· January, 2014

Stories about Ideas from January, 2014

A Business Model Competition to Ignite Start Ups in Madagascar

  29 January 2014

Harinjaka, founder of the co-working space Habaka and Madagascar-based blogger, created the 2014 Antananarivo Start Up Cup [fr] whose objective is to select and support the best business ideas in Madagascar. He thinks that there is a bright future for entrepreneurship and innovation [fr] in Madagascar. Here is a poster for the event [fr] :...

South Korea: ‘Less is More’, Net Users Turn Sour on Typical Movie Poster

  28 January 2014

A massive Disney hit movie, Frozen is rapidly gaining traction also in South Korea. However, more young Koreans are turning sour on typical Korean-style movie poster, which has long been criticized for being either too confusing or overly interrupted [ko] by extra-bold text dropping names or media/net users’ reviews ridden with cliche [ko]....

INNOVATION: Containers as Student Housing at European Universities

  28 January 2014

In order to alleviate the lack of student housing available across Europe, a few universities in Denmark, Germany, France (Le Havre) [fr] and Spain have tried to turn containers into student dorms. Containers appear to be the structure of choice because they are less costly and readily adaptable to include the necessary amenities....

Fairy Tales in the 21st Century

  28 January 2014

On the column Breviario [es] from the website El MalPensante [es], Argentinian author Hernán Casciari [es] concludes that many timeless fairy tales that are part of children's imagination and many other stories would have never taken place had their main characters had access to the current technology: What happens with...

What Does Climate Change Mean to You? Documentary Competition

  27 January 2014

Young filmmakers from all over the world are invited to produce and submit a 1-12 minute video documentary telling a story about climate change. What the #Action4Climate video challenge wants to know is: How is climate change impacting your community? What are you doing about it? What needs to be done to...

South Korea: I Would Rather Sell My Personal Info

  23 January 2014

Personal information of about 20 million people, which amounts to two fifth of the entire South Korean population, has been compromised in the country's worst identity theft. Customers of the affected three major credit card firms gasped at the sheer extensiveness of the breach; it is not just the user's real name,...

From Barcelona to Madrid for the Love of a Candidate

  23 January 2014

Blogger Denise Duncan makes a confession [es] on her blog: ¿Por qué voy a viajar 1400 kilómetros para votar por Luis Guillermo Solís? ¿Por qué ir y volver de Barcelona a Madrid en 24 horas? ¡Pero es un voto, nada más!, podría pensarse. ¿Qué diferencia hay? Una: estoy enamorada. Why...

As Darkness Falls – Berlin Conference

  22 January 2014

Berlin is welcoming the digital intelligentsia to a conference this weekend (January 25-26) on “self-empowerment in the age of digital control”. Speakers at the event, As Darkness Falls, include Jacob Appelbaum, Bruce Sterling, Micah Sifry, Evgeny Morozov and from Global Voices, Asteris Masouras (@asteris). See program in English and German....

Young Romanian Builds First Car Entirely Made of LEGO Blocks

  21 January 2014

20-year-old Raul Oaida from Romania has built what many dreamed of as children – the world’s first life-size LEGO car. The car, including the engine which actually runs, was built using 500,000 LEGO pieces. The vehicle can only achieve a speed of some 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, but...

Suriname Gets “An Eye For Art”

  18 January 2014

Srananart's Blog highlights an exciting new initiative, An Eye For Art: Every fortnight, an esteemed art critic discusses a piece of work from a Surinamese gallery's collection.

Preserving The Hidden History Of Old Dhaka

  17 January 2014

Writer and blogger Jenny Gustafsson highlights the works of The Urban Study Group, a non-profit voluntary organization, which is campaigning for the conservation of the rich architectural /urban heritage of old Dhaka.

Shall We Start with the Good News?

  16 January 2014

Global Voices launches a new 'Good News' category for solution driven stories. Are you put off by too much injustice and human suffering? This year, we're making a change.