The copyright fiasco between AP and bloggers. A man facing jail time for smelling women’s armpits. The dark side of Cindy McCain. These are the top stories making headlines around the world.
Technology & Internet
Canada just got a jolt of America recently: its plan to revamp digital copyright laws mirror the American draconian DMCA, Bob Ewing reported. The proposed bill has sparked protests across the country, so even though the summer break will stall the legislation’s momentum, its implications are in the minds of any Canadian who enjoys a good download now and then.
Citizen Journalists were busy bringing great tech and Net stories to DigitalJournal.com: around 90 per cent of developers have refused to write programs for the Windows Vista OS, Chris V. wrote; a vicious new Trojan virus is using the Beijing Olympics as bait, KJ found; Mozilla released its highly anticipated Firefox 3 browser, Sheba reported (but already a bug has been spotted in the software); Microsoft’s tabletop Surface PCs are making appearances in Las Vegas casinos, Paul Wallis discovered; video games using math can improve student grades, Nathalie C. said; and a new study revealed early adopters of the latest technology can be arrogant pricks, scoring low in modesty points. Logic follows that CES is just a big egoist convention.
So what was the Top Blog Post of the Week? The highly humourous post by Can Tran gave us girlish giggles when we pored over his witty photos and one-liners. Our favourite had be to the Storm Trooper looking sullen on a subway car because of recent unemployment.
Crime
Several other crime stories came to our attention: the U.S. hid terrorism detainees from the watchful eye of the Red Cross, KJ wrote (no wonder they got away with murder, um, I mean torture); more than 870 inmates escaped from an Afghan prison, szplug discovered; a father brutally beat his baby to death, Cynthia T. posted; and in a head-scratcher of a story, a Singapore man faces prison time and cane lashings for smelling women’s armpits in elevators and stairwells, KJ said. Coudn’t he just have easily snorted flakes of deodorant instead?
World
The recent allowance of same-sex marriage in California has flooded churches with gay weddings, Can Tran published. As he wrote, “Some clerks have extended their hours to give out the necessary marriage licenses allow these couples to get married on the spot.” Makes sense, since these couples have been waiting for years to finally tie the knot.
A selection of other global stories highlighted important issues: the Food and Agriculture Organization gave Lebanon hundreds of goats and cows to help the Lebanese recover from livestock losses during recent wars, Bob Ewing reported; Hezbollah’s “sleeper cells” in Canada are supposedly active, Sue D. wrote (so maybe they were just “napper” cells?); India is looking to develop anti-satellite missiles, mridulc said; Israel and Hamas announced a truce, giving hope there could be temporary peace in the Gaza Strip, szplug penned; and Saudi Arabia hinted it wants to increase oil production, Mr Garibaldi found out, but whether that spells relief at the pumps remains to be seen.
TopFinds Awards
It was the story that launched a thousand WTFs. The Associated Press wanted to force bloggers to pay for any AP quotes they embed in their posts. Covering this ludicrous policy — and its inevitable aftermath — was the winner of the TopJournalism Award, Sue D. In her first comprehensive article, we learned how AP wants to rankle bloggers with take-down notices, although it later retracted its position in the face of a massive blogger boycott. Sue D. followed up with another excellent overview of the blogosphere backlash, complete with AP’s absurd pricing policy and some bloggers’ arguments that they deserve pay for AP using their quotes in wire stories. She presented opposing positions with clear quotes from both camps, and simplified the controversy for anyone confused about AP’s about-face. It was a powerful double knockout of a feature series. Also, we offer a special kudos to Paul Wallis for his cutting opinion piece on AP “fighting for every paragraph.”
What do you know about Cindy McCain? In an effort to create a complete profile of the woman who could be the First Lady, Samantha A. Torrence informed us about the wife steering clear of media scrutiny. This article takes home the TopOpinion Award for shining a light on McCain’s private life — her millionaire family, her painkiller addiction — without veering into sensationalism. If you agree with Sam that the potential First Lady should be as closely scrutinized as the presidential hopeful, you should definitely read this article.
Chemical warfare could be a reality, we’ve been told, if terrorists resort to more insidious means of attacking large populations. Helping identify airborne chemicals is a device introduced to us by KJ, who wins this week’s Top Technology Award. She wrote about a gadget that can “detect chemical agents in concentrations as low as 25 parts in a trillion.” It’s all about nanotubes, nitrogen atoms and electrodes, so read the entire article to learn how the device works. It’s always heartening to read about technology designed to assist us from possible attacks (as opposed to feature creep) and it’s admirable to see a Citizen Journalist unveil this technology to the site’s readers.
Pets need their own social network, right? Wrong? Find out about one of the top Facebooks for pets in Sykos Masters‘ exclusive profile of the founder of HumanPets.com. Masters, winner of the TopInternet Award, went detailed in describing the site’s features, leaving no app unturned. His interview with the site’s creator is also terrific because the quotes add context and perspective to a social network some people may find peculiar. We always appreciate the original interviews.
Speaking of journalistic excellence, Bob Andelman garners the TopInterview Award for his impressive audio interview of Milo Ventimiglia, an actor from Heroes and one of the voices behind several animated shorts for American Eagle Outfitters. He interviews celebrities like Ventimiglia with a relaxed attitude that puts his subjects at ease, allowing them to reveal interesting tidbits about their work or personal life. As always, the Mr. Media interviews are unique, informative and a welcome addition to this citizen journalism community.
It’s not every day that a former military official links the occupation of Iraq to peak oil. Giving us this juicy story is the Citizen Journalist honoured with the TopPolitics Award, Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed. This exhaustive article outlined Brigadier-General James Ellery’s comments on the “strategic significance of Iraqi petroleum fields in relation to the danger of production peaks being breached in major oil reserves around the world.” There was a lot of info to absorb in this article, so take some time to give it a read when you’re hankering for Iraq news.
North by Northeast is Canada’s answer to Austin’s music festival South by Southwest. One intrepid Citizen Journalist sought to review his experiences like a Rolling Stone vet. mirrorwarp deserves the TopEntertainment Award for summing up his jaunts to infamous Toronto music clubs such as the El Mocambo and the Horseshoe Tavern. He put readers in the mosh pit with vivid descriptions of bands and their setlists. He even dropped some insider info about venues — “same crappy sightlines” — and wasn’t afraid to critique the tracks, calling one band “melodically uninspired.”
Senior citizen porn. Elder erotica. Are you shuddering yet? Or laughing? Or maybe getting turned on? Whatever your reaction, the rise of elder porn is exciting the Japanese, as Can Tran explained in his Top Offbeat Award-winning post. He bluntly stated: “Porno flicks with old people performing have become the newest booming sex niche in Japan.” There’s a 74-year-old man who’s appeared in 350 skin flicks. Perhaps this sauciness is greatly needed in Japan — according to the World Health Organization, “one out of four married couples had not had sex in a year.” Hot old-couple action could be just the inspiration these cold fish relationships need.
