· April, 2011

Stories about Technology from April, 2011

Cuba: Ferrer Held

  28 April 2011

According to Uncommon Sense and Babalu, Dr. Darsi Ferrer and other activists were arrested today “during a protest in which they were calling for the Castro dictatorship to allow Cubans to travel freely, among other demands.”

Honduras to Implement ‘One Laptop Per Child’ Program

  28 April 2011

RNS in Honduras Politics and Culture says that the plan to give one XO laptop to every child in Honduras “would be ideal for deployment in Honduras.” However, the blogger shows some skepticism: “At the actual cost [$199], the original $3 million investment would buy 15075 XO laptops, not the...

Iraq: Is Saddam Still Alive?

Saddam Hussein is making the rounds on social media, with a new recording claiming that the Iraqi dictator is alive and well and that his double Mikhail was the one executed on December 30, 2006. Many netizens are quick to describe the video as phoney and assure readers that Saddam is dead and gone. Had he been alive, the former Iraqi dictator would have turned 74 today.

Armenia: Pseudo-patriotism and flag burning

  28 April 2011

Unzipped comments on the creation of a Facebook page by some students in Armenia calling for the “virtual burning” of the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey. The blog says it considers the move one that can only lead to more hatred between Armenia and its two estranged neighbors and is...

Malaysia: Cost of 1Malaysia email

  28 April 2011

Malaysiakini gathers reactions in Malaysia to the report that the planned 1Malaysia email will also entail some cost for users who will access some of its value added services.

Featured Author and Translator: Asteris Masouras

  28 April 2011

In this Global Voices contributor interview, author and translator Asteris Masouras talks about how he started writing for the site. Based in Thessaloniki, Greece, Asteris has been writing for Global Voices since 2008 about his country of Greece and other topics around the world. In addition, he has been one of the leading translators for the newly formed Global Voices in Greek

Cuba: Right to the Internet

  27 April 2011

“Any ‘supposition’ about what a farmer should do on Google, or in the furrow, is called control over the free actions of another, personal choice and individual freedom”: Octavo Cerco wonders “why it’s a problem to assume access to the Internet as a 21st Century human right.”

Russia: Communist Party Leads Social Networks Activity Rating

RuNet Echo  27 April 2011

Nikolay Podosokorskiy analyzes [ru] activity of Russian political parties in the social networks. According to his brief research, ruling party “United Russia” is one of the closest and inactive parties online, while the most active is the Communist Party of Russia with more than 73,000 members at Vkontakte groups and...

Russia: Bloggers Discuss Best Practices of Crowd Funding

RuNet Echo  27 April 2011

Anton Nossik publishes [ru] 5 rules of successful crowd funding: 1.it should have an aim, 2. it should be transparent, 3. it should be tested before launch, 4. it should also facilitate non-financial help, 5. initiators should disclose their own efforts of improving the project they collect money for. Oleg Kozlovsky...

Kenya: Poets and Writers Meet in Nairobi

  27 April 2011

Poets and writers meet in Nairobi, Njeri Wangari reports: “Last Saturday, 23rd April was the inaugural POWO event – a forum for Poets and Writers that seeks to encourage Kenyan Creative writers to exploit the various opportunities presented by their internet for promotion of their writing.”

India: Deabating The Draft Internet Control Rules

  26 April 2011

Nikhil Pahwa at Medianama debates the changes in the cyber law in India which is waiting to be passed soon. In his opinion “these rules give the Indian government the ability to gag free speech, and block any website it deems fit, without publicly disclosing” who did it or why...