Stories about Technology from March, 2006
India: Picking up the phone
Charu wonders why Mobile phone companies seem to suddenly advocate sensible mobile phone usage and behaviour.
Kenya: solar electrification project
Afromusing notes the building of a “massive solar based rural electrification of at least 88 villages is expected to be rolled out countrywide mid this year” in Kenya.
Nigeria: blog about blogging
Ore's Notes blogs about blogging and points to a BBC site that provides an overview of blogging tools that are popular...”Blogging, wikis and podcasting have become popular ways to create an online presence and share ideas with a cyber audience”
Russia: “Preved, omerekancheg!”
A Chicago-based LJ user angstzeit encounters a Russian-speaking bear and through a flashmob of Russian commenters learns about the Preved!-mania. John Lurie's original drawing; hundreds of followups at ru_preved LJ community; Preved! CafePress.com stuff; lots of Russian slang and obsceneties; a Cold War between the Preved Bear and the O...
India: Computers and Employment
Charu on a venture that seeks to link women who seek employment as domestic help to families who are on-the-lookout for employees and has grave doubts.
Pakistan: How protest evolves
The Olive Ream, with characteristic humour presents the anatomy of a protest. The story of how some bloggers picked up on the threads after blogspot blogs were blocked by ISPs in Pakistan from the horse's mouth.
South Africa: web technology ideas for Africa
White African posts an idea of his for web technology in Africa “that could change the way Africans communicate, trade and interact with each other and the world.”
Trinidad & Tobago: ICANN wiki
ICANN committee member Jacqueline Morris links to a wiki set up to strengthen “Civil Rights and Consumer Protection in ICANN’s policies.” And Taran Rampersad writes to the WSIS governance list with his views on development.
Hong Kong: Blogger takes break
Glutter, post-relationship break-up, vows to take a break from blogging, in quest of reality and solidity, as opposed to the disembodiments and shifting perspectives of cyberspace.
China: The Great Blog Hoax
After managing to get some overseas MSM stalwarts to report on their ‘demise’, Massage Milk and MilkPig are back. In this post, entitled ‘Sorry’ (ZH), Massage Milk says this wasn't the intention. Read all about it, here on ESWN.
Syria: Syria Planet
Syria Planet, the community site for Syrian bloggers, is now online, it features an aggregator of member blogs (Syrian or about Syria), and forums for arranging activities and meetings, and discussing what's going on in Syria and the blogosphere, among the other things, Ayman said.
The Moroccan blogosphere celebrates women and discusses taboos
The Moroccan bloggers paid their tribute to the woman who is, Today, celebrated all over the world. They also discussed sensitive issues like being gay in a conservative environment. Samir blogged about Rif, where two-thirds of farmers grow cannabis, while IBAHRINE stressed the revolutionary role of the internet in the...
Singapore: Photo Play
Arnold Ho in Singapore has been making photos of ordinary urban scenes look like miniatures. Check out his work on his blog.
Trinidad & Tobago: ccTLDs & cellular towers
Taran Rampersad questions the usefulness of country code top-level domains and takes issue with the Trinidad & Tobago telecoms providers’ and media's handling of the issue of health risks associated with cellular towers.
Africans not googling
White Africa takes a look at the continent of Africa which he says is still “dark” in terms of “infrastructurally, technologically and on top of that, the world just doesn’t care” - this refers to the miniscule number of searches from Africa on Google.
Ukraine: Election Gifts
Christopher of From Ukraine With Love writes on how good the upcoming election is for a small-town Ukrainian school – good in a twisted sort of way: “From how it’s been explained to me, elections time is when politicians start giving out gifts.”
Slovenia: Spamfighter
Michael of The Glory of Carniola comments on a Slovenian anti-spam program, Spamfighter.
Northeast Asia: Discussion forum
OhmyNews and the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea are co-hosting a series of online discussion fora entitled Talk! Northeast Asia. Translated and cross-posted in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English between Feb. 27 and March 15, the event aims to provide the means for Northeast Asian citizens to produce ideas...
Sri Lanka: Telecom Sector
Sri Lanka: Telecom Sector
China: Duck pond discussions
Taipei-based Peking Duck reports that its Duck Pond discussion forum has taken off, with threads running on such diverse topics as gay marriage, the viability of the Communist Party, Tibet, female infanticide and the closure of Freezing Point.
Japan: OhmyNews investment
OhmyNews reports that it has secured a U.S.$11 million investment from Softbank, a Tokyo-based technology and Internet investment firm, to expand its international presence with the launch of a Japanese edition later this year. The funds will also be used to develop OhmyNews’ video journalism arm, writes Annie Koh from...
