Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a
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EthanZ's musings on Africa, media and international development
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EthanZ's musings on Africa, media and international development
links for 2010-09-02
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 02/09/2010 - 11:02pm
Comparing Approaches to Information Filtering for Relevance by @ScepticGeek Useful taxonomy of strategies to determine relevance within different search and serendipity structures. (tags: serendipity search information influence social socialmedia filtering algorithms) Mapping Startups & Services Filtering For Relevance In A Matrix by @ScepticGeek Useful post. Suggests thinking about information discovery services in terms of two [...]
Comparing Approaches to Information Filtering for Relevance by @ScepticGeek Useful taxonomy of strategies to determine relevance within different search and serendipity structures. (tags: serendipity search information influence social socialmedia filtering algorithms) Mapping Startups & Services Filtering For Relevance In A Matrix by @ScepticGeek Useful post. Suggests thinking about information discovery services in terms of two [...]
Crisis Commons, and the challenges of distributed disaster response
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 02/09/2010 - 5:52pm
Heather Blanchard, Noel Dickover and Andrew Turner from Crisis Commons visited the Berkman Center Tuesday to discuss the rapidly growing technology and crisis response space. Crisis Commons, Andrew tells us, came in part from the recognition that the volunteers who respond to crises aren’t necessarily amateurs. They include first responders, doctors, CEOs.. and lately, they [...]
Heather Blanchard, Noel Dickover and Andrew Turner from Crisis Commons visited the Berkman Center Tuesday to discuss the rapidly growing technology and crisis response space. Crisis Commons, Andrew tells us, came in part from the recognition that the volunteers who respond to crises aren’t necessarily amateurs. They include first responders, doctors, CEOs.. and lately, they [...]
Media attention and dysfunction – a recipe for political cynicism?
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Wed, 01/09/2010 - 3:28pm
I’m not very active in local politics. I follow international news more closely than the news of my hometown. In my defense, Western Massachusetts is a pretty sleepy place in political terms – this part of the state is so blue that the Democratic primaries tend to be the only elections that matter, and often [...]
I’m not very active in local politics. I follow international news more closely than the news of my hometown. In my defense, Western Massachusetts is a pretty sleepy place in political terms – this part of the state is so blue that the Democratic primaries tend to be the only elections that matter, and often [...]
Increased US engagement in Somalia – it’s a trap!
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 26/08/2010 - 4:32pm
This week featured ferocious clashes in Mogadishu between Somalia’s fledgling federal government and Al Shabab, an Islamist militia with ties to Al Qaeda. Al Shabab has declared a “massive, final” war on the fragile government and struck Tuesday with a deadly suicide bombing on a Mogadishu hotel used by the government to house ministers. Xan [...]
This week featured ferocious clashes in Mogadishu between Somalia’s fledgling federal government and Al Shabab, an Islamist militia with ties to Al Qaeda. Al Shabab has declared a “massive, final” war on the fragile government and struck Tuesday with a deadly suicide bombing on a Mogadishu hotel used by the government to house ministers. Xan [...]
links for 2010-08-25
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Wed, 25/08/2010 - 11:04pm
Trapped in the Anglosphere, we've lost sight of next door | Martin Kettle | Comment is free | The Guardian Powerful essay on "the anglosphere" and the ways in which the English language is limiting the political interests of UK citizens (tags: culture europe politics web language cosmopolitanism xenophilia disconnect)
Trapped in the Anglosphere, we've lost sight of next door | Martin Kettle | Comment is free | The Guardian Powerful essay on "the anglosphere" and the ways in which the English language is limiting the political interests of UK citizens (tags: culture europe politics web language cosmopolitanism xenophilia disconnect)
links for 2010-08-19
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 19/08/2010 - 11:04pm
YProductions Interesting mapping essay, with a good example on constrained urban environments by Chombart de Lauwe, who tracked the movements of a student in 19th century Paris (tags: cartography design mapping research paris qs) Articles / Personal Informatics Lab Bibliography of scholarly papers on Quantified Self (tags: data tracking qs informatics quantified reading) The Data-Driven [...]
YProductions Interesting mapping essay, with a good example on constrained urban environments by Chombart de Lauwe, who tracked the movements of a student in 19th century Paris (tags: cartography design mapping research paris qs) Articles / Personal Informatics Lab Bibliography of scholarly papers on Quantified Self (tags: data tracking qs informatics quantified reading) The Data-Driven [...]
Airplanes, Faith and Latent Networks
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 13/08/2010 - 11:25pm
Earlier this week, I met with Evan Paul, a smart urban planner just out of a master’s program at MIT. He’s working with colleagues on a new idea – “Global Planning Partners”, a nonprofit intended to help urban planners in the North work with planners in developing world megacities. And while I love and respect [...]
Earlier this week, I met with Evan Paul, a smart urban planner just out of a master’s program at MIT. He’s working with colleagues on a new idea – “Global Planning Partners”, a nonprofit intended to help urban planners in the North work with planners in developing world megacities. And while I love and respect [...]
Housekeeping and shameless self promotion
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 06/08/2010 - 2:04pm
You may have noticed that I’ve done some housekeeping on the blog. It was about time – I can’t tell when I last updated my blogroll – best guess is sometime in 2006 – but my homepage was evidently last changed in late 2005. I’ll be adding more links to the blogroll in the next [...]
You may have noticed that I’ve done some housekeeping on the blog. It was about time – I can’t tell when I last updated my blogroll – best guess is sometime in 2006 – but my homepage was evidently last changed in late 2005. I’ll be adding more links to the blogroll in the next [...]
Kate Crawford: mobile media and the art of noise
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Tue, 03/08/2010 - 6:57pm
Kate Crawford of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, is two years into conducting a massive study of mobile phone use amongst 18-30 year olds in Australia. The study, supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, continues through 2011, and is moving from a qualitative [...]
Kate Crawford of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, is two years into conducting a massive study of mobile phone use amongst 18-30 year olds in Australia. The study, supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, continues through 2011, and is moving from a qualitative [...]
Counting International Connections on Facebook
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 29/07/2010 - 4:37pm
My friend Onnik Krikorian has become a Facebook evangelist. Onnik, a Brit of Armenian descent, living in Armenia, is the Global Voices editor for the Caucuses, which means he’s responsible for rounding up blogs from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan as well as parts of Turkey and Russia. This task is seriously complicated by the long-term tensions [...]
My friend Onnik Krikorian has become a Facebook evangelist. Onnik, a Brit of Armenian descent, living in Armenia, is the Global Voices editor for the Caucuses, which means he’s responsible for rounding up blogs from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan as well as parts of Turkey and Russia. This task is seriously complicated by the long-term tensions [...]
links for 2010-07-27
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Tue, 27/07/2010 - 11:05pm
Greg's Cable Map Excellent, fascinating undersea cable map with ability to report faults (tags: cable cables connectivity maps infrastructure internet)
Greg's Cable Map Excellent, fascinating undersea cable map with ability to report faults (tags: cable cables connectivity maps infrastructure internet)
“Either you make films or make excuses” – ICT and the Nigerian film industry
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Tue, 27/07/2010 - 7:04pm
I’ve just spent two weeks giving lectures and workshops in five cities and three countries. Some were ones I’d planned for months, like the TED talk. Others were more off the cuff. And then there was our workshop on ICT and the film industry in Lagos last week. Promotional photo for Franco Sacchi’s film, This is [...]
I’ve just spent two weeks giving lectures and workshops in five cities and three countries. Some were ones I’d planned for months, like the TED talk. Others were more off the cuff. And then there was our workshop on ICT and the film industry in Lagos last week. Promotional photo for Franco Sacchi’s film, This is [...]
Highlights of our workshop on ICT and Elections in Nigeria
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Tue, 20/07/2010 - 9:09am
The past two days, I’ve been participating in the first day of a two-day event on information technology and government transparency in Nigeria. It’s a conversation that’s both timely, and also a bit late – decisions recently made in Nigeria mean that the upcoming presidential election will take place in January 2010. My colleages at [...]
The past two days, I’ve been participating in the first day of a two-day event on information technology and government transparency in Nigeria. It’s a conversation that’s both timely, and also a bit late – decisions recently made in Nigeria mean that the upcoming presidential election will take place in January 2010. My colleages at [...]
TEDGlobal: Surprises, community spirit, and a goodbye
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Sat, 17/07/2010 - 4:55pm
Our surprise guest on our final day is Julian Assange, founder and editor in chief of Wikileaks. (Okay, not a surprise to me – I had an enjoyable argument with him about singularity theory last night.) Chris Anderson, TED’s founder, interviews him onstage and talks through Wikileak’s mission, structure and history. Julian is in [...]
Our surprise guest on our final day is Julian Assange, founder and editor in chief of Wikileaks. (Okay, not a surprise to me – I had an enjoyable argument with him about singularity theory last night.) Chris Anderson, TED’s founder, interviews him onstage and talks through Wikileak’s mission, structure and history. Julian is in [...]
TEDGlobal: Dimitar Sasselov and the 100 million earths
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Sat, 17/07/2010 - 4:53pm
Dimitar Sasselov uses a recent event in history – the reburial of Copernicus with honors in his native Poland – as a way of discussing a major discovery in his own work. Like most of his contemporaries, Copernicus had been buried in a communal grave. Scientists found hairs in a book which they knew to [...]
Dimitar Sasselov uses a recent event in history – the reburial of Copernicus with honors in his native Poland – as a way of discussing a major discovery in his own work. Like most of his contemporaries, Copernicus had been buried in a communal grave. Scientists found hairs in a book which they knew to [...]
TEDGlobal: Stefan Wolff and learning lessons to stop ethnic conflict
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 16/07/2010 - 11:14am
Stefan Wolff is a scholar of ethnic conflicts and civil war. He tells us that, while there’s seldom good news when we talk about these topics, there are reasons for hope. Specifically, he’s hopeful about three factors: leadership, diplomacy and institutional design. There are certainly reasons to worry about ongoing civil war. Wolff reminds us of [...]
Stefan Wolff is a scholar of ethnic conflicts and civil war. He tells us that, while there’s seldom good news when we talk about these topics, there are reasons for hope. Specifically, he’s hopeful about three factors: leadership, diplomacy and institutional design. There are certainly reasons to worry about ongoing civil war. Wolff reminds us of [...]
Ze Frank: To Feel and Be Felt
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 16/07/2010 - 10:41am
Ze Frank is a very funny man. He’s also an extremely sweet and caring guy. And while his talk at TED features some of his classic collaborative web performances – the Earth sandwich, YoungMeNowMe – most of the talk is about recent projects that focus on our need to feel and to be felt. The star [...]
Ze Frank is a very funny man. He’s also an extremely sweet and caring guy. And while his talk at TED features some of his classic collaborative web performances – the Earth sandwich, YoungMeNowMe – most of the talk is about recent projects that focus on our need to feel and to be felt. The star [...]
TEDGlobal: Rachel Sussman photographs plants from before year zero
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 16/07/2010 - 9:14am
Rachel Sussman is photographing organisms that are more than 2000 years old. The project was inspired by Jamon Sugi, a two thousand year old Japanese Cedar at a remote island called Yaku Shima. The project is a combination of philosophy, photography and history, starting at year zero and working backwards. The project features wonderful species like [...]
Rachel Sussman is photographing organisms that are more than 2000 years old. The project was inspired by Jamon Sugi, a two thousand year old Japanese Cedar at a remote island called Yaku Shima. The project is a combination of philosophy, photography and history, starting at year zero and working backwards. The project features wonderful species like [...]
TEDGlobal: Jason Clay and a sustainable future through corporate collusion
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 16/07/2010 - 8:48am
(Clay’s talk is similar to the one he gave at the Aspen Institute last year, though that talk was more than an hour long and, obviously, was able to cover more territory than an 18 minute TED talk. Here are my notes on that longer talk, which Clay was kind enough to vet and correct…) WWF’s [...]
(Clay’s talk is similar to the one he gave at the Aspen Institute last year, though that talk was more than an hour long and, obviously, was able to cover more territory than an 18 minute TED talk. Here are my notes on that longer talk, which Clay was kind enough to vet and correct…) WWF’s [...]
TEDGlobal: Johan Rockström and resilience
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Fri, 16/07/2010 - 8:11am
Ecologist Johan Rockström begins by reminding us modern humans have just experienced “10,000 years of grace,” an interglacial period capable of supporting human development. He tells us we’re currently putting the planet into a “quadruple squeeze” through pressures of human growth and inequality (80% of climate impact from 20% of people), climate change (whether we [...]
Ecologist Johan Rockström begins by reminding us modern humans have just experienced “10,000 years of grace,” an interglacial period capable of supporting human development. He tells us we’re currently putting the planet into a “quadruple squeeze” through pressures of human growth and inequality (80% of climate impact from 20% of people), climate change (whether we [...]
TEDGlobal: Sugata Mitra, beyond Hole in the Wall
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 15/07/2010 - 4:42pm
Sugata Mitra tells us that there are places on Earth, in every country where, for various reasons, good schools cannot be built and good teachers cannot or do not want to go. And those places, as it turns out, is often where trouble comes from. In 1999, Mitra embedded a computer in a wall in a [...]
Sugata Mitra tells us that there are places on Earth, in every country where, for various reasons, good schools cannot be built and good teachers cannot or do not want to go. And those places, as it turns out, is often where trouble comes from. In 1999, Mitra embedded a computer in a wall in a [...]
TEDGlobal: Sebastian Seung mapping the connectome
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 15/07/2010 - 3:50pm
Sebastian Seung asks the room at TEDGlobal whether they are more than their genes. After all, genes seem like they have awesome power. They control our appearance and our vulnerability to diseases. But we think we’re more than our genes. He urges us to cheer “I am more than my genes”. Okay, so what are we. [...]
Sebastian Seung asks the room at TEDGlobal whether they are more than their genes. After all, genes seem like they have awesome power. They control our appearance and our vulnerability to diseases. But we think we’re more than our genes. He urges us to cheer “I am more than my genes”. Okay, so what are we. [...]
TEDGlobal: Stefano Mancuso and plant intelligence
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 15/07/2010 - 3:28pm
Botanist Stefano Mancuso sees something moving from the biblical story of the ark. “Where are the plants?” There’s a deep bias in human history that tells us that plants aren’t living creatures. We tend to say that the blue whale is the biggest living creature – it’s not. The great sequoia is far larger. Do we [...]
Botanist Stefano Mancuso sees something moving from the biblical story of the ark. “Where are the plants?” There’s a deep bias in human history that tells us that plants aren’t living creatures. We tend to say that the blue whale is the biggest living creature – it’s not. The great sequoia is far larger. Do we [...]
TEDGlobal: Heribert Watzke – We cook therefore we are
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 15/07/2010 - 3:12pm
Heribert Watzke isn’t a real popular guy with the raw foods crowd, I suspect. He theorizes that humans aren’t omnivores, but coctivors – we are the animals that eat cooked food. He asks us to smile at each other, and asks us to look at each other’s canine teeth. They’re pretty pathetic, not really useful [...]
Heribert Watzke isn’t a real popular guy with the raw foods crowd, I suspect. He theorizes that humans aren’t omnivores, but coctivors – we are the animals that eat cooked food. He asks us to smile at each other, and asks us to look at each other’s canine teeth. They’re pretty pathetic, not really useful [...]
TEDGlobal: Gero Miessenböck wants to control our brains
Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development a - Thu, 15/07/2010 - 2:46pm
Gero Miessenböck tells us he has a dopplegander – Dr. Gero from Dragonball Z. This sinister character has his skull removed and can control things with his brain. And Miessenböck believes we can control the brain through light. But that’s where the resemblance stops – Miessenböck promises he’s doing this to learn, not to build [...]
Gero Miessenböck tells us he has a dopplegander – Dr. Gero from Dragonball Z. This sinister character has his skull removed and can control things with his brain. And Miessenböck believes we can control the brain through light. But that’s where the resemblance stops – Miessenböck promises he’s doing this to learn, not to build [...]