The government of Canada is working with IBM technology to sponsor a global online dialogue on urban sustainability called “Habitat JAM.” Under the auspices of UN-Habitat, the Canadians are hosting a 3 day virtual conference from December 1-3 that seeks to turn “ideas into action on critical issues related to urban sustainability” through engaging and…
Kofi Promises that the UN Isn’t a Threat to the Internet
Kofi Annan wrote an editorial in the Washington Post to address the “mistaken notion” that the United Nations wants to “take over, police or otherwise control the Internet.” “Nothing could be farther from the truth,” he maintains. In the editorial, the UN Secretary-General seeks to do damage-control to counter the US government’s and popular media’s…
$100 Laptop to Debut in Tunis
I just heard that Nicholas Negroponte of MIT Media Lab will be unveiling the $100 laptop they have been working on at the WSIS in Tunis in a couple of weeks! I’m quite excited to see the device and how it works. I blogged about the MIT “One Laptop Per Child” Project, as well as…
UN Launches US Radio Service
The United Nations yesterday announced that they have launched a new radio service for the United States market. Why they have decided to try and go after the American radio audience now is an interesting question. The news service can be found at http://www.un.org/radio/newsusa. According to a press release: Broadcasters can browse a selection of…
NY Times on Internet Governance
The New York Times yesterday published an editorial on internet governance and the WSIS. It basically supports the US government position that control of the root server resources should remain with ICANN under the supervision of the US Department of Commerce. In the editorial the Times expresses the same fears that transferring control of the…
Capturing a Moment in Time
I am enjoying a little holiday with my dad in the spectacular Yosemite national park. We are doing a photographer’s weekend, toting along our various cameras, tripods, and laptops to capture some of the amazing fall colors out here. It’s a great getaway. Cell phone service is almost non-existant here, but the lodge does have…
Video-on-demand rocks my world
I like music videos. I like movies. I like getting to choose when I watch them. So video-on-demand is a natural for me. I have Time Warner’s digital cable, and I have to say its a major boost to my quality-of-life index. I came home late last night after a party and wanted to watch…
Senator Coleman draws line in the sand on Internet Governance
US Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota a couple of days ago introduced a “sense of the Senate” resolution calling for the US to fight any efforts to turn over internet governance to the United Nations. His main argument is that turning over oversight of the internet’s structural resources over to an international body would mean…
Shirin Ebadi nominated by Civil Society to speak in Tunis
In a rare show of solidarity and unanimity, WSIS civil society groups have strongly recommended that Ms. Shirin Ebadi, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2003, speak on behalf of civil society at the opening ceremony of the WSIS in November. Ms. Shirin Ebadi is a staunch human rights defender in her country, its first…
Hit “enter” to exit
I had an interesting experience this afternoon helping an older woman navigate through the ngoevents.org website I had developed a few months ago. I was reminded that you can never tell where people will get tripped up by your site design. This is particularly true for a site being accessed by folks with various degrees…