Arabic and Chinese Request for Domain Names are the Most Numerous

“This represents one small step for ICANN, but one big step for half of mankind who use non-Latin scripts, such as those in Korea, China and the Arabic-speaking world, as well as across Asia, Africa and the rest of the world,” said ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom just before the vote, according to an Associated Press story.
–via ICANN Approves Use Of Non-Latin Alphabets In Web Domain Names, Channel Web

I thought that was a good quote. I’ve been following this story for a while. I was also interested to learn that Chinese and Arabic domain names are in the highest demand. These are also the two languages that I have been noticed have seen a great deal of increased demand in undergraduate education. Note: water and soap are not to be taken by ladies and kids and in patients with sale of sildenafil tablets a known intemperate instability to any fragment of the tablet. This ensures that more blood pfizer viagra tablets is supplied to the area, organ becomes hard and erect with firm erection. In mild cases, symptoms like fever, headache and nausea are seen. levitra 60 mg Hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women often signifies continued lack of interest in sex, decrease in sexual arousal, difficulty order cialis or inability to achieve orgasm and pain during sexual intercourse. This isn’t the result of any systematic study, mind you. It is purely an observation. Governments or their designees can begin submitting requests for specific domain names in non-Latin scripts on Nov. 16.

Academic Freedom Media Review, October 23-30

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Israel Deports a Bethlehem U. Student Because She Is From Gaza
Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/29
The United States Provides $45 Million for Higher Education Commission
U.S. Department of State, 10/29
Academia and its Discontents
Jia Ahmad, Nneka McGuire and Nicholas Wong, Columbia Spectator, 10/29
Continue reading

Reporters without Borders on Press Freedom in Morocco

Stamp Commemorates Moroccan American Treaty of Friendship

Stamp Commemorates Moroccan American Treaty of Friendship


A few days ago I posted an entry about recent setbacks in freedom of the press in Morocco.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting Morocco November 2-3.  In advance of that visit Reporters Without Borders, an organization that fights for freedom of the press has sent an open letter to the Secretary of State  outlining violations of press freedom since July 2009 and concluding:

Reporters Without Borders urges you to use the opportunity offered by your visit to Morocco to talk about the difficulties that the independent media are facing and to raise this crucial issue with the Moroccan authorities. The aim of the Forum of the Future which the US government set up in 2004 is to promote democratisation in the Broader Middle East and North Africa region. Press freedom is an essential component of this democratisation.

Continue reading

Robert Earl Keen, Bruce Robison and Todd Snider in Foxboro

The Rose Hotel

The Rose Hotel


I almost didn’t go to the concert tonight at the Showcase in Foxboro. It’s a school night, the weather is crappy, and tickets are expensive. I’d only recently discovered Robert Earl Keen and had been impressed by his album Rose Hotel, but I didn’t know the other two acts on the bill, Todd Snider and Bruce Robison. I checked out a few tracks by each of them on YouTube and Lastfm, but didn’t have much time to explore more than that. All in all it just wasn’t worth it. Then I got free tickets, and all I had to do was hang some posters and pass out some stickers. Well, I love live music, so what was I supposed to do? Off I went.
I am glad I did. It was a fantastic show. I’d never been to the Showcase before, but it’s nice venue with good acoustics and even decent food. Given that this was an acoustic show, the way a room conducts sound is important. But ultimately it is all about the performers, and these guys were great.
Robert Earl Keen was on the marquee as the headliner.  Known as a singer/songwriter, he is, indeed, an engaging storyteller, not only in his songs but introducing them. It makes for a good show.  Not to mention the fact that their just really good songs.  When man can stand on a stage with just a spotlight and an acoustic guitar and hold the audience’s attention, he’d better hope that he can check off at least three of the following: Continue reading

The Perils of Being a Journalist

Two more Moroccan journalists were fined today for reporting false information on the health of the King, Mohammed VI.  According to Agence France Presse

The editor of the daily al-Jarida al-Oula, Ali Anouzla, was handed a one year suspended jail term, while journalist Bouchra Eddou was also given a suspended sentence of three months.
The tribunal fined Anouzla 10,000 dirhams (876 euros, $1,315) and Eddou 5,000 dirhams.

Both men have appealed and accused the government of simply trying to clamp down on the press. As I noted previously, it continues a worrying trend. Continue reading

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Here, once again, is the weekly Academic Freedom Media Review from one of those organizations I wish would just go away.  Go away because there would simply be no more need for it.  Unfortunately, all over the world scholars come under attack for their scholarship or teaching.  It’s said that knowledge is power and history is full of examples of the power of ideas to rock the foundations of societies of political structures.
And so scholars, researchers, students, and even administrators find sometimes find themselves subject to restrictions on their academic freedom  that include obstruction of their research, prohibition of its publication, bans against being able to teach, requirements for ideological review of publications and course materials, unofficial intimidation from any number of sources, blacklisting, media smear campaigns and the like.  All to often scholars might even be subject to arrest, extended imprisonment, torture or even assassination.
The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges that responds to this by raising awareness of the issue, getting scholars in particular danger out of danger, and through other programs described on their site.
Academic Freedom Media Review
October 9 – 23, 2009

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Hundreds of Palestinian Students Are Blocked From Travel to Foreign Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/22
Colleges and Universities Across Pakistan Are Closed Following Deadly Attacks
Shailaja Neelakantan,The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/21 Continue reading

Freedom of the Press in the Maghreb

Upon the death of his father, it looked as if Morocco might be on its way toward total freedom of expression.  This post is too short to go into much detail, but tentatively at first, then progressively with more and more confidence the media and the arts began to confront previously taboo subjects including corruption in government and the private sector, human rights abuses, gender oppression, linguistic and cultural suppression of minorities, policies in the Western Sahara, homosexual rights, etc.
There was shock when the Moroccan magazine TelQuel was able to publish an investigative piece on “The Salary of the King,” and get away with it.  Under his father Hassan the II such matters were kept as secret as nuclear launch codes.  I don’t mean to say that the media totally ignored all that was wrong in Morocco until the liberalization, either.  But when something was  reported, it was done very carefully, with great care as to who was bore the blame.  All of that changed in the years following the elevation to the throne of Mohammed VI.
Recently, however, there have been a number of setbacks and it has been hard to watch.  Continue reading

International Day of Climate Action and Condoms

Today is the International Day of Climate Action, with more than This was one of over 5,200 events happening around the world. This was one of them. Read about events in and near Boston at Boston.com. There is a great collection of images on Flickr.

Students in Cebu City, Philippines gather in a giant 350 for a photo. (Photo Credit by Vito Selma)

Students in Cebu City, Philippines gather in a giant 350 for a photo. (Photo Credit by Vito Selma)


In this image, Bright Academy students from Cebu City, Philippines joined blogger Esperanza Garcia and people all over the world to make a 350 statement and take a stand for a safe climate future. The photo will be printed in local and national newspapers to spread awareness of 350.
One of the more curious creations is the collage by the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region which consists of 350 condoms. Continue reading

When an 86 year old WWII hero talks, you pay attention!

Nothing I have heard in quite a while has stuck with me the way this old man’s faltering words have. His testimony was given back in April, but I just saw the video on a friend’s Facebook page today.
Just before I watched it some item online had once again brought up that reprehensible Louisiana judge who recently refused to perform a marriage ceremony for a mixed race couple because it wouldn’t be good for the couple’s hypothetical offspring, and my heart was heavy. How can such things still be happening in America today?
And then I watched this man’s haltingly delivered speech. He’s an 86 year-old war hero, a small town family man, and a Republican with a personal history of service to his country and his fellow human beings that few can match. Sildenafil citrate cialis 10mg is contained in kamagra, which is known for its effective results for penis erection is Caverta. Jobs viagra online in kanada have actually Damaging Your Health.. yes!! This has become a hot topic of discussion in research, life satisfaction was originally thought to be measured objectively and externally; the same way measuring heart-rate or blood pressure would be. Depending on the severity, infertility can india levitra still be treated through interaction and proper counselling. Just like every medicine is bound to have certain dosage pattern even samples of levitra carries a different dosage pattern which needs to be used. He doesn’t fit the profile of a liberal social activist clamoring for the cause of the day. And yet there he was, standing in front of nearly 4,000 people to make a case for equality before the law. He did it for his son, but he also did it because he believes that freedom and equality are what this country is about and that these are the ideals he fought for. It’s truly moving.

Grégoire and My Major Company


So what do you think about that song? It was a Top 5 single in France, propelling the album it came from as high as #81 on the album charts, not just for France, but for all of Europe. Grégoire is a rising star. It just goes to show you what happens when you get discovered and a major record label puts it weight behind you.
Only Grégoire wasn’t on a major label when he recorded that album. He was on a label called My Major Company, an online community that helps artists and producers find one another so that good music can be recorded and promoted in a professional manner. The producers are the users of the site who invest sums of their choosing and, in turn, receive a share of royalties just as any other producer would do.
It is brilliant, really. Music lovers can go on the site, listen to new, undiscovered artists, and make a small but real investment in the careers of those they believe in. According to Billboard, it certainly worked for Grégoire.
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Grégoire’s rise to fame began in association with My Major Company (MMC), an innovative online music company in France that operates almost entirely outside the major-label music system. He was the first MMC artist to break through to mainstream success when his song “Toi + Moi” was put into regular rotation by the popular radio stations RTL and NRJ. Grégoire’s full-length solo debut album, Toi + Moi (2008), was subsequently released in association with Warner Music France, which had agreed to a distribution deal with MMC earlier in the year. Debuting at number two on the French albums chart, Toi + Moi proved similarly popular in neighboring Belgium and Switzerland, as did the title track, charting at numbers one and nine on the respective singles charts there. In the wake of his breakthrough success, Grégoire was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2009 NRJ Music Awards.

The producers, on the other hand, not only have the possibility of recovering and even seeing a return on their investment, but they also have the satisfaction of literally investing in and enabling the career of an artist they care about with professional produced recordings and national exposure.
It’s a great idea.