As of Monday, Iranians can now access Twitter and Facebook for the first time since 2009 when their government blocked social networking sites.
As we know most famously from the Arab Spring, social media can be used to raise awareness and to organize protests in times of uncertainty, to try to uprise against repression and to rally for hope in times of conflict.
Before any of that happened, this specific use of social media use was seen in Iran. In 2009 there was a presidential election won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that many believed to have been fraudulently won. People began protesting, and these were described as the biggest since the revolution in 1979, with hundred of thousands (if not millions) of people protesting.
It was named the Green movement. The Iranian government soon became aware that sites such as Facebook and Twitter were being used to organize their protests against the regime, and they shut access down.
Since then, people in Iran who wanted to access the sites had to use complicated software such as virtual private networks in order to bypass the firewalls put in place by the government.
However…
Three months ago, Iran held elections which saw Hassan Rouhani take the office of president on August the 3rd. Rouhani is seen as being much more moderate than his predecessor, and the government under his leadership has said that it will be liberalizing the internet and improving online access for all Iranians.
This seems to be the beginning.
So far not all parts of Iran have access, and not all social media sites are unblocked, but in our humble opinion, this is an excellent start.
As of right now, there is just 38 hours left (PST) until the Apple doors open at 8AM Friday the 20th September, 2013. That’s local time.
And you guys know what happens when those doors open, right? A big hoard of Geniuses will be standing there looking, let’s admit it, a little creepy, a little worried and very, very smiley. Kind of like this, but holding iPhones instead.
If you’ve lined up, kudos! Look at you being all dedicated! You get to be first! Being first is pretty good. I hope you guys get a medal as well as a shiny new iPhone.
If you didn’t line up, well, you’ll probably still get to see and even buy a shiny new iPhone 5s. Probably don’t deserve a medal though, sorry guy.
Either way- here’s what you need to know. According to 9to5mac, 3 out of 4 units available at the Apple stores will be Space grey, so if you’re after Gold or Silver, they might be a bit harder to get your hands on.
16Gb and 32Gb options will be more readily available, as will phones on contract to AT&T. The iPhone 5S is predicted to sell out in store quite quickly, so be ready guys!
Don’t forget, the iPhone 5S will also be available to order online at 12:01 A.M. on Friday.
Japan recently put a robot-manned space craft into space, and we don’t know about you, but we think this should have been bigger news! 2001 A space Odyssey anyone?
Except, this little guy is no HAL. His name is Kirobo, and he’s actually hella cute.
See? AND BONUS TIME – really cheap! Sweet! So… can we have one? Well. Not that cheap. $37 million cheap.
The little dude has been credited with discounting the Japanese mission from hundreds of million dollars ( NASA says that a typical launch costs around $450 million) to just $37 million by reducing the man-power needed for the mission from 150 to just 8.
JAXA, The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, sent the little talking robot into outer space on Saturday, August the 3rd on board a cargo ship that has been tasked with taking 3.5 tons of supplies and equipment to resupply the International Space Station’s six-person crew. Scientists will also be able to study communications and relationships between AI and humans. In space. Cos it’s cool.
As of August the 9th, when the space craft docked, he’s also been keeping them company up there at the ISS. Because he’s a talking robot, guys.
I present you, Kirobo the talking robot astronaut, saying his first words. In outer Space.
The iPhone 5C has been available for pre order for more than a few hours now, but what about the 5S?
In an unprecedented move, Apple is not offering the iPhone 5S for pre order.
Wah!
We know. Instead, customers will have to wait for the 20th of September when the 5S will be available for purchase in two ways-
1, You can purchase your new shiny iPhone 5S online after 12:01 AM on September the 20th. So, like, wait until 11PM on the 19th, wait an hour, BAM IPHONE 5S.
2, The 5S will also be available for purchase in Apple retail stores, starting 8AM. It’s too early to tell if there will be lines at this stage, but cross your fingers. Unless you like that kind of thing. Lining up, we mean.
If you do, more power to you! Send us a pic of you standing in line, and not only will we feature you in the blog, but if you use our service to sell your stinky old iPhone, we’ll give you $5 extra on your quote!
We certainly would not have guessed that this would be the first color to be running low, but there it is.
If you go to pre order the yellow 16Gb iPhone 5C SIM free right now, you’ll see that the shipping date slips past the 20th of September to being available to ship by the 25th of September.
There doesn’t seem to be any indication from Apple yet just how many pre order’s for the iPhone 5C have been registered so far.
We’ll just have to wait and see how many folks caught the 5C fever!
We’ve heard that the camera on the new iPhone 5S combined with the camera software that comes with iOS 7 is supposed to be, well, really straight up awesome for taking photos.
You guys wanna see for yourselves what you can do with it? Pleased to accommodate, as always.
High fashion house Burberry has partnered with Apple for their Spring/Summer 2014 runway show, which will take place on September the 16th. Burberry will use the 5S equipped with iOS 7 to take videos and photos before, during and after the event.
Beginning yesterday, Burberry began showcasing some of the photos and videos using the 5S on it’s social media channels and on it’s website.
Cool Features | iPhone-Antidote | 
September 18, 2013 4:05 am | 
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