Uzbekistan's 1st Internet Festival report.

international | sci-tech | other press Saturday May 14, 2005 15:42 by iosaf mac d. the ipsiphi

he Internet-festival Uzbekistan'2005 (http://www.if.uz) opened on May 10.

You know how it goes, you grow up in the XXI century, but in a poor land, where unemployment averages 40% for males and females don't get listed in the statistics.
You do your best day and night to attract attention to your land in the hope that a hint of exotica, and network Telly might bring in the good times, terrace cafés, and liberty.

the lucky Uzbek who wins the Internet festival will be allowed to display this logo on thier website.

What are you to do?
You feel the plethora of new fundamentalist groups who spend the long hot hours of your sun-drenched land debating the model of post-centralised-socialist-state-islamic-sharia-law which would best suit your land, are not your cup of tea.
Not for you the fine distinctions between Nassarism, Baathism, or Ayotallah style islamic republics.
No you're a web designer.

Well attracting interest in your land can take many directions, you could write a slogan like Afghanistan did "the best place to visit in teh world possibly the universe" but you'd run into problems, because when polled most western tourists hadn't heard of your land.

You could parade pretty young kids to get photographed looking wistfully traumatised, but again you might seem to be confusing your holiday destination with other more established national profiles to the south.

What are you to do?

Well you could use the internet.
Everyone knows the internet helps business and cultural contacts and no-one but on-one is going anywhere quick in this XXI century without the net.
That's why God invented Bill Gates. Since the creation of the domain suffix ".uz" Uzbekistan has seen 3,194 domains registered as of April 3 2005.
Of these only 700 are active websites, and the others are indicative of the potential that the far distant future of Uzbekistan has for cyber speculators.

In the list of 2,400 odd websites which are not presently active you will find the basis of the future sites of Mcdonalds, Pizzahut, Burgerking, DeutscheBank, Starbucks, Renault, Mercedes, Lever washing products, Nestle sweetie bars and i kid you not the Uzbek Michael Jackson fanclub.

Beyond this, there other second and third level sites which use the .uz domain but hold content of interest to mostly other nationalities. Ferghana.Ru catalog (http://catalog.ferghana.ru) includes 700 second level domains, 544 resources and 340 second- and third-level domens in the UZ zone.
Ferghana.Ru catalog (http://catalog.ferghana.ru) includes 544 resources and 340 second- and third-level domens in the UZ zone.

Perhaps you are thinking you shouldn't rock the boat, perhaps you are thinking that doing that course in Information Technology at the OSI centre set up by "you know who" has merely opened a door of unwanted future exploitation and misery on your people. Perhaps you're thinking that trading as your ancestors, to time immemorial have done in Yoghurt and Opium is the life for you


IN WHICH CASE YOU'RE SOFT!

And this festival isn't for you.
I shall update you on the progress to a civilised internet state as the IF UZ event progresses.
I'll put links to the UZ "russian brides" site where you can peruse the young and uncommonly pretty uzbeks who can't wait for Mcdonalds to set up in Tashkent and want to marry you (that's YOU!) instead. I'll also be updating you on the fringe festval events "street clashes and chaotic disorder" which are ensuring that Uzbekistan stays on the front pages, and in the absence of any professional journalists will work wonders for attracting foreign investment and tourists in a scaled down five year plan. You see we've worked it all out, westerners need to read about a war in a country before they invest.