Stories from 23 November 2011
South East Asian Social Network
South East Asian Social Network or SEASONed Bloggers is a newly created Facebook group whose goal is to connect bloggers in Southeast Asia and encourage them to “share their blogs, and share their thoughts about blogging in their countries.”
India: The Decade Of Maids
AmreekanDesi takes a satirical look at the problems of the increasingly unmanageable service of Indian maids.
Paraguay: Insecurity and Corruption
Juan Edgardo Lezcano Benitez [es] blogs about insecurity and corruption in Paraguay. He says that the increasingly serious situation “makes it lawful to take any sort of actions to ‘defend what's ours’ because the institutions in charge are not properly fulfilling their role”
Nicaragua: The Poor State of Roads in Nueva Guinea
Ronald Hill [es] denounces the poor state of roads in Nueva Guinea, “the largest, most densely populated municipality and biggest economic hub of the Autonomous Region of the Southern Atlantic” in Nicaragua.
Latin America, USA: GOP Presidential Candidates on Latin America
Bloggings by boz recaps the comments made by U.S. Republican presidential candidates on Latin America policy during the GOP debate held on November 22, 2011.
Peruvian Amazon: The Challenges of a Wonder of Nature
The Amazon rainforest has been declared as one of the provisional 7 new wonders of nature, a recognition that is expected to benefit the Peruvian region of Loreto and the city of Iquitos by incrementing tourism. But is the region actually prepared for this?
Ethiopia: Online Platform to Discuss Sustainable Technologies
GreenTech Ethiopia is an online platform to learn about and discuss environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies suitable for the Ethiopian context.
Ghana: Startup Weekend Accra
Mac-Jordan blogs about Startup Weekend Accra: “Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where developers, designers, marketeers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups! Startup Weekends are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs find out if their startup ideas are viable.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Water Not the Only Problem
Jumbie's Watch comments on the recent flooding in Trinidad: “This is a country with 3 desalination plants…flashy skyscrapers, newly built motorways – and they can't solve a ‘water problem’.”
Ethiopia: Is Ethiopian Blogosphere the Smallest in the World?
Markos wonders whether the Ethiopian blogosphere is the smallest in the world: “A few months ago Joern and I made a little research and we found out that Ethiopia had less than 20 bloggers in the country. This is rather shocking stats compared to 160,000 (July 2008) Bloggers in Egypt....
Cuba: Giving Thanks, Cuban Style
This Thanksgiving, My Big Fat Cuban Family “opted to take a traditional Thanksgiving side dish (corn) and added a Cuban spin to it” – check out the mouth-watering recipe, here.
Video: Stop Motion using Google Street View
The Theory's short film Address Is Approximate features a desk toy who escapes the confines of the urban office in the only way he can, using a toy car and Google's Street View application to go on a road trip to the Pacific Coast.
Trinidad & Tobago: Anya's Designs for TRIBE?
Rumour has it, according to Trinidad Carnival Diary, that Project Runway winner Anya Ayoung-Chee will be designing a section for the band TRIBE's 2012 presentation: “The most important question may be exactly WHO will be in the section and how does one get in! Make it work.”
Cuba: Siding with Syria
Bloggers comment on Cuba's opposition against a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Syria for human rights violations, here and here.
Jamaica: Miami Book Fair Meetup
Litblogger Geoffrey Philp meets some old literary friends at The Miami Book Fair International.
Video: Doctor Who Fans Walk 500 Miles
More than 200 fans of the long-running British science fiction show Doctor Who from 25 different countries sent in video clips and Tumblr user Kyle from the US put together a tribute to the show. It was inspired by this video of the Doctor Who cast dancing to 500 Miles by...
Mozambique: More striking security guards
After the fateful G4S strike earlier this year, more security guards are on strike in Maputo. @Verdade newspaper photographer Miguel Mangueze tweeted a photo of a sign from the protest, depicting the Portuguese head of the company SOS, who they allege deprives them of pay over the holidays.
South Korea: Video of Protests against Free Trade Deal with US
South Korea's ruling party rammed a contested free trade deal with the United States through parliament, evoking once again mass protests against the agreement. Citizen journalist Aya posted videos of protesters being hit by water cannon.
Pakistan: Twitter Reactions to the SMS Filtering Announcement
The Pakistan Telecom Authorities' possible attempt at SMS filtering for abusive contents, had twitter timelines flooded with reactions; mostly humorous. Sana Saleem compiles Twitter reactions and provides update on the issue.
Pakistan: Plans to Filter Around 1,500 Words in SMS Traffic
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is the center of attention of the country's social media junkies and human right groups these days, for its infamous leaked list of banned obscene words and phrases for SMS traffic. Pakistani bloggers react.
South Korea: Comedian Sued for Making Fun of Politicians
Politics is seen as a fair target for most comedy shows, but in South Korea a politician is suing a comedian. The lawsuit - claiming that the performer defamed all politicians - has drawn immediate criticism from various parts of Korean society, inundating social media with jokes and comments.