Libyan rebels improve net access

Net traffic flowing through Benghazi is seeing a steady and significant increase 

Net access in Libya is improving in areas under the control of protesters, suggests analysis of data flows.

The Libyan authorities have sporadically cut net access in the country but analysis by net firms suggest their hold is loosening. constitucion de empresas dominicanas In areas that are no longer under control of the Libyan government net traffic has risen in recent days.
For instance, over the weekend net traffic flowing out of Benghazi increased significantly.
Data flow One tactic used by the Libyan government to stifle protest has been to intermittently block net access and stop people using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Net access in Libya has been running at about 60-80% of normal levels since the government started blocking it on 18 February suggests analysis by Craig Labovitz of net monitoring firm Arbor Networks.
However, he said in a blog post, the amount of net traffic flowing in and out of Libya is starting to grow. Over the last weekend of February traffic levels were almost back to normal. Statistics gathered by Google on Libyan use of its search engine show a similar pattern.

Although Tripoli remains a black spot of internet access, broader internet connectivity was returning in other cities.

Mr Labovitz speculates that this is because although the internet in Libya is handled through the state-controlled network, Libya Telecom and Technology, the infrastructure for it is spread around the country.
This could mean that control of net access gets looser as areas wrest control away from the government.
Evidence for this comes from net traffic seen flowing out of Benghazi which, wrote Mr Labovitz, has shown "significant increase" since 25 February. By contrast, before that data net traffic was reduced and sometimes at zero when access was severed.

Advertising watchdog to monitor website words

The extended powers will cover what companies say in Tweets too 

How companies talk about themselves on Twitter feeds or Facebook profiles is to be policed like adverts.

From 1 March, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) gets powers to police the claims companies make on websites and social networks.
The rules cover statements on sites that can be interpreted as marketing, even if they are not in an advert.
Until now, the ASA has only been able to oversee paid-for ads online.
Since 2008, the watchdog has received more than 4,500 complaints concerning text on websites that it could do nothing about.
"These are claims that are very similar to the claims that [the public] are used to seeing in adverts that appear in media like TV, radio, posters and print," ASA chief executive Guy Parker told the BBC.
The ASA said that the new powers would help it tackle a growing number of complaints about the way companies sell themselves on the web.
Misleading wordsExtending the UK advertising code to non paid-for statements means that these, like paid-for adverts, must not harm, mislead or offend.While aimed primarily at sites using the .co.uk domain suffix, the ASA said its powers could also cover .com sites, such as Facebook, if the online space being used was under the control of a UK firm.
However, the transient nature of online content may make the rules difficult to police, according to Vincent-Wayne Mitchell, professor of consumer marketing at London's Cass Business School.
"I could have an advert up on the internet for a week or for an hour, cause widespread confusion, get sales from that, and then withdraw it," he said.
"The only punishment that the ASA has is withdrawal, but I can have that as part of my own marketing strategy," said Professor Mitchell.
Name and shame User-generated content, such as comments left by customers on a website, will not be covered by the extended powers.
But the ASA said that such content could be examined if a company adopted it and used positive endorsements to advertise.
To encourage firms to comply, the ASA said it would extend a name-and-shame policy which will expose firms that make unsupportable claims.
Further sanctions for offenders could see non-compliant material removed from search engines. The ASA said it might also take out adverts to warn people about companies that do not comply with the code.
In anticipation of the extra work it will have to do, the ASA has expanded the number of staff in its complaints and investigations unit by 10%.

US says China's Baidu is notorious pirated goods market

  Piracy has affected both Hollywood and the local movie industry in China The US has put China's top search engine Baidu on a list of "notorious markets" for counterfeit and pirated goods. The US Trade Representative (USTR) accused Baidu of steering consumers to third-party websites where pirated material is hosted.
Baidu is the most-visited website in China and among the top 10 in the world, USTR said.

Critics accuse China of not protecting intellectual property rights.
Baidu's spokesperson Kaiser Kuo declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.
Hurting business In its report, the USTR also highlighted what it said were illegal sales through retail outlets and Chinese markets.
"Industry reports that personal computer malls throughout China, such as Hailong Mall in Beijing and Yangpu Yigai digital square in Shanghai, sell computers with illegal operating software and other unlawfully pre-installed software," it said.
The USTR said that the production and sales of counterfeit goods were detrimental to the growth and success of businesses across the globe.
"Piracy and counterfeiting undermine the innovation and creativity that is vital to our global competitiveness," said USTR's Ron Kirk, who is President Barack Obama's principal trade advisor.
"These notorious markets not only hurt American workers and businesses, but are threats to entrepreneurs and industries around the world," he added.
In its bid to protect American businesses against piracy, the US Chamber of Commerce has urged the government to block foreign websites that sell illegal goods from operating in the US.

Egyptian stock exchange reopening delayed

  The reopening of the Egyptian stock exchange has already been delayed several times 

The reopening of the Egyptian stock exchange has been delayed, the state-run news agency MENA has reported.

Trading had been expected to resume on Tuesday but the exchange is now due to reopen on Sunday, 6 March, MENA said.
The exchange has been closed for more than a month in the wake of anti-government protests.
Trading was suspended on 27 January after the benchmark Egyptian index saw heavy falls amid investor concerns about the unrest.
If the index falls by 6% or more then trading is halted for the session.
'No manipulating' MENA said trading would resume on Sunday "in order to allow investors to profit from the backing of the government to guarantee the bourse's stability".
Some investors have demanded that trades made on the last two days of business on 26 and 27 January - when shares tumbled - should be cancelled.
About 100 investors demonstrated in front of the Cairo stock exchange on Sunday.
But the head of the exchange has rejected the calls.
"The public prosecutor has assured that there was no manipulating in the last week of trading [on the Egyptian bourse]," Khaled Serry Seyam said.

US brands Muammar Gaddafi 'delusional' after interview

 

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is "delusional" and "unfit to lead", the US ambassador to the UN has said.

Susan Rice was speaking after the embattled Colonel Gaddafi was interviewed by the BBC and others.
In the interview, Col Gaddafi said he was loved by all his people and denied there had been any protests in Tripoli.
It came as a humanitarian crisis involving thousands of Egyptian migrant workers stranded on the Tunisian border worsened.
About 2,000 are crossing into Tunisia every hour but once in Tunisia many of them have nowhere to go. Another 20,000 are said to be backed up on the Libyan side.
They are complaining that they have been forgotten by their government, says the BBC's Jim Muir on the border.

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When people in Benghazi hear Col Gaddafi accuse them of being on drugs or supporting al-Qaeda, they just laugh.
Col Gaddafi himself has violently put down uprisings here in past years and also deliberately weakened his own army because he suspected its loyalty. Even the Libyan leader does not seem to have too much faith in his own people.
The mood in Benghazi is getting more nervous as Col Gaddafi continues to maintain and possibly to expand areas under his control in the south and west of Libya.
There is no co-ordinated military move to send opposition troops on Tripoli, though some smaller groups of volunteers are heading west. With reports of an air raid, and reports that more foreign mercenaries are being flown in by Col Gaddafi, most people here would welcome the imposition of a no-fly zone, though they're divided on whether they want more active foreign military intervention.

Food is being distributed but the relief effort is way behind the reality of the situation, our correspondent says.

The sanitation is a disaster and many are sleeping in roads and car parks, he adds.
The UN's World Food Programme said its head, Josette Sheeran, is expected to visit the border later on Tuesday.
In other developments:

• An attack by pro-Gaddafi forces on the western town of Zawiya is repelled, witnesses say
• Libyan air force planes also reportedly attacked ammunition depots in the eastern towns of Ajdabiya and Rajma
• About 400 protesters gathered in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura on Monday - Gaddafi supporters tried to disperse them by firing in the air
• Reports say there have been long queues in Tripoli banks as people tried to collect the 500 dinars ($410) promised by the government in an attempt to quell the unrest
• Speaking at a UN human rights conference in Geneva on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Col Gaddafi should go immediately but must be held accountable
• The US Treasury says it has blocked $30bn (£18.5bn) in Libyan assets - the largest sum it has ever frozen

'No morals'

World foreign ministers earlier condemned attacks on Libyan civilians and the European Union imposed sanctions including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on Col Gaddafi and his close entourage.
Col Gaddafi is facing a massive challenge to his 41-year rule, with protesters in control of towns in the east.
He was answering questions in the capital Tripoli from BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, US TV network ABC, and the UK's Sunday Times newspaper.
He accused Western countries of abandoning Libya and said that they had no morals and wanted to colonise the country.

When asked whether he would resign, he said he could not step down as he did not have an official position - and insisted that the power in the country was with the people.
Col Gaddafi challenged those, including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who have accused him of having money abroad, to produce evidence. He said he would "put two fingers in their eye".
Col Gaddafi said true Libyans had not demonstrated but those who had come on to the streets were under the influence of drugs supplied by Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
He said those people had seized weapons and that his supporters were under orders not to shoot back.
But in response to the interview, Susan Rice said the fact he was laughing at questions while "slaughtering his own people" showed that he was disconnected from reality.

Are you a Libyan national? What did you think of Col Muammar Gaddafi's speech? What is your experience of the unrest in the country? Are you an expat trying to leave? You can send us your experiences using the form below.

luke matheny

Filmmaker Luke Matheny On His Oscar Win 

Beverly Hills - The King's Speech may have ruled the Academy Awards, but Oscar also gave an unexpected boost to a young filmmaker just out of grad school.
We caught up with Luke Matheny, who won the Oscar for Live Action Short Film, at the Venice Family Clinic's Silver Circle Gala fundraising event on Monday night.
Watch Jane Yamamoto's video report in the media player.
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Luke Matheny never expected to win an Oscar for a live action short he made in film school.
"This was my student film in New York University's graduate film program," Matheny said of "God of Love," which he directed, wrote and starred.
"Short films are basically the unit of currency of film schools," he told reporters Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre. "It's exciting when this kind of thing happens."
He noted that James Franco, an acting nominee and co-host of the Academy Awards ceremony, also enrolled at NYU's film school, though they'd never met.
Unlike Franco, "there was not much attention on the red carpet for our team," Matheny joked.
Asked what advice he would offer to would-be filmmakers, he said, "Make the movie he or she wants to see ... Don't worry too much about how it's received."

Randy Newman

Randy Newman Wins Second Academy Award (in 20 Tries)

RBad LoveRandy Newman found out that 20th times the charm at Sunday night's Academy Awards as he took home Best Original Song for We Belong Together from Toy Story 3.

It was Newman's twentieth nomination and only his second win, the first coming for the song If I Didn't Have You from the 2002 movie Monsters, Inc. Both Monsters and Toy Story were made by Pixar for Disney. For a complete list of all of Newman's nominations see our earlier article.

In the other Oscar music category, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross took the award for Original Score for their work on The Social Network. Reznor is the frontman for Nine Inch Nails. Ross is a musician, composer and producer who has worked with Nine Inch Nails, Grace Jones, Bad Religion, Korn and others.

Jane Russell

The death of Jane Russell at the age of 89 has robbed Hollywood of one of its most legendary pin-ups. The Minnesota-born actress and hoofer was spotted modelling in 1940 by eccentric millionaire Howard Hawks who signed her up to a seven-year contract and immediately cast her in The Outlaw under the tag- line: "how'd you like to tussle with Russell?".

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This biopic of Billy The Kid was designed to showcase Russell's voluptuous figure as much as her acting talents but problems with the censorship office (who felt that too much of her voluptuous figure was being showcased) meant that the release of the film was delayed for two years. As it turned out, the whole controversy (not to mention the widespread release of film stills from the movie) sealed Russell's status as a Hollywood pin-up, particularly among US servicemen abroad.
Though she was never acclaimed on the acting front, Jane Russell made some 20 Hollywood movies throughout her career including The Paleface (1948), opposite Bob Hope; His Kind of Woman (1951), opposite Robert Mitchum and, most famously, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) opposite Marilyn Monroe. The success of that last film (Russell's finest hour) led to both stars having their hand and foot prints immortalised in cement opposite Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Away from the screen, Jane Russell, who was married three times and adopted three children, was well known for her efforts on behalf of American families hoping to adopt children from overseas. She established the World Adoption International Fund in 1955 and was also heavily involved in Hollywood Christian Groups. Though she retired from the big screen in 1970, she became a well known figure on American TV throughout that decade as the official spokeswoman for Playtex.
But it's as one of Hollywood's most endearing pin-ups that Jane Russell will be forever remembered, a woman of whom Bob Hope once quipped, "culture is the ability to describe Jane Russell without moving your hands."

2012 olympics logo

2012 Olympics logo draws boycott threat from Iran -- but not because it's ugly

By Rick Porter
   
February 28, 2011 7:06 PM ET

Follow @Zap2itRick on Twitter

Up above is one of the logos for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Does it look especially racist or anti-Muslim to you?

It does to Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran's National Olympic Committee. Afsharzadeh sent a letter of protest to the International Olympic Committee, complaining about the "racist logo," according to the Los Angeles Times.

And why is it racist? Because, according to Afsharzadeh, the oddball font used to spell "2012" looks like the word "Zion" -- a biblical term for the city of Jerusalem and surrounding area.

"There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran, which abides by commitment to the values and principles," Iran's letter to the IOC reads. Iran is threatening to boycott the Olympics if the logo isn't changed and says it will urge other Muslim countries to do the same.

The IOC's response: "The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else," the Times says.

Our response is twofold: First, the logo is really badly designed. Looking at the logo, we don't see "Zion," but we didn't see "2012" right away either. It's just a poor attempt at being hip or modern, or whatever the organizers were trying to represent.

Second: Iran is just noticing this? The logo has made its debut in June 2007. If it took Iran three-plus years to take offense, then the issue probably isn't really there.