Data visualization: Leading surveillance societies around the world

Since 1997 two NGOs - the US-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and the UK-based Privacy International - have surveyed and assessed the state of surveillance and privacy protection in 47 countries. The annual Privacy & Human Rights Report compiled from their findings has by now become one of the most comprehensive surveys of global privacy and citizen rights.

Their “most recent report” published a few days ago has been created with the help of more than 200 experts from around the world and has grown to 1,100 pages. It shows trends of

“…an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance of privacy safeguards…“, and

“…an increasing trend amongst governments to archive data on the geographic, communications and financial records of all their citizens and residents. This trend leads to the conclusion that all citizens, regardless of legal status, are under suspicion…

continue reading…

Travel: Sign Posts long before the Rugby championship

A sign post seen in New Zealand before the Rugby championship had commenced in France… Be assured, we all feel “very” sorry about the outcome…

we have seen similar signs for Penguins and Kangaroos but this one we liked most…
so do stay alert at night

Travel: Sign Posts on the Road

A sign post seen in the South Pacific reminding travelers of things to do (and don’t)…

It is notable that some of the small island states ( not the place where this picture was taken are already starting to fight their bare survival due to global warming … talk to some people in Kiribas - [...]

Australia: Supersize my ambulance

Australia’s obesity crisis has forced health officials to revamp their fleet of ambulances to cope with a sharp rise in overweight patients.

Studies estimate that 67% of Australian men and over half of all women aged over 25 are overweight or obese.

Super-sized vehicles have been introduced and new air ambulances will be remodeled to carry heavier people weighing up to 220kg…
continue reading…

Internet: The Great Firewall of China

A non-profit group of web designers, film directors and journalists who want to make the Internet censorship system more transparent has put up a web site called the “Great Firewall of China”. On the site you can test if a particular website address is blocked in China and see how the site looks from the perspective of a Chinese user. It works by routing the requested url from…

Continue reading…

China: Censors open some access to Wikipedia (Access chart)

After having blocked access to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia for almost a year completely, China has now started to open up some parts of it.
With the help of bloggers and Wikipedians across China Andrew Lih has created a chart of Wikipedia reachability from within China.
The English language version (en.wp) is now widely accessible while [...]

Singapore plans free wireless Internet

From January next year, Singaporeans will get to enjoy free wireless Internet in public areas for two years. The government hopes this will grow the broadband market from the current 50,000 users to about 250,000 users in two years.
Three operators - iCELL network, QMax Communications and SingTel will participate in this government and [...]