Stories about Technology from March, 2012
Barbados: The Internet & Global Dialogue
All a Roo's says of the Kony campaign: “It has pushed the world into a global dialogue about an international issue. Tell me that's not cool?”
Bermuda: Corporate Use of Social Media
After successfully tweeting for help with a service issue, Breezeblog says that it's “nice to see local companies finally starting to use social media effectively.”
Germany: Email Monitoring #Bomb(e) Drops
German intelligence agencies examined more than 37 million emails containing particular search terms, for instance "bomb". Reactions in online media ranged between outrage and humor.
UAE: Use of VPN to Fight Censorship
On Twitter, UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi writes: ‘The UAE is in the top ten VPN users of @golden_frog, company president says to me “You guys like the Internet but you don't like censorship”‘
Egypt: Mixed Reactions to Porn Ban Proposal
Only one month after the first session of the newly elected parliament in Egypt, much debate and controversy arose. The Egyptian blogosphere and twitterverse have been watching the new parliament and tweeting under the hashtag #EgyParliament expressing demands, concerns and sarcasm. A recent episode at the parliament stirred much discussion, but this time it was about pornography!
Lebanon: Proposed Law to Regulate the Internet
“I’ve previously called bullshit on the claims that the government wants to protect us. Oops, I just wrote “bullshit” and broke clause #1 of the proposed law,” blogs Mustapha in his post lambasting the Lebanese Ministry of Information's plan to discuss a draft law which aims at “regulating websites and protecting their owners”.
Russia: First Woman in Space Turns 75 Years Old
Just days before the world celebrated International Women's Day last week, Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman to enter space - celebrated her 75th birthday.
Africa: How Many African Women are Online?
Gamelmag would like to know how many African women are online: “Firstly, we need to be able to place a figure on the actual number of active female Internet users. Next, we should figure out the factors that inhibit women's use of the web and finally put in measures to...
Cuba: To the Women Bloggers
On the heels of International Women's Day yesterday, Reinaldo Escobar at Translating Cuba congratulates all the women bloggers.
A Global Voices Guide to SXSW
This week in Austin, Texas geeks, musicians, film-makers, creative types and ordinary party-goers will be mingling over cutting-edge ideas and free drinks. South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival and conference, now in its 25th year, begins on Friday, March 9, 2012.
Macedonia: Blogirame.mk, a New Blog Aggregator
A new Macedonian blog aggregator Blogirame.mk (“We blog”) started working on Feb. 29, 2012. Founded by three popular twitterers/bloggers Pipo, Necovski and Iskric, and hailed by the community (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), it invites manual submitting of sites, which can be used as an indicator of the quantity of...
Africa: Tech Entrepreneurship Bubbling in the Developing World
To illustrate the technological transformation that the African continent is undergoing, CNN's African Voices has highlighted 10 leading tech voices from different African countries. While the article put a much needed emphasis on the innovation trend originating from the African continent and their achievements, many tech experts felt that the feature did not represent the whole scope of tech innovation and entrepreneurship that is brewing in all the regions of the continent.
South Korea : Crisis Map on Clashes over Naval Base Construction in Jeju Island
South Korean net users have created a crisis map on clashes between the government and activists over a naval base construction in the Jeju island. The construction plan has been accused of destroying the environment and the villagers’ way of life.
Philippines: Online Rice Knowledge Bank
PinoyRice Knowledge Bank is an online source of information to help Filipino rice farmers improve their productivity. The modules in the website are available in 5 local languages.
Southeast Asia: Internet Freedom Rating
Aim Sinpeng discusses the study made by OpenNet Initiative about the state of internet freedom or unfreedom in several Southeast Asian countries. ‘Partly Free’ countries include Malaysia and Indonesia while ‘Not Free’ countries include Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
Crisis Mapping of US Bombardment in Cambodia
A research by Dr. Taylor Owen revealed that the total amount of bombs dropped by the United States in Cambodia between 1965-1973 was five times greater than previously known.
Cambodia: Urban Development Mapping Tool
Urban Voice is a newly launched portal in Cambodia which aims to be a map-based visualisation of developments in the urban areas of the country. The developers want it to be a “source of information, a site for civic engagement, an analytical tool, (and) a mapping tool”
Iran: Order for a ‘national cyber space council’
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,the Supreme Leader of Iran, has ordered [fa] a new supreme council to be formed on cyber space. In this order, the president of Iran, the head of judiciary, the parliament spokesman, the head of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the police commander in chief, the intelligence minister, and some...
Guatemala: Empowering Communities Through Pedal Powered Machines
Maya Pedal is an organization in Guatemala that specializes in bringing progress through secondhand bicycles. Those that aren't usable as bicycles anymore get turned into pedal powered machines to help in daily work such as pumping water, grinding corn, blending, shelling nuts and making roof tiles.
Russia: Anglophone Bloggers Discuss Election Fraud and Post-Election Future
Veronica Khokhlova reviews the most recent Anglophone blog discussions of the March 4 presidential election in Russia.
Russia: 11 Areas of Election-Related ICT Innovation
Сrisis can be a fruitful time for innovation. In Russia, post-election protests have given birth to dozens of new web platforms and mobile applications. Gregory Asmolov summarises some of the key areas of innovation.
