The United States Embassy in The Gambia recently organised a one-day workshop in the use of the Internet for over 30 Gambian journalists from both the print and electronic media. Among the media houses and organisations represented were The Gambia Press Union and Media Agenda. The training was held at the Embassy’s Conference hall, located at its offices along Kairaba Avenue.

The participants, who were drawn from various media houses such as the The Point, the Daily Observer, Foroyaa, GRTS, Today, Gambia News and Report Weekly, The Gambia Daily and the Daily Express. The presentation, on Internet research was done by Stephen M Mallinger, information resource officer at the embassy of the United States of America in Dakar, Senegal.

Barry L Wells, the US Ambassador to The Gambia visited the participants during the training. He thanked the participants for honouring the invitation to the workshop and advised them to take the training seriously. He urged them to put what they had learned into practical use and hone their skills. Ambassador Wells finally expressed the desire of the Embassy to further collaborate with the media fraternity and provide more training opportunities.
Mohamadou M. Njie, public diplomacy and cultural affairs assistant at the US Embassy, thanked the US Embassy for organising such an important training for Gambian journalists. He also advised the journalists to make the best use of the knowledge gained during the internet research training course.

For her part, Marie Chery, an assistant Internet manager with The Point, said, “I am very happy to be given such an opportunity as this to attend this kind of training. As our trainer said most people learn how to use the Internet by themselves and through eny formal training so this makes me very proud to have this opportunity. I thank the authorities here at the American Embassy for organising this training which is vital for journalists.”

Sheriff Barry, a reporter with the Daily Observer, said such training will add value to his profession as a journalist. He thanked the US Embassy for helping Gambian journalists.

Copies of The Profit, a 2001 film blocked from distribution in the United States due to a court injunction won by the Church of Scientology, appeared on the Internet Friday on peer-to-peer file-sharing websites and on the video sharing site YouTube.

Directed by former film executive Peter N. Alexander, movie critics have characterized The Profit as a parody of Scientology and of its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Alexander was a Scientologist for twenty years, and left the organization in 1997. The film was funded by Bob Minton, a former critic of Scientology who later signed an agreement with the Church of Scientology and has attempted to stop distribution of the film. Alexander has stated that the movie is based on his research into cults, and when asked by the St. Petersburg Times about parallels to Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard said: "I'll let you draw that conclusion ... I say it's entirely fictional."

The film was released in August 2001, and was shown at a movie theatre in Clearwater, Florida and at a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France. A Scientology spokesman gave a statement at the time saying "the movie is fiction and has nothing to do with Scientology", however the Church of Scientology later took legal action in an attempt to stop further distribution of the film. The Church of Scientology claimed that the film was intended to influence the jury pool in the wrongful death case of Scientology Lisa McPherson, who died under Scientology care in Clearwater, Florida.

In April 2002, a Pinellas County, Florida judge issued a court order enjoining The Profit from worldwide distribution for an indefinite period. According to the original court injunction received by Wikinews, the movie was originally banned because the court found that it could be seen as a parody of Scientology. "...an average person viewing the film entitled The Profit could perceive that it is a parody of the Church of Scientology," stated Robert E. Beach Senior Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Pinellas County, Florida in his ruling on the injunction on April 20, 2002.

"To the extent that any person considered as a potential juror in evaluating any issues involving the Church of Scientology, the process of voir dire provides a fair and complete remedy to eliminate any potential juror that may possibly have been influenced to be less than fair and impartial," added Beach.

Luke Lirot, the attorney for the film's production company, announced on the film's website on April 7, 2007 that "We have absolutely no exposure for any repercussions from the court order," but that the film was still blocked from distribution due to an ongoing legal battle. Lirot wrote: "all that's stopping the release of the movie is the legal battle with the partner who was compromised by Scientology (Robert Minton) and is currently using his power as partner to stop the release of the film."

In an October 2007 article, The Times described the film as "banned in the US because of a lawsuit taken out against it by The Church of Scientology," and Russ Kick's The Disinformation Book of Lists included the film in his "List of 16 Movies Banned in the U.S.". An 8-minute teaser segment from The Profit appeared on the film's website and on the video sharing site YouTube in February 2008, and an attorney representing Bob Minton sent a letter to Luke Lirot requesting that the film clip be taken down. In a response letter, Lirot wrote that "Rather than damage any asset of the LLC, the short clip merely keeps the film in the public eye, and in a positive way."

On Friday, copies of the film began to circulate on peer-to-peer file-sharing websites and on YouTube. A link related to the film's appearance on the Internet on the community-based link aggregator website Digg.com had 3,546 "Diggs" - and hit the front page of the site's Entertainment section on Saturday.

On Saturday, Scientology critic and Emmy award-winning journalist Mark Bunker put a streaming version of the film on his website, www.xenutv.com, and encouraged others to watch and discuss the film on a real-time chat channel. In a video posting to YouTube Saturday, Bunker said "I did not do it. I had nothing to do with it ... I had nothing to do with this release at all. But I'm happy it's out there ... people are finally having a chance to see it. A lot of people have been curious over the years and there's been a lot of interest in seeing the film, so finally you can."

On the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, a poster by the username "Alexia Death" commented on the film's appearance on the Internet in the context of censorship: "It is out! And so it is a WIN if many people review it even if they say it SUCKS! :) Being bad is no cause to allow censorship :) And being censored is no cause to assume its good:)" A post to the blog "Blogsreel" commented: "We have all wanted to see this movie that scientology kept hidden away from us. We have all wondered just how damning could this story be that we were banned from watching it."

Blog postings have attributed the film's appearance on the Internet as part of the anti-Scientology movement Project Chanology organized by the Internet-based group Anonymous, but this has not been confirmed. Wikinews previously reported on international protests against Scientology which took place as part of Project Chanology on February 10 and March 15. A third international protest by Anonymous is scheduled for April 12. Titled "Operation Reconnect", the third international protest will focus on highlighting Scientology's practice of disconnection.

Visualize this: You’re driving to a friend’s place which has no road signs or distinct land markers. Your chances of finding this friend’s place without someone or GPS to direct you are probably none. Furthermore, should you be expected to find this same place in darkness, giving up to head home might not seem like a bad idea, right?

A Web site works similarly: if there are no clear directions on how to navigate through the site or it has poor visual cues on how to convey the content, then it will be given a low ranking and no accessibility. If this is the case for people with the gift of sight, imagine the plight of millions of visually challenged visitors who would want to access and locate content on your site.

An accessible Web site provides assistance in communicating effectively with the widest audience by flattening roadblocks in interaction. All it requires of the Web site owners is to follow Best Practices in site and content design principals to make the Web site easily reachable for all. The most common categories that hinder accessibility are:
• Blindness and Low Vision. A whole range of computer technology can provide assistance ranging from screen readers, refreshable Braille displays and screen magnifiers. Assistance in keyboard/ Web site navigation, scalable display font sizes, fuzzy searches, alt tags for all images and high contrast between the background and the text go a long way.
• Cognitive and Learning Disabilities. Simple and intuitive navigation, consistency in content presentation through out the Web site, clear labels and ALT tags, relevant and meaningful content, lengthy documents carrying executive summaries at the top and language understood by a wider audience.
• Impairment of hearing. Websites needs to be accessible with content captioning synchronized with multimedia and other manners of rendering content as well as interactive volume controls.
• Mobility and Speech Impairment. Technology providing assistance usually requires computer hardware at user site and assistive Web site architecture. This includes one-handed keyboards, head/mouth sticks and full eye tracking on user’s computer. Web site navigation using voice recognition provides an easy way to navigate through a Web site.

Access Ramp to your Websites?

Designing navigable sites for people with disabilities is not only federally mandated in some cases it is also socially desirable and makes good business sense too. The organization pursuing it comes across as one that has a strong sense of social responsibility, and sensitive to the needs of the otherwise challenged. It is also desirable because legislation like Section 508 (of the Rehabilitation act) mandate that US federal agencies have their Websites accessible for the blind and visually impaired with the help of screen readers.

Section 508, for those not conversant with the Act, requires "federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities…Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. ‘794d), agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others."

While this is not mandatory for private organizations, many have voluntarily made their Websites Section 508-compliant as such requirements may be enforced in the future. Census data points out that in 2002, out of 222 million Americans (15 years and above), there were 46 million with some form of disability (30 million severe). This number is expected to swell up to 54 million in 2007. It is only a matter of time before private organizations realize the importance of presenting their Web site in a manner that is fully accessible to visually challenged people. With such a huge base, smart private organizations cannot afford to overlook people with disabilities. Even with the annual mean earning of this segment was $23,034 against an average of $31,840 in 2002, it is estimated that they control over $175 billion in discretionary income.

Despite this not inconsiderable opportunity, most businesses have not actively taken steps to make their Web site Section 508 compliant. As with any other technology adoption, cost is undoubtedly one of the major factors that influences decision making. Developing, maintaining and repurposing content to conform to Section 508 guidelines is an expensive and resource intensive job. When guidelines change, the content or framework of the whole site needs to change too. When you consider that these changes have to be made to thousands of pages on a Web site, the effort is tedious and time consuming.

Requirements for accessible Websites

For a Web site to be easily navigable by visually challenged, screen readers are needed. Organizing content, appropriate titling and linking are critical sign posts that enable screen readers to access and read out content in the same way as a person with normal sight would interpret it. Designing such a Web site is no less challenging, as the screen reader needs to intelligently convey to the person on the site how to browse, communicate relationships between content elements, and the type of content. These requirements will be slightly different for a person who can see but has poor vision. Those falling into this category will need their content in large fonts, and visually bright colors and large image sizes.

When you consider that Web site content management itself is a challenge, Section 508 compliance requirements take this challenge to a whole new level. In addition to requirements of content, usability, design and information architecture – you will need to separate form from content, and do it to make it accessible for people with all categories of disability. This is not a task for faint hearted unless you have a comprehensive Web CMS system to handle content requirements.

Web site CMS can help Build the right Ramp

A Web site content management system is the right tool in taking over the task of creation, maintenance and management of a Web site. Most notably, it allows organizations to maintain consistency across all pages of their Web site – which is absolutely critical when it comes to a Web site which is going to be accessed by a visually challenged person.

A Web site CMS like CrownPeak can for instance, enforce design and navigation schemes, and the presentation of content through standardized presentation templates. These templates can ensure that the content presentation, titling and linking are arranged in such a way that it would enable visually challenged people to easily navigate the site using voice commands. As templates control how data is displayed throughout the Web site, subject matter experts can create content without having to worry about Section 508 compliance.

The company’s versioning and content monitoring tools can also enable government organizations to become instantly compliant with data archive regulations, as they are established.

Features like complete system auditing and reporting provide government organizations the ability to manage and track the history of all work easing adherence to compliance regulations. Files can be given a full document lifecycle, including check-in, check-out, versioning, rollback, approvals, and scheduling.

A Web site content management system also has intelligent workflow automation, ensuring that content passes through appropriate quality gates before being published. Additionally, completely configurable workflows enable organizations to assign tasks to any person, and scale up when defined thresholds are crossed. For example, e-mail alerts can be sent to content owners of specific sections on a Web site when these sections don’t get updated after a specific time period. This is difficult to do in a manual system.

To summarize, a Web content management system can provide the following benefits:

• Improving efficiency and maintaining consistency with respect to regulations
• Reducing non-compliant code violations
• Reduced maintenance cost.

Why should you consider SaaS Model?

While Web site content management systems help users manage content more effectively, government organizations will realize that most content management systems are expensive to procure, complex to implement and configure, and require more resources to maintain.

To address these issues, organizations can consider using Web site content management systems that are delivered through Software-as-a-Service model. By accessing ‘software’ as a service, organizations are spared the high initial cost of purchasing the license. Moreover, as the software is hosted, there is no hardware to buy and no software to purchase and install. The subscribing organization only pays fixed monthly or quarterly fees and leaves the task of managing, maintaining and upgrading the software to the vendor. This is extremely important for government organizations that have tight budgets and growing Web site related responsibilities.

Currently, CrownPeak manages Web content for the office of the US Trade Representative, helping America’s chief trade negotiator and trade policy advisor manage a continuous shuffling of Web site content, maintain indexing and categorization of various content types, and sustain accessibility and records management compliance.

CrownPeak also helps the Commonwealth of Virginia manage the Web site that serves as the gateway site to every Virginia government related resource, with information ranging from government elections data to travel and tourism. The vendor also provides a dedicated account manager, with an escalation path for support. By using a SaaS model, government organizations can also cut down on their risk, and choose different functionalities as the requirements grow. Further, as billing is on a monthly or quarterly basis, costs are spread across the lifetime of a product’s usage. This is an extremely attractive value proposition when compared to the traditional CMS model, where costs are paid upfront and the risk of product implementation and adoption rests totally on the organization.

That is not all. CrownPeak Lifelong Active Support ensures that content management Best Practices are available at all times. It has been estimated that 91% of all support requirements are unrelated to software and organizations deploying enterprise CMS have to make additional investments to cover this need. CrownPeak Lifelong Active Support covers these requirements automatically giving the true complete coverage of all support needs.

Accessible to All

The Internet is a powerful and influential medium. By enabling visually challenged people to access Websites, government and private organizations can take the lead in creating a future that allows every citizen to explore a vast world of information in an unhindered manner. While it is a mandatory requirement for government organizations, it is a highly desirable social responsibility for others as well; and CrownPeak Web content management system ensures that you do not have to make a large dent in your budget to achieve this goal.
This article is contributed by Rob Rose - Vice President of Crownpeak. An accessible Web site provides assistance in communicating effectively with the widest audience by flattening roadblocks in interaction. All it requires of the Web site owners is to follow Best Practices in site and content design principals to make the Web site easily reachable for all. Crownpeak offers an efficient Content Management System (CMS) for your website.

After another security hole recently surfaced in Microsoft's Windows operating system, the software giant released a patch this past Friday to plug the possibly devastating "back door" which allows hackers to potentially seize control of any pc running Windows.
The latest threat, "Download.Ject," infiltrates computers after users surfing with Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" web browser visit websites infected with the virus. This newest security patch covers Windows XP, 2000, and Windows Server 2003. Several factors make this latest development more disturbing than past discoveries of security problems with Internet Explorer, currently the most dominant web browser on the market. First, it demonstrates very clearly that criminals discovered they can use the power of viruses to very profitably steal important bank, personal, and credit data from people on a large scale.

Second, it took Microsoft what many would consider a very long time to come up with a patch for this problem. Before a fix appeared, Microsoft told everyone who uses Internet Explorer to stick their finger in the dyke by putting their web browser security settings on high, rendering it impossible to view or use features on many websites and web-based services. Third, expect this to happen again as new holes open in the future when Microsoft makes Windows more complicated, adds layers of code, and generally makes the operating system more complex.

This may sound like business as usual, however, I think this story actually points to a much deeper problem, one for which I'm not sure a simple solution exists. Though free and reasonably reliable, many people do not automatically update their Windows operating system through the update service on Microsoft's website. (I won't even get into how many people don't operate up-to-date anti-virus protection.) Whenever Microsoft publishes a security update, especially for a highly publicized and obviously widespread security breach, thousands of people will not immediately download the update. In fact, tens-of-thousands of users will not download these security updates for days, weeks, even months (if ever).

So let me ask what seems like a very elementary question: By publishing security updates that point out very obvious flaws in their system, doesn't Microsoft also point the way to exactly where the holes exist? Let me put it another way. Doesn't this rate the same as discovering that the local bank vault won't lock and then announcing the details on the front page of the paper along with the dates and times no bank guard will be on duty?

After all, if tens-of-thousands of users won't immediately get the Microsoft Security Patch, don't those patches show hackers exactly which holes get plugged (and which, logically, must already be open without the patch)? It doesn't take a hacker with more than a basic set of skills to recognize where and what holes got fixed and then reverse-engineer how they can get into computers that don't get updated. Now, do I have a concrete, 100% bullet-proof answer to this problem? Unfortunately, I don't have more than a common- sense answer... At this point, your best defense rates staying current on the latest threats and how to defend against them. Keep your anti-virus software current, your firewall up, and your Windows software updated with the latest security patches. Though not a perfect solution, at least you'll have a fighting chance to prevent, or at least minimize, any possible threats.

When surfing the Internet you probably take your anonymity for granted, most of us do. Tapping phones, listening to confidential conversations, reading others' e-mail messages seems like something that only happens in spy movies to "other" people. However, you probably don't realize just how much information about yourself has the potential to get transmitted across the Internet every time you go online.

Every computer connected to the Internet has "ports" that allow it to connect. A "port" doesn't mean you have a physical hole or opening in your computer's case or hardware, but it does mean you have openings through which information passes back and forth between your computer and the Internet. Depending on the type of connection (dial up, LAN, cable, DSL), you may have several openings for potential mischief by hackers, malicious code or viruses. Computers with dedicated connections rate the most at risk.

If someone or something gets into one of these ports and into your computer, they can potentially watch everything you do and see all the data you enter, including social security numbers and credit card information. The easiest way to defeat this problem involves using a firewall. Firewalls, simple and inexpensive software available at virtually any office supply or computer store, block the most common ports hackers use to enter your computer. Firewalls also help you detect and block unauthorized transmission of information from your computer to the Internet.

This adds a significant measure of protection if you get infected with a Trojan horse virus that tries to "phone home" to the hacker with your sensitive information. If you'd like to test your connection for vulnerability to attack, log on to http://security1.norton.com and run the various diagnostics.

I would strongly advise anyone connected to the Internet through DSL or cable to get and use a firewall to protect against unauthorized access. Infected with "Spyware?" Previously we talked about unauthorized access to your computer. But a growing problem online with people watching you and your activities involves using programs you willingly place on your computer. Commonly called "Spyware," this refers to any program that transmits information about you to someone else without you knowing exactly what gets sent.

The main purpose of Spyware involves tracking your surfing habits so advertisers know which targeted ads to send you. Most Spyware basically comes onto your computer bundled with other software applications, as a standalone program, or as modification to the HTML on a web page.

Regardless of how you get it, you need to understand exactly what information gets transmitted about you so you can decide whether to keep or uninstall the software. Plain and simple, these Spyware programs can potentially reveal extremely sensitive information about you and your online habits.

On March 4, 2008 a demonstration against censorship is planned to be held at the Finnish Parliament, part of the continuing controversy over the Finnish Internet child porn filter. The organizers of the demonstration expect at least two-hundred participants, with representatives of the digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi) and several political parties will also present.

The controversy arose after the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) blacklisted censorship critic Matti Nikki's site. Matti Nikki himself is now under criminal investigation for aiding in the distribution of child pornography, as he published a large portion of the filtering blacklist on his still-censored website. MP Jyrki Kasvi has made an official inquiry in the Finnish Parliament on the matter, and Effi has filed an official complaint to the parliamentary ombudsman.

The Finnish Minister of Communication, Suvi Lindén, and the NBI have been severely criticized over the filtering system, which has been under heavy scrutiny by the media. After stating that she will not tolerate discussion criticizing the filtering system, as the situation is not a matter of freedom of speech, a petition was signed by over 12,000 people demanding her resignation. This was accompanied by a Thai civil rights group questioning the blocking as child porn of a memorial site dedicated to a member of the Thai royal family. Eventually the NBI removed the memorial site from the blacklist, explaining that the DNS based system blocks only whole sites, and that there was child pornography site under the same domain; this raised questions about the efficiency of the filtering system.

Lindén later admitted that she did not know the details of the filtering system, as it had been established by her predecessors, before the change of government in early 2007. She has nevertheless defended the system, citing the protection of children, but admitted that there are problems with the Finnish system, and in other countries with similar systems.

The NBI have published a statement explaining their actions, at the request of Lindén. In it the NBI stated that there are filtered sites that do not contain any child pornography, but claimed that it was not their fault, rather a side effect of the system. They also noted that they are planning to address this issue by switching from a DNS based filter to a URL based system.

According to a prominent Finnish expert of filtering technology, the planned URL filtering would cost least two million euros. This estimate comes at the same time that the government cut back funds for work against child abuse, causing further uproar.

The NBI's official position is that they block pornographic sites where the actors look too young, and sites which link to these sites. The argument for the filtering is that there is a large amount of child pornography on the Internet, most of it based on servers in countries where the authorities are indifferent to the issue.
The general opinion after analysis by multiple people is that the list of at least 1,700 sites contains a handful of actual child pornographic sites, most of which are not located in Western countries. However, some sites in the list are located in countries like the U.S., the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany, and very few of those contain even questionable or borderline material. Dutch journalist Karin Spaink reviewed 40 sites on the list which were physically located in the Netherlands. She concluded that some of the sites have illegal child pornography, and that four of those are also blocked in the Netherlands by their equivalent filtering system. She estimated that about half of the 40 did not contain any illegal material.

Effi's response to the NBI's statement was that the issue with censorship is not technical but that it has no place in an open, democratic society.

Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) today invited renewable energy projects worldwide to upload their details into a new online Best Practice search engine.

Anyone involved in renewable energy, from individuals installing mini wind turbines on their roof, to clean development mechanism (CDM) project developers, to wave power producers are encouraged to share their experiences and help build an online database of real solutions to the climate crisis. The website will be launched at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), which opens today.

“Installing solar panels on your roof? Just connected a wind farm to the grid? Investing in a renewable energy CDM project? Then please share your experiences. Upload your projects onto Best Practice and help us to inform/ /and inspire people and policy makers worldwide” said Sven Teske, Greenpeace International energy expert.

Renewable energy is capable of providing six times more energy than the world currently consumes – forever. Last year more than $100 billion was invested in new renewable energy capacity, manufacturing plants, and research and development.

“The renewable energy market is booming. Perhaps you are wondering how much energy your local windfarm produces, or where you can find examples of solar power projects in Germany. /Best Practice/ should soon allow you find out, and to see what’s really going on behind the statistics” said Oliver Schäfer, EREC director of energy policy.

Greenpeace’s Energy [R]evolution blueprint (3) shows that renewable energy, combined with greater energy efficiency can deliver half of the world’s energy needs by 2050. The Futu[r]e investments report (4) describes how a safe renewable energy future would also cost 10 times less than a ‘business as usual’ future dependent on fossil fuels, saving US$180 billion a year.

With Best Practice interested users can search for projects under country, technology or policy.