In Tunisia after Arab Spring, Islamists’ new freedoms create new Muslim divide

In Tunisia after Arab Spring, Islamists’ new freedoms create new Muslim divide:
TUNIS — Upstairs, Ibrahim Amara and his friends gather around the computer to watch YouTube preachers offering a vision of Islam that rejects democracy and elections. “Democracy’s freedom is absolute,” Ibrahim says, “and we don’t accept that. In our religion, freedom is limited to the freedom God gives you.”
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As Japan strains to care for elderly, sacrifices begin

As Japan strains to care for elderly, sacrifices begin:
The ominous demographics of this aging nation have long been seen by Japanese as a distant concern, not a present-day one. But that mind-set is being called into question by a prime minister who says that a crisis requiring immediate sacrifices has already begun.
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Kenya grenade attack kills at least 1, injures more than a dozen in Nairobi church

Kenya grenade attack kills at least 1, injures more than a dozen in Nairobi church:
NAIROBI – A grenade attack on a Nairobi church Sunday killed at least one person and injured more than a dozen, the latest in a series of such attacks since Kenya sent troops to fight an al-Qaeda-linked militia in neighboring Somalia.
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Google engineer told officials Street View cars were collecting personal data, FCC report says

Google engineer told officials Street View cars were collecting personal data, FCC report says:
A Google engineer knowingly created software that would collect sensitive personal information about people without their knowledge, according to an un-redacted version of a federal investigative report.
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Obama wants to strike ‘appropriate balance’ on Chinese dissident, official says

Obama wants to strike ‘appropriate balance’ on Chinese dissident, official says:
A senior White House official said Sunday that President Obama wants to strike an “appropriate balance” in dealing with a Chinese dissident who fled house arrest last Sunday and reportedly is under protection inside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
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Egypt parliament suspends sessions in protest over cabinet

Egypt parliament suspends sessions in protest over cabinet:
CAIRO — Egyptian lawmakers announced Sunday that they would suspend parliament sessions for a week to protest the military rulers’ failure to allow the elected body to appoint a new civilian cabinet.
The step marked a sharp escalation of tension between the country’s new Islamist-dominated parliament and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, whose relationship has worsened as Egypt’s landmark presidential election nears.
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U.S. drone strikes resume in Pakistan; action may complicate vital negotiations

U.S. drone strikes resume in Pakistan; action may complicate vital negotiations:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— The United States resumed drone missile strikes against Pakistan-based militants Sunday for the first time since the nation’s parliament demanded an end to such attacks as one of several conditions for fully normalizing relations with the United States.
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East Timor faces hit by carbon tax - Brisbane Times

East Timor faces hit by carbon tax - Brisbane Times:

Brisbane Times

East Timor faces hit by carbon tax Brisbane Times Francisco da Costa Monteiro, president and CEO of Timor Gap, EP, East Timor's state-owned oil and gas company, said the matter was ''a serious concern from the Timor-Leste side''. ''If it is $11 million or $1 million, from Timor Leste's perspective it ... and more »

More portraits of kids in Timor

More portraits of kids in Timor: After spending nearly two years working in Indonesia and six months in Washington DC, as well as a stint back home in Australia, I'm currently living in Dili, Timor Leste — one of the world's newest countries. Sometimes I do ...

South Sudan awaits big China loan

South Sudan awaits big China loan: Officials in South Sudan say China has agreed to loan it $8bn (£4.9bn) for major development projects, following a presidential visit to Beijing.

Chen escape sparks China round-up

Chen escape sparks China round-up: Concern is growing in China for relatives and friends of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who escaped from house arrest last week.

Saudis welcome Bin Laden widows

Saudis welcome Bin Laden widows: Saudi officials say they have no suspicions about the late al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's widows and children, who arrived in the kingdom last week.

Vietnam arrests US pro-democracy activist

Vietnam arrests US pro-democracy activist:
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — State media say a Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist has been arrested and accused of terrorism for allegedly trying to sabotage liberation celebrations commemorating the end of the Vietnam War.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper says 58-year-old Nguyen Quoc Quan was detained April 17 after arriving at the airport in southern Ho Chi Minh City. He is accused of planning to hold protests for Viet Tan, a banned U.S. exile group, during May Day festivities and the anniversary of the fall of the former U.S.-backed South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, on April 30, 1975.
The paper says authorities also found many documents in Quan’s possession on terrorist training.
The U.S. government has said it has seen no evidence that Viet Tan is a terrorist organization.

Huge rally raises question on Malaysia poll timing

Huge rally raises question on Malaysia poll timing:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A massive street rally demanding electoral reforms in Malaysia raised questions Sunday about when the long-ruling coalition government will call elections in the face of such a strong show of force by the opposition.

Protesters man scaffolding on a building near Merdaka Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, April 28, 2012. Malaysian police fired tear gas and chemical-laced water Saturday at thousands of demonstrators demanding an overhaul in electoral policies that they call biased ahead of national polls expected soon. At least 25,000 demonstrators had swamped Malaysia's largest city in one of the Southeast Asian nation's biggest street rallies in the past decade. Pic: AP

Police used tear gas and chemical-laced water Saturday against some 50,000 people and arrested more than 450 at the demonstration. All those arrested were released by Sunday.
The rally was held to pressure Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition — which has been in power for 55 years — to overhaul what the opposition and civil groups call biased electoral policies before polls which had been widely expected to be held as early as June.
Some analysts said the rally, the second in 10 months, undermines Najib’s efforts to bolster public support for his coalition and may prompt him to delay any plans to call early elections. Polls do not need to be held until mid-2013, but speculation had previously been rife that Najib may dissolve Parliament next month and seek a new mandate in June.
However, the protests could rattle Najib’s confidence, especially since the last election delivered the biggest opposition gains in Parliament ever — even though the ruling National Front retained power.
“The rally is a way for many Malaysians to show that they are no longer suppressed. It has whipped up anti-government sentiment and this could encourage Najib to call for later elections,” said Ong Kee Beng of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
The country’s largest English newspaper, The Star, said in an opinion piece Sunday that the more likely time for polls would be in the first week of September.
While the rally had reinforced anti-government vote in urban areas, it may not tip the scale in favor of the opposition, said James Chin, political analyst with Monash University in Kuala Lumpur. Najib’s battleground will be in rural areas, which account for about two-thirds of Parliamentary seats, he said.
National police spokesman Ramli Yoosuf said Sunday that 471 people were arrested but all have been released. It was not immediately clear if they would be charged later with any offense. Ramli also said the crowd size, earlier estimated at 25,000, doubled to near 50,000 at its peak.
Officials said three demonstrators and 20 police were injured.
Demonstrators wearing yellow T-shirts, waving banners and chanting slogans poured into downtown Kuala Lumpur, massing near a public square that police had sealed off with barbed wire and barricades.
“A lot of things are not done right and people are getting fed up. We have to take a stand and do something for our future generation,” businesswoman Kimberley Yang, a mother of three, said before the crackdown.
Najib’s popularity dipped after a similar rally last July by some 20,000 people were dispersed by tear gas.
He has since instituted a raft of reforms intended to build support — including overhauling decades-old security laws — and agreed to new electoral regulations that include using indelible ink to cast ballot to curb multiple voting.
But activists said the measures were inadequate, alleging that the Election Commission is biased and that voter registration lists are tainted with fraudulent names. They also sought longer election campaigning periods and changes to ensure citizens living abroad can cast ballots.
Saturday’s demonstration remained peaceful for several hours, until a small group appeared to suddenly breach the police barriers. Authorities responded by firing tear gas and water laced with stinging chemicals to disperse the crowd.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said police acted “with utmost restraint,” but opposition leaders and rights groups said the excessive use of tear gas was unjustified.
“We are seeing a repeat of repressive actions by a government that does not hesitate to use force when it feels that its prerogatives are challenged,” said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia.
Najib has accused opposition activists of trying to create disorder to sully the government’s image.
“They are not concerned about fair and clean elections. It’s all about politics and taking over (the government), he was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.
The National Front, which has governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, suffered its worst performance in 2008 elections, when it lost more than a third of Parliament’s seats amid public complaints about corruption and racial discrimination.

Debating lese majeste amendments and the role of the judiciary

Debating lese majeste amendments and the role of the judiciary:
A recent seminar at Thammasat University was held about lese majeste. The Nation:

Somchai Homla-or, a member of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, said he believed the problem involving Section 112 is caused by the law itself, its enforcement, and the court’s interpretations. He suggested that the law be amended in regards to penalties it prescribes. He said he did not agree with amending the section by imposing a minimum penalty of three years because the move would deprive judges of the right to exercise their discretion.
He said he believed penalties should vary depending on the damage done to the monarchy. For instance, if a person sends an insulting message once, but the message gets disseminated across the globe, judges can exercise their judgement on how many years of imprisonment a convict deserves. Somchai also believes there should be a proper procedure to file lese majeste complaints, not a normal complaint that anyone can lodge with police.
…
Worajet Pakeerat, a member of Nitirat group and a Thammasat University lecturer, pointed to the problem of interpretation by judges. He saying judges are very sensitive about the issue, resulting in ambiguous legal interpretations.
He insisted the lese majeste law should be amended by excluding the Queen and royal family members from protection under the section. He pointed out that the same law in foreign countries protects only the head of the state or the King and his representatives.

Prachatai has an article quoting Permanent Secretary of the PM’s Office Tongthong Chandransu, a well-known legal expert and royalist, who gave evidence in a recent trial for Somyot:

Even though Thailand now is a democracy, the penalty under Section 112 of the Criminal Code currently is harsher than it was during the absolute monarchy. And in his view the penalty of 3-15 years’ imprisonment is too harsh and not proportionate to the offence.
He said that the words ‘defame or insult’ in Section 112 should have the same meaning as those in Section 326 which involved ordinary people, but the penalties under these two sections are very different. And defendants in lèse majesté cases are not allowed exemptions from punishment or from the offence in line with Section 329.

BP: On judicial interpretation, the Veera’s case is a classic example – see here for more – and below is a translation of what was said by Veera from David Streckfuss’s excellent article:

BP: Veera was found guilty, but if this had been the case of defamation under Section 326 of the Criminal Code, would Veera have been found guilty? BP doesn’t think so. Such indirect statements would be not considered defamation under Section 326 which states “Whoever imputes anything to another person before a third person in a manner likely to impair the reputation of such other person or to expose the other person to hatred or contempt is said to commit defamation, and shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 20,000 baht, or both” (source). Judges have interpreted lese majeste so broadly that it captures indirect comments which they don’t do for defamation of ordinary persons under Section 326. This is a question of interpretation and is separate from the issue of the text of the law and enforcement. No part of the text of lese majeste says that indirect defamatory statements or insults are punishable. Judges have decided this amongst themselves.
Now, there have been attempts over the past few years to set up committees to review lese majeste cases before they go to trial, but this means the big elephant in the room is clearly the judiciary. According to David Streckfuss, the conviction rate is 94% so obtaining a conviction has not been a problem. So it is not the situation that prosecutors have been bringing weak cases to trial only for cases to be thrown out. Normally, a major factor when a prosecutor brings a case to trial is the chances of getting a conviction. The prosecutor will look at previous cases. If there is a poor chance of obtaining a conviction then the case would be dropped. For lese majeste this is not the case. As you can see above, while the comments are often indirect (no one wants a contempt of conviction), the question remains and has rarely been asked, why has the Thai judiciary interpreted lese majeste so widely?
PPT also has some comments about The Nation article although you can see BP disagrees on on some points.

Larger turnout at Bersih 3.0 may not be a game changer in upcoming Msian elections

Larger turnout at Bersih 3.0 may not be a game changer in upcoming Msian elections:
Last Saturday, thousands of Malaysians again, converted some of Kuala Lumpur’s busiest roads into a sea of yellow. Clad in yellow shirts, these Malaysians have flocked into the city to push for electoral reforms in a rally known as BERSIH 3.0, ahead of a widely-anticipated general elections.
And again, the supporters who chanted “Bersih” or “clean up” in Malay throughout the rally, came away teary-eyed and choking from several rounds of tear gas fired by the police force in attempts to disperse the crowd, after some protesters tried to storm into the Independence Square- the venue earmarked originally by rally organizers as the main gathering point.
At first glance, the immediate outcome of the BERSIH 3.0 rally is not too different from its second rally held in July 2011.
The organizers of the rally still did not get permission to gather at the venue that they wanted, the federal government still saw the rally for free and fair elections as defiant act against the ruling powers of the country and the mainstream local media still gave the rally bad press on Sunday morning, detailing how violent and shameful the rally supporters behaved the day before.
Nevertheless, the BERSIH 3.0 organizers could now claim some moral victory from the significantly larger turnout of supporters not just in the capital city of Malaysia, but also in other parts of the country as well as in the world.
A broad consensus among eyewitnesses showed that between 50,000 and 80,000 people attended the rally that day- in what again appeared to be the largest protest in the country in recent history. The supporters have also evolved to be more multi-racial and cutting across social classes and age over the years- it is apparent that more middle-class Chinese had participated in this rally.
Over the years, Malaysians have come a long way from rallying for a particular political figure, to rallying for a sophisticated political cause. It is also harder for people to tell whether the rally held was predominantly attended by only a specific race and creed.
For a nation that has been prominently divided according to race for more than 50 years, the demographics and turnout of the rally has set new benchmarks for the country’s political landscape. The sentiment of the rally is that there is now greater participation and political awareness seen among the nation than ever before.
The federal government- led by current Prime Minister Najib Razak, has some serious reputation issues to address. It faces the challenges of being one that has seen two major rallies held in the streets of Kuala Lumpur within less than a year.
Depending on the severity of his popularity rating plunge, some say Najib may now have to reconsider the timing of the upcoming general elections, which has been widely anticipated to be held in the next one or two months.
Yet, it is likely that Najib and his administration is unperturbed by the massive rally, as it does not view the rally as game-changer in the upcoming elections. At least, not yet.
After all, the National Front- the ruling party that forms the current federal government- has some fat carrots to dangle to other voters, including the expected windfall profit to rural Malay settlers following the listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings. Earlier, Najib had also given out cash handouts to students and households in a move apparently to woo voters.
Given that he could tap into the allocation of resources, the National Front- being the party that forms the ruling government today- would still have the upper hand in the upcoming elections and may hold out for several years more.
But, it will also gradually be harder for Najib to hold on to power as a reformed leader, if he keeps on failing to keep up with the times and listen to the voices of the people that came out to rally that Saturday in April.

388 arrested as Kuala Lumpur protest turns ugly

388 arrested as Kuala Lumpur protest turns ugly: Tear-gas clouded downtown Kuala Lumpur yesterday as protesters stormed police barricades during a massive rally. Riot police fired tear gas canisters and turned chemical-laced water on crowds estimat .....

Former Thai PM Thaksin back in UK, eyeing US

Former Thai PM Thaksin back in UK, eyeing US: Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in the United Kingdom on Friday night and would stay in that country for about a week, his spokesman said yesterday. Noppadon Pattama, f .....

Mekong Delta targets annual 12% growth over next decade

Mekong Delta targets annual 12% growth over next decade: The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region targets annual economic growth of 12 per cent through 2020, hoping to raise per capita income to 70 million dong (US$3,350) per year, according to the Southwest Regi .....

Bersih 3.0 – What next Mr. Najib Razak?

Bersih 3.0 – What next Mr. Najib Razak?:

As Malaysia heads into choppy political waters the question is will Prime Minister Najib Razak prepare Malaysia for a peaceful and legitimate transfer of power through free and fair elections or will Malaysia follow the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar experience of bloody popular uprisings?

2,500 volunteers across the Middle East are compiling a Web 2.0 dictionary in Arabic

2,500 volunteers across the Middle East are compiling a Web 2.0 dictionary in Arabic:
With an increasing demand for online content in Arabic, and the language seeing impressive growth rates on sites like Twitter and Wikipedia, a new project aims to do its part to bridge the gap between Arabic and English content in social media and technology, Gulf News reports.
2,500 volunteers from across 28 countries are in the process of putting together a dictionary of technological and social media-related terminology.
While Arabic content continues to grow, there are certain words, like ‘spam’, ‘retweet’ and ‘phishing’ that have emerged but have no equivalent in Arabic, and are often written either in Latin characters, or simply transliterated into Arabic.
The dictionary will be taking a standardized approach, avoiding the pitfalls of the many Arabic dialects spoken across the Middle East, by sticking to formal ‘classical Arabic.’
Sami Mubarak, co-founder of Taghreedat told Gulf News, “The glossary will break a big barrier because many users resort to combining English terminology with the Arabic text, so we want to change that and introduce the first Arabic technology and social media glossary.”
Despite impressive growth rates, the actual amount of online content in Arabic is minimal. On Wikipedia, Arabic content accounts only for 0.007% of its overall content, while across the Web, most estimates put Arabic content at around 2 to 3% at the very most.
With the wheels for the project set in motion by Taghreedat, an initiative founded with the aim of increasing Arabic digital content, support for the dictionary has been provided by investment group twofour54 ibtikar.
This is not the only initiative that Taghreedat is involved in, with the aim of changing the landscape of online Arabic content. The group is actively working towards increasing Wikipedia’s Arabic content and spearheaded the ‘Let’s Tweet in Arabic‘ project, encouraging Arabic speaking Twitter users to share updates in their native tongue.
Twitter itself also played an important role when it introduced support for right-to-left languages, including Arabic.
While this is the first large-scale dictionary of its kind, there are other tools available online aiming to make it easier for Arabic speakers to stick to their native language, from the incredibly useful transliteration tool Yamli, which we covered when it first launched to Arabic captchas.
As the Internet’s Arabic audience continues to grow, with over 77 million Internet users and a penetration rate of 35.6 % in the region, there is an increasing need for more of these kinds of initiatives, and a Web 2.0 dictionary is the perfect accompaniment to facilitate the process.
The dictionary will feature social media and cyber security terms, and the final product will be available online, and as a free downloadable application.

30 specialist (and super smart) search engines

30 specialist (and super smart) search engines:
Google is widely (and rightly) recognised as the mother of all search engines. But, if you need to drill down your searches by more specific details, do you trust Google to give you what you need every single time?
Here’s a collection of 3o vertical search engines which you should have up your sleeve when you need some specialist power.

Flights / Travel

1. SkyScanner.net – The leading flights search engine, providing information about all carriers to help you find the best deal.

2. Momondo.com – Very similar to SkyScanner and with an added ‘current searches’ widget to see what flights other people are searching for. (Particularly handy in Europe!)

3. Hipmunk - The San Francisco-based startup that’s swiftly revolutionizing trip-planning for savvy travelers with flights, trains and hotel search.

Blogs

4. IceRocket.com – Searches for content from blogs, Twitter, Facebook and more.

5. BlogPulse.com – Blog-specific search engine searching through more than 170 million blogs.

6. eBuzzing Labs - The top blogs section is a great place to start a topic-specific blogs and content.

Images

7. TinEye.com – a reverse image search engine – this finds out where an image came from, how it’s being used and where you can find the best resolution version.

8. PicSearch.com – Searches through more than 3 billion online photos.

People

9. Pipl.com – Search for people all over the world from a simple interface.

10. 123people.com – Aggregates public information from a number of sources to give a spread of person-specific information.
Forums
11. BoardReader.com – The best free discussion board and forum search tool out there.
Music
12. MixTurtle.com – Basic music search engine by artist and / or song title.

13. SongBoxx.com – Search over 7,000,000 tracks from the one location.

14. Music-Map.com – Type in your favourite artist and then a map of similar artists will be returned (very cool).

15. AudioGalaxy.com – Search for and save your playlists in the cloud from this very slick site.
Audio and Video
16. PodScope.com – The web’s leading podcast search directory.

17. Blinkx.com – Search over 35 million hours of video.
Resources

18. SlideFinder.net -Instead of starting a new presentation slide from scratch, see if the one you need is here.

19. FileDigg.com – Search for files by type e.g. .ppt and .pdf etc.
Domain names
20. Panabee.com – A great way to search for website domain names and generate names if you are struggling for ideas. [Also, read this before naming your startup.]

21. NameNinja.com – Another brainstorming tool to discover domain names.
Icons
22. Iconfinder.com – Great for finding different file versions e.g. .png and .ico.

23. Iconseeker.com – A standard icon search engine.

24. IconArchive.com – One of the most comprehensive icon search engines on the web, includes really useful sub-category search.
Private search
25. DuckDuckGo.com – This engine allows you to search for sites without bring tracked at the other end.
Similar websites
26. SimilarSites.com – Search for sites similar to the ones you love in a simple way.
All-rounders
27. Blekko.com – Uses ‘slashtagging’ to narrow down your results.

28. KeoTag.com – Tag search multiple search engines for the latest content.

29. Scour.com – A social search community.

30. Greplin.com – Another social search engine with desktop capability.
While some of these are better alternatives to Google and the other major engines, for the most part, the big boys do it incredibly (incredibly, incredibly) well.
olly via shutterstock

5 ways to declutter your life and give your stuff away for free

5 ways to declutter your life and give your stuff away for free:
Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on goods and services they don’t absolutely need, according to The Wall Street Journal. Thankfully, the growing collaborative consumption movement, which promotes the gifting, sharing, and renting of things, can help deflate that bloated number.
If you have been moving piles of things from one room to another or stuffing them into an overflowing closet, it might be time to consider getting rid of some of your stuff. You can sell it on eBay or Craigslist, or rent it on Loanables and Snapgoods. But if you are feeling altruistic and don’t need the money (or hassle) that comes from renting or selling your items, here are  5 ways to give away your clutter.

Curb it

May 12th is Give Your Stuff Away Day, organized by New York-based teacher Mike Morone. His model for the annual event is simple: gather up stuff, put it on the curb, and wait for the masses to take it away; if it isn’t taken away, the garbage collectors will haul it off for you. If you want to participate in Give Your Stuff Away Day, Morone recommends putting your stuff to the left of the trash to be sure people can get to it easily. Also make a few big “FREE” signs that are visible from the road, or even put notes on items identifying if they are working or what they need to fully operate.

Find A Needy Neighbor

Long-time gifters know that Craiglist’s “Free” board and the nearest chapter of Freecycle are fast and easy ways to get rid of your stuff locally, and keeping items in the community tightens your neighborhood network. Posting on Craigslist is simple, it allows for listing lots of items in one post and will usually yield quick and numerous responses. Freecycle requires a moderator to sign you up through an email account, and then you can post “offers” for your items on the local forums. For a more updated experience, try GiftFlow, which adds a social network element to the gifting process. Unlike the other sites, you create a user profile, which means you can post what you have and what you want while acquiring a user history; this helps when you are meeting a stranger for the handoff.

Ship it

If you aren’t excited about the face-to-face interactions required by local gifting, consider shipping your stuff to someone who wants it. Exchango lets you offer local pickup but also gives you the option to ship your free item to the recipient who then pays the shipping costs. Similarly, Givmo lets you post your items, relays messages of interest, and gives you a prepaid shipping label to send your stuff out. While sites like these are gaining in popularity, if you are committed to purging a lot of stuff quickly, the shipping-one-at-a-time method might not be right for you.

Targeted Donations

For the gifter who likes to choose the recipient, consider targeting donations. Whatever your category of item, there is a group who could use it. Closet overflowing with professional clothes? Career Gear for men or Dress for Success for women will outfit someone in need for potentially life-changing job interviews. For that bin of old cell phones, Cell Phones for Soldiers or National Coalition Against Domestic Violence will refurbish and resell them. And for all of those books you don’t need anymore because you have them on your Kindle or iPad, there are dozens of organizations from prisons to homeless children programs that can use them. Though you will pay for shipping, you can get tax receipts for your donations and the tax deduction will likely cover what you paid to ship the item. For an exhaustive list of places to donate your stuff, check out Miss Minimalist’s Where to Donate Your Stuff: 101 Places Your Clutter Can Do Good.

Gift Temporarily

If you aren’t ready to get rid of your stuff permanently, consider the “gift of lending”. Neighborgoods allows you to lend out your appliances or other items to people locally. You can create private groups or participate with “verified” users, and everyone is held accountable through the feedback system on their profiles. Acts of Sharing provides a similar service that allows friends to post the things they want and need, with an easy-to-use interface. Inherently social and great for college students, AOS users login using Facebook or Twitter and find their sharing inventories amongst their current social networks.
If you have been avoiding an overflowing closet, gifting your stuff to someone who needs it has never been easier. Take advantage of this list and start your spring cleaning today!