lundi 29 juin 2009

Tapioka: What does Quebec Want and Do?

I just discovered this Twitterlike service this morning. Actually, you can synchronize both services.

"Tapioka is a microblogging service brought to you by GX2 Média. Its goal is to give to french quebecers a common tweeting ground. Tapioka is currently available without advertising, but we trust the advertising platform Atedra, our creatives are optimized by the server AdStanding advertising. It uses the micro-blogging software laconica, version 0.7.2.1, available under the license [GNU Affero General Public License] "

mercredi 24 juin 2009

Youtube Video Volunteers

A very god initiative was launched this week by Google. It is called Ytvideovolunteer.

"Video Volunteers is YouTube's version of a new platform that Google has launched called
All for Good, which helps match citizens with volunteer opportunities in their local communities. Built in partnership with the White House, All for Good is sort of like a Craigslist for community service. But you don't just have to show up at your local soup kitchen or animal shelter to give back -- volunteering in the 21st century can be done entirely online. Powered by All for Good, the YouTube Video Volunteers platform will help you find a nonprofit organization that needs help creating videos to promote its cause. Starting today, you can sift through video opportunities on www.youtube.com/videovolunteers and connect directly with nonprofits for whom you'd like to make a video. Learn more about the platform from the Vlogbrothers, who've used their audience and talents to champion causes they care about. "

Well done.

samedi 20 juin 2009

Protest in Iran. Young Woman among the Victims.

A lot of protesting is going on in Iran right now. Some videos found on Youtube.

http://www.bravetube.com/ Defiant Against The No Protest Rules In Iran Police Are Caught On Video Beating A Women, also you can see a large Motorcycle brigade of militia forces coming down the street.





Young Iranian women People on roof protesting against government - Islamic Regime - protesters Fight for Freedom Democracy




Iranian Regime opened fire on people today(June 20 2009), this girl is one of the victims of today.

مکان: خیابان کارگر، تقاطع خسروی و شهید صالحی، ساعت 7:20 مورخه 20 ژوئن، سی خرداد، Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests

At 19:05 June 20th
Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st.

A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.

The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St.

The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me.
Please let the world know.

My thoughts are with her family.

Villas de Carpas en los Estados Unidos.

Los que están soñando a mudarse a los Estados Unidos tendrían que visitar esta página del sitio de Oprah Winfrey. Es posible que no sea un buen momento para lograr su sueño.

El tema de
esta sección con video del sitio de Oprah Winfrey es la aparición de villas de carpas en muchas ciudades americanas.

Entienden que hay una crisis financial que ha bajado el valor de las casas. Esta gente perdió su trabajo y no podía pagar más su hipoteca. El precio actual de su casa es menos que cuando la compraron. Entonces, la venta de su casa no permitía pagar la deuda con el banco que se queda con la casa y la deuda. Los dueños tienen que dejar su hogar.

El sueño americano, por ahora, no parece la mejor opción.

jeudi 18 juin 2009

Montreal's Mercier Bridge Construction Web 2.0 Strategy

If you live in Montreal, Quebec. You might be one of the people crossing the Mercier bridge everyday. You know that it is badly in need of renovations.

Well, you can follow the construction process from your computer. The corporation responsible for the project set up a Web 2.0 communication strategy that includes a
blog, Flicker, Youtube and even Twitter.

This could become handy since the entire process involves 1,300 prefabricated concrete panels which will replace the bridge deck in a way that is designed to minimize traffic disruption.


The following is a video explaining the steps that will be taken in the coming weeks to complete the replacement.

dimanche 26 avril 2009

Swine Flu Updates

This is how I follow the swine flu outbreak.

I added the
Disease Outbreak News and Google News (swine flu) feeds on my Netvibe page. I also have a tab on my Firefox browser with the Health Map.

Twitter can be very useful to get the lastest updates about hot news. So, on Firefox, I also have two more tabs, one with the Twitter search page, the other woth Tweet Grid, both with swine flu as key words.


You can also follow the spread of the disease through this special Google map.



View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

mercredi 15 avril 2009

Twittering for Moldova (bis)

The first post is here.

Newsy.com takes a look at Twitter which has been playing a key role in national and global protests in Moldova.



Zalmox3s:"Alex Grigorievs, US official in Moldova, risks expulsion from RM http://unimedia.md/ #pman #Beck #Hannity #glennbeck "

Moscovici: "Natalia Morari, one of the organizers of flashmob on April 6 in Chisinau, charged for instigation to violence & usurpation of power. #pman "


Frontline: "Frontline blogger Daniel Bennett digs yet deeper into the #Moldova 'Twitter revolution' in #Chisinau - http://bit.ly/55VcI - #pman " "Investigative journalist who helped organise the #Moldova 'Twitter revolution' is in hiding - http://bit.ly/dEZOr - #pman #chisinau "


aribo: " More Moldova: letter from civil society & Mayor of Chisinau (with pictures) http://www.blogofchange.com/?p=1092 #pman "

mardi 14 avril 2009

Twittering for Moldova.

Some Tweets encountered here and there:

Zalmox3s: "The Moldavian Communist party's website is down, no confirmation of a cyber-attack form Chisinau. #pman "

vdement: Natalia Morari, one of the organizers of Chisinau protests charged for instigation to violence & usurpation of power. #pman via @Moscovici "

ciberplai: "#pman Another murder: Ion Tabuleac (22 yr). Voronin & Co should be made responsible for crimes against humanity. " "Alexandru Olevschi, reader at Technical University (Chisinau, Moldova) was arrested at 2 p.m. He participated at post-election meetings." "Basescu said Romania will bring people responsible for crime againts people in Chisinau before International Court! "

For instance:

Moldovan History student Vadim Ungueanu does not leave his dorm room as of Friday night and not because he is afraid to, but because he is confined to his room by a police warrant. His body is full of bruises and he confesses he has been severely beaten. According to Moldovan Interior ministry official data, some 200 people were arrested in the last week alone. Opposition newspapers however reveal that the numbers amount to at least 800. (
via HotNews.ro)


Hundreds of young people detained after anti-government protests in Moldova have been subjected to "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment and denied access to legal advice, a United Nations official says. (
via FT.com)

lundi 13 avril 2009

Recount scheduled for Wednesday in Moldova.

RNW reports today that the recount of the votes in the recent parliamentary elections in Moldova has been scheduled for Wednesday. On Sunday, the Constitutional Court ordered the election commission to recount the votes within nine days. President Vladimir Voronin had called for the recount to safeguard stability in the country.

Meanwhile, Natalia Morari (Morar), the reporter blamed for the riots on last Thursday, is persona non grata in Russia and on a wanted list in Moldova, according to Russia Today. Moldova's authorities believe neighbouring Romania could be behind anti-government protests which followed the parliamentary election - but they have also set their sights on a local journalist as one of the ringleaders.


Robert Amsterdam on is blog explains that she was once one of Russia's most intrepid young investigative journalists, working for the news magazine The New Times. She uncovered a few blockbuster stories about connections between an Austrian bank, a money laundering scheme which may or may not have been related to the government, and the murder of central banker Anderi Kozlov.In an interview with Grigory Pasko for Amterdam's blog, Morari said that she believed she was exiled back to Moldova in relation with her investigative reporting on corruption, where she named names like Bortnikov, Sobyanin, and Surkov.

Zalmox3s posted on Twitter that the opposition coalition in Moldova is bringing serious charges to president Voronin , including involuntary manslaughter. Other charges include : torture and rape of detainees terror of Moldavian citizens illegal detention of media representatives. Finally, he also reported that President Voronin approved the hiring of his son's construction company to repair the Parlament & Presidency using money from education funding.

dimanche 12 avril 2009

Easter Day 2009 in Moldova

The protest I was writing about yesterday happened today with between 10000 to 20000 participants.

On Twitter,
Spooky ET has been writing about torture, rape and murder of students while in the custody of the friendly Moldovian police:

"Hundreds of youth are beaten with bestiality in police precincts. No access is given to parents. #pman "

"Medical examiners reported that girls who resisted interrogation were raped and molested in police custody. Their age was not reported #pman "

"The lists of youth arrested do not contain the names of those that have been tortured. #pman "

"Even the Chinese are reporting about the stalinist human rights abuses in Moldova. Will Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea follow? #pman "

"Hole on Valeriu Boboc's frontal lobe, blunt-force-trauma, and it is probably what's killed him Commie Police=Rapist=Pedophile=Murderer #pman "

So far, only the latter was confirmed by the Press.

(AFP)Authorities confirmed the death of Valeriu Boboc, 23 and a father of one, during riots earlier in the week, although the cause was not immediately clear.

His parents told opposition websites they had picked up his body from a morgue covered in bruises after he was beaten in custody.



At around 1.00 AM local time on Thurday or Friday, two young protesters have filmed on camera (phone?) how police was arresting somebody using force and beating him. That happened while intense automatic gunfire was heard few hundred meters away, on the other site of the square.

The people filming are saying: look, are they (the police) beating him up? .. in blood … Maybe they have killed him. Let's get out of here, …we are the only witnesses.



Here, a link towards a good photo report about the destruction of the Parliament and Presidency on Thurday from Benialivejournal. More pictures through his blog posts here.

Some call it, the Twitter or Web 2.0 based Revolution ; others, like the President blame Romania for a hypothetical underground involvement.
In the following report from AP, the author writes about the generation gap as the main cause for the protests:

"
With one-quarter of the population working abroad to eke out a living, impoverished Moldova has become a country of the young and the very old.

It's a generation gap that has split the country politically — and violently.

The elderly, who look to Moscow for leadership and are nostalgic for the Soviet past, recently voted to return Communists to power. The young, rallied by text messages and Twitter and eager to join Europe, seized and trashed parliament and the country's presidential offices in response
."

samedi 11 avril 2009

Happy Easter Moldova

A new protest has been called by the opposition for tomorrow in Chisinau.



So, if I understand well, it was authorized by the City of Chisinau. If you want to be sure, just use Google Translation Tools.

From the information disseminated on Twitter, Two things seem clear:

  1. Russia is helping the Communist Regime in fear of students uprising in Russia itself.
  2. Reporters have become targets for the regime. Links here, here and here.

vendredi 10 avril 2009

Much More on the Moldovan Flower Revolution.

Previous posts here and here.

Here is a link towards a live webcam, of Chisinau.

The public television is protected by people handling Kalashnikov weapons and probably also snipers (according to eye witnesses)
Here is the VIDEO.


V. Voronin, the leader of the Party of Communist agreed to the demand of re-counting the votes and made an official request at the Constitutional Court on this matter.

"The recounting of votes, will be an important reason to reinstall political stability, peace and mutual confidence in Moldova", Voronin said.

Despite the call of the opposition for a higher, intensified, anticommunist protest on friday, only about eight hundred protesters marched in the center of Kishinev.

For many observers, the low participation was caused by fear of being arrested and kidnapped on the streets by the police.

Alicia Radu, director of the Moldova's weekly newspaper, Ziarul de Garda, told CNN Friday that attacks from authorities against journalists are the worst she has seen in her 20 years of experience as a journalist.Many romanian reporters were detained, the last one was a Antena3 reporter (a few minutes ago); also a swedish reporter was interrogated by the Moldovan police.

According to the
Kosmopolito blog, a number of well known Moldovan civil society leaders issued a statement on the crisis: Declaration regarding the escalating social and political situation in Moldova after the parliamentary elections of April 5, 2009 (pdf)

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) also published a 'Moldovan NGO statement':
A Sustainable Solution to Political Crisis in Moldova Due to security concerns, the organisations behind it are not named.

One of the worrying developments in Moldova seems to be the deteriorating situation for journalists. Reporters without Borders "
is very disturbed that the Moldovan authorities have been arresting journalists and even using violence against them."

According to
Nicu Popescu, several cyber attacks were carried out against Moldovan news sites. He also reports about FT and BBC journalists that were not allowed to enter the country.

Next, two videos which are showing, according to those who recorded them, how Moldovan police is used to instigate violence and chaos among the protesters.







Reuter's analyst,Conor Humphries, wrote today that Russia's sharp reaction to the violent anti-government protests in Moldova's capital this week betrayed deep-rooted fears that the global economic crisis might spark mass protests on its own streets.

Crowds of Moldovan students denouncing alleged election fraud by the ruling Communists smashed their way into the parliament and set it ablaze last Tuesday. The authorities responded with a crackdown and mass arrests.

For Moscow's ruling class, the protests revived bad memories of street rallies in ex-Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia that toppled pro-Moscow regimes, and raised fears that young Russian crowds might one day slip out of the Kremlin's control.

In Russia, Roumanians fom Moldova are attacked.



jeudi 9 avril 2009

More on the Moldovan Revolution

The lastest news from Moldova are that cops dressed as civilians are kidnapping students to beat them up and make them disappear. Pictures by Daniel.












Check the following video from Youtube. It is in Romanian but there is a written English translation.




















Other cops would be used as riot instigators.






























According to a report translated from a Russian press release on Wired's blog, a Moldovan activist would face criminal charges for organizing demonstrations that were enabled by social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, .

In
an interview with Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Moldovan Prosecutor General Valeriu Gurbulea said Natalia Morar, one of the organizers of an anti-Communist flash mob, has been officially charged with "calls for organizing and staging mass disturbances." (Morar has not been put in jail, however -- despite some reports to the contrary.)





On her LiveJournal blog, Morar distanced herself from the riots. In an interview with The New York Times, Morar said she expected to face charges; she added that organizers had received threatening phone calls.






Morar's LiveJournal page went much of the day without updates; reports circulated that she had been locked up, following the charges filed against her. At 7:13 p.m., she posted this update: "Reports of my detention are not true. I'm O.K."

Chipnt also reports on Twitter about communist civilians attacking the protesters and gives a list of communist supporters misinforming through Twitter as well:

"List of detected communists trying to mislead you: @nordastelo @CStere @mixman2009 @mediamtv @olgaroberts #pman Report and ignore them! "


Today, according to Chipnt , Communists would have blocked students in their classrooms warning them that they would be expelled from the university if they were to protest.



According to a Twit from Andreisava, there would be a new peaceful protest tomorrow at 10 AM:

"Friday 10 April at 10 AM , Flower Revolution in Chisinau Moldova #pman No violence! Everyone will have flowers! Yes we can! Change has come! "



Some Twitters report that Chisinau would be surronded by government troops.


More proof of abuse from the Communist power and supporters.













The President of the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, has accused once again the opposition of attempting a civil war and said in an interview with Ria Novosti that authorities intentionally let demonstrators to ransack the Parliament headquarters, so that everybody see what they can do when holding the power of the state. In the interview, he offers his version on events in Chisinau.

He said that the Moldovan people "for the first time saw the opposition openly betray its own people and its own country" by attempting a civil war. "The whole country saw that there is no opposition whatsoever in Moldova - neither anti-Communist, nor anti-Voronin. There is only opposition to the state", Voronin said, quoted by Ria Novosti.

mercredi 8 avril 2009

Moldovan Revolution live on Twitter.

Moldovan students are intensively using Twitter to mobilize the opposition against the communist victory in the last elections.

According to reports, nearly 10,000 students gathered in front of the Moldovan parliament in Chisinau, the capital. Only the police were able to prevent them from entering the building. In reading the many Tweets, it appears that the event was quite violent and is gradually turning into an attempted coup d'etat.

Over the past 48 hours, Moldovan students are twittering non-stop. Just do a search around the words "
#pman" (the main square of the capital) and Chisinau, for more information. Some videos are also on YouTube.



Activists are also using the
Cloudapp aggregation service to bring onto a single web page Twitter-streams, blog posts, video, and pictures from the protests.

On the other hand, mobile communications were blocked by the authorities. So, Twitter has become the best mean to communicate via GPRS. Twitter is an essential tool for broadcasting information in real time. But in that case, it has also been an interesting tool for coordinating group of people in quite extreme situations.

jeudi 5 mars 2009

Twitter was Prohibited in Madrid's Assembly.

One Madrid's elected representante, Reyes Montel, was asked not to use Twitter anymore while the Assembly is in session. Reyes Montel wrote in her blog on March the fourth that she could use her cell phone to send SMS, or a regular phone, and even post on her blog about the discussion at the Assembly. But, Twitter, no way Jose.

According to her, this is a flagrant lack of transparency and pure ignorance.

Fortunately, on today, she posted that she had no problem twittering during the session.

Keep us posted.