Voices on the Internet (some shout, some whisper)

The Reporters sans frontiéres (Reporters without Borders) revealed this years list of “Internet enemies”. The list is somewhat predictable, but with some interesting changes. Most notable perhaps is Libya, who is now off the list after Gadaffi’s somewhat surprising acceptance of the Internet. Gadaffi has also signed on for the so-called $100 laptop for children in Libya and is even considering buying some for children in neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, the popularity of blogs continues to increase at a flabbergasting rate, and the interesting thing is where they are proving most popular. David Sifry, the man behind Technorati maintains an interesting blog himself where he is chronicling changes in the blogosphere, as tracked by Technorati. His newest report, complete with fancy graphs and all, shows that most blogs are in English, but at a close second and third are Japanese and Chinese. And this even though China enforces one of the strictest censorship policies on the Internet. I guess you could say that while English speakers are shouting louder and louder in the blogosphere, the sheer number of Chinese whisperers is making quite a noise itself.