Hebrew, Hindi, other scripts get Web address nod

SEOUL, South Korea October 30, 2009, 02:04 pm ET

The nonprofit body that oversees Internet addresses approved Friday the use of Hebrew, Hindi, Korean and other scripts not based on Latin characters in a decision that could make the Web dramatically more inclusive. (Detrie)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114157833

One Web Day: Participation Matters

As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues to develop its National Broadband Plan, a full range of Internet stakeholders from the nonprofit front lines, local government, corporate and policy worlds met in our nation’s Capitol to discuss bold ideas to network the nation and mark the national release a new report, "A Public Interest Internet Agenda," from the Media and Democracy Coalition. The event was one of dozens taking place around the world on OneWebDay, September 22, 2009. (S. Detrie)

Report: Future of the Internet, New Media Ecology

The Future of the Internet III       Pew Internet & American Life Project

PIP_FutureInternet3.pdf.pdf

(S. Detrie)

HerdictWeb

 HerdictWeb  " aggregates reports of inaccessible sites, allowing users to compare data to see if inaccessibility is a shared problem."  The  site is a project out of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society  at Harvard Law, and is an interesting use of crowdsourcing to map access around the world. 

I wonder if it's blocked anywhere?

Digital Access

Digital Access is a program designed to close the divide in digital equity (see their mission statement below). On their site, I found an interesting  guide on "How to bridge the digital divide in your community".  

"Digital Access supports the sharing of information technology resources within communities that have limited access to technology tools and training. This is accomplished through programming that is creative, collaborative, and community-based.

New York Times Stimulus Package to Address Broadband Spending

This New York Times article speaks to the stimulus package spending $350 million to map broadband access in the U.S.   It references and links to maps currently available, and discusses the difficultly in gathering good data to create a broadband access map because many of the cable and phone company's either refuse to give out some of the data or demand that it be kept confidential. 

Internal Barriers to access to digital

--lack of willingness to learn;

--lack of ability to learn;

--lack of self-confidence;

--lack of right portal (to start with).

The Simputer and Computador Popular

More info. (Susan Detrie)Simputer-CP.doc