Stories about Technology from February, 2012
Italy: New Volunia Search Engine Intrigues Blogosphere
Volunia is a brand new search engine which encourages interaction between people searching for the same topics in different languages. It's creation was only recently announced, but already Volunia has caused quite a stir in the blogosphere.
China: Cosplay Star Loses Battle With Cancer
A popular figure in China's cosplay scene has passed away after an 18-month-long fight against cancer.
Poland: Gossip Portal Accuses Mainstream Media of ACTA Ignorance
A Polish gossip portal's take on the massive anti-ACTA protests has highlighted issues that are truly relevant for today's young people. Katarzyna Odrozek reports on the avalanche of reactions from netizens and the mainstream media that this unlikely source of serious reporting has created.
Colombia: Romantic Movie for Men Premieres on Facebook
Lessons for a Kiss, a Colombian film categorized by writer and director Juan Pablo Bustamante as a romantic comedy for men, will premiere on Facebook on Valentine's day (Feb. 14) and will stay online for 3 months. It will be available for rental for $.99 cents.
Iran: Threatening message targets journalists
Reliable sources, including one Iranian journalist, have told Global Voices that several Iranian activists and journalists have received an email threatening that they will be punished according to the “Islamic Punishment” law of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hungary: Another Environmental Catastrophe in the Making
In October 2010, a toxic spill from a red sludge reservoir in Kolontár caused the greatest environmental disaster in Hungary's recent history. Atlatszo.hu and Greenpeace are now drawing attention to another hazardous waste reservoir, in the town of Almásfüzitő, which is "leaking like a sponge" and is already causing grave environmental and health damage.
Madagascar : Crowdsourcing Information about Cyclone Giovanna
Cyclone Giovanna was expected to make landfall on February 13th at 23h00 local time in Madagascar. Malagasy Bloggers have set up a citizen reporting platform to crowd source information during the storm. If you have any relevant information regarding the cyclone, you can share those with mutliple channels: via SMS...
Pakistan: Launch Of Hosh Media, A Citizen Journalism Portal
Sonya Rehman reports about the advent of Hosh Media, a new citizen journalism portal, which epitomizes the growing popularity of locally-based, online portals for citizen journalism in Pakistan.
Bhutan: The Potentials Of Amateur Radios
Tshering Tobgay writes about the Dx-pedition of a ham radio operator from England to Bhutan and the challenges and potentials of the amateur radio and its enthusiasts in his country.
India: Internet Companies Bow to Censorship Demands
India took a giant leap back in time when it demanded that 20 major Internet companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter present plans to filter “anti-religious,” or “anti-social” material from the content available to Indian citizens.
Iran: Internet Blackout Ahead of Protest Day
Internet and email services in Iran have become partially inaccessible in recent days with no explanation from the government. Bloggers suspect it has to do with opposition movement protests scheduled for February 14.
Jamaica: Engaging on Twitter
“Twitter is a very interesting space once you engage”: Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac finds himself empowered by the microblogging service.
Portugal: Protests Against ACTA
On February 11, more than 200 cities around the world joined the global protests against ACTA. In Portugal, around 300 people demonstrated on the streets of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Viseu and Braga, following the calls that had been organized via Facebook.
Bulgaria: Thousands Take Part in Anti-ACTA Protests
Hundreds of anti-ACTA protests took place all over Europe for Saturday, February 11. Bulgaria was no exception: thousands of protesters braved cold in Sofia and 14 other Bulgarian cities and towns. Even though much remains to be done, these rallies have shown a breach in the Bulgarians' apathy wall.
Iran: No Access to Email
Several bloggers reported for last two days they have had no access to emails including gmail, hotmail and yahoo. Hese Penhan says [fa] dictators attacked internet again. Even Tor and Psiphone3 do not work.
Puerto Rico: Extraordinary Decisions
“What do you say when you meet someone you think is extraordinary? You should say ‘Hi!’ and then start a conversation,” says Gil the Jenius, who profiles the extraordinary Andrea Pérez, a speaker at the recently held TEDx San Juan.
Russia: DDoS Attack Puts Down Several Political Websites As Cyberwar Escalates
On February 9, 2012, following the widely-discussed leaks of pro-Kremlin mailboxes, LiveJournal, where the leaks were published, became temporarily unavailable, Lenta.ru reported [ru]. Russian representative of Anonymous group @OP_Russia, suggested [ru] that it was a DDoS attack to hide the evidence of massive wrongdoings (including corruption, thievery, political provocations, and cybercrime) [ru] by...
Macedonia: Pondering Future Consequences of ACTA
While the authorities in Macedonia remain silent on the country's stance on the ACTA, bloggers, such as Airborne, emphasize the need to gain more knowledge [mk], as the traditional media mostly ignore the issue: “Maybe, one of these days, we'll just simply wake up in the ACTA-ruled world.” The new...
South Korea: Activist Indicted for Retweeting North Korean Messages
South Korean prosecutors indicted a photographer last week for retweeting messages posted by the North Korean government's Twitter account. This case has sparked another round of debate on the country's controversial national security law which prohibits "acts benefiting the enemy" without specifying what constitutes such acts.
Macedonia: Problems With Transparent Online Reporting of Air Pollution in Skopje
The city-owned "Skopje Breathing" online system, which informed residents of air pollution levels, stopped functioning in early January 2011. Filip Stojanovski translates a local NGO's explanation of why this important tool is unlikely to be fixed.
Russia: New .Ru Domain Registration Rules Allow Easy Domain Seizure
Andrey Rylkov Foundation writes about the first case of enforcement of the domain seizure rules in the “.ru” and “.рф” domain zones. The rules [ru] (Article 5, point 5.5) , updated on November 11, 2011 allow any law enforcement agency (like police, Federal Security Service, Prosecutor's office or Federal Drug Control Services (FDCS)) to request...
