Links: India bans blogging domains, Chinese views of iPod sweatshops, the state of AI

• World's largest democracy copies Chinese mass media controls by banning certain blog domains
  There's a big slashdot discussion about India banning domestic access to blogspot.com and other domains which distribute blog content the government doesn't like. However, I predict the ban can't last. I'm not saying that because I am a blogspot blogger, but because India technically is a democracy, and features some notable qualities that are lacking in its neighbor to the north -- India has a lively mass media environment which seems to have wide press freedoms, and a government that is answerable (on some level) to the wishes of its people.


• Chinese 'net users: iPod workers deserve more!
  I spotted this item in ChinaTechNews.com, about an online survey conducted by Chinabyte.com that found 94.12% of those polled "call on Foxconn to increase the benefits offered to its workers who assemble the Apple iPod."


• AI Reaches the Golden Years
  Hard to believe, but "Artificial Intelligence" is 50 years old this year. Too bad it still remains a distant dream. This excellent Wired article gives an update on the status of AI.