Stories about Technology from August, 2010
Egypt: Utilizing Technology to Demand Accountability on Torture, Police Brutality
Bloggers and activists in Egypt are using freely available online tools to expose torture and police brutality and to hold the government accountable for these human rights abuses.
Africa: 10 Most Influential African Fashion Websites
MyWeku brings you 10 of the most influential African fashion websites that cover clothing and accessories and bring timely reports on fashion shows, promoting African fabrics and fashion trends.
Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts
Juan Arellano writes [es] about quenoteroben.pe [es], a site that allows users to report thefts in Lima using Google Maps technology. The post includes two video interviews with the site managers, Gabriela Quevedo and Rudy Jordán.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: More dialogue through film
With national television in Armenia and Azerbaijan controlled by the authorities or government-linked individuals, there is little opportunity for independent reporting. Now more objective and human interest stories can be found on the Internet.
Nicaragua: The Result of the 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media
The 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media took place on August 12 and 13 in Managua, Nicaragua. Here we summarize the even't results through images, podcasts, videos and blogs.
Western Europe: A journey through tech for transparency projects
Sylwia Presley takes us on a tour of technology for transparency projects in Western Europe.
Ghana: Former President Connects With People On Facebook
It has been almost a year and half since John Kufuor respectfully handed over power to Ghanaian President Atta Mills. Despite leaving office, Kufuor still sees the need to communicate with the public. Thanks to social networking, Kufuor communicates to Ghanaian citizens using his Facebook account, which has 15,066 followers (at the time of writing this post).
Zambia: Abuse of copyright rules online
Malama Katulwende comments on the recent abuse of copyright by tZambian Watchdog and Lusaka Times websites and the issues it raises on the legal and ethical practice of the the websites.
Latin America: Blogging at Los Superdemokraticos
Coinciding with several Bicentennial Independence celebrations in Latin America, from June to October 2010 German and Latin American bloggers [es] will be writing for Los Superdemokraticos about their “daily lifes [sic] in international political contexts.” Posts are published in German and Spanish; five texts are translated into English each month.
Cuba: Interrogation
Luis Felipe Rojas blogs about his detainment by the Cuban authorities and says: “I think about the path that has brought this country the totalitarian power that is eating away at itself. What will be my next punishment?”
Africa: Maker Faire Africa 2010: First Day
Photos and first day account of Maker Faire Africa 2010: “This year, besides having jua kali creators from Kenya, we also have makers from Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. It’s a great turnout, and continues the tradition from Ghana last year.We’re seeing all kinds of incredible ideas...
Japan: Web Startups Present at WISH 2010
The second edition of the web industry event WISH was held on August 28th, and hundreds gathered to hear a panel discussion by industry leaders and 14 presentations by startup services.
East Timor: Narrowing the Digital Divide in Images
Steve Song shares a set of photos from field work on a project that intends to narrow the gap in access to communications in East Timor – Dili Village Telco.
Russia: Online Cooperation as an Alternative for Government?
Gregory Asmolov analyzes causes of the highly successful cooperation within the Russian online community during the recent wildfires crisis and examines whether online collaboration can provide a sustainable alternative for the government in the future.
Latin America: Blog Day Celebrated through Web Conferences
Celebrate Blog Day today with a day long online summit. The III Virtual Blogger Encounter will have speakers from Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Spain engaging through webcams with an international online audience about blogs, branding and other social networks.
Guatemala: Attack Against a Blog?
Luis Figueroa reports [es] that blogger Guillermo Pineda wrote on Twitter, “My blog in WordPress.com was hacked. Anyone knows if I can recover it? #Hacked #Wordpress.” Luis wonders if this is an attack; in June Guillermo received threats [es] both in person and through email.
Pakistan: Live Blogging Flood Relief Mission To Thatta Region
Teeth Maestro live blogs a flood relief mission to Thatta Region in Pakistan via CoveritLive and documents the journey live via GPS. “I believe that is the only way to share with the world what we see and hear on the ground,” Dr. Awab Alvi notes.
Togo: Computer Camp in Togo
Life of an American volunteer in Togo:”In the beginning of June, we held our computer camp! The boys came the first three days and the girls came the three days after that. Everything actually went really smoothly.”
Thailand: Learn Thai language through Skype
Catherine Wentworth discusses the procedure and her experience of learning the Thai language through Skype.
Philippines: “Hong Kong, our apology for what happened”
The recent hostage-taking of Hong Kong nationals in Manila, which has roused worldwide indignation over the bloodshed, has led Filipinos to write apologies via a Facebook page.
Japan: iPads in the Sumo stables
Steven Sande at TUAW reports [en] on the reasons that induced the Japan Sumo Association to distribute iPads to the “big-fingered sumo-wrestlers”. He says the aim is to make the internal communication process smoother after the scandals that hit the association [en] recently.
