes the Google browser- Chrome

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chrome2sep2008.jpg

The launch of Google Chrome had to be rushed out last night after an employee accidentally emailed a comic book explainer to Blogoscoped. The really very excellent comic explains how Google rethought the web browser from the bottom up, starting by saying how the current browsers were designed in a different era of the web when we weren’t all frequently accessing heavy, interactive applications. VIA

 

Last night I installed Chrome but did not feel to play with it as I was forcing myself to write for the dissertation. My current Firefox is too nice to quit honestly. The first impressions of Chrome users all seem to be good and i may change mine too but for the moment Firefox 3.0 is really good enough to beat. We will see. Before some links on Chrome, here is Ethan’s post on-

 

Blogger “failures” in the Georgian war, and the rise of citizen propaganda

By Ethan

As Russia slowly pulls out of Georgia and the world of foreign policy wonks contemplates how the Olympics War will change the geopolitical map of the Caucuses, the world of citizen media is busily evaluating its (our?) own performance.

Two good friends have taken the blogosphere to task for its failures during the conflict. Rather than rise to the defense of Georgian, Russian, Ossetian and global bloggers, I wanted to take a look at their critiques and at the phenomenon of citizen media during the conflict and at the emergence of one of the interesting epiphenomena of citizen media: citizen propaganda…

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"Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia

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Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia

By nosemonkey

Believe it or not, from time to time people actually ask me for my opinion on things, rather than me just spouting out unsolicited words into the electronic ether and hoping that someone may spot them and correct my mistakes.

As such, this evening I’ll be doing the talking head thing on the BBC World Service’s World Have Your Say, trying to come up with a coherent theory about Russia’s current plans and how the rest of the world should respond. (Likely argument? Russia’s being childish and throwing a tantrum, and there’s usually two responses to tantrums: smack them or ignore them. Unfortunately, neither option’s really possible in this case.) Any suggestions much appreciated.

The Caucasus war viewed through Europe’s blogs

By Ole Skambraks

Blogospheres are vibrating in the aftermath of the war in the Caucasus. The need to understand and debate is huge, as spin doctors have been manipulating the news on both sides

NEXT NEWS IS WRONG. YOUTUBE STATED TODAY THAT THE BAN CONTINUES; Erkan now believes only a YouTube generation can save Turkey. So far, I haven’t heard a single person who defends the ban. Only after the system does not support any more those unique cases who goes to court for a ban and of course those backward-minded judges who support the unique cases…As you can see if these were particular, exceptional cases there would not be a ban. There is something more systemic.

 

YouTube returns after three-month ban

Access to YouTube, a popular video sharing Web site banned in early May by a controversial court decision for broadcasting videos deemed insulting to the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was reinstated on Saturday night."

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"Has Updike's Hatred for the Web Hurt His Writing?

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I am very disappointed when a respected author, scholar etc expresses his/her dislike with the web.

 

Updike piece will be found below. In the mean time, someone notified me of a new research network site. For the interested parties:

here, membership free until sometime.

oh boy, I am tired. 

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"Yahoo! aims to be "number one" independent news source

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Yahoo! aims to be "number one" independent news source

By Alisa Zykova

Yahoo! News may be considered as a news organization, according to Jessica Barron, director of editorial programming. Unlike online news outlets that aggregate news content from the Web, Yahoo! is not only investing in its own journalists but is also signing agreements with wire services and "traditional" sources.

News

Two dancers act during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Photo: EFE / Bernd Thissen.
found in World Watches in Awe as Beijing Olympics Close With Carnival-themed Extravaganza

 

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"853 Websites Banned in Turkey

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FT.com / World – Turkish bloggers censure the censors

By Alex Barker in Ankara and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York

Turkish bloggers are closing their websites to protest against courts banning dozens of mainstream sites for carrying content deemed “immoral” or insulting to Turkey’s founding father."

853 Websites Banned in Turkey

By Jenny White

There are currently 853 Web sites banned in Turkey, including video-sharing site YouTube and dailymotion.com, placing Turkey in the league of countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, famous for restricting freedom of speech.

Web sites are most often banned on grounds that they insult the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, contain vulgarity, enable gambling or promote suicide. Many sites have also been banned for crimes covered under the Internet Security Law. But a number of sites are banned for no apparent reason. The latest Web site to be banned was gundemonline.com, which was blocked by Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court without any justification. VIA

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"Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest

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News

View of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. EFE/Emilio Naranjo. found in Chinese Director Zhang Yimou Presents Dazzling Opening Ceremony at The Olympic Games

 I was not aware of this campaign as my life was disrupted by Yahoo! But probably I would not hear it on time. As usual, there is also a blogger community which is reclusive in some sense and I am an outsider. I realized this in a recent Turkish blogging awards stuff. I heard about the competition when the list of candidates were released. I compared mine and others in many categories and could not know why I wasn’t there. Most of blogs are in Turkish of course and blog networks are based on some sort of friendship networks. If you are not in it, then you are out. This is the same for many issues (like cinema circles) and not different in new media stuff. Otherwise, mine is known, too but only needed when they need a sample for ‘English language’ blogs:) Still the campaign is good though ‘authorities’ will only be happy to see more closed websites (!)

Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest

Erick Schonfeld

It doesn’t take much to get your Website banned in Turkey. Pretty much any complaint to a lower court can get a Website blocked in the country. Websites including YouTube, DailyMotion, Alibaba, Slide.com, and some WordPress blogs have all been banned, usually because of some purported slight to the Turkish government or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.”

148 Turkish websites in protest against government ban

This week 148 153 (the number is rising) Turkish websites are shut down as a protest against the government ban. The Turkish government blocks YouTube since January this year. And in the last few weeks various other international websites like DailyMotion are also blocked. The 148 website as listed here show this text at their frontpage:
Bu siteye erişim kendi kararıyla engellenmiştir

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Yahoo! Hosting. A Nightmare for the blogger!

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But I assume Movable Type is the accomplice. After 5 days, i have solved the problem myself with losing some stuff as you can see. All categories are gone etc. Thanks God, i have reasoned to save many features, so that i can restore them soon. here is a bunch of correspondence with Yahoo! Customer … Read more