Internet Censorship: An Integrative Review of Technologies Employed to Limit Access to the Internet, Monitor User Actions, and their Effects on Culture

The following conducts an integrative review of the current state of Internet Censorship in China, Iran, and Russia, highlights common circumvention technologies (CTs), and analyzes the effects Internet Censorship has on cultures. The author spends a large majority of the paper delineating China’s Internet infrastructure and prevalent Internet Censorship Technologies/Techniques (ICTs), paying particular attention to how the ICTs function at a technical level. The author further analyzes the state of Internet Censorship in both Iran and Russia from a broader perspective to give a better understanding of Internet Censorship around the globe. The author also highlights specific CTs, explaining how they function at a technical level. Findings indicate that among all three nation-states, state control of Internet Service Providers is the backbone of Internet Censorship. Specifically, within China, it is discovered that the infrastructure functions as an Intranet, thereby creating a closed system. Further, BGP Hijacking, DNS Poisoning, and TCP RST attacks are analyzed to understand their use-case within China. It is found that Iran functions much like a weaker version of China in regards to ICTs, with the state seemingly using the ICT of Bandwidth Throttling rather consistently. Russia’s approach to Internet censorship, in stark contrast to Iran and China, is found to rely mostly on the legislative system and fear to implement censorship, though their technical level of ICT implementation grows daily. TOR, VPNs, and Proxy Servers are all analyzed and found to be robust CTs. Drawing primarily from the examples given throughout the paper, the author highlights the various effects of Internet Censorship on culture – noting that at its core, Internet Censorship destroys democracy

Forum : Welcome to the Machine: Thoughts on Writing for Scholarly Publication

The expression ‘publish or perish’ has probably never been as cruelly applicable as it is today. Universities in many countries now require their staff to publish in major, high-impact, peer-reviewed Anglophone journals as a pre-requisite for tenure, promotion and career advancement, making participation in this global web of scholarship an obligation for academics all over the world. Junior scholars therefore suddenly find themselves having to navigate the unfamiliar and dangerous waters of the international publication process. But while this all looks rather daunting, it serves important learning purposes for novice authors and with some planning and care, the process need not be as traumatic as it first seems. In this short forum piece I want to support the editors of this new journal in encouraging aspiring scholarly writers in their efforts to share their research as broadly as possible, thus bringing work that would otherwise remain local to the attention of international audiences

Kear v. Hilton: Enforcing the Treaty On Extradition Between the United States and Canada

This Note examines the justness of the Kear decision. The current provisions of the Extradition Treaty, the powers of bounty hunters, and the role of the courts in regulating extradition are discussed. The Note concludes that extradition was not only proper, but necessary in order to maintain the Extradition Treaty\u27s goal of suppressing crime through cooperation between Canada and the United States

Cruise Report: Spring 2007 Survey of ecological conditions along the continental shelf off Florida from Anclote Key to West Palm Beach NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER NF-07-08-NCCOS (May 15 - May 28, 2007)

This cruise report is a summary of a field survey conducted in coastal-ocean waters off Florida from Anclote Key to West Palm Beach and from approximately 1 nautical mile (nm) offshore seaward to the shelf break (100 m). The survey was conducted May 15 - May 28, 2007 on NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER Cruise NF-07-08-NCCOS. Multiple indicators of ecological condition were sampled synoptically at each of 50 stations throughout the region including 10 stations within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) using a random probabilistic sampling design. Samples were collected for the analysis of benthic community structure and composition; concentrations of chemical contaminants (metals, pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs) in sediments and target demersal biota; nutrient and chlorophyll levels in the water column; and other basic habitat characteristics such as depth, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, sediment grain size, and organic carbon content. The overall purpose of the survey was to collect data to assess the status of ecological condition in coastal-ocean waters of the region, based on these various indicators, and to provide this information as a baseline for determining how environmental conditions may be changing with time. The results will be of value in helping to broaden our understanding of the status of ecological resources and their controlling factors, including impacts of potential ecosystem stressors, in such strategic coastal areas. (PDF contains 34 page

Metadiscourse repertoire of L1 Mandarin undergraduates writing in English : a cross-contextual, cross-disciplinary study

This article presents a qualitative, comparative study of metadiscourse in the academic writing of two groups of undergraduate students working in two different disciplines. The groups of students were: 1) Native speakers of Mandarin studying in China through the medium of English; 2) Native speakers of Mandarin studying in the UK through the medium of English. For each group of students, we examined writing undertaken in two undergraduate disciplinary courses: Literary Criticism and Translation Studies. Our aim was to extend research into English writing by L1 Mandarin speakers, and to identify patterns of difference and similarity both between educational contexts and between disciplines. Results suggest that patterns of metadiscourse use in our corpus are associated with both disciplinary and contextual factors, but that contextual factors may have a stronger effect than disciplinary factors. For our data, local institutional culture seems to have a noticeable influence on student writers' use of metadiscourse

Towards a framework for university-wide postgraduate programmes in sustainability

The role of Higher Education Institutions in addressing social, environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities in today's world is immense, complex, and vital (GUNI, 2008). Traditionally responses to sustainable development (SD) have been concentrated within specific subjects, however there has been a gradual penetration of sustainability issues into a wide spectrum of disciplines (HEA, February 2009. The definition and priorities of SD are complex and multi-layered and the challenges presented, being inherently holistic, require equal responses from all disciplines. This requires the development of a framework for University-wide, cross disciplinary teaching. The University of Strathclyde has been ranked first in the Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Observatory Report 2008. Building on this success, work is underway to develop a university-wide, interdisciplinary Strathclyde Masters programme in Sustainability (SMS, aimed at articulating a framework for integrating flagship postgraduate courses & classes, sustainability literacy & skills training workshops. This paper summarises the theories of sustainability and its inherent interdisciplinary nature by examining current thinking in ESD. This has highlighted the need to review the current curriculum, identifying current interdisciplinary provision aligned with ESD, and implement a multistakeholder consultation process. The paper describes how these theories might be put into practice, detailing the conclusions drawn from the initial consultation process involving external organisations, students, academic staff and the university's professional services. In addition, a model 'Sustainability Map' is presented offering an overview of postgraduate provision of ESD within the institution as a whole, alongside details of the courses offered and contributing departments. The outcome of the multistakeholder consultation process, in conjunction with the 'Sustainability Map', will help inform future consultation focusing on structural refinement and the academic content of the interdisciplinary programme

Psycho-Sociological Review of Criminal Thinking Style

Criminal thinking has been long established as a very important predictor of criminal behaviour, however far less research effort has been undertaken to understand what variables can predict the emergence of criminal thinking. Considering the importance of criminal thinking, we feel it necessary to conduct a systematic review of the literature on criminal thinking in order to bring together what is currently known regarding the factors that relate to, and predict, habitual criminal thinking styles. This paper provides a brief overview of the state of the science on criminal thinking and indicates the need for future research in this context and the areas this future research should focus upon

Video killed the 'PDF' star: taking information resource guides online

Easy-to-use technologies now allow librarians to create their own customised digital and video tutorials. This article takes a look at publisher-created video tutorials. It considers the pros and cons of libraries creating their own video-format guides, and elaborates on DCU Library's own experience in producing video-based tutorials on databases customised to local needs using Camtasia and Screentoaster