Bright Simons profiles an ambitious new effort by software entrepreneur Herman Chinnery-Hesse to build a trade system linking artisans in rural areas to online commerce via a combination of SMS, web and online currency. Looking forward to learning more about Hesse's new "protocol" for online African trade.

Been meaning to read the first five books of the Old Testament? Been waiting until someone translated them into rhyming couplets? Wait no longer. My friend Seth Brown presents "From God to Verse", the Torah in rhyme. I'm not entirely sure why, but it's quite wonderful, and an easy way to get a dose of biblical text, one chapter per week, in verse.