Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Taran Rampersad]

I agree, Jacky, but the problem of broadband penetration is a matter of 
cost and telecommunications regulation. This has been mentioned more 
than once at the CARICOM Internet Governance meetings, as an example - 
meanwhile the mobile phone subverts this by allowing voice and text 
communication as well as, in some cases, internet access.

At the end of the day, it isn't about gadgets. It's about policy and costs.

(As a subnote - good to see someone from Haiti here!)

Jacky wrote:
> I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; however,
> there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband penetration.
>
> Jacky Poteau
> Haiti
>   
--
Taran Rampersad
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.knowprose.com
http://www.your2ndplace.com
http://www.opendepth.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/

"Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - 
Nikola Tesla

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Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Jacky]

I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; however,
there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband penetration.

Jacky Poteau
Haiti

On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 9:05 PM, Bijaya Satapathy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Mobile phone now-a-days is the latest ICT gadgets that truly bridges the
> digital divide in society.
>
> The marvel of this product incorporated with IP-technology will let anyone
> communicate in Data, Voice, Fax, Audio, Viodeo mode Freely across the
> world.
>
> Thanking you,
>
> B.K.Satapathy
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 6:50 PM, Taran Rampersad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > I'm really feeling sorry for the dead horse I've been beating, but it
> > seems it needs to run a few more laps. That would be mobile phone - the
> > future of computing is being discussed on another email list I
> > participate on with the changed context that the mobile phone brings.
> >
> > In essence, the PC doesn't really know it's dead yet - partly because it
> > isn't dead *yet* and also because no one really seems to understand how
> > the market is changing. The mobile phone has forever changed the
> > landscape - even gaining special mention in the UNESCO report brought
> > out this year. If anything, the mobile phone is accidentally closing the
> > digital divide. After all, it's ubiquitous even in nations that are
> > pretty good at avoiding change (i.e., the developing world).
> >
> > That said, I have yet to see how disseminating information on bed
> > netting on the Internet helps with dengue and malaria - and the same
> > applies to irrigation (which I have been doing myself lately). Bed
> > netting is a fact of life that many people grow up with - the true
> > problem is *affording* it. Irrigation is a common sense use of science
> > which varies upon application, so it doesn't translate well to the web
> > until you can upload topography and soil type data and assure that the
> > results are near perfect.
> >
> > No, maybe simply participating in discussion is the first step. Thus,
> > the mobile phone. The truth is that the developing world doesn't need
> > PCs as much as it needs better mobile phones and telecommunications
> > regulation. Importing PCs into developing nations that have no legal or
> > other infrastructure for disposal only pollutes developing nations that
> > need the very fertile soil that is being polluted. The same applies to
> > mobile phones as well, unfortunately.
> >
> > What we need to do, IMHO, is stop playing with the tiger's tail if we
> > have no plans for dealing with the teeth.
> >
> > Steve Eskow wrote:
> > > Is it the hardware and software divide that is our central concern
> here,
> > our
> > > goal to get as many computer per capita over there as we have here? Or
> is
> > > our goal the information and knowledge divide, with the computer the
> > > intermediary that gets the information about irrigation and bed netting
> >  and
> > > the alternatives to kerosene lighting to the people who need it?
> > >
> > > If it's the latter, we might aim to get one computer to a poor rural
> > > village, train one literate person in its use, and have him or her get
> > the
> > > information about irrigation and kerosene and bed netting to the people
> > who
> > > need it, perhaps using community radio as the disseminator.
> > >
> > > Is that one way of easing the "digital divide"?
> > >
> > > Steve Eskow
> > >
> > --
> > Taran Rampersad
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > http://www.knowprose.com
> > http://www.your2ndplace.com
> > http://www.opendepth.com
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/
> >
> > "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
> > "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine."
> -
> > Nikola Tesla
> >
> > ___
> > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
> > DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
> > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
> > To unsubscribe, send a message to
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the
> body of the message.
> >
>
>
>
> --
> e-Orissa
> Bhubaneswar,India.
> Cell:91-9861128546
> ___
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> http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
> To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] the word UNSUBSCRIBE in 
> the body of the message.
>



-- 
Jacky Poteau, MSW, MCP
President, FATEM
www.fatem.org
Voicemail: 1-866-98-FATEM (983-2836)
Skype name: jackypoteau
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Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Bijaya Satapathy]

Mobile phone now-a-days is the latest ICT gadgets that truly bridges the
digital divide in society.

The marvel of this product incorporated with IP-technology will let anyone
communicate in Data, Voice, Fax, Audio, Viodeo mode Freely across the world.

Thanking you,

B.K.Satapathy


On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 6:50 PM, Taran Rampersad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I'm really feeling sorry for the dead horse I've been beating, but it
> seems it needs to run a few more laps. That would be mobile phone - the
> future of computing is being discussed on another email list I
> participate on with the changed context that the mobile phone brings.
>
> In essence, the PC doesn't really know it's dead yet - partly because it
> isn't dead *yet* and also because no one really seems to understand how
> the market is changing. The mobile phone has forever changed the
> landscape - even gaining special mention in the UNESCO report brought
> out this year. If anything, the mobile phone is accidentally closing the
> digital divide. After all, it's ubiquitous even in nations that are
> pretty good at avoiding change (i.e., the developing world).
>
> That said, I have yet to see how disseminating information on bed
> netting on the Internet helps with dengue and malaria - and the same
> applies to irrigation (which I have been doing myself lately). Bed
> netting is a fact of life that many people grow up with - the true
> problem is *affording* it. Irrigation is a common sense use of science
> which varies upon application, so it doesn't translate well to the web
> until you can upload topography and soil type data and assure that the
> results are near perfect.
>
> No, maybe simply participating in discussion is the first step. Thus,
> the mobile phone. The truth is that the developing world doesn't need
> PCs as much as it needs better mobile phones and telecommunications
> regulation. Importing PCs into developing nations that have no legal or
> other infrastructure for disposal only pollutes developing nations that
> need the very fertile soil that is being polluted. The same applies to
> mobile phones as well, unfortunately.
>
> What we need to do, IMHO, is stop playing with the tiger's tail if we
> have no plans for dealing with the teeth.
>
> Steve Eskow wrote:
> > Is it the hardware and software divide that is our central concern here,
> our
> > goal to get as many computer per capita over there as we have here? Or is
> > our goal the information and knowledge divide, with the computer the
> > intermediary that gets the information about irrigation and bed netting
>  and
> > the alternatives to kerosene lighting to the people who need it?
> >
> > If it's the latter, we might aim to get one computer to a poor rural
> > village, train one literate person in its use, and have him or her get
> the
> > information about irrigation and kerosene and bed netting to the people
> who
> > need it, perhaps using community radio as the disseminator.
> >
> > Is that one way of easing the "digital divide"?
> >
> > Steve Eskow
> >
> --
> Taran Rampersad
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> http://www.knowprose.com
> http://www.your2ndplace.com
> http://www.opendepth.com
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/
>
> "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
> "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." -
> Nikola Tesla
>
> ___
> DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
> DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
> http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
> To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] the word UNSUBSCRIBE in 
> the body of the message.
>



-- 
e-Orissa
Bhubaneswar,India.
Cell:91-9861128546
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Re: [DDN] Fwd: Web 2.0 leaves out people with disabilities

[Xavier Leonard]

One thought that I've been spinning out lately really points out the
irony of this discussion.  I've been thinking about the debt that Web
2.0 technologies (really, the web itself) owe to people with
disabilities and how the general success of Web 2.0 validates a
Universal Design approach.  Here are the bread crumbs:

many web 2.0 technologies employ xml >>  xml evolved from  sgml >>
one Charles Goldfarb's main motivations for developing sgml was to
make books more accessible to people with visual disabilities.

a little more about this (very little, unfortunately) can be found in
this Goldfarb bio: http://www.sgmlsource.com/press/CGbioFull.htm

Since I'm a big fan of both XML and Universal Design, I've found this
natural correspondence between markup language and accessibility
interesting for awhile now...

On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 3:10 AM, Claude Almansi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi All
>
> About universal design: an interesting collaboration between advocates
> of universal design  for both real-life and online accessibility has
> started in Italy in the last week, around Santiago Calatrava's bridge
> shortly to be opened in Venice (1).  The associations of people with
> disabilities had been protesting against the inaccessibility for
> people in wheelchairs and for low-sighted people of the project since
> 2003.  In May 2008, Caltrava himself issued a press release (2)
> putting the responsibility for the inaccessibility on the Commune of
> Venice's adaptation of his project.
>
> Then Roberto Scano, acomputer accessibility specialist, took up the
> issue in his blog (3)  about a week ago because the mayor of Venice
> wanted to have the bridge  inaugurated in the presence of the
> President of the Italian republic on Sept. 18, and the traditional
> media took it up: such a solemn inauguration of something that
> violates the Italian constitution and accessibility laws is a bad
> idea. Then the right hon. Cacciari gave in about the inauguration, but
> fueled the discussion further by accusing the disabled people's
> associations of "harming" the city by their objections.
>
> Now such a collaboration is not as obvious as might seem, because of
> the different needs of people with different disabilities, and because
> of the different technologies involved in online and real-life
> accessibility (4). But as Roberto Ellero pointed out in  "Venezia,
> ponte di Calatrava, il ponte che divide" (5), the common denominator
> is universal design:
>
> "some analogies can be seen, if you have been dealing with these
> issues for some years, be it on the Web or in the physical world:
> there are analogies between architectural and digital obstacles. There
> are also analogies in the ways problems get solved, and in the defects
> in these attempts to solve problems. One immediately obvious example
> is the fact that the best, most efficient way to produce a work – be
> it a Web video or site, or be it a bridge or a work of architecture –
> a work that is is harmonious, complete and doesn't discriminate
> anyone.
> This way is accessible planning, i.e. a planning that keeps
> accessibility in mind and respects the principles of "Design for all".
> (...) this analogy between both worlds is confirmed by the fact that
> an a posteriori adaptation, as the "egg-way" (6) in the case of
> Calatrava's bridge, produces two parallel worlds but does not unite
> them – just as with parallel Web sites made to offer an alternative
> path for people with disabilities. How often have we chanced upon
> alternative Web sites that ask the user: "Are you are you non-disabled
> or non-seeing?", and if the person answers: "I'm non-seeing", she or
> he gets invited to a different viewing, to a different path from the
> one used by seeing people."
>
> Design-for-all or universal design might not be feasible in all cases,
> but it should certainly be striven at.
>
> Best
>
> Claude
>
> (1) I tried to post something about it earlier but didn't even get the
> "waiting for moderation" message, so there probably was a glitch.
> (2) "Statement From the Office of Santiago Calatrava: Quarto Ponte sul
> Canal Grande" 
> (3) see  - I also gathered
> these and some more links on the issue at
> .
> (4) For instance, in his comment to
> 
> [Calatrava: did we forget people with visual disability?], Franco
> Bomprezzi said "Actually, I had mentioned it in my open letter to
> Cacciari that Roberto [Scano] published here too (...) But it is true
> that common [run of the mill] accessibility culture concentrates on
> people in wheelchairs, and anyway the obstacles they face don't get
> eliminated either."  Yet as to digital accessibility, the "common
> culture" tends to focus only on visual obstacles...

Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Steve Eskow]

Hi Tom,
There is indeed the regular "default to technology" that you propose: we are
a nation of technophiles. And given the wealth of the rich nations, and the
role that technology has played in generating that wealth, the technophilia
is understandable, if misguided.

In education we've watched a parade of new technologies promising to
transform teaching and learning: the telegraph, radio, the telephone, film,
television. And now, of course, the enthusiasm for "21st century"
technologies, the computer and the cell phone.  So far, it would seem, the
new technologies have done little more than their predecessors to energize
and refashion learning.

New technologies do indeed create new spaces of possibilities. Bed netting
can indeed drastically curtail episodes of malaria. But how to move such a
technology successfully into a community that has lived without it raises a
long list of questions and issues that have to be addressed before the
netting can do its work: questions of culture and custom, finance, living
space, for examples.

Computers can indeed benefit education. But:. . .

Electricity, and paying for it. Servicing the computers, and who can do it.
Teaching with them, and who will teach the teachers. And so much more.

The "divide" is part of a larger "situation." If technology enthusiasts
haven't the patience and the skill to study and take into account the larger
situation which will surround a new technology, they can do more harm than
good.

Steve

On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 6:19 AM, tom abeles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> Hi Steve
>
> I think we are in agreement, though yours is, perhaps, more direct- my
> problem with preference for wordsmithing
>
> My consistent argument has been around the concern that within the
> development community there has been a proclivity to default to
> "technology", soft or hard. I really appreciate the ideas of Paulo Freire
> and folks in The Hunger Project. We did not get ourselves, as humans, into
> the mess that we have across our planet over night and we can not expect to
> work our way out of this with alacrity. What we contribute may not be
> understood or appreciated until long after we have disappeared. And, therein
> lies one of the problems in today's world where we expect the dark to be
> dispersed with the flick of a switch. Funding agencies need to see "results"
> and few can stay the course or are willing to do so. Similarly, few humans
> have the commitment, especially when they are faced with time/financial
> constraints and a cornacupia of options which they can "try on", like a
> designer watch. The other issue has to do with not knowing-not knowing if
> the "button pushed" opens the door to treasu
>  re six levels further on in the game of life or drops the treasure into a
> non-accessible tar pit.
>
> And that is why we have modern day keepers of the flames at Delphi, Oracles
> with the laptops and models rather than cast entrails, Tarot decks and
> horoscopes. And that is why liberal thinking persons embraced the fascist
> ideal of a benevolent dictator, Plato's philosopher kings.
>
> It is also why we default to technology. As I have pointed out before, the
> EU dumping milk on the market can destroy the livelihood of a woman who
> walks miles to try to sell her milk in a local market, CBI legislation and
> political pressure can allow dumped US agriculture to disrupt an
> "inefficient" farm network with concomitant consequences- something no
> technology can reverse. A rogue trader in the financial markets can send
> shudders through the entire world, as did the greed in the recent real
> estate markets in the US.
>
> I have seen families emotionally torn because they want their children to
> learn but if they are in school they can't work and work means food on the
> table for the entire family. OLPC?  Some folks, putting their kids to work,
> are committing the ultimate sacrifice of eating their seed potatoes.
>
> As a hard scientist, let me say that I love tech. It is a razor sharp
> two-edged sword and, like the magic wand of the Sorcerer's Apprendices, has
> potential for great harm in the hands of the hands of persons lacking in
> wisdom.
>
> The metonymic "digital divide" represents that mythical armamentarium
> equivalent to Batman's tool belt or some pharmaceutical formulary, more a
> mix of paliatives and placibos to avoid having to deal with the core
> problems facing humans ever since Adam bit into the apple of knowledge.
>
> thoughts?
>
> tom
>
> tom abeles
>
> > Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:49:35 -0700
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net
> > Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
> >
> > Tom and all,
> >
> > Your message suggests--to me at least--the need for discussions such as
> this
> > to go back to first principles from time to time.
> >
> > Are you right about the "unspoken belief" driving this discussion: that
> > "closing a digital divide is the sine qua non leveling the e

[DDN] E-Government

[Ilan Tsekhman]

Hello all,

My apologies for getting the monthly discussion topic out a few days  
late.


As you may know the UN recently putout a survey on e-government  
readiness amongst its member states. There is more information on the  
survey available at http://www.unpan.org/egovkb/global_reports/08report.htm 
  and the survey itself can be downloaded at 
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan028607.pdf


I thought this might be a good opportunity to discuss the strengths  
and weaknesses of e-government and whether or not the slower adoption  
of e-government technologies in certain countries is just another  
manifestation of the digital divide.


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[DDN] FW: [Systers] CRA-W CAPP Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop - Deadline Extended to September 9th!

[Molly E. Uzoh]

FYI.

The goal of the 2008 CAPP Professional Development workshop is to increase
the percentage of Computer Science and Engineering women faculty members and
researchers who reach the top of their respective career tracks.

Please explore/pass on.

Mary (Molly) Uzoh, CEO/Principal Consultant
Learning Right Technologies, LLC
P. O. Box 51616
San Jose, CA 95151
Phone: 408-649-5872, Cell: 408-826-2167
http://www.learningright.com

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carla Romero
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 2:25 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Systers] CRA-W CAPP Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop - Deadline
Extended to September 9th!


Greetings:

CRA-W has extended the deadline for Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop. Ple=
ase apply and/or encourage your colleagues to apply for this valuable works=
hop targeted at Associate Professors and researchers in industrial and gove=
rnment labs. Please feel free to distribute this message widely. Thank you =
for helping us spread the word!

Carla



CAPP Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop
Application Deadline: extended to September 9, 2008

CRA-W is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for t=
he
2008 CAPP Professional Development workshop.  The goal of the workshop is t=
o
increase the percentage of Computer Science and Engineering women faculty
members and researchers who reach the top of their respective career tracks=
:
faculty members by being promoted to full professor and researchers in
industrial or governmental labs by being promoted to the top of their
institution's technical ladder or by entering research management.

The Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop has been expanded to three tracks as
follows: Cohort of Associate Professors Project-Research (which focuses on
women faculty in research institutions); Cohort of Associate Professors
Project-Education (which focuses on women faculty in primarily teaching
institutions); Cohort of Advanced Professionals-Labs (which focuses on wome=
n
researchers in industrial and government labs).

As with previous years, the cornerstone of the CAPP workshop will be the
involvement of senior women, appointed as CRA-W Distinguished Professors or
Researchers, who will actively participate in the program as role models,
mentors, and advisers to the cohort. The project will build a community of
associate professors and senior labs researchers, providing them with
mentoring, leadership training, encouragement, and ongoing peer-support
activities. The highly interactive workshop will include a Professional
Development Workshop, a series of smaller meetings in conjunction with
technical conferences/seminars, and ongoing electronically-based support
activities.

The two-day intensive CAPP Professional Development Workshop will be held
November 14-15, 2008 at the Inn at Loretto, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

On-line applications and requests for travel support to the CAPP Workshop a=
re
now being accepted at http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/capp/. The
application deadline is September 9, 2008.

Kathleen Fisher, CAPP-L Co-Director
Joan Francioni, CAPP-E Co-Director
Susanne Hambrusch, CAPP-R Co-Director

To unsubscribe from this conversation, send email to
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[DDN] FW: [CLAStalk-list] webinar: underserved populations and new media use

[Champ-Blackwell, Siobhan]

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/741956532 - the link in the email below 
breaks. Try this one instead.
siobhan

Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, MSLIS
Community Outreach Liaison
National Network of Libraries of Medicine,  MidContinental Region
Creighton University Health Sciences Library
2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178
800-338-7657 in CO,KS,MO,NE,UT,WY
402-280-4156 outside the region 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://nnlm.gov/mcr/bhic/  (Web Log)
http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/siobhanchamp-blackwell (Digital Divide 
Network Profile)
 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail


-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 3:25 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [CLAStalk-list] webinar: underserved populations and new media use

 
 
Dear  Colleagues,

On Wednesday, September 24th 2008 at 3:00  pm (EST), The Office of HIV/AIDS 
Policy's AIDS.gov will conduct a 30-minute  webinar, "Underserved Populations 
and New Media  Use".  
I invite  you to join and listen as experts address:  Is there a "digital  
divide"? How are underserved communities using new media? How can we  use new 
media to reach underserved communities with HIV/AIDS  messages? The webinar 
will 
also include a Q&A  session.   
 

Speakers  will include Fard Johnmar, Founder of Envision Solutions,  LLC, and 
Alejandro Garcia-Barbon, Senior Technical Advisor to  IQ Solutions, Inc. and 
NIDA's  "Drugs + HIV > Learn the  Link" Campaign.  
 

Please  click _HERE_ 
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001c2SBSXYkInYJcKBJEv9J5DT9Dy2AqJECniWlo_vFE5987AOmme58MOGZUZuFoZGbAYUFnbcbU1p1edZEIBReB0_hoAbHZiuh_ZWrQ--VI19R7kgBcEWXz1A2BbTTcWh5GOouaD6weK0Rx-waMnYFMA==
 )  to  register for this free 
webinar. I also encourage you to  circulate this information among your 
colleagues.  If you have  any questions about the call, please contact Jennie 
Anderson 
at  [EMAIL PROTECTED] or  415-814-2407.
Regards,

Miguel  Gomez
Director,  AIDS.gov



**It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel 
deal here.  
(http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv000547)
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Re: [DDN] handicapped access ressources

[Taran Rampersad]

A.K. Mahan wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> Since Tamparand 
Taran Rampersad, thanks. There is originality in that particular use of 
my name which did bring a smile to my face.
> brings up the issue of Universal Design, here is a good 
> definitive refererence for people unfamiliar with this:
> The Canadian Human Rights Commission (2006) 
> /International Best Practice in Universal Design: A Global Review/, is a 
> fairly technical and practical document (e.g. how high should handrails 
> be, how much room a wheelchair needs physically turn around it, how much 
> space a computer terminal needs to accommodate a week chair, access 
> routes, saftety, etc., type of thing).
Interesting. I'd love to see a common standard for many of these things, 
but it can also lead down the path to bureaucracy of standards that 
results in things like ISO labeling of coffeemakers in the workplace. 
That can be self defeating...
>
> A number of good resources have been noted during this discussion.
> Is there a place were these are being compiled on DDN? (I would have 
> some to add for different aspects of disabled access, as well as some 
> contributions to architecture and design to promote, encourage, 
> stimulate and make create productive opportunities for women and girls 
> in the emerging knowledge society - both at home and via public access 
> spaces.
>   
I'm interested in what you think of the gender divide and how it can be 
changed by design - and it's an honest inquiry. I'm not sure I 
understand the problem, thus I am not sure I understand the search for a 
solution.

--
Taran Rampersad
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.knowprose.com
http://www.your2ndplace.com
http://www.opendepth.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/

"Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - 
Nikola Tesla

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Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[Taran Rampersad]

I'm really feeling sorry for the dead horse I've been beating, but it 
seems it needs to run a few more laps. That would be mobile phone - the 
future of computing is being discussed on another email list I 
participate on with the changed context that the mobile phone brings.

In essence, the PC doesn't really know it's dead yet - partly because it 
isn't dead *yet* and also because no one really seems to understand how 
the market is changing. The mobile phone has forever changed the 
landscape - even gaining special mention in the UNESCO report brought 
out this year. If anything, the mobile phone is accidentally closing the 
digital divide. After all, it's ubiquitous even in nations that are 
pretty good at avoiding change (i.e., the developing world).

That said, I have yet to see how disseminating information on bed 
netting on the Internet helps with dengue and malaria - and the same 
applies to irrigation (which I have been doing myself lately). Bed 
netting is a fact of life that many people grow up with - the true 
problem is *affording* it. Irrigation is a common sense use of science 
which varies upon application, so it doesn't translate well to the web 
until you can upload topography and soil type data and assure that the 
results are near perfect.

No, maybe simply participating in discussion is the first step. Thus, 
the mobile phone. The truth is that the developing world doesn't need 
PCs as much as it needs better mobile phones and telecommunications 
regulation. Importing PCs into developing nations that have no legal or 
other infrastructure for disposal only pollutes developing nations that 
need the very fertile soil that is being polluted. The same applies to 
mobile phones as well, unfortunately.

What we need to do, IMHO, is stop playing with the tiger's tail if we 
have no plans for dealing with the teeth.

Steve Eskow wrote:
> Is it the hardware and software divide that is our central concern here, our
> goal to get as many computer per capita over there as we have here? Or is
> our goal the information and knowledge divide, with the computer the
> intermediary that gets the information about irrigation and bed netting  and
> the alternatives to kerosene lighting to the people who need it?
>
> If it's the latter, we might aim to get one computer to a poor rural
> village, train one literate person in its use, and have him or her get the
> information about irrigation and kerosene and bed netting to the people who
> need it, perhaps using community radio as the disseminator.
>
> Is that one way of easing the "digital divide"?
>
> Steve Eskow
>   
--
Taran Rampersad
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.knowprose.com
http://www.your2ndplace.com
http://www.opendepth.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/

"Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo
"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - 
Nikola Tesla

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Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking

[tom abeles]

Hi Steve

I think we are in agreement, though yours is, perhaps, more direct- my problem 
with preference for wordsmithing 

My consistent argument has been around the concern that within the development 
community there has been a proclivity to default to "technology", soft or hard. 
I really appreciate the ideas of Paulo Freire and folks in The Hunger Project. 
We did not get ourselves, as humans, into the mess that we have across our 
planet over night and we can not expect to work our way out of this with 
alacrity. What we contribute may not be understood or appreciated until long 
after we have disappeared. And, therein lies one of the problems in today's 
world where we expect the dark to be dispersed with the flick of a switch. 
Funding agencies need to see "results" and few can stay the course or are 
willing to do so. Similarly, few humans have the commitment, especially when 
they are faced with time/financial constraints and a cornacupia of options 
which they can "try on", like a designer watch. The other issue has to do with 
not knowing-not knowing if the "button pushed" opens the door to treasure six 
levels further on in the game of life or drops the treasure into a 
non-accessible tar pit.

And that is why we have modern day keepers of the flames at Delphi, Oracles 
with the laptops and models rather than cast entrails, Tarot decks and 
horoscopes. And that is why liberal thinking persons embraced the fascist ideal 
of a benevolent dictator, Plato's philosopher kings.

It is also why we default to technology. As I have pointed out before, the EU 
dumping milk on the market can destroy the livelihood of a woman who walks 
miles to try to sell her milk in a local market, CBI legislation and political 
pressure can allow dumped US agriculture to disrupt an "inefficient" farm 
network with concomitant consequences- something no technology can reverse. A 
rogue trader in the financial markets can send shudders through the entire 
world, as did the greed in the recent real estate markets in the US. 

I have seen families emotionally torn because they want their children to learn 
but if they are in school they can't work and work means food on the table for 
the entire family. OLPC?  Some folks, putting their kids to work, are 
committing the ultimate sacrifice of eating their seed potatoes.

As a hard scientist, let me say that I love tech. It is a razor sharp two-edged 
sword and, like the magic wand of the Sorcerer's Apprendices, has potential for 
great harm in the hands of the hands of persons lacking in wisdom.

The metonymic "digital divide" represents that mythical armamentarium 
equivalent to Batman's tool belt or some pharmaceutical formulary, more a mix 
of paliatives and placibos to avoid having to deal with the core problems 
facing humans ever since Adam bit into the apple of knowledge.

thoughts?

tom

tom abeles

> Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:49:35 -0700
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net
> Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
> 
> Tom and all,
> 
> Your message suggests--to me at least--the need for discussions such as this
> to go back to first principles from time to time.
> 
> Are you right about the "unspoken belief" driving this discussion: that
> "closing a digital divide is the sine qua non leveling the economic (and
> hence all others) playing field"?
> 
> First: computers and cell phones--then food, clothing, shelter? First:
> economics: and economics will provide education and social and political
> reform?
> 
> Those of us who do spend time in the poor world are used to seeing a crop of
> computers in a school closet, or hidden behind a curtain: no one knows how
> to repair them, keep them running--or what to do with them when they are
> running.
> 
> Is it the hardware and software divide that is our central concern here, our
> goal to get as many computer per capita over there as we have here? Or is
> our goal the information and knowledge divide, with the computer the
> intermediary that gets the information about irrigation and bed netting  and
> the alternatives to kerosene lighting to the people who need it?
> 
> If it's the latter, we might aim to get one computer to a poor rural
> village, train one literate person in its use, and have him or her get the
> information about irrigation and kerosene and bed netting to the people who
> need it, perhaps using community radio as the disseminator.
> 
> Is that one way of easing the "digital divide"?
> 
> Steve Eskow
> 
> On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 7:15 AM, tom abeles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > I am not certain that I am in agreement with Maria Laura's definition which
> > appears to be tautological in nature.
> > I am also not certain that engaging in an intellectual reparte makes sense
> > in a list where the unspoken belief is that
> > closing a digital divide is the sine qua non for leveling the economic (and
> > hence all others) playing field.
> >
> > D

Re: [DDN] Fwd: Web 2.0 leaves out people with disabilities

[Claude Almansi]

Hi All

About universal design: an interesting collaboration between advocates
of universal design  for both real-life and online accessibility has
started in Italy in the last week, around Santiago Calatrava's bridge
shortly to be opened in Venice (1).  The associations of people with
disabilities had been protesting against the inaccessibility for
people in wheelchairs and for low-sighted people of the project since
2003.  In May 2008, Caltrava himself issued a press release (2)
putting the responsibility for the inaccessibility on the Commune of
Venice's adaptation of his project.

Then Roberto Scano, acomputer accessibility specialist, took up the
issue in his blog (3)  about a week ago because the mayor of Venice
wanted to have the bridge  inaugurated in the presence of the
President of the Italian republic on Sept. 18, and the traditional
media took it up: such a solemn inauguration of something that
violates the Italian constitution and accessibility laws is a bad
idea. Then the right hon. Cacciari gave in about the inauguration, but
fueled the discussion further by accusing the disabled people's
associations of "harming" the city by their objections.

Now such a collaboration is not as obvious as might seem, because of
the different needs of people with different disabilities, and because
of the different technologies involved in online and real-life
accessibility (4). But as Roberto Ellero pointed out in  "Venezia,
ponte di Calatrava, il ponte che divide" (5), the common denominator
is universal design:

"some analogies can be seen, if you have been dealing with these
issues for some years, be it on the Web or in the physical world:
there are analogies between architectural and digital obstacles. There
are also analogies in the ways problems get solved, and in the defects
in these attempts to solve problems. One immediately obvious example
is the fact that the best, most efficient way to produce a work – be
it a Web video or site, or be it a bridge or a work of architecture –
a work that is is harmonious, complete and doesn't discriminate
anyone.
This way is accessible planning, i.e. a planning that keeps
accessibility in mind and respects the principles of "Design for all".
(...) this analogy between both worlds is confirmed by the fact that
an a posteriori adaptation, as the "egg-way" (6) in the case of
Calatrava's bridge, produces two parallel worlds but does not unite
them – just as with parallel Web sites made to offer an alternative
path for people with disabilities. How often have we chanced upon
alternative Web sites that ask the user: "Are you are you non-disabled
or non-seeing?", and if the person answers: "I'm non-seeing", she or
he gets invited to a different viewing, to a different path from the
one used by seeing people."

Design-for-all or universal design might not be feasible in all cases,
but it should certainly be striven at.

Best

Claude

(1) I tried to post something about it earlier but didn't even get the
"waiting for moderation" message, so there probably was a glitch.
(2) "Statement From the Office of Santiago Calatrava: Quarto Ponte sul
Canal Grande" 
(3) see  - I also gathered
these and some more links on the issue at
.
(4) For instance, in his comment to

[Calatrava: did we forget people with visual disability?], Franco
Bomprezzi said "Actually, I had mentioned it in my open letter to
Cacciari that Roberto [Scano] published here too (...) But it is true
that common [run of the mill] accessibility culture concentrates on
people in wheelchairs, and anyway the obstacles they face don't get
eliminated either."  Yet as to digital accessibility, the "common
culture" tends to focus only on visual obstacles...
(5) Video (with captions and transcriptions in Italian and English) in

(6) The "egg-way" (ovovia)  "solution" is described further down in
the transcript in
.
Pictures of the ovovia project in
:
apart from the fact it doesn't address the obstacles for low-sighted
people,  if I were wheelchair-bound, I'd absolutely hate the idea of
being imprisoned in a kind of UFO thing gliding outside the bridge on
a single axis for several minutes - especially on a windy day.

On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 4:39 PM, Jayne Cravens
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Thanks to everyone who replied. Norbert Bollow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>>  >>I think this is a very important point:  Sometimes it takes only a
>>very small amount of (wisely-directed) effort to achieve victories
>>of local significance

[DDN] Another IT Policy for Pakistan? - CIO Pa kistan - Fouad Riaz Bajwa takes a look…

[Fouad Bajwa]

CIO Pakistan - Another IT Policy for Pakistan?
Fouad Riaz Bajwa takes a look…
September 2, 2008
Source http://cio.com.pk/2008/09/another-it-policy-for-pakistan/

For those who are still not aware, the Federal Ministry of Information
Technology and Telecom (MoIT&T), Government of Pakistan are still in
the process of redrafting the IT Policy for Pakistan. While this is a
step in more confused circular pattern, what does this mean for the
Pakistani CIO trying to plan his next infrastructure deployment?
The face of the IT industry is Pakistan is yet to receive another blow
of significant change in one more effort to boost its current state of
affairs of a lingering ecosystem. Let me share some perspectives.
Whether or not this revised policy will have a positive or negative
impact on the IT industry and general business, commerce and industry,
will be determined by its objectives, and current or future actions.

The IT Industry in Pakistan has been booming for the last decade but
at the same time, has been facing a continuous round of set backs over
time due to the changing shape of the shift in international social
and economic dynamics. One of the major markets that the Pakistani IT
business and industry has been catering to is the United States. The
US market has been giving various negative economic shockwaves first
in the form of the "Dot Com Bubble Burst" and the 9/11 disaster that
not only rocked Pakistani IT businesses but also significantly
affected the state of the world's developing economies. Now the US is
under the pressure of increasing oil prices, its global War on
Terrorism activities and of course now its economy facing a recession.

Amidst these shockwaves, the Pakistani IT industry discovered in
detail IT business opportunities in the fields of informatization,
automation and call center services both at the enterprise and small
and medium levels and estimated this market to contribute to the
income of our industry. Major consumers in the local IT market scene
emerged in the form of the Government of Pakistan and its constituent
departments as well as provincial level Governments around the
country. A large number of industrial groups, multinational companies
and the innovative banking and financial services provider segments
have been a major contributor to the local economy.

However, within the identification of a local market for IT and
outsourced services, Pakistan lost a number of large-scale IT firms
due to the shockwaves from abroad and only those firms survived that
had the backup and sought a constructive strategy to gain buy-in from
a plummeting economy. The local IT industry has also seen a
significant increase in revenues not by the software or hardware
industries but due to the foreign investment directed towards the
Telecom Sector de-regularization activity. Investors have established
business investment consortiums and clusters while stepping into
Pakistan from regions like Europe, Scandinavia, Middle East and the
Asia Pacific.

The local IT industry has been reporting significant gains in revenues
with evidence from the State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan
Software Export Board but are these gains a grand number to feel pride
in? Unfortunately not! It can be experienced from our close by
neighboring country, that some of their local giants have individual
yearly revenues far exceeding the total revenues derived by the IT
industry within both local and international markets. So where does
the problem lay? In a discussion with a representative from the
world's leading search engine and online advertising player, only one
company in India provides more revenues in online advertising then all
Pakistani companies combined. So what's the real problem?

The problem can be attributed to lack of strategic direction in the
national IT planning activities of course this is where an IT Policy
and its affect on the IT and general commerce comes into play.
National level IT planning also requires a very strategic direction
and focus. It has to be planned in such a way that all stakeholders
are present within the planning activity from the beginning so that
they may today or maybe tomorrow benefit from such a policy or even
the opportunities generated by technology. In order to engage the
stakeholders in an affective manner ensuring full diversified
participation from all sectors of society and economy, such as the
academia, public sector departments, private sector and civil society,
the Government has to use dual means.

First, the Government has to generate the capacity of its citizens to
embrace and engage technology and employ its uses in various venues of
life. Once this has been achieved, a culture of technology becomes the
driving force for a future IT industry development and growth. The
impact of such an industry has both social and economic affects as
technology becomes a daily life tool rather than simply a gadget based
fascination for its users. Now to explain Pakistan's ca

[DDN] World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for signatures

[Fouad Bajwa]

World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for
signatures (Benjamin Henrion)

Please sign and spread: http://stopsoftwarepatents.org

"
Considering the following:

  1. The issue of software patents is a global one, and several
governments and patent offices around the world continue to grant
software & business method patents on a daily basis; they are pushing
for legal codification of the practice, such as currently in New
Zealand and India, and via the misappropriation of Free Trade
Agreement instruments;

  2. Previous initiatives as the Noepatents.org petition (approx.
400 000) at the EU level are outdated (notably on the issues of the
central EU patent court) and not open for signatures anymore.

  3. Companies still view software patents as assets. They have
yet to understand that software patents should also be considered
liabilities, especially if they are in the hands of trolls.

  4. Time is on our side as litigation gets spread wide: Markets
learn the hard way that you may not leave reform to patent
professionals. Patent litigation is becoming wide spread in key
markets such as the financial sector, and will be more wide spread in
the software sector in the forthcoming years due to the number of
applications pending;

  5. The United States lacks a coalition of business and civil
society against software patents

   * The lobby gap makes Congress and Senate, the Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the Supreme Court
susceptible to lobbying from patent industries, holders and patent
professionals. American software creators have been intimidated by the
patent establishment and have failed to make themselves heard.

   * Companies affected by software patent litigation have been
lobbying for reform, but their advocacy for "quality" and "lower
damages" aims at symptoms rather than the roots of the problem.

   For these reasons,

   We declare the 24 September as the World Day Against Software
Patents, in commemoration of the European Parliament First Reading in
2003 with amendments stopping the harmful patenting of software,
guaranteeing that software programmers and businesses can safely
benefit from the fruits of their work under copyright law.

   A Global Petition will be launched which asks to stop software
patents, with some localised versions of the petition for specific
regions, such as New Zealand, India, United States and Europe. The
public will be invited to comment on the draft between the 1st and the
23rd September.
"

--
Benjamin Henrion 
FFII Brussels - +32-484-566109 - +32-2-4148403

-- 

Regards.
--
Fouad Bajwa
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Re: [DDN] Fwd: Web 2.0 leaves out people with disabilities

[Paperless Homework]

Jayne,

You raised a very pertinent points there and realistic. 

I think basically the ones that need help should also be the ones who help 
rather than waiting and wanting others to help all the time. They are the ones 
who know best what is needed.

This goes to many charities for such disable people also. You would be 
disappointed if you try to give them a fishing rod (tools) rather than a fish 
(donation) on many occassions(nearly 100% so far my experience) you get the 
cold shoulder with all kinds of excuses.

I tried on many occasions to give them the tools to create contents rather than 
just contents/or money well nothing happens.

Many want the easy way and many love to talk but no actions.

Alan



www.paperlesshomework.com

An elearning solution for rural areas where online/CDs cannot reach.



Get the latest happenings through paperlesshomework tool bar 
www.paperlesshomework.communitytoolbars.com

--- On Sat, 8/23/08, Jayne Cravens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Jayne Cravens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [DDN] Fwd: Web 2.0 leaves out people with disabilities
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" 

Date: Saturday, August 23, 2008, 10:39 PM

Thanks to everyone who replied. Norbert Bollow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>  >>I think this is a very important point:  Sometimes it takes only
a
>very small amount of (wisely-directed) effort to achieve victories
>of local significance.  This is particularly significant given that
>such relatively small, local victories are an essential precondition
>for having any hope of any large-scale trend-setting breakthroughs.
>
>>>For example, I would suggest that in any and all informatics
projects
>(not only web development, but also of purely internal informatics
>systems) the question should be raised whether accessibility concerns
>are taken into consideration, and if not, why not.

This is a commitment I would like to see everyone make -- for every 
online or tech-focused project you are on, ask, "Does this project 
meet the standards promoted by W3C? Will this online tool be 
accessible for someone who who has a sight-impairment? Someone with 
hearing impairments? Someone with limited hand movement? Someone 
using an assistive technology tool?"

You will get a lot of arguments like "I don't think we serve that 
many people who have disabilities" or "that would be too
expensive." 
You need to be prepared to address those arguments. Sites like 
http://www.w3.org/ and http://www.knowbility.org can help. But if 
just every person on the Digital Divide Network would ask those 
questions for any tech project they were involved with right now and 
in the future, commercial or nonprofit, imagine what an effect that 
would have.

-- 
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc 
Bonn, Germany

http://www.coyotecommunications.com

Volunteer Coordinator
http://www.aidworkers.net

www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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