Stories about Technology from March, 2010
Armenia-Azerbaijan: BBC Azeri Facebook Diary II
As part of the BBC Superpower Season, the BBC's Azeri service approached Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor to participate in its own reflection on the power of the Internet. What follows is Part II in English.
China: Characters in leaders’ names made sensitive search terms on Google
Beginning Wednesday and continuing today, Chinese Internet users have discovered that Google searches containing the Chinese characters for the surnames of China's top leaders (ie. the ‘hu’ [jintao] in carrot, ‘huluobo’) are resulting in a reset connection to the website. Isaac Mao has made a screencast showing how this works.
Philippines: Online Campaigning
Radulce blogs about online campaigning in the Philippines in the context of the 2010 Presidential Elections.
Haiti: Social Media Speaking
Jamaal Bell writes for The Huffington Post on how social media is helping Haitians share their stories post-earthquake.
Guyana: Virtual Love
“What a la-la. The I-net become the We-net”: Guyana-Gyal notices that “rosemantic” things have been happening in cyberspace.
Japan: Live Streaming Tokyo Marathon
Joseph Tame live streamed his run of the Tokyo Marathon with a hotel room “studio”, multiple live stream channels, Twitter, and GPS uplinks. Here's his full feature post chronicling the successful project.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: BBC Azeri Facebook Diary
As part of the BBC Superpower Season, the BBC's Azeri service approached Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor to participate in its own reflection on the power of the Internet. What follows is a version in English
China and the U.S: Testimony on Internet control
Rebecca MacKinnon posts her testimony for the U.S Congressional Executive China Commission on Google and Internet Control in China: A Nexus Between Human Rights and Trade.
Nepal: Twitter And Facebook Reactions On Girija Prasad Koirala's Death
Dinesh Wagle at United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal compiles Twitter and Facebook reactions on the death of former Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala.
Africa: Crowdfunding in Africa
Erik writes about crowdfunding and seed funding in Africa: “We’re starting to see a few angel investors like Sean Murphy of Chembe Ventures making their way around the continent, but they are not nearly enough to fulfill the capacity of ideas and individuals who need startup capital.”
Kenya: Is Makmende Kenya's first Internet sensation?
Is Makmende Kenya's first Internet sensation: “Unless you’ve been offline for the better part of two weeks its Kenya’s first viral Internet sensation, and his name is Makmende! Yes. Makmende is something to smile about! He is Kenya’s first super hero and boy does he rock!”
Is Russia an Enemy of Internet?
The degree of freedom on the Russian Internet is an issue for debates. Some put Russia on the same list of "Internet enemies" with China and Iran. Others strongly oppose this kind of generalization and claim that Russian Internet is the most liberal and unrestricted public sphere in the country.
China: Google.cn migrated to Hong Kong
Finally Google has decided to leave China. Soon after the announcement, Google stopped censoring the search result of google.cn by redirecting the site to google.com.hk. In Google's official blog, David Drummond, the corporate's chief legal officer explains that its decision is due to the Chinese government's “non-negotiable legal requirement” in...
China: Singing farewell to Google
Google has formally closed its mainland Chinese search engine and rival Baidu will not need long to pick up the slack; nonetheless, former users of Google.cn search braved the cold air to show their support outside the company's Beijing headquarters, singing an anti-Internet censorship protest song while they were at it.
Ghana: Accra Twestival 2010: Social Media Activity With Substance?
If social media is changing communication patterns in the West, it sure has not fallen short of touching interesting places on the African continent. So it is no surprise that MacJordan, one of Global Voices’ own, is collaborating with Rodney Quarcoo to bring Accra Twestival in Ghana.
CPJ Hires Internet Advocacy Coordindator
Danny O'Brien blogs that he has accepted a position as
Venezuela: Concerns About Controls on the Internet
Debate is heating up in Venezuela after decrees and statements from President Hugo Chávez, who questioned how the Internet is being used in the country. Many are interpreting these statements and policy proposals that the government wants control the Internet in Venezuela.
Chile: Changes in Government Websites with Arrival of New Administration
Many Chileans noticed that some government websites no longer contain photos or information from the previous administration, and they are wondering whether it was a deliberate message sent from the administration of new President Sebastián Piñera
Bangladesh: Government Websites Hacked
Ahamed Bauani informs that twenty district websites of Bangladesh out of sixty four were hacked recently. The blogger suggests that the Bangladesh Government should take the incident seriously and install proper security measures.
India: Live Tweeting From Wedding Ceremony
Soumyadip at Cutting The Chai got married last month in Delhi and was live tweeting from his wedding ceremony.
Chinese netizens’ open letter to the Chinese Government and Google
Rebecca MacKinnon has summarized the viewpoints of some Chinese netizens who have issued an open letter to express their stand in censorship.