Editor: Myself

comprehensive article on internet in iran

Farhang Rouhani's essay, "Internet Use and Access in Tehran, Iran", was written two years ago, but it is still useful in some ways.

Rally in support of Bin Laden

Who the hell are these stupid muslims gathered in London supporting Bin Laden? This is amazing that UK goverment has not banned them. Iranian officials! Look, this is the real freedom of expression an this is democray.

world press review's story on iran

World Press Review has a story on Internet uasage in Iran by Shahram Sokooti. It's called "Reformist Web Sites Buck Iranian Press Laws."

iranian don't think tradionally about gender work sterotypes

According to a nation-wide research, %68 people disagree with this statement: "Men should work outside to make money and women should be houswives" only %26 agree with that. Doesn't it show that Iranian people are a lot different with all muslim countries? What has happened to Iranian people during the past 20 years that has made them so different? (source Hamshahri)

via tv and the net, Iran's youth plot social revolution

Tim Judah reports for the Observer from Tehran, where rising hemlines and access to technology point to the erosion of the mullahs' power.

steven levy forgets about non-english parts of blogosphere

Just read Steven Levy's story on blogging in Newsweek. I liked it a lot. The only thing that I see in almost all press coverage on blogging phenomena, is that nobody pays attention to non-English weblogs and how other parts of the world are using weblogs and how they affect their lives. Maybe I should send him an email.

us helping conservatives

Like 3 years ago, when Taliban murdered our diplomats, conservatives are using US verbal threats to crack down reformists. Those days they closed the most popular reformist newspaper (Toos) and arrested it's publishers. Now they might do the same, except for this time they have to crack down the parliament too!

khatami and u.s.

Mamad's Diary: "There was a very interesting irony when Mr. Khatami was attacking US policy during his press conference while he was protected by US army in Kabul!"

persian blogging on cbc radio

I had an interview with CBC Radio one's "This Morning". I'm not sure when it's gonna go on air, but it was a nice brief interview about Persian blogging movement.

spiderman hacked into Iranian websites

Somebody has hacked into dozens of Iranian websites which were hosted on a single, unsecure server in US probably. ITIran, a great website on IT news in Iran was among them. (In Persian)

New Progress at Bushehr

Goobal Security.org: "Although the reactor is not designed to produce material for nuclear weapons, the spent fuel from the reactor could be reprocessed to to yield plutonium, which is why the reactor is under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. As with the Iraqi Osiraq reactor two decades ago, Israel may face a choice as to whether to attack the Bushehr reactor before it becomes operational."

iranians not against u.s.

Peyknet: "%75 of Iranians are not against U.S. interference in Iran."

hardliners in iran want to down us jets

Tim Judah for Observer: "But a taxi driver, who asked to remain anonymous, snarled angrily that the Iranian government was right to fear that it was the next US target, and that in that case 'people are saying, "maybe a few hundred will get killed but at least we'll get rid of the mullahs", and people would be happy about that. Yes, they are next and everyone is very happy about it.'"

home sweat home

4 hours from Tehran to Moscow, 12 hours in Moscow airport, 10 hours to Toronto; now I'm home. BTW, I love my cable connection!

iran out of Axis

There is this photo that I like from Khatami's trip to Afghanistan (by Hassa nSarbakhshian). Iranian flag and two handsome American security guards under it. The photo became popular both among conservatives and reformist papers. But I personally like it because it shows that how connected we are with American forces in order to maintain Afghanistan's stable situation. It shows we and American need each other, even if like old couples we don't accept it. By the way, the idea of delivering 16 Al-Qaeda members to U.S was fantastic. I'm sure U.S. officials like it too.

the iranian street

Joseph Kellard: "To win the war against Islamic terrorists, Americans must first demand that our leaders back up their moral support of pro-freedom Iranians with military action if their revolution falters. Anything less is appeasement -- which will amount to more Islamic terrorism and American deaths." (via EGO)

bbc jobs

Does anyone wants to get a job in BBC?

paypal, not "from" iran or nor "for" iranians?

Here is what I got when I tried to log-on to my PayPal account: "Error 3029. Due to US economic sanctions you are not authorized to access the PayPal system. You can obtain further information from PayPal at 1-888-221-1161 or 402-935-7733 or from the Office of Foreign Assets Control at www.treas.gov/ofac." Is this because I'm in Iran now? Because i was working with my account from Toronto easily, with no trouble at all!

no business in iran?

There is no synonym to the word "Business" in Persian. The closest words are "Economy" or "Trade". What does this mean to you?

i feel so popular here!

I've had 4 interviews so far with Persian press. Jaarchi (community weblog), Cappuccino (bloggers e-zine), Chelcheragh (Youth weekly magazine), Soroush Javan (Youth monthly magazine) and CCW (monthly computer magazine). They are getting published one by one.

iranian rock band, o-hum, left iran to canada

TehranAvenue: "The Iranian rock band O-Hum is now living in exile. For three consecutive years, the three-member band strove to come out of hiding and join the Iranian music scene in the open. O-Hum first opted for the release of its first album, Nahal-e Heyrat (Sapling of Wonder), but innumerable obstacles capsized the venture. It then tried its luck on concerts (which are somewhat easier to get permission for).The cyber-interview is in two parts: Part I (Iran): The procession of events that led up first to the postponement of the band’s abortive final concert and, ultimately, to its cancellation; Part II (Canada): The band’s current state of affairs and future plans"

Taboo Surfing: Click Here for Iran (NYTimes)

Nazila Fathi for NYTimes: "Still, for those who have access, the Internet is wildly liberating. Iranian women, whose ability to dress and speak freely is usually limited to the confines of their own living rooms, can now write about their loves and lusts using online diaries."

girls to remove scarf in schools

In a new plan, little Iranian girls in Tehran, are allowed to remove scarf in all-female classes. Of course it's been more than 20 years that all co-ed schools are closed and all girls -from first-year kids to young high-school girls- are obliged to wear Islamic dress (Hejab) in their classes, even if there is no man in their class or even in their school. This is big success for reformists, although the hard-liners might again put pressure on them and stop the plan.