Google Earth Maps Show Crisis In Darfur "Genocide"
Satellite pictures of razed villages and squalid refugee camps scattered across Darfur can now be viewed by a global audience after Google Earth put the images online.
Users of Google Earth, a satellite mapping service that attracts hundreds of millions of viewers, will see the war-torn region of western Sudan highlighted with yellow boundaries and labelled "Crisis in Darfur". Blue marks scattered across the pictures of Darfur's harsh, arid landscape indicate refugee camps, which are holding some two million people; red flames denote villages, which gunmen have destroyed.
Google Earth also carries graphic photographs and eyewitness testimony of atrocities committed during the civil war, which broke out in 2003 and has claimed about 300,000 lives through violence, starvation or disease.
Links are provided for users to contact their governments and urge action over Darfur.
Human rights workers commended the project, a joint venture by Google and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
But Google Earth has adopted a highly controversial view of the Darfur conflict. It unquestioningly labels the war a "genocide" even though a United Nations investigation ruled in 2005 that the term did not apply to the events in Darfur.
The atrocities detailed on Google Earth are overwhelmingly attributed to the Janjaweed, a brutal militia raised by Khartoum's Arab-dominated regime and unleashed upon Darfur's black African tribes.
Rebel armies have also committed atrocities in Darfur, but these are not detailed on the website. Sudan's regime may also ask why Google has chosen to highlight this war and not other crises. A spokesman said Google tried to highlight other crises "but we can't do it for every single one".
The smaller capacity version of the Playstation 3 is officially on its way out because it accounted for less than 10% of all unit sales, according to Sony.
The 20 GB PS3 retails for $100 less than the higher capacity model, at around $500. In addition to a smaller hard drive, the 20 GB PS3 was overlooked by many because it does not have built-in WiFi connectivity. Virtually all major retailers, including Gamestop and EB Games, have already stopped selling the basic model.
It's also a way for Sony to cut back, however minimally, on production costs for the system. It is still struggling to catch a massive audience after the hype of the November launch. In January, it was the slowest selling among the three next-gen consoles, with about 244,000 units sold during that month. By comparison, the Wii sold 436,000, according to sales data from NPD Group.
The 60 GB model was so overwhelmingly chosen over the cheaper version that the 20 GB unit was not even released in Europe, Australia, and other Eastern countries.
The inventory of movies at Apple's iTunes Store gets expanded with the announcement that MGM is beginning to release movies for download.
"It's exciting to be bringing so many amazing films from our catalog to iTunes," said Douglas Lee, executive vice president of worldwide digital media at MGM. "We have an unrivaled movie library and are looking forward to adding even more films in the future so users can take their favorite movies with them wherever they go."
MGM alone has a library of some 4000 modern movies, iTunes Store now offers a mere 500 titles from all sources.
Despite the arrival of the 720p-capable Apple TV, iTunes movies are still delivered in "near-DVD quality" 640 pixels wide by no more than 480 high. That's fine for watching on a iPod connected to a TV, but not so good for viewing on a computer or via Apple TV.
"More than two million movies have now been downloaded from the iTunes Store making it the world’s most popular online movie store," said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. We can't help thinking they would have sold a lot more if movies were available from iTunes Stores outside the US
Satellite pictures of razed villages and squalid refugee camps scattered across Darfur can now be viewed by a global audience after Google Earth put the images online.
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