iN GOOGLE SPEAK UP AND EASY OPEN INTERNET

iN GOOGLE SPEAK UP AND EASY OPEN INTERNET

 Internet is one of the reasons it's an integral part of our lives. For all these years that the Internet has been around, it has been an important medium through which people have got their voices heard.

 However, away in Dubai, the governments of the world are engaged in a closed-door meeting, with the regulation of the Internet as their agenda. In an official blog post, Google's Vint Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist shares that the conference convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is to revise an old treaty, in which only governments have a vote. The conference that started yesterday would go on till December 14. What's crucial here is that few of the proposals could let governments 'justify the censorship of legitimate speech, or even cut off Internet access in their countries Cerf writes further, "Our protocols were designed to make the networks of the Internet non-proprietary and inter operable. They avoided “lock-in,” and allowed for contributions from many sources. This openness is why the Internet creates so much value today. Because it is border less and belongs to everyone, it has brought unprecedented freedoms to billions of people worldwide: the freedom to create and innovate, to organize and influence, to speak and be heard."

 Speaking about the issue at hand, Cerf adds that the issue has seen over 1,000 organizations from more than 160 countries speak up. These are backed by several thousands of Internet users, who are for a free and open Internet. In addition to that, an interactive map at freeand open web.com will show users that people from all corners of the world have signed Google's petition. These users have also used the free and open  hash tag on social media, and have created and uploaded videos to say how important these issues are.

 Likewise, if you support an open and free Internet, too, you can sign the petition at google.com/ take action. Similarly, those on Google.com, will be able to spot a link below the search button.

 Those wanting to stay updated on the  Internet policy initiatives, can fill in their email id, location and first name/ alias and hit on Submit. There is also a video that has been uploaded, showing users from across the globe, voicing their demand for a free and open Internet. You can watch it below. If you want to add your voice to this petition, then you need to hit on the Add Your Voice option, and enter in your first name/alias, say why is a free and  open Internet important to you and add in your location.

Back home too, the topic of free Internet has become a topic of debate in recent times. Communications Minister Kapil Sibal recently stressed that the Internet requires not only governance, but transparency and accountability on the part of the user. Sibal opines that the user should be free to express his/her opinion, while being accountable for what is being said. “Above all managing the Internet needs consensus amongst stakeholders – Government, business, civil society, etc,” added Sibal, while inaugurating a conference.

 Sibal was speaking at the India Internet Governance Conference (IIGC 2012) organised by FICCI in Delhi, in association with the Ministry of Communications and IT, and the Internet Society.

Gmail users can Use up to 10GB

GMAIL USERS CAN NOW SEND ATTACHMENTS UP TO 10GB

My Friends ,If you are not happy with google's 25mb file attachment limit in gmail, then google's latest announcement should definitely make you glad. Google has now announced to integrate google drive into gmail, thereby allowing users to insert files from drive directly into an email without leaving their gmail.

With drive, users can now send files up to 10gb, which is 400 times larger than what a user sends as a traditional attachment. Also, because a user is sending a file stored in the cloud, all recipients will have access to the same, most-up-to-date version.

"gmail will also double-check that your recipients all have access to any files you're sending. This works like gmail's forgotten attachment detector: whenever you send a file from drive that isn't shared with everyone, you'll be prompted with the option to change the file's sharing settings without leaving your email. It'll even work with drive links pasted directly into emails," said phil sharp, product manager, google, in a blog post.to get started, users can just click on the drive icon while they are composing a message. Google has announced to roll out this feature over the next few days.

SKYPE SECURITY

SKYPE FIXES SECURITY FLAW

Skype has resolved a security bug that made it possible for hackers to steal accounts, the popular internet phone service said."We... have made updates to the password reset process today so that it is now working properly," Skype said in its blog post Wednesday. "We are reaching out to a small number of users who may have been impacted to assist as necessary."Skype's vulnerability allowed a hacker to use the same email address as that of the intended victim to create an account in the system. The hacker could then reset the password for all accounts associated with that email, thus locking out the account owner from Skype, according to tech media website CNET.Skype earlier Wednesday suspended its password reset feature to prevent hackers from taking advantage of the flaw.According to messages on Community.Skype.com, information about Skype's vulnerability to hacking had already been published in July this year, but nothing had been done to address this weakness.Skype was established in 2003, and currently has over 500 million registered users. Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion.

Wish you a very Happy Diwali!!

DIWALI: SPARE A THOUGHT FOR CHILDREN OF SIVAKASI

One of the first things that we would be looking in a yearly calendar is the day diwali would be celebrated. The indians living in india would be itching to celebrate while the indians living abroad would make sure their indian holiday plans are in sync with diwali time. Joy derived from triumph of good over evil is the hallmark of diwali. However, there are certain sections of people who need to be remembered, the same people who are the catalyst for making your diwali as colourful as you want to be.

Every year, 90 per cent of the crackers for diwali are made from a small place called sivakasi in south india. This is the capital of the fireworks industry in india and one of the leading centers across the world. After lui yang, the chinese city which is leader in the world production of crackers, sivakasi is the next hub for global fireworks industries. This is something that we should be proud about, however, this empire has been built on a model of extreme low wages and high casualty rates. According to the tamil nadu fireworks and amorces manufacturers association (tnfama), 237 lives have been lost over the last 12 years in fireworks manufacturing plants. In september this year, 39 people lost their lives in a fire at om shakti fireworks in sivakasi due to lack of adherence to safety norms and regulations in the town. The flouting of safety norms is a norm rather than an aberration in the fireworks industry especially amidst the unorganized and small companies operating across the sector. Even though there has been widespread condemnation by civil society over the state of affairs in sivakasi, year after year you see a similar situation unfolding. While accidents could happen in any city which produces firecrackers, it rarely happens with the sheer consistency and magnitude of sivakasi in recent times. Besides the issue of safety, the issue of child labour has plagued the industry for long.

Lets come to terms with this fact; most of the crackers that you are bursting today have had involvement of child labour at some level or the other. Though this is alarming, it is not surprising considering the magnitude of child labour in the fireworks industry across the country. Child labour is regrettably rampant as much in many other industries but the exploitation of children to make crackers that are dangerous is simply unacceptable. According to a un study published in the mid 1990's there were 30,000 people employed in the match industry and 3,000 people employed in the fireworks industry in sivakasi; all in between the age of 6-14. Some estimates suggest that the daily wage for these workers is less than 150 rupees a day; an abysmal reality that makes it almost on par with the minimum wage for workers in the fireworks industry which has been set at rs 99.98 per day. Besides the economics, the question is why should the children be doing what they are doing? Shouldn't they be taken care of by the society and the state? What happened to the self acclaimed goal of education to all? All of these questions point to a greater role needed to be played by both the state and the society at large.

There has to be a systematic response from the government in terms of legislation that tightens the safety norms and action on the ground with more investment in safety monitoring systems. A report from the bbc states that petroleum and explosives safety organisation (peso) had just 4 officers overseeing over 1,000 companies and factories in sivakasi over the last year. Is this good enough? There has to be an increase in manpower in monitoring mechanisms and enhanced law and order which cracks down vehemently on the firecracker owners who are flouting rules. Though there have been raids on companies flouting the law, the issue requires more investment and action. Legislation such as the child labour (prohibition and regulation) act of 1986 could be revamped to discourage children from working in family owned businesses etc. In addition, there has to be a sustained effort to educate the public, especially the people in the rural areas, on the impact of this on the children's future in the years to come.

Society needs to stand up and address these concerns. I am not suggesting we boycott crackers but why not contribute to the upliftment of communities in the sivakasi belt in the form of public private partnership? Why not work on evolving the best practices that the world's leading fireworks manufacturing city lui yang has? Why not try and provide education tools to these young kids who are sweltering in the heat with their lives on the line? Why not just think about all that we could do to mobilize non governmental resources for this cause? Why not start thinking about all this during an auspicious day such as diwali?

HOW TO CHANGE MOZILLA FIREFOX LANGUAGE

HOW TO CHANGE MOZILLA FIREFOX LANGUAGE

• CLICK ON TOOLS
  
  CLICK ON OPTIONS
  
  CLICK ON ADVANCED
  
  CLICK ON GENERAL
  
  CLICK ON LANGUAGES
  
  USE THE BOTTON DROP DOWN MENU TO SELECT YOUR LANGUAGE.
  
  
  HOPE THIS HELPS.