It's not often that you can say that being involved with technology makes you proud, but the peaceful protests against the military regime in Burma - and the violent government response - really shows that technology is changing the world at its most fundamental level.

In such a closed country, where the government is making every effort to cut internet links and shut down mobile phone networks to prevent the world seeing the result of its repression, and where foreign journalists are mostly banned from visiting, the truth is being brought to us by mobile phone cameras and enterprising bloggers who know how to circumvent the technical barriers.

When the Burmese military junta killed 3,000 people in a previous uprising in 1998, we could not see the results and world opinion soon faded. Now, technology is bringing the full horror to the eyes of the world and even Burma's allies are forced to respond.

It's a good day for IT - if not, sadly, for the protesters in Burma.