10 Android & iPhone Apps for Tibet Activists

Posted by Nick on Jun 25, 2011 in Activism & Tibet, Multimedia, Technology | 0 comments

 

Mobile phones are playing an increasing role in movements for social change. Since the birth of smart phones, documentation of rights abuses, mobilization, and mass communication have been revolutionized.  As smart phones get smarter, we have an ever-expanding market of apps to make our work for Tibet more effective.

Apps for Android:

BhoView: Tibetan Text Viewer
BhodView lets you view any Tibetan webpage by using the “Share Via” feature of other apps like Browser, Email or Messaging. Just open a Tibetan website, email, or message and click “share,” then select BhodView. A great app for anyone who wants to view Tibetan on their phone. Free.

 

Congress
Congress is an amazing app. It’s a pocket directory that allows you to quickly get detailed information (including photos and bios) on your members of Congress, and what they’re up to. With Congress you can follow the latest bills and laws, and see floor activity and votes as they happen.

This is the perfect app for Tibet Lobby Day or for becoming more fluent and up-to-date in US congress happenings and info. A must have. Free.

 

Tibetan News & Music
A great new app which brings Tibetan video newscasts from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia as well as the latest headlines from Phayul.com to your Droid. As an added bonus, Tibetan News & Music also brings you the best new Tibetan music videos. A big shout out to Digital Vajra for developing this. Free.

 

uTalk Tibetan
uTalk is a good app for learning basic Tibetan phrases, numbers, and vocabulary. uTalk has an interesting  recording and playback function, although it didn’t prove to be too useful. The word games and quizzes are perfect for a long subway ride. Even without Tibetan font support, uTalk displays Tibetan letters. This is a great app for anyone who wants to learn Tibetan or expand their vocabulary. Price $9.71. Also available for iPhone for $9.99

 

Beiks Tibetan English Dictionary
The Tibetan-English Dictionary is for both Tibetan speakers who need to look up words in English and English speakers who need to look up words in Tibetan. This was my personal favorite of the Tibetan dictionary apps. This app is not in the Android market. Price $12.95.

 

English Tibetan Dictionary
English Tibetan Dictionary (Romanized) is travel dictionary to translate English to Tibetan displaying a list of words in Romanized Tibetan. The dictionary also translates from phonetic Tibetan to English. The dictionary has an impressive collection of words but also lacks some basic ones. Price $4.02. Also available for the iPhone for $2.99


Free2Work
Free2Work is an awesome app. Free2Work promotes transparency by rating major brands based on their policies to address this human rights issue. With Free2Work, you can easily find specific Companies, get updates from other activists, see the latest video and photos from the field, and share information. Learn how companies like Nike, Adidas, and Patagonia are rated and how they are improving. Also available for iPhone. Free.

 

Obscura Cam
A “Visual Privacy” photo app developed by The Guardian Project with Witness. Obscura Cam detects faces in photos, then protects the identity of the subjects by obstructing their faces. It also removes EXIF metadata from photos. This is a fantastic app and it’s inspiring to see apps head in this direction. A great app for human rights defenders an d activists living under repressive regimes. Free

 

Orweb: Privacy Browser + Tor
Enhance your privacy, break through firewalls and communicate more safely. Orbot is the official port of Tor to Android. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Devoloped by the Guardian Project and the great folks at Tor. Find more about Tor for the iPhone here. Free.

Gibberbot
Another great app by the Guardian Project. Gibberbot is a secured chat client capable of firewall and filter circumvention, surveillance blocking and end-to-end encryption. Free.

 

Twitter
Share instant updates with your friends, favorite organizations, and the world. Twitter has been successfully used for organizing protests, and keeping the world updated as events are happening. It has played a key role in revolutions and freedom struggles. As citizen journalism becomes increasingly important, Twitter is an essential app for any activist. TweetDeck makes it easy to link and post to all your social networks. Twitter and TweetDeck are also available for iPhones. Free

 

Qik
Qik Video makes it easy to shoot video and have it stream live to the web. Many Androids come with Qik built in. For long live-casts, use apps like Ustream. Also available for iPhone. Free.


Apps for iPhones

PhayulNews
Phayul News’s iphone app is a great way to read headlines from the Tibetan world. News is updated hourly Free.

 

AiCandle
AiCandle  is Amnesty International’s iPhone application. Read the latest international human rights news and share news and actions and with your friends, colleagues and fellow activists via Facebook and email. A true activist app. Highly recommended. Free.

Human Rights Watch
This app brings you the week’s foremost human rights news from around the world as well as Human Rights Watch’s in-depth reports, allowing you to learn more about current challenges and opportunities to create change. Highly recommended. Free.

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Help Defend the Tibetan Language

Posted by TenDolkar on Dec 3, 2010 in Activism & Tibet, Protests in Tibet, Take Action, Technology, Tibet, Tibet in the News, Video, Photos & Audio | 1 comment

Last month Tibetan students in Rebkong, Amdo boldly protested the Chinese government’s decision to replace Tibetan with Chinese as the language of instruction in Tibetan schools by 2015. In the following days, the protests spread as more than 8,000 students – some as young as 13 – took to the streets to defend their fundamental right to study in their mother tongue. Watch a compilation of Radio Free Asia’s footage of the protests.

Language forms the foundation of Tibet’s unique and vibrant culture; to deny Tibetans their language is an attack on their fundamental human rights. Overnight, language became a flashpoint of cultural resistance inside Tibet, and has sparked a solidarity movement worldwide.

Support SFT’s global grassroots effort to pressure China to respect Tibetans’ fundamental right to language by clicking here.

Tendor and Kusho Lobsang Monlam

SFT’s Tendor and Ven.    Lobsang Monlam

This Wednesday, we hosted the fourth episode of the Renaissance Series, In My Mother Tongue: Freedom Through Language. Ven. Lobsang Monlam, the creator of the Monlam Tibetan Unicode, gave an inspiring presentation about new digital tools he has helped develop – including the newly released Tibetan keyboard for iPhone 4.2 – that are helping to elevate the global status of the Tibetan language.

SFT’s Renaissance Series was launched this summer to promote the writings, poetry, music, and other works of art and literature banned in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

 In spite of China’s escalated repression following the widespread protests in 2008, there is a cultural renaissance underway in Tibet. Writers, musicians, and intellectuals are boldly asserting their views as a form of resistance to China’s colonial occupation. Tibetans in Tibet and in exile are reclaiming their language as part of this renaissance. Through grassroots action and digital innovation, we can help ensure the Tibetan language flourishes, withstanding attacks from the Chinese government. Please help us to support this cultural renaissance, and amplify the voices of Tibetans inside Tibet that are calling for the protection of their language by donating today.

Renaissance Series Ep. 04: Amplifying Everything Banned in Tibet

Posted by kate on Dec 1, 2010 in Activism & Tibet, Campaigns, Events, Featured, Human Rights, Multimedia, Take Action, Technology, Video, Photos & Audio | 0 comments

“In My Mother Tongue”: Freedom Through Language ངའི་མ་སྐད་ནང་། ༔ སྐད་ཡིག་བརྒྱུད་རང་དབང་རྩོད་པ།

Watch a compilation of Radio Free Asia footage of the student protests in Amdo, eastern Tibet in defense of the Tibetan language

View a slideshow of photos of the student protests in Tibet and China in defense of the Tibetan language.

Watch this scene from Leaving Fear Behind, showing a Tibetan nomad school in Amdo as it works to preserve Tibetan language and culture.


PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Download full program schedule

I. LANGUAGE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

II. TIBETAN AS A MAINSTREAM MODERN LANGUAGE

III. GRASSROOTS EFFORT TO RECLAIM TIBETAN LANGUAGE

IV. 5 WAYS TO TAKE ACTION IN SUPPORT FOR LANGUAGE RIGHTS

  1. Sign a Petition in Support Tibetan Students’ Right to Learn in Tibetan
  2. Read, print and distribute SFT’s Ten Ways to Promote the Tibetan Language
  3. Sign a Petition for the release of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen
  4. Download and distribute SFT’s Freedom of Language petition
  5. Sign the petition for Tashi Dhondup, a detained Tibetan musician and help achieve the goal of 50,000 signatures.

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SFT Projects Your Messages to Wen Jiabao in NYC

Posted by Nick on Sep 23, 2010 in Direct Action, Technology, Video, Photos & Audio | 4 comments

On Wednesday evening (Sept 23), SFT activists projected live twitter messages on and around Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s hotel in NYC.  Messages from dozens of countries, including Tibet and China were sent via twitter to @wjbny and emailed to protestwen@gmail.com. Read more about SFT’s Direct Line to Wen Jiabao.

View raw footage from the projection (youtube video coming soon…) [100MB] Click here to donload

Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor), SFT’s Executive Director speaks about SFT’s Direct Line to Wen Jiabao. [306MB] Click here to download

Projection on Wen Jiabao’s Hotel. [101MB] Click here to download.

Live tweeting: [79MB] Click here to download

More footage [101MB] Click here to download

Projection team: [42MB] Click here to download

Photos from the candlelight vigil highlighting the cases of Tibetan artists and writers held earlier in the evening in front of Wen Jiabao’s hotel:

What’s going on in the Tibetan Blogosphere? Ask Dechen Pemba

Posted by kate on Aug 29, 2010 in Blogroll, China, Featured, General, Reports From Tibet, Technology, Tibet | 1 comment

A Tibetan netizen in her own right, Dechen Pemba, publisher of High Peaks Pure Earth (the remarkable blog that translates the writings of Tibetans living in Tibet and China) provides insight into the importance and the vulnerabilities of the Tibetan blogosphere in her following post:

The Virtual Sweet Tea House: An Overview of the Tibetan Cyberspace

As a place to meet, share and exchange, the Tibetan blogosphere has created opportunities for Tibetan netizens that would be unimaginable in the offline world. Keeping in mind the state of internet censorship in the People’s Republic of China today, these new spaces can be seen as new outlets but also as new areas involving personal risk. Tibetan cyberspace has opened up a new opportunity for expression, which has also brought new risks to this community.

There are several blog-hosting sites, both Tibetan and Chinese, that are favoured by Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) today. One of the of the most popular Chinese language sites is called Tibetan Culture Net or simply TibetCul. TibetCul was started by two brothers, Wangchuk Tseten and Tsewang Norbu, and their head office is in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. According to Alexa, the web Information Company, TibetCul receives over 400,000 hits every month. TibetCul is primarily a news and blog-hosting site but there are many different sections on the site related to Tibetan music, literature, films and travel. There is a BBS forum (bulletin board) and there is even a section dedicated to “overseas Tibetans”.

For all Tibet related news, blogs and cultural activities, TibetCul is an invaluable resource and source of information. Many posts translated into English by High Peaks Pure Earth come from TibetCul, such as the translation of the popular Tibetan hip-hop song “New Generation” by Green Dragon that was first featured on the group’s TibetCul blog in February 2010 in which a gang of Amdo rappers boldly proclaimed:

“The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom”

In a similar surge of pride in Tibetan identity that featured on Tibetan blogs post-2008, TibetCul blogs featured many poems and prose articles with the title “I Am Tibetan” and new posts are being written even today.

Heated discussions and debate take place on TibetCul every day about all matters of concern to Tibetans. One major example would be the online vilification of well-known Tibetan singer Lobsang Dondrup following photos posted on blogs of him and his wife both wearing fur at their wedding ceremony in early 2009. The photos were quickly re-posted across many blogs, incurring the wrath of angry Tibetan netizens and comments criticising the couple flooded the internet forums both in Tibetan and Chinese. This must all be seen in context, in 2006, after the Dalai Lama’s injunction against the wearing of animal fur, a wave of fur burning protests took place in Amdo and Kham. Hence the netizens anger and loathing for the couple. Shortly after, Lobsang Dondrup posted an apology online through his friend’s TibetCul blog.

The above observations on TibetCul demonstrate the nature of cyberspace in the ability to bring people together in discussion and debate and also the ability for the online content to transcend national borders, “New Generation” has gone on to become a popular song amongst Tibetans all over the world and the “I Am Tibetan” poetry and spirit has sparked Tibetan exile groups to hold events to amplify voices from Tibet.

In a paper from 2004, Tibetan scholar Tashi Rabgey referred to the Lhasa tradition of the Sweet Tea House: “Throughout the 1980s, sweet tea houses had served as important gathering places for Tibetans to exchange news, air opinions and discuss ideas.” However, “with the tightening of political controls in the early 1990s [...] this unusual space of lively, open debate was brought to an end through constant surveillance.” The new virtual Sweet Tea House contains Tibetans who are literate in many languages but mainly in Tibetan, Chinese and English and Tibetans from Central Tibet, Kham, Amdo, India, USA and beyond, all in contact and dialogue.

Whilst the potential for contact and dialogue in the Tibetan cyberspace is great, control of the internet and the politicisation of the blog content poses difficulties and risks. Monitoring Tibetan blogs reveals that throughout the year, at times deemed “sensitive” by the Chinese government, Tibetan blog-hosting sites will suddenly with no explanation or prior warning either be taken offline or be offline “for maintenance”. This happens typically for Tibetan blogs around the time of March 10, the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. See this link for an example of TibetCul suddenly disappearing offline and this link for Tibetan-language blogs being taken offline.

Similarly, individual bloggers are in danger of being targeted by the state for blog content deemed to be dubious. The most famous example is the Tibetan poet, writer and blogger, Woeser, who was writing two blogs, one on TibetCul and another on a Chinese blog hosting site but both of which were suddenly shut down on 28 July 2006. Woeser then had no choice but to start a new blog on a server hosted outside the PRC but has since faced a new set of problems such as server cyber-attacks by Chinese nationalists, both to her blogs and her Skype accounts.

Tibetan language blog-hosting sites have been even more vulnerable than TibetCul and two previously very popular sites have been inaccessible since 2009, http://tibettl.com/ and http://www.tibetabc.cn/ The latter was particularly a great loss as prominent singer and blogger Jamyang Kyi’s blog had previously been hosted by Tibetabc but she seems to have stopped blogging altogether since the site was closed down.

Two recent examples of individuals using blogs and the internet for purposes of social justice have been Dolkar Tso and Shogdung. Dolkar Tso, the wife of environmentalist Karma Samdrup, was blogging almost daily in June and July 2010, documenting the events of her husband’s trial and expressing her personal feelings about the injustice of his sentencing to 15 years in prison. Amazingly, Dolkar Tso persistently kept blogging on Chinese blog-hosting site Sohu and, at the last count, is on her fifth blog as the others kept being shut down rapidly.

Tagyal, a writer and intellectual who used the pen name Shogdung meaning “Morning Conch”, openly spoke out in April 2010 following the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu. He, along with several other intellectuals, published an open letter on Tibetan language blog-hosting site http://www.sangdhor.com in which they expressed condolences and at the same time were critical of the Chinese government in their handling of the earthquake relief efforts. Following this open letter, Shogdung was arrested and is still facing trial. Following Shogdung’s arrest, the site Sangdhor was taken offline for several months and has only recently come back online.

The last two examples of Dolkar Tso and Shogdung illustrate the importance of Tibetan blogs as sources of information and as ways to highlight injustice but evidently this comes at a great price for the individuals involved. The virtual Sweet Tea House is ultimately as vulnerable as the Lhasa tea houses of the 1990s were and is likely to remain so as long as Tibetan blogs remain behind the Great Firewall.

______________________________

Dechen Pemba is a UK born Tibetan, based in London.  She is the editor of the website High Peaks Pure Earth, which provides insightful commentary on Tibet related news and issues and translations from writings in Tibetan and Chinese posted blogs.

Renaissance Series: Amplify Tibet’s Revolutionary Beats

Posted by Nick on Jul 25, 2010 in Protests in Tibet, Reports From Tibet, Technology, Video, Photos & Audio | 1 comment

Watch all videos from Revolutionary Beats in the above player.

The second installment in SFT’s Renaissance Series explored the rhythms and beats of Tibetan resistance and dissent in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Program to include performances of Tibetan songs banned in Tibet, commentaries on resistance through music, “reactionary ringtones” sharing and much more.

The program highlighted the popular Tibetan singer, Tashi Dhondup, who was sentenced to 15 months of “re-education” through labor on January 5, 2010 for including revolutionary songs on his album titled  “Torture Without Trace”.

To download the pamphlet from Revolutionary Beats, click here.

Videos translated by SFT into English for Revolutionary Beats:

Kunga’s Yi Re Kyo with English subtitles

Kunga’s “Ghangdruk Ghi Dhunlam” (Son of the Snow City) with English subtitles

Jamyang Kyi’s “You and Me” with English subtitles

Jamyang Kyi’s Phayul Dren Lu with English subtitles

View the complete collection of translated music videos here.
*Special thanks to Khenrap Yeshi and Thupgon for their translations and Jigdo for HQ videos.

For That I Shed My Tears

To view translated music videos from Revolutionary Beats, click here.

Background on these revolutionary beats:

Banned Lyrics, Reactionary Songs by Bhuchung D. Sonam, a young Tibetan writer & activist living in Dharamsala, India

Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup detained report issued by International Campaign for Tibet

The Times Online: Tibetan singer Tashi Dondrup arrested over ‘subversive’ CD

Download Music & Ringtones Banned in Tibet:

Son of the Snow City by Kunga:

Son of the Snow-City by Kunga

Download song to computer| Send ringtone to your phone

Yi Re Kyo by Kunga:

Yi Re Kyo by Kunga

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

Torture Without Trace by Tashi Dhondup
Torture without trace by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

Unable to Meet by Tashi Dhondup

Unable to Meet by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

1958-200 by Tashi Dhondup

1958-200 by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

Let’s Go by Tashi Dhondup

Let’s Go by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

For That I Shed My Tears by Tashi Dhondup

For That I Shed My Tears by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

No Regrets by Tashi Dhondup

No Regrets by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

Tibet Has Good Karma by Tashi Dhondup

Tibet Has Good Karma by Tashi Dhondup

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

Phayul Dren Llu by Jamyang Kyi

Phayul Dren Llu by Jamyang Kyi

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

You and Me by Jamyang Kyi

You and Me by Jamyang Kyi

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

New Generation by Yudrug:New Generation by Yudrug

Download song to computer | Send ringtone to your phone

A Digital Celebration of HHDL’s 75th by Tibetans in Tibet

Posted by Nick on Jul 12, 2010 in General, Multimedia, Protests in Tibet, Technology | 0 comments

Beginning on July 6th, the 75th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan web users in Tibet and China flooded popular Chinese language social networking websites with images of the Dalai Lama. Contained in status updates, profile pictures, and photo albums, images of  the Dalai lama and the banned Tibetan national flag filled popular networking sites 51.com and Qzone. This outpouring of expression and protest, largely by young Tibetans comes as China intensifies it’s crackdown on vocal Tibetans.

This “digital celebration” of His Holiness’s birthday from inside Tibet is joined by reports that thousands of Tibetans in Tawu, Kham South-Eastern Tibet, held a massive long life prayer where His Holiness’s portrait was honored followed by cultural performances and a traditional horse racing competition. As well as a video showing thousands of Tibetans in Golok Amnye Machen, Amdo North-Eastern Tibet, offering prayers and dedicating songs to their spiritual leader.

Bellow is a collection of images posted by Tibetan web users inside Tibet and China.

Tibetan web-users even posted photos of themselves offering khatas and respect to portraits of His holiness.

Banned in Tibet, SFT’s Summer 2010 Newsletter online!

Posted by Nick on Jul 9, 2010 in Featured, Multimedia, Technology, Tibet in the News | 1 comment

We are proud to release the latest edition of SFT’s official newsletter “Banned in Tibet,” online! You can view it below, download it in PDF format, or view the high-res JPEG photos of each page for viewing or printing!

Featured articles include:

  • Monks Lead Kyegundo Quake Relief Efforts
  • Tibet’s Own Satayagraha
  • March 10th 2010 & Losar: Because I’m Tibetan
  • A Letter from SFT’s Executive Director, Tenzin “Tendor” Dorjee
  • Breaking Boundaries on the Web: Thoughts from Blogger Activist, Dechen Pemba
  • The Rise in Student Protests in Tibet
  • SFT Takes the Capital by Storm at the 2nd Anual Tibet Lobby Day
  • Google Breaks up with China

Please spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else interested in reading more about SFT’s creative work over the past year. In addition to the digital edition of Banned in Tibet, we also have print copies available. To order copies of the newsletter, please contact tdolkar@studentsforafreetibet.org.

Banned in Tibet is more than just an overview of Students for a Free Tibet’s activities — it’s a voice for the Tibetan people and a call for freedom from China’s brutal occupation of Tibet.