Popweekly: Digest for 11.16

Hong kong by bartpogoda.

Popweekly is a weekly report (at the beginning of the week instead of the end) which contains a digest of news, events, and issues of interest to Popwuping readers. It's something new I am trying as a means of sharing all that I read over the course of a week. It's subject to iteration of course - especially this opening paragraph.

The HIV travel ban is lifted. HIV-positive people will at last be allowed to visit America.

For 22 years America has banned HIV-positive people from entering the country without a hard-to-get waiver for fear of the virus spreading. It has not hosted a big international AIDS conference in more than a decade either, because many HIV-positive activists would not be allowed to attend. Only a dozen other countries, including China and Russia, have similar restrictions, and there is no evidence that these bans halt the spread of AIDS. Instead, many say, it makes things worse by stigmatising carriers of the virus.

Drugs, scams and beat downs. Just another night of 'Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand'

A new documentary has the Thai tourism industry scrambling to clean up its act. "From adrenaline fuelled drug busts, organized tourist scams, scorned lady-boys, violent brothel disputes, bar room brawls, brutal murders, street robberies and sexual assaults, the series is filmed in the popular tourist hotspots of Koh Samui, Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya and Chang Mai."

World's Best Business Hotels 2009.

These top hotels combine service, technology, and comfort--everything that today's business traveler needs on the road. All would agree, however, that the best business hotels first and foremost make it easy to accomplish the work you came to do. At the very least, that means a central location, efficient check-in and checkout, reliable and high-quality technology, comfortable work spaces, attention when you need it and quiet when you don't.

Picture Show: Four Days in Dubai.

Dubai can seem more like a mirage than any place on Earth--even in the shade, it's marvelously bright. Whether the city is the most precious gem in the United Arab Emirates' crown or merely a piece of costume jewelry is up for debate; regardless, its very presence is remarkable. But for all its pomp and extravagance, there are real people who work and live there. Through the lens of the photographer Dustin Aksland, who recently traveled to the famed metropolis on a separate assignment, the city takes on a strikingly humble tone. What follows is a selection from Dustin Aksland's "Four Days in Dubai."

GigGuidetw.

It's unfortunate that Taiwan/Taipei (one and the same to many people) lacks a good cultural events calendar. There are so many great things happening here which are incredibly difficult to discover outside of the personal networks we all develop. Steve Leggat's GigGuide helps keep people informed about the latest live music happenings in the indie music scene. He hopes to reduce those "What!? [insert band name here] played in Taipei and I didn't know about it? How did I miss that?" conversations that we all inevitably experience. It's an excellent effort and very well designed. If he could only be persuaded to expand his coverage to include other types of events then we could all stop complaining about what we missed and start complaining about how we have no free time to see all that is available.

Singapore Design Festival 2009

From 20 to 30 November 2009, design will once again take centrestage in Singapore. The third Singapore Design Festival will continue to be a meeting place for designers, design thought leaders and design clients of the world to establish how design can make a difference to improve lives and create possibilities for tomorrow.

Bangkok Opera: 2nd World Opera Week

World Opera Week 2009 features three shows at Thailand Cultural Center's Main Hall November 23-29. Ode to Joy is a tribute to Beethoven's final symphonies and will be performed by the Mahler Siam Philharmonic Orchestra on 23 November. The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are priced 100-1,000 baht. The most popular opera in the world, La Boheme, will run for two nights November 25-26. The performance will star Nancy Yuen and Israel Lozano, who return to Bangkok after co-starring in Madame Butterfly two years ago, with music by the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orpheus Choir of Bangkok. Curtains up at 7:30pm and tickets cost 500-3,000 baht. [source]

Popweekly: Digest for 11.16

Hong kong by bartpogoda. Popweekly is a weekly report (at the beginning of the week instead of the end) which contains a digest of news, events, and issues of interest to Popwuping readers. It's something new I am trying as a means of sharing all that I read over the course of a week. It's subject to iteration of course - especially this opening paragraph.

The HIV travel ban is lifted. HIV-positive people will at last be allowed to visit America.

For 22 years America has banned HIV-positive people from entering the country without a hard-to-get waiver for fear of the virus spreading. It has not hosted a big international AIDS conference in more than a decade either, because many HIV-positive activists would not be allowed to attend. Only a dozen other countries, including China and Russia, have similar restrictions, and there is no evidence that these bans halt the spread of AIDS. Instead, many say, it makes things worse by stigmatising carriers of the virus.

Drugs, scams and beat downs. Just another night of 'Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand'

A new documentary has the Thai tourism industry scrambling to clean up its act. "From adrenaline fuelled drug busts, organized tourist scams, scorned lady-boys, violent brothel disputes, bar room brawls, brutal murders, street robberies and sexual assaults, the series is filmed in the popular tourist hotspots of Koh Samui, Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya and Chang Mai."

World's Best Business Hotels 2009.

These top hotels combine service, technology, and comfort--everything that today's business traveler needs on the road. All would agree, however, that the best business hotels first and foremost make it easy to accomplish the work you came to do. At the very least, that means a central location, efficient check-in and checkout, reliable and high-quality technology, comfortable work spaces, attention when you need it and quiet when you don't.

Picture Show: Four Days in Dubai.

Dubai can seem more like a mirage than any place on Earth--even in the shade, it's marvelously bright. Whether the city is the most precious gem in the United Arab Emirates' crown or merely a piece of costume jewelry is up for debate; regardless, its very presence is remarkable. But for all its pomp and extravagance, there are real people who work and live there. Through the lens of the photographer Dustin Aksland, who recently traveled to the famed metropolis on a separate assignment, the city takes on a strikingly humble tone. What follows is a selection from Dustin Aksland's "Four Days in Dubai."

GigGuidetw.

It's unfortunate that Taiwan/Taipei (one and the same to many people) lacks a good cultural events calendar. There are so many great things happening here which are incredibly difficult to discover outside of the personal networks we all develop. Steve Leggat's GigGuide helps keep people informed about the latest live music happenings in the indie music scene. He hopes to reduce those "What!? [insert band name here] played in Taipei and I didn't know about it? How did I miss that?" conversations that we all inevitably experience. It's an excellent effort and very well designed. If he could only be persuaded to expand his coverage to include other types of events then we could all stop complaining about what we missed and start complaining about how we have no free time to see all that is available.

Singapore Design Festival 2009

From 20 to 30 November 2009, design will once again take centrestage in Singapore. The third Singapore Design Festival will continue to be a meeting place for designers, design thought leaders and design clients of the world to establish how design can make a difference to improve lives and create possibilities for tomorrow.

Bangkok Opera: 2nd World Opera Week

World Opera Week 2009 features three shows at Thailand Cultural Center's Main Hall November 23-29. Ode to Joy is a tribute to Beethoven's final symphonies and will be performed by the Mahler Siam Philharmonic Orchestra on 23 November. The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are priced 100-1,000 baht. The most popular opera in the world, La Boheme, will run for two nights November 25-26. The performance will star Nancy Yuen and Israel Lozano, who return to Bangkok after co-starring in Madame Butterfly two years ago, with music by the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orpheus Choir of Bangkok. Curtains up at 7:30pm and tickets cost 500-3,000 baht. [source]