27 March 2010

Stories from 27 March 2010

Pakistan: Earth Hour 2010

  27 March 2010

Hina Safdar at Chowrangi urges Pakistanis to switch off lights in honor of earth hour tonight at 8:30 PM when hundreds of cities around the world will switch off the lights for 60 minutes.

Japan: Long life to bluefin tuna. The experts’ word.

  27 March 2010

With 68 countries voting against, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that regulates the international trade of wild animals and plants, rejected a ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, that was slated for listing on Appendix One, i.e. a complete ban.

South Africa: The woman who spent 7 months in a male cell

  27 March 2010

Before she was acquitted of attempted robbery and hijacking in South Africa, Denise Abbah was imprisoned in a male cell for seven months as she waited for her trial. The prison officials mistook her for a transvestite. Ms Abbah is now seeking justice as she is suing the Department of Correctional  Services for...

Japan: Cherry Blossom Viewing 101

  27 March 2010

Legonjapan made a video [en, ja] to explain the abc of Hanami, or flower viewing. The animation teaches the related terms and the etiquette to follow during the parties, usually held under the pink flowers in full bloom (around the end of March or the beginning of April).

Japan: A whale of a controversy

  27 March 2010

Only a few days after The Cove was awarded the Oscar as best documentary, drawing public and media attention around the world to the hunting of cetaceans issue, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd’s leader Peter Bethune was arrested in Tokyo, re-igniting the controversy between Japan and Australia-New Zealand.

Chile: Firsthand video account of Tsunami waves in Pichilemu

  27 March 2010

The force and unexpected nature of a tsunami wave can be seen in the following video. It shows a group of friends walking on the debris strewn beach of Pichilemu, a resort town in central Chile, observing the previous tsunami's damage when they get caught in the rapidly rising waters....

The Virtual Choir: Technology, Collaboration and Music

  27 March 2010

Composer Eric Whitacre , after seeing a Youtube video of a young soprano singing his song "Sleep" wondered: What if he could get people, regardless of where they were in the world, to record themselves signing all the other parts of his a capella choir piece? So he did, and following, you will be able to see the various results of this great experiment of online collaboration with the Virtual Choir.

Russia: Two Video Scandals

RuNet Echo  27 March 2010

In Russia this week it has been hard to miss the two scandals that, at first, appear to have only one thing in common: both are centered around amateur videos published online. Heated discussions in the blogosphere and in other online venues are taking place on quite different orbits - which nevertheless do have one or two overlap points.