Political Attack Ads Go Viral

Political ads are an important part of educating citizens in a democracy. Candidates use them to get their message across to voters.But sometimes the message gets nasty. "Attack ads," which began in the U.S. in the early 1960s, are negative advertising. They are intended to shape public opinion by smearing opponents, often by innuendo and false or exaggerated statements.

Now with the Web, attack ads have gone viral with demon sheep, an opponent portrayed as a hot-air blimp and Dubai "slave bosses." Examples The debate on the health insurance legislation in the U.S. is getting so heated, even the families of politicians are being featured in the attack ads.

In the highly competitive world of advertising, the pressure is always on for produce ads that create a buzz, but where's the line between edgy and unethical?

What What You Text; Somebody Else May Be Reading

Two Emirates Airline cabin crew members in Dubai thought that what they were texting was just between them. They found out otherwise when a divorce court ordered Etisalat to release the messages six months ago. The two were ordered to leave the country after serving six-month jail sentences. They appealed. Agence France-Press just reported that the sentence has been reduced -- three months in jail and they can stay in the country. The "Sexy Texting" story has been getting a lot of attention in the world press. Asharq Alawsat observes: "Dubai, a regional tourist hub with a large non-Muslim expatriate population and the Gulf's most liberal social policies, nevertheless continues to apply strict rules based on Islamic Sharia laws."

Rolltop Computer--The Future?

How would you like to be carrying
one of these around instead of a laptop?

Don't Cover Insurgency, Afghan Officials Say

Last Friday may be the last time anyone sees live coverage of firefights in Kabul. Afghanistan's intelligence service told reporters Monday that the press will no longer be allowed to cover Taliban attacks while they are in progress, because such coverage "does not benefit the government." Even to film the aftermath will require permission from the intelligence service.

Expect protest from both foreign and Afghan journalists, who believe people have the right to know what is happening in their world.

Abu Dhabi:The Beginning

An amazing documentary from the early 1970s. Enjoy.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Photography: When is it real? When is it fake?

In the olden days, photographers enhanced their photos in the darkroom. Art directors have long cropped photos for size and to emphasis certain aspects of the original frame. So how far can a photographer or an editor today go in manipulating an image and under what circumstances?

The "invented reality" in two winning photos in Modern Photography's 16th Annual Readers Contest raised some questions. Winners in the "Action/sports" and "Travel/Places" categories were composites.

The New York Times technology columnist discusses in Photoshop and Photography: When Is It Real? The answers may surprise you.

Google Executives Found Guilty of Privacy Violations

An Italian criminal court judge found three Google executives guilty of privacy violations Wednesday in what may be a landmark case in Internet freedom. An Associated Press story reports, "This could help define whether the Internet in Italy is an open, self-regulating platform or if content must be better monitored for abusive materials." And it's likely not to stop there.

The judge ruled that three Goggle executives did not act quickly enough in pulling down a video --uploaded by some teenagers - showing bullies abusing an autistic boy. The video, which immediately went to the top of the most-viewed list, was posted before Google bought YouTube.

Google says it's impossible to prescreen thousands of hours of footage uploaded daily to sites like YouTube and considers the ruling a threat to freedom on the Internet. Not censorship, argue the prosecutors in the case, but balancing freedom of expression with the rights of an individula.

Google will appeal.