· December, 2008

Stories about Technology from December, 2008

Bhutan: The Next Data Hub

  31 December 2008

The New Horizon analyzes the economical growth potential of Bhutan in the energy sector. The country has also the possibility of becoming a cyber hub of Asia with the help of increasing data centers being set up by the multinational companies.

Thailand: Text messages from the Prime Minister

  31 December 2008

On his first day in office, Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva sent SMS to his constituents. A sample of the text message: “I am your new PM. I would like to invite you to help pull our country pull of the crisis. If you are interested in receiving my messages, please...

Egypt: Solidarity with Palestine

  30 December 2008

Since they’ve heard, Egyptian Bloggers expressed their immediate solidarity with their Palestine brothers against the brutal attack. Everybody condemned the Siege, as well as the blind Israeli bombings that does not differentiate between killing militants or civilians, women, children and men. Mostafa launched a Jaiku channel to pass news about...

Ghana: Waiting for a President

  29 December 2008

On December 7, Ghanaians came to the polls to elect a President, but a runoff was necessary. While waiting for the results of that second round that took place yesterday, Ethan Zuckerman reviews what is being said on Twitter and in the blogosphere.

Cuba: Waiting for Cable

  29 December 2008

The submarine cable linking Cuba and Venezuela has “a vague completion date” of 2011, but Generation Y is clear about “what this projected umbilical cord should bring us.”

Jamaica: Blogging in Times of War

  29 December 2008

The Israeli strikes on Gaza cause Jamaican Annie Paul to remember Nobel Prize-winning German author Günter Grass’ “heartfelt rumination on war and the role of writers in times of war”, saying: “While Grass did not explicitly mention bloggers (perhaps in 2006 they were not as omnipresent as they are today)...

Bangladesh: Microblogging an election

  29 December 2008

In a few hours time 81 million Bangladeshi voters (51% women) will go to vote for the ninth parliamentary election. The election is crucial for the nation as it will bring the country back into the track of democracy after two years of emergency rule of an interim government backed...

Tanzania: Friends of Ruaha blog

  28 December 2008

Samuel Maina of Theatre of Inconveniences introduces the recently launched Friends of Ruaha blog devoted to the conservation of the Ruaha Park in Tanzania which is “arguably, one of the largest and most beautiful wildlife parks in Africa”, according to him. The post includes a video from the Friends of...

UAE: World's First Refrigerated Beach

  27 December 2008

Dubai's new Palazzo Versace Hotel is set to feature the world's first refrigerated beach, reports Norma of Bloggin’ Banat. She comments: “Clearly, nature is no obstacle for this lavish playground. The beach’s sand will be cooled via an underground system of heat-absorbing pipes and giant wind blowers… Apparently the refrigerated...

2008: A turbulent year for South Asia

  27 December 2008

Looking back on the events that rocked South Asia in the year 2008 we see that terrorism took the center stage in many places in this region. This was also a year of crucial and decisive elections in many South Asian countries. The Global Voices coverages of the blogospheres of...

Saudi Arabia accuses Egyptian of Espionage

  27 December 2008

27 year old IT programmer Youssef Al Ashmawy is currently detained in a prison Riyadh and is accused of spying on the Kingdom. Zeinobia wrote: Saudi Arabia is detaining Egyptian Internet activist Youssef Al Ashamawy. Youssef is being accused of spying on the kingdom for the Egyptian intelligence!!  Youssef is...

Ukraine: “A Democratic Question”

  27 December 2008

Ukrainiana writes about president Yushchenko's answer to the question that got over 85,000 online votes: “A straight question needs a straight answer. Instead, we got a rambling lecture, replete with peripheral thinking.”

Russia: The New York Times’ LJ is One Year Old

  26 December 2008

The New York Times‘ Clifford J. Levy writes on The Lede about the first anniversary of the paper's interactive Russian-language LJ blog: “The results far exceeded my expectations. The blog has received more than 26,000 comments, and has become an important tool for the newspaper to better understand and explain...

Egyptian and Tunisian Bloggers against Censorship

  26 December 2008

In December 2006 frustrated Tunisian bloggers launched the "Action Blank Post" initiative in defense of freedom of speech. Supporting bloggers from all over the world posted a blank on their blogs on the 25th of December, and now bloggers have united again in this anti-censorship tradition, as Marwa Rakha shows.