Stories about Technology from June, 2013
‘Code For Japan’ in the Works
Among others, Haruyuki Seki, a software developer at Georepublic Japan[ja] and social media consultant Hiroyasu Ichikawa are currently working toward the launch of Code For Japan [ja], an organization that aims to improve the society through technology. Members got together on June 20, 2013 and discussed prospects [ja] of collaboration among civil...
Trinidad & Tobago: Is Your Smart Phone Safe?
ICT Pulse offers valuable information on the radiation levels for popular mobile and smartphones in the Caribbean.
Trinidad & Tobago: E-mails & Integrity
In more fallout over what has come to be known as “e-mailgate”, Trinidad and Tobago bloggers are tracking how the political fracas has affected public perception of the country's Integrity Commission.
Caribbean: Snowden Raising Spectre of “Monster Under Bed”?
Caribbean bloggers continue to follow developments in the Edward Snowden case. Is he a whistleblower or has he overstepped security boundaries? And has the Internet "become a scary place"?
New Regulations for Skype and Viber in Bahrain
“Security considerations” are being cited as reasons behind new regulations which could put an end to the use of popular services such as Skype, WhatsApp, Viber and Tango in Bahrain. A government official says a study is being conducted to regulate Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications - popular services, whose use is costing telecommunication companies.
Hacker Attacks on South and North Korea
Hacker collective Anonymous previously announced they will attack North Korean sites on June 25. But it took an unexpected turn as several major South Korean sites, including the website of South Korea's presidential office and those of media organizations, have been temporarily suspended. North Korea Tech explains in detail.
Mozambique's First Civic Hackathons
Mozambique's Ministry of Science and Technology is sponsoring the country's first civic hackathons, with the support of Sweden and Finland. The second, slated for the end of June, will focus on mobile apps in natural disaster management and flooding scenarios, frequent in the country. First prize is worth €2,000.
China: Keywords Unblocked in Weibo
Jason Ng from Tea Leaf Nation reviewed the recent unblocking of several politically sensitive words in Weibo, Chinese biggest social media platform and pointed out that the unblocking is not a victory against censorship because there are yet many ways to screen out politically sensitive messages.
UFO Sighting in Kerala, India reported
Sans Serif reports that two south Indian newspapers carried out a story that an unidentified flying object (UFO) was sighted in Kannur district in Kerala, India. A commenter on the post reminds that there is an app available in Google Play which lets one add UFOs to the pictures taken...
Malaysia Launches Dengue Web Portal
To fight dengue, Malaysia's Ministry of Health launched a GIS-based web portal called I-Dengue, “which aims to provide the public with the latest information on dengue hotspots and preventive measures on how citizens can avoid getting the disease.” Dengue is a tropical virus with no known cure that is carried...
ABRE LATAM: Open Data Unconference
Fernando Briano from Picando Código informs [es] about the upcoming unconference ABRE LATAM [es], organized by D.A.T.A. [es] and Ciudadano Inteligente [es], on June 24 and 25 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event hopes to “bring together representatives of different sectors of Latin American civil society who work with Open Data...
China Shoots Down Accusations that Edward Snowden is a Spy
Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the revelations of the United States massive Internet spying program, turned to the Guardian newspaper once again, this time for an online Q&A, shortly after China broke its silence over the leaking scandal and said Snowden was not a spy for the country. Despite a cautious response from the government, China's online world has been abuzz with chatter surrounding the case.
Trinidad & Tobago: New Media & Tourism
We are destined to fail at our tourism efforts because the stakeholders, decision makers and governmental associations have no understanding of the new media landscape. Travel blogger Rishi Sankar takes the Trinidad and Tobago tourism body to task for its “lack of recognition of social media’s impact on tourism.”
Caribbean: Is Somebody Watching?
The ongoing saga with U.S. Internet surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden has captured the attention of the world. In two blog posts, one from Trinidad and Tobago and the other from Cuba, there is an interesting juxtaposition between high-tech spying and old-fashioned intelligence, even though they both pit the citizens against the state.
Support Snowden Rally in Hong Kong
HongWrong has collected a large number of media reports on the rally to support Edward Snowden in Hong Kong on 15 of June, 2013. Hundreds rallied in the rain demanding the U.S government to stop its spying activities and Hong Kong government to protect Snowden.
Japan's WordPress Communities Celebrate 10 Years
WordPress communities in Japan celebrated the 10th anniversary of the open source blogging platform. Events were held in Sapporo, Kagawa, Tokyo, Chiba and Osaka. There are 40 local WordBench [ja] groups, Japan's WordPress local community directory is powered by BuddyPress. Naoko Takano blogs more about the events in Japan.
Julian Assange, Calle 13, and Twitter Users Write a Song Together
René Pérez, from the musical group Calle 13, and Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, gathered ideas and suggestions from Twitter users to write a song together that will go on Calle 13's next album.
Iran: Dear Mr. President, Fix the Internet!
A group of bloggers and cyber activists wrote a letter to new President-elect Hassan Rouhani, asking him to increase Internet speed. They also complain about filtering and remind Rouhani that he used the Internet to promote his campaign.
India Stops 160-year-old Telegram Service
India's state-owned telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has announced that it is discontinuing its telegram service beginning 15 July 2013 due to declining use of service and huge losses. Many social media users have reminisced over the rich history of the 160-year-old service.
Association for World's Mobile Operators Opens Africa Office
The GSMA, the global association for the world’s mobile operators, opens an African office in Nairobi, White African reports: Back in 2010 when the iHub first opened, we had some of their staff who were in Kenya working out of the iHub and using the space for different meetings. They...