In The News

Spy Agencies Now Share the Wikipedia Way

Greg Miller November 2, 2006
Typically, the US intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense invent gadgets that often find their way into daily American life. But aiming for better teamwork, US spies have turned to open-source software as invented by Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where anyone can propose, write or edit entries. US Intellipedia, not open to the public, will allow staff of 16 intelligence agencies...

Google Defiant Over Censorship in China

David Smith November 1, 2006
Defenders of free speech reject any controls over the internet. This issue and others were debated by more than 90 countries attending the first Internet Governance Forum in Athens. Companies like Google do business in China despite some censorship, and Google maintains that simply providing a connection is a major first step to creating an open society. To deny access to restrictive regimes only...

Way Radical, Dude

Jose Antonio Vargas October 20, 2006
Radical Islamic organizations have developed video games that aim to kill US President Bush or rescue Iranian nuclear scientists from US Special Forces. For some Middle Easterners, the new games are a response to US Defense Department games that depict Muslims as military targets. But the Army Game Project denies that it focuses on any particular people or region. The free video games produced in...

Social Networking Sites Keep Their Local Flavor as They Go Global

James Shih October 18, 2006
Internet social-networking sites pop up regionally, but quickly gather members around the globe. Sites like MySpace and Facebook started the online friendship-tracking trend in the US, and similar sites have emerged in South Korea, Australia, Germany and elsewhere. Regional online sites can quickly acquire global stature, analysts suggest. "The majority of large Internet companies in the US...

Tussle Over a Vanished Kingdom

Choe Sang-Hun October 16, 2006
The region known as Koguryo, spanning modern Mancuria and parts of North Korea and Siberia, was once a powerful nation in the Far East many centuries ago. The name “Korea” is based on the region’s name, and many Koreans take pride in historical feats of ancient warriors battling foes, ranging from ferocious tigers to invading Chinese. So alarm bells went off in South Korea after Chinese...

Indispensable Old Media

Susan D. Moeller October 12, 2006
Communications technology has made information exchange more widespread than ever before. Consumers are able to choose between endless sources, rendering the passive absorption of filtered knowledge obsolete. The rise of new media, however, has not diminished the importance of investigative reporters researching stories for more traditional media. Journalists still make criminals and corrupt...

Managing Globalization: “You like tomato and I like tomahto”

Daniel Altman October 6, 2006
Agreement on standards allows people to understand or use a product in more locations. Standards – such as the shape of an electric plug or the height of a chair – are the “glue” that hold the global economy together, according to journalist Daniel Altman, and cover engineering, manufacturing, packaging and transportation. Because of standards, manufacturers know how to design a product and...