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Bad economies always drag repression in their wake and social media is no exception to this rule. One of the worst instances is the recent arrest of Ali Abdulemam, a blogger and the editor of the long-running forum Bahrainonline.org (now shut down).
Abdulemam was arrested for the same reason before - he had acted as a midwife to discussion on democracy among other things. This time, he was arrested on September 5 for "publishing false news." Soon came speculation that he'd been tortured.
A group I was involved with, the Committee to Protect Bloggers, was one of many groups agitating for his release in 2005 during his first arrest. It worked. He was freed. Let's join together and make sure the same thing happens this time.
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Ali's a reasonable, engaged person, a reporter for Global Voices, a father and businessman. He seems to have made friends in half the countries on earth. No one deserves illegitimate imprisonment and torture.
ReadWriteWeb is not a partisan outfit. There's plenty of discussion and disagreement (on our own time) about political issues. (One of us even has the temerity to be from New Zealand, if you can believe it.) But some issues are human more than political and this is one of them. Although on a practical level, if everyone like Ali gets sent up the river, who will we write for?
Whoever you are reading this, Ali's one of you. So here's what you can do if you want to try to help. Please keep in mind, no matter what you do and who you connect with, don't be a tool. Ali's safety is the issue here, not your outrage.
- Tweet Bahrain's foreign minister, Khalid Alkhalifa
- Write the Bahraini ambassador in your country
- Write one of the Bahraini officials listed here
- Join the Free Ali campaign.
- "Like" the Free Ali Facebook page
- Use your social media accounts to talk about it
- Post a link to your own discussion of Ali on the Free Ali Facebook page
- Leave a comment of support below.
"The Family Pack gives consumers three upgrade licenses from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium. The $150 price tag is the same Microsoft put on the package last year when it offered the deal for several weeks after the Oct 22, 2009, launch of the new operating system.
RIM today confirmed a rumor from the weekend that it had acquired much of DataViz in a deal that could shake up professional mobile apps. The company in a statement said it had bought only some of the company's assets but was hiring most of the Documents To Go developer's staff to support the BlackBerry. It wouldn't confirm the $50 million asking price as it was "not material" enough to legally require disclosure....
PC World - Google's Android mobile operating system proved a formidable rival to the wildly popular iPhone in a recent real-world test.
Earlier today Mozilla Labs — the R&D arm of the company behind Firefox — announced that it was launching a new Gaming section focused on fostering games built on modern Open Web technologies. And to kick things off, it’s inviting developers to take part in a contest to develop the best games for the Open Web. At least, it’s inviting them to look forward to a competition that will begin later this month (the logistics haven’t been announced).
The contest itself isn’t out of the norm — Mozilla Labs runs challenges every two months for its various projects. But the long-term vision for this new Games project is extremely vague at this point. The main site for the Gaming section states that Mozilla is looking to “help establish the Open Web as the platform for gaming across all your Internet connected devices”, but it doesn’t really get into how it will do that. A Mozilla spokesperson said that the company isn’t sharing more details at this time and that this is announcement primarily about getting developers excited — we’ll learn more later.
From the Mozilla Labs Gaming Page:
We are excited to present to you the latest initiative from Mozilla Labs: Gaming. Mozilla Labs Gaming is all about games built, delivered and played on the Open Web and the browser. We want to explore the wider set of technologies which make immersive gaming on the Open Web possible. We invite the wider community to play with cool, new tech and aim to help establish the Open Web as the platform for gaming across all your Internet connected devices.
Modern Open Web technologies introduced a complete stack of technologies such as Open Video, audio, WebGL, touch events, device orientation, geo location, and fast JavaScript engines which make it possible to build complex (and not so complex) games on the Web. With these technologies being delivered through modern browsers today, the time is ripe for pushing the platform. And what better way than through games? Traditionally games and game developers have been at the forefront of technology, often pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible.
So what could this mean? It’s possible this is related to Google’s Chrome Web Store, which is slated to launch this fall and will provide developers with a relatively seamless way to distribute and charge for web apps (and games). Mozilla has previously discussed the possibility of creating an Open Web App Store (in other words, one that isn’t controlled by Google) and gaming would almost certainly play a part in it.
Apple's plans for minute-long iTunes samples may have been thwarted by the sheer number of deals it needed, both official and unofficial sources divulged Tuesday afternoon. Although all the music labels themselves are still reported by CNET as onboard, Apple had yet to clear both Broadcast Music Inc.'s performance rights and the National Music Publishers Association's rights. The NMPA brought Apple's plans to a halt a day before last week's music event after lawyers told association CEO David Israelite that a formal deal was essential....omg! -
Jaime King's career has included turns as a model, TV host, and actress, most recently on the new ABC drama My Generation. But one of her most remarkable feats was co-creating perhaps the only anti-cancer PSA that has ever managed to be funny. (It involves King and other young actresses copping feels for a cause.) King talked to TVGuide.com about her bold approach to the fight against cancer and her work as an official ambassador for...
The video above just hit YouTube showing Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer 9 in action. Unlike previous previews, this one shows what appears to be the full UI and chrome around the browser. There is not much to look at because the UI is extremely minimal, getting out of the way of the Websites it is supposed to showcase.
There isn’t even much of a toolbar up top. There are forward and back buttons, an address bar, and three buttons to the right, which appear to be a home button, a favorites icon, and an arrow which presumably opens up other menu options. The frame is semi-transparent, and the soundless video depicts some IE9 demos which have been seen before which show off the speed of the hardware-accelerated browser.
Apparently, less is more these days.
(Hat tip to Covering Web).
PC World - Business and consumer demand for smartphones is growing rapidly, but no single mobile operating system will rule the market in the way that Windows dominates personal computers.
The fall edition of TechCrunch Disrupt is fast approaching – less than three weeks to go before the conference kicks off on September 27th. As part of the New York event we held an overnight hackathon immediately beforehand, organized by hackers extraordinaire Daniel Raffel, Chad Dickerson, and Tarikh Korula, and it was, without a doubt, a smashing success. Over 300 participants built some really incredible projects: one team built a sword-wielding robot (Mr. Stabby as he was affectionately known); another team modified eye tracking software to let you play Mario Brothers with your eyes. One team kept building their idea after the Hackathon ended and has secured a nice chunk of money to turn it into a company.
Naturally, we’ll be doing this again at Disrupt San Francisco. We’ve got some great judges lined up, including Joshua Schachter, moot, and Dean Hovey. Tons of you have been emailing us asking when you could sign up for a slot – and we have good news:
So if you think you’ve got what it takes, sign up now to compete for a spot on stage at Disrupt! If you have an idea for something cool but need some help on the execution, post it to the Ideas page on the Hackathon wiki and start scheming with your co-conspirators. In addition to providing your team with space to hack, pizza, and caffeine, there will also be a number of workshops where you can learn more about APIs from companies like Groupon, Microsoft/BizSpark, BitTorrent, and Google. These APIs are key when you have less than 24 hours to put something together.
We’ve posted all the information you could ever want on the event page as well as the Hackathon wiki. But if you have questions, let us know in the comments. We’re also taking suggestions for the last couple of judging slots. Who would you like to see?
The Upshot - Here's our daily roster of stories that evaded full-on blog treatment: • In a rare interview with the American press, Fidel Castro slammed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "slandering the Jews." (The Atlantic) • Despite the White House's declaration that combat operations are over in Iraq, two U.S. soldiers were killed there today. (MSNBC) • A recent [...]
SPACE.com - When a NASA satellite metits doom in a fiery blaze in Earth's atmosphere after a seven-yearmission, a bunch of college students were at the controls.
Playbill -
The cast of Broadway's American Idiot will appear on the Sept. 8 episode of "America's Got Talent," the NBC reality TV series.
Apple has reset all user IDs for its Game Center multiplayer service, requiring beta users to resubmit their nicknames. The service will allow users to challenge other players, set up matches, or engage opponents via automatic pairing. The app will also serve as a portal for viewing rankings or taking a look at other games....AP - A federal judge has turned down the Justice Department's request to temporarily delay his order that could shut down federal funding for some stem cell research.
Some of the items we feature in Cool Stuff are so expensive, we’re not sure who can actually afford them. This is one of those items. Sideshow Collectibles has put up for preorder version 2.0 of their life-size Terminator T-800 Endoskeleton.
From the sci-fi classic ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, Sideshow Collectibles is proud to bring Terminator collectors the T-800 Endoskeleton - Version 2.0, standing atop an impressive display base littered with human skulls and debris. Standing over 6 feet tall, the T-800 Endoskeleton is high quality polystone, fiberglass, metals and other materials, complete with light-up eye features (power cord/plug-in). The T-800 Endoskeleton - Version 2.0 is a stunning and imposing piece, sure to become the centerpiece to any collection or display.
The life-size figure is being released in a yet-to-be-numbered limited edition sometime in quarter one of 2011 for $5,999.99. A non-refundable, one-time deposit of $1200 is required at the time of order placement. And if you thought this thing was big, the estimated shipping weight is 366 pounds. Check out some more photos after the jump.
Last week, The Royal Mail (the national postal service of the United Kingdom) introduced what it called an "intelligent stamp" that displays a video using augmented reality when it is scanned with a smartphone. Stamps are a heartwarming, sentimental collectors item that often memorialize historic people, things and events. This campaign - part of the Royal Mail's "Great British Railways" series - is no different. While it is certainly an interesting big-name marketing adoption of augmented reality, the experience feels lack-luster, and could have potentially been far more interesting with further development.
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What It Does
If you're the lucky recipient of a letter with a stamp from this series, you can use the junaio application on your iPhone or Android device to launch the "experience." After pointing your camera at the stamp, a 4-minute video of Bernard Cribbins - an 81-year-old British character actor - reading W.H. Auden's 1935 poem "The Night Mail" (whilst aboard a train, no less) automatically begins playing.
"Royal Mail's special stamps mark key events and anniversaries in the UK's heritage through a programme which aims to be both educational and informative," says Royal Mail's Phillip Parker. I watched the video. It's fun in its own quaint, antique sort of way, but if the Royal Mail really wanted to bring its stamps "firmly into the 21st Century," they could have done so much more with this experiment.
What It Could Do
Augmented reality could use more interactivity. Many experiences are one-way flows of data to the end-user. Why not let people contribute to a two-way exchange? I have nothing against the nostalgic video the Royal Mail created to play from this special set of train stamps, but perhaps they could continue to innovate using the medium in the future.
It would be great to see the Royal Mail (or any postal service) develop a special stamp with some small unique identifier that could be used to send personal messages along with letters. How cool would it be to get a letter from a friend, family member or loved one, scan the stamp and view or hear a recorded message from the sender? It would be like stickybits, but without the obtrusive barcodes.
The Maturation of Augmented Reality
Augmented reality needs to move on to the next step. It seems whenever a new brand discovers augmented reality, they discover it in its simplest state. "I can point my phone at a stamp and watch a video," is how the Royal Mail sees augmented reality, when in fact, they could do so much more with the technology.
I would love to see some brands really take a chance on the technology and get the most out of it early on. Many branded AR experiences (though not all) are very basic, or gimmicky, and the really cool innovative stuff is being tested in labs at universities. For the technology to continue to mature, vendors need to encourage the brands that come to them to take it a step farther.
If 2010 was the year for big brands to experiment with augmented reality, 2011 needs to be the year they start innovating and creating more practical experiences.
Discuss
By now, you’ve likely noticed the interesting, kinetic logo Google has had up today. While there is still no official word from the search giant as to exactly what it means, they are letting out some hints. And based on those hints, a good guess seems to be that the logo has to do with what they’ll announce at their big search event being held in San Francisco’s MOMA tomorrow morning.
Earlier today, Google tweeted out: “Boisterous doodle today. Maybe it’s excited about the week ahead…” Meanwhile, a Google representative told Search Engine Roundtable that “today’s doodle is not related to a birthday but is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be.” This led the blog to speculate that three things may be announced tomorrow: AJAX-powered search results, 30 results per page, and streaming results as you type. In the case of AJAX and streaming, Google has been testing both of these (in the AJAX case, since early 2009).
In terms of the search event itself, Google sent out invites to members of the press last week with the title “Search on.” The fact that it’s at an art museum is interesting, though perhaps not entirely relevant.
AP - George Clooney's hitman tale "The American" took down Robert Rodriguez's revenge romp "Machete" at the box office over the long U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend.
