Blogs: Spittoons for the deranged or fostering constructive debate?

In the aptly titled Some types are more fuckin’ than others? Java Jones, that inimitable voice in the Sri Lankan blogosphere, examines the timbre of expression on blogs and notes that: Checking out one of the most popular (or would ‘most widely read’ be a more suitable term?) blogs on kottu yesterday I was struck …

Lawrence Lessig on ending corruption using ICT

ICT against corruption is an issue I've written on earlier, and it came as a surprise today that no less than Lawrence Lessig has set his mind on using ICT to combat corruption. "How will the Internet change the corruption of politics?" is one of the many questions Lessig answers and describes how the Internet …

Facebook: Real or fake relationships?

Facebook purports to be a place for human connectivity, but it’s made us more wary of real human confrontation. When I was in college, people always warned against the dangers of “Facebook stalking” at a library computer — the person whose profile you’re perusing might be right behind you. Dwelling online is a cowardly and …

Back to basics – Nokia 3110 Classic

I've gone from a Samsung SGH-X820 to a Nokia E65 in the space of a year and before finally buying a Nokia 3110 Classic. The Samsung by far offered the best picture, sound and video quality, but the worst battery life. As I SMS a lot and have primarily used Nokia phones, the predictive text …

Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the ‘War on Terror on Joost

Posting this from within Joost both as a test of the in-built blogging capability of the programme and also to alert readers to a programme that is truly worth watching (part of the Witness channel). < From Joost: Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the 'War on Terror Outlawed tells the harrowing stories of …

Joost

I've been an occasional user of Joost since around 6 months ago when I got the first invite only version to work on my Mac. This week, Joost released the first public beta and came out of the closed testing cycle.   What amazes me about the this beta is not so much the video quality, but …

YouTube opens Nonprofit Channels

YouTube's announced the creation of a Non-Profit Programme that gives US registered non-profits receive "a free non-profit specific YouTube channel where they can upload footage of their work, public service announcements, calls to action and more". The non-profit channels will feature, inter alia: A premium channel on YouTube that serves as a non-profit's hub for …

Myanmar’s sad lesson – Internet censorship still rules

The hope, I suppose, is that the military junta restores at least some form of Internet and cell access. The most clever people in Burma will find a way to use it to get information through the blockages. But the future of access to information about Burma, and by people within Burma, looks bleak. An …

Insider stories – Myanmar (Burma) and citizen journalism

Amidst the euphoria of citizen journalism content demonstrating to the world the brutality of the military junta in Myanmar and why, just as in 1988, this repressive regime through sheer terror and outright murder hold its grip on power, Dan Gillmor expresses a word of caution: The questions of reliability and trust will be paramount …

Using the web and Internet for democracy – Burma and others

"Images of saffron-robed monks leading throngs of people along the streets of Rangoon have been seeping out of a country famed for its totalitarian regime and repressive control of information.The pictures are sometimes grainy and the video footage shaky - captured at great personal risk on mobile phones - but each represents a powerful statement …