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Two major corporations in Japan has just formed a partnership. Stratus Technologies and Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Corporation announced on October 2nd that they will be merging and working together ftServers. Now they they are combined and sharing information the new servers it is easier to access information needed from the host system. ftServers is run on Linux, which is a sort of open source software for development and distribution. They will also use ftservers in their products.

Rosling is a global public health expert, and is passionate about how statistical data should inform our understanding of global regions, individual nations in comparison with each other, and he challenges the possibly erroneous conventional wisdom about differences between "first world" and "third world" nations in terms of social markers that exist. This item is useful background for understanding foundational aspects of any area of the globe, and it also points you to relevant data sources.

This animated data software is available at http://www.gapminder.org/ It could make a great format for your final project in lieu of a more conventional paper -- something to think about?

I remember discussing in class the immense amount of nuclear power we have especially when compared to other nations. Also, I remember us considering the fact that our government believes it is acceptable for us to possess nuclear power and not acceptable for other nations to possess nuclear power because we feel that as a whole, our morals are more honorable. If China is leading the cyber war, then can our nuclear power keep us safe when they can potentially access our launch codes in the future?

It is a bit disconcerting how the government tries to cover up and not discuss the fact this severe of a breach happened, and when it was brought to light, they seem to very shyly admit to the fact it happened. Even though they say the success rate of the cyber attacks is rare, the fact that China, or potentially any other nation with enough willpower, may hack and access the codes is daunting. Hopefully, the U.S. will do more to develop stronger forms of security and technology to protect this information.

This is pretty interesting. I follow politics fairly close and even I was unaware of this most recent attack. I agree with Sana, they very shyly admitted the downfall. These attacks should not be taken lightly, and it seems like more precautions need to be taken as well. Perhaps, they should install Norton Anti-Virus.

Today in class we talked about robots or machines with artificial intelligence, AI, and how it is going to be a reality soon. This article is about China's military advancements in unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV for short. The drone is similar to the Predator drone used by the US military but is cheaper at $1 million. The drone is called "Yi Long" but called Wing long in English. The editor of Kanwa Defense Monthly stated, "They know that in future wars unmanned warfare will be very important." Now with this new technology; choices are going to be harder to make when it comes to casualties. It is very easy to be objective when you are sitting in a room far away from the action, but if you are on the field doing the work its another story.

The quote from the Chinese president about having to win the war in an "information age" is really interesting. It is becoming more and more apparent that advancing military technology during this time makes a significant impact on warfare today and the future.

Developed nations seem to approaching a point where most people are using the Internet, so now Google is looking to nations in Asia that are developing as a new demographic to target for Internet use. With people from these new countries, the amount of information and idea sharing on the Internet has the potential to expand in vast amounts. Google wants to expand to its influence in countries like Vietnam, India, and Indonesia as a way to bring more people online.

This was a smart business move for Google. Not only that, but I think the concept of mass media has changed over the last few years. I used to think of the mass media as a medium for different ideologies and dialects to come together in America to create one larger dialect and ideology shared by our nation. Now, it seems that the mass media does the same except on a global scale. The pace of globalization seems to be on a multiplicative increase along with technology.

An computer at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was infected with a virus, and it might have had information about their new rocket taken from it. If data about the rocket, Epsilon, and the other rockets being developed along with it was taken, the mission to launch them next year has been compromised. Japan is hoping to compete against the space programs of the U.S., China, and Russia, so this would be a major setback for them.

Countries in South Asia are working on improving science education among women and children. Literacy rates are fairly high, but science education is not. These countries believe that they must invest more in the scientific education of their children because they will be growing up to run the world soon and need to have knowledge in these fields. Most of the science education varies by country to fit along with what is most important to the people there. For example, developing countries like Nepal are focusing on energy, food, and water resources.

It's good to see some countries trying to improve their scientific literacy. Even if some of these kids don't want to pursue a career in some science field, a better understanding of science could help develop better problem solving skills and help them make more informed decisions in the future. Plus, more people who understand the issues they discussed like global warming can lead to more possible solutions.

An article about how a governmental initiative combating cybercrime (cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, spamming) in the Philippines could be regarded as censorship. The new and controversial law has citizens and the media protesting against it because they say it is against free speech. U.S human rights groups have spoken out against the law as well, claiming that it gives the government too much freedom to private users' information.

"Under the new act, a person found guilty of libellous comments online, including comments made on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter or blogs, could be fined or jailed." This is really amazing. Why would an act to prevent crimes like child pornography and identity theft include this? Seems like an instance of a country's government trying to get more control over it's people in a covert way. Hopefully something is done about this.

The law definitely seems to be a way for the government to prevent dissent from the people by placing punishment for libel in the same legislation targeted for more severe cybercrimes. It is a very extreme way to attempt to stop people from appearing dissatisfied from the government. The extremes some countries go to in hopes of keeping their citizens in line are amazing, and I also hope that something is done to change the law to make it less severe.