News and Notes Roundup - 10/26/2015

Another happy Monday to you, beloved readers, and happy 70th birthday to the United Nations! Here’s your weekly roundup, as prescribed by your doctor.

Yesterday, 10 - yes, 10 - countries had elections and NDI provided assistance in five of them: Ukraine, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Guatemala. Our very own leader Chris assisted election monitors TACCEO and TEMCO in their use of the Elections DemTool in Tanzania, while our favorite Floridian (sorry, Edison!) Christine travelled to Cote d’Ivoire to guide POECI in deploying Elections and conducting a parallel vote tabulation. So far, everything has been going swimmingly and we can’t wait to have our teammates back in the same hemisphere.

Also abroad is our second-tallest member, Jared, who’s in Mexico City to attend the Open Government Partnership Global Summit. Be sure to follow our Twitter feed (@nditech) for live updates on this awesome event!

Tech News:

• YouTube is launching a music streaming service

• Comcast flirts with deploying its own wireless network

• Yahoo names former Twitter exec to head up its security

• IBM cut a deal with Ugandan firm I3C to provide better web and mobile offerings to clients

• Here’s the inside scoop on Microsoft’s Surface book

• An 11-year-old is selling cryptographically secure passwords

• Law enforcement seems to be getting the hang of Bitcoin

• SHA-2 encryption protocols may make many websites unavailable

ICT4D:

• Connectivity plays a vastly important part in emergency management

• Can data visualization evoke empathy?

• Facebook’s internet access plans for India are having a rocky start

• For open government and commerce to succeed, algorithmic transparency is a must

• Innovation in government needs a real kick in the pants

• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges to reboot Twitter’s conversations about transparency

Mobile News:

• A very sneaky trojan for banking on Android uses flexible and elaborate social engineering

• Uber teams up with BeMyDD and New Jersey township to reduce DUI arrests

• One of WhatsApp’s founders discusses the company’s incredible success

• Blackberry ships its first Android phone, the Priv, Nov. 6

• NavCog, a new app from IBM and Carnegie Mellon University, actually guides people with blindness