My pal Tony Fleming sent me a link to a new blog he is running called “Who will be the next Secretary General?” Although the name sounds like a really bad reality TV show, in fact its a very informative and up-to-the-minute website tracking the selection process of the next UN Secretary General. Kofi Annan’s…
Should newspapers allow online comments?
CNET reports that the Washington Post has shut down one of their blogs due to profanity and personal attacks against one of their journalists. The shut-down raises interesting questions about newspaper and other media websites. Do these news sources have a civic responsibility to allow comments and criticism of their reporting? What kind of editorial…
Blogging guide for cyber-dissidents
The press freedom group Rapporteurs sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) has recently come out with a “Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents” that’s a great resources for bloggers, whether you are a citizen journalist in Iran or a non-techie wanting to set up your own online diary. The handbook begins with the basics — what is…
The International Language of Dance
There aren’t often events that combine my interests in the United Nations and dance. But on January 26 there will be a discussion with choreographer Bill T. Jones on “The Role of Modern Dance in International Dialogue.” It will take place at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at the UN at 12:30 pm. Sponsored by…
UN News Catch-up: new ethics office, e-racism, disabled rights….
I got a ton of e-mail from the UN news service this morning. Either a lot of stuff is going on, or their email blaster has been backed up from the holidays. (Oh, and a note to the UN editors: ALL CAPS means SHOUTING on the internets.) First up is the new and controversial Ethics…
CSTD – no, not that STD – meeting in May
I just got word that the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is having their ninth session from May 15-19 in Geneva. The unfortunately acronymed CSTD is a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council in 1992 to provide high-level advice on relevant issues through analysis and appropriate policy recommendations or…
Touring Manhattan from my web browser
Just found out about the “Virtual NYC Tour” website, created with obvious love and attention by Taher Baderkhan. Using Google maps, a GPS and a digital camera, Taher has created a cool way of exploring the Greatest City on Earth via the web. A Jordanian who came to New York in 1999, Taher has painstakingly…
Dr King on Technology and Social Change
This is what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to say about technology and social change: The trouble isn’t so much that our scientific genius lies behind us, but that our moral genius lies behind us. The means by which we live outdistance the spiritual ends by which we live. Amen.
Time to shut down the internets, it’s illegal to be annoying
News.com reports that President Bush just signed into law an act that makes it a federal crime to “annoy” someone on the internet if you do not divulge your identity. Where are we, China? Tunisia? Saudi Arabia? Cuba? No, this is the flipping United States of America. We as Americans have a God-given right to…
Will the Internet Governance Forum use the Internet?
Just got word that the Internet Governance Forum, the multi-stakeholder policy deliberation body that came out of the WSIS Tunis conference, will be having its first meeting from February 16 to 17 in Geneva. This is pretty short notice for lots of groups around the world to try and book flights and find hotels to…