Protesters Rally Against Immigration Law

Protestors gathered outside the Indiana Statehouse on March 15 to show their opposition to an immigration bill making its way through state legislature.

The bill is similar to one that Arizona passed in 2010. Sponsored by Republican Senate representative Mike Delph, it would punish businesses that hire illegal immigrants as well as permit law enforcement to ask a person for proof of their immigration status if suspicion arises.

Delph said, “We take the handcuffs off law enforcement and allow them to help federal law enforcement with enforcing the law.”

Protestors of the bill disagree. They feel the law will result in racial profiling and a hostile environment.

The bill was passed by the Senate and is now in the House.

Melissa Huang

U.N. Considers No-Fly Zone in Libya

On March 17, the United Nations voted to protect the citizens of Libya. The 10-0 vote calls for an immediate cease-fire and sanctioned the use of a no-fly zone. Five members of the Security Council abstained from voting.

This resolution comes several weeks after much debate over the issue. There was initial support within the council for economic and political sanctions, and the delivery of food and supplies; but many questions remained about the no-fly zone.

India’s ambassador, Hardeep Singh Puri, questioned, “Who will implement the no-fly zone? Who would provide assets for it?”

Part of the reluctance arose from the Arab League’s statement that there should be “no foreign intervention” regarding the no-fly zone. The council held to this, approving the use of anything aside from “foreign occupation” to end attacks on heavily populated civilian areas.

The zone is intended to protect civilians; however, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said events on the ground might have made the zone irrelevant. Lebanon’s U.N. ambassador responded with “nothing is too late, but may not be enough.”

Adobe Gives into Apple

On March 8, Adobe announced Wallaby — an experimental tool for developers that will allow them to drag and drop Flash files to have them converted to HTML5. For now Wallaby is only able to convert animated Flash banners, and does not support ActionScript, movies or sound.

Since 1980, relations between Adobe Systems Inc. and Apple have not been the most amiable. Most notably is Apple’s refusal to put Adobe’s Flash on its mobile devices. Flash is largely used to create interactive websites, as well as adding video and animation.

Apple offers a YouTube dedicated app, which converts the videos to a viewer-friendly format. Many websites that have not created an iOS mobile version still have blank spaces when accessed on the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Adobe has been pushing Apple to adopt Flash, but Apple has maintained their stance, citing its overall poor performance on Mac computers. But now, Apple will never hear Adobe’s pleas again; Adobe has finally given in.

Melissa Huang

Companies Offer Free Communication to Japan

On March 14, AT&T and Verizon both announced they would allow free calling and text messaging to Japan in the wake of the recent earthquake. This applies to both landline and cell phones. Wireless customers will not be billed, but customers calling on an AT&T landline are required to contact customer service in order to receive the credit on their bill.

AT&T will honor this retroactively from March 11 through the end of the month, while Verizon is extending the free service until April 10.

Shortly after the phone giants made their announcements, other telecommunication companies began to follow suit, offering free calling, texting and JapanTV. Sprint, T-Mobile, Cricket, Comcast, Dish Networks, and Cox Communications have all jumped on board.

In a press release, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets Senior Vice President of Voice and Data Products Mark Collins said, “Connecting with family and friends is most important at times like this — we want to make it as easy and worry-free as possible for our customers.”