Archive for October, 2008
The Happiest Place…
Monday, October 27th, 2008So there we are. There’s any amount of things that I could moan about, and not without cause, either. But when I start to, I’m forced to admit that yes, we are behind, but yes, we are making progress. Sometimes it’s not enough and it’s never fast enough, but step by step, like the little engine that could, Vanuatu keeps climbing up that hill.
Flickr: Flunkr
Monday, October 27th, 2008About once a month or so, I’m tempted to dump 25 bucks on Flickr to upgrade to a ‘Pro’ account, just so I can plop more than 200 photos into that particular bucket. I admit I’ve been on the cusp a couple of times.
But I never do. The plain fact is that Flickr is a terrible photo viewing interface.
Form and Function
Friday, October 24th, 2008As a computer geek, I’m supposed to be suffused with enthusiasm and excitement over the features of the latest software. By rights, I should be the one carrying the techno-tablets down from the mountain, telling you how the latest in frobnalising effemitry is going to change everyone’s life. I’m the one supposed to show you where to sign up and what to do with it once you’ve got it.
I have a confession to make: I hate most software.
What Heroes are Made of
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008Right to the core, Alfredo Reinado was a soldier. He used the only tools he knew to wrest concessions from a world that was too subtle, too fundamentally impure to allow his dreams of liberation to survive.
Tales of the North Atlantic
Friday, October 17th, 2008[Originally published in the Vanuatu Daily Post’s Weekender Edition.]
Tawi blong mi;
I write to you from the enthralling, magical island of Manhattan. This jewel of the North Atlantic is a marvelous place. It is visited by all the races of the world. They are drawn by its legendary abundance and wealth. Here, one can achieve one’s [...]
Our Greatest Wealth
Friday, October 17th, 2008A number of recent developments have moved us closer to having computers in the home than ever before. Cost reductions in broadband Internet combined with the availability of more robust, low-power computers are finally putting everyday Internet within reach of at least 30% of population of Vanuatu. And things are only going to get better from here.
A Flower in the Dust
Saturday, October 11th, 2008Timor-Leste is saving its own life, with little insight or assistance from the outside world. But like a bright flower in an arid land, this sudden outburst of life is an arresting sight. Or would be, if the world would stop to look.
The View From There
Saturday, October 11th, 2008[This week's Communications column for the Vanuatu Independent.]
I spent a couple of weeks last month in Timor-Leste, the world’s youngest nation. I’d gone to lend a hand to civil society there, to apply a few of the lessons learned in Vanuatu to the communications needs of this nascent nation.
The lessons learned were mostly mine.
Five years [...]