Stories from 6 August 2008
iSummit2008: The Japanese-English divide
The 2008 iSummit in Sapporo, Japan ended last week after three days of keynotes and lab sessions on open content and open culture. Blogger Shinya Ichinohe (shinyai), who attended the event, reflected on his experiences, noting that while grateful for all that he learned, he also regrets the division which emerged between Japanese-language and English-language tracks.
Turkey: Dailymotion blocked
Access to the french video-sharing website Dailymotion.com has been blocked in Turkey since August 2nd 2008. According to Erkan Saka, an Istanbul-based blogger, “the decision to ban the site came...
Lebanon: Calling Gaza and the West Bank
“…people in Lebanon can now make calls to +970 lines in the West Bank and Gaza,” reports a Diamond in the Sunlight about the recent decision by the Lebanese government...
Lebanon: Power outages
“…getting stuck in the ascenseur [elevator] is a rite of passage here. You cannot delay the inevitable indefinitely. Its risk factor has to be taken into consideration every time you...
Arabeyes: Mauritanian President Ousted in Military Coup d'état
Army commanders ousted Mauritania's first freely elected president in two decades, President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, in a military coup d'état Wednesday after political feuding over the firing of the country's four top generals. Jillian York sums up the reactions of bloggers in neighbouring Arab countries.
Costa Rica: Olympics Blog
Vuelta en la U [es] launched a special blog providing coverage of Costa Rica's participation in the 2008 Olympics.
Uruguay: Listing of Podcasts
Tan Conectados [es] has begun to collect and list the various different podcasts made in Uruguay. The site hopes to motivate more people to create these podcasts.
Armenia: Turkish Football Fans
Ahead of September's historic football match between estranged neighbors Armenia and Turkey, Unzipped comments on rumors circulating in Yerevan that as many as 10,000 Turkish football fans might descend on...
Armenia: Corruption
The Armenian Observer commends the new prime minister, former Central Bank Chairperson Tigran Sargsyan, for what appears to be genuine efforts to combat some of the corruption that has infested...
Czech Republic: The Smallest Coin Must Go
The Czech Daily World reports that as of September Czechs won’t use the CZK .50 (50 heller coins). He adds, “after 116 years of existence of heller coins Czechs will...
Macedonia: 11 questions for Greece
Say: Macedonia asks 11 questions to Greek politicians and mainstream media since according to them “ethnic Macedonians inside and outside Greece are ‘non-existent’ “.
Sri Lanka: No Pornography
Made in Sri Lanka and LirneAsia discuss the censoring of pornographic material.
Azerbaijan: Corruption
Thoughts on the Road says that it raised the issue of corruption with a group of Azerbaijani students who determined that both the government and citizens were responsible for fighting...
Sri Lanka: Monitoring Mobiles
A mobile telephony provider in Sri Lanka wants all users to include photographs in their registration documents. LirneASIA doesn't see the point of such a move.
Albania: Tourist Boom?
A Nevada Yankee in King Zogs’ Court comments on the increase in tourism this summer in Albania.
Lebanon: On Bulldozing and Israel's “Moral Superiority”
UrShalim discusses the role of the bulldozer as a weapon in Palestine and Israel.
Nigeria: ChallengeIT Camp 2008
Oro blogs about ChallengeIT Camp 2008 in Nigeria. ChallengeIT is an information technology camp for senior secondary school students and post secondary students who are not above eighteen years old.
Syria: Religious Ties
qunfuz remarks upon the complex origins of the Abrahamic religions.
Western Sahara: A Tribute to a Hero
Occidental - Sada Assahra al -Gharbiya [ar] has posted a poem entitled “Another Poem from the Occupied Territory: My Hero!”
Morocco: Burgeoning Mollywood
Morocco has long been a mecca for foreign filmmakers. Iconic films like The Last Temptation of Christ and Lawrence of Arabia, as well as more recent films Rendition and Black Hawk Down, use Morocco as their backdrop. Other films like Babel utilize more than Morocco's landscape, taking its culture and people into account as well. Morocco's film industry hasn't escaped the blogosphere, reports Jillian York, on Mollywood.
Croatia: The Death of Dinko Šakić
A few days ago Dinko Šakić, the commander of the infamous WWII Jasenovac Concentration Camp (Croatia) died, having served only half of the sentence in jail for his role in the extermination of inmates. He was buried in his war-time Ustaša (Nazi Croatian movement) uniform, causing a stir in Croatia.
