Stories about Technology from October, 2008
Corporations Agree to Standards for Internet Freedom
The Global Network Initiative has been launched. The Initiative is a code of conduct for corporations on privacy and free speech created by a coalition of human rights, media development and research organizations, and Internet and communications companies such as Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft. Its goal: to ensure that ICT...
South Africa: The Impact of Mobile Active '08
A video podcast shot at Mobile Active Conference in South Africa: “In the first interview, David Barnard, Executive Director of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT) and organizer of MobileActive08, talks about the event and how it will impact activities at SANGONet.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Online Info
“I always tell my friends to be careful what they write in cyberspace. One rule of thumb I use is to ask myself if what I post online I would tell to the world at large. If the answer is no, then I refrain from posting it”: Blogging from St....
China: Blog is Outdated?
The 4th Chinese Blogger Conference will be held November 15-16th, 2008, in Guangzhou, China. However, in the past year, there is a continuing discussion in the Chinese blogosphere on whether blog culture is dying down. Moreover, recently bokee.com and blogchina.com, the two earliest BSPs founded by Fang dong-xing (nickname blogfather)...
China and U.S: World of Warcraft
China Beat blogs an interview with UCI Professor of Informatics Bonnie Nardi on her research founding on WoW players in China and the U.S.
Japan: Response to Obama “Put down the Wii Remote” Ad
Comments from Japanese net users respond [ja] to an ad by U.S. presidential nominee Obama in which viewers are told to “put down the remote and go vote“. “Why Wii?” one asks. Another writes: “Anti-Japan policies before even becoming president?” And one person wonders: “Does Obama despise Japan?”
Slovakia: Google Now Translates From Slovak
The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia reports that Google has added the Slovak language to their online translation service.
Ibero-America: Campus Party in El Salvador
This week in El Salvador, hundreds of technology fanatics have assembled to take part in the latest edition of Campus Party. Participants from 22 member states are divided into one of a broad range of areas including: Astronomy, CampusBot (robotics), Innovation, Modding, Campus Create, Digital Leisure and Digital Inclusion. The participation of bloggers have captured the feeling of being in a room with their fellow technology enthusiasts through their blog posts, photos and videos.
Peru: Preparations for BarCamp Lima
Ventana Azul [es] provides the latest details on
SketchPAN: World without Words
SketchPAN, a service from Korea, aims to create a easy platform for people to express themselves with paintings. In the world without words, language is no longer a barrier for users around the globe.
India: Wikipedia Academy in Chennai
Kiruba Shankar reports that a Wikipedia Academy has been set up in Chennai, India. “It's an effort to educate people about wiki editing and to give the confidence that anyone can edit and add information to the site,” the blogger says.
Argentina: We Media 2008 in Buenos Aires
The We Media conference was held for the first time in Latin America, when the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina played host on October 14-15, 2008. The media thinktank iFOCOS together with the newspaper Clarín, the conference was brought to Argentina. Media executives, web entrepreneurs,and bloggers, among others gathered to hear a wide range of speakers. With the quantity of bloggers who were present in the auditorium as presenters and attendees, there was a wide and diverse coverage of the event.
Egypt: Swingers Use Internet to Arrange Rendezvous
There are secrets behind closed doors. But to say that Egypt was shell shocked as news about its first swingers club emerged would be an understatement. And there is a small technicality - the couples first met online before arranging to meet face to face in cafes.
Jordan: News Sites Banned in Municipality Offices
Greater Amman Municipality staff will not be able to access news sites from their work computers, reports The Black Iris, from Jordan.
Kuwait: For Ladies Only
Chillnite, from Kuwait, shares a link ‘for the ladies.’
Ecuador: The Growing Problem of Cybercrime
Cybercrime is a topic not discussed much in Ecuador, but Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es] writes about an upcoming conference to address the growing problem.
Bermuda: Gambling with the Future?
As the government considers introducing internet gaming to the island, both FreshieBlog and Vexed Bermoothes think that it is a bad idea, saying that it “could taint Bermuda’s reputation as a serious business jurisdiction.”
Bangladesh: Radio regains its popularity
Ronnie Siraji writes in E-Bangladesh that in recent years Radio regained its popularity in Bangladesh thanks to the three private FM radio channels and built in FM radio technology in the ubiquitous cell phones.
Bangladesh: Community blogs and unique blogger identities
Arild Klokkerhaug of the largest Bangla blog community ‘Somewhere in..blog” describes the unique characteristics of the Bangladeshi blogosphere: “I guess there is no other country in the world that has a higher % of the bloggers connected through community blogs.” He calls for synchronizing unique blogger identities among the growing...
Russia: “Help Svetlana Bakhmina” Petition
As of now, 71,250 people have signed an online petition appealing to the Russian president to pardon Svetlana Bakhmina, a former senior lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky's oil company Yukos, who was arrested in December 2004 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion in April 2006.
India: Solar-Powered Rickshaw
The Better India reports that a solar-powered electric cycle rickshaw had its debut in the Indian capital. “Called the Soleckshaw, it is in test run in Delhi and will be mass produced in a month if all goes well.”
