Syrian protests spread into capital

Syrian protests spread into capital

On Saturday, Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of people taking part in a funeral procession in the Mezze neighbourhood of Damascus for protesters killed the previous day. The rally soon transformed into an anti-regime march. Unprecedented protests in a city which until now had been more familiar with the repression inflicted by forces loyal to the president Bashar al-Assad.

Prior to recent events, rebels in Damascus have been forced to come up with alternative ways of voicing their opposition to the government. For one of their first actions, they poured red dye into fountains across the city as a symbol of the blood shed by victims of the repression.

Graffiti drawn at night, loud speakers playing revolution songs from a street bin and balloons carrying anti-regime slogans up into the sky; regime opponents in the capital have used all means available to defy the authorities in a city placed under high security.

One of the most recent operations involved putting stickers on street signs, on which were written names of demonstrators killed by security forces. Residents of the capital no longer seem afraid of the security apparatus in place. Web user Omar Ghabra feels the recent demonstrations show the wall of fear in Damascus is starting to crumble, suggesting the impending fall of the Syrian regime.

Basketball phenomenon Jeremy Lin

From a complete unknown to the rising star of the American basketball league in just 10 days… Jeremy Lin plays for the New York Knicks and this is his amazing story. His astonishing rise to the top is receiving a great deal of online coverage.

He is the only Asian American currently playing in the NBA league and is becoming a veritable online sensation. His recent exploits on the basketball courts have become top trending topics on social networks and his Facebook and Twitter accounts have been inundated with messages from fans, with hundreds of thousands of web users keeping up to date with his progress via online channels.

All sorts of posters and flyers are emerging online, hailing the arrival of a new hero. Creative creations, often incorporating a play on words of his name; illustrating the buzz surrounding Jeremy Lin.

And "Linmania" has spread to countries outside the United States. Chinese web users are regarding him as the worthy successor to Yao Ming, former basketball champion who is idolized in his native China. Jeremy Lin over one million followers on the page set up up for him on local micro blogging platform Sina Weibo. The famous Taiwanese animation studio, next Media has created this video portraying him as a superhero, capable of bringing his team to victory single handedly.

This new found celebrity status I something Jeremy Lin will have to get used to. The 23 year old explained on Twitter last month that the security staff at his team’s home training facility did not even know who he was, and he was often mistaken for technical staff. From now on, these types of mix ups will most probably be few and far between.

Bin Laden returns as zombie in 'Osombie' movie

The team behind Osombie, a horror flick in which the former most wanted terrorist in the world, Osama bin laden returns as a zombie, is asking for help from the online community. They are asking for financial donations via the site Kickstarter, to try and raise the 30,000 dollars needed to complete the film. So far so good, they have already raised over 21 000 dollars.

Piracy Act name generator

Last month web users in America mobilized against the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. Last week, thousands of Europeans protested against ACTA, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. So what will be the next acronym used in anti-piracy legislation? This website comes up with all sorts of alternative name suggestions for these bills, which many deem to be liberty killers.

Video of the day

It may seem a bit odd to go snowboarding at night, but when it’s seen through the eyes of photographer and film maker Jacob Sutton, it becomes a veritable work of art. Professional snow boarder William Hugues was kitted out in an LED enveloped suit and then filmed as he made his way down the snow covered slopes. This stunning video was filmed in southern France.