Stories about Technology from August, 2010
Russian Internet Surveillance Allegedly Hacked
Bloggers discuss alleged hack-attack [RUS] on the government surveillance system (SORM [EN]) that traces government e-mails. The Russian Federal Security Service acknowledged the attack but denied any rumors that sensitive data had been stolen although some Internet users published [RUS] screenshots of the hacked system. LJ user leicacit suggested [RUS]...
Mexico: Miss Universe 2010 Gets All the Attention on Twitter
Miss Mexico 2010, Jimena Navarrete, won this year's Miss Universe contest. Mexican Twitter users expressed enthusiasm for Navarrete's victory; however, some criticized the amount of attention the event was getting compared to other, more important issues. Navarrete also tweeted, thanking everyone for their support.
China: Death Sentence Given To Ex-Police Internet Supervisory Department Head
ESWN translated a local news about the death penalty given to Yu Bing, an ex-police Internet supervisory department head, who received four bribes totally more than 10 million yuan during his tenure.
Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan risky countries to surf the Net
Writing on the AVG blog, the anti-virus company's chief research officer says that Armenia and Azerbaijan are the third and fourth most risky places to surf the web. Although the full list of 144 countries hasn't been released, The two most risky, Turkey and Russia, also border the Caucasus region...
Colombia: Technology as Synonym for Jobs and Development
Carlos Correa writes [es] in his technology blog, Blog de Kloscorrea, about technology as a synonym for development and job creation in Colombia. He says the government needs to make regulations and policies that benefit the technology sector, and that Colombians need to stop feeling “small” next to other countries...
Thailand: Thaileaks website
A group called WikiCong has set-up the thaileaks website to allow Thai netizens to access materials from the Wikileaks website which has been blocked in Thailand.
Russia: Bloggers Defend Opposition Artist from Discreditation
LJ users _o_tets [RUS] and crazymozart [RUS] disprove the series of discrediting materials against famous opposition musician Yuri Shevchuk [EN]. After Shevchuk got engaged in the political debates at the beginning of 2010, a number of online publications [RUS] accused the musician of alcoholism and mental sickness.
South Korea: North Korea's Stealth War Manual Disclosed
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo exclusively revealed a confidential field manual that shows North Korean military’s camouflage materials like stealth paint and fake facilities and equipment to cheat other sides’ satellites and aircraft.
Hong Kong: Transparency on filtering
Hong Kong Government Chief Information Officer, Jeremy Godfrey, has opened a twitter account @HKGCIO and he is discussing with @daaitoulaam regarding transparency on filtering.
Africa: Ukash: ideal online payment solution for Africa
Ukash is the ideal online payment solution for Africa, argues Malawian blogger Nyirenda: “As some African geeks are trying to come up with their own solutions, it is interesting to see the emergence of the Ukash service, currently the the world’s fastest growing prepaid-cash issuing network.”
Russia: Bloggers Expose Death Rate Increase
Until the emergence of Web 2.0, the Russian government had enjoyed a monopoly on death rate information and could manipulate it. Gregory Asmolov investigates how the Russian bloggers have changed the situation.
Madagascar: The Undercover Investigations That Exposed Rosewood Trafficking from the Rain Forest
One of the consequences of the enduring political crisis in Madagascar is its punishing impact on the environment. The investigation of activists specialized in conservation and protection of the environment was instrumental in documenting the crimes and holding the government accountable for protecting Malagasy natural resources. Here are there reflections on the initiatives:
Explicit Websites Blocked In Nepal And Violators To Be Criminalized
XNepali Blog informs that the Nepalese Government has decided to block all websites containing explicit contents and nudity and criminalize the violators who view or host such websites in Nepal.
Tech and Transparency in MENA: A Long Way to Go
Technology for transparency activists are making headway in the Middle East and North Africa, but greater access to both technology tools and skills and legal assistance is needed in order to maximize their potential.
Africa: A Pan-African Social Media Brand
Munashe writes about Sowambe, a Pan-African social media brand: “Loy Okezie the blogger/writer and Francis Oghuma the co-founder of Naijaborn and Camerborn recently partnered to form create Sowambe.”
Africa: The new direction for Maneno blogging platform
Miquel discusses new direction for multilingual blogging platform, Maneno: “…we will be stepping back from the active social media promotion of articles and content that people have been writing on Maneno. Additionally, we are also going to gradually stop hosting blogs on the system as well as not accept any...
China: Apple Peel
The video shows how the China made new product Apple Peel 520 turns a IPod Touch into an IPhone. More Apple Peel alike products are coming out. This one equips IPhone with an extended keyboard.
India: Tell Your Story With Twitter Tales
Mathew Ingram at Giga Om informs that Twitter has introduced ‘Twitter Tales‘, a collection of stories from users about how the service has helped them or affected their lives. @natashabadhwar, an Indian tweep from New Delhi was featured in the life section.
Pakistan Flood Incident Reporting System Based On Ushahidi
Raza Rumi at Pak Tea House reports in details about the Ushahidi Crowdmap engine powered Pakistan Flood Incident Reporting site, which acts as a crowd-sourcing “data portal designed to gather comprehensive and dynamic information on disaster-related variables”.
Brazil: Dona Delma on Twitter
“Dona Delma” has been on the worldwide Trending Topics for a week and , so far, most Twitter users haven't figured out the real meaning of it. Blog Hiper-Tension, copies [pt] the original post [pt] from a Brazilian Orkut's community, explaining the practical joke which consists of simply adding “Dona...
Nigeria: Communications Commission wants to track your movement
Should the Nigerian Communications Commission be allowed to track your movement? David Ajao answers: “This is ludicrous. Telecom operators are now law enforcement agencies. Even if the NCC was allowed to implement this absurdity, how would they access the GPS coordinates of a mobile phone…”