· December, 2012

Stories about Technology from December, 2012

Thailand's ‘Skype Doctors’

  31 December 2012

“Virtual ER”, launched in 2011, serves as a direct means of communication between BNH Hospital's Emergency Room and patients via Skype…Patients or helpers can speak to and see the nurses in the ER from wherever they are with simple tools including internet connection, a computer, a tablet PC or a...

South Africa: Local Device for Selling Prepaid Mobile Services

  29 December 2012

Zafir Khan shows how cloud computing is enabling entrepreneurship in Africa: “Nomanini, a startup based in South Africa, built a device that enables local entrepreneurs like Vuyile to sell prepaid mobile services in their communities. The Lula (which means “easy” in colloquial Zulu), is a portable voucher sales terminal that...

Earthling – Sexuality in a British Somali Family

  29 December 2012

Sokari writes about Earthling, a short story by Diriye Osman: “Set in Peckkahm south London, Diriye explores sexuality and sister to sister relationships in a British Somali family where desires to be married and to live out of the closet are set against each other. Mental illness and death, two...

Egypt: The People Demand Free and Open Source Software

  28 December 2012

A lot has been said about the liberating role technology has played in the Middle East uprising, yet there is more to be said about the mutual role the uprising is yet to play in liberating the technology in the region. Angered by an announcement that the Egyptian government agreed to spending $43.8 million to acquire licenses and software products from Microsoft, members of the Open Source community in Egypt are planning a silent protest outside the Cabinet on December 30.

Bangladesh: Mobile Health Service For Expecting and New Mothers

  26 December 2012

Both the Maternal and child mortality rates are high in Bangladesh. On the other hand the mobile penetration rate is close to 65% and many of the subscribers are female. Aponjon, a maternal health care service using mobile phone was launched recently targeting expecting and new mothers in Bangladesh to reduce maternal and newborn illnesses and deaths.

Syria: Negotiating Defection on Twitter

  26 December 2012

Following reports that former Syrian spokesman Jihad Makdissi had fled to the US, on 25 December activist Rami Jarrah, also known as Alexander Page, released private Twitter messages that show Makdissi had been in contact with him for months. This could be, as Twitter users have named it, “the first defection negotiation in history.”

China Considers Real Name Registration for All Internet Users

  26 December 2012

Following the call for more internet supervision by state-run People’s Daily newspaper last week, Xinhua news reported on December 24, 2012 that the Chinese government is considering a new law requiring real-name registration for its 500 million internet users.

Kenyans Wake Up to ATM Fraud Scare on Christmas

  25 December 2012

Kenyans woke up on Christmas day to fraudulent bank activity alerts alleging that there were "unusual withdrawals" from Standard Chartered, Kenya Commercial Bank and Stanbic accounts. However, some Kenyans were skeptical about the authenticity of these claims. So far there has been no official communication from bank officials about the alerts.

A Look Back at the Great Potential of the Internet

  22 December 2012

Ginisty wrote [fr] the following on his blog: We are part of the Generation X, a generation that knew the world before there was such thing as the internet. We saw the internet blossom and spread to almost all population group and because of that, we might be better suited to grasp...

Chinese Responses to the North Korea Missile Launch

  20 December 2012

Adam Cathcart from Sino-NK has translated and collected a wide range of reports, comments and discussions from Chinese government, media outlets and concerned citizens about the North Korea Missile launch last week on December 12.

#Sopacriolla: The Tough Road to ISP Regulation in Peru

  20 December 2012

In a previous post, we commented on the project known as #sopacriolla, an initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism for allegedly collecting contributions for the construction of a standard for copyright and ISP (Internet Service Provider) responsibility. To learn more about the issue, we talk with the blogger Miguel Morachimo, and the lawyer in charge of the initiative, Erick Iriarte.

Korea: Tracking North Korean Satellite

  17 December 2012

North Korea Tech blog wrote a detailed post on the North Korean satellite which many news reports claim to have been put into space successfully. The blogger explains how to verify such claims by tracking the satellite and concludes that it is likely that something went wrong.

Plástica Magazine Shines Spotlight on Independent Spanish-Language Music

  14 December 2012

Plástica is an international journal specializing in the independent Spanish-language music scene. More than just a magazine, Plástica is a project that focuses on high quality, creative music. Its main goal now is to expand its readership beyond a digital audience, which is why they will launch the first paper edition of the magazine in 2013.

Indonesia Tops List in Cyber Threats

  14 December 2012

An Indonesian user has nearly a one-in-four chance of encountering an attempt to infect their machine each quarter. Much of the threat is due to widespread Trojan horses, software applications infected with malware The eWeek magazine has published the 2013 report of Sophos on global security cyber threats. Indonesia is...