Wikipedia Going Dark to Protest SOPA

Wikipedia will go offline Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), according to Co-Founder Jimmy Wales. Wales made the announcement via a series of tweets. “This is going to be wow,” reads one tweet. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!”

Wales has been mulling the idea of a blackout on his user talk page. Wikipedia joins other major websites, such as Reddit, where a very active anti-SOPA community exists. Wales tweeted that the decision was made by community consensus among Wikipedia users:


According to another tweet by Wales, Wikipedia English receives approximately 25 million visitors every day. Wikipedia’s decision means those millions of visitors will be greeted not with the usual digital tome of knowledge, but with a screen explaining the company’s stance on the bill and information on how to take action against SOPA. The blackout will only effect the English language page.
“Student warning! Do your homework early,” joked Wales in another tweet. “Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!”

Late last week, the authors of both SOPA and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) announced they would be removing the DNS blocking provisions from both bills. The DNS acts as a kind of “phone book” for the Internet, and many in the tech community warned that interfering with DNS would have catastrophic consequences for the stability and security of the Internet.
However, many – including Wales – have responded with a whole-hearted “that’s not good enough.” An anti-SOPA Twitter, tweeted today that “closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” perhaps an indication that Twitter will not be following in the footsteps of Wikipedia and Reddit.
Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, went on a Twitter diatribe lambasting the Obama administration for failing to support SOPA.
Do you think Wikipedia made the right choice? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more »

Shilpa's dress causes international stir

While most Indian fashion designers would maintain that our traditional garment, the sari, is one of the best known Indian outfits on the international fashion scene, when a UK tabloid called an anarkali suit a sari recently, the readers took no time to show their umbrage online.

On Friday, Daily Mail carried an article on Bollywood actor and ex Big Brother winner, Shilpa Shetty, making her first post pregnancy appearance. While the actor wore an off white and red anarkali suit with a duppatta, the report called the garment a sari; apparently failing to recognise the Indian outfit. ‘Shilpa Shetty’s sari shows off her baby bump’, read the headline. Soon enough, people started posting comments on the tabloid website about the faux pas.

“That’s not a sari. It’s called an Anarkali,” posted ZB from India. Another comment, posted by Zak, read, “Its Not a sari it’s a freakin anarkali dress (sic).” Indian designers feel that at a time when a global fashion giant like Hermes has come up with an exclusive sari collection and designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier have done their interpretation of the sari, such ignorance is amusing.

“While sari is a garment that fascinates the west, it’s sad that not many know about it still,” says designer Ritu Kumar.

Chavi Taneja, a design student in Delhi says, “Westerners may get confused between an anarkali and a churidaar, but a sari has been worn by many global celebs.”

However, designer Anand Bhushan says, “Even we may not be able to tell an abaya from a burqa. So, we shouldn’t feel hurt. After all, Hermes did a whole sari collection. What bigger compliment do we need?"

Read more »