Stories about Technology from August, 2008
Americas: Celebrating BlogDay
August 31 is BlogDay around the world, which is an event where bloggers recommend 5 blogs to be discovered by others. The Latin American team from Global Voices Online is participating by collectively recommending 5 blogs from across the region.
Blogger of the Week: Siniša Boljanović
Siniša Boljanović had never blogged when he volunteered to report on Serbian blogs for Global Voices in 2007. He read an article about Global Voices in a Serbian online magazine and was so hooked on the idea of contributing, he taught himself to write in English and use Wordpress for the first time in spite of one additional obstacle: Siniša is blind.
Turkey: Questions on Their Nuclear Program
Kurdish blogger Rasti questions the motives behind Turkey's nuclear program: “Although there has been no official proof that Turkey is actively building a nuclear weapons, some experts on Turkey's nuclear program have recounted their support, suspicious that the energy program is a cover for a weapons program.”
Russia: New LJ Ads
LJ user tema is one of the many Cyrillic bloggers who are unhappy with how the new LJ ads interrupt the flow of their posts; he shares a screenshot (RUS) of his blog to illustrate his point. Others are sharing a way to get rid of LJ ads in their...
South Africa: The annual Digital Citizen Indaba
Damaria writes about the annual Digital Citizen Indaba in South Africa where she is the keynote speaker.
Russia: How to Spell ‘Blogger’ in Russian
There are two ways to spell the word ‘blogger’ in Russian – with two g's or with just one. The former seems to prevail among Russian bloggers, according to LJ user oleg_kozyrev (RUS), who has posted a screenshot of the Yandex Blogosphere Pulse search and also examined spelling preferences of...
Guatemala: Pizza and Blogs 2008
Javier Aroche invites Guatemalan bloggers to gather at Pizza and Blogs 2008 [es] on August 30.
Kenya/Tanzania: Technology in the Maasai world
Rebecca writes about the Maasai and technology, noting that the mobile phone has made a significant difference in their community “…probably more than it has in many other communities.”
Madagascar: Barcamp set to foster ICT collaboration.
The date for the first Barcamp in Madagascar is set for October, 4th 2008 in Antananarivo. The user-generated unconference will follow in the steps of previous Barcamps organized in sub Saharan Africa (Nairobi, Kampala and Mauritius) . Other Barcamps related to ICT in Africa are also planned in Abidjan and Silicon...
Brazil: Digital TV with Digital Rights Managements
Sérgio Amadeu [pt] has just learned that the Brazilian National Standards Organization is considering to have Digital TV setup boxes with DRM (Digital Rights Managements). “It is unfortunate that such an issue is decided by a small group of technicians. This decision is not purely technical, it has extremely serious...
Turkey: YouTube Un-blocked?
Several Turkish bloggers are reporting the lifting of the YouTube ban in Turkey, including Internation Musings, however it may take up to 72 hours for Turkish web users to see it.
Georgia: Blogging the War
The conflict between Georgia and Russia over the breakway territory of South Ossetia was accompanied by cyber-attacks on several Georgian government and independent media sites. But rather than prevent journalists from utilizing the Internet to report on the war, it achieved the opposite. Many Georgians — media professionals and citizen journalists alike — set up blogs to report or comment on the conflict. Global Voices Online speaks to Giga Paitchadze, a veteran local blogger.
Ghana: A traditional healer with a website
Henry writes about a traditional healer in Ghana who is using web technology to market his business.
Kenya: Cheers for M-PESA
There are reasons to cheer for M-PESA, the mobile banking system in Kenya: “Anyone with a new Safaricom sim card would have noticed two additional menus under the M-PESA section: ‘Buy Goods’ and ‘ATM Withdrawal’.”
Africa: Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ghanaian internet entrepreneur Eric Osiakwan and the Berkman Center’s Ethan Zuckerman will discuss the climate for innovation around information technology in Sub-Saharan Africa on September 2nd 2008 at the Berkman Luncheon Series, writes Afromusing.
Japan: Virtual Temple
Martin J Frid from Kurashi highlight a local news concerning the creation of a virtual temple online.
China: Iphone Girl
Dedric Lam from Shanghaiist reports on how the Iphone Girl story has been traveled back to China. Local netizens have created a website for her, iphonegirl.cn, and urged netizens not to human-flesh search and publish her personal data.
Brazil: Rights of bloggers, rights of blog readers
Brazilian blogger Alex Castro [pt] posts the Terms of Use of his blog, among them the rights of bloggers and of blog readers. “Blog readers should remember that reading and commenting on a blog is a privilege that can be revoked at any time. Nobody has the “right” to read...
Bahrain: Grand Auto Theft Raid
“Around an hour ago, at 2 PM today, two inspectors from the Ministry of Information raided a “Euphoria” shop in Seef Mall and confiscated all Grand Theft Auto IV titles, Both PS3 & Xbox 360,” reports Redbelt from Bahrain. The game is also reportedly banned in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Barbados, Cuba: Broadcasting Meeting
Bajan Global Report reports on the Prime Minister's trip to Cuba to attend the 39th General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, an organization which supports and promotes high quality work of regional radio and TV entities – but Barbados Free Press calls it “irony defined”: “We are disappointed that...
Twitter users and Bangkok rallies
Thai Twitter users are commenting about the huge rallies led by anti-government groups in Thailand. One user, bodychan, writes: “I don't want Samak say this word ‘No one died in Government House’.”
