Facebook Facing the Great Firewall

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/17/BUR91HP7FT.DTL 

The Great Firewall of China has blocked sites such has Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook for years now.  He Xin, a student at Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao recently got past the restrictions and  climbed "the wall".  He said, "Very few of my classmates and friends can climb over the wall, so I can't add them as friends on Facebook yet".  He used one of the virtual private network services that got him to sneak by the censors.  Facebook users in china has doubled in the past month and will double again with in the next six months.  Even with the potential growth, the number of Facebook users in China will be very small compared to the nation's 457 million Internet users, which is the worlds largest.  The United States has the most Facebook users, with almost 150 million, there are 621 million users world wide.  But with the recent use of social networks providing for protests in Egypt, this will not help with breaking down the Great Firewall and getting access to Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.

Worldmapper - Televisions In Use

This map shows the televisions in use in the entire world.  When I look at this map, the first thing that comes to mind is more developed countries and less developed countries.  Most of the worlds developed countries are in the northern hemisphere.  Those countries have more people with money to spend on things like televisions.  It is sad to think that the world has made all this progress with technology and most of the southern hemisphere does not get to experience or use a television set.  They do not get to see or hear about news and globalization of all sorts of things.  Hopefully there will be a day where there is no more poverty and the words "less developed countries" won't exist.

Child Slavery in South Asia

There are children in South Asia that are kidnapped where they work in factories/workshops.  They do not receive any pay.  The only thing they receive is constant beatings.  A person from the city will come to a village and show great sympathy for the family and their financial problems.  He tells them that he could get a job for their child where he or she would get properly trained, and receive wages.  The parents with out hesitating say yes, thinking they will get their child to escape poverty. The person then gives the parents a piece of paper with a address of an employment agency that does not exist.  The children end up living in sheds and get repeatedly beaten and branded with hot irons.