myanmar

Google's Schmidt to preach Internet gospel in Myanmar

If Eric Schmidt ever stops working for Google, he might consider penning some Lonely Planet travel guides.

Google's executive chairman is headed next week to Myanmar, a long-time isolationist state that recently has begun taking its first steps on the road to political and economic reform. Reuters reported the news this morning, calling the country, also known as Burma, "the last virgin territory for businesses in Asia" with a mobile phone penetration estimated at less than 10 percent.

Schmidt will address and meet with entrepreneurs, government officials, and others on March 22, according to Reuters.

An emphasis … Read more

Cisco to open tech training academies in Myanmar

Myanmar is one of the most closed off and least-connected countries in the world -- but with a newly opening government, this is rapidly changing.

Cisco announced today that it is setting up two technology training centers in the Southeast Asian country, according to USAID. The centers, dubbed Networking Academies, will be aimed at teaching residents tech skills.

This announcement comes after Cisco executives joined USAID, Google, HP, Intel, and Microsoft in a tech delegation visit to the country.

"We knew that in order for everyone in the country to benefit from a digital economy and for the government … Read more

Gmail of journalists in Myanmar said to be hacked

A handful of journalists who cover Myanmar received warnings from Google over the past week. The Web giant told them that their Gmail accounts might have been hacked by "state actors" or "state-sponsored attackers" and that they should change their passwords and tighten their security settings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google said that it has systems in place to detect possible state-sponsored malware or hacking but would not give the Wall Street Journal further information on how these systems work.

The Myanmar government has now responded to these allegations and denies any involvement in … Read more

100-million-year-old spider attack captured in amber

Oregon State University researchers this week revealed details about a piece of amber from the Early Cretaceous period that contains a spider in its web attacking an intruding wasp.

The fossilized moment of doom -- the first of its kind discovered in amber -- derived from the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar, somewhere around 97 to 110 million years ago. … Read more

Myanmar or Burma? Apple's dictionary had an opinion

Language Log notes that Apple's Dictionary program (v. 1.02 running in Tiger) gave an interesting pronunciation for "Myanmar:" It's pronounced "Burma."

I would tend to think this is an accident, but it's an interesting one. I've edited articles that required the country to be called Burma for political reasons and others that follow the international convention of calling it Myanmar. Either way, if I were manufacturing this sort of thing I might flag all the controversial geographical terms for careful review.

Another reason it is probably an accident (and not someone'… Read more