Stories about Technology from July, 2009
Africa: The arrival of Seacom cable sparks debate
The arrival of an undersea cable that will increase bandwidth and lower Internet access costs throughout Africa has sparked debate and interest in the African blogoshere. Seacom, which links South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia, went live on Thursday, connecting eastern and southern Africa to the global broadband network.
Trinidad & Tobago: Top Sites
KnowProSE.com takes a look at Trinidad and Tobago's most viewed websites, saying: “It's really interesting to see how the Internet use has changed…and will continue to change as internet penetration continues.”
India: Interview with Dina Mehta
Blogadda interviews Dina Mehta, one of the best-known bloggers and social media observers from India. She is also a friend and Advisor to Global Voices Online.
Japan: No Twitter for Election Campaigns
In response to the government's decision that the usage of Twitter in election campaign activities violates the Public Offices Election Law, Kengo Preston wonders why disruptive methods such as direct phone calls and street speeches with megaphones are permitted while these low-cost and practical new technologies are not.
Cambodia, Thailand: ilovethailand website sparks controversy
The recently launched website ilovethailand.org is causing a stir online. Thailand's Prime Minister announced that the website is intended to restore the country's image and unify the nation in light of recent unrest. The controversy stems from the website's claims about Thailand's “lost territory” — territory that is present day Cambodia.
Trinidad & Tobago: Journalistic Integrity
Trinidad and Tobago blogger KnowProSE.com says that “no preconditions leads to better interviews…and that's where journalism sells out – and social media is beginning to.”
Controversial Thai Prime Minister website
Cambodia is asking the Prime Minister of Thailand to close down his website that claims that Cambodia has territories which were actually Thai territories.
Jakarta blasts: Twitter vs mainstream media
On the day of the Jakarta bombings, Ong Hock Chuan notes that Indonesian twitterers were criticizing local TV stations for presenting premature conclusions about the blasts.
Japan: Internet users in the world
A post [ja] at ideaxidea shows graphs [en] describing the percentage of the world's internet users in 2008.
Global: The push to boycott Shark Week
A group of scientists, scuba divers and self-described shark lovers are using the blogosphere to publicize their criticism of the Discovery Channel’s “horror-show” portrayal of sharks during its annual Shark Week. This loose coalition argues the Discovery Channel programming sensationalizes shark attacks and embellishes the dangers sharks pose to humans.
Russia: Social Networking
Profy writes about social networking in Russia.
Poland: #KDT Battle in Warsaw
Polish blogosphere had an interesting day today due to the conflict between shopkeepers of Kupiecki Dom Towarowy - a shopping complex in the center of Warsaw - and the police. Sylwia Presley reports on the bloggers' coverage of the confrontation.
Japan: Japanese characters as ccTLD?
Motoko Hunt reports that a new conference is being set up to discuss Japanese ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain) issues. We'll be seeing ccTLD with Japanese characters, such as “xx.日本”. (日本 is ‘Japan’ in Japanese.)
Russia: Scoring partly free in Freedom of the Net report
Karina Alexanyan of Internet & Democracy Blog accounts for Russia labeled partly free in a recent Freedom House report on Freedom on the Net.
Pakistan: Urdu Transliteration Tool
Saeed at PakFellows blog discusses about the latest developments in the Urdu transliteration tools for ease of computing in Urdu language.
China: Tecn.cn harmonized
TECN.CN, a famous China-based online academic forum, has been inaccessible since 18 July 2009. Insiders said the web portal has been closed down. More from C.A Yeung in Under the Jacaranda Tree.
Dominican Republic: Wikiproject to Create Content
Leon Taveras has been organizing a Wikiproject via Twitter to help create and improve upon the Wikipedia content relating to the Dominican Republic.
Azerbaijan: Activists’ support site goes down
Yesterday, as Önər Blog [AZ] reported, the Appellate Court in Baku was to consider again the case of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, the recently beaten and detained youth activists and bloggers sentenced last week. Yesterday, however, one of the main websites created in their defense went down.
Belarus: Arms trade rescues regime
Bielar.us discusses a recent United Nations’ report on arms’ trade in the world, where Belarus is pointed out as a major dealer, and the significance this trade has for the regime.
Africa: New date for African Bloggers’ Conference
The new date for Kelele 2009 (first conference for African bloggers) has been announced: “We are now pleased to announce that the inaugural Kelele, Bloggers Conference will take place in Nairobi from 29th October– 1st November, 2009.”
Kazakhstan: New Internet Law Passed
Katya Fisher Yoffe reports that Kazakhstan president signed a new law placing blogs, social media networks, and chatrooms under the rubric of “mass media”, effectively creating criminal liability for users of these internet communication platforms and permitting the government to shut down and censor websites as it sees fit.
