Uzbekistan's 1st Internet Festival report.

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.

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Comments (4 of 4)

Fringe Festival "blood on the streets of a US ally" updates :-

by @

Sat May 14, 2005 16:07

A spokesperson for Hizb ut-Tahrir the Uzbek pan-islamist party illegalised by the president of Uzbekistan, Mr Karimov in London has denied allegations that their group are staging the "blood on the streets of a US ally" event.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14316846.htm
Mr Karimov has also denied that Uzbekistan is "going the Krygystan way" and is currently supported by Russia, because indeed he was the former Soviet era president of the country as well. the USA have said that though supporting liberty and stuff you can't get that type of thing using violence. (honestly they have).

For indepth background commentaries on the region, so that you organise your travel and tourism accordingly, please read the rough guide to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan here-
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69106

around 500 refugees have crossed the border of Krygystan in the last 24 hours, they are at present an estimated four and half weeks walk from Ireland (provided they get a boat). You may like to alert the ministry of justice.

Uzbeks look like Krygyiiis.
That is they look sort of mid Asian.
I won't show you a picture, coz it could intefere with the Internet festival jury's selection of "pretty uzbek" and even God Forbid, encourage you to racist stereotyping.

Borat

by Barry

Sat May 14, 2005 16:19

Is that where Borat is supposed to be from ?

someone on UK imc is asking you to blog against the Uzbeks.

by someone

Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:47

that might not be fair, think about it before you do, the Uzbek internet users festival in the article above was put back and seriously disrupted because of the civil strife there.

it got cancelled in the end. (the internet competition)

by -

Sun Mar 26, 2006 00:52

uzbekistan featured on indymedia ireland for other reasons :-

"Reports of Widespread Torture in Uzbekistan"
http://indymedia.ie/article/74229

a whole rash of places appeared in the last year as "CIA rendition destinations" included amongst them Uzbekistan, Bylerussia and Romania.
"Photo proof of CIA planes in Ireland: Scottish Dossier"
http://indymedia.ie/article/73871

"Ex - UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan leaks torture documents."
http://indymedia.ie/article/73622

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Uzbekistan's 1st Internet Festival report.

Comments (4 of 4)