PRI's The World: Technology Podcast 226
January 12, 2009
The World's Technology Podcast, up to a point, shares the seemingly endless fascination with things like Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show. But, given the sheer number of pixels that have been devoted to these events this week, and the advanced state of chaos certain parts of the world seem to be falling into, you'll forgive us if WTP 226 goes in a few different directions. First, to the Middle East, where 23 year old Gaza City resident, blogger and photographer Sameh Habeeb is taking to streets, camera in hand. We lead our podcast with an audio essay from Habeeb, followed by a similar essay by Eric Yellin. Yellin's an Israeli blogger in Sderot. And then we quite rightly focus on an web-based video blogging effort called GAZA\SDEROT: Life in Spite of Everything that had been trying, and vows to continue to try, to bring Palestinians and Israelis together with beautifully shot two minute films.
Then, we switch gears a bit and explore the Chinese government's announcement earlier this week that it will begin a major campaign against online pornography. Beijing's made it clear that even search engines such as Google are in its sights, for not moving "efficiently" enough in keeping smut off of Chinese computer screens. In the past, these kinds of crackdowns have been code for a broader attack on Internet freedoms. China's already considered to have on the most sophisticated Internet filtering regimes in the world. I get to prattle on about the possible implications for a few minutes.
Off to Germany next for a great little report detailing an interesting use for cell phones. It's called Dial4Light...and it's pretty much just as promised. In an effort to save energy, cities are keeping their lights off during those times of the night when the streets are empty. Not good if you're not feeling safe. So, Dial4Light (sorry, German only) let's you call up, and request that the lights be turned on. Brilliant!
And we end WTP 226 with a little look at how the social networking site Facebook has Italian employers in a bind. Turns out their employees would rather spend time "friending" and "poking," instead of "working." And so some of them have banned it at work. Mama mia...Nancy Greenleese reports from Rome. What's next -- the mafia taking over Facebook? Ooops. Yes.
WTP is on Facebook here, and on Twitter too.
New WTP theme music, btw, provided by the inimitable Spunkshine.
Hic.
(Top photo from Gaza Today, bottom photo from Dial4Light)
Comments
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I just read the shownotes about the Mafia being on facebook and realized that I just saw today that one of my Italian frieds had joined the Facebook group "Fuori la mafia da Facebook"(Mafia out of Facebook), at first I found the group odd, then I read the shownotes...
Link to the group: http://bit.ly/47a5PZ
Posted by: Mikael Lundgren | January 10, 2009 at 04:04 AM
Regarding the "hidden track" in this podcast, I thought that intractable hiccups were a thing of the past with the discovery that won the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize for Medicine.
http://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2006
Posted by: etrino | January 16, 2009 at 11:08 AM