ItoBlog

Keeping an eye on the Iranian blogosphere

A very interesting article on BBC News today describing the mounting criticism of Ahmadinejad in the Iranian blogosphere. Something we often forget is how relatively unregulated blogs are compared to other media in Iran. As this article suggests, most blogs in fact seem to blame Ahmadinejad, and NOT the US, Israel and Europe for taking Iran to the brink of war. Some entries below:

'It smells of war' - Rah-e Man (My Way), 18 January
"Why is it that our planes crash, our buildings collapse at the slightest tremor, our cars burst into flames, we don't have even a half-standard football stadium in the entire country, but when it comes to nuclear energy, it's a national issue?!... Anyway, it smells of war. God help us. Our people have suffered a lot over these past 100 years." http://www.rah-e-man.com/

 

'Deflecting public opinion' - Daftar-e bi Mokhatab  (Notebook without a Reader), 17 January
"Mr Ahmadinejad didn't mention in any of his campaign slogans that, if he became president, he intended to remove Israel from the map...

I also don't recall him promising that he'd take the nuclear file to the point of having international sanctions imposed on the country, having the file referred to the Security Council, sacrificing the country's economic interests and war...
   
What has brought the government to this point today is that it's realised that it's not capable of fulfilling even 55% of its campaign slogans... so it wants to deflect domestic public opinion by creating constant international crises in order to pretend that it's foreigners who are preventing the government from fulfilling its promises."http://hanif.ir/

 

 

'Congratulations Mr President!' - After Rain, 16 January

"Greetings Mr President! I wanted to congratulate you. God willing, you're on a roll, taking our dear country towards ruin... I won't allow the flames of war, ruin, famine and wretchedness to be lit in my country. I don't want to be shamed any further before the world. I don't want war! I don't want nuclear energy. This oil is more than enough for me." http://after-rain.persianblog.com/

 

Read the full article here: BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iranian blogs debate nuclear row.

Wireless Networking in the Developing World

A new, free, and very, very interesting book delivers a complete HOW-TO for assembling and maintaining wireless networks in rural towns in developing countries.

From the authors:

The project

The massive popularity of wireless networking has caused equipment costs to continually plummet, while equipment capabilities continue to increase.  By applying this technology in areas that are badly in need of critical communications infrastructure, more people can be brought online than ever before, in less time, for very little cost.  We hope to not only convince you that this is possible, but also show how we have made such networks work, and to give you the information and tools you need to start a network project in your local community.

The book

This book was created by a team of individuals who each, in their own field, are actively participating in the ever-expanding Internet by pushing its reach farther than ever before.  Over a period of a few months, we have produced a complete book that documents our efforts to build wireless networks in the developing world.

We hope that you find these materials and this website useful. Please feel free to contribute your own experiences on the wiki and mailing list, and help make the next edition even better.

You can download the book in PDF form as a single file (2.0 MB), or in chapters.

Glimmer of hope

More on optimism in Afghanistan and Iraq, this time from Amir Taheri writing in asharq alawsat. The article is about a poll showing more hopeful attitudes in the Middle East than in Europe and America:

The latest argument for a reassessment of the situation in post-liberation Iraq comes from the WEF's latest "Voice of the People" poll, conducted by Gallup last November and December in 60 countries across the globe...
.....
The... reason for the good figures from the Middle East is the optimism that the pollsters found in two countries: Afghanistan and Iraq.

The WEF report asserts, "In both these countries, respondents were even more optimistic about future prospects. In Afghanistan, three-quarters (77%) think the next generation will live in a safer world, while in Iraq this view is held by six in every ten (61%) interviewed."
.....
To prove that the toppling of Saddam was wrong the politically correct crowd has prayed hard for Iraq to become "another Vietnam" or, fa[i]ling that, at least "a quagmire", or failing even that, a stage for ["]Yankee Go Home" demonstrations.

None of that has happened. Instead, the Iraqis have been forming political parties, writing a constitution, setting up an independent judiciary, learning about pluralist politics, creating privately owned newspapers and TV and radio stations, and holding elections - all that while the most vicious terrorists in recent history have been throwing at them whatever they could.

Via Norm

Only by understanding

Last year, Khaled Mahammed, a palestinian lawyer, opened what is possibly the first and only Arab-run institute for Holocaust research and teaching.

L]ack of knowledge, he says,... prompts illogical statements, such as "what the Germans did to the Jews is what they (Jews) are doing to the Palestinians."

"Whoever knows what happened during the time of Nazi Germany understands that sentence is ridiculous, but it stems from a lack of basic information," he says.

Here's a new report from the BBC about his efforts and some of the difficulties he faces.

The week's best and worst

Alright. I give up. There's no way i'll be able to write on this blog on a daily basis. I really wish i could but i just lack the discipline (laugh)... For all of you who aren't bloggers, all those blogs you read that are updated daily, the person behind it is either a full-time blogger and/or lives off her/his blog, or, this person is glued to her/his computer and is a talented multi-tasker.

In anycase, for now, i'm going to go for the simple "one-theme-a-week formula".

The theme this week is FILM.

The high point of my week was seeing (finally) Ang Lee's latest masterpiece, Brokeback Mountain. Absolutely amazing. Some extraordinary acting, breathtaking photography and an incredibly gripping story. A definite must-see.Heath Ledger is stunning (i never really liked him before) but this time, he steals the movie right away with the tight-lipped-low-talking-tortured-soul cowboy rancher he plays. Bottom line:  A must-see. You will weep.

Now THE total flop of the week is Lord of War with Nicolas Cage. I won't even waste too much digital ink on this one. The film is pretentious and is agonisingly lame. The acting is atrocious (the actors are good, it's the director that's smoked too many doobies) and the soundtrack is appaling. Pompous hollywood crap. End of story.

Did the Chinese beat Columbus to it?

The brave seamen whose great voyages of exploration opened up the world are iconic figures in European history. Columbus found the New World in 1492; Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488; and Magellan set off to circumnavigate the world in 1519. However, there is one difficulty with this confident assertion of European mastery: it may not be true.

It seems more likely that the world and all its continents were discovered by a Chinese admiral named Zheng He, whose fleets roamed the oceans between 1405 and 1435.

Next week, in Beijing and London, fresh and dramatic evidence is to be revealed to bolster Zheng He's case. It is a copy, made in 1763, of a map (above), dated 1418, which contains notes that substantially match the descriptions in the book.

Read the rest.

 

Hasidic reggae hip-hop superstar

Many of you must have already heard of Matisyahu Miller (aka Matthew Miller), the hasidic reggae sensation (yup, you read right) that everyone's been talking about here in Paris since his mind-blowing show in December. Now, for those who've never heard of him, here's the story of a regular kid from brooklyn who loved music, loved getting stoned, then decided to be a Phish groupie, followed their tours and discovered God when camping in Colorado. He began delving in Judaic studies, turned to his passion, reggae and beat-boxing, melded reggae beats with yeshiva-inspired lyrics and produced this :

(or download the mp3 here )

To blog or not to blog

First of all a very Happy New Year to all of you who still check up on my blog once in a while. What can i say? I've failed in my blog endeavour. The way things are going, i  very wel see myselfl press on the disconnect button sometime soon. At the same time, one of my new year resolutions was precisely to persevere more in my undertakings...hmmm....unplugging from the blogosphere would not be great way to kick off the year.

Mais bon... For now, the blog is still up, and I will spend a few hours revamping it, refreshing categories etc.. (i have been doing things other than work these past weeks, mind you...).