· January, 2014

Stories about Technology from January, 2014

Films on Digital Security Turn a Shade of Noir

  31 January 2014

Tactical Technology Collective, an organization dedicated to the use of information in activism, has produced a series of short films that focus on digital security and privacy. The movies are in a film noir style and include three interviews with human rights defenders from different regions, talking about the digital...

A Business Model Competition to Ignite Start Ups in Madagascar

  29 January 2014

Harinjaka, founder of the co-working space Habaka and Madagascar-based blogger, created the 2014 Antananarivo Start Up Cup [fr] whose objective is to select and support the best business ideas in Madagascar. He thinks that there is a bright future for entrepreneurship and innovation [fr] in Madagascar. Here is a poster for the event [fr] :...

Kenya Blog Awards 2014 Open for Submissions

  28 January 2014

The 2014 BAKE Kenyan Blog awards is now accepting submissions until February 10, 2014. Users can vote online from March 1 to April 30, 2014 for their favorite blogs in 17 different categories, including the new additions of Best Health Blog and Best County Blog.  The Kenyan Blog Awards, an initiative of the Bloggers Association...

Fairy Tales in the 21st Century

  28 January 2014

On the column Breviario [es] from the website El MalPensante [es], Argentinian author Hernán Casciari [es] concludes that many timeless fairy tales that are part of children's imagination and many other stories would have never taken place had their main characters had access to the current technology: What happens with...

The Other Side of Social Media

  26 January 2014

That’s Twitter – it makes a joke out of serious issues and takes jokes seriously. - comments blogger Purba Ray while discussing Sunanda Pushkar’s sudden death who underwent a Twitter spat with a Pakistani journalist. The unusual death of the wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor has created a lot...

The Biggest Indian Blogging Conference In February 2014

  25 January 2014

The WIN – Blogadda conference will take place in Mumbai on February 9, 2014. This conference is claimed to be the the biggest offline Indian blogger conference where a mix of Bloggers, Industry Specialists & Influencers will talk about how blogging today has grown to be an optimum platform for...

Zhihu: A New Space for Questions and Discussion in China

  24 January 2014

Since China's crackdown on the most popular social media Sina Weibo, a new online platform Zhihu has become popular among public intellectuals as a space for rich discussion. Similar to Quora.com, Zhihu allows Chinese web users to post questions, with the best responses upvoted by others. It is free from...

South Korea: I Would Rather Sell My Personal Info

  23 January 2014

Personal information of about 20 million people, which amounts to two fifth of the entire South Korean population, has been compromised in the country's worst identity theft. Customers of the affected three major credit card firms gasped at the sheer extensiveness of the breach; it is not just the user's real name,...

As Darkness Falls – Berlin Conference

  22 January 2014

Berlin is welcoming the digital intelligentsia to a conference this weekend (January 25-26) on “self-empowerment in the age of digital control”. Speakers at the event, As Darkness Falls, include Jacob Appelbaum, Bruce Sterling, Micah Sifry, Evgeny Morozov and from Global Voices, Asteris Masouras (@asteris). See program in English and German....

Young Romanian Builds First Car Entirely Made of LEGO Blocks

  21 January 2014

20-year-old Raul Oaida from Romania has built what many dreamed of as children – the world’s first life-size LEGO car. The car, including the engine which actually runs, was built using 500,000 LEGO pieces. The vehicle can only achieve a speed of some 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, but...

Iran:Tehran Welcomes China's Help to Launch the National Internet

  21 January 2014

Iranian authorities in the Ministry of Information recently met with their Chinese counterparts and said they welcome China's experience to launch Iran's national internet.” Amin Sabeti tweeted: #China will help #Iran to launch the National Information Network or the National Internet http://t.co/nhLSmQRMnv @Liberationtech @lorenzoFB — Amin Sabeti (@AminSabeti) January 20,...

Job Market Trends in the Mobile Phone Industry of Côte d'Ivoire

  17 January 2014

Alain François Loukou, a research fellow and teacher at the Alassane Ouattara University in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, wrote an extensive report on the evolution of IT in Côte d'Ivoire [fr]. He shares the following table on the recent evolution of the mobile phone market in his country in terms of mobile penetration, jobs, turnover...