The World Worm Web

A Venezuelan court ordered newspaper El Nacional not to print violent images after the paper published a controversial image of dead bodies piled up in a Caracas morgue.

The photo, taken by an El Nacional photographer in December, ran with a story last Friday about security problems in the country. On Monday, the image was picked up by another newspaper, Tal Cual.

The Venezuelan government deemed the decision to run the photo as a part of a campaign criticizing current president Hugo Chavez, in light of the upcoming September elections.

The court ordered El Nacional and Tal Cual to not publish violent photos, saying the ruling is to protect children:

“(The print media) should abstain from publishing violent, bloody or grotesque images, whether of crime or not, that in one way or another threaten the moral and psychological state of children.”

El Nacional responded to the ruling on Wednesday by running a front-page story about what they call censorship, along with large blank spaces with “Censored” stamped across where photos usually run.

Miguel Henrique Otero, director of El Nacional said that the government was aggressively responding to criticism of its response to crime. “The editorial aim of the photo was to shock people so that in some way they react to the situation, since the government does nothing,” Otero said.

Venezuela is cited to have the world’s highest violent crime rates, with an estimated 16,000 murders last year (the U.S. had 14,137 murders in 2008). Crime statistics are a hot issue in the upcoming election.

But Venezuela’s Public Defender Gabriela del Mar Ramirez Perez said in a statement that the court order was not to limit or censor the press:

We reaffirm that the exercise of the constitutional right to freedom of expression and information, or the development of actions to promote electoral trends … in no case justify violating the rights of children and adolescents.

Reporters without Borders has jumped on the issue, noting that the disturbing nature of the published image calls into question the newspaper’s “sense of responsibility.” Yet on the other hand, the “court order is much too broad and imprecise,” the group wrote in a statement:

“What are the exact criteria for deciding if something affects the psychological well-being of children or adolescents? Would the photo of an armed policeman in the street, a soldier on maneuvers or a death notice be in breach of this order?”

Another fact worth noting is that some members of the Venezuelan government say that conditions in the morgues have changed since the photo was taken.

So while newspapers have a responsibility and right to report the news, did El Nacional go too far? Did they wrongly cross an unwritten line? And is the court ruling too stringent? Let us know what you think.

(via Reuters)

Back in October last year, there were reports flying around that Seven would name their second digital “Channel Mate”. Today, the network officially launched their third digital channel, “7mate”. I weep for free-to-air TV.

Stupid name aside, the channel itself sounds pretty good. Targeted towards males aged 16-49, 7mate will go live on September 25 with an HD broadcast of the AFL Grand Final. Among the programming headed to 7mate is Family Guy, Scrubs, American Dad, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Crank Yankers, That ’70s Show, Caprica, Stargate Atlantis and a heap of others you can read here.

What’s not clear is whether or not this third channel for the Seven network will replace their current HD channel – the announcement claims that you’ll need to tune into channel 73 on September 25 on a HD capable device, as well as confirming the AFL final will be broadcast in HD. From memory the current licensing arrangements only allow one HD channel per network, which means 7HD will disappear into the ether come September 25.

UPDATE: Seven has confirmed to PC Authority that 7HD is going the way of the dodo.

[7mate]

While the 2010 Tri Nations could be decided this weekend, SANZAR has released the draw for the shortened 2011 tournament.

In what could be the last of the three-way competition ahead of Argentina’s inclusion in 2012, the 2011 Tri Nations will start on July 23 in Sydney and finish in Brisbane on August 27.

South Africa will host a Tri Nations match for the first time in the Eastern Cape, with the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium hosting the Springboks – All Blacks encounter on Saturday the 20th of August.

The Springboks play the Wallabies a week earlier in Durban on August 13.

New Zealand’s two home fixtures will double as the final test runs for two 2011 Rugby World Cup venues.

Wellington’s Westpac Stadium will play host to the All Blacks and Springboks on the 30th of July, before Eden Park – the venue for the 2011 RWC Final — hosts the Bledisloe Cup clash between the All Blacks and Wallabies on August 6.

Australia’s two home matches see the Wallabies take on the Springboks in the tournament opener at ANZ Stadium and finish with the return Bledisloe Cup clash at Suncorp Stadium.

August 18, 2010 at 12:57 PM

As a self confessed gun nut, I love it! It’s been a long standing tradition that my ex-mobile phone goes on the trap launcher for trip with a few lead pills. I wish I had the equipment to capture it.

This only happens when a phone dies or becomes unusable. As fun as it is to knock a phone out of the sky with a shotgun, it was still disappointing to have to do it twice in one year (thanks for nothing, Nokia 8210!!!).

Next on the launcher, Sony Ericsson K800i. It’s long overdue. I’m not actually looking forward to the day the HTC Desire gets flung. Phones are getting bigger again, and it sure is gonna take the challenge out of it.

Permalink aaReply

15 years ago today, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 1.0, the first version of a browser that would eventually command nearly 95 per cent market share. Happy birthday to the browser that has been around for hyperlinks, hash tags and everything in between.

When it was introduced to the world on August 16, 1995, Microsoft Internet Explorer 1.0 was a retooled version of a browser called Mosaic, licensed by Microsoft from a company called Spyglass Incorporated.

Internet Explorer matured quickly, however, and fended off Netscape in the late ’90s to dominate the browser landscape. At its peak, in 2002, combined versions of Internet Explorer accounted for nearly 95 per cent of browser market share. It’s been slowly losing ground since, having just fallen below 60 per cent for the first time since 1999 when its star was rising, though IE9, the beta for which will be out in just under a month, promises to be a nimble new start that could reinvigorate the lumbering giant.

Whatever your feelings about IE, it is undeniably an old-timer in the browser world, one that has grown and changed dramatically in step with the internet itself. Happy 15th, Internet Explorer. [TechRadar]

Illustration by Sam Spratt. Check out Sam’s portfolio and become a fan of his Facebook Artist’s Page.

Screenshot via

THE Labor Party has flagged it will shut down a major loophole in the mobile phone industry.

The loophole has allowed games and applications to go online without any kind of classification.

Amid debate on internet and video game censorship, it has emerged that thousands of smartphone games and applications are being sold or distributed without going through a classification check, in contravention of the National Classification Scheme.

The largest distributor of smartphone applications, Apple, is bypassing millions of dollars in fees, as classification fees range from $470 to $2040 for computer games, costing the government revenue.

More than 220,000 applications are available in Australia for download.

At a conservative estimate, one-third of them are games, suggesting compliance costs would be in the millions.

A spokeswoman for Minister of Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor said he was “concerned about the classification of games playable on mobile telephones and had put the wheels in motion to address this with his state and territory counterparts”.

Definitions of computer games under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 do not exclude games distributable or playable on mobile phones.

At the May meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, it was requested that the classification of mobile phone games be considered out of session.

The issue was on the agenda of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting of state AGs and the Home Affairs Minister, which was postponed three weeks ago due to the election.

Media understands the issue will be raised at a separate meeting of state ministers overseeing classification in November, although most attention will focus on Mr O’Connor’s expected announcement, if he and Labor are re-elected, on whether the Australian National Classification Scheme should include an R 18+ classification for computer games.

It is a legal requirement that films, computer games and some publications be classified before sale, but a loophole, or lack of awareness, means apps are being sold for use on smartphones such as the Apple iPhone without any censorship or guidance for users and parents.

Apple, which places its own non-binding ratings on applications and games, did not respond to Media.

Similarly, games industry representatives were coy, or unwilling to speak, about the loophole.

“It’s one of a number of emerging issues that are coming out as the industry develops,” said Simon Goodrich, president of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association.

“It is a relatively new area and more checks and balances will come in as it grows.”

The minister accepted there were “practical challenges for industry required to submit thousands of applications for classification and the Classification Board responsible for classifying these games”.

He has asked the federal Attorney-General’s Department to develop options that did not require legislative changes by the states and territories.

While a number of submissions to the ongoing inquiry into computer games classifications raised the potential issue of classification for mobile games and apps, Australia’s smartphone providers and games developers have blithely broken the law and dodged hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees.

Individual fines for breaches of classification can reach $25,000.

A stricter compliance regime is likely to shake the mobile download market.

And costs will likely be passed on to developers who will either raise prices or opt out of distributing uncommercial games.

 

Say goodbye to any “smartphone” manufacturer making their phone available in Australia, we will go back to the dark days.

If you’re looking for a cheap way to get into digital radio, Pure has announced the $79 Pure Mi to hit shelves next month.

Available in both black and white, the Mi is a small little DAB+ device with a monochrome screen, 16 presets and an FM tuner to compliment the DAB+ one. It’s small enough to have anywhere in the home, and there’s an optional battery pack that allows up to 18 hours worth of listening away from a power point.

It’s kind of ugly, but for the asking price, I guess that can be forgiven should you be in the market for a new digital radio.

[Pure]

This is what they should have hit the market with in the beginning.

Windows: If you like the look and feel of Mac OS X but prefer to stick with Windows (whether it be for gaming, or because you just don’t like Apple), freeware Snow Transformation Pack will make Windows looks like OS X.

Click on the image for a closer look.

Snow Transformation Pack will change the appearance of your whole system, including the login screen, icons, wallpapers, sounds, dock, dialog boxes, and other UI elements. You’ll need to disable User Account Control to install it, so you may have to run the installer twice—once to disable UAC and then again (after restarting) to install the package. On installing, you’ll get a few choices as to whether you want to install a few extra background apps that add extra graphics, which is nice if your computer isn’t necessarily a powerhouse (so you can turn them off to keep performance up).

It looks surprisingly like OS X, with a few exceptions in usability. There are a few manual tweaks you can make to make even look more Mac-like (such right clicking on the Taskbar, hitting Properties, and checking “Use Small Icons” in the Taskbar tab), but overall it looks pretty good. If you’re tired of the usual Windows GUI and want to get a Mac-like experience for a while, it’s a neat and easy tool to help you do so.

Snow Transformation Pack is a free download, Windows Vista/7 only.

Snow Transformation Pack [via Life Rocks 2.0]