Stories about Technology from May, 2010
Russia: Journalist's Blog Hacked
Both LiveJournal (sina-ja-mina) and Facebook accounts of Andrei Maltsev [RUS], journalist and blogger, were hacked on May 31, Vladimir Pribylovski reported [RUS]. This is the fourth blog hack this year...
Russia: Blogger Describes His Experience With E-Gov Portal
Alexey Grigoriev blogs [RUS] about his experience of starting a small business at e-government portal gosuslugi.ru. The portal is still full of technical bugs and even after online application one...
Lebanon: Evil challenges against techy women
Lebanese blogger and geek Mir talks about six “evil” challenges women in the IT world face in her latest post.
Pakistan: Netizens Demand End To Internet Censorship
Sana Saleem at Mystified Justice posts a plea by the netizens to the Pakistani government to end the ongoing Internet censorship and intimidation in the country.
Mexico: Community Journalism in the Gulf of California
A community journalism project called Su Mar (Your Ocean) aims to give citizens the tools to report on conservation and environmental development issues in the Gulf of California region in Mexico.
Russia: A Study of Local Discussion Boards
Online forums in Russian cities are in a certain sense a unique phenomenon. It's not blogs that became the major platforms for open discussion in the regions, but discussion boards (called more often forums). Alexey Sidorenko shares some of the results of his study of local forums in Russia.
Bangladesh: The Reason For The Facebook Ban
Shada Kalo discusses about the recent ban on Facebook in Bangladesh – and how it gave a kid a ton of publicity.
Georgia: Online local election mapping
Transparency International Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, the National Democratic Institute and the Caucasus Resource Research Center have set up an...
Japan: Monozukuri for the Modern Age
The Japanese counterpart of Make Magazine, an American quarterly magazine for DIY enthusiasts, organizes a regular event in Tokyo called Make Tokyo Meeting (MTM). The fifth MTM, held at the Tokyo Institute of Technology on May 22-23, was the largest yet, featuring everything from bicycle wheels with LED lights, to complex wooden ball machines, to mechanical robot birds. Check out reports on the event on blogs, Twitter and YouTube.
Bangladesh: Facebook Temporarily Blocked
Bangladesh has become the second country in Asia after Pakistan to block the entire Facebook domain. Bangladeshi bloggers are expressing their astonishment, anger and protest against this ban.
Vietnam: Report on online censorship
Viet Tan has published a comprehensive report about online censorship and cyberattacks in Vietnam.
Colombia: Tweeting the May 30 Presidential Elections
Twitter activity about the May 30 Colombian Presidential elections is at an all-time high. Topics include the missteps by some of the candidates, their performance in the debates, as well as the chances of minor candidates.
Bahrain: On German Freedom
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif attended a 10-day programme organised by the German Federal Foreign Office. His conclusion: “Germany is not that free after all!”
Hungary: Facebook vs iWiW
Marietta Le reports on the competition between a popular Hungarian social networking site iWiW and Facebook in Hungary.
MENA: 15m Facebook Users
As of May 2010, Facebook has 15 million users from the Middle East and North Africa (excluding Iran, Israel and Turkey), reports Spot On. Seventy per cent of the users...
Bahrain: Blocking of Sites Gains Momentum
Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif comments on the blocking of sites around the world – and the excuses given for that.
[Report] Technology for Transparency
This report is the culmination of four months of research examining the objectives, challenges, successes, and effects of online technology projects that aim to promote transparency, political accountability, and civic engagement. It presents case studies, conclusions, and recommendations toward making the grassroots use of technology more effective in improving governance worldwide.
Kenya: No need for unnecessary ICT regulations
Erik discusses ICT regulations in Kenya: “Maybe, instead of adding unnecessary regulations, governments should look to truly and strongly punishing unfair and dirty practices that are already on the books.”
Causes of Hatred in the Russian Blogosphere
Lj-user blondycandy received [RUS] more than 400 comments on the question “Why there's so much hatred in the Russian blogosphere”? Evgeny Gorny summarized [RUS] the most often suggestions: general ‘offline’...
Russia: “Circassian Nationalism and the Internet”
At OpenDemocracy.net, Zeynel Abidin Besleney writes about “the role played by the internet as a lifeline linking otherwise isolated activists and communities and reinforcing the Circassian nationalist cause.”
India, Bangladesh: Unicode Adoption For Bengali Language
Golam Mortuza Hossain at On a trail less travelled analyzes the progress of Unicode adoption for Bengali language in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh.
