Global Wire Associates

Buy Now: Second Edition of “Recharge E-waste”

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Recharge E-waste book coverGlobal Wire Books releases today the second edition of one of its bestselling books, Recharge E-waste: Ideas For Reducing Electronic Waste And Greening The Tech World.  Up until recently, e-waste or electronic waste activism was viewed as a fringe sector within the environmental movement.  However, because e-waste has become the fastest growing solid waste stream worldwide, the issue is now a mainstream concern.

Recharge E-waste is an interactive short guide that introduces readers to the complex issues concerning electronic waste and possible ideas around reducing it in the waste stream.  The second edition features updated consumer statistics and new information about the dangers e-waste pose to data security.

“The issue of cyber attacks is one of the most challenging economic and security issues happening globally right now,” said author Talia Whyte.  “Millions of old computers and mobiles are dumped in landfills that have not been properly erased of sensitive data ranging from family photos to credit card or bank statements to even confidential government contracts.  Cyber criminals scrounge through the trash to lift this data off of disposed electronics that is later used in scams and hackings.”

Global Wire Books is the digital imprint for Global Wire Associates.  It supports the organization’s mission by presenting under-reported topics through an interactive, multimedia experience. We publish high-quality, accessible eBooks, surveys, business guides and other resources addressing how technology and social innovation impacts society and human rights.  For more information, go to globalwireonline.org/globalwirebooks

Special Price!

Now through Earth Day, 22 April 2014 you can purchase Recharge E-waste directly from Global Wire Associates’ website for US$2.99!

EPUB Version

Or you can buy it for the regular price of US$3.99 at these other booksellers:

Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble Nook
Google Play

“Access Denied” Ebook Available Now

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Access Denied Book CoverGlobal Wire Books is happy to release its latest publication, Access Denied: Dismantling The Digital Caste System In the New Online Economy.

Technology has helped to make many social and economic advances in our society. However, ironically, many tech advances have also widened the digital divide between the world’s haves and have-nots. In 2012 Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said at the Mobile World Congress that while the poor will gain access to better technologies over the next decade, their advancements will pale in comparison to that of the rich. “We need to act now to avoid the digital caste system I’m talking about,” Schmidt said. “We can create a global network of equals.”

“The global economy is changing rapidly and the marketplace now demands entrepreneurs and workers who not only have competitive skill sets, but also have diverse perspectives and backgrounds,” said author Talia Whyte, who is also the managing director of Global Wire Associates. “Technology and innovation will play a huge role in the future economy, and society has to make sure traditionally marginalized groups, such as women, people with disabilities and racial and ethnic minorities are all on an equal playing field with the same access to resources and skill sets in the marketplace as well.”

In January 2013 Global Wire Associates launched the “Dismantle the Digital Caste System” campaign as a way to look more in-depth at the issues that continue to create a divide, and how technology can not only level the playing field for marginalized communities, but also support a vigorous economy. As the global recession continues, many are turning to new entrepreneurial opportunities in the technology and innovation sectors. Access Denied highlights a diverse selection of those entrepreneurs and other movers and shakers, as well as have discussions about other issues that contribute to the digital barrier that many of these entrepreneurs face such as poor broadband access, infrastructure, and racial, cultural and/or gender bias. This book contains all the articles from that campaign, as well as a new workforce diversity survey.

Price: US$3.99
Buy It Here:
Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble Nook
Google Play
EPUB (PayPal)
PDF (PayPal)

New Year, New Websites, New Beginnings

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A new year is always a good time to reassess your work and how to make it more effective.  Over the last two months I have been redesigning my websites, and you may notice some slight changes.

Most importantly, taliawhyte.com is now self-hosted, meaning it is no longer hosted on Wordpress.com.  So if you were previously following my blog on wordpress.com, you will still receive feed updates in your Wordpress Reader, but you will no longer receive any email notices when a new post is up. If you want to receive email notices again, just go to taliawhyte.com/blog and enter your email address at the bottom of the left side panel under my Twitter feed and click “Subscribe/Follow.”  If you are not a wordpress.com user and are receiving email notices, no changes are necessary for you.  I will be shutting down the old wordpress site soon, so make the move over to my new site in the next few days.

You will also notice that the new homepage is now a showcase of my best recent work in a more user friendly interface framework.  I have some big journalistic projects coming up this year, and I believe this new site will accommodate these new projects.

You will also notice two major changes over on Global Wire Associates.  For one, the site can now be translated into six languages – Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and, of course, English.  This reflects our growing demand to reach broader global clients in a more efficient way.  The other change we are really excited about is the addition of the Classroom, our on-site video conferencing space where we will host our educational webinars and other special events, including my online book release party on 11 January.

Thanks a lot for your continued support and looking forward to the New Year!

Talia Whyte

The Sustainable Web

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There were many takeaways from this year’s Telecom World. An overarching topic from the conference was the tech sector’s role in clean technology. Over at Global Wire Associates, we are always thinking about how we can make a difference. A couple of years ago, we created a company green policy and embarked on a year-long awareness Recharge E-waste campaign, which led to our book on the same topic. Climate change is a very real concern globally, and our technology use is partially contributing to the problem. Did you know that the Internet’s carbon footprint is larger than the entire aviation industry?

Our increasing appetite for computers, mobiles and tablets is decreasing the earth’s resources very quickly. Here are some ideas tech enthusiasts should think about regarding a more sustainable web.

Backward Compatibility

This is the process of making a product or software application workable with an older product or software application. In many Western countries, many people purchase new electronics or software applications approximately every two years. This is driven partly by the product’s obsoleteness, as there is always a newer version of everything coming onto the market these days. The consumer culture around technology has also changed as well in recent years. Waiting in line overnight in front of an Apple store just to be among the first buyers of the latest “iThings” is commonplace. However, it is not uncommon to see people in the developing world who have owned their mobiles for seven or eight years, and their operating systems are most likely outdated. This is because the cost of buying a new electronic can be prohibitive. Web professionals should consider creating products and software applications that are energy efficient, backward compatible and accessible, allowing for older electronics to be more useful for longer and reduce e-waste.

Sustainable Energy

This is a no-brainer – our society needs to increase its use of alternative energy. We only have to look towards the sun for this one. And, no, we are not just talking about building more solar panels (even though that would be a great idea). We need to be supporters of the growing sustainable technology sector, and take a serious look at innovative projects like bike-powered phone chargers, solar backpacks, Moonshot servers and solar chargers.

Teleconferencing

Those of us in the tech world love going to tech conferences and hang out with other techies. Hey, who can really turn down the unlimited food at the dizzying number of receptions and networking events?! However, all the traveling and electricity used to produce such events really are a drain on resources (and wallets). Teleconferencing is a more cost and energy efficient way to organize many events. Global Wire Associates cut down on many in person workshops this year for this very reason. While there is always going to be a need to have in person event, it would also be a good idea to figure out new ways to integrate teleconferencing when organizing such events. Furthermore, according to Blake Burris of the Cleantech Initiative, teleconferencing has already reduced business travel by 30 percent.

Sustainable Web Design

There has been a lot of talk as of late that web design needs to be more lean and green. All those high resolution images and video slideshows on your site might be great, but all this multimedia slows down websites and uses more energy. As a matter of fact, today’s average web page is 15 times larger than it was 10 years ago. In the very near future, eco-friendly web designers will have to think about creating web page size budgets, optimized images, “content first” strategies, and green hosting. Approximately 2.7 billion people – 40 percent of the world’s population – are online, and pretty much everyone else on the planet will have Internet access by 2020. With these new users will come more climate problems if we don’t start taking the sustainable web more seriously.

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