Virtual games train terrorists, experts say
Australian security experts are saying Second Life and online games such as World of Warcraft are being used to train terrorists.
According to an Australian newspaper, a terror campaign has been waged in Second Life which left a trail of virtual dead and injured, and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ damage.
The story quoted security officials saying there are three jihadi terrorists registered and two elite jihadist terrorist groups in Second Life and they use the site for recruiting and training. This is on top of the Second Life Liberation Army, which has been responsible for some computer-coded atomic bombings of stores on the site.
Rohan Gunaratna, author of the book “Inside al Qaeda,” said terrorists are rehearsing their operations in Second Life because they can’t practice in the real world.
So we can expect more terrorist attacks involving broadswords and Heathrow Airport to be closed due to suicide dragons, an Australian news columnist wrote.
Amazon to retail national film archive
The National Archives and Records Administration announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with Amazon.com and one of its subsidiaries to reproduce and sell to the public copies of thousands of historic films and videotapes in the Archives’ holdings.
The arrangement allows Amazon and a California subsidiary, CustomFlix Labs, to make digital copies of some of the most famous, and infamous, footage in history and make it available in DVD form for purchase via the Internet.
Archives and CustomFlix officials said the agreement is non-exclusive, unlike the controversial semi-exclusive deal the Smithsonian Institution struck recently with the cable television network Showtime. That deal angered Congress, which funds the Smithsonian, and also angered filmmakers who protested it was improper to require documentarians using Smithsonian materials to offer their work first to Showtime.
World’s best-read blogger is from China
Chinese actress-turned-director Xu Jinglei became the world’s most widely read blogger this month when her blog logged 100 million page views within about 600 days, the Beijing News said recently.
Xu, who has a reputation for a high intellect and integrity, has done it without writing about sex or providing a catalogue of kiss-and-tell stories – instead focusing on her work and day-to-day life.
The 100 millionth hit occurred on July 12, according to www.sina.com.cn, a Web site which provides blog services to many Chinese entertainers, including Xu. She started her blog in October 2005 and published a book of her blogged articles in March 2006.