· September, 2012

Stories about Technology from September, 2012

Puerto Rico from Above

  14 September 2012

The Caribbean Society of Astronomy posted [es] some of the astonishing images that astronaut Joseph Acabá-of Puerto Rican descendance- shot of the island on September 1st, 2012, from the International Space Station (ISS), a habitable satellite that orbits the Earth at an altitude between 330 km (205 mi) and 410 km (255 mi).

Internet Activa: Online Course for Digital Activists

  14 September 2012

From September 14, 2012 to February 15, 2013, the Karisma Foundation [es] (supported by Google Colombia and RedPaTodos [es]) will teach a free, open and digital course [es] “on civil liberties, digital rights, freedom of expression, collective financing for projects, among other topics.” Read more about the course on the Internet Activa (Active Internet) [es] website and follow them...

Trinidad & Tobago: iPads for Parliament?

  12 September 2012

If this Government…want[s] to appear to be the pillar of honesty they must go out for an open public tender for tablets…and not simply go out to tender for the prestigious iPad. An apparent penchant for Parliamentary iPads has aka_lol concerned about transparency and good governance.

Russia: New Competition in Social Media Analysis & Big Data Analytics

RuNet Echo  11 September 2012

Former presidential staff member Konstantin Kostin [ru] and pro-Kremlin blogger Stanislav Apetian (online moniker: PoliTrash) have released new details about an upcoming initiative from their think tank [ru], the Civil Society Development Foundation. In an interview [ru] with Izvestia newspaper, Apetian says the group is deploying technology developed by the American firm Crimson...

Croatia: Promoting Solar Energy at Terraneo Music Festival

  10 September 2012

UNDP's Voices from Eurasia blog reports on the ecological education program of this year's Terraneo music festival in Šibenik, where guests, among other things, could “test-drive Croatia’s only solar-powered car and bicycle.” In charge of the festival's “solar booth” were Marko Capek and Robert Pašičko, who “also sang songs about...

Uruguayan Netizens in Numbers

  10 September 2012

Gabriel Budiño from the blog DTodo1Poco [es] summarizes some of the key findings in the ninth edition of an investigation [es] entitled ‘Profile of the Uruguayan Netizen.’ Facebook users [in Uruguay] now number more than 1.2 million, 140,000 Uruguayans have a Twitter account and 150,000 publish in blogs.

India: Arrest of Cartoonist on Sedition Charges Sparks Debate

  10 September 2012

On 8 September, award-winning political cartoonist, Aseem Trivedi was arrested in Mumbai, India, on charges of sedition and is now in judicial custody. Netizens expressed outrage over his arrest, a move they see as politically motivated and an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression.

New Digital Safe Haven from Censors

  10 September 2012

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders is launching a new website in October for banned and censored content called Wefightcensorship.org. The site is intended to be a “virtual shelter,” for all those hounded by censors, and users will be able to submit content anonymously.

South Korea: Samsung, National Champion or Corporate Evil?

  6 September 2012

Sure, Samsung might be seen by some as a national champion, but there are many who also see it as the epitome of corporate evil—and not without reason Wrote Robert Koehler in his blog post on a poll result showing South Koreans still support Samsung in its patent legal battle against...

India: 2012 Indian Bloggers’ Mindset Survey

  4 September 2012

Prasant Naidu provides insights from the 2012 Bloggers’ Mindset Survey conducted by 20:20 MSL and Blogathon India. The notable results include phenomena like “conversations have moved from blogs to Twitter” and “Facebook gets the maximum traffic for bloggers”.

Kenya: NationHela Available in Kenya

  4 September 2012

Wham writes about a new service called NationHela [Hela means money in Swahili]: NationHela is a new, simpler and more convenient international money transfer service that allows you to receive money, from anywhere in the world, straight to your NationHela prepaid Visa card and mobile phone. A prepaid card is...

Russia: Online Platform for Auditing Court Decisions

RuNet Echo  4 September 2012

With the appearance of "RosPravosudie," Russians have gained a comprehensive database of information about lawyers, attorneys, judges, and judicial decisions. Its founder, Gleb Suvorov, recently spoke to Greenhouses of Social Technologies about what can be achieved in just 100 days of online existence and about ways to improve Russia's judicial system.

North Korea: Recap of its Satellite Development and Airspace Usage

  4 September 2012

North Korea Tech blog wrote a post on North Korea's space development and use of its airspace with data from he pulled from an old email archive, providing a bit of history. Attempts to open up North Korea’s airspace began gathering pace in the mid nineties. Flying over the country rather than...

Russia: Governors’ LiveJournals Ranked

RuNet Echo  3 September 2012

Writing in his own LiveJournal, Sergei Nikitskii (the director of Governors.Ru) ranked [ru] the LJ accounts of Russia's 13 blogging governors. Kirovskaia oblast Governor Nikita Belykh [ru], a former oppositionist politician, scored highest on the list. Andrei Turchak [ru], the Governor of Pskovskaia oblast, was ranked last, on the grounds that he's apparently abandoned his...