Stories about Technology from November, 2010
Sri Lanka: On Facebook Friends
Mili asks “what does a Facebook Friend mean to you?”
South Asia: Steep Bandwidth Price
The cost of Internet bandwidth has to be reduced across Asia, which remains more than 300% expensive than the western hemisphere, argues Abu Saeed Khan at LIRNE Asia.
India: Is Forwarding Emails A Crime?
A government employee from the Indian state of Kerala got arrested for forwarding an email joke to a few friends, which is about the election debacle of the ruling communist party. Netizens feel that this is an attempt by politicians to stop criticisms against them.
Brunei: Borneo Bloggers Award 2010
Geek in White from Brunei blogs about the Borneo Bloggers Award 2010.
Kenya: Kenya Matters
Ethan visits and reviews the iHub in Nairobi, Kenya: “It’s an incubator, an invitation only space open every day to the 100 entrepreneurs who’ve applied for and won badges from the iHub team. For those who’ve won a green badge, there’s no charge to access the space, which is a...
Latin America: Travel E-Book Celebrates Latin America At Ground Level
Margaret Snook from Cachando Chile writes about Celebrating Latin America at Ground Level, a free e-book by Steven Roll from Travel Ojos: “a collection of tales from 29 expats and travel writers on just about every imaginable aspect of life in Latin America.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Comunications Interception
In the context of the wiretapping debacle, KnowTnT.com republishes the Law Association's comments on the Interception of Communications Bill.
Cuba: Fiber Optic Cable May Not Bring Greater Internet Access
Officials at Cuba’s Ministry of Informatics and Communications recently announced that a much-anticipated submarine fiber optic cable linking Venezuela, Cuba, and Jamaica, will be in operation by January of 2011. Although the cable’s 640 gigabytes will increase Cuba’s connectivity 3000-fold, it will not bring greater opportunities for Cuban citizens to access the Internet. Bloggers react.
Brazil: dreams of competing with China
Writer and analyst Bradley M. Gardner weighs in on billionaire entrepeneur Eike Batista's plan [pt] to bring Apple’s manufacturing process to Brazil. Gardner writes that Batista “wants his country to be China”, where Apple's products are currently manufactured. He adds that he “wouldn't put it past” Batista, the world's eighth-richest...
Mexico: Photo Blog “Tijuanalandia” Shows Tijuana's Surreal Side
Daniel Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times blog La Plaza writes about the photo blog Tijuanalandia, “featuring large snapshots of the more surreal and surprising aspects of Mexico's far northwestern border city.”
Argentina: Study Reveals Statistics About Internet Use in Argentina
Ayentina [es] reports on a recent study that reveals statistics about the use of the Internet in Argentina. The study reveals that Facebook is the site that grew the most in Argentina, with a growth of 54%; Facebook is also the third most visited site in the country.
Trinidad & Tobago: Infringement on Privacy
KnowTnT.com argues that the fundamental issue surrounding the illegal wiretapping controversy is that “while we need electronic surveillance as a security option, it needs to be properly regulated because of its impact on individual privacy.”
Russia: Controversy as Cyrillic Domains Hit the Open Market
This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet. On November 11, 2010, registration for Internet domains in Cyrillic script, the writing system used by Russian and other Eastern European and Asian languages, went on the open market. Prior to this, Cyrillic domains could be registered only...
Kazakhstan: Livejournal Unblocked After 2 Years of Filtering
Livejournal, the most popular blogging platform in the Russian-language segment of the world wide web, was blocked by the national operator – and subsequently by other Internet service providers in Kazakhstan – in fall 2008. No explanations were provided by the authorities or the ISPs, except for the highly controversial...
Chile: Staying Informed Through Twitter
Sigrid Huenchunir [es] wrote a post for El Quinto Poder [es] on how Twitter has become one of the main (and fastest) ways for her to stay informed on what is happening in Chile while she is away studying. She says that through Twitter she learns about things the Chilean...
Latin America: Music Blog “Club Fonograma” Reviews Latin American Music in English
Club Fonograma: We are Sudamerican Pop! is a music blog, written in English, that reviews Latin American music. Blog posts include audio or video of the band or singer being reviewed. They are on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and My Space.
Dominican Republic: Retail Stores use the Internet
Joan Guerrero comments on how retails stores [es] in the Dominican Republic are using social media.
South Korea: Korea's Presidential Office's First Facebook Account
South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae opened a Facebook account[ko]. Local media outlets defined it as a move aimed at improving relations with young internet users.
China: iPadgate
Since October Chinese Customs have started charging a 20% tax for carrying iPhones and iPads across the border even if the products were out of the box and in use. This has caught people by surprise because in recent years shopping tours are one of the most important parts of the cross-border economy between Hong Kong and China.
Russia: Vkontakte Social Network Recognized by RIAA as a Pirate Website
Torrentfreak writes about the recent inclusion of Vkontakte, Russia's most popular social network, to RIAA's “Notorious Markets Review.” Site's “functionality is specifically designed to enable members to upload music and video files,” the review says. Recently, Vkontakte won a court case [RUS] against VGTRK, Russian TV-company. The court ruled out the...
Collaboration against Corruption: Upcoming Events
Four different technology for transparency-related initiatives will take place around the globe in the next month. Renata Avila provides a round up.
