Capture the moment

The protests against Muhammed Morsi does not seem to end

The protests that are happening in Egypt as we speak have been going on for five days now, and are still not under control. The Egyptian citizens are protesting against the president and specially his decision to impose curfew on the cities along the Seuz Canal.

During the protest dozens of people has been killed, and last night one man died during an attack on a police station, and several guards got injured. In total there are about 40 people who have gotten killed. The citizens does not seem to care about the rules or the decisions the president Muhammed Morsi have made.

 There is a big difference between the news pages. On CNN the protest in Egypt is not mentioned at all. You have to search for something very specific for it to show, and if you do, you don’t get very much information. But if you check out the front page on BBC, you can see the protest as the biggest and newest news. You also get an impression of it being the most important news. I think this has something to do with what kind of news the different channels focus the most on, for example international news, or news only from your own country. I also checked Vg.no and there is hard to find anything very spesific, and there has not been written so much about it. 

Wetle Wetlesen og Tor Frithjof.

Åsne, Linda og Henriette

Wikileaks

The text is about Wikileaks and what they have done through the years. It only tells about the bad things they have done, nothing positive. Wikileaks was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, and it is five full-time volunteers and 800-1000 people they can call for expertise. They use their own website to write about the government’s secrets and stories that the people do not get to hear about. They have a dozen servers around the world, which makes it impossible for the government to silence them. The text also tells about how dangerous Wikileaks is for American officials that when they in July 2010 published confidential military field reports risked the lives of soldiers and civilians. Assange was arrested because of raping two girls when he was visiting Sweden. Then some of his internet supporters hacked into corporations and other institutions they believed were aiding his persecution, declaring the start of a “cyberwar”.

The Wikileaks has actually got a lot of attention through the medias, and with good reason. There are many positive and negative reasons that comes with Wikileaks, and many of us have not taken a side yet. The USA is especially against Wikileaks, because there is confidential information of the US government that has been leaked. People also think it is a bad thing because the information is not meant for everyone to know and it is harming national security. F.eks terror. If it comes out that a country is exposed to terror, this information will only create terror.

I think the text only focuses on the negative things about Wikileaks. There must be some positive things about it too. Some of them are that they let the people know things the government don’t tell, that we should have the right to know about. But of course, there are reasons why the government does not go public with everything they know. Like the safety of the people, soldiers and officials.

I also think that the reason Assange was arrested because of rape is because he is the leader of Wikileaks and they wanted him from the beginning.     

Pga nettverksproblemer fikk vi ikke lagt den ut før i dag..

Woman sacked on Facebook

Would you share everything on Facebook?

One day, after work, Lindsay went home and turned on the computer. She opened facebook, while she was angry at her boss. She wrote a status update, where she was letting off some steam.She updatet her Facebook status where she wrote how much she hated her boss, and her job. Perhaps it seemed like a good idea, but what she had forgotten was that she had added her boss as a friend at Facebook, and Brian (her boss) could see every posting of her social networking website.

In my opinion it’s stupid to share stuff like this at Facebook. First off all, no one really cares, and most people, including me, would only find it annoying. I have some friends at Facebook who’s complaining about everything, and I have either deleted them as friends, or hidden their status updates. What makes this even stupider is that she had her boss as a friend. He commented later that night, and it ended up with her getting fired. Was a status update really worth her job?

Marcus & Marius

Why not call it a Facebook revolution?

 

We were given the topic – why not call it a Facebook revolution, but is it? Well, to find that out, we have to look at the known facts in the document. They have written that Facebook will be used by half the planet, by 2017. Simen and would call that some kind of a revolution. I can say that 90% of the people I know have a Facebook account. That is quite a number right? Chris Taylor writes that technology doesn’t make any revolutions. The will of the people is the most vital ingredient. We wouldn’t disagree on that one.

There are dictators over the world and they have banned Facebook because of the free writing and you can post whatever you like. If China and other countries in the Middle East continue to block Facebook and twitter, it wouldn’t stand a chance to continue the massive grow.

Our own opinions:

Facebook have changes a lot of things, for example: In the text, they say that we carrying a club in our pockets were we can do all kinds of stuff. And that is true! They didn’t have all this just a couple of years back in time. We would like to call this a revolution because it changed so much.

But what if Facebook takes completely over? And we don’t get socialist like before? Well, this is a question that needs an answer. But we cannot answer it before it happens.

Malaria has a new enemy - the smartphone

The article, “Malaria has a new enemy – The smartphone”, is a text about how the developers have invented and built up the software. It is also about the practical uses of this product, and places where it is the most needed, as well as how this smartphone app will increase the percent of accuracy of who is actually infected.

The app is developed by a company called Lifelens. They had a team of researchers that has developed an application which turns a smartphone into a malaria busting marvel. The software is designed to be used on the Windows 7 phone OS. The pictures are analyzed with an algorithm written in .NET and diagnosis is conducted using proprietary computer vision algorithms, written in C#, which can detect the present of a malaria parasite within the patient’s blood.

The hopeful goal of this product is to exchange it with the old method of finding malaria, which is a very inaccurate way that consists of cotton with a reactive agent that is supposed to change color when exposed to infected blood, called RDT test. Studies have shown that this method is highly unreliable giving false-positive results of around 60%. This means that this smartphone app, that is made to be so easy that anyone with experience with a phone could do the test, has a good chance of doing exactly what the Lifelens company want, to make every medicine count.

The reason we write; to make every medicine count, is because of the misusage of the medicine for malaria. Since the inaccuracy of the RDT test is so huge, the medicine is “wasted” to people who actually do not need it. That means that the promising accuracy of the smartphone app will increase the chances that the ones that really needs medicine, gets it.

Our personal opinions of the product are that if this really works, it can change the world. The world, mainly Africa where malaria is located primarily, can be affected in both good and bad ways. The facts are that the malaria kills 781 000 people every year, which means if this number decreases, the worlds’ population will rise a lot faster. And that is of course another issue, but worth considering. Although this is a factor, we do wish the best for everyone, and if this app can provide a healthier environment, we are all for it.

Have a nice day! :)

John Ejnar and Ragnhild

Can the world be saved on Facebook?

Hello readers! We are quite active today! Gotta love it :)

So, today's topic is; Can the world be saved on Facebook? For those of you that doesn't know Facebook, it is a type of Social Media, where people can post information about themselves, and create there own profile and things like that. 

So, we read this article, yeah, amazing, we know. So, what do we think? Hmm.. We don't think that Facebook can save the holes in the ozon layer, and stop the ice from melting. Hmm.. the computer gets quite warm after a while.. No, that is probably not the reason. Mari, I think we should be a bit more serious, don't you think? Ok, why not. 

It depends on how you see it. In the material world, it is obvious that it won't be saved by a Sosial Media like Facebook, but still, Facebook has a huge influence on people, and we have the opportunity to discover so many things on Facebook! Yeah, Bart got engaged last night. Shut up. Sorry. And also, you have this terrorists groups, that has accounts on Facebook, so maybe the world becomes more dangerous?

But, Can The world be saved on Facebook? Come on Mari, one, two, three, NO!!

Have a beautiful day, readers! <3

xoxo Mari and Sigrid

Algeria hostage crisis - part 2

Ooops, sorry fellas, we forgot the most important part! PICTURE! We thought that it would be more interesting to read, but you guys doesn't need it, because you will read it no matter what :)

Enjoy the rest of this georgeus day! At least we are !

xoxo Mari and Sigrid

Algeria Hostage Crisis -

This week, the news has been obsessed with the terror actions that has been going on in Algeria in a week or so. A lot of Statoil workers has been taken hostage by some terrosists from Al Qaida. They where taken hostage while they where working at the gas station. The motiv for the attack, was that the terrorists wanted the authorities in the US, to release two Al Qaida leaders from the American prison. Therefore, a lot of Americans where taken. Some of the people are released, but there are still some people missing, including five Norwegians.

ABCnews says that the crisis is finally over, because the Americans is now released. For Gods sake! The crisis is not over just because your citizens are released. There are a lot of people who is still missing! I think this proves our suspicions about the Americans being selfish. Probably, they are not aware that other people are missing. Ok, that was mean, but come on. Even the President is only taking about his worries for THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. What about the rest?

CNN is a bit more objective. We can actullay read about other people, and we can read statements from the Algerian Prime minister. According to Prime minister Abdul Malek Sallal, at least 66 hostages is dead, and there are still some people missing, but the number is unkown. They also says that Algerian troops ended the hostage crisis Saturday, with one, last bloody assault. Algerian and Western officials says that after three days of chaos and confusion left dozens dead and fanned fears of a new terror front in Africa.

Just for the record, there are still five Norwegians missing, but it seems like the crisis is over.

Have good day our beloved readers <3

xoxo Mari and Sigrid

Henriette: News this week, week 2

News this week

Two people were killed and 12 were injured when a helicopter crashed into a crane in central London. The helicopter hit the crane on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf. Doctors said one of the dead was the pilot and the other was on the ground. Five people were taken to hospital.

DVD rental firm Blockbuster has become the latest UK High Street firm to go into administration after struggling against internet competitors.

The chain has 528 stores and employs 4,190 staff.

In the US, an October storm in East Coast areas killed at least 120 people. An US House has approved $51bn (£32bn) in 'super-storm' Sandy aid, despite opposition from conservatives criticising the spending.

The US state of Virginia is set to use the electric chair to put to death a man who killed two fellow prisoners to speed up his own execution. Robert Gleason, 42, is the first Virginia inmate to choose electrocution over lethal injection since March 2010.

Media watch, week 2. John Ejnar and Ragnhild S.

Media watch, week 2

This week has been consisting of some murders and injuries, but also some clearing up etc. It has been a pretty usual week where random and not so random people have been killed or hurt, some on purpose and some not. We are now going to pick out the news we find to be most important, and we will also compare how one of the news is presented at three different web pages.

On Tuesday 08^th, World News shared happy news about the high temperature and danger of wildfire in Australia. On Monday, the heat record from 1972 was beaten, with an average temperature of 40.33 degrees Celsius. World News wrote that the temperature is now sinking, and the wildfire fears ease. There is unfortunately still a huge risk of wildfire, because of the lack of rain over the past six months. The link: http://article.wn.com/view/2013/01/08/Wildfires_rage_across_Australia_amid_searing_heat_9/

On Wednesday 10^th, the news of a ferry crash in New York is presented by www.news.sky.com. During the morning rush hour, a commuter ferry, which provides daily services from Atlantic Highlands, crashed into the dockside in Lower Manhattan, New York. 57 people got injured, while two were critically hurt. 11 people suffered serious injuries. The news page shows a video from the crash, and includes pictures as well. The link: http://news.sky.com/story/1035638/new-york-ferry-crash-leaves-dozens-injured. You should visit the link, and watch the video to see more of the extent within this case.

BBC presented a French news story on Wednesday 10^th, where they told three Kurdish women activists had been killed in Paris. The bodies were discovered near the Kurdish Institute of Paris. They were found with gunshot wounds to the head. All of them were activists and representatives of different organizations. The motive isn’t clear yet. The link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20968375

Another news story on Wednesday 10^th is the curbing of gun violence. Vice-President Joe Biden tells Obama is determined to curb gun violence. After the shooting and killing on the primary school in Newtown, Connecticut last month, where Adam Lanza killed 20 schoolchildren, six adults, his own mother and himself, the gun control policy were debated. The White House will now take action to reduce gun violence. The news article also includes an overview on deadly US mass shootings, a video of Biden speaking and a video about guns. The link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20965618

On Saturday 10^th, BBC presented a sad story from China. There was a landslide in the Gaopo village early on Friday 9^th. The article was updated Sunday 13^th, and all the missing persons are now found. At least 46 people, including children, were killed by the landslide. There is a video in the article. The link: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20997520.

Finally, we are going to compare how BBC, CNN and Reuters have chosen to impart the news of the results of the gang-rape in Delhi. A 23-year-old Indian woman was raped by five men on a bus in New Delhi. There is also a sixth man, but he claims he’s less than 18 years old, and can’t be charged like the adults. The woman died from the injuries last week, while the man, who was together with her, only broke his leg. He wasn’t able to defend her. All the articles tell that the five men have been formally charged with rape, murder and kidnapping.

CNN tells that the lawyer of three of the men advices them to plead not guilty. This article consists of a video, and is very easy to read. You get to read the main information, without much embroidering. This article was written on Wednesday 9^th. There hasn’t been written other articles with information about the case later, but CNN has been following up with other articles with more ethnical questions etc. The link: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/08/world/asia/india-rape-case/index.html?iref=allsearch.  CNN was the first one with information about the men, and wrote a two paragraph article on Thursday 3^rd. The link: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/03/indian-court-charges-gang-rape-suspects/.

BBC adds a bit further information, including many details of the charged ones, who the lawyers are, lot information about the trial itself, and more mentions. This article was written Tuesday 10^th. Sunday 13^th, the article was updated. There wasn’t a video in the first version, but in the second version. The updated version has even more information. The link: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20968210. Later on Sunday 13^th, there was also written about a new gang-rape in India, where six people were arrested. The link: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21003279.

Reuter shows a great and supplementary overview, and they include a lot of information. They include much about the trial, the lawyers and the woman herself, they explain everything pretty simple and everything is relevant. This is a great summary about the case, and you get to read all the basic information. It was written Wednesday 9^th. The article is pretty similar to BBC’s article, but the web site has a lot of other articles about the case as well, and it gets pretty messy and unarranged. The link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-india-rape-plea-idUSBRE90807L20130109.

BBC is owned by the government, and is focusing even more on elaborating and on the details, while for example CNN, which is a private company, rather focus on sharing only the most important information, and is writing the shorter version, more like a summery. BBC also updates the articles, and cares even more for the people to be completely updated.

BBC is financed by licenses, and doesn’t earn money on advertising etc. That’s a large reason why they have the ability to dig more into the cases, and people do also expect more from something they pay for. Private companies, like CNN, need large and interesting headlines to earn money, and focuses more on that. CNN focuses a lot on showing videos compared to the other companies, and gives us just the most basic information. BBC also shows some videos, but those are mostly the same as those on the news broadcasts.

Reuters is, just like CNN, a private company, but is very widespread, and writes longer and more elaborated articles than CNN does. This is an international news bureau, while CNN is American and BBC is British. Because of this, the company has more extent and resources, and has therefore more ability and to dig more, like BBC does.

Linda, week 2

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57563152/biden-obama-may-side-step-congress-on-parts-of-gun-control-agenda/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20965618

Both the links are almost on the top on both the websites. The articles are important because it is something that many people care about and many can get in trouble for if them don´t care. Suddenly it can be you that get hurt. The article on cbsnews is only ca. half of the one on bbc. The first point on cbsnews is that 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn. Is killed and that Barack Obama will take action and it ends with that Biden and NRA was going to have a hard meeting. The first point on bbc is that President Barach Obama is “determined” to cut down on the pistol violence and ends with that in California on Wednesday the nation´s largest teacher pension found took the first step to divest from companies that manufacture gun and ammunition. On cbsnews they have quoted Barach Obama and Joe Biden. Almost everything bbc has wrote is quotes by Vice-President Joe Biden, there is also wrote about Paul Adams, Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Christie. Both the websites have all the important facts in the articles. The purpose of these articles is that people should know that to many people have guns and that it will be harder to get a gun from now because Obama thinks it is too easy to get one. In both the articles it is pretty long sentences but the language is OK to understand. They have not used a critical tone because they think this is an important topic and there is a formal tone in the articles.