Time for a Change
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009All of this is to say there are no obstacles to moving to Linux. But what compelling reason is there to move? Just one: Your children.
Top to bottom, Linux is based on a philosophy of community, exploration and learning, equality and respect. It is open to investigation and improvement virtually without limitation. You can encourage your children to explore a computing environment that’s safer, more open and largely free of charge.
Whether your child is a geek or not, there is no more powerful learning tool currently available to families in Vanuatu than a Linux computer with an Internet connection.
Noteworthy, Not Newsworthy
Sunday, October 11th, 2009Recent events, especially last Thursday’s tsunami warning, serve as a reminder just how fortunate we are. Within an hour of the alert being issued, news agencies the world over were contacting the Daily Post. Intent on the next human tragedy, they wanted to know: How much damage? How many dead?
The answer, happily, was that only one young girl was hurt when she ran in front of a moving truck.
Had a similar area in virtually anywhere else in the world been struck as we were by 3 earthquakes in quick succession, each in excess of 7.0, thousands, even millions might have suffered.
The simplicity of our existence – our lack of development – has in many ways saved us from the worst. If we didn’t have so little, we might have more to lose.
The Coming Change
Sunday, October 11th, 2009The expansion of Internet use is not likely to follow the rocket-like trajectory of mobile services, but it will hit quickly and run deep. Too deep for some, I fear. Having lived on the bleeding and the trailing edge of technology (sometimes both at once), I find the contrast between the two is enough to cause a kind of cognitive whiplash.
Heaven alone knows what will happen when it reaches the village.
The Change We Seek
Thursday, November 6th, 2008Every ni-Vanuatu knows what it means to be discriminated against in one’s own country. They know the trials, the travails and above all the tedium of building that more perfect union. Barack Obama’s election is not just a victory for people of colour, it is a victory of human ideals.