Oh, that cute little cuddly bunny! Surely he or she wouldn't want to control what you're allowed to see online, right? Well, this is a screenshot from a little piece of Windows software called Green Dam Youth Escort. As of July 1, everyWindows PC sold in China will have to have this piece of software installed on it. According to Chinese officials, the software is designed to protect Chinese youth from "pornography and violent content" online. In the past, that's generally been a smokescreen for a major new push to curtail Internet freedom in China. As China web-watcher Rebecca McKinnon notes in this week's Technology Podcast (WTP 246): "[Green Dam Youth Escort] takes censorship down to the level of the individual computer." But already there are reports that the software is vulnerable to hack attacks.
We're positively e-bookish in this week's Technology Podcast (WTP 241). First, we discuss the merits, and demerits, of Google's Book Search project, which wants nothing more of less than to digitize every book on the planet (Google's not good at thinking small, we've noticed). Needless to say, Google's little scheme has its critics, and also its competitors. UNESCO has recently launched a little digitization project of its own, called The World Digital Library. We'll give you a little peek, and a listen, to some of what the United Nations is offering up, and not just in English. All of this talk about digitization got us to thinking: do traditional paper books have a future? Or, will more and more of us migrate to e-readers like Amazon's Kindle, Sony's e-reader, or...Apple's iPhone? It's a question worthy of discussion, and so we've got an in-depth report on what lies ahead for e-publishing. You'll be shocked to learn that some people think paper will vanish as a medium for publishing in the next 50 years, which others scoff and say that our attachment to the printed page is too strong for that to happen. One question sent in by podcast listener John Kapitzky struck me as pertinent here: "Will the e-book reader I have in 30 years be capable of reading the e-book I buy today, or will I have to keep buying new e-editions of books that I like?" It's a good question for a future podcast, methinks.
Moving on, we also take a look at some very cool software designed to help folks get around Internet filtering technologies. It's called Psiphon, and its brought to you by the same people who track online censorship around the world, the OpenNet Initiative, which WTP has covered before, most recently here and here. We have an interview with one of Psiphon's engineers, Nart Villeneuve.
And we end with Yahoo's Purple Pedals project. Take a look at what happens when you outfit some purple bikes with a webcam and geo-location software, and then let them loose in the world:
Some weeks it is very hard to pull out one story from the Technology Podcast to feature front and center on the blog. After all, this week we run a wide tech gamut, featuring everything from writer Evgeny Morozov talking about the so-called "Twitter Revolution" in Moldova to Urban Pac-Man on the streets of Lyon, France. But for my money, the worthiest little story this week is about a solar oven, or "cooker" as the Brits would call it. It's called the Kyoto Box, and it recently took first prize for "green ideas" in a competition run by an organization called Forum for the Future. Solar ovens, which use sunlight to cook food or boil water, are not a new idea. But the Kyoto Box may be a game-changer because...well, they've kept the cost down by making it of cardboard. Yep, cardboard. We have an interview with the Kenya-based inventor of the Kyoto Box, Jon Bohmer. He tells us that he feels widespead use of the Kyoto Box would cut down on the burning of wood and other fossil fuels in resource-deprived parts of the world. Advantages: no carcinogenic wood smoke to be inhaled, or to contribute to global warming. Disadvantage: can cardboard really work as a cooker without catching on fire? Ah....listen in to find out.
There are also a couple of interesting, and potentially scary, security-related items in this week's podcast. We hear about the growing cyber-threats to America's electricity grid, and also about how extremist groups are using US servers to host their websites.
At the end, we lighten things up a bit. Jerome Burg is a retired teacher living in northern California. For more than 35 years, he taught high school English and tried to avoid chaperoning dances by also teaching technology to the school's journalism students. Then, a few years back, he was at Google headquarters learning about Google Earth, and it hit him: why not use Google Earth's different tools to help "three-dimensionalize" great works of literature? You know, add pictures, notes, geographical details, etc. Yeah, not bad, is it? And that's how Burg came to create GoogleLitTrips was born. The site recently won the 2008 Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education.
Oh, and just because you know you secretly just HAVE to see this...video from Urban Pac-Man in Lyon, France:
In last week's podcast (WTP 229), we featured an in-depth look at Google. We asked, where could the "do no evil" crowd be headed to next? This week, Technology Podcast 230 gives you a couple of answers. First underwater, courtesy of Google Ocean, which is part of the latest release of Google Earth. Finally, there seems to be some realization that the vast majority of the Earth's surface is covered with water. We'll get an assessment Google Ocean from Carl Safina, of the Blue Ocean Institute. And, just because it's still the middle of winter here in Boston, why not take a tour of the Mediterranean?
Most of the reaction to Google Ocean has been positive. But another Google product that just came out recently has some privacy advocates in a tizzy. It's called Google Latitude. You can put it on your computer or your mobile phone, and it allows you to share your location, with anyone, anywhere in the world. Now Google claims that the user has complete control over what location information is or isn't shared, and with whom. But Simon Davies of Privacy International doesn't buy it, and he tells us his reasons why on the podcast.
Also, the kind folks over at the BBC's Digital Planet program rang me up to ask me about a blogger who has recently taken up residence in Washington. You may have heard of him -- Barack Obama? Yes, the White House website features a "blog" of sorts now, although fans of Mr. Obama's more personal tone during the campaign may be a bit disappointed. It's part and parcel of what happens when the desire to reach out digitally meets the reality of governing in a place like Washington. Or at least that seems to be what I told Digital Planet. We'll have an excerpt on WTP 230.
And we check-in with freelancer and author Cyrus Farivar, who tells us about Estonia's bid to use some of its homegrown high-tech (Skype, anyone?) to help keep costs low at local hotels in the face of a growing global recession. Cyrus' forthcoming book, The Internet of Elsewhere, includes a chapter on Estonia, or E-stonia as the budding tech hub of the Baltic has branded itself. So, will free Skype calls from hotel rooms in Tallinn be enough to lure back the British bachelor party crowd? Listen in.
Estonia also figures into one other story on this week's podcast. You may remember that back in 2007, some fairly nasty cyberattacks took place in Estonia. The Estonians blamed the Russians, and the Russian government denied it. To date, only one ethnic Russian hacker in Estonia has been arrested in connection with the attacks. But the attacks so crippled Estonia's computer systems that NATO took note. The organization has made cyberdefense a priority, and has even opened a special unit at its headquarters outside of Brussels to deal with it. We get a behind-the-scenes look at ops there, courtesy of BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner.
And we end with a super-secret hidden track...an update on a story we've covered before. Yep, it's the Skycar, and it's making its way over the Sahara desert en route to Timbuktu in Mali. We check in with expedition leader Neil Laughton.
As always, we like to remind you that you can subscibe to The World's Technology Podcast via RSS, and via iTunes. You can also find us via internet radio aggregator services such as radiotime. Of course, if you'd like to sample before you subscribe, you can simply play episdode 230 below.
If you've ever wanted to be a sheriff's deputy, but not leave the comfort of your own home, then Rick Parry, the Governor of Texas, has just the thing for you. It's called BlueServo, and it's a series of webcams set up along the Texas/Mexico border. Ordinary citizens sign up, and can watch any number of the cams, which are set up at areas known for illegal drug trafficking, or spots known for illegal border crossings (see right). It's a two million dollar effort, which some are calling a successful deterrent to border crime, and others are calling a political boondoggle. On this week's Technology Podcast (WTP 229), we check in with El Paso Times reporter Brandi Grissom, who has been covering the technology and the politics behind the BlueServo project.
But wait, there's more. We also have a lengthy report on Google. We'll examine the company's past, its present, and its future. Even if you think you've heard it all before, you'll want to listen in to this report, just to get a sense of the size, scope and scale of the company's operations. Needless to say, it's a lot more than just a search engine.
And speaking of engines, or rather motors. Our next item takes a look at Better Place, a company founded by entrepreneur Shai Agassi. Better Place isn't just about making all-electric vehicles. It's about creating the infrastructure necessary to support those vehicles, including building charging stations, battery swap stations, and the software necessary to make this all as easy as possible for the user/driver. We'll have a check-in with Agassi, to find out more about his bold plan, which is not without its critics.
And from a project that relies on a steady supply of electricity, to a country where electricity is a precious commodity right now -- Nepal. Only 40 percent of the country's population has ever, ever, been connected to the electricity grid. Why do I sometimes run things like this on the technology podcast? Because too often we get caught up in the latest gadget, or gizmo, and give no thought to the fact that millions around the world go without any regular access to the juice that makes even the most basic technologies go.
You can listen to WTP 229 by clicking below, but we invite you to subscribe to the podcast, either via RSS or via iTunes. You can also get a behind the scenes look by following us on Twitter, or joining us on Facebook.
Believe it or not, what you're looking at there is essential to your cell phone, your Playstation, and a host of other electronic products. In Africa, it's called coltan. From it, we get a blue-grey powder called tantalum...and tantalum, because it's durable and can withstand high temperatures, is great for making capacitors, which can store tiny electrical charges. That, as you can imagine, makes them handy in electronics. Unfortunately, one source for the increasingly valuable coltan is...the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. And that's the story that leads this week's Technology Podcast (WTP 220). We speak with Jack Ewing, BusinessWeek's European Correspondent. He's been following the coltan trail to see just how much so-called "conflict coltan" actually makes it into the electronics we carry around with us all day. The answer might surprise you, so be sure to give a listen.
We move to West Africa for our second story. You have doubtless received an email which starts "I am a manager at the Bank of Nigeria," and then goes on to entice you with promises of millions. It's lovingly referred to as a 419 scam. It's named after the Nigerian law governing this kind of fraud. Despite all the warnings against answering such emails, many folks are duped into replying. West Africa has gotten a reputation for being a hotbed for Internet scams, but this week, computer experts gathered in Ivory Coast to discuss ways to the tackle the problem. We speak with the BBC's John James in Abidjan.
Then, we have an ever-so-brief item on a new Google Earth project called Virtual Rome. Too freakin' cool.
Our next story is the latest twist in the increasingly strange tale of Hossein Derakhshan, or Hoder as he's known to the blogging world. Hoder's widely regarded as the "Blogfather" of the Persian blogosphere. Back in 2000, he was one of the first to launch a blog in Persian. He even wrote a how-to guide for other would-be Iranian bloggers. His blogs, both in English and Farsi, covered a wide range of topics. His posts, however, made it clear that he was a critic of the Iranian government. Then things changed, and Hoder started siding with the Iranian government, and attacking dissidents. Not long ago, he moved back to Tehran from Canada. And now, this week, news has trickled out that he may or may not have been arrested. We get an update from Cyrus Farivar, who leads us through the twists and turns of Hoder's blogging career.
Then, we wish Happy Birthday to the International Space Station. Ten years ago this week, the first module lifted off, carrying the first module, a Russian one named "Dawn." It was soon joined by an American module called "Unity." Ten years later, it's still not finished, and it's way over-budget. Critics contend that it's not worth the money. Supporters say the ISS is proving a valuable teaching tool and training ground for future long-duration missions, possibly even to the Moon and Mars. We hear from smart people on both sides of the argument.
And speaking of the ISS...there was a spacewalk on the station that went, well, slightly awry this week. Here's the video I promised, and bear in mind...this HAS happened to you, too, just not in space.
We then switch into "science mode" for a bit, and hear about an amazing medical breakthrough in Spain. Doctors in Spain removed the windpipe of a woman with respiratory disease, and replaced it with a new airway created, in part, in the laboratory using adult stem cells. Read the write-up in The Lancet. See a video depiction of the process here. We hear from Barcelona, where the surgery took place.
And we end...with a tribute to that incredible piece of Eastern European automotive technology -- the Yugo. Didn't you know that it's production run is ending? I'll miss the jokes.
"Speak now." It's just that easy right? So says Google, who has just released a much-anticipated application for the iPhone that incorporates voice search. "Search with your voice so you don't have to type," it says on the Google site announcing the free app. Ah, but there are some caveats. The application does warn users on start-up: "Voice Search only works in English, and works best for North American English accents." There is an accompanying Google video showing users with all different kinds of English accents (some of which would probably be considered "heavy" by Mountain View, CA standards) apparently having unqualified success using Voice Search.
But the word on some British streets is that Voice Search is having trouble with versions of the Queen's own English. The Daily Telegraph reported that one Scot (this would be a "not for work" link, if only your boss had a chance in Hades of understanding what Ewan McGregor and his pals are saying) who spoke "iPhone" into Voice Search was rewarded with a porn site. Apparently the app thought he said, "sex." Hmmm...a Welsh person got "gorrilas" and "kitchen sink" when asking for "iPhone." And a user from Surrey (south of London) was rewarded with "Einstein" when he queried for iPhone.
One user from Kent in southeastern England told the AFP that "I asked it to find my nearest pizza take-away and it came back with something about volcanoes." All this to say that if you're walking down the street in the UK, and you see and hear Brits yelling at their iPhones in poorly executed American accents, you'll know why. And bearing film history in mind, maybe...just maybe...we had it coming, right Dick Van Dyke? Chitty, no?
"Och, aye," as my Glaswegian flatmate used to say. I think.
It's that time again. Yes, time for a new edition of The World's Technology Podcast (WTP 219). And yes, flu season -- that's one strain of the nasty little bugger right over there. Much has been made of late of the ability to track outbreaks of influenza, and try to stop those outbreaks before they become pandemics. This week, Google announced Google Flu Trends, which is designed to track spikes in flu in the United States based on the frequency that certain search terms ("flu," "aches," and "fever" anyone?) are plugged into Google. We start the podcast with a double dose of analysis on this effort, first from Professor Steve Field, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London. And then, we hear about another disease-tracking effort funded by Google called HealthMap, from one of the project's co-founders, Dr. John Brownstein.
Then, we turn to a new wrinkle in the US Army's recruitment efforts. You may have heard this week about TroopTube, the military's answer to YouTube, which, along with other social networking sites, have been put in the brig by the Pentagon. That's not the only on-line effort. We hear about a new Army website designed to answer questions from both recruits and their parents about service in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Switching gears a bit, we return to Pop!Tech 2008, and a conversation that was recorded in a fish restaurant. The interview's not with a fish, but it is with a guy called Chip. Go figure. Chip Ransler is one of the crew behind an outfit called Husk Power Systems. The whole idea is to provide a low-cost way to turn discarded rice husks (at right) -- and if you listen to the interview you'll find out just how much goes to waste -- into electricity in rural areas in India. It's not the only effort in this regard, but Husk Power's bringing an interesting business model to the mix. Essentially, the idea is to eventually franchise small power generation plants to local towns and businesspeople.
Next up, a quick look at the situation in Burma. You might remember that bloggers were crucial in getting information to the outside world during the crack-down against monk-led protests. Now, news comes that harsh sentences have been handed down to a number of dissidents, including Nay Phone Latt, whose Burmese language blog was one of the main sources of information during the protests of December, 2007. He was sentenced to more than 20 years for "creating public alarm." More via the Committee to Protect Bloggers here.
And finally, an audio extravaganza related to a story I blogged earlier this week about an English gentleman who is blogging his grandfather's letters home from the trenches of World War I. You get the two previous pieces I did on Bill Lamin and his grandfather, Private Harry Lamin. And we also hear from a colleague of mine about how Bill's blogging inspired her to do something similar with her own grandfather's letters from World War I.
(Flu photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; Rice Husk photo by ark via Everystockphoto)
Former VP candidate Sarah Palin may be unclear on the exact geographic status of Africa (country or continent?), but a quick spin through Google Insights for Search, reveals that Africans are more interested in Barack Obama.
I've covered the last four elections, and I've never, ever seen the kind of global interest in US politics in general, or in a specific candidate, as I have this time around. That's why the results here are not surprising, but interesting none-the-less. Just look at what happens when you gauge the global search interest in "Obama" over the past seven days.
That's right -- eight out of 10 are countries on the continent of Africa. Kenya is no shocker as the leader, considering Obama's family ties to the country.
So what do these results tell us? First, they don't imply that more Kenyans are searching for Obama than Americans. They just mean that a greater percentage of Kenyans (and Ethiopians, and Ugandans, and Cameroonians) who are online and searching are looking for information on the US President-Elect. Also, this has been the case not just in the last seven days. African nations have, according to this article, led the world in the concentration of "barack obama" searches for the past year.
Well, if you're going to name your child after the man, I guess it makes sense to know a little bit about him. For their part, the Obama team seems eager to feed its online supporters. Less than 48 hours after winning the election, Obama's transition website was up and running.
Oh, and just for fun and comparison, here's the global Google Insights results for "palin."
Yesterday, a large and diverse group of big tech companies, human rights groups, academic institutions and socially responsible investment firms announced the launch of something called the Global Network Initiative (GNI). Supported by the heavyweight troika of Yahoo, Google and Microsoft (not to mention Human Rights Watch), the GNI is first and foremost a code of conduct, a first step in creating a set of best practices that tech companies can follow to avoid becoming complicit in Internet censorship, and to protect user privacy. I heard rumblings of this sort of thing while reporting on Yahoo's recent problems with turning over user information to the Chinese government; that information led to the arrest and imprisonment of two Yahoo users in China. See here and here for background. And while Yahoo bore the brunt of Congressional criticism (the late Rep. Tom Lantos called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang a "moral pygmy" during a Congressional hearing), let's not forget that China asked Microsoft to shut down blogs critical of Beijing, and insisted that Google filter search engine results. And those two companies complied, seemingly without much hesitation.
The whole idea of the GNI, which is a completely voluntary organization (one participant has called it "a coalition of the willing"), is to give tech companies that sign on a road map when it comes to dicey situations. It enshrines big principles such as freedom of expression, user privacy, and transparency. But it also tries to provide concrete ways that companies can implement the principles into their business practices. During a conference call yesterday, Michael Samway, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Yahoo said:
"We're talking about fusing business decisions with human rights analysis, so that we can think about business issues looking through a human rights lens. Additional steps would include conduting a human rights assessment before entering into new markets, and employee training around human rights issues."
Critics of the plan say that it has no teeth, that the GNI doesn't give specific enough steps for companies to follow. They also worry that there is no real enforcement mechanism to ensure that companies remain compliant. Those who have signed onto the plan, though, contend that it's a process, not a finished set of rules, and that the practicalities will be ironed out over the next few years.
In the past, the Big Three have always used this out when asked tough questions about doing business in countries that engage in Internet censorship: "Hey, to do business in these countries, we have to abide by the laws of the land." The GNI, it's hoped, will provide companies with a collective mechanism for ditching that excuse.
Of course, Yahoo and Google and Microsoft are big players. But what about companies like Cisco, which provides alot of the hardware that countries use to filter the Internet? What about all those smaller companies that supply filtering software to Tunisia and Saudi Arabia?
This morning, I interviewed Colin Maclay, acting executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. Berkman was heavily involved in the drafting of the GNI principles, and will work on the implementation and enforcement moving forward. He told me:
Many of these other companies are either not acknowledging their role in censorship or surveillance, or are not doing so publicly at least. [GNI's] tent is big. We would love to include any of those companies who are committed to making progress in these areas. But I don't want them here if they're not committed. If they're looking for fig leaf, they're looking in the wrong place.
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