The Russian version of Wikipedia is closed to make an uncensored Network

The Russian version of Wikipedia has decided to close its service for a day in protest of Information Act that promotes the Russian executive. This is a bill that would compromise the freedom of the Internet, creating a list of websites not approved by the Government, which would be no access at home.

Governments around the world are trying to create an Internet law. In an attempt to adapt to current needs, governments try to create rules governing Internet traffic. The attempt to create a legal framework around the Internet is risk that restricts the freedom of the network and that governments use these laws for their own purposes.

The danger of the adoption of Internet standards has led to protests occurring around the world, such as those experienced before the vote in the U.S. SOUP. Russia is now trying to regulate the Internet through its known as the Information Act. In this law, there is a possibility to create lists of pages that violate different rules, allowing authorities to limit the connection to them.

The possible passage of the bill, which will be voted in parliament, has led to protests raise the threat to Internet freedom. Specifically, Wikipedia, as it did with SOPA, is the most widely mobilized to protest against Russian law.

The Russian version of the popular online encyclopedia of the Network has decided to close for one day in protest. When attempting to access a message service where the Wikipedia logo is covered by a black band. From Wikipedia has explained that the Russian law that parliament wants to approve could lead to "Internet censorship in Russia", which would affect any page, including Wikipedia.

In his message, the leaders of the Russian Wikipedia manifest "against censorship, dangerous for the free knowledge and open to all mankind." This is a campaign similar to that already used in the U.S., attended by a large number of websites and companies. The U.S. initiative got not approve the law and to be seen whether the Russian Wikipedia campaign achieves the same result.

Related links:

- Russian Wikipedia (http://ru.wikipedia.org/).

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Close the Russian Wikipedia to protest the Internet law

The Russian version of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on Tuesday closed its site in one day a protest against what they said were the plans of President Vladimir Putin to create their own version of "Great Wall of China" to block Internet dissidents.

Supporters of the amendments of the law of information from Russia, who proposed the ruling party, United Russia, which will be discussed in Parliament on Wednesday, say the changes are necessary to protect children from dangerous places.

But the leaders of the protests antiPutin say the new law could close without a court order websites like Facebook and Twitter and aims to curb opposition movements, which are organized through social networks.

"These amendments may become a basis for true Internet censorship, forming a list of banned sites and IP addresses," said Wikipedia in Russia in a statement.

"The following provisions and the terms under discussion lead to the creation of the Russian equivalent of the 'Great Wall of China' in which access to the Wikipedia could close soon throughout the country."

Changes to information law would give government officials power to order the closure of websites without a court order, simply including them in a blacklist. China has some of the most effective methods to block Internet dissidents, closely controlling what can and can not be viewed.

Under the proposed changes in Russia, if the owner of a website does not remove content that is deemed inappropriate, the entire site can be blocked.

Opposition leaders and Russian citizens have used Facebook, Twitter and Russian site Vkontakte network to organize protests and distribute information antiPutin since the demonstrations began for the alleged violations in parliamentary elections last September.

"It's basically an attempt to infiltrate the last bastion of the opposition: the Internet. It is an attempt to kill the protest movement that depends on Internet. For me it is spelled 'China', which seems to be the direction we're headed" said opposition activist Natalia Pelevine.

Since Putin became president in May after four years as prime minister, Parliament has rushed to pass laws that increase penalties for protesters who exceed the line and is considering stricter rules for NGOs.

The opposition says the proposed changes in the law, and recent records in the houses of the event organizers, intended to quell the protests against Putin. The Kremlin denies it.

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Self-Driving Car : gold Car google ?

More than 30,000 people are killed each year in crashes despite huge advances in auto safety. The overwhelming majority of those crashes are caused by human-driver error.
Computer driven cars could reduce traffic deaths by a very significant degree, said David Champion, head of auto testing at Consumer Reports, but only if all cars are computer-driven.

Google’s cars allow drivers to take control to steer and step on the brake, but are designed to eliminate the need to do so. Otherwise, the car uses GPS, traffic sensors and artificial intelligence software to drive.Google's self-driven cars rely on video cameras, radar sensors, lasers, and a database of information collected from manually driven cars to help navigate, according to the company.

"We announced our self-driving car project in 2010 to make driving safer, more enjoyable, and more efficient. Having safely completed over 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, we wanted to share one of our favorite moments. Here's Steve, who joined us for a special drive on a carefully programmed route to experience being behind the wheel in a whole new way. We organized this test as a technical experiment, but we think it's also a promising look at what autonomous technology may one day deliver if rigorous technology and safety standards can be met. "

Update 

Google is developing self-driving cars, and has already tested one that has spent over 140, 000 miles on the road in Nevada, where it is street-legal. They even let a blind man try a self-driving car. The car detects where other cars are in relation to it, as well as the curb and so on, follows speed limit and traffic laws to the letter, and knows how to avoid people. It also uses a built-in GPS to find its way to places.

Cadillac plans to release a scaled back, more simple version of similar technology by 2015 - what they call "Super Cruise", which isn't total self-driving, but does let you relax on highways. It positions your car in the exact center of a lane, slows down or speeds up as necessary, and is said to be meant for ideal driving conditions (I'm guessing that means ideal weather, no rain or snow, etc.). I am looking forward to such tech. If enough people prefer to drive this way, and the technology works reliably, it could result in safer roads with fewer accidents. Another possibility is that, using GPS and maybe the ability to know ahead of time which roads are most clogged, they can find the quickest route from place to place. On the other hand, hacking could be a real concern, and I hope it doesn't become a serious threat. It's looking like we're living more and more like those sci-fi Everything is Online worlds depicted in fiction for a long time.

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Appendix

Autonomous car
An autonomous car, also known as robotic or informally as driverless or self-driving car, is an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating on its own.  A human may choose a destination, but is not required to perform any mechanical operation of the vehicle.

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Google driverless car
The Google Driverless Car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View. Thrun's team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its US$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense.The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.

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