Mind Soup

Today, March 12, is the world day against cyber-censorship. This day was initially launched by Reporters without Borders in 2008 and "is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all." Below is a quote from the March 12 website: The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.  However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adop...

And I thought we've got it bad in Lebanon. Apparently, in China its far worse. Photo Credits: AFP According to Associate Press on Monday, thousands of cars were stuck on the road in a 100-kilometer (62-mile) traffic jam leading to Beijing that has lasted nine days. "The Beijing-Tibet expressway slowed to a crawl on August 14 due to a spike in traffic by cargo-bearing heavy trucks heading to the capital, and compounded by road maintenance work that began five days later," the Global Times said. The state-run newspaper said the jam between Beijing and Jining city had "given birth to a mini-economy with local merchants capitalizing on the stranded drivers' predicament by selling them water and food at inflated prices." That stretch of highway linking Beijing with the northern province of Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region has become increasingly prone to massive jams as the capital of more than 20 million people sucks in huge shipments of goods. ...

POPSCI : You may have heard the rumor that swirled briefly last month about an Internet “kill switch” that could power down the Web in the case of a critical cyber attack. Those rumors turned out to be largely overblown, but it turns out there are now seven individuals out there holding keys to the Internet . In the aftermath of a cataclysmic cyber attack, these members of a “chain of trust” will be responsible for rebooting the Web. The Keys to the Internet  Each smart card contains a portions of the DNSSEC root key, which would be necessary to reboot the Internet as we know it if connections were severed to stem a cyber attack. The seven members of this holy order of cyber security hail from around the world and recently received their keys while locked deep in a U.S. bunker. But the team isn’t military in nature. The Internet safety program is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit watchdog group that has access to a s...

James Cameron's 'Avatar' may soon be stopped from screening in China, as the authorities apparently feel the movie is subversive. Seemingly, the China Film Group has demanded theatres across the country to stop showing the 3-D version of Avatar from January 23 on orders from Beijing's propaganda chiefs. The Government's concern reportedly is that the citizens of the country may find similarity with Avatar's Na'vi people, who fight to save their planet from humans. The authorities have two reasons for this check on Avatar: first, it has taken in too much money and has seized market share from domestic films, and second, it may lead audiences to think about forced removal, and may possibly incite violent acts. To views relief multiple-screen cinema, in the city of Wuxi, has promised to refund the tickets booked for shows after January 23.

A Woman in China is singing a song in Arabic for the famous singer Fairuz, it is one of Fairuz's older songs called "Zahrat Al Mada2en" or "Flower of the Cities" (Jerusalem). She Sang the song in a Chinese opera house in Arabic from how much she likes Fairuz. صينية تغني أغنية "زهرة المدائن" للفنانة فيروز بالعربي في دار أوبرا في الصين و تعلمت الغنى باللغة العربية من كثر ما تحب فيروز

The sun is reduced to a ring of gold against the black sky as the Moon slips between it and Earth. This solar eclipse yesterday lasted for 11 minutes and eight seconds, setting a record that will not be beaten until December 23, 3043. A Chinese couple watches the solar eclipse over Zhengzhou, in the country's central Henan province The skies over Hongdao, China, where the spectacular 'ring of fire' could be seen.  The eclipse was annular, meaning the Moon blocked most of the Sun's middle This image show a total solar eclipse which passed over Europe and the Middle East, and into India.  The Moon's umbra can be clearly seen as a black disc, approximately 63 miles across Such events, which only blot out the middle of the Sun, are known as annular eclipses. They occur about 66 times a century and can only be viewed in the narrow band on the Earth’s surface below their path. Yesterday’s light show began in Africa before crossing the Indian Ocea...

The world's tallest building has been opened with a dramatic fireworks ceremony in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. The Burj Khalifa was revealed to be 828m (2,716ft) high, far taller than the previous record holder, Taipei 101. Known as the Burj Dubai during construction, the tower has been renamed after the leader of Dubai's oil-rich neighbour, Abu Dhabi. Last month, Abu Dhabi gave Dubai a handout of $10bn (£6.13bn) to help it pay off its debts. Construction of the Burj Dubai began in 2004, at the height of an economic boom. Clad in 28,000 glass panels, the tower has 160 floors and more than 500,000 sq m of space for offices and flats. The tower also lays claim to the highest occupied floor, the tallest service lift, and the world's highest observation deck - on the 124th floor. The world's highest mosque and swimming pool will meanwhile be located on the 158th and 76th floors. Technical challenges The opening ceremony, held 1,325 days after excavation wo...

Countries around the world are beginning to hold celebratory events to welcome in 2010. New Year arrived first in the South Pacific. At midnight local time (1100 GMT) fireworks were set off over Auckland's Sky Tower in New Zealand. A massive fireworks display has taken place in Sydney, Australia, with some 5,000kg of explosives sent up around around the famous harbour bridge. An estimated 1.5 million attended the city's dramatic show. Fireworks were launched from the bridge, from boats in the harbour and from buildings around the waterfront. Crowds had been gathering since the early morning, some of them camping overnight to secure the best /vantage point for the 12-minute midnight fireworks display. Police minister Michael Daley warned those attending to avoid excessive drinking. "If you're one of these fools that can't handle their grog and likes to go out and ruin other people's nights, make yourself a new year's resolution to grow up and be...

Some people lift huge weights. Some people pull trains with their teeth. And then there's this guy. Need a tow? The man's eyelids get to work on the van ! But that's exactly what this martial arts enthusiast is doing, as he pulls the vehicle along with a rope connected to his eye sockets. The demonstration of his eyes' pulling power happened during a performance in Hefei, in China's Anhui province. It's not entirely clear how far he managed to pull the van, or how his eyes felt about the whole affair. Related links: See a list of the Top Five Weirdest Painful Stunts here .

OK , that might have been a misleading title, but it caught your attention didn't it? It makes it look like I'm being targeted by the Chinese government. Well, I'm not the only one. Apparently, several blog platforms such as blogger (blogspot) are being blocked on-again off-again in China due to security measures when there are huge events occurring in China. The last time blogger was blocked in China was during the Olympic games which were held in Beijing last year. Anyway, this year, there is some sort of anniversary going on in China and blogger has been blocked since May (which explains why I haven't been getting any Chinese flags on the visitor counter). The block was supposed to be lifted by the beginning of September, but haven't been done yet, hopefully it would be lifted by beginning of October. Here's an article that explains a little more: ... It seems that any website on blogspot.com has been blocked in China. This blockage is causing huge ...

Ramadan 2009 around the world - Photo Gallery On August 21st, hundreds of millions of Muslims started fasting for a month. They started to abstain from eating or drinking from dawn to dusk. They stand for hours in prayers each night to remember their Lord and express their gratitude to Him, seek His forgiveness and aspire to come closer to Him.On September 20th, the month of Ramadan ended welcoming Eid el Fitr. Vendors selling food for breaking fast wait for their customers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Jakarta August 31, 2009. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. (Reuters, Enny Nuraheni) A Muslim man rests inside a mosque as he wait for iftar (breaking fast) in Dhaka August 29, 2009. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. (Re...

Half the fun of traveling is getting out and enjoying all sorts of foods you're not used to eating. A simple trip to the corner market or grocery store in a foreign land can keep you amused for hours. Take the example above for instance: Cone Pizza! This picture was snapped in Seoul, South Korea, and you know what? It looks pretty damn tasty. Can I get one in the States yet? Anywho, check out some other weird foods from around the world, and be sure and share your own experiences in the comments! So is it pickled snake head? Or is snake head a type of fish? Either way, I'm not eating it. Spotted in an Asian market in Vancouver, British Columbia. Found in San Francisco.   Spotted at the Raleigh, N.C. BugFest. Nothing like a Beijing street market to test your gag reflexes. Yep, still works! (For you brave souls out there, here's a video of someone eating one of those freakish black scorpions.) Can you guess what these little buggers are? They are cooked crickets! An...