Thursday, September 08, 2011

China increases internet surveillance...

Here's what many young people in Seoul do for ...Image via Wikipedia

    Police have told cafes, hotels and other businesses in central Beijing to install surveillance technology for Wi-Fi users or face fines and possible closure, in a further tightening of internet controls.

    China has the world's largest and most sophisticated web censorship and monitoring system, which it has tightened still further after the Middle Eastern uprisings. Measures included blocking major virtual private networks, which allow people to evade internet controls.

    The new software, which costs about 20,000 yuan (£1,900), allows officials to check the identities of users and monitor their activity. Businesses that fail to comply face a fine of the same size and could have their licences revoked.

    Strict controls already apply at internet cafes, which poorer people rely on for access.
    It is unclear how strictly the measures will be enforced, and it appears that only Dongcheng district has told owners of the regulations. A staff member at its internet security unit said the initiative was city-wide, but Beijing police headquarters had not responded to a faxed query at time of writing.
    The Dongcheng police officer added: "This regulation is made to enhance internet security and to assist public security bureaux to break criminal cases. Details of implementation are confidential."
    According to the New York Times, a notice from the district office said the measure would tackle offenders seeking to "conduct blackmail, traffic goods, gamble, propagate damaging information and spread computer viruses".

    "This is undoubtedly an invasion of Wi-Fi users' privacy," said Jason Chen, a 22-year-old Beijing resident.

    "We have already felt the restriction on university campuses, since they have always been monitored. But this time, the control is stretching to cafes and people's feeling of violation is sharper. If cafes cancel their Wi-Fi I will care a lot, and I believe young people will react strongly."

    Some venues in Dongcheng complained they were already losing custom after cutting off Wi-Fi.

    "It is just unbelievable. Customers are not happy either," said Leona Zhang, manager of the Contempio bar.

    "Some owners simply think this is for the public security bureaux to make money from us. The charge is the same regardless of size, even for small ones with only two or three tables."

    Businesses in other parts of Beijing said they had not heard of the measure.

    "If the regulation was implemented here, it would struggle to be accepted. The cost is too high," said a worker at the New Seven Day Bar in Haidian.

    "Furthermore, there is also the privacy of our customers to protect."
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Sunday, September 04, 2011

The dark side to Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel brought out into the sunlight...

coco chanel 098Image by joanneteh_32(loving Laduree) via Flickr
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:**:The dark side to Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel brought out into the sunlight...

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was feted around the world as a pioneering fashion icon who changed the way women dressed and thought about themselves. Many biographies have been written and movies made about her incredible career - but there is a dark side that was apparently hidden but has now come out into the sunlight and the gaze of the world media.

Does it matter now many decades later? Of course it does and she will have to accept it for what it was - a dark chapter in her life the world has a right to know, and has found out. Chanel had a German lover and more intrigue followed.

It was reportedly known during WW11 that in Paris Coco Chanel had a German lover - Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, who was portrayed by many biographers as a blond, blue-eyed charmer - a kind of tennis-playing playboy type. But they didn't know the real von Dincklage, either!

He was actually a high-powered member of the Nazi Party, a third generation war hero and had been a German intelligence officer (the Abwehr) sinjce 1919, and had met top Nazi leaders Hitler and Goebbels in 1941.

He had been Coco Chanel's lover for 9 years, reportedly one of a long stream of rich men who had furthered her career.

And Dincklage was the reason Chanel was able to live at the "Ritz" - the Ritz Hotel in Paris, which the Nazis had requisitioned for their exclusive use. He was also the recruiter for her secret career - spying for the Abwehr, and ultimately going on two missions to Madrid
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When researching for his now published book, " Sleeping with the Enemy", American author, Hal Vaughan, was researching the activities of an American intelligence officer H. Gregory Thomas, when he came across an intriguing document showing that in 1940, he Thomas, had been sent to Paris by the Wertheimer Bros, 70% owners of Chanel's perfume business, to steal the formula for Chanel No 5. During this research he came across a document that proved Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had spied for the Nazis - she was Agent F-7124 in the Abwehr's Berlin register. He soon realised that there were many reports about Chanel.

" One must not let oneself be forgotten, one must stay on the toboggan. The toboggan is what people who are talked about ride on. One must get a front seat and not let oneself be put out of it"
Coco Chanel

She once bragged that she was able to launch the House of Chanel "Because two gentlemen were outbidding each other for my hot little body."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/world-war-2/8704910/Coco-Chanel-was-a-Nazi-agent-during-Second-World-War.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3002772/coco_before_chanel_movie_trailer_1/
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