Negative Blogs

China on Tuesday announced it would indefinitely postpone a mandate requiring all personal computers sold in the country to be accompanied by a controversial content-filtering application, state media reported.

The announcement came one day before a government-set deadline that would have required the software, called Green Dam-Youth Escort, to come with all PCs, according to the official Xinhua news agency. NHMA

The Chinese government has said the software is chiefly a way for parents to protect children from pornography. But a wide range of outside parties have expressed concern about the software.

A letter was sent directly to Premier Wen Jiabao on June 26 and signed by an international group of more than 20 business associations including the Business Software Alliance, Consumer Electronics Association and both the U.S. and EU chambers of commerce.

China’s central government announced in May that the Green Dam software package must accompany all new computers in China. Citing China’s Ministry of Information Technology, China Daily recently reported the government policy came “in response to calls from many schools and parents.”

The number of people online in China has swelled in recent years. The nation surpassed the United States in 2008 as the world’s top user of the World Wide Web, according to a Chinese government-backed research group.

At least 27 people have been killed by a car bomb at a market in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, officials say.

The attack in the Shurja district came as Iraqis celebrated the withdrawal of US troops from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion.

US President Barack Obama said the move was an important milestone for Iraq, but that “difficult days” lay ahead.

The Kirkuk blast came 10 days after a truck bomb killed more than 70 in the city’s deadliest attack in over a year.

Iraqi and US troops have been on alert for attacks during the pullback, which was declared a national holiday.

Police Brig Gen Sarhat Qadir told the Associated Press news agency that at least 40 people had been wounded in the latest blast, caused by an explosives-laden vehicle parked near the crowded outdoor Shurja market.

Michael Jackson’s body will be taken to his Neverland Ranch on Thursday morning for a public viewing Friday, a law enforcement source said Tuesday.

A private memorial service is scheduled for Sunday at Neverland.

Also, a Jackson will written in 2002 has been found, according to family lawyer Londell McMillan.

Planning is under way for a 30-car motorcade carrying Jackson’s remains to leave the Los Angeles area at 10 a.m. for Santa Barbara County, California, on Thursday, a source said.

Another state law enforcement source said the California Highway Patrol had not been formally requested to escort the motorcade.

The question of where Jackson will be buried remains unanswered.

Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, CNN has confirmed.

Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital, sources told CNN.

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles, California, Thursday morning.

Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said.

“I can only tell you that the family members are crying and I just have not been able to confirm anything, other than to hug them and tell them that I love them,” Oxman said.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m.

Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.

Asked specifics of the patient’s condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.

Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. CNN has not confirmed his death.

Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital, sources told CNN.

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles Thursday morning.

Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m.

Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.

Asked specifics of the patient’s condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.

The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the “King of Pop.” Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his “Thriller” is one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Jackson is the seventh of nine children in a well-known musical family. He has three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.

Before you accuse me of macho, this is a sketch of a program of German humor, so any complaint is with them.
Funny video that shows how the Wii would be for women. Shii be known and would have somewhat different functions … Do not bother and take it with humor!

Sony just announced the rumored new motion controller for the PS3 — the prototype looks like a wand with a color-changing ball on top. It’s designed to work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye, with the wand overlaid on-screen with a weapon or tool. Unlike Microsoft’s Project Natal, Sony says they’ve learned “some experiences need buttons,” which is why there’s still a controller involved.

The system is said to be “sub-millimeter” precise, and it was demoed drawing and playing a shooter — it’s sort of the middle ground between Natal and Wii Motion Plus. Sony says it’ll launch in the spring of 2010, but we don’t know what pricing will be like yet.

Bloggers are having a real impact on opinions inside many Arabic nations, finds a broad look at the blogosphere in the Middle East.

The study has given web researchers insight into the issues and forces that are shaping online conversation in the Middle East and beyond.

The study, carried out by the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society at Harvard analyzed some 35,000 active Arabic language blogs in 18 different countries. This included several thousand blogs that mixed Arabic and English, or Arabic and French.

From that set, researchers identified the most connected blogs, i.e. those that were the most linked to, and then used a team of Arabic speakers to further analyze the content.

A map of this blogging network was then created.

“The goal,” said the authors, “was to produce a baseline assessment of the networked public sphere in the Arab Middle East, and its relationship to a range of emergent issues, including politics, religion, culture and international affairs.”

The study was paid for largely with US State Department funds.

Bloggers

Thousands of fans queued in London for the release of the online computer game World of Warcraft.

The fantasy role-playing game has millions of players worldwide but there is concern from some that the game is too addictive.

Online gamers are being warned about criminals stealing their details and using them to hack into bank and credit card accounts.