Google Earth Censorship Campaign

Maroc Telecom and Vivendi continue to block access to Google Earth for moroccan internet users for no reason. The censorship of Google Earth started in august 2006 and never stopped as of today. Morocco is the only country in the world to do that. I invite freedom and human rights defenders and the journalists all over the world to make this known to everybody! Inform the world about this absurd censorship that lasts for almost a year now and that is aimed only at Moroccans.

Ask the moroccan government, Maroc Telecom and Vivendi (who controls Maroc Telecom) for official statements about this matter.
-Thanks

More $$$ for INS

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced today that major fee increases will take effect July 30, 2007. The rule implements most of the fee increases in the proposed rule issued February 1, 2007.

Examples of filing fee increases include:
I-129 petition for nonimmigrant worker (includes H-1Bs, L-1s, Es) fees go from $190 to $320
I-130 relative petition fees increase from $190 to $355
I-140 petition for immigrant worker fees go from $195 to $475
I-485 adjustment of status fees for those filing for adjustment of status to US permanent residence will jump from the current fee of $325 to $1010 per person, with fees of $600 for those under 14 filing with one parent. These fees include the costs of filing for renewals of employment authorization and advance parole travel authorization.
I-90 applications to replace /renew permanent residence card fees go from $190 to $370
N-400 applications for US naturalization (to become a US citizen) fees increase from $330 to $675

In a press release and question and answer notice also issued today, USCIS announced that with the new fees it expects to reduce processing times by 20% by the end of fiscal year 2008, September 30, 2008. It specifically said it intends to reduce processing times for I-90, I-140, I-485s and N-400 cases from 6 to 4 months. Past fee increases have not necessarily resulted in shorter processing times. We hope the USCIS keeps its promise to improve service and actually cut wait times for adjudication with these dramatic increases.

Maroc Telecom Blocks Youtube !!!!!!

A Total Shoker:

Maroc Telecom has blocked all access to Youtube.
The Moroccan blogosphere (blogoma) is totally surprised by the move and angered.

There were no reasons given why Youtube was blocked. But the speculations are that it might have to do something with the presence of Polisario-clips (Polisario being the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos that were criticized the king.

The block by Maroc Telecom means that the majority of the population has no access to Youtube. The majority that is. The other 2 internet-providers, Wana and Meditel, do provide access to Youtube.
The reason for this is that Morocco is blessed with commercial, private providers (not state-owned).
The Moroccan state is a major shareholder of Maroc Telecom and can do what it want with it.

Youtube is the 3rd example of how Morocco blocks access to major sites. Google Earth and Livejournal being the other 2 examples. Also blocked without a reason.
I would like to see the Moroccan television take the opportunity and bring a executive from Maroc Telecom and ask about the logic behind these actions.

Let s wait and see how many blocks it will take before anyone busts a move.

A sad, sad day.

Call Centers au Maroc

Le Maroc héberge aujourd'hui trois fois plus de centres d'appel qu'il y a deux ans et ce secteur en pleine expansion emploie 17.500 personnes, affirme une étude que vient de publier l'Agence nationale de régulation des télécommunications (ANRT).

Fin 2006, il y avait 137 centres d'appel (CAP) opérationnels et 6 en cours de démarrage, contre 50 en 2004. Ils emploient 17.500 personnes contre 5.500 il y a deux ans, et la majorité de ceux qui travaillent dans ce secteur possèdent un bac+2 et une trés bonne maitrise des langues.

More details here

Paypal available in Morocco

Le service de paiement en ligne PayPal prend de l’expansion dans 87 nouveaux marchés à travers le monde et est maintenant disponible dans près de 190 pays et dorénavant le Maroc.

PayPal, une propriété du site Internet de ventes aux enchères eBay, fait donc son entrée dans le Maroc.
Read More

We Bleed Maroon

Pretty Cool Aggie Song :)

Listen to Song

Music Genome Project

Check it out:

http://www.pandora.com

Define up to 100 stations with your favorite music and Pandora will randomly surpise you.
You as the user define Metadata for the music and that should be mined to reflect your taste of music :)
Is n't that a brilliant Idea.

Aggie Joke

Three Texans go down to Mexico one night,
get arrested, and wake up in jail only to find
out that they are to be executed in the morning,
though none of them can remember what they
did the night before.

The first one is strapped in the electric chair
and is asked if he has any last words. He says,
"I am from the Baylor school of divinity and
I believe in the almighty power of God to
intervene on behalf of the innocent."

They throw the switch and nothing happens,
so they figure God must not want this guy to die
and they let him go.

The second one is strapped in and gives his
last words, "I am from the University of Texas
School of Law and I believe in the power of
justice to intervene on the part of the
innocent."

They throw the switch and again nothing happens.
They figure that the law is on this guy's side,
so they let him go too.

The last one is strapped in and says, "Well, I'm
a Texas Aggie Electrical Engineer, and I'll tell
you right now you ain't gonna electrocute nobody if
you don't connect them two wires."