The Great Firewall of China

by Jennifer Mason _My little brother, this month returned from several years living in small-city (population less than 2 million) China, leaped straight from the 14-hour flight onto his laptop, and fired up online poker with an ease to which he was not accustomed.
Avoiding the hassles of proxy servers which apparently only connect to gambling or gaming-related sites one in six times, or trying to get a game via .net sites, he was delighted to spend a high proportion of his time on UK soil on accessible virtual felt.
He mentioned something interesting while enjoying a spot of low-stakes full-ring cash, after a min-stacked player did what they do best, namely double through with pocket kings and immediately leave.
“I bet I can guess where this guy’s from,” he said, “It’s probably China.” In fact a quick search for this shortstacker, who did indeed list his location as the PRC, found him at several other tables at $0.15/$0.25 and $0.25/$0.50 level, along with about 15-20 others. “They’ve already started, and it’s 8:30 in the morning over there,” he said, “And they’ll be there all day, and I mean all day.”
Zhu Hai, Yi Chun, Beijing, Huazhou, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were usually to be found as the listed players’ home cities after a cursory mouse-wave over their names, which poses a couple of interesting questions.
The only area sanctioned (or not restricted) for gaming is currently Macau, the ex-Portuguese colony island. It is, incidentally, soon to be connected to Hong Kong by a very large bridge which will make transfer from mainland China to the “Monte Carlo of the Orient” take around an hour. With access to gambling growing easier in China, these hometowns, apparently providing new poker players to the online melting pot, are however most definitely not on the gambling-OK list.
Nor is online gambling legal anywhere in the country. So do these few poker players appearing now herald a coming relaxation of legislation online to mirror that which appears to be slowly happening in the real world?
There are over 300 million Internet users currently active in the People’s Republic of China, which makes it the largest online user base in the world. No corner of the country is free from Internet cafes crammed with people (mainly young and male) playing online massive multi-player online role-playing games. QQ, China’s all-purpose messaging software, already hosts a plethora of online games, from the ubiquitous mah-jong to Texas hold’em (for points, not money).
The framework and liquidity exists for a home-grown platform to take advantage of the Chinese people’s national fascination with gambling, but as it stands only the determined and computer-savvy get to try online poker for real, and only at a couple of US-friendly sites. Live gambling happens, officially, only in Macau or via the Chinese national lottery, which no longer has an online arm after lottery scam sites spiralled out of control.
It happens unofficially all over the place. China is credited with bringing Keno to the world during the Han dynasty, and exports a host of gamblers, including a large number of high rollers, to places like Las Vegas, where the visa requirements are apparently less of a hassle than those for Macau in some cases.
The government isn’t as bothered with the innumerable back-room mah-jong games between acquaintances (where cards take the place of gaming tokens and stakes run from pennies to fortunes) as with venues open to the public, and external online companies. The latter are pretty efficiently filtered out of the Chinese web (along with YouTube and Facebook); although you can search for any of them, clicking through doesn’t happen.
Last year, Reuters reported that the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) was prohibiting investment by foreigners in the online gaming industry (estimated at around $3 billion a year) although co-development of online games is still allowed to some extent.
This isn’t poker or casino-related, but aimed at restricting foreign interest in the huge multi-player and interactive gaming culture which has taken China by storm. A large proportion of these types of gamers are young and with low income, which throws up a potential societal problem with the relaxation of online gambling.
In order to introduce a potentially even more addictive form of online game play, regulations and support infrastructure need to be in place for these players. Quite a few scandals came out of World of Warcraft and similar over the last four years, including a murder (over the theft of a virtual sword) and the accidental death of a young man consigned to a mental institution by his parents for addiction to online gaming. When China develops a country-wide fascination, it is really on a spectacular scale, and dealing with the problems thrown up by un- or poorly-regulated online casinos would be a colossal task.
So far there are no signs of this regulation in development, and round the corner it definitely isn’t. The fact that the Chinese government does respond relatively quickly to fast-growing trends these days with regulation (and restriction) does suggest that if and when the PRC is ready to legalise online poker, it will have learned from its mistakes over the online lottery.
China will be ready if it decides to tap into a huge potential revenue source as the currently illegal live gamblers and the more liquid among online gamers move into a regulated virtual arena in which poker could easily become the next boom trend, the effects of which would be felt online the world over.

Tehran to carry on peaceful atomic energy activity – supreme leader

MOSCOW, February 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Iran will carry on peaceful atomic energy activity no matter what, Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei told Foreign Ministry staff members on Sunday.

“Despite the pressure the Islamic Republic is experiencing, it has achieved impressive results in nuclear research. The research will continue regardless the slanderous speculations started by certain countries, among them the United States, the United Kingdom and the Zionist regime. The research will continue as long as it takes Iran to achieve complete and scientific self-sufficiency,” Khamenei said.

He criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which condemned Iran last November for building a new nuclear site in Qum and recently expressed doubts about the peaceful nature of the Iranian atomic program.

“Some latest steps and reports of the Agency show that this international organization has a deficit of independence,” the Iranian supreme leader said. “The IAEA should not yield to the influence of the United States and some other countries, as this yielding does not add authority to the agency.”

The uranium enrichment in Iran causes serious concern about the actual target of the Iranian nuclear program, Russia, the United States and France said in a joint letter to Amano on February 16.

The letter criticized the Iranian production of higher enriched uranium.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said Tehran knew about the letter but noted that the letter did not contain any new proposals.

Russia will have a measured attitude to possible sanctions against Iran as long as the latter cooperates with the IAEA, Chairman of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov told Itar-Tass on the same day.

“As long as Iran cooperates with the IAEA, our policy will be measured and cautious. I do not believe in the efficiency of sanctions. They do not work, as a rule,” Margelov said.

“The Russian stance is rather precise and clear. Being an Iranian neighbor, we want the Iranian nuclear program to be exclusively peaceful and strictly controlled by the IAEA. Not a single responsible politician in Russia is interested in the Iranian development of a bomb,” he said.

Iran is still ready for nuclear fuel exchange, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a February 16 press conference in Tehran.

“This is not a closed subject and we are ready for the exchange, even with the United States,” the president said.

The consultations go on, he remarked.

“We did not plan higher enriched uranium production because that was not expedient. However, our partners did not show goodwill and we had to tell them that we would have to produce the fuel ourselves,” he said. “The situation will change with the delivery of fuel,” he added.

The sides developed a general formula of nuclear fuel delivery for the Tehran research reactor producing medical isotopes. The sextet proposed to higher enrich Iranian uranium in Russia and to make fuel assemblies in France. Iran expressed its basic consent at first but then insisted on exchanging its uranium for ready fuel. No agreement was reached, and Iran launched higher enriched uranium production.

Higher enriched uranium production started in Natanz a week before to the president’s order. The 20% uranium is being manufactured for the Tehran research reactor, a maker of medical isotopes.

The decision of Iran to start higher-enriched uranium production disappointed Russia, which was traditionally reserved about proposed sanctions.

“The Iranian decision to start higher-enriched uranium production not only disagrees with resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors but also deepens doubts about the Iranian sincere wish to lift the remaining international concerns about its nuclear program,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.

“Definitely, we are disappointed with the Iran step, which did not allow diplomats to agree on mutually acceptable ways of the fulfillment of the IAEA proposal of higher-enriched uranium fuel production for the Tehran research reactor outside Iran,” he said. “We are confident that further discussion of possible ways of the fulfillment of that project would have yielded results within a short time and become a major step towards the restoration of confidence in the exclusively peaceful atomic program of Iran and an appropriate atmosphere for the dialog.”

Russia does not rule out the drafting of a new UN Security Council resolution enacting sanctions against Iran, Nesterenko said.

“There is no work on the possible new sanctions against Iran now, but we cannot rule it out under the current circumstances,” he said.

“Russia is adherent to the two-track policy in settling the situation around the Iranian nuclear program. That implies efforts of the sextet (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) on negotiations with Tehran and sanctions if Iran does not act constructively,” he said.

“Russia is searching for additional options in the implementation of the October 1 agreements reached between Iranian representatives and the sextet political directors in Geneva,” Nesterenko said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow opposed sanctions that might be harmful for the country but did not rule out the UN Security Council measures due to the Iranian unwillingness of closer cooperation with the IAEA. “We are absolutely positive that sanctions per se can hardly bring desirable results. If such a proposal is made at the UN Security Council, we will scrutinize it very carefully,” the minister said.

“Russia has no doubts that Iran shares the same rights with other non-nuclear members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the right to enrich uranium. However, Iran must comply with related commitments in order to use this right freely. In this case, it is necessary to answer all the remaining questions to the IAEA satisfaction,” Lavrov said.

“As no progress has been made and the Iranian administration has not responded to the constructive compromises, including the offer to supply fuel to the Tehran research reactor, I do not rule out that the UN Security Council may have to review the situation once again,” he said.

The UN Security Council has already applied sanctions to Iran in support of the IAEA requirements, Lavrov remarked.

The scale of possible sanctions on Iran will not be discussed at the Monday negotiations of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, a high-ranking diplomat said on Friday.

“It would be premature to discuss the scale of possible sanctions,” he noted.

“The Russian president emphasized his readiness for cooperation with the sextet in New York last September. He also noted that sanctions were inevitable under certain circumstances, and the Russian readiness for joint work was important,” the diplomat said.

“I do not think that the presidents will have time to go into details [at the Paris meeting],” he said. “Possibly, they will discuss Russia-France interaction at the sextet and the United Nations at large. The leaders will compare their positions. In fact, there are no large disagreements between Russia and France.”

Toyota Chief to Visit China

BEIJING—Akio Toyoda's planned visit to Beijing reflects the importance for Toyota Motor Corp. of containing damage to its reputation in China's huge market, where the Japanese company was struggling even before its recent recall problems.
The 53-year-old Toyota president and grandson of the company's founder is expected to hold a press conference in the Chinese capital Monday to address quality concerns, the company said. He also is expected to meet with high-level government officials to remind them of the company's commitment to safety and quality, according to Toyota executives who briefed reporters Sunday night.
"Given China's strong sense of rivalry with the U.S., after we explained our situation to American lawmakers and apologized to U.S. customers last week, there isn't an option for Mr. Toyoda and the company to skip China," one U.S.-based senior Toyota executive, who is close to the Toyota president, said in a telephone interview Sunday.
Toyota's quality issues haven't been as severe in China as in the U.S., where it has recalled millions of cars over problems with accelerator pedals and other issues. In China, Toyota has recalled 75,552 RAV4 vehicles, a tiny fraction of the 8.5 million vehicles it has recalled world-wide.
But Toyota's overall recalls in China rose sharply last year—it recalled a total of 989,000 vehicles in China in 2009, up from the 209,000 in 2008. And China's quality watchdog warned in a notice late last week that there could be more Toyota cars in China affected by the current recalls, pointing to the existence of Toyota cars brought into China outside its formal distribution channels. A Toyota spokesman said the number of such cars in China should be "very small."
Toyota was late to expand in China, and it has lagged behind global rivals like Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. That has hurt the company, as China overtook the U.S. last year as the world's biggest car market, with sales surging about 50% to 13 million vehicles, compared with just over 10 million in the U.S.
Toyota fell severely behind the market last year—its sales grew just 21% in 2009 to 700,900 vehicles—because it failed to provide cars that matched consumers' growing appetite for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. China's government has encouraged the purchase of such cars through incentives and other stimulus measures, a policy the car maker didn't anticipate.
The planned China visit follows a multistop fence-mending tour in the U.S. last week during which Mr. Toyoda appeared before a Congressional committee to answer often-angry questions about Toyota's quality problems. He also apologized to victims of sudden acceleration accidents and to customers concerned about the spate of quality problems, and sought to reassure Toyota's dealers and workers that the company will regain its footing. The trip was highly emotional, with Mr. Toyoda occasionally choking up.
Sales of Toyota vehicles began picking up toward the end of last year, but the Toyota executive said it was deemed desirable for Mr. Toyoda to personally reach out to consumers here to contain any damage from the quality debacle.
Hitoshi Yokoyama, a Toyota spokesman, said it was tough to gauge the effect of the current problems on sales in China in part because the country's Lunar New Year holiday, during which retail sales tend to slow, fell in February this year but in January last year, making comparisons difficult.

A senior Beijing-based Toyota sales executive said sales have slowed "noticeably" in Beijing and Shanghai, where he said local media outlets reported more aggressively about Toyota's latest quality lapses. Southern China, a major market for Toyota in China, was more immune to the bad news, but Toyota is considering sales incentives or other measures to maintain customer traffic into showrooms, the executive said.
Liu Jiaxiang, a Toyota dealer in Shenzhen, said sales at his stores in southern China have been "steady" since late January. "What keeps me awake at night is a possible long-term erosion of customer confidence in the Toyota brand" because of the recall problem, he said.
Toyota has suffered criticism over a recall before in China. Last April it recalled 259,119 Camry sedans because of brake problems—the company's biggest single recall announcement in China. China Central Television, the state-run broadcaster, in a report on the brake problems featured an interview with a legal adviser from the China Consumers Association who accused Toyota of hiding the problem. Toyota issue the recall three days after that program aired.
Mr. Yokoyama, the Toyota spokesman, said the accusation it hid the problem was "completely groundless" and that the recall wasn't related to the CCTV report.

National Geographic Abu Dhabi to take viewers inside some of the world’s most inaccessible places

While many people might think twice about posing as an actor to sneak into North Korea or flying in a decrepit helicopter over Afghanistan, French journalist Diego Buñuel thrives on these treacherous adventures in some of the world’s most inaccessible countries. Beginning on March 5 at 22.00 (UAE), National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s Don’t tell my mother… follows Diego as he embarks on journeys through Afghanistan, Colombia, the Congo and North Korea – places often dismissed as violent, war-ravaged and corrupt. The four-part series is an eye-opening encounter that provides an insider’s look at life in these countries, from the effects of poverty and civil war to new hopes and the progress being made.
In Afghanistan, Diego’s journey gets off to a rough start when he finds the road to Kabul is closed and he must ride in a dilapidated helicopter. However, he finds the first of many positive surprises when he meets his female helicopter pilot. Banned from flying during the Taliban rule, she is once again able to take to the skies. There are other beacons of light popping up in this war-ravaged country. Diego visits the first mixed night club that entrepreneurs have opened in Kabul and he also meets the stars of Afghanistan’s first private TV station, which offers programmes such as Afghanistan’s version of American Idol. But after leaving Kabul, Diego finds that the country still has far to go. During his travels, Diego also takes the time to meet with a Russian ex-patriot living in Salang, and attends Buzkashi Day in Mazar, where he brushes with warlords overseeing one of the country’s oldest sports.
In Colombia, Diego puts a bullet-proof suit to the test after meeting a tailor who specialises in bullet-proof clothing – everything from bullet-proof underwear to suits. In a country that produces 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine, Diego goes on patrol with the farmers tasked with destroying cocaine plants one-by-one in the mine-littered fields of guerrilla country. Travelling to Medillin, Diego visits the abandoned home of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, where he tours Pablo’s dinosaur park full of towering dinosaur statues, and visits Pablo’s pet hippos. On Dead Man’s Road, Diego heads to Cali, where travelling at the wrong time of day can get you kidnapped. But despite the rampant civil war dividing the country, Colombia has made steps forward – in Picalena Prison, one warden has helped unite right-wing paramilitaries with left-wing guerrillas through an unlikely tactic: soccer.
While in the Congo, Diego follows UN peacekeepers and Congolese soldiers on a special mission to protect the mountain gorillas in one of Congo’s national parks. Many rebel bases and armed groups are also found in this park, and some of these groups are using the gorillas as pawns, killing the animals – and the rangers who protect them – in the hope of attracting international attention. Entering deep into the forest, Diego and the soldiers find the elusive gorillas, which pause long enough to take an inquisitive reach towards the cameras. Finally, Diego meets with a former beauty queen who is now preparing girls for the Miss HIV contest, created to help raise awareness about the disease.
Forced to leave behind his cell phone, GPS and even newspapers before entering the country, Diego must pose as an actor to enter North Korea. Every move he makes is constantly monitored, with two watchers ‘escorting’ him wherever he goes. Starting in the capital of Pyongyang, Diego is housed in a hotel built on an island to stop visitors from interacting with locals, and where all the rooms are bugged. Diego tours a fairground where children have the chance to ‘Kill American Imperialism’ in a shooting game, and venturing to the world’s largest stadium, Diego watches 100,000 dancers perform in celebration of 60 years of dictatorship. While this festivity paints an image of happiness and unity, the portrait is not quite as picturesque in the countryside…

Watch Don’t tell my mother… only on National Geographic Abu Dhabi:
Show
Date
Time (KSA)
Time (UAE)

Don't tell my mother…Afghanistan
5-Mar-10
21.00
22.00

Don't tell my mother…Colombia
12-Mar-10
21.00
22.00

Don't tell my mother…Congo
19-Mar-10
21.00
22.00

Don't tell my mother…North Korea
26-Mar-10
21.00
22.00

India, Saudi Arabia to sign about ten agreements

Around ten agreements, including an extradition treaty, is likely to be signed during the current visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia.

A Riyadh Declaration is likely to cement the bilateral ties that have gone "beyond the normal cliches", Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said in Riyadh.

"You may see language in the Riyadh Declaration you may not have seen before," Tharoor said while informally interacting with the media late Saturday night.

The prime minister is on a three-day visit leading a powerful delegation of ministers and officials.

It is the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Saudi Arabia in 28 years.

The Riyadh Declaration is likely to take forward the historic Delhi Declaration, signed during the visit of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to India in 2006, had chalked out.

Around 10 agreements covering fields like security, science and technology, culture and media are likely to be signed during the course of the prime minister's visit, the highlight of which will be an extradition treaty between the two sides.

Calling for a wide-ranging strategic partnership between the two sides, the Delhi Declaration had charted out a new path for enhanced cooperation in energy and economic ties and a commitment by both sides to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

Stating that there has been a qualitative change in relations between India and Saudi Arabia, Tharoor said: "It has gone beyond the normal cliches of bilateral relations. This is a relationship that has genuinely taken a leap forward."

According to the minister, when the Saudis use terms like strategic partnership, "one talks about a shared view of the world".

"We have seen the problem of so-called state terrorism. But we can sensitise our friends here on this," Tharoor said.

During parleys with King Abdullah Sunday night, the issue of regional security and anti-terrorism measures is likely to get top priority.

Regarding the issue of good Taliban and bad Taliban, Tharoor said the Indian side would make it very clear that there will be no place in the peace dialogue for those who try to enforce their extreme views on religion through the barrel of the gun.

"Those people who are called Taliban and who are willing to accept the democratic process and are willing to lay down arms and participate in the national integration of the Afghan country within the national system under (Afghan President) Hamid Karzai, such people India is willing to see coming," he said.

"Those who believe that pluralism is wrong, who believe in the extreme view of their religion and who want to enforce their views of their religion through the barrel of the gun, such people will have no place in the dialogue," Tharoor said.

"This is what we will be saying to the Saudi side. And I am sure the Saudis will not disagree."

"After 26/11, they were vociferous in their condemnation and sent a senior leader to India to express their views," the minister pointed out.

Pre-release Microsoft Windows 7 RC expires tomorrow

If, like us, you couldn’t wait to get your hands on the new Windows OS when the release candidate (RC) surfaced all those months ago, then you’ll have been seeing a rather annoying pop-up over the course of the last two weeks…

We actually got in on the action when the beta launched over a year ago but dutifully upgraded to the RC when it became available and over the course of the last two weeks Windows Activation reminders have been constantly popping up reminding us that;
“This pre-release version of Windows 7 Ultimate will expire in xxx days. To keep using Windows, back up your files, and then install any edition of Windows 7 Ultimate”
For people still running the RC OS, tomorrow is the beginning of the end. It was initially thought that the RC would be fully functioned until June 2010, and it will. Kind of.
From tomorrow, machines running the pre-release OS will periodically shut down every two hours, with no warning, so if you do intend to keep running it as long as you can, then you’ll want to keep on top of saving your work as you go.
This little elbow in the ribs will continue until June, at which point the release candidate software will be marked as non-genuine, and will boot your PC to a black screen telling you to install a genuine version of Microsoft Windows if you wish to continue using the OS.
To make matters a little worse, Microsoft doesn’t allow in-place upgrades from the RC to a genuine version of Windows 7. However, there is a way around this inability to upgrade, but it will only work if you want to upgrade to the Ultimate Edition as that was the build released as the RC.
If you want to know more about upgrading from the RC to a genuine copy then drop us a comment below and all will be revealed…

Pentagon Loosens Reins Over Facebook, Twitter, Web 2.0 Apps

The Department of Defense granted military personnel access to Facebook, Twitter, Google Apps and other user-generated applications in a Feb. 26 memorandum. The move followed a review that began last August after the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army released contrasting policies for social network site use. The DOD clearly is trying to strike a balance between national security and acceptable social communication and collaboration. How military personnel behave in the wake of this decision will determine how long the current policy stands.

The Department of Defense has loosened the reins over the use of Facebook, Twitter and other user-generated applications among its personnel, ending the maddening inconsistency of Web 2.0 application use among the military.

In a Feb. 26 memorandum covering the "safe and effective use of Internet-based capabilities," the DOD said the entire non-classified network may provide access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other user-generated content and Web 2.0 applications, such as Google Apps, wikis and blogs.

"This directive recognizes the importance of balancing appropriate security measures while maximizing the capabilities afforded by 21st Century Internet tools," said Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III.

However, the document also gave the right for military management to deny access to sites in the case of abusive use and punish users abusing those privileges. The memorandum noted:

"Commanders at all levels and heads of DoD components will continue to defend against malicious activity on military information networks, deny access to prohibited content sites (e.g., gambling, pornography, hate-crime related activities), and take immediate and commensurate actions, as required, to safeguard missions (e.g., temporarily limiting access to the Internet to preserve operations security or to address bandwidth constraints).

With this move, the DOD is tacitly acknowledging the value of social media and other modern tools in letting colleagues and soldiers communicate and collaborate with each other, as well as with the family and friends. However, the DOD is also trying to strike a balance between national security and acceptable social communication and collaboration.

David M. Wennergren, deputy assistant secretary of defense for information management and technology, told the American Forces Press Service:

"If you look at either one individually, you will fail,” Wennergren said. "You will have great security, but no ability to access information sharing. [Or], if you think only about sharing, you will run into issues of operational security and letting bad things into your system. So you can no longer think of them as two separate subjects."

How military personnel behave in the wake of this decision will determine how long the current policy stands. Abuse of the social network sites and other apps could just as easily result in a permanent ban on these sites by the DOD.

The decree should solidify what have been nebulous policies regarding social network site use in the military.

For example, last June the U.S. Army decided to let its personnel access Facebook and Twitter, but banned MySpace and YouTube.

In August, the U.S. Marine Corps halted the use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for the next year. The Marines noted:

"These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries. The very nature of it creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts OPSEC, COMSEC, personnel and the MCEN at an elevated risk of compromise. Examples of Internet SNS Sites include Facebook, MySpace and Twitter."

Right after the Marines' decision, the Pentagon began reviewing the use of social network use among the DOD.

Palm Releases WebOS 1.4 To Sprint And Verizon, Adds Video Recording

Google's Android and Apple's iPhone OS are easily the leading two Mobile operating systems in terms of sheer mindshare, but the coemption is heating up. Microsoft has just launched Windows Phone 7 Series(slated to ship later in the year), and has just released their latest version of the multi-tasking webOS. Both the Pre and the Pixi are receiving the update, which has been distributed to both Sprint users and Verizon users (the latter of which own the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus).

WebOS 1.4 is the first major update for Palm's mobile smartphone operating system in quite some time, and the changes are fairly significant. The list of fixes include a time zone bug that has been squashed, a network time sync error that has been sealed up and a solution that does away with random browser formatting quirks and a bug that incorrectly displayed Sprint when actually was Digital Roaming.

The list of enhancements is even more robust, with video recording (and in-phone editing) being the highlight of the bunch. There's also the ability to upload videos to YouTube or Facebook, new export options from the address book, new e-mail sort options, a new application launcher and a new "Blink" option in Notifications. The full list of changes are below, and if you're an owner of one of these phones, you'll need to follow the instructions once Sprint or Verizon sends you an alert to say that the 39MB (Sprint) or 43MB (Verizon) file is ready to be downloaded onto your device. And then you can shoot a video about just how happy you are--imagine that!

First Media Launch FastNet Kids Internet Education Based Service and Safe Access for Children

Jakarta, Indonesia, 02/28/2010 - FastNet Kids is the first broadband internet access solution in Indonesia dedicated for children which offer a safe and controlled access through internet network system

PT First Media Tbk (First Media), the largest state-of-the-art broadband network provider in Indonesia, launched new feature called FastNet Kids in Jakarta, Wednesday (February 24th).

“We educate children on how to surf properly, safely, and get benefit in cyber space through FastNet Kids,” said Hengkie Liwanto, President Director First Media.

Hengkie engaged, First Media with over 10 years of entertainment experience in information technology and broadband communication network are very concern about education and character building for early childhood. He said, through FastNet Kids facility, parents and teachers do not have to worry about children activity in accessing the internet.

“We protect internet access automatically by filtering and blocking inappropriate websites. We became the pioneer in internet based education. FastNet Kids is a real evidence about our concern and seriousness to educate children as nations’ future generation by giving them a safe surfing to cyber space,” said Product Development General Manager First Media, Dedy Handoko.

Dedy explained, FastNet Kids is the first education based internet access in Indonesia that assured parents and computer teachers about the way to use an effective and useful internet access.

Dicky Moechtar, Corporate Sales Director First Media, said due to Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association (Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia/APJII) data, today only one of three parents in Indonesia used special software to block and filter websites to avoid inappropriate contents for their children.

“Now parents and teachers don’t have to “dizzy” anymore to setting computer, create password, and install application in their computer. FastNet Kids application will running automatically because this product is technology friendly,” said Dicky Moechtar.

“Users don’t have to dial before. FastNet Kids give unlimited upload and download data. Users can enjoy on-and-on internet connection for 24 hours a day, 7 days in a week, and 4 weeks a month,” Dedy Handoko explained.

Previously, First Media have launched FastNet internet service with 10 Mbps. This facility enable customers to watch high resolution video streaming without handicap (don’t have to download), enjoy online games, and download music and photo in very high speed access.

“This technology makes internet network access unlimited, so users are able to get benefit from the advance internet technology through any server devices, information, data, audio, video from anywhere,” Dicky Moechtar added.

First Media is the first internet provider in Indonesia that offer unlimited speed access of 10 Mbps to customers. This service is believed to bring important change in multimedia internet network access.

About PT First Media Tbk

PT First Media Tbk (firstmedia.com) established on January 16th 1994 with name PT Broadband Multimedia Tbk. The company provides a broadband communication network service and electronics signal distribution though broadband network.

With over 10 years of entertainment experience and the largest state-of-the-art broadband network in Indonesia, First Media combines fast-speed internet, entertainment options of cable, and business solutions of data communication as a response to the country’s evergrowing demand for fast and reliable Broadband service. First Media is making 3Triple-Play a reality in Indonesia.

First Media’s unique offering is its ability to provide 3 services under one broadband network. These products are FastNet ( Fast speed broadband Internet service), HomeCable ( Multi channel digital TV) and DataComm (business solution services).

In multimedia exhibition, Asian Art Museum captures Shanghai's vibrancy, present and past

SAN FRANCISCO — After an esteemed tradition of showcasing collections of ancient masterpieces, the Asian Art Museum steps boldly into the 20th and 21st centuries with "Shanghai," a vast new show tracing the visual culture of this ultramodern, forward-looking Chinese city, from 1850 to the present.

Today, Shanghai is a teeming center of commerce, a cosmopolitan city on the vanguard of art and design, with skyscrapers, 19 million people and big ambitions on the international stage. But, even when the British arrived in the 1800s, it was a thriving concern with a population of 400,000, rather than the backwater of Western myth.
Since it was designated a treaty port in 1842 by England and China, Shanghai has beckoned to the world, rapidly evolving into a mecca for finance and a haven for Chinese fleeing rebellion and immigrant communities seeking economic opportunity. A hotbed of political tumult and artistic debate, the city, as the show amply demonstrates, has been and remains attuned to the new, embracing Western influences while retaining its distinctly Chinese character.
An eclectic overview encompassing 160 years and multiple art movements, the exhibition is short on historical context or depth and without a linear chronology to firmly anchor it; nonetheless, it's crammed with cool stuff. Loosely organized into a four-chapter format (Beginnings, High Times, Revolution and Shanghai Today) with intersecting subplots (if this sounds
a bit confusing, it is), the show's some 130 works include richly expressive oil and ink paintings, dramatic, sometimes politically charged woodblock prints, fabulous art deco furnishings, vibrantly colorful propaganda posters, watercolors, contemporary art installations and edgy videos laced with social commentary, as well as film clips from the city's heyday as the cinema capital of China. "The show has the ability to transport you to a distant place that also feels familiar in a strange way," observes Dr. Michael Knight, the museum's senior curator of Chinese art. "I hope people experience some of Shanghai's complexity and that they'll come away with an interest in learning more. We're just scratching the surface here and want this to be a point of entry for further exploration. There are a lot of little tidbits that will get people's attention and get them curious."
Any mention of attention-grabbing works must include oil and ink paintings rarely, if ever, seen outside of China, by great masters, such as Liu Haisu, a leading innovator of Western-influenced art partial to Cézanne, Van Gogh and Picasso, and his competitor, the more conservative, Xu Beihong, who studied in France. (Most Shanghai artists studied Western techniques in Japan.) Tao Lengyue's delicate ink painting "Plum Blossoms Under the Moon, 1934," a moody depiction of a gnarled blossoming tree bathed in blue-gray twilight, is magical.
One of the exhibit's more dynamic sections chronicles the so-called High Times of the 1920s and '30s. The period represented an apex of sophistication, glamour, fashion, graphic art, Western-style oil painting and progressive thought. Women enjoyed a level of independence in Shanghai unknown in the rest of China at the time, and images of seductive, chic, smartly dressed young models grace the covers of magazines like The Movie World, which features Zhou Manhua, a popular screen actress, or are laid out in front of the city's shimmering nighttime skyline as in Yuan Xiutang's "A Prosperous City That Never Sleeps, 1930s," enticing visitors with a promise of exoticism and excitement.
However, in keeping with its legacy of duality, Shanghai was also a notorious open city. Known as the Paris of the East, it was home to a thriving sex trade, gun-toting gangsters, glittery nightclubs and opium dens. Two prominent underworld bosses of the infamous Green Gang are immortalized in Yu Ming's disconcertingly dignified painting "Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, 1924," the only surviving portrait of the pair, who, here, are seated in a serene garden, their faces so realistic they appear to be photographs superimposed on painted bodies.
"To paraphrase from Dickens, this period of Shanghai history represented the best of times and the worst of times," Knight says. "The use and abuse of people was prevalent. In many ways, life was cheap."
Exploitation, decadence and the chasm between lavish displays of wealth and crushing poverty triggered a backlash as early as the 1930s, and full-scale repression following Mao's takeover in 1949.
Mao singled out Shanghai as the embodiment of bourgeois excess, and the crackdown there was especially draconian. Despite severe restrictions imposed by the communist regime, the city's artists continued to create works of aesthetic beauty. Shen Roujian's "Evening Glow on the Huangpu River, 1955," a dreamy woodblock, ink and watercolor rendition of the city's main shipping artery at sunset, couldn't be lovelier; brilliantly colored, propaganda posters such as "Parade on Huangpu River, 1950" are as eye-catching as Mao intended; and, painter Zhang Longji humanizes, rather than exalts, a common laborer softly lit by the glow of a furnace in "Power Distribution Worker, 1957-59."
In the last galleries, devoted to Shanghai today, the convergence of East and West, tradition and modernity, that have defined the city throughout its history, assumes tangible form in two large, horizontal ink paintings. Exhibited side by side, both Li Huayi's "Forest, 2004" and "The Dimension of Ink No. 1, 2008" by Zheng Chongbin are enigmatic, theatrical and fuse past and present in their own distinct ways. (Both artists divide their time between Shanghai and the Bay Area.)
Inspired by the Surrealists' use of shadow for visual and psychological effect, monumental Chinese landscape and Francis Bacon's dramatic manipulation of space, Zheng Chongbin ventures into pure abstraction in this painting, which resembles a giant Rorschach test with velvety blacks, hollow X-ray tones and splashes of white acrylic and fixer that lend a sense of depth and mystery. Li Huayi, rooted in Abstract Expressionism and a tension between formal structure and chance, recalls the lineage of Chinese landscape in his ink wash of an enchanted wood haunted by the unconscious mind.
"Today, artists utilize ink in a postmodern, theoretical, abstract sense," Knight says, "tradition in postmodern terms, that brings us back to the old artistic debate: Can you do ink on paper or paint with traditional materials and still be contemporary? It's a long-standing question that goes back to the very beginnings of Shanghai."