Stories about Technology from November, 2008
Brazil under flood: Bloggers form solidarity networks
While mainstream media was first slow to report news of the grave floods that have devastated the south of Brazil and then sensationalized the tragedy, bloggers responded by creating a network of support. This post explores the difference in the approaches between conventional media professionals and amateur and freelancer produced news blogs.
Japan: Mainichi's Wikipedia Slip-up
Ignoring the fact that Wikipedia timestamps are in GMT and not JST (Japan Standard Time), on the 18th of November the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun published an article entitled, “Attack on the former vice-Director's home: crime announced on the Internet six hours earlier… hinting at the crime?”, in which a Wikipedia contributor (”Popons”) was erroneously identified as involved in the attempted murder of Kenji Yoshihara, wife of former vice health minister Kenji Yoshihara. Bulletin board commenters quickly spotted the mistake, and bloggers responded with criticism, but the Wikipedia editor in question was apologetic about the ordeal.
Macedonia: “The First (!?) Macedonian Webcomics”
Filip Stojanovski of Razvigor :-) reports that “[a]t last an independent Macedonian artist has started publishing a genuine webcomics [MKD].”
Tunisia: Facebook Case Thrown Out of Court
A Tunisian court threw out a case against the censorship facing Facebook, brought about by blogger and journalist Ziad El Heni against the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI).
Colombia: Pitching In for Suso
Xady of Expresate [es] provides the latest update on the campaign in the Medellín, Colombia neighborhood of La Loma, where local bloggers from the Convergentes project are pitching in to build a house for one of their community members, Suso.
India: Lack of Original Citizen Media Reporting
Gauravonomics Blog analyzes the role of social media and citizen journalism in the 11/26 Mumbai terror attacks and opines: “The (..) terror attack was a time for first-hand original reporting, and the Indian blogosphere didn’t quite rise to the task.”
Thailand: Airport takeover and Twitter
Twitter has become an interesting and good source of information about what is happening in Thailand. Twitter users in Bangkok have been exchanging travel tips, news updates, and opinions about the current situation.
Egypt: 550 Boys Arrested on Suspicion of Harassing Girls
“Egyptian police announced last Wednesday that they had arrested 550 boys in Cairo on suspicion of sexually harassing schoolgirls. The police reportedly focused their raids on Internet cafes near schools,” writes Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt.
Mauritania and Tunisia Hack Dissident Sites
Hack in the Box reports that Mauritania and Tunisia have mastered a new way of muzzling the online media – hacking dissident news sites.
Angry Arab's Blog Blocked in Syria
Lebanese Dr As'ad Abu Khalil, who lives in the US, writes: “A reader in Damascus tells me that my website is still blocked there. Maybe this will lift the ban: Down with the Syrian regime.”
Saudi Arabia: Must-read blogs
Saudi Jeans gives us his 10 must-read Saudi blogs.
India: Twitting The Terror
The terror attacks in Mumbai have shocked India and the world. The mainstream media sources covered the news extensively and the citizen journalists were also equal to the task as the events unfolded. The Wired has mentioned how Twitter made an impact as a source of first hand information during...
Brazil: Over 80 deaths in the worst environmental tragedy
Over 80 people have been killed in landslides and floods caused by heavy rain in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and the death toll is rising by the minute, as rescue workers sift through the wreckage of the flooding that started at the weekend.
Congratulations Pour in on Queen Rania's Youtube Award
Bloggers from across the Middle East and North Africa are tipping their hats to Jordan's Queen Rania, and her visionary initiative on YouTube, after she was awarded YouTube's first-ever Visionary Award for launching an interactive online channel to combat stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Arabs and Muslims.
Searching for blogs in Myanmar
There are several sites that provide a list of blogs in Myanmar. Myanmar Blog Directory contains an alphabetical listing of blogs. Sharbar offers a list of blogs according to category.
Myanmar: Social networking site
Myanmar Space is a new social networking site for Myanmar speaking people all over the world. There is a chat room, photo and video upload, forum, polls. There is also a blog section where members can post articles.
Pakistan, India: Cyber Warfare
Teeth Maestro reports that the websites of oil and gas regulatory authorities of Pakistan and India had been defaced as hackers of both the countries were engaged in a cyber warfare.
Egypt: 89% of Youth Support Internet Censorship Law
Eighty-nine per cent of Egyptian young men and women surveyed recently stated that they are in favour of an Internet censorship law. Bloggers Times shares the most recent statistics on Egyptian internet users in this post, translated by Marwa Rakha from Arabic.
Bahrain: ‘Censoring Free Speech is Like Blocking the Sun’
Boundaries and censorship cannot stop written words from spreading, says a Bahraini blogger. Those attempting to block the free flow of information are only trying to block out the sun, he says in this post written in Arabic.
Thailand: Rallies and Twitter updates
Thailand’s anti-government protesters have surrounded the Parliament building; they are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister. Thai bloggers and Twitter users have been sending updates about the protest actions in Bangkok.
Guatemala: 3,000 XO Computers to Be Donated
Three thousand XO computers will be donated to the Guatemalan government for distribution to schoolchildren through the offices of the Ministry of Education and the Secetariat of Social Works of the First Lady, writes Interactiva Web [es].
