[DDN] APT Calls for Restoration of TOP Funding
A Broadband Access Update from the Alliance for Public Technology Last spring APT and a coalition of non-profit organizations sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee supporting continuation of the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP). While the Senate recommended continued funding, the final conference with the House reduced the funding to $1.5 million to be used to shutdown existing grants. This means that no funding will be available for new grants in FY 2005; and, that no results or information will be available from the 169 grants now in the field. The Presidents budget for FY 2006 again recommends that TOP not be funded. Now is the time for the public interest community to take action to restore funding. APT will again be sending a letter to Members of Congress responsible for TOP funding. We urge you to contact your own Congressional offices to let your representatives know of the importance of this program to meeting the nation s broadband goals. To learn more about TOP, visit http://www.ntia.doc.gov/top/. fForwarded by Bonnie Bracey bbracey at aol com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Digital Divide' Narrowing Fast, World Bank Says
I've held off on this. *** Taran jumps in, sticking a 'Kick Me' sign on his back and arming himself with a sharp, pointy keyboard*** Some people read and write papers related to the Digital Divide. Riveting work in academese, and it's what other people in academia like - but it's not anything that really has an immediate effect. Then there are people who find a 'popular' problem, and deal with it. They become accidental stars because they are related to a particular issue that gains prominence. Then there are the people who live around everyday problems, and are aware of what is really happening within their own sphere of influence - and sphere of being influenced. Then there are the people who aren't on the list, don't know what a Digital Divide list, and so on. So I don't get a report that can claim that the Digital Divide is decreasing in any satisfactory way. Not only is the Digital Divide greater than one region or demographic, the Digital Divide is a abyss between to disparate groups of people - the technology 'haves' and 'have-nots'. And on either side of this divide, there are people who constantly feed the divide through either poorly funded or well funded ignorance. Then we have the people who fund things by requiring conformity to a system which segregates rather than finding common ground - and doing this on many different levels, through control of infrastructure through a technology-inspired legal system to simply dividing people by race, geography, culture, gender and things as arbitrary as the Bell Curve. ...Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - here I am, stuck in the middle with you... (Steve Miller Band) In a world where Moore's 'Law' is yet to be disproved - where the complexity of circuits increases by 100% every 18 months or so (I forget) - and an administrative system for dealing with the issues which requires at least 3 months to get a paper done - someone has the gall to tell me that there Digital Divide is narrowing fast because they've probably blundered into a ford of the Digital Divide, standing in the center of the river of water we define as the Digital Divide... possibly on a temporary sandbar built on the eddies and currents of seasonal rains in a distant land... Meanwhile, people who are technology 'haves' are only now beginning to explore technology that is at least an evolution of Moore's 'Law' behind. Even those like myself, who live in relative time - where a second with a pretty technology can be a second, but a second with a calculator seems like an hour... No. The Digital Divide is increasing, and it's happening even within the groups that discuss the Digital Divide. The WSIS seems to have found the least credible technology users from around the world, given them credibility through a soup of acronyms and a list of titles while providing funding for more acronyms, more titles. Verily, I believe that some of the people most in need of having a bridge across the Digital Divide are the very people at WSIS. This does not include all of them, by any stretch, but when the WGIG is made up the way it was and defined only after the nominees were selected... oh, there's a story to tell there. A sad story reflecting not only the organizational limitations of the WSIS, but the very limitations which reinforce the Digital Divide. And it's a mistake that the very people who are representing the poorer countries own nice cars, dress nicely and don't look twice at the slums in their own countries. It *must* be a coincidence. It could not have been planned. But when people sip cocktails together in Geneva, they don't talk to the people with blue collars - or the ones who can't even afford a collar. They reinforce themselves, their opinions... And they look around, and they talk about what they see - this is only natural. But they do not see the problems that are out of their perspective. I say unleash the general public on the web through content management systems and weblogs. It's the only way to challenge a system based on broadcasting instead of interaction. It's the only way actual discussion can take place. It cannot occur with people issuing unsubstantiated - and completely non-intuitive - press releases. It cannot occur without PEOPLE, and this is what the present system would have us think. -- Taran Rampersad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxgazette.com http://www.a42.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net Criticize by creating. Michelangelo ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] lower-case letters in email - an explanation - DDN style sheet?
Hi Jim and Phil Interesting discussion. The poet e.e. cummings wrote in lower-case before the internet. But Phil, you could go back further: alexandrinescribesbangedallthewordstogetherinlowercasewithoutpunctuationorspaces - not to save time, but because papyrus was expensive. Joking apart, I was just pondering on the style sheet for DDN communities: Titles Choose titles that are very clear, descriptive and specific. Be sure to capitalize the first letter of every word. Now capitalizing every word in titles is one English convention (even articles, prepositions, pronouns, though?). In several other languages (French, Italian, Spanish, (modern) Greek for instance), it would be wrong or look pre-20th or even pre-19th century. In German it would be wrong and confusing, because German capitalizes the first letter of all nouns everywhere, but only of nouns. So when writing in another language than English at the DDN communities, can we follow that language's use for titles? cheers Claude -- Claude Almansi www.adisi.ch ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] 'Digital Divide' Narrowing Fast, World Bank Says
At 12:57 PM -0800 2/26/05, Jim Vines wrote: It's time to wake up and come to grips that there really is an Illuminati or shadow government that really runs the world. The Internet is seen as a threat to the few hundreds (or a thousand or two) people that dictate government policies from behind the scene. Jim Vines [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jim, for two decades - maybe three? - I have called what you call The Illuminati -- The Whiskey Drinkers. I say they meet in London, New York and Washington, pull their strings and the rest of us twitch according to the tunes they dictate. Now, as a result of the Internet, there is a viable opposing force. I call them the Lilliputians. I have no doubt who will win the battle between the Whiskey Drinkers and the Lilliputians. My doubts are: How long will it take? I'm 62. Before they put me in the Marble Orchard, will I see if my prediction is accurate? But here's a much better question: What are the best ways to accelerate the work of the Lilliputians? John Hibbs http://www.bfranklin.edu/johnhibbs Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Folks, We may be preaching to the choir but those singing need inspiration as well. ;-) they seem to equate bridging the digital divide with the spread of mobile telephony, which strikes me as very misguidedSaying that the digital divide is being bridged rapidly makes no sense...because it suggests the job is done, let's not worry about it, and takes pressure off all these policymakers here in Geneva who are debating how to finance bridging the digital divide. This is exactly the point of the article IMO. Whoever planted the story was trying to set the agenda so those working diligently to DO SOMETHING to bridge the DD would be forced stop what they are doing and defend themselves. This type of misdirection is commnplace when dealing in a world of limited resources and extraordinarily powerful business/politcal interests who want to maximize their profits and or power at all costs. Conquering the DD is essentially a philanthropic effort, meaning you have to appeal to people on the basis of their desire to work for the greater good. Working with such high ideals in mind is not exactly the most popular activity among those who control the vast amount of financial an other resources. What those folks DON'T CONTROL is the intellectual capacity of people like-minded people determined to reach across the barriers to create new, more effective means for the sharing of ideas and ideals. I think it is a blessing that folks here get it and are willing to step up to the plate. I hope to be able to contribute in a more concrete fashion as we move forward. In the meantime, keep fighting the good fight... Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] ICT for African Countries Emerging from Risks
Dear Colleagues: I am seeking your suggestions, comments, collaboration and partnership for the following project. This is an individual effort but I want to expand the project and make it more productive. At the moment, I am more interested in finding volunteers, partners, advisers, database storage server or host, and potential donors. I strongly believe that ICT could jump start development efforts especially countries emerging from prolonged civil war, where institutions and infrastructures were completely destroyed including knowledge outputs. I am a Somali agricultural scientist and I'm putting together a project on the use of innovative ICT to recover and rehabilitate the lost Somalia's agricultural knowledge during the Somalia's civil conflict (14 years civil war). All the agricultural institutions and their associated knowledge were destroyed. OBJECTIVE: the main goal of the project is to fast track, document, and repatriate the lost agricultural knowledge scattered different parts of the world and eventually to create a widely accessible online knowledge bank which is not prone to man-made and natural disasters. The project might serve as a model for the reconstitution and preservation of agricultural knowledge in other African countries experiencing human-made and/or natural disastersA Resilient Information System. PREMISES: initial research and correspondences has established that duplicates of the lost agricultural knowledge and samples of indigenous crop genetic materials do exist in scattered locations (libraries and genebanks of universities, international development agencies, and private individuals, expats). I got hold good number of data for the last 2-3 months. TARGET AUDIENCE: the target group is intermediaries not the farmers and the generated information will be used for the planning and formulation of a sound agricultural rehabilitation programs for Somalia by the agricultural professionals, policy-makers, extension agents, development agents, and farmers in the long run. DELIVERY FORMAT: The knowledge bank will be in a format called Single Source Publishing (SSP) which allows the knowledge bank information to be generated in whatever form is required by the audience requesting its materials; delivered on the web, burned onto CR-ROM, or compiled to print. CALL: I invite all of you to be part of the daunting task and contribute to realize a running agricultural knowledge bank for Somalia. It requires the involvement of all us to make it happen. Please share your ideas, expertise etc etc. I am committed to do my best to establish an agricultural knowledge bank (past new information)...a system resilient to disasters. Please feel free to contact me with questions and suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks. -- Ahmed M. Dirie, PhD 4351 Hamilton Ave, Apt 3 San Jose, CA 95130, USA Mobile: 408-307-7223 Home: 408-866-6269 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] A newbie is speaking...
Hello altogether I am relatively new to this mailinglist (and to mailinglists in general), so you might ignore my netiquette-mistakes I am going to make (and my language-mistakes as well). I am from Switzerland and student of Social Work. At the moment, I conceptualize my final license-work at the University. For this reason, I faced the topic of Online Advisory Boards for young people (with problems concerning sexuality, apprenticeships, relationships, independence and so on). My research wants to find out which threats, opportunities and boundaries are actual for this new form of social support/help. The theoretical lense through which I want to consider my research is the Digital Divide Approach, so that's why I start my request right in here. I want to find out how sociodemographic conditions and conditions of the media Internet itself determine the coverage of Youths with advisory requests via E-Mail. A hypothesis may be that young people with good literacy are more likely to search for help online. Another hypothesis may be that young men do have a larger tendency to request for help than young women. Now my point of interest: Do you know basic scientific literature on the topic of the Digital Divide Approach? Who are the founders, the pioneers who invented/developed/conceptualized the approach? I am very very grateful to all of you for any little hint. Thanks Andy Andreas Kaufmann, Kirchgasse 4, 3312 Fraubrunnen web / www.weppworx.net // mobile 079 466 63 02 - Original Message - From: Yvonne Marie Andres [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Digitaldivide [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 9:48 PM Subject: [DDN] =SEEKING VOLUNTEER REVIEWERS for CyberFair Doors toDiplomacy [DEAR COLLEAGUES -- PLEASE HELP US GET THE WORD OUT] =SEEKING VOLUNTEER REVIEWERS for CyberFair Doors to Diplomacy: International Schools CyberFair 2005 - Prepare Unite *an online project design competition that focuses on the future AND . . . Doors to Diplomacy 2005 *an online project design competition to raise awareness about foreign diplomacy issues Would you like to: * have a positive impact on thousands of students? * be a part of a worldwide online collaborative project? * see amazing student-produced projects from around the world? Well, you can do all of the above by becoming an INDEPENDENT REVIEWER. Students (and their teachers) work tirelessly for many months on their CyberFair/Doors to Diplomacy projects. But their success depends on getting honest and reliable feedback from volunteer reviewers. Therefore, we invite adult members of the Education Community to review this year's project entries. Your reviews will be part of the official judging process. IMPORTANT: You must be able to devote a few hours from March 29-April 16 to review 4-6 web projects. Each site will take approximately 30-45 minutes to review. Because your review is an important part of the students' learning process, they will be able to view your review and comments. We encourage students to contact their reviewers to ask questions and discuss their project. Teachers report that this is a valuable aspect of this community review process.. One limitation: We assign you four projects to review. However, if you know any of the teachers or students in one of your assigned projects, you must contact us and we will give you a replacement project. If you would like to be an Independent Reviewer (and you are not already a CyberFair participant), please sign up now to become a reviewer for: International Schools CyberFair at: http://www.globalschoolhouse.org/gsh/cf/_cfm/revform.cfm or Doors to Diplomacy at: http://www.globalschoolhouse.org/gsh/doors/_cfm/revform.cfm We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions, please write to our help desk at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=. =.=. Global SchoolNet Foundation: Communicate, collaborate, celebrate learning! Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph:(760)635-0001 132 N. El Camino Real, #395, Encinitas, California, 92024 Global SchoolNet is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit education organization. GSN, a developer of online content since 1984, partners with schools, communities and businesses to provide collaborative learning activities that prepare students for the workforce and help them to become responsible global citizens. For more information about the services and programs provided by Global SchoolNet, please visit http://www.globalschoolnet.org Yvonne Marie Andrés, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Director Co-Founder, Global SchoolNet Foundation ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
Re: [DDN] 'Digital Divide' Narrowing Fast, World Bank Says
Hi Just wanted to say - the WGIG wanted to have consultations in other parts of the world (Africa, LAC), rather than Geneva, but the resources apparently were not forthcoming. Jacqueline On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 21:24:03 -0800, John Hibbs [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 12:57 PM -0800 2/26/05, Jim Vines wrote: It's time to wake up and come to grips that there really is an Illuminati or shadow government that really runs the world. The Internet is seen as a threat to the few hundreds (or a thousand or two) people that dictate government policies from behind the scene. Jim Vines [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jim, for two decades - maybe three? - I have called what you call The Illuminati -- The Whiskey Drinkers. I say they meet in London, New York and Washington, pull their strings and the rest of us twitch according to the tunes they dictate. Now, as a result of the Internet, there is a viable opposing force. I call them the Lilliputians. I have no doubt who will win the battle between the Whiskey Drinkers and the Lilliputians. My doubts are: How long will it take? I'm 62. Before they put me in the Marble Orchard, will I see if my prediction is accurate? But here's a much better question: What are the best ways to accelerate the work of the Lilliputians? John Hibbs http://www.bfranklin.edu/johnhibbs Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Folks, We may be preaching to the choir but those singing need inspiration as well. ;-) they seem to equate bridging the digital divide with the spread of mobile telephony, which strikes me as very misguidedSaying that the digital divide is being bridged rapidly makes no sense...because it suggests the job is done, let's not worry about it, and takes pressure off all these policymakers here in Geneva who are debating how to finance bridging the digital divide. This is exactly the point of the article IMO. Whoever planted the story was trying to set the agenda so those working diligently to DO SOMETHING to bridge the DD would be forced stop what they are doing and defend themselves. This type of misdirection is commnplace when dealing in a world of limited resources and extraordinarily powerful business/politcal interests who want to maximize their profits and or power at all costs. Conquering the DD is essentially a philanthropic effort, meaning you have to appeal to people on the basis of their desire to work for the greater good. Working with such high ideals in mind is not exactly the most popular activity among those who control the vast amount of financial an other resources. What those folks DON'T CONTROL is the intellectual capacity of people like-minded people determined to reach across the barriers to create new, more effective means for the sharing of ideas and ideals. I think it is a blessing that folks here get it and are willing to step up to the plate. I hope to be able to contribute in a more concrete fashion as we move forward. In the meantime, keep fighting the good fight... Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -- Jacqueline Morris [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.jacquelinemorris.com 868-680-1895 _ ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Parisian Wi-Fi Lessons
No keyboard problem here, since I'm using my own laptop... [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 2/27/05 8:24:06 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Ever since arriving in Paris yesterday, I've been baffled by the state of wi-fi here. When I checked into my hotel, I found a little wi-fi sign on the counter, which was good news, since I selected the hotel partially because Hotels.com said the place had wireless Internet access. But then I turned on my computer and opened my Web browser, only to discover that the hotel had the nerve of charging 25 euros a day for the privilege. That's more than 30 bucks to us currency-challenged Americans, which is sheer lunacy. So I briefly sunk into a cyber funk and wondered if I'd be able to tolerate being offline Andy, I had the same problem in the UK at an American hotel, even though I thought I had the solution. Ended up first buying a card to use the Internet and then going into London where I found some interesting Internet cafes. And the currency challenge was a problem to me .. guess the keyboard was ok? Bonnie Bracey bbracey at aol com -- --- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.tsunami-info.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com --- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
