Tribute to The Oldest Blogger in the World!

The oldest active blogger in the world, 97 year old Spanish María Amelia López, born in 1911 passed away on May 20, 2009. 

Her blog was started when her grandson set up a blog for his 95-year old granny as a birthday present. Her site was getting over 1,5 million visitors – a dream for millions of bloggers worldwide.

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When I'm on the Internet, I forget about my illness. The distraction is good for you - being able to communicate with people. It wakes up the brain, and gives you great strength. - Maria Amelia Lopez

Not only her ancient origins, but her raspy sense of humour as she shared her insights of the process of getting old made her an Internet celebrity. Recalling her tales of opposing the Franco regime and giving her take on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, this granny became a celebrity such that the Spanish Prime Minister José Zapatero had to get photographed with her.

Some people really are late bloomers. The Internet has lost another great “personality”.

Currently, the oldest blogger in the world is 111 year old Brazilian-born Bernardo la Pallo. His blog has very sane and valuable advice on how lead a good life, longer Age Less, Live More!

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The Youngest Blogger in the World

There is going to be a fierce debate about this title. 

There is even a blog dedicated to discovering the youngest blogger in the world. 

This blog suggest that Lewis Chew from Malaysia, is the youngest blogger at the age of 2. No, not years but months!

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What Kind of People Blog Globally


According to Technorati the people who research much about blogger and Internet behaviour, this can be said about blogger demographics worldwide in 2008:

• 50% of bloggers are 18-34
• Bloggers more affluent and educated than the general population
• 70% have college degrees
• Four in ten have an annual household income of $75 000+
• One in four have an annual household income of $100 000+
• 44% are parents
• Two-thirds are male

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Only 7.1% of bloggers are over 51 years of age, according to Sysomos, a Marketware company.

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It is no surprise that the largest percentage of bloggers by population are from USA.

Very significant is the low percentage of bloggers from Australia, another English speaking country. The percentages look like this:

• USA - 29.22%
• UK - 6.75%
• Japan - 4.88%
• Brazil - 4.19%
• Canada - 3.93%
• Germany - 3.34%
• Italy - 3.21%
• Spain - 3.14%
• France - 2.87%
• Russia - 2.31%
• Australia - 2.22%
• India 2.14%

Blogging Can Be Dangerous for Your Health

Is blogging harmful for you? 

Can you actually get killed for expressing your opinion in your blog?

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Blogging can be harmful, even fatal for you in some countries where many people get into trouble for criticizing governments or power elites.

Reporters without borders report that globally in 2008, 1 blogger was killed, 
59 bloggers were arrested, 45 were physically attacked, 1,740 websites were blocked, shut down or suspended. 

The General manager of Shuli Architectural Engineering, Wei Wenhua, in Hubei province of China was beaten to death by “chengguan” (municipal police officers) while filming with his mobile phone a clash with demonstrators in Tianmen (not in Beijing but in Hubei province) on 7 January 2008.



Governments getting Tougher on Internet Censorship


According to Reporters without Borders, 64 persons are currently imprisoned worldwide because their blogposts upset governments or power elites.

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37 countries practised online censorship in 2008. Good old China kept its reputation by censoring 93 websites but Syria beat them by censoring 162 websites and Iran took the bronze medal with 38 websites. 

• In China, 10 cyber-dissidents were arrested, 31 were physically attacked or threatened, and at least three were tried and convicted according to Reporters Without Borders. 
• In Iran, Reporters Without Borders reported 18 arrests, 31 physical attacks and 10 convictions. 
• Syria had 8 arrests and 3 convictions
• Egypt 6 arrests 
• Morocco 2 arrests and 2 convictions.

The military junta in Burma, is trying to enter the Guiness Book of Records for the longest prison sentences as punishment for blogging. Blogger and comedian Zarganar and the young cyber-dissident Nay Phone Latt were given incredibly long prison sentences. 59 years for Zarganar and 20 years for Nay Phone Latt. 

Egypt’s Kareem Amer’s four-year prison sentence for postings seen as anti-religious and insulting to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak might seem lenient in comparison.



Blog Censorship in different Countries

Oxford Analytica gives regular updates on the current global situation of blog censorship. The Press Freedom Index, another way to approach this issue, United States or even United Kingdom is way below Namibia and Hungary. 

Whatever reasons they give, in many countries the authorities try to restrict access to certain content, sites, authors and readers from interacting on certain themes. 

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The US military openly admits that they censors soldier’s blogs which mention experiences in wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The number of Internet users in China grew by 42% to 300 million in January 2009. Every 1 in 4 Chinese have access to the Internet, and 90% of them broadband. So, people responsible for censorship in China have to work really hard.



Internet Censorship in China

Already in 2005 Microsoft officially admitted that China was censoring blogs for certain terms like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’. According to Rebecca MacKinnon of the University of Hong Kong, there are basically two types of Internet censorship in China – those “inside the Great Firewall” and those “outside the Great Firewall” and the relationship between the blog manager or editor with the local State council is crucial to the degree of censorship experienced. The Chinese government has had the Golden Shield Project since 1998 to protect citizens from

• Pornography
• Anti-social opinions and activities
• Ideas, organizations and opinions which are a threat to national security
• Ideas, organizations and opinions which undermine the government’s policies on religion or are seen as subversive

If your blog or site has references to certain subjects like the Falung Gong, Freedom Movement in China, Tiananmen Square happenings etc and the Internet police behind the Great Firewall of China do not like the way this information is handled, your site might get banned in China.

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It really depends on who you ask in China or about China and their censorship. Here is what a Falung Gong practitioner (obviously not based in China) has to say about censorship in China. the name of the blog is Falunggongforever.


Test if Your Blog or Site is Banned in China

There are two sites where you can test if your blogs or sites are banned in China.

1. http://www.websitepulse.com/help/testtools.china-test.html
2. http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/

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Yes, according to the greatwallofchina.org and Chinese readers, this blog Original Wavelength is blocked in China. Who knows whom I have annoyed and for writing what!


Does Anyone Want Blog Censorship?

It is not only the mighty Chinese government or the Iranian clerics who want censorship. In Canada, Manitoba's First Nation leaders want the public and government to clamp down on people who post racist remarks about aboriginals on media websites. 

A new survey reveals that most Americans believe bloggers should not be allowed to publish sensitive personal information about individuals. Web hosting company Hostway polled 2,500 Americans on blogging. 80% of respondents did not believe that bloggers should be allowed to publish home addresses and other personal information about private citizens. A further 72 % favoured censorship of personal information about celebrities, and 68%, information about elected or appointed government officials such as judges or mayors.

Significantly, more than one-third of these American respondents had never heard of blogs before participating in the survey, and only around 30% of participants had actually visited a blog themselves.

There are many sites spreading violent hate messages and dangerous propaganda in addition to sites, which aim to cheat or mislead people.

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Is the Right to Freedom of Speech a sacred right? 

Do you think any authority should be allowed to censor these hate blogs?

Protesting Naked Against the State - Stephen Gough

Would you go to jail for your principles? 

Or would you rather give in and do what you are told? When you publicly challenge the system, how far are you allowed to go before the empire strikes back?

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When thinking about governments that tolerate no challenge from strong willed individuals, you would automatically think of countries like Burma, which has kept the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in house arrest for 19 years already or Uzbekistan, which put opposition leader Sanjar Umarov under arrest for basically opposing the regime.

When talking about prisoners of conscience, you would think of people like Nelson Mandela, who served 27 years in prison for protesting against apartheid in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi, who spent 6,5 years in prison for protesting against the British government or Chia Thye Poh of Singapore, who was imprisoned without trial for 23 years.

Can this sort of thing happen in a contemporary free Western democracy?

The Strange Case of the Naked Protester Stephen Gough

No one knows this better than the Naked Rambler, a former Royal Marine Stephen Gough also known as Steve Gough. He walked the entire length of Great Britain (1,407 km) from Land’s End in the south to John o' Groats in northern Scotland in 2003-2004 totally naked except for shoes, socks, and a hat to protect himself from the sun. 
On Thursday 18^th December 2008, he was again sentenced to two years in prison for breach of the peace. Gough is protesting against the British people’s attitudes to the human body. 

"This is just one step in the whole process of making people aware about our bodies because we are so paranoid about them." Gough says. 

Stephen Gough was again arrested at Edinburgh airport for removing his clothes during a flight from Southampton to Edinburgh and got a seven-month jail sentence. Characteristically, he again refused to dress up when he was released into Saughton Prison car park in Edinburgh. This time the judge, Isobel Poole was lenient and found that there was no evidence of "actual alarm or disturbance," adding 

"I can understand this conduct could be considered unpleasant to passers-by had there been any but there is a lack of evidence to that effect."

What is the Fear of Nudity? Gymnophobia

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Gymnophobia is the fear of nudity. Serious and respectable people admire ancient Greek culture and pay fees to visit museums filled with naked statues. 

Nudity in art and sculpture is considered a part of higher expression of the aspiration of the human spirit. But, these same people consider seeing nudity in vivo as revolting and outrageous.

Sexual Appeal is Everywhere

The majority of Internet traffic, as revealed by search engine keywords, is geared toward pornography and searching for sex. 

• Why do people spend time, money, and energy staring at flesh on a screen, when seeing human flesh in a non-erotic or sensual context is considered disgusting? 
• Why do South Koreans spend $526.76 per year on pornography when the country with one of the highest number of PhD’s in the world spends per capita $360 per year on education?
• Why is pornography is a $ 27 billion industry in China (double that of the US)?

One fundamental pillar of Western democracy has been the institution of love marriage. The concept of romantic love as a basis of marriage differs totally from the concept of arranged marriage, where parents try to consider the compatibility of partners marrying in addition to furthering the business interests of families. 

When marriages go sour, the most heard complaint is:

 “I don’t love her/him any more” 

or

 “The fire has gone out, there is no sexual attraction any more.”

The majority of marketing messages use sexual appeal to promote goods and services. But then those, who provide sexual services, and instant love, the prostitutes and courtesans, the rent boys and escorts, are not valued in society. Obviously, people use them or they’d have been out of business centuries ago. Is Stephen Gough yet another eccentric crackpot or does Stephen Gough have a valid point in claiming that Western societies should reexamine their relationship to the human body?

Gandhi’s method of Satyagraha has inspired leaders like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Barrack Obama, and countless others but Gandhi always exercised savoir fair, the instinctive ability to know how to deal with any situation that arises. In 1931 when Gandhi went to meet George V, the King and Emperor, Mr. Gandhi was not in "morning dress" as the royal invitation had requested but he was wearing his customary loincloth, and a shawl of homespun.

Viscount Templewood's Nine Troubled Years, describes Gandhi's meeting with the King Emperor. Just, as Gandhi was taking leave, His Majesty warned. 

'Remember Mr. Gandhi, I won't have any attacks on my Empire'. 

Gandhi replied. 

'I must not be drawn into a political argument in Your Majesty's palace after receiving Your Majesty's hospitality'.

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• Alexander, H. (1969), Gandhi Through Western Eyes, New Delhi: Asia Publishing House p.82
  
• Nine Troubled Years: Viscount Templewood by Sir Samuel Hoare Publisher: Collins ,1954, London

Sell More by Sharing on Peer to Peer Networks - Yes it is true!

They say that piracy on the Internet decreases sales. Everywhere you hear figures in hundreds of millions dollars/euros of revenues lost by sellers of music, movies, software and books.

Is it really true? Can you have a different take on sales by sharing? Here is a different story.

Paulo Coelho, author of 30 books such as “The Alchemist” and “The Witch of Portobello”, sold over 100 million books last year. 


Being one of the most widely read living authors, many people want to know the secrets of his success.
"Success is falling down 7 times, but getting up 8." is one of his most quoted quips.

He puts this success down to BitTorrent, as he saw a huge increase in sales when his books appeared on sites such as The Pirate Bay.

Does this mean that anyone who wants to become a bestselling author, should begin by distributing free on a peer-to-peer network? But, the question of how to attract readers still remains.

Software, movies and music are essentially different from books. They can be consumed and used electronically very easily. But people still prefer to read paper books. So a ‘taster’ on pirate sites actually pushes sales up. Would this phenomenon also work for software, music and films? 

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Software companies freely distribute downloadable time-limited and function-limited versions on their own sites. 

Would software companies release 'taster' versions of their programs on 'pirate' sites - hardly? 

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It would be difficult to picture Microsoft releasing mini-taster versions of Office software like Word, Excel and PowerPoint on these sites.

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However, should the music and movie industries learn something here rather than moan?

E-Democracy in India

Elections used to be such a messy affair in the old days in India. The special ink they used to mark the index finger of the voter could stain your clothes. Some people found ways of getting the ink of their fingers and voted multiple times. 

Political parties would bring truckloads of people to vote for their chosen candidates. There would be mass rallies, spontaneous fighting or ‘hungama’ as it’s called in India. But still democracy functioned. 

In 1977 the ordinary Indian people voted the despotic Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had declared emergency and ruled by decree, out of power. She eventually was sentenced to prison, and then brought back by a landslide majority at the elections resulting in more 'hungama'. Electronic voting has changed much of this. 

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Democracy has Ancient Roots in India

Athenian democracy from around 510 B.C is well-known but there was democracy in other places also in those days.

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Democracy is not new in India. Sudhodhana, the father of Buddha was a democratically elected king in the sixth century B.C. This fact is not known very much. 

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Some people, especially from the USA, love to lecture that they are taking democracy everywhere and they don't spare Indians either. They don't like being told back that malfunctions in their own ballot system brought a president widely acknowledged to be the worst to power. Unknown to them and also to most of the world the largest democracy in the world is also a functioning E-Democracy.

How is E-Democracy Different?

What now is an E-democracy? 

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The term originates from the combination of the words ’electronic’ and ’democracy’. It usually means the usage of electronic facilities such as the Internet for implementing democratic processes like voting in a republic or representative democracy. The term digital democracy is also used for e-democracy. There is even an institute e-Democracy Centre, dedicated to studying e-democracy.  The centre is based at the newly founded Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau (centre for Democracy at Aarau) at the University of Zürich. 

Electronic voting has been successfully used in countries like Estonia, Brazil, India, Ireland, and the United States. The second aspect of a functioning democracy, i.e., citizens providing checks and balances for the functioning of the elected representatives by electronic means - it remains to be seen how Indians are able to achieve that.

Technology is the enabler and not the solution

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The central challenge is to integrate new technological means with traditional or "offline" methods of access to information as well as channels of consulting and engaging the public in policy-making decisions. 

Quantity does not mean quality so the standards must be kept high. Probably the biggest barrier to engaging people successfully in online engagement of policy-making is not technological but rather cultural, organisational and a mindset issue. Richard E. Sclove makes this point  in "Democracy and Technology" - "The technologies we use are the results of human choices and not the product of forces beyond human control."