Stories about Technology from August, 2011
Puerto Rico: The Era of the “Digisapiens”
Ivan Chaar-López comments on the recent surge of literature [es] on how the Internet supposedly negatively affects the brain.
Libya: The Liberation of Tripoli
The Internet is back on in the Libyan capital Tripoli, after a blackout that lasted about six months. One by one bloggers and tweeps from Tripoli are coming online, sharing their feelings, emotions and hopes after months of absence and turmoil. Fozia Mohamed brings us their feedback.
Lebanon: New Internet Prices
A new decree has finally passed by the Lebanese cabinet to create new internet packages and lower prices. Here's how Ontornet saw it in their latest post.
Uruguay Celebrates Independence Day
Today, August 25, Uruguay is celebrating 186 years of its declaration of independence. Federico Lorenzo shares [es] today's Google doodle on the search engine's Uruguayan version, and comments on the history behind the country's independence.
Bahamas: Riding Out Hurricane Irene
As Hurricane Irene, the first of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, continues to move through the Bahamas, bloggers have been sharing their experiences. Netizens reported very strong winds, extensive damage to property, felled trees and downed power lines. Several roofs were blown off and there were reports of flooding in certain areas.
Russia: Court Rules Out to Block An Undisclosed LiveJournal Account
Samara city court had ordered a local ISP to block an undisclosed blog at LiveJournal platform that ‘incites hatred towards an ethnic and social (professional) group,’ the website of Samara Prosecutor's Office reports [ru]. The ‘extremist’ website was found ‘during the monitoring of the Internet,’ the report says.
Russia: “Russia Today and YouTube”
Democratist is wondering about the validity of Russia Today's YouTube viewer stats.
Trinidad & Tobago: Positive Facebook Changes
TECHTT says of Facebook's recent changes: “I really love the tag approval feature and think it will be a big hit as I have seen many people complain about unscrupulous tagging. I hope we see a lot more useful changes…”
North Korea Got Talent? Video of North Korean Singing Contest on Chinese Site
A short, edited video of the North Korean singing contest was posted on Youku, a video hosting service based in China.
Africa: The Potential of Local Brain-Drain
What is the potential of local brain-drain in Africa? Read Idd Salim's post: “We all know African Tech Solutions. Ushahidi, Mpesa come to mind. Apps made by Africans for Africa. Because African solutions are made on an empty stomach, they address a REAL need. A real problem. Not AngryBirds. HungryCoders....
Togo: 3rd BarCamp Selects the Translation for “Blog” in Ewé Language
In its presentation of the third edition of BlogCamp Togo, togocouleurs explains that [fr] the Togolese blogosphere coined a new word for “blog” in the Ewé language (spoken in Togo, Ghana and Benin) : “with the vote taking place directly on the ETTIC [fr] (‘Togolese Space for Information and Communication Technologies’)...
Russia: Police Refused To Start the Criminal Prosecution Against LiveJournal DDoS Attackers
Russian police acknowledged the DDoS-attacks against LiveJournal blogging platform in April 2011, but refused to start a criminal prosecution against the attackers, gazeta.ru reported [ru]. Police wrote to the source that it was ‘unable to identify attackers.’ Aside from paralyzing the Russian blogosphere, DDoS attacks against LiveJournal led to nearly...
Nigeria: Two Satellites Launched
Wadr.org reports [fr] that ” Nigeria announced on Thursday that it had launched two satellites to monitor natural hazards, such as drought and floods, as well as to improve agriculture and security”.
Guinea: Slow Blogging
After a year of blogging on blog platform Mondoblog, Sow shares [fr] how difficult it is to connect from his hometown in Guinea, located 500 km from the capital Conakry: “This country is plagued with a standard access to the Internet that breaks every record of slowness. If you add...
Rwanda: Interacting With the Tweeting President
Global Voices Author Gershom Ndhlovu interacts with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Twitter. Kagame’s Twitter exchange with netizens puts him far ahead of his contemporary African leaders.
Brunei: Promoting Health Consciousness Online
Brunei's Health Promotion Centre taps the power of social media to advocate a healthy lifestyle among Bruneians. Its latest campaign is Diabetes Awareness.
Myanmar: Facebook ‘mini-revolution’
An article in Mizzima written by Tun Tun reveals how Myanmar internet users are able to use Facebook to share political ideas and campaign messages.
Jamaica: Technology & Business
“Smartphones have truly revolutionised the way we interact”: Pray, laugh, grow! wonders whether “a BlackBerry pin [is] the new business card.”
Japan: Web, Social Games, and Mobile
Serkan Toto from Asiajin has made available his presentation on The Web, Social Games And Mobile In Japan.
India: Crowd-sourced Filmmaking
Shashwati informs that a significant portion of the budget of the movie “Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!”, which is having its world premier at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in October, came from individual donations collected over the internet. The movie is about a troupe of young Chhara...
Nepal: Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police Has A Facebook Page
Nepali Blogger informs that the Kathmandu Metropolitan police department has launched a facebook page, which aims to provide traffic information, related news and updates on Kathamandu’s traffic.
