Pakistan Cuts Access to YouTube Worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube was back up two hours after Pakistan, in an act of information provincialism, inadvertently made the video-sharing site inaccessible to users around the world Sunday afternoon.

The blackout left network administrators and Internet activists wondering on Monday how Pakistan’s actions, meant to restrict only its own citizens from accessing YouTube, could have such widespread reverberations — and whether such a disruption could be reproduced by someone with more malicious intent.

Farm cash receipts at new high: StatsCan

Market cash receipts for farmers hit a record high in 2007, boosted primarily by a surge in grain and oilseed prices, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

Dairy, poultry and egg producers received higher revenues. Meanwhile, cattle and hog farmers were squeezed by a combination of lower prices, higher feed costs, and the higher Canadian dollar.

Canadian farmers received a record $36.3 billion from the sale of crops and livestock in 2007, up 12.2 per cent from 2006. This total was 14.9 per cent above the previous five-year average. This period included the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) situation and some years of low commodity prices.

Whoopi Wonders Where She Was on Oscar Night

The 2008 Academy Awards might end up being remembered not for what was crammed into the three-hour-plus broadcast, but for what was glaringly left out.

While Jon Stewart gave Best Song cowinner Marketa Irglova a chance to finish her acceptance speech after the commercial break and the Academy is trying to explain why Brad Renfro didn’t make the “in memoriam” cut, Whoopi Goldberg—and her loyal The View cohosts—can be added to the list of people with an ax to grind over Sunday’s ceremony.