Stories about Technology from July, 2010
South Korea: The Suicide Twit
More Koreans are noticing their suicide plans via Twitter, South Korea's internet media NoCut News reported[kr]. Most recently a club DJ tweeted ‘I will commit suicide, thank you guys till now’ and the police was dipatched to his house. It was later found out that he had not committed suicide....
India: Why Businesses Must Embrace Social Media
Komal-Nishka Manglani at Blog Adda explains why businesses must embrace social media.
Pakistan: In Damage Control Mode After WikiLeaks
Effendi at The Spittoon comments: “the Pakistan government has gone into damage control mode after the evidence of the ISI’s involvement in Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan was exposed and confirmed on WikiLeaks.”
Azerbaijan: Presidential tweets
A Twitter account for the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has been set up at @AzPresident [AZ] and @PresidentAz [EN]. The account will tweet links to presidential speeches, events attended, and video material.
Guatemala: Engineers Work on Green Technology
A blogger for Interactiva Web writes [es] about a group of Guatemalan and North American engineers who are working on technology to help the environment. The group is called Xela Teco [es].
Bermuda: Media Code
“I do believe that whether we like it or not, blogs are now part of the media. By definition we publish publicly and with that freedom comes responsibility” – which is why Breezeblog has voluntarily adopted the Media Council of Bermuda’s Code of Practice.
Jamaica: Living Vicariously
Annie Paul wasn't at this year's Reggae Sumfest, but thanks to Twitter, she's able to share all the details, here and here.
Russia: Blackout of the Social Network Triggers Twitter Panic
The word “vkontakte“, standing for the name of the Russian social network, found itself among top Twitter trends. It happened after millions of Russian users were not able to access [RUS] the social network because of a failure [RUS] of a local power station. Some bloggers started the online panic...
USA: Interview with Mary Joyce, Editor of Digital Activism Decoded
Mary Joyce is the editor of a new book called Digital Activism Decoded, that features contributions from authors and digital activists from around the world.
South Korea: Addiction Mutates and Permeates Korean Society
A revolting incident caused by the internet addiction has recently shocked South Korea, and the government and non-profit organizations are rushing for solutions. Korean bloggers share their analysis on the uphill battle against addiction. Last week, a couple who starved their baby to death were sentenced to a year and...
Azerbaijan: Youth activism and social media
Ali Resh uses online video tools to interview Baku-based Ruslan Asadov, along with now imprisoned video blogger Adnan Hajizade also a co-founder and member of the OL! Azerbaijani youth movement, live from Tbilisi, Georgia. Resh and Asadov speak about the use of new and social media in youth activism in...
Iran:”The Persian Wikipedia got filtered”
Several bloggers including Sabz21baltarin reported[fa] that the Persian Wikipedia got filtered by Iranian authorities.
Russia: Ask a Search Engine About the Weather
“When the heat will pass away?” is this week's most popular search enquiry in the Russian Google. Another most popular search requests include: “How to survive heat wave?”, “How to cool down the room without an air conditioner?” and “Where people swim in the Moscow region?”, RIA Novosti reports [RUS].
Russia: First Cyrillic Word Tops Twitter Trends
Russian heatwave makes history not only in the streets of Moscow but also in the virtual space. The Russian word “дождь” (rain) turned to be the first Cyrillic word in Twitter's worldwide trending topics, RIA Novosti [RUS] reports. It happened after Moscow bloggers witnessed a minor rain, that followed several weeks of unusually...
Ghana: Meet Co-founder of Global Voices Online in Accra
Are you a blogger or a social media activist living or visiting Ghana, especially Accra? Meet-up with follow the co-founder of Global Voices Online, Ethan Zuckerman, this weekend.
Ghana: Ghana's Police Force Online
Emmanuel is happy about Ghana's police force being online: “That they have a website, which can be reached at http://www.ghanapolice.info/main.htm can only go to confirm that they're well-ensconced in the 21st century.”
Indian Media – Misusing its freedom?
Rinaya, one of the winners of the “Indian Media – Misusing its freedom?” blog contest comments in her winning post: “The media needs to be self-regulatory & humanitarian in its approach to the way it treats news. Only then the concept of Free Press can be realized.”
Sri Lanka: Murali Became A Trending Topic In Twitter
Perambara reports that Sri Lankan star cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan became a trending topic in Twitter as Sri Lankan tweeps began congratulating the feat of claiming his 800th wicket in Test cricket on his retirement day.
Death of the China Blog
Kaiser Kuo, Will Moss and Jeremy Goldkorn comment on the Chinese blog scene at Sinica podcast.
Armenia: FrontlineSMS and health care for all
FrontlineSMS says that more than 50,000 alerts on health care service have been sent using its open source software by international development organization Oxfam. The post includes a video report.
Russia: Anti-Religious Online Group Closed
“Antireligion” group in the social network “Vkontakte“, with more than 8000 members, had been closed and its content deleted, ru_antireligion reports [RUS]. Prosecutor's office, that was checking the group for extremism [RUS], recognized photos of t-shirts with slogans “Orthodoxy or Death” [EN] as “extremist” and obliged administration of “Vkontakte” to...
