Archive for April, 2008
Paradise Dreams
Saturday, April 26th, 2008Over the last few years, investment in Vanuatu has boomed. It’s been estimated that the amount of cash in the economy is increasing by an astounding 150% per year. Compare that with the period between 1990 and 2004, when economic activity grew more slowly than the population.
But for most of the residents of this so-called [...]
A National Plan
Friday, April 25th, 2008I have a confession to make. I’m a snob. At least, I am where technology is concerned. Okay, maybe I’m not the type to cross the street when I see someone with last year’s doohickey du jour. But I do notice when your smart phone looks (or acts) like a brick. I can tell at [...]
The Soft Computer
Thursday, April 17th, 2008Let’s forget about technology for a moment. Let’s quit thinking about contraptions that rattle more than they hum, often alarmingly. Let’s not talk about technology at all.
Let’s talk about people instead.
‘What a piece of work is a man!’ says Hamlet. ‘How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and [...]
Fix This and Tell Me When You’re Done
Monday, April 14th, 2008[First written in February of 2004. I'm reposting it here for posterity, and because it came up in conversation earlier today. There've been a few serious attacks against expats recently, including a murder and a particularly brutal rape. The perception among some is of a sudden uptick in violent crime. I recounted this story to [...]
Au Péché Mignon
Monday, April 14th, 2008[Editor's note: The author was afflicted at the time of writing with a pinched radial nerve, which has led to chronic pain in his right hand. As a result, he has left off his normal florid prose to write in the concise 'telegraphic prose' of the young Earnest Hemingway. We apologise for the inconvenience.]
[Editor's other [...]
Uncommon Sense
Thursday, April 10th, 2008Throughout history, the distance between technology and society has been a defining characteristic of nations, empires and peoples. While it’s tempting to say that the most technologically sophisticated societies represent the pinnacle of human achievement, that’s not necessarily true. Some would argue that keeping social values paramount and learning how to adapt technology to human [...]
The Pacific Economic Survey
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008Earlier this week, Australia unveiled the Pacific Economic Survey here in Port Vila. Present for the event was a delegation from all around the Pacific Region, including Melanesia and Polynesia as well as senior politicians from Australia. AUSAid’s chief economist was also there to present the findings.
The report is the first of a series of [...]
Power and Politics - a Sketch
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008I had the privilege this week of being asked to take some photographs at the Vanuatu unveiling of the Pacific Economic Survey. The event was attended by two Australian Parliamentary Secretaries and by a number of fairly senior individuals in Vanuatu. The photos I took will be collected here.
I was proudest of the photo above. [...]
Yahoo! Confirms MS Merger, Name Change
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008April 1, 2008
Sunnyvale, California
Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang told reporters today that the board of directors of Yahoo! Inc. had met earlier that morning and agreed to the sale of the company at a price of USD 66.6 Billion. Yang took the opportunity to defuse speculation about what this move means for the company.
Said Yang, “Honestly, [...]