Stories about Technology from October, 2012
Russia: DDoS Attacks Cripple Opposition's Online Vote
Eight hours after online voting for the Russian opposition's “Coordinating Council” began, unknown assailants launched a sustained Denial-of-Service attack against the Election Commission's website, disabling the primary voting portal.
Portugal: Citizen Digital Activism
The atmosphere of growing indignation lived in Portugal in face of austerity measures, imposed by government at the command of the troika, has served as the trigger for more and more initiatives that bring new takes on the potential of digital media in the service of citizens.
China: National Security Threat or Trade Protectionism?
Last week on 8 October 2012, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee released an investigative report accusing two major Chinese telecommunications companies, Huawei and ZTE of posing threat to U.S national security.
Myanmar to Ban Viber?
An engineer from Myanmar's Ministry of Communication has warned[my] that Viber and other VOIP services might be banned in the country because of revenue losses of the state and the...
Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating Women's Genius
Ada Lovelace Day, celebrated every October 16, honors international women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths -women's whose skills are urgently needed for the future of the world. Here we highlight some of these extraordinary women.
Saint Lucia: Bananas as a Renewable Energy Source?
A 2011 blogpost on the use of bananas in the creation of biofuel has inspired Dane Gibson to ask some questions about the renewable energy sector in the small Caribbean country of Saint Lucia.
Serbia: Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2012
Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2012 took place in Belgrade on October 13–14, 2012, and is the first Wikimedia CEE Meeting for Central and Eastern Europe. The primary goal of the event...
Zambian Watchdog Website in Jeopardy
The government of Zambia has threatened to de-register the online investigative site, Zambian Watchdog. In May 2012, the Watchdog reported that its website was a target of a sustained attack allegedly by the government after visitors to the site were met with “page not available.”
Developing Latin America 2012
The regional hackathon Developing Latin America, organised by Foundation Ciudadano Inteligente (Intelligent Citizen) in six Latin American countries, brings together multidisciplinary teams of designers, developers, entrepreneurs, journalists and citizens that want to find solutions to problems such as poverty, healthcare and education, using technological tools.
Libya: Blackberry Services Back
Journalist Jenan Moussa tweets from Libya: @jenanmoussa: Wut a great surprise! Blackberry services have been resumed in #Libya. I am tweeting for first time since rvltn from my phone.
Panama: President Martinelli Partially Vetoes Copyright Bill 510
Panamanian newspaper La Prensa reports [es] that President Ricardo Martinelli has partially vetoed the controversial copyright bill 510. According to La Prensa's report, the National Assembly approved the changes sent...
China: Workers Strike at IPhone's Subcontractor Foxconn Factory
Beijing Cream tried to sort out what happened at Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou. Earlier reports said that there were massive workers’ strike on October 5 because the factory forced workers...
Russia: Crowdmapping Corruption with Bribr Mobile App
Bribr is a newly-launched iPhone/iPad app that allows anonymous users in Russia to submit the locations and the amounts of the bribes they pay. Later, it will be possible to report on the bribes taken as well.
China Updating North Korean Television News
North Korea Tech blog has revealed what had suddenly changed the archaic look of North Korean Television news. A government-run Chinese broadcaster has allegedly donated around US$ 800,000 to North Korea’s...
Bangladesh: Video Contents In Students’ Reach
A growing number of contents available online become useless to people, who do not have access to the internet. Agami, a project based in San Jose, CA has made it...
Russia: Apple Logo Branded As Unchristian by Orthodox Activists
Interfax new agency reported [ru] today that a fringe group of Russian Orthodox activists (including some priests) has “on a number of occasions” staged public protests against the maker of the...
Russia: Philanthropy Through Advertising
The project “A Minute of Your Day for Good” (1minute.ru) was launched in November 2011. Users of the platform can accrue "charity minutes," which advertisers later honor in cash. Aleksey Melnicheck, co-founder of 1minute.ru, spoke to Evgeny Voropai of Greenhouses of Social Technologies about the problems of virtual charity in Russia and Western trends in fundraising.
