Africa

All’s A-Twitter in Iran, Kiwanja’s Ken Banks, and Skype Wedding

A new week, a new podcast, and a new website to stick it on! Excellent! We’ve got a stellar line-up this week for the Technology Podcast. We roll with updates on two stories we’ve been following closely. The first is the use of Twitter in the post-election brou-ha-ha in Iran. Cyrus Farivar sends us a report about some confusion in separating fact from fiction in the Iran-related Twitter-stream. Next up is an update on the roll-out, or lack thereof, of China’s “Green Dam, Youth Escort” Internet-filtering software. We check in with The World’s Beijing correspondent, Mary Kay Magistad to find out why authorities are delaying the launch of the Green Dam program. Then, we launch a new, semi-regular podcast segment. For some time now, I’ve wanted to find people in the tech sector across the globe who, for lack of a better term, have really cool jobs. I had a good excuse recently. I’ve interviewed Ken Banks of Kiwanja and FrontlineSMS a number of times for different reports. But this time, we talk more generally about what motivates him, and what challenges him, when it comes to doing his job. You’ll also hear some great advice for following your own tech dream-job (or in Ken’s case…creating it yourself).

And we end WTP 249 with another story of tech-enabling goodness. An intercontinental couple was running into visa problems. So much so that it was interfering with their wedding plans. So, they’re exchanging vows over Skype. Beautiful — let’s look at some pictures of the happy couple, shall we?

You can listen to the podcast right here, or follow the links to the left to subscribe.

(Photo courtesy of Kiwanja.net)