Stories about Technology from April, 2010
India: Web Only TV Ads
Bhtanaturally analyzes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket is helping web-only TV ads take shape in India.
Best of Blog Awards 2010: And the Winners are…
The sixth annual Deutsche Welle Best of Blogs (BOBs) Awards have come to a close, and the Global Voices community is celebrating the winners.
Sudan: Using the web to promote fair elections, justice and democracy
As we are waiting for final results of the historic elections in Sudan, let's look at organizations and movements using the web in different ways to campaign for justice, freedom and democracy in Sudan.
Kazakhstan: Internet Users Love Opera
KZBlog informs that Opera 10 is the most popular browser in Kazakhstan. As journalists allege, this might be due to the feature which compresses web pages on a remote server. While this feature is meant to speed up browsing, it also means that the it allows to access banned websites.
India: First Bengali Cinema Available At iTunes
Muhammad at Cadet College Blog is excited to report that Suman Ghosh's Dwando (2009) created history by being the first Bengali Cinema available for rent at iTunes.
China: Propaganda order Google calendar
Chinese journalists have over the past two years become more open about discussing news blackout orders received from propaganda departments. Those on Twitter have recently begun posting the contents of these orders to a shared Google calendar which can be found here.
China: Web mobilizes to help Yushu earthquake victims
Between local government attempts to keep news of the Yushu earthquake contained and China's top leaders calling for "all-out" assistance from the public, desire from offline and virtual civil society to contribute to rescue efforts any way they can has been loud and forward.
Arab World: Arab Tweeple Launched
ArabTweeple is the first directory indexing more than 15,000 Arab Twitter users.
Japan: The Nikkei stops free links
Andy in Tokyo wrote a post [en] on the Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Shimbun's new policy, according to which “linking to any of its articles – and even its home page – now requires a written application.”
Russia: New Book About Livejournal Announced
Russian magazine “Ogonyok” published an interview with Andrey Podshibyakin, a former executive editor of Livejournal. Podshibyakin tells about his new book “Po-zhivomu: 1999-2009. Livejournal in Russia.” The book covers a decade in the history of this popular blogging platform in Russia.
Poland: Controversy Over Polish President's Burial Location
Today's announcement that the Polish presidential couple, killed in the tragic aircraft accident over Smolensk last Saturday, would be buried in Krakow's Wawel Castle has raised a lot of controversy. Sylwia Presley translates the views of some Polish Facebook members.
Ustream and Twitter changing politics in Japan
Fumi Yamazaki blogs about the use of Ustream and Twitter by Japanese politicians and how it brings changes to politics in Japan.
Guatemala: 5th Edition of BarCamp
Gustavo Reyes writes about the preparations for the 5th edition of BarCamp Guatemala [es], which will take place on April 17, 2010 in Guatemala City.
Russia: Facebook to Open Office
Russian daily Vedomosti reports [RUS] that Facebook is going to open its office in Moscow and develop cooperation with local cellular companies. So far, most Russians have been using local social networking platforms (e.g., Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, Moy Mir). The article's translation is published [ENG] in The Moscow Times.
Sri Lanka: A Blogger Elected As An MP
Ajith P. Perrera, a leader of the UNP party from Bandaragama, Sri Lanka and a prolific blogger has been elected as a member of parliament in the recently concluded general elections in Sri Lanka. Mr. Perrera thanks his readers for their support and is pleased to be the first blogger...
Sudan Votes After 24 Years
Presidential and parliamentary elections are currently taking place to elect the President of Sudan and members of the National Assembly. The last time elections were held in Sudan was 24 years ago.
Central Asia: Writing “About Each Other, For Each Other”
Sarah Kendzior of Registan.net writes about the significance of Kyrgyzstan's and Central Asian social media and points out some external observers’ distorted view of them: “There is another internet, a secret internet, in which meaningful political conversations take place in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Turkmen, and Tajik, yet the majority of...
China: Writer's call to eliminate the Internet
ESWN translated Chinese writer, Ma Jia's comment on Internet Literature. The writer claimed in a literary forum that had he the power, he would eliminate the Internet.
Poland: Online Grief After 10.04.2010
Sylwia Presley reports that all major Polish online news portals, social media services, governmental websites and portals of Polish organizations abroad have changed their color palettes to gray, black and white to express unity with the nation's grief.
Bangladesh: Bangla Blogs At The BOBS – Meet Ali Mahmed
Bangla (Bengali) language blogs have been included for the first time in the Deutsche Welle's 2010 BOBS awards. We have interviewed Ali Mahmed (Shuvo), a leading nominee for the best of the Bangla blogs category, to learn about his blogging and the blogging scene in Bangladesh.
Peru: Terminating Mobile Phone Contracts
Starting July 1, mobile phone users in Peru will have the option to terminate their service contracts without having to complete its duration, should they not be satisfied with the service, which is good for consumers notes Arturo of Crónicas del Basurero [es].
