Stories about Technology from January, 2012
Responses to AP's News Bureau in North Korea
The Associated Press has opened a news bureau in North Korean capital, becoming the first western news agency to have its office inside the hermit kingdom. North Korea Tech blog consolidated some of the Twitter responses to the news.
Cuba: Citizen Media Workshop
Crossing the Barbed Wire blogs about a recent workshop “about the basics of citizen journalism and what could be done with the new information technologies”, adding: “The importance of what we now refer to as ‘citizen journalism’ gives human rights activists, social promoters, and dissidents in general a push…”
Jamaica: Blog Awards
“This award didn’t depend on electoral machinery…and for that I’m proud to accept it”: Active Voice wins a Jamaica Blog Award and thanks the organizers for “doing what’s necessary to popularize and publicize what we all do online…”
Russia: Twitter Clone Launched
Mail.ru group (owner of Blogs.mail.ru and a significant share of Vkontakte social network) had launched today futubra.com, a social network ‘inspired’ by Twitter.
Three trends on China’s internet in 2011
China Media Project translated Beijing University Professor, Hu Yong's article regarding three major trends on the development of China internet in 2011.
Russia: Overview of Top RuNet Trends and Events in 2011
At the end of this turbulent and inspiring year, Global Voices RuNet Echo editors present you with the list of events that had a profound impact on the Russian Internet and will serve as important steps in the development of the country's online community.
Iran: We can not achieve freedom with virtual world
Ghorghrou says [fa]” we can not achieve freedom with virtual world…we make a mistake thinking all Iranians in country are as informed as a group of Iranians in Facebook or Balatarin.”
Slovakia: 25,000 Euro for National Gallery's Website?
Slovak netizens are discussing the overpriced new website of the Slovak National Gallery [sk, en]: SME.sk reports [sk] that the “minimally designed” [en] site cost Slovak taxpayers some 25,000 euro (allegedly, 20 times the price of the website of the Czech National Gallery in Prague [cz]); SME.sk blogger Martin Palšovič...
Russia: Social Networks Mobilise Society
Facebook, the possibility to calculate numbers of protest participants, slogans from the Internet, a wide variety of gadgets - these are four new important factors in the analysis of demonstrations in Russia. Marina Litvinovich reports.
Kenya, Somalia: Twitter War – Kenyan Army Versus Al Shabaab
Kenya's military incursion into Somalia against the militant group Al Shabaab dubbed “Operation Linda Nchi” (Swahili for “Operation Defend the Country”) has found a new battleground: Twitter.
Syria: Emergency Refugees
With large scale violence in Syria, the exodus towards neighboring countries is increasing continuously (Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey). As per Islamic Relief [it] non-profit organisation, at least 650 Syrian families (mostly from the high risk areas of Homs and Hama) are in urgent need of food, sanitation and other assistance. Currently different activities such as fundraising and other initiatives are taking place, details here....
Belarus: Before and After Chernobyl
English Russia posts pictures taken before and after the 1986 Chernobyl accident from a village in the nuclear contaminated part of Belarus to show how little has changed as people live on as usual despite the radiation hazard.
South Africa: Braille Burgers and Social Media
A fast food chain in South Africa delivered 15 burgers to organizations for the Blind: through social media, the story of those 15 burgers reached more than 800,000 people, letting them know about the restaurant's new Braille menu. What made that strong impression? The burgers’ buns had messages in Braille...
Ecuador: Journalists’ Twitter Habits and Challenges
Christian Espinosa, from Cobertura Digital [es], looks at the way Ecuadorian journalists are using Twitter.
Competition to Develop Low-Cost Water Purification Device
Inventors, designers, entrepreneurs from developing countries are invited by the University of South Florida's Patel Center to submit ideas for the creation of a “Smart Pot” that can purify water easily and has a similar shape as a traditional jerrycan. Winning proposals will receive up to $8,000 plus the opportunity...
Global Voices in French: Translators’ Choice 2011
In 2011, volunteer translators at Global Voices in French translated hundreds of articles and updates on world events and we'd like to say "'Merci!". We've asked them which translation struck them most, during this epic year. Here is the French translators' selection!
Nigeria 2011: A Year of Small Victories and Great Challenges
2011 will go down in Nigeria's history as the year of the nation's third presidential election since independence. For the first half of the year, the blogosphere was abuzz with discussion of the election: protests, campaigns, debates, the role of technology, preparations for the polls, election day itself.
Macedonia: Crowdmapping Projects Overview
Boris Ristovski provided an overview of crowdmapping projects in Macedonia [mk] and asked [mk] local netizens to respond to his online survey [mk], part of his master's thesis research.
Peru: Sugar Labs Community Says Goodbye to Aymara Translator
José Henry Alanoca Laura, an Aymara translator for the open-sourced Sugar Learning Platform, has passed away. The Peruvian Sugar Labs community sends a message of condolence through the blog Somos Azúcar (“We are sugar”) [es].
South Korea: Anger and Suspicion Grows Over Election Rigging
A political scandal is brewing in South Korea over alleged election rigging, despite the police's conclusion that the nation's election commission website was disconnected due to a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.
Latin America: Politicians’ #TwitterFail
Erwin, in The Latin Americanist, highlights four recent social media interactions which have hurt the image of politicians in Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico.
