· November, 2012

Stories about Technology from November, 2012

Developing Latin America Hackathon Draws Near!

  29 November 2012

We are only 2 days short of commencing the regional hackathon Developing Latin America 2012. Anca Matioc, who is in charge of organising the event, spoke with us about the preparations. She also answered some questions relating to the development of a hackathon like Developing Latin America.

Mozambican Newspaper Wins Innovation Grant to Develop a “Citizen Desk”

  28 November 2012

Global Voices partner in Mozambique, @Verdade newspaper, is one of the winners of the African News Innovation Challenge, ICFJ announced today, November 28, 2012. The innovation grant will be used to implement a “Citizen Desk” in partnership with Sourcefabric: “a tool that allows news organisations to create a mobile-optimised platform for...

Zambian Phone Apps Gather Country's News in One Place

  23 November 2012

After an Android phone app that allows Zambians to participate in the on-going constitution making process was developed, a couple of new apps, Zambia News Daily and The Zambian, which collate news about the country from a number of online sources, have appeared on the market.

Hackathons in Droves: How is a Hackathon Organised?

  23 November 2012

In the following guest article, J.J. Merelo, Doctor in Physics and Professor at the University of Granada, Spain, tells us of his experience organising educational hackathons in light of the regional Hackathon, "Developing Latin America 2012 "which will take place next December.

Russia: Attempted Hijacking of Regional News Website

RuNet Echo  22 November 2012

When internet domains are hijacked, the theft is usually facilitated by hackers. A stolen email password, a virus, or compromised server can wreak havoc on the ability of owners to maintain control of a website. However, it now appears that technological savvy is unnecessary for such a hostile takeover. 

Kazakhstan as Seen by Camera Phone Users

  22 November 2012

Sometimes you don't need to be a professional photographer or have fancy cameras and lenses to take great pictures. Vox Populi is now featuring pictures of Kazakhstan taken by camera phone users and uploaded on Instagram photo-sharing network.

Malaysian Residents Oppose Rare Earths Refinery

  21 November 2012

Malaysia is set to build the world's largest rare earths refinery after the High Court rejected petitions opposing the project. In response environment groups, residents, and concerned citizens have vowed to step up protests against the plant.

YouTube Temporarily Lands on Russia's Internet Blacklist

RuNet Echo  21 November 2012

Thanks to a temporary glitch [ru], the Russian federal government briefly banned the entirety of YouTube earlier today. This comes shortly after Google's IP address [ru] also temporarily appeared on the state's Internet blacklist. Russian bloggers were quick [ru] to sound the alarm in both instances, prompting officials to correct the mistakes within...

Confessions of Paid Political Trolls in South Korea

  19 November 2012

The practice of hiring trolls to hijack the comment section in online political posts is an open secret in South Korea. These paid commenters copy-and-paste slanderous messages crafted by their leaders and post it on major online platforms, some more skilled workers conjure up original vicious comments all by themselves.

Ibero-America: Free Software Assessment Report 2012

  19 November 2012

The recently released Free Software Assessment Report 2012 shows the opinion, assessment and preferences of more than 5,000 people from Spain and Latin America. The study published in its fourth edition is promoted by PortalProgramas and supported by a number of experts and collaborators [es]. The report aims to contribute...

On World Toilet Day, Introducing the Crap Map Project

  19 November 2012

With both big technology players and local partners in Ghana, we’ll be hacking together our “crap map” using existing open source tools and software paired with meaningful offline facilitation around behavior change in sanitation. Molly Norris of Ideo.org explains the objective of the Crap Map project: “to stimulate collective action...

Sierra Leone: Mapping Out Real-Time Election Data

  17 November 2012

Sierra Leone holds its third national election since the end of their civil war on 17 November, 2012. A coalition of monitoring organisations in the country, National Election Watch, will map out real-time election-related data using OneWorld's monitoring technologies. The idea is to help civil society diagnose, anticipate and prepare for immediate action in the event of fraud or violence.

An Invitation to Discuss Reforms to Costa Rica's Cybercrime Law

  16 November 2012

Ticoblogger invites [es] netizens to discuss [es] proposed reforms to Costa Rica's Cybercrime Law. The site calls on bloggers, Twitter users and blog readers to analyze and report any errors in different proposals to reform the law. Participants can leave a comment on the site or send their posts to...

Greece: New Platform Encourages Affordable Heat Options

  15 November 2012

This winter, website Kala-Nea.gr [Good News] reports on Ksyla.gr [el], a new platform that aims to reduce the cost of heating, by serving as an aggregator on different types and prices of solid fuel: firewood, pellets, briquettes, coal. Traders can join the project, providing data for their products and the areas...

Latin American Youth Against Corruption

  14 November 2012

Andrea Arzaba shares a video where she interviews Latin American youth leading projects in favor of transparency and accountability. These young leaders participated in the Third Global Voices Against Corruption Forum, organized by the Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC) in Brasilia, Brazil on November 5 and 6.

Map Tracks Forest Encroachment in Thailand

  8 November 2012

Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri writes about the new map developed by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation which was introduced to the public ‘to fight against forest encroachment and avoid land conflict in the country.’