Stories about Technology from July, 2009
Cuba: Political Prisoners
Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense reports that while one former political prisoner has started a blog, another Cuban human rights activist “faces up to 8 years in prison if convicted of trumped-up charges of assault and receiving stolen property.”
Russia: Unsold iPhones
Profy writes about the situation with iPhone sales in Russia.
Trinidad & Tobago: PM vs. the Media
As the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago declares that the media is against him, KnowProSE.com says: “My olive branch for the Prime Minister would be, ‘You fix the government, we'll fix the media.’ But the point is that he isn't fixing the government…”, while This Beach Called Life sums...
Africa: New dates for African Bloggers Conference announced
New dates for African Bloggers Conference, Kelele ‘09, have been announced. Kelele ‘09 was scheduled for August 13th-16th, 2009. The conference, which will bring together African bloggers for the first time, will now take place from 29th October - 1st November 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Egypt: A Car Trade Social Service.
CarLog is a new online service for trading cars in Egypt that enables car owners to share photos, videos, and reviews of their vehicles on Facebook.
United Kingdom: Barcamp Transparency in Oxford
Around 50 people gathered for Barcamp Transparency at the Oxford University Club last Sunday to discuss issues of transparency in open government, social media and cyberactivism.
Cuba: Interview with Blogger Lizabal Mónica
Cuban writer Lizabel Mónica has been blogging since 2007 and has been using her blogs to "build bridges between literature and national and international art, as well as to explore the relationship between art and life." Claudia Cadelo interviews her about her Project Desliz and her project to bring more artists online.
Russia: “Russian Software” Project
Profy writes about the Russian Software project, whose “idea is to provide high-quality alternatives to proprietary international software titles and to make sure that these alternatives will also be much less expensive than the Western products.”
Pakistan: Banking Sector Blogs
Aamir Attaa at Pro Pakistani highlights two Pakistani blogs which concentrates on the Banking sector.
India: Best Interior Design Blogs
BlogAdda showcases nine best Indian interior design blogs.
Cuba, U.S.A.: Cabot Journalism Prize
Generation Y has been awarded the Cabot Prize by Columbia University and pledges to use its “prestige and protection…to continue to grow the Cuban blogosphere.”
China: “Internet addiction disorder” is a joke
Alice Liu from DANWEI translated an article written by Chang Ping, who pointed out that the government's stopping of electro-shock treatment does not mean that they won't reissue Internet addiction as a disease － they are just changing the standards for treatment.
Syria: Bits of US-imposed Sanctions Lifted
At KABOBfest, Jillian discusses the US lifting of “two bits of its sanctions on Syria.” “The lifting of the IT ban seems, to me, to be low-hanging fruit, the simplest way to please (or appease) the public while getting rid of a relatively useless rule that wasn’t doing much good...
Syria: Computer and Internet Sanctions Lifted
“The US is removing some of its sanctions on Syria, just months after the embargo was controversially renewed. Syria’s Ambassador to Washington, Imad Moustapha, says the block on computer equipment and internet downloads is being lifted,” reports Syria News Wire.
Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-People?
“The Prime Minister is on record for saying that despite what the people think he will proceed with the [aluminium smelter]. Despite what people think. And the environmentalists, those crazy people who want to sustain the environment longer so that we can sustain ourselves…are ‘anti-people'?” Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad takes...
Sri Lanka: New LTTE Blog
ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) takes a look at the blog site of S. Pathmanathan of the department of International Relations of LTTE.
Malaysia: “Where is democracy?”
Malaysia's Prime Minister celebrated his 100th day in office two weeks ago. But many of his constituents chose to mark the event by launching the “Where is democracy?” campaign. The 711whereisdemocracy blog was set-up encouraging Malaysian bloggers to support the internet protest.
Israel: Cellular firm ad stirs occupation debate
A television ad for Cellcom, the largest Israeli cellular provider, sprung an unprecedented debate on the face of the Israeli occupation over the past two weeks. The advert shows Israeli soldiers playing soccer with unseen Palestinians over the wall separating Israel and the West Bank, to the sound of popular music. The ad was accepted as insensitive at best by many Israelis, becoming an icon of blindness to the occupation in the Israeli society, writes Carmel L. Vaisman.
Russia: Making (Some) Sense of LiveJournal
A number of studies of the Russian blogosphere have been produced in the past by various entities. Russian bloggers, too, are trying to make sense of the space they operate in. Recently, LJ user fritzmorgen has drawn a list of issues that, in his opinion, tend to cause controversy among LJ bloggers. He has also assessed his own views, and, in the process, sketched explanations of some of the Russian realities.
Peru: An Exhibition of Art and Video Games
Juan Carlos Luján of Sin Papel [es] reports on an exhibition in Lima, Peru of art and video games.
Colombia: Senator Scolded For Using Twitter
Colombian Senator Armando Benedetti may be admonished by his political party for using Twitter to inform followers of declarations [es] made during a press conference. He wrote that there are bad feelings because he published the information before letting the media know [es].
