Posts tagged East
SEO Link Monster Google Ranking Booster All Set For Launch – Middle East North Africa Financial Network
Feb 2nd
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SEO Link Monster Google Ranking Booster All Set For Launch
Middle East North Africa Financial Network COM, February 01, 2012 ) New York, NY — SEO Link Monster is currently generating waves of excitement in the Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) world as the product launch draws near. Well known and respected Internet Marketer, … Benefits of SEO India for Online Business Marketing |
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Appliance Repair Company in East Brunswick, NJ, Hires SEO Pros to Help Local … – openPR (press release)
Jan 31st
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Appliance Repair Company in East Brunswick, NJ, Hires SEO Pros to Help Local …
openPR (press release) With the help of this SEO program, it will be easier for homeowners in need of refrigerator repair or oven repair to locate Express Appliance Service when conducting searches on the Web. This goal is achieved by utilizing effective online marketing and … |
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How Will Free Wikipedia Access Change Africa and the Middle East?
Jan 25th
Many of us take cheap high-speed Internet access for granted. I think nothing of downloading an MP3 album from Amazon MP3 while streaming a movie from Netflix on the Roku and browsing the Web on a powerful computer. That’s not a luxury that’s available to everyone, and in some parts of the world data charges prove prohibitive for going online for information.
To help counter that, the Wikimedia Foundation and Orange have come up with a plan for free Wikipedia access. Overall, the deal looks like a win for users, but it does raise a couple of questions as well. How is Wikipedia access going to change Africa and the Middle East?
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Yesterday, Wikimedia and Orange announced a deal to provide more than 70 million people with mobile access to Wikipedia at no cost. Through the deal, subscribers in remote and urban areas of Africa and the Middle East (AMEA) will get to use Wikipedia through mobile phones with no data charge.
Backstory
Orange is the fifth-largest telecom operator in the world, and it services 20 countries in AMEA. This includes Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda.
Jay Walsh, the Wikimedia Foundation’s head of communications, said that the organization has been in conversations "for quite a while to try to build efforts around mobile strategy" where "one of the key planks is to bring partners who are keen to provide Wikipedia for free without any data charges."
According to Walsh, Wikipedia has seen a "dramatic increase in people connecting from mobile devices" but as more and more people come online in AMEA cost of data access has been a major impediment. Since we’re talking Wikipedia here, let’s [look at just one country (Senegal)] served by Orange according to Wikipedia. Orange is one of three telecom providers. The country has about 278,000 landlines for nearly 12 million people, but nearly 3.5 million mobile subscribers. Internet penetration is less than one percent according to Wikipedia. So this demonstrates a huge potential market.
Naturally, Orange isn’t the only company operating in AMEA, so providing Wikipedia access to customers isn’t just a goodwill gesture – it gives the company an added feature to entice customers to sign up for subscriptions with it instead of, say, Tigo in Senegal. If Wikipedia access proves popular, though, expect the Wikimedia Foundation to work with other carriers as well.
Read-Only
Part of the point of Wikipedia is that it’s not read-only. We not only have access to a huge body of knowledge, we have the ability to edit or add to it. At least at first, the audience that Orange brings to the table is going to be in read-only mode.
Walsh says that initially, it will be largely read-only. Most customers in the regions served by the free data programs are not going to be iPhones or Android phones. They’ll be phones that don’t readily lend themselves to editing Wikipedia. However, Walsh did say that Wikimedia is "looking at what things are necessary to make editing much more friendly on the phone."
When editing does become easier, it will likely require Wikipedia to add new languages and new contributors will beef up entries in existing languages. If you look at Sengal, the Wolof-speaking population is about 43% of the country. Currently Wikipedia has only about 1,000 entries in Wolof (compared to more than 100,000 in English).
Wikipedia Policies
When Orange’s customers do have access to edit Wikipedia, another question comes to the fore. How are Wikipedia’s policies going to change, if at all, to accommodate an influx of users who want to contribute but may not be able to cite works according to Wikipedia’s current standards.
Users in some parts of Africa or the Middle East may want to add information that’s been passed down through oral tradition or might have other issues in being cited according to current Wikipedia standards. Walsh says that citation and other problems that might be encountered for AMEA users are "something that’s actively being discussed."
At the same time, Walsh says that "people come to Wikipedia and edit it… because of those policies. They don’t necessarily want to radically transform it."
Wikipedia Only
Assuming the program takes off, this also gives Wikipedia a sort of monopoly in areas where Orange gives free access. It’s easy for users in North America (for instance) to hit Google and look up any topic, where Wikipedia is merely one of many sources of information. In this instance, Wikipedia may be the only source of information.
Customers will only be able to access content on Wikipedia itself, so any cited works and references linked from Wikipedia will effectively be off-limits to users who can’t afford to pay data rates. Walsh says that users will be given fair warning before leaving the site, though. "We warn the user with a banner at the top of page when they click a link that would incur data charges. The user has to accept the charges to continue to the resource."
It also raises the question of using Wikipedia to spread disinformation. One of the areas where Orange is rolling out the program is Egypt. It’s interesting to imagine how the Egyptian government might have used Wikipedia during the revolution, or how other countries might try to influence people within AMEA.
Or consider how China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs might want to influence Wikipedia entries related to Senegal. Check the China and Senegal entry on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site and compare with the Al Jazeera report on how the Chinese are changing Senegal.
Having a single source of information means that it’s much easier for organized attempts to influence what’s visible, and the slant of coverage. This is not a criticism of Wikipedia – but over-reliance on any single source of information is not an altogether good thing. It just happens that Wikipedia stands to become the single source of information here.
Wait and See
Access to Orange customers in AMEA will be rolled out through 2012. How it impacts users in AMEA, and how they impact Wikipedia, will be interesting. Wikipedia has already had a significant impact on much of the world with cheap Internet access. The impact in countries that are just coming online is likely to be substantial.
Though the deal does raise a few questions, it’s worth noting that this does seem largely positive for people getting access to Wikipedia. Access to more information is almost always a win. Free access to a comprehensive source like Wikipedia seems likely to be very beneficial.
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Mideast Tunes 2.0: A Mixing Board for the Real Music of the Middle East
Jan 6th
The ability to create expressive, gorgeous, geographically-agnostic gateways to the human experience is one of the true boons of the social Web. If you’re still laboring under the misapprehension that the Middle East is mostly donkeys and dahabiyas, Mideast Tunes, especially in its new incarnation, will disabuse you of that notion.
Lauched in 2010, the site was dedicated to bridging “barriers of faith and geography to unite young people committed to fostering constructive discourse in the Middle East through music.” I don’t know if that’s happened, but it rocks.
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Space-Age Mosaic
“Music is a huge part of our lives here,” said Bahrain-based Esra’a Al Shafei, the director of MeT’s parent organization, Mideast Youth “Most of the bands we have are young, but many have also been active for over a decade. We have always had an underground music scene for as long as I can remember. The main difference is that in today’s age, the Internet allows people to discover and connect with these bands.” MeT is becoming an important part of that process.
“The greatest success stories usually come from the PR that results for the bands that were previously unrecognized but have made it to the frontpages of CNN, TIME or NPR as a result of being discovered on Mideast Tunes,” she told ReadWriteWeb. “We have seen that happen with several artists and musicians, such as Smouldering in Forgotten (Bahraini metal band), Foad Manshady (Iranian Baha’i rapper), Siwan Erdal (Kurdish rapper), amongst others. Many journalists or event management groups still get in touch with us to request information for coverage on a lot of the bands that are featured.”
Iranian hip-hop artist, Ghogha
The redesign, led by developer Navid Safabakhsh, has made the UI much more reflective of the scintillating wash of music across the Arab world and the Mideast in general. A large, bold band of color across the top presents a featured band, and subsequently any band you choose to play. Start a song and the player will continue to feed you that band’s music until you choose a different one.
Beneath a slider you are presented with the ability to browse by the most up-voted popular bands, by featured bands or by collections, including a seven-song playlist on the Arab Spring. Other rejiggered navigational buttons – all of which give you the sense that you’re operating a sound board, or a space ship – give you access to music via genre (alternative to trance) or location (Afghanistan to Syria). You can search for bands by name or keyword, as well.
Additionally, as you begin to use the site, a new recommendation engine will begin to suggest bands you might like based on your listening history.
There is also a blog on site that acts as a kind of magazine on new Mideast music.
Changes to the site include:
- Completely revamped web application
- Better navigation
- Ability to easily view, share, add and explore bands
- New player
- Ability to create your own personal collection of favorite tracks
- Ability to receive suggestions for other bands based on your favorite tracks
- An iPhone application that syncs with your collection (awaiting approval from Apple)
Another change is the elimination of video, in order to, as Al Shafei told us, “to focus on the music first and foremost… we’ll be sending users to these bands’ YouTube channels, as it’s a better place to subscribe to bands’ videos and channels.”
User: Generated
Mideast Tunes is made up of user-generated content. From singer-songwriters to traditional oud players to trance DJs, the musicians themselves are involved in putting themselves forward. Given that the Middle East is a region of great variation, that means the music as a whole reflects that.
Punk rock band, Al Thawra
Richard Savo and Charlie Shaabi’s ElectrowaveZ is my new favorite. They are undeniable electro-house-trance. But they are ancient and specific as well, folding Arabic tonality and instrumentation into a thoroughly modern sound. It’s just that it’s the thoroughly modern sound of Acre, not of Berlin or Oakland. In other words, it sounds like here and now, which is built of there and then. No one listening would mistake it for Finnish music, but they wouldn’t mistake it for traditional Arabic music either.
With 1,443 tracks from 409 bands, groups and individuals, you can expect the here and now to shuttle back and forth between a seemingly infinite interplay of times, sensibilities, musical traditions, contemporary genres, languages and landscapes.
There are a couple of things that stick out as less than optimal. For one, Israel, a country not deficient in music, is missing. For another, when a new band is selected it is returned in a pop-up window… which was backward. A reload fixes it, but so does a click on the information icon, so it’s hard to know if it’s on purpose. (If it is, eep.) Finally, clicking on the band window does not transfer the information to the main site window, which I would much prefer.
According to Al Shafei:
“The core of the project manifested from our desire to promote bands and musicians that would otherwise never be given a second glance in the international scene. We feel that is because most people would never think to look to regions like the Middle East and North Africa for highly thought provoking music. The need to change this is our driving force. We believe music can change the world and that the musicians of the Middle East and North Africa will lead the way.”
Whether this music has changed, or will change, the world is hard to say. The goal of focusing attention in a fun, engaging way on a whole world of music, however, seems to have been accomplished.
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Appliance Parts Store in East Brunswick, NJ, Uses SEO Firm to Reach Out to … – PR.com (press release)
Dec 3rd
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Appliance Parts Store in East Brunswick, NJ, Uses SEO Firm to Reach Out to …
PR.com (press release) By arranging to have this unique SEO program implemented, Appliance Parts America is helping area homeowners and appliance repair companies locate information about their vast inventory much faster and easier. Steven Jacobs, owner of Appliance Parts … |
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Amtrak Adds Free Wi-Fi Along Major East Coast Routes
Oct 31st
Amtrak has announced an expansion of its free AmtrakConnectSM Wi-Fi service to 12 more East Coast routes. 60% of Amtrak passengers will now have free Wi-Fi access. Service is provided to trains via cellular data networks along the routes, and Amtrak is trying to maximize the use of existing infrastructure to expand Internet service on trains.
The high-speed Acela Express trains in the Northeast Corridor already have Wi-Fi service, as well as the Cascades line in the Pacific Northwest. By the end of 2011, Amtrak will expand Wi-Fi service to Amtrak California’s state-supported trains, giving 75% of all Amtrak passengers onboard Wi-Fi.
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Today’s expansion includes the Northeast Regional trains between Virginia and Boston – Amtrak’s most popular route – and the busy Empire and Keystone lines serving New York and Pennsylvania. Other routes getting Wi-Fi are Carolinian (New York – Raleigh/Cary, N.C.), Downeaster (Boston – Portland), Ethan Allen Express (New York – Rutland, Vt.), the New Haven – Springfield Shuttle and Vermonter (Washington – St. Albans, Vt.).
Four other routes – Adirondack (New York – Montreal), Maple Leaf (New York – Toronto), Palmetto (New York – Savannah, Ga.), and Pennsylvanian (New York – Philadelphia – Pittsburgh.) – also get some Wi-Fi service in this expansion, but only select cars will have the equipment for hotspots.
“We are committed to continuing to improve and expand this service as resources and technology allow,” says Emmett Fremaux, Amtrak’s VP for marketing and product development. Amtrak is in negotiations with cellular companies to expand service and take advantage of 4G speeds.
Photo credit: jpmueller99
Do you travel by train?
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TECHNOTRANSECT: A Journey Across East Africa’s Tech Ecosystem
Oct 14th
In sixth grade, our class was given an assignment. Pick a country, learn about it, give a short talk and be able to answer questions. Also, fashion a placard for your desk featuring the flag of the country you’ve chosen. I chose Kenya. Why? It has lions and its flag is cool! (I’d remind you I was in sixth grade, but it has lions and its flag is cool!)
In the years since, I’ve realized that Kenya, and the other 45+ countries of Sub-Saharan African, have something else. Technology. Kenya’s capital Nairobi is the capital of tech in East Africa. Unfortunately, the sheer weight of media imagery featuring charismatic megafauna and famine overwhelm any clear and nuanced picture of the exciting present and possible future of Africa. So I’m going to Kenya to see if I can’t capture some small part of that bigger picture.
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What’s Tech About Africa?
Africa in general, and Kenya in particular, has turned its liabilities (the abiding lack of infrastructure, a surfeit of young people and persistent economic challenges) into a strength: a hard-to-rival mobile entrepreneurial culture.
But the only image that came to my aunt’s mind when she found out I was going out to Africa was of the Masai. When I stopped by the St. Vincent de Paul to donate some clothes and got to talking to the attendant, he asked, “What’s tech about Africa?”
The Republic of Kenya and the many government and non-profit groups, businesses and entrepreneurs focusing on tech in the country want to change this. So while in country I’m going to have the opportunity to speak with Kenya’s Information and Communications Permanent Secretary, Dr. Bitange Ndemo; members of the ICT Board of Kenya; Mary Kimonye, CEO of Brand Kenya; Mugo Kibati, Secretary General, Vision 2030. I’ll also have access to Africa executives from IBM, Google and Microsoft, and to executives from Kenya-based Safaricom, Zuku, as well as academics from Strathmore University and elsewhere.
I’ll also visit the site of the new 5,000-acre new tech development park, Konza Technology City, and the iHub tech and business incubator, which I’m really looking forward to.
If you’d like to read about Kenya’s vital and entrepreneurial tech scene here are some of the stories I’ve written about African technology.
Africa is gigantic (see graphic above) and multifaceted. A story about Kenya can no more represent all of Africa than a story about Moldova can stand for all of Eurasia. But Kenya is, in fact, an African country and examining it will give you a sense, a hint of the obstacles and promise of the continent as a whole.
As this posts, I am flying to Kenya. Over the next week, in the TECHNOTRANSECT series, devoted to the present and future of African technology, I hope to be able to give you some pictures that counter the notion that the continent is a cross between a game park and a slum. It is my suspicion that Africa in general, Kenya in particular, will figure heavily in the whole world’s technological future.
Kenya Backgrounder
Click here for more of our extensive continent-wide African technology coverage.
Kenyan flag photo by Kevin Walsh | True Size of Africa graphic by Kai Clausen via Information Is Beautiful | Disclosure: the Republic of Kenya provided the reporter’s airfare and hotel.
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The Relationship Between Enterprise SEO & PPC: SMX East Recap – Search Engine Land
Sep 26th
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The Relationship Between Enterprise SEO & PPC: SMX East Recap
Search Engine Land SEO & PPC – Why Can't We All Just Get Along? The following day, I was on this panel, which turned out to be lots of fun. First of all, this is a topic I could discuss for hours (not that anyone would want that). Second, I was sitting alongside Tim … |
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The Relationship Between Enterprise SEO & PPC: SMX East Recap
Sep 26th
During a whirlwind stay at SMX East, I had the enviable opportunity to speak at length about two of my all-time favorite topics: Enterprise PPC, and the relationship between paid and organic search. Enterprise PPC It was interesting to get some very different takes on Industrial Strength SEM from…
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