Mediaboss Marketing

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Chinese activist and columnist Michael Anti said here Saturday that internet censorship in his country was hurting the young and added that China needed democracy.

"Youth in China are being taught only what the government textbooks say and have limited knowledge. The books spread hate and lies. The country needs democracy immediately," Anti told IANS.

"We need democracy to protect the poor who are suffering because of corruption and negligence on the part of the regime," he added.

The activist was speaking on the sidelines of the 'TEDxYouth', an annual event that brought speakers from around the globe to debate and interact with children aged between 13-18 years from Delhi schools.

The day-long conference was held at the American Embassy school and streamed live to multiple locations across India.

"In this age of globalisation, Chinese citizens need to have a global perspective on issues. However, anything that criticizes, the Communist regime gets banned," said Anti.

Anti said the Chinese regime will continue to rule as anyone who dares to raise his voice against the censorship was jailed.

"Moreover, people have now got used to adjust with the situation," he said.

Anti came into the limelight after his political blog was deleted by Microsoft in 2005.

Link:
China needs democracy: Chinese activist

In many countries, journalists have to fight censorship when trying to publish critical stories. The organization Reporters Without Borders has launched a website to publish stories otherwise suppressed by the censors.

When something is banned, it's bound get people curious. Videos and images that are suppressed, therefore, often spread like wildfire on the Internet: the topless photos of Kate Middleton, future queen of England, were online everywhere within hours. And it's this principle that Reporters Without Borders now wants to use for journalistic content.

"We believe that there has to be a platform to publish stories that are being censored in the very countries where they should be published," Matthias Spielkamp, board member of Reporter Without Borders in Germany, told DW. The focus is explicitly on well-researched features by journalists who, because of a lack of press freedom, cannot publish their stories in their country's newspapers, TV or radio.

The website is not meant to be platform like WikiLeaks and is not intended to be a place for tabloid stories, Spielkamp explained. The project is getting financial support from the European Union, the city of Paris and from donations.

Support for censored authors

One of the first stories published is from Morocco, where Omar Brouksy is no longer allowed to work as a publisher. In October, the government withdrew his accreditation because the journalist had been overly critical of the royal family's role during a recent election.

Brouksy's text, however, continues to be available online. Reporters Without Borders published the piece in agreement with the author on their website, wefightcensorship.org. Online with text, the page also explains why each story is being censored.

The website offers to publish any material that's being censored in an author's home country. Articles are sent anonymously, and in a way that the author's identity cannot be traced. Reporters Without Borders, which itself does ask for the author's identity to check whether the story is credible, offers to keep the writers anonymous for their own protection, explained Spielkamp.

Should the stories not be written in English or France, they will be translated for the page. All the material will also be offered for download, and even outright copying of an entire work is encouraged. Readers can post the stories on social media networks as well as on a list of regional services.

More security than a blog

More:
New website to fight censorship

Editor's note: The artwork, which can be seen lower in this story, may be offensive to some readers.

The talk at the Newark Library these days has nothing to do with an anticipated book collection, the next visit by schoolchildren or a lecture on Brick City history.

Its all about a huge drawing hanging in the second-floor reference room, raising so much ruckus that the head librarian has had to cover it up so no one can see what it shows.

Its covered with cloth and thats the way many employees want to keep it.

Kara Walker, a renowned African-American artist who examines race, gender, sexuality and violence, created the drawing. It depicts the horrors of reconstruction, 20th-century Jim Crowism and the hooded figures of the Ku Klux Klan.

But thats not what has people upset.

One part of the drawing shows a white man holding the head of a naked black woman to his groin.

"I didnt notice it at first," said Kendell Willis, a library services employee. "Then I looked up and was blown away."

Willis sent Library Director Wilma Grey an e-mail, and so has Sandra West, a library associate who called Walkers work disgusting. She said several employees came to her expressing shock that the library would display such graphic artwork.

"It can go back where it came from," West said. "I really dont like to see my people like this. We need to see something uplifting and not demeaning."

See more here:
Censorship or common decency? Newark Library covers up controversial artwork

Leaving the phone lying on the dash and then performing a hover or wave to stop the music or advance songs works well in the car. Wave Control Pro also would be good for cooking -- control music with hands covered in dough -- or while cleaning, eating or working out. I'm looking forward to trying this next time I'm stuffing my face with street-vendor food or elsewhere when napkins are rationed.

Wave Control Pro, an app from MarksThinkTank, is available for US$2.99 at Google Play.

It's the holidays, and if your Android smartphone is feeling a bit neglected, I've got the perfect gift for it. Forget automating your life with remote-controlled garage door openers, motorized big-screen TV mounts, and electrically driven drapes -- that's all so last-century.

Controlling your phone with a wave of your hand is where it's at this holiday, in my opinion. Get the kids a Furby, Wii-U, Lego's Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle or whatever, and get yourself touch-less media control. It's hours of fun.

About the App

Wave Control Pro uses the Android smartphone's proximity sensor to let you control a phone by waving your palm over it. Settings for many media apps -- like Slacker, Winamp, Spotify and Pandora -- are pre- installed.

Actions are simple. Patiently hovering your hand over the sensor -- usually located at the top of the phone -- pauses or resumes the track. One dismissive wave over the phone advances the media to the next song. A double wave starts the previous track, and a demonstrative three waves enables or disables the controls.

I found Wave Control worked well with subscription-based music service Spotify on a Motorola Photon 4G smartphone and streaming radio Pandora on a Samsung Galaxy Y, but not at all on my Toshiba Thrive tablet. Nothing worked in that case. However, the publisher is looking for tablet-user beta testers, so maybe this will be corrected in due course.

Continued here:
Wave Control Pro: Smartphone Wizardry Worthy of Obi-Wan

The Social Screensaver
"The app that allows you to keep up with your friends #39; statuses without sacrificing productivity..." Do you check Facebook and Twitter many times throughout the day? #8203;Are you constantly on your social networking websites while you are working? The Social Screensaver was designed to allow you to know what #39;s going on in your world without being distracted by constantly interacting with your network. Now you can keep up with all the latest updates that your friends are posting without visiting Facebook and Twitter websites every few minutes. The app acts as a screensaver on your iPhone and iPad, showing you all your friends #39; updates in a clean, non-intrusive way. Just download the app, login into Facebook and Twitter, and leave the device on your desk as you work, staying updated on all your news feed activity without losing any productivity. The app was designed for you to interact passively with your social networks so that you stay updated with all your friends #39; updates without getting distracted by them. #8203; The app will show all your friends #39; Twitter and Facebook updates in order as they are posted, going through your news feed over the course of a few hours. There is a subtle notification system built in that alerts you of a new status update that has been posted. The app has a gorgeous UI and design that can be modified to your liking as you start using the app. Select between a Twitter Screensaver, Facebook Screensaver or The Social Screensaver and start being socially ...From:TheSocialScreensaverViews:9 0ratingsTime:01:01More inEntertainment

Continued here:
The Social Screensaver - Video