February, 2009
Stories from February, 2009
3 February 2009
Video: Vlogging for the Blind
A Bolivian activist explains how Open Source Software designed for the visually impaired helps him communicate online with chatting, emailing and blogging. Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, an organization trains the blind and those with visual disabilities on how to use computers and communication technologies, and an employee and advocate of the ENOVIB network for the blind speaks to youth about how blindness can be an opportunity instead of a disability. In Spain, a designer comes up with videogames that visually impaired people can play, and in Nigeria and Canada, a young woman blogs and vlogs about life as a deaf person who is rapidly losing her sight.
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2 February 2009
Ecuador: Blogging to Prevent Domestic Violence in Guayaquil
The municipal government of Guayaquil, Ecuador recently sponsored a blog contest open to new and existing bloggers around the theme “Home: A Safe Place?” The topic was chosen to give visibility to the problem of domestic violence and to help generate solutions to eradicate this problem in homes and communities. Here are some of the contest winners.
Turkey: Prime Minister Storms out of Davos Hearing
A funny thing happened at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage after a verbal scuffle with Israeli President Shimon Peres. The initial incident stemmed from Prime Minister Erdogan not being allowed enough time to respond to Peres' comments on the current war in Gaza. Reactions from the Turkish blogosphere have been varied: some gave the Prime Minister a "hero's welcome" when he returned to the country, some wonder how this will effect Turkey's foreign and domestic policies, and some just think that it was bad behavior.
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Serbia: Pescanik's Web Site Down, Radio Broadcast Disrupted, Editor's Car Destroyed
A few days ago, Serbian web site www.pescanik.net was hacked and the weekly radio broadcast of the same name was disrupted. Also, the car of Svetlana Lukic, one of two Pescanik's editors, was destroyed. Sinisa Boljanovic translates some of the reactions that have appeared in the Serbian blogosphere.
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I think the reason it stuck with me is that I was fired from my first real job--teaching at a...