Tech Stream
Archive for the ‘ Censorship’ Category
Tech Stream 009
17 April 2009
Listen and download: MP3
Thai army readies for offensive [Nicolas Asfouri, AFP]
We’re in Fiji and Thailand this week looking at media censorship, internet snooping and the dangers of blogging during political unrest.
#amazonfail
16 April 2009
I had it on my agenda to include something in Tech Stream this week about #amazonfail. What is it? Well the # (hash tag) at the beginning indicates that “amazonfail” is a twitter search label, allowing people ‘tweeting’ to categorise the content of their post. It implies that somehow Amazon, the online retail store, has made a monumental blunder (ie “fail”). Over the Easter weekend a story started breaking that the company had removed the “sales rank” from hundreds of books with gay and lesbian themes, essentially burying them from view. Fail.
Unrest in Fiji and blogging in the Pacific
15 April 2009
Our In The Loop program is starting a new segment looking at blogs and bloggers in the Pacific. You can listen to the first interview that Clement and Isabelle have done with Dennis Tokunai from the tubuans and dukduks blog based in Papua New Guinea. Follow this MP3 link to hear his thoughts on blogging about political and cultural issues, some of his own favourite blogs and how you can learn more about a place by reading the blogs created there.
The Grass Mud Horse of China
31 March 2009
Listen and download: MP3
I came across this story a couple of weeks ago about the Grass Mud Horse of China and its decidedly potty mouth. It is often refered to as one of the Ten Mythical Creatures of the Baidu but the video and song on the internet featuring the horse is a clever (and dirty) riff on internet censorship in China.
Stephen McDonell reported on the story for ABC’s PM program. You can listen via the MP3 link at the top of this post – but be warned if you’re a Chinese-speaking listener who might be offended by certain song lyrics.
Tech Stream 005
20 March 2009
Listen and download: MP3
Technology journalist Adam Turner joins us in the Tech Stream to talk about impostors on Twitter and updates for the iPhone; Bajo from ABC TV’s Good Game reviews the Watchmen video game; we take a world-wide-web history lesson and meet Paul Miller from the schoolofeverything.com.
You can listen to the full program with the MP3 link above or the links on the right.
The School of Everything interview comes courtesy of Future Tense from ABC Radio National. A full interview is online. The History of the Web is from The Buzz and although the audio is no longer available for download you can can read a transcript. It was produced by Craig Liddell.
Censorship and the Internet in Australia
17 March 2009
In the name of protecting children, the Australian government will decree we’ll be forbidden to see ‘unwanted’ and ‘inappropriate’ things on the web. But exactly what that means is a secret, and the thin end of the censorship wedge. ABC Radio National’s Background Briefing investigated the implications of the Federal Government’s proposed mandatory internet filtering scheme. You can listen to Wendy Carlisle’s excellent report from this MP3 link.
And the Sydney Morning Herald today reports that Australia’s communications regular, the ACMA, will fine people who post links to its website blacklist. Read the full article online.
