China Censors Search for ‘Occupy’

The search term “Occupy” is now banned in China; online anonymity is becoming a thing of the past; and a new app called Bully Button protects children but it might just be another Big Brother act. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

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‘Occupy’ Now a Banned Search Term in China A good rule of thumb for life is that if the Chinese government is against it, you’re probably doing something right.

China’s elite have new international outlook The gaudy, gold-lacquered ballroom of the Legendale Hotel in downtown Beijing was filled to bursting on Friday morning with a sample of China’s wealthy elite, all there with the intention of shifting some of their money abroad.

The Darker Side of Apple: The Human Cost of Your iProducts With the passing of Steve Jobs last month, there have been countless tributes to the man who created the company that changed the world. But […] there is a slighter darker side to Apple, which rarely makes headlines.

Anarchism Now: Occupy Wall Street Revives an Ideology From Zuccotti Park to the streets of Oakland, the Occupiers have been careful to define their ideology as broadly and vaguely as possible.

‘Digital Natives’ Aren’t Necessarily Digital Learners In recent years, professors have heard much about the virtues and promise of new technologies, painted as the saviors of an irrelevant higher-education system that has grown out of touch with today’s learners.

The real you: Say goodbye to online anonymity Online anonymity may be a luxury we can no longer afford — and it’s disappearing fast anyway. Are we ready to bare all on the Internet?

Mental problems gave early humans an edge Did an autistic inventor start a Stone Age technological revolution? Were the first spiritual leaders bipolar? A daring new theory makes the case.

The Rising Age Gap in Economic Well-Being Households headed by older adults have made dramatic gains relative to those headed by younger adults in their economic well-being over the past quarter of a century, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of a wide array of government data.

The Bully Button: New Tool Is Either World’s Greatest Anti-Bully Weapon or Terrifying Fascist Plot If you and I were together on the middle-school playground and you could poke me in the gut while calling me a stupid cripple and nobody would see us except seven passive cowards and three of your suck-up toadies, would you? Sure you would.

Bit by Bit, Work Exchange Site Aims to Get Jobs Done Philip Rosedale tried to change the nature of play with Second Life, a virtual world of colorful online avatars that got a lot of attention a few years ago. Now he wants to change the nature of work.

U.S. Drone Kills 16-Year-Old Pakistani Boy Days After He Attends Anti-Drone Organizing Meeting A group of Pakistanis met in Islamabad late last month to discuss the impact of U.S. drone strikes in their communities.