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GV Transparency: Is ICT all it’s cracked up to be? posted on March 5, 2010 - 12:45am
As part of the Global Voices Technology for Transparency Network, my fellow researchers and I will be blogging about ICT all over the world. My first post, on a failed ICT for governance project in Sudan and the implications for tech efforts during the upcoming elections, went up today: In a December 2009 Global Voices article titled “ICT4D: Past mistakes, future wisdom,” Aparna Ray points out that many technology for development projects have “started with a bang and later died with a whimper.” According to a recent article in the Financial Times, such is the fate of a multimillion dollar World Bank plan to supply Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan, with computers and Internet access. Read the full article » We’re hoping to get a discussion going over at Global Voices that not only highlights the tremendous power of the Internet and other digital tools, but also explores the challenges and difficulties of using these tools for political development and civic engagement.
GV Uganda: Hundreds feared dead in landslide posted on March 4, 2010 - 4:57am
A mudslide in eastern Uganda Monday evening left at least 80 people dead and over 300 missing. The mudslide, triggered by a day of heavy rain, has buried three villages in Bududa district and displaced more than 2000 people from their homes. As of Wednesday morning, the search continues for survivors. Read the full post at Global Voices Online »
From Budapest to Haiti to NY to Chile posted on March 2, 2010 - 1:57am
Eight days ago I found out that I would be attending the 2010 Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Santiago, Chile. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to meet up with the larger GV community again, and I’ve been browsing through old blog posts from the 2008 summit in Budapest. I helped put out the liveblog for that summit, including the coverage of a session called When the World Listens, about the power of citizen media. Juliana Rotich, Program Director for Ushahidi, spoke during the session about the organization’s role in documenting the post-election violence in Kenya in late 2007 and early 2008. At the time, the founders of Ushahidi were deciding what to do now that the Kenyan crisis had ebbed.
Map Kibera posted on February 20, 2010 - 1:14am
On Wednesday morning I got the chance to Skype with Mikel Maron and Erica Hagen about Map Kibera, their project to collaboratively map a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The interview was for Global Voices’ Technology for Transparency Network, a project that I’m unspeakably thrilled to be a part of. My favorite part of the interview? When Mikel explains how Map Kibera is translating online data into real-world action. A hint: “paper’s cool.” The full case study went up today, along with a podcast of our chat. Check it out, and make sure to browse through the full list of projects around the world that use online tools to push for civic engagement and government transparency.
Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill, Explained posted on February 19, 2010 - 8:23am
This is the clearest explanation of the full weight of the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill that I’ve seen. To sum up: there are lots of ways this bill can kill you, even if you’re not gay. Watch:
New York is dangerous. posted on February 8, 2010 - 11:50pm
Just arrived in the inbox (emphasis mine): To: SIPA Student Groups While on patrol this morning Post 15 PSO Patterson noticed three animals in front of Lewisohn Hall. Sgt. Galan responded and spotted one animal and identified it as a coyote. Sgt. Gillis contacted 911 and NYPD responded. NYPD spotted one of the animals and confirmed it was a coyote. The one coyote that was seen by NYPD and Sgt. Galan went behind the CEPSR build and it is believed exited the campus. An additional sighting by facilities was called in to base at approximately 1000 hours this morning. The undersigned responded and was unable to confirm the sighting. Patrol units were advised if they see any possible coyotes while on patrol to notify the base and maintain a visual but not to approach the animal. For Your Information, Sgt. Oakley I would like to take this moment to point out that, while being raised in Kansas, I never once spotted a coyote.
Government-sponsored Skullduggery posted on February 8, 2010 - 7:19pm
Cliff Stoll (who helped catch a ring of computer hackers/Soviet spies in the 1980s) and Jonathan Zittrain (principle investigator at the OpenNet Initiative) are speaking at Harvard’s Berkman Center tonight. Subject: When Countries Collide Online: Internet Spies, Cyberwar, and Government-sponsored Skullduggery. I’ll be sequestered in the industrial-sized kitchen of my co-op, chopping vegetables to make stir fry for my 27 roommates, but if you’re free, check out the live webcast at 6pm EST to find out how governments are using the Internet, how far their online spying has gone, and what the legal implications of state sponsored network espionage might be.
A Song for Kansas Day posted on January 29, 2010 - 11:55pm
Wandering children of Kansas away, By mountain, by desert, or sea, Feasting or fasting, at prayer or at play, Whatever your fortunes may be, Open the doors of your hearts to the breeze, Prairie wind never are still, Hark to the surf in the cottonwood trees, The breakers that boom on the hill. Open your soul’s windows–let in the sun– The prairie sun gay with delight. Where’er your wandering pathways have run, Come home tonight. Come home where Kansas lies under the stars Twinkling back beauty and joy; Come and let homely love poultice your scars, Leave off your restless employ. Come home where summer winds billow the wheat, Where golden tides cover the sands; Come–let your heart’s longings hasten your feet And home love unfetter your hands. Come where the tawny sunflower eagerly bends A tawny frank face to the light, So do our hearts seek the joy of old friends– Come home tonight.— William Allen White, “A Song for Kan
Live from DC: “21st Century Statecraft” posted on January 21, 2010 - 5:44pm
I’m liveblogging Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom at The Morningside Post. You can follow along over there or below: 21st Century Statecraft
Global Voices: So much more than a blog. posted on January 8, 2010 - 6:11pm
I am proud to share a birthday with Global Voices Online (December 11 — mark it in your calendars, ladies and gentlemen). I celebrated my 25th with friends and ungodly amounts of cheese, while GV celebrated its fifth with a series of wonderful retrospectives. Me?  I’ve been holding off on writing my Global Voices anniversary post for the silliest of reasons: On the left is me, a bit disheveled after ziplining through the Atitlán Nature Reserve near Panajachel, Guatemala. On the right is Jeremy Clarke, who, in addition to being rather fetching in an orange helmet, happens to be both the first person in years to convince me to publicize my Facebook relationship status and the code and design wizard for Global Voices.