KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is considering imposing an Internet filter to block “undesirable” websites, on the grounds of maintaining racial harmony in the multicultural nation, a senior official said Thursday.

The move was quickly condemned by the opposition which described it as a “horror of horrors” that would destroy the relative freedom of the Internet in Malaysia, where the mainstream press is tightly controlled.

A senior official with the National Security Council (NSC) confirmed reports that the coalition government was considering imposing controls — effectively scrapping a 1996 guarantee that it would not censor the Internet.

“It is to keep out pornographic materials and bloggers who inflame racial sentiments. We need to maintain racial harmony. We cannot have full-blown democracy like in the United States,” he told AFP.

“This country must survive,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The memory of bloody racial 1969 racial riots is still strong in Malaysia, and the need to preserve peace between majority Muslim Malays, and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, is commonly invoked by the government.

The NSC official dismissed suggestions that the proposal echoed China’s aborted “Green Dam” project, a plan to introduce Internet filtering software on all new computers sold in the country.

“It is not like China’s Green Dam nor is it a plan sparked by last weekend’s anti-government street protests,” he said, referring to a massive opposition-led rally against laws that allow for detention without trial.

Malaysia’s lively blogosphere has been a thorn in the side of the Barisan Nasional government, which was been in power for more than half a century but was dealt its worst ever results in elections a year ago.

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FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Jun 15, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of the DataTraveler(R) 200 (DT200), the world’s first 128GB USB Flash drive. The large capacity along with password protection gives users the flexibility to carry critical data with them at all times in a very small form factor.

“The new DT200’s robust storage capability lets consumers store complete libraries of music, photos and videos. It is also a great tool for business users who carry around large databases or files,” said Andrew Ewing, USB business manager, Kingston(R). “The password protection helps safeguard data and requires no admin rights, making the DT200 a terrific solution for the home or office.”
The Kingston DataTraveler 200 features a capless design to protect the USB connector when not in use and is enhanced for Windows ReadyBoost(TM). It is available in 32-, 64- and 128GB capacities. The 128GB drive is build-to-order only. Customers who wish to purchase it can place an order through normal channels (e.g., e-tailers or resellers).

The DT200 is backed by a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support. For more information, visit www.kingston.com.

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Mobile Holy Quran for Windows XP/Vista

You can now read the Holy Quran in your PC or laptop running Windows XP or Windows Vista. The features are similar to what you get for other Mobile Holy Quran product.

The Mobile Holy Quran for Windows XP/Vista is fully optimised and compatible with Microsoft latest operating system – Windows Vista. Once you’ve installed the application,you can look forward to read the Holy Quran easily on your PC or laptop.

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Internet security software provider Kaspersky has introduced a new product designed specifically for ultra-portables. It’s designed to work on netbooks and other small notebooks with Intel Atom, Celeron-M, or VIA-C7-M processors that are running Windows XP. It’s been tested to work on netbooks from Acer, Asus, MSI, and Samsung.

So what exactly makes this product different from other Kaspersky security software? First, it’s been designed to work with netbooks that have 1024 x 600 pixel or lower resolution screens. Second, it offers “high performance, even on low-end ultra-portable PCs.” While Kaspersky doesn’t spell out what that means, my guess is that it’s a bit lighter on system resources than some other security software which can bog down slower machines. Kaspersky Internet Security for Ultra-Portables has a minimum RAM requirement of just 256MB, and the software takes up 50MB of disk space.

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