· February, 2008

Stories about Technology from February, 2008

India: Blogging and Memories

  29 February 2008

Route 79 ponders on the point of blogging, and reproduces a wonderful letter from a person who lived in the same area of London who shares his memories.

Africa: Applying long-tail to the African mobile space

  28 February 2008

White African discusses “applying the long-tail to the African mobile space”: “What Ken is getting at is an important concept, one that too many of us forget as we generally have access to the more powerful phones. Whether it’s dealing with NGO-related initiatives, or traditional business projects, we need to...

Malawi: Competition in the mobile phone industry

  28 February 2008

Austin Madinga writes about competition in the mobile phone industry in Malawi: “In the past few years, Malawians have witnessed cut throat competition between mobile phone operators Celtel Malawi and TNM Limited in terms of marketing, promotions and roll out of value added services. Users have also joined in with...

China: Suicide at tech giant Huawei

  28 February 2008

Following up on one blogger's lead, some comments on yet another staff suicide at tech company Huawei this week which for many reinforces the company's popular image of having one of the toughest workplace environments in the country.

Serbia: Where is Facebook's Belgrade?

  27 February 2008

According to Belgrade 2.0, Serbia's capital has mysteriously disappeared from Facebook: “Anyway, there are couple of groups now fighting to get Serbian cities back on the list of hometowns, since about 70 thousand Serbs that are already on Facebook just lost that option. Unfortunately, the protesters are not being very...

Yemen: Gaza, My Grandmother and Candles

  26 February 2008

Yemeni blogger Maysaa Shuja has written a profoundly thoughtful post about candles, electricity, and the possible introduction of nuclear energy to her native country - a country which cannot supply a steady stream of electricity. And while the outpour of sympathy for Gaza and its electricity problems continue, Maysaa Shuja talks about how her enterprising grandmother, may Allah rest her soul in peace, taught them the value of candles at their greatest hours of need.

Africa: AfricanLoft Update

  26 February 2008

Grandiose Parlor talks about recent updates on AfricanLoft: “AfricanLoft is ever committed to ensuring that only the best is good enough for our readers and contributors. In addition to the Main Homepage which has been redesigned to ensure easier navigation and better presentation of contents, we’re pleased to announce the...

South Africa: Where are black bloggers hiding?

  26 February 2008

Inside Candy wonders where South African black bloggers are: “I realise that this is a potentially loaded question, but where the hell are all the black bloggers hiding? To date, I’ve only met one (I repeat, one) black South African blogger – Obakeng, “The Chief” of ONC Today.”

Sharing music for free is not a crime, in Spain

  26 February 2008

Miguel Caetano, who faithfully writes at his blog Remixtures, blogs about[PT] the relative freedom to share music non-commercialy through P2P enjoyed in Spain, and compliments Spanish judges for their fine understanding of the net and it's social dynamics.

Ecuador: My Mobile Voice and Citizen Journalism

  26 February 2008

Mi Voz Móvil (My Mobile Voice) is a project in citizen journalism from the newspaper Ultimas Noticias in Quito, Ecuador. The mobile van travels to neighborhoods where they conduct workshops for aspiring citizen journalists. In many cases, individuals that have submitted news see their stories side-by-side with the professional journalists. Here is a short video of the paper's editor explaining the mobile reporting room.

China: Photoshop Era

  26 February 2008

Wangxiaofeng talks about the coming of Photoshop era and how such tool is serving the redistribution of interest (zh).

Russia, U.S.: The New York Times’ Russian LJ

  25 February 2008

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow provides a comprehensive review of the New York Times‘ Russian-language LJ community, a platform for a “translator-assisted online dialog” between Russian bloggers and the newspaper's regular readers and its Moscow bureau staff: “a very interesting and creative step, with the potential to realize the full...

Burkina Faso: teachable moments, missing bathrooms and road rage

  25 February 2008

Pity the school teachers of the Peace Corps. While their compatriots toiling in health clinics or with micro-credit programs pretty much work loose hours and come and go from social events in the capital city at their leisure, teachers are stuck at home with a inflexible schedule, classrooms full of hundreds of students and loads and loads of homework to correct each night.

Vietnam: Virtual Worlds for Business

  25 February 2008

Saigon Nezumi points to a press release from the Spanish Embassy in Vietnam where they are trying to network Spanish and Vietnamese businessmen using a virtual world platform.

What does make them come to Campus Party?

  25 February 2008

Donizete Soares from Sentimentos e Pensamentos [Feelings and Toughts, PT] asked some campuseros at Campus Party Brasil 2008 [PT] about their motivations to leave behind their diary lives and flock to meetings like the one held in São Paulo two weeks ago — and released the full audio of these...