Syria intensifies its crackdown on opposition strongholds

Syria intensifies its crackdown on opposition strongholds

The crackdown continues in Syria, and even appears to have intensified despite attempts by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to reach a peace agreement with Damascus and end the bloodshed. Numerous cyber activists continue relentlessly to relay accounts of the repression online, risking their lives to do so.

All sorts of amateur documents have emerged online testifying to the violent clashes between the Syrian army and rebels in Idlib after loyalist troops stormed the north western city this weekend. The footage shows plumes of smoke from the extensive shelling billowing up into the sky, and tanks positioned in main roads across the city to control the streets.

Activists in Homs have posted these videos on the Internet, showing the extensive damage caused across the city; the result of one month of fighting in this opposition stronghold between security forces and opponents of the Assad regime. Some neighbourhoods, Baba Amr in particular, have largely been reduced to rubble.

The regime has been trying to justify this ruthless repression by airing news reports like this one on official state television; the voice over introduces the people as residents of Homs and we see them thank and congratulate the army for restoring order to the city and ridding it of rebels. We are also shown bundles of foreign bank notes, allegedly found in rebels’ homes, the narrator says this is additional proof the opposition movement is financed by countries outside of Syria.

But Syrian web users wasted no time in challenging these accusations, claiming the authorities are experts in staging such scenes and using them for propaganda purposes. Many activists have noticed that most of the currencies featured in the news report have not been in use for years, and so it is highly unlikely this money has been used to pay rebels.

American blogger exposes flaw in airport security

The nude body scanner has already been criticized for posing potential health risks and for being invasive. It’s now back in the firing line in the United States, and this time its reliability is being called into question. Blogger and engineer Jonathan Corbett has posted a video online in which he claims it is easy to conceal prohibited items about one’s person, without the scanner detecting them. He says metal shows up as black on the screen and so depending on where it is placed it can blend into the dark background and not show up on the scan.

He claims you would just have to position a weapon on the side of your body for it to go undetected by the nude body scanner. Corbett put his theory to the test by putting a metal case into a pocket he sewed onto the side of his shirt. He went through scanners at two different airports. The blogger claims both times he passed through security without being stopped. He thinks he would have set off alarms if passing through the old metal detecting systems.

His video has been viewed over one million times in one week, prompting the authorities to issue a statement. The Transportation Security Administration has not denied this flaw exists but says the nude scanners have been proven to be reliable and are just one of the many tools used by airport security staff.

Uniiverse

Uniiverse is a new community website and could be described as classified ads meets social networking. It was created in Canada and puts web users offering or looking for a particular service or activity, in touch with one another. You could be looking for someone to go jogging with for example, or have some carpentry tools to share, or want to learn a foreign language. Some services come with a fee, but the focus is definitely on collaborative living. The site hopes to encourage members to spend less time socializing online and more time meeting up in the real world.

Composite sketches of literary characters

Gustave Flaubert’s "Madame Bovary", Patricia Highsmith’s "Talented Mister Ripley" and also Daisy Buchanan from "The Great Gatsby"… Artist Brian Joseph Davis has taken the text that describes the appearance of literary characters and composite sketch rendering software, which is used by the US police force, to draw up mug shots of some of the best known characters in literature. You can check out the collection on his blog “The Composites” and even make your own character requests.

Video of the day

At the end of February, 850 people took part in a human mattress domino chain and set a new world record… the amazing feat was accomplished in New Orleans in the US and you can watch it in its entirety on sharing sites. The previous world record was held by Belgium with 300 people back in 2011.