“The limits of online information sources are a challenge both for us and for the people building the next generation of online tools. If we rigorously examine the media we’re encountering online, looking for topics and places we hear little about, we may be able to change our behavior, adding different and dissenting views to our social networks, seeking out new sources of news. But this task would be vastly easier if the architects of Internet tools took up the cause of helping to broaden worldviews. Facebook already notices that you’ve failed to “friend” a high school classmate and tries to connect you. It could look for strangers in Africa or India who share your interests and broker an introduction. Google tracks every search you undertake so it can more effectively target ads to you. It could also use that information to help you discover compelling content about topics you’ve never explored, adding a serendipity engine to its formidable search function. Why aren’t engineers racing to build the new tools that will help unravel the mysteries of a connected world?”

- Ethan Zuckermann: A Small World After All?

‘A new top-level domain (TLD) in the works for the Internet will bake security in from the outset: The .secure domain will require fully encrypted HTTPS sessions and a comprehensive vetting process for websites and their operators. If the new domain takes off, it could shift the way Web domains are secured.

It’s basically a “safe neighborhood” on the Net, its creators say, and is one of the first next-generation TLDs to emerge from the new Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) program that opens up the TLDs beyond the 21 existing global domains that include .com, .org, .net, and .edu. Artemis Internet Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NCC Group plc, has applied with ICANN for the new .secure domain in the competition for thousands of new TLDs aimed at better classifying companies and people by industry, interest, or location.’

- New .secure Internet Domain On Tap

‘Critics complain that Google is buying up enormous amounts of virgin digital land in Africa at virtually no cost. Within a couple of decades, without the regulatory oversight of the African Union or African governments, they say, Africa’s internet life will be almost entirely in hock to the Google giant.’

- Google in Africa: It’s a hit | The Economist

Iran’s minister of communications prohibited using ‘foreign’ mail services like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, and MSN, since he believes ‘they are tools for information leak’. Reza Taghipour has asked Iranian state offices, universities and companies to use Iranian mail services ‘which are hosted in Iran’.

- via GlobalVoices

“Al Jazeera, the satellite broadcasting network, was forced by the Chinese authorities to close its China news operations of its English-language channel on Monday, the first such action in almost 14 years and the strongest sign yet of fraying relations between the ruling Communist Party and the overseas journalists who cover it.”

- nytimes.com

“Iran is harshly criticizing Google for what it feels is a disrespectful omission in Google Maps. The country’s government is angry because Google Maps does not label the body of water known in Iran as the Persian Gulf. Others refer to it as the Arabian Gulf.”

- Iran Lashes Out at Google

“Allowing underage individuals into a bar or club can have a devastating effect on that business, with fines, license suspensions, and even criminal charges hitting the owner hard. It’s not always easy to verify identification, so some enterprising bouncers in the U.K. have started matching up Facebook accounts to IDs. Some bouncers have demanded that patrons log in to Facebook using their smartphone to make sure they are not using a fake ID.”

- Bouncers using Facebook to verify IDs

#realtalk from your editor

hit ‘publish’ and look away - a.moschovakis

Dictatorship and Democracy in the EUSSR - debate about hungary and europe

in eigen land

“The combination of CMOS and terahertz means you could put this chip and a transmitter on the back of a cellphone, turning it into a device carried in your pocket that can see through objects.”  Due to privacy concerns, Dr. O and his team are focused on uses in the distance range of less than four inches.

- New Research Could Mean Cellphones That Can See Through Walls