Stories about Technology from July, 2011
South Korea: Tweet Photos of Downpour
Heavy downpour battered South Korea yesterday, causing flooding and property damage even in one of the wealthiest parts of Seoul. Wiki Tree consolidated photos of downpour Twitterers have sent.
Russia: Megafon/Yandex Text Message Leak
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy writes that “one of the largest Russian mobile carriers [Megafon] and the leading Russian search engine [Yandex] need to explain quite a lot of things to their users […] due to an unspeakable data leak as thousands of SMS messages sent via Megafon website got publicly...
Russia: Bloggers Find Street Shooter
Bloggers across the Russian Internet were quick to respond with posts and information after well-known photo-blogger Dmitry Ternovsky was shot at recently on a highway in the southeast of Moscow. Ashley Cleek details the story.
Republic of Congo: Is the New ‘Made In Africa’ Tablet Actually Chinese?
A new ‘made in Africa' tablet computer from the Republic of Congo was announced in June 2011 to much fanfare. While technical innovation in Africa is worth celebrating, it's worth double-checking whether the new VMK tablet is actually designed, developed and engineered in Congo as advertised.
Sri Lanka: Latest From The Lankanosphere
London, Lanka And Drums has posted a roundup of recent posts from Sri Lankan blogs discussing politics.
Caribbean: Commonwealth Stories for Online Time Capsule
The Royal Commonwealth Society is creating the world's largest online time capsule in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and wants regional/Commonwealth bloggers to share their stories. Get involved, here.
Argentina: What Irritates Argentinians?
Argentinians and Twitter: a means to express what irritates them. On July 22, the hashtag #irritante (#irritating) became a local trending topic with protests and irritations about politics, traffic, neighbors and even family and social networks.
Serbia: Government Officials and Social Networks (Interview)
Some Serbian government officials are eagerly embracing Twitter as a way to engage with their audiences, while others have found the challenge of fake satirical accounts difficult to accept. Find out more in this interview with former Minister, Jasna Matic.
Zambia: Facebook Group Leads 2011 Poll Debate
Can a Facebook group, 'Zambian People’s Pact', tip the Zambian elections due in the next few months against the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), which has been in power for 20 years now? Gershom Ndhlovu investigates.
Haiti: Wikileaks & Fr. Jean-Juste
“Father Gerry Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest, was a friend of…mine. For those who follow Haitian politics, the rest of the Father Gerry story is known”: Now, Dying in Haiti republishes Wikileaks cables that “[reveal] how the Haitian Interim Government and the US Embassy were very involved with the fate of...
Africa: Start-Up Cafe Africa launched
Start-up Cafe Africa launched: “The platform seeks to offer resource support to all businesses springing from within Africa through Weekend Start-up Cafe’s, Start-up Seminars, Web and Mobile portals.”
Zambia: Football Icon's Facebook Account Faked
Kalusha Bwalya is probably one of the most recognised Zambian faces because of his outstanding achievements in football. However, when it comes to Facebook, it is difficult to tell whether an account in his name is genuine or not.
Russia: Envisioning the “Cloud Democracy” Utopia
'Cloud Democracy' is the title of the new book written by Leonid Volkov and Fyodor Krasheninnikov, two political bloggers from the Urals region of Russia. The book displays the authors' vision on how a system of 'future' democratic governance can be built with the help of online tools.
South Korean Twitterers Mobilized As East Sea(Sea of Japan) Conflict Intensifies
The ongoing territorial dispute over the Dokdo(Takeshima) island has flared up as the Japanese Foreign Ministry instructed a boycott against Korean Air for hovering over the island located in the disputed water. Korean Twitterers have set up a special website, IssueTok [ko], to plan a mass tweet-protest in several languages.
Philippines: Internet and social reform
Philippine legislator and activist Teddy Casino reminds Filipino netizens not to be limited to being “clicktivists in the virtual world but activists in the real world.”
Italy: Social Innovation Competition with €10,000 Prize
The EUCLID network is inviting social innovators from any country to submit entries to a competition about how to solve one of six social challenges in Naples, Italy. The winning idea will be implemented by the winners together with local partners using a €10,000 prize.
Panama: Presidential Insults Online
Panamanian President, Ricardo Martinelli, sparked controversy on Twitter after allegedly insulting a user who criticized him in a rude manner. But the President denies that any insult was intended. Netizens discuss the furore.
Brazil: Blogger Censored and Sued by Businessman
Journalist Paulo Cezar Prado's Blog do Paulinho [pt] has been blocked by the Brazilian Justice, reports the Blue Bus [pt]. Businessman Franck Henouda's lawyer has sued the blogger who had also criticized other public figures related with sports: Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the CBF and Andres Sanchez the president...
Russia: Online Effort to Discredit Environmentalists Exposed
Suren Gazaryan, Russian environmentalist, publishes [ru] the scan of the document that describes the strategy of discrediting local environmentalist organizations protesting against the development of the Tuapse oil terminal. The “plan” includes prices for the paid posts in the blogs, forums, media outlets, as well as a list of possible...
Google+ for China
Dan from China Law Blog comments on various social networking tools in China. The blogger is convinced about all “China people” will eventually migrate over there and make it THE place for China discussions.
Twitter and Latin American Presidents: Does It Make Them Closer to Us?
Twitter use among the presidents of Latin America is gaining momentum. Whether used as a form of press release, to communicate with citizens or to cheer for a soccer team, Twitter has established itself as a new tool for heads of state to interact in both their public and private lives.
