Monthly Archives: December 2006

links for 2006-12-30

Posted on December 30, 2006 by Ethan

NAMING NAMES: The tech reporters who flack for Second Life – Valleywag Clay continues to pick at the subscription numbers behind Second Life. Would be interesting to hear a Wagner James Au response, or an official statement on numbers from … Continue reading →

Posted in del.icio.us links | 2 Comments

The dreaded “five things” meme

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Ethan

It was bound to happen. I’ve been enjoying finding out all sorts of fun details about friends like danah boyd, Matt Hurst and David Weinberger as they’ve answered the “five things people don’t know about me” meme. But Rebecca just … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 14 Comments

Learning how to hear global hip hop

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Ethan

Like many Americans, I am a monolingual idiot. English is the only language I’m comfortable expressing myself in, though I can function in Spanish-speaking countries and occasionally order breakfast successfully in French. While my monolingualism is an obstacle when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Developing world, Global Voices | 10 Comments

The Taiwan earthquake, and a reminder about network fragility

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Ethan

A recent earthquake off the coast of Taiwan has highlighted the fragility of telecoms cables and served as an interesting reminder that “the death of distance” is still one of those ideas that is still more theoretical than real. Much … Continue reading →

Posted in Geekery | Comments Off on The Taiwan earthquake, and a reminder about network fragility

Ethiopian liberators greeted with cheers and flowers < /sarcasm >

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Ethan

The headline on Les Neuhaus’s AP article from Mogadishu this morning announces, “Somalia’s PM greeted by cheers“. Reading three paragraphs into the article, the situation becomes a bit more complicated. While “hundreds of cheering residents” greeted the heavily armed convoy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 8 Comments

Ethiopian army seizes Mogadishu. Does anyone outside of the Bush and Zenawi administrations think this was a good idea?

Posted on December 28, 2006 by Ethan

(Apologies that I’ve been absent the past few days. Events in my immediate world have demanded more attention than events in east Africa…) What a surprise. I guess there were Ethiopian troops in Somalia after all. Ethiopia had strenuously insisted … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 11 Comments

Time’s person of the year: fat, ignorant and xenophobic?

Posted on December 24, 2006 by Ethan

Like David Weinberger, I’m very surprised to be named Time’s person of the year (along with you, and you and you). Like Rebecca MacKinnon, I see the choice of “you” as a vindication of the work that we do at … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Blogs and bloggers, Global Voices, Media | 5 Comments

links for 2006-12-23

Posted on December 23, 2006 by Ethan

Tehelka – The People’s Paper Shivam Vij’s very generous review of the Delhi conference and the global voices project as a whole (tags: globalvoices india) In the realm of fantasy – Sunday Times – Times Online excellent turkmenistan travelogue (tags: … Continue reading →

Posted in del.icio.us links | 1 Comment

links for 2006-12-22

Posted on December 22, 2006 by Ethan

Wired News: Bloggers Shrink the Planet Quinn Norton’s review of our third conference, with a focus on Sami’s Tunisian prison mashup (tags: globalvoices media) Global Voices on Internet Activism | PodTech.net: Technology, Business, Media, and News Podcasts A podcast by … Continue reading →

Posted in del.icio.us links | Comments Off on links for 2006-12-22

He’s dead. Good.

Posted on December 21, 2006 by Ethan

Turkmenbashi’s dead. As Blake Hounshell noted on Foreign Policy Passport, “He will be missed by approximately … nobody.” That’s not entirely true. The editors of News of the Weird, for instance, probably shed a tear or two. They will have … Continue reading →

Posted in Developing world, Human Rights | 3 Comments