Stories about Technology from December, 2011
Online Highlights from the Portuguese-Speaking World in 2011
2011 has been another year in which bloggers and activists from a number of Portuguese-speaking countries have come together to report, translate and promote blogs and citizen media from all over the world. This article selects the highlights in the coverage of Lusophone countries on Global Voices over the last year.
Argentina Tech Blogger Looks into ‘Death’ of Blogs
Technology blogger Mariano Amartino [es] reacts to the post “The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over” by Jeremiah Owyang. He points out the irony that posts about “the death...
India: Growth of Online Shopping
Arun Prabhudesai at Trak.in points out a Comscore research report which claims that 3 out of every 5 Indian Internet users now shop online.
China: Police border control servers got hacked
Feng37 from the Nanfang.com reports on the hacking of the Entry-Exit Department of the Guangdong Public Security Bureau (PSB) which has resulted in the leaking of 4.44 million pieces of...
Africa: 12 Predictions for Africa’s Tech Scene in 2012
Read Mbwana Ally's 12 predictions for Africa's tech scene in 2012: “New models of mobile money will be explored that are less dependent on mobile operators, such asPagatech in Nigeria,...
Kyrgyzstan: Ravshan Jeenbekov and the Facebook Generation
Of all the divides in Kyrgyzstan’s fractious political society, one too often overlooked is the divide between generations. Unlike the famed North/South schism, which manifests itself in elections and street-protests,...
Bangladesh:Hot Air Balloon Show in Dhaka
On 28th December, a hot air balloon show was held in Dhaka. In this context, photojournalist Monirul Alam discussed the history of hot air balloons.
China telecommunications market
Tricia wang discusses about the anti-monopoly infringement investigation against the China Telecom and its implications on the China telecommunications market.
Macedonia: Health System Software Vendor Lock-in
Novica Nakov warned [mk] that the state discriminates against users of operating systems like GNU/Linux or Mac OS X, purporting vendor lock-in by forcing medical doctors to use the latest...
Puerto Rico: Investigating Monsanto
The Center of Investigative Journalism published a three-part series on the little known operation in Puerto Rico of the multinational biotechnology corporation Monsanto, the principle producer of genetically engineered seeds.
Russia: Social Network In-Between Security Services and Free Market
As social networks in Russia like Vkontakte play an ever increasing role in communication between post-election protesters, so too grows the interest of the security services to limit them. This conflict leads to a hard choice: whether Vkontakte should respond to security service requests, or allow its users uncontrolled protest activity.
‘Developing Latin America': Open Data Projects
The 'Desarrollando Latin América' (Developing Latin America) competition, a public hackathon for creating technological solutions to education, security and budgetary problems in six countries in the region, took place on the 3rd and 4th of December. Juan Arellano, who acted as a judge in Lima (Peru), summarises the results and the reactions from the participants.
North Korean State Websites Started Praising the Heir after Kim's Death
North Korea’s state-run websites have begun to print the regime's young heir, Kim Jong-un's name in a style previously reserved for lately deceased dictator, Kim Jong Il, reported North Korea Tech blog.
Taiwan: Crowd-funded investigative journalism website kicks off
weReport, a Taiwan media project that tries to boost disappearing investigative journalism using crowd-funded and crowd-sourced mechanism, kicks off today with its first fully funded proposal proposed by China famous...
Armenia: Fans of Facebook Cocktail Bar
Global Voices’ Caucasus Editor snaps a photo from mobile of a new cocktail bar in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The bar is called ‘Fans of Facebook’ and there's of course...
Syria: Regime Affiliates Try to Frame Muslim Brotherhood for Damascus Car Bombs
Syrian official media outlets yesterday published a statement allegedly issued by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood taking responsibility for the twin car-bomb attacks that caused heavy casualties in Damascus on Friday. Several irregularities and inconsistencies in the regime's story prompted a few Syrian netizens to investigate the matter further.
Japan: Archiving Online Videos of Quake and Tsunami
More than 9 months have passed since the earthquake and tsunami which devastated many areas of Japan on March 11th. Rick Martin has been mapping and tagging videos taken during...
Russia: Opposition Faces Online Communication Problems
The ability to broadcast the events of December 2011 in Russia live online, has made people around the world and in the country the spectators of a truly historical event – the December 22 gathering of some 100-150 opposition activists, who represented thousands of the netizens and millions of not-connected Russians.
Jamaica: election language
With a general election swiftly approaching in Jamaica, OwenSoft shares an online tool for comparing the frequency of words and phrases in the official election manifestos of the country's main...
Kuwait: Online Advocacy for the Stateless Bidoun
Since hundreds of Kuwait's 100,000 strong Bidoun were attacked by police for protesting in support of others detained earlier in the year, a number of bloggers and international organizations have been stepping up their support for the stateless people in the hope of drawing attention to their plight.
Pakistan: Politics 2.0
Over the last couple of days, people in Karachi were overwhelmed to receive a 30-second phone call from the famous politician Imran Khan inviting them to a political event. Teeth...
