Global Voices Online

Stories

Pop!Tech Goes International and Multilingual

David Sasaki · 23:05

lingua → pt · mg

It's the middle of October already and in much of the northern hemisphere sweaters are coming out of closets while yellow and red leaves spin their way down from tree tops to slick pavement. It's also that time of year in which 500 idea addicts from the science, design, and business worlds all descend upon the quintessentially quaint seaside village of Camden, Maine for Pop!Tech, an annual conference that touts itself as “a one-of-a-kind conference, a community of remarkable people, and an ongoing conversation about science, technology and the future of ideas.”

A conference to discuss the future of ideas is not entirely unique. Pop!Tech sits in good company with TED, Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival, Louisville-based IdeaFestival, and others. But what sets this year's Pop!Tech conference apart is its focus on free, multilingual distribution of conference presentations and the organizers' recruitment of bloggers from around the world to document the discussion in Portuguese, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, and Swahili. The hope is that, beyond documentation, the bloggers will serve as a bridge between the 500 conference attendees privileged enough to afford the $3,500 registration cost and the 1 billion plus users of the internet worldwide.

To help strengthen that bridge Pop!Tech partnered with dotSUB to provide an easy way for internet users to help subtitle and translate videos of conference presentations. Already eight of the videos have been subtitled in Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Swahili, Farsi, Arabic, French and Spanish. You can now watch Thomas Friedman talk about environmentalism and Bunker Roy discuss social entrepreneurism in Swahili, for example.

Among the polyglot bloggers who have been given small scholarships to attend Pop!Tech and reflect on their experiences, nearly all of them have been frequently featured here on Global Voices. Juliana Rincón (who held a successful web campaign to raise supplementary money for her costly trip from Colombia to Camden) is a veteran contributor here on Global Voices and also a leader of the Rising Voices project, HiperBarrio. She'll be covering Pop!Tech in Spanish at her personal blog, Medea Material. Blogging in Arabic will be Global Voices Middle East & North Africa Regional Editor (as well as Arabic Language Editor) Amira Al Hussaini. Though unable to attend in person, quintessential bridge-blogger Jacky Peng will be tuning in to the live webcast of the conference and reporting his reflections in Mandarin. Paris Marashi of the celebrated video blog This Iranian American Life will pen her thoughts about the conference in Farsi. Tiago Dória is official bridge-blogger for the bustling Portuguese-speaking corner of the blogosphere and Global Voices Sub-Saharan Africa Editor Ndesanjo Macha will be writing in Swahili at Jikomboe.

Given their shared penchant for all that lies between the intersections of technology, society, and business, it should come as no surprise that the once separate domains of elite, jet-setting conference-goers and always-connected bloggers are increasingly starting to look like the same crowd. Also unsurprising, both groups are learning from one another. Bloggers - stripped of their keyboards, Google-searching, and video-editing - come to realize the importance of eloquent speaking and face-to-face emotional connections. Conference organizers, meanwhile, have come to understand that the two to three day physical event is only one element of a larger process: sustained communication and collaboration. Ideas are wonderful things and have always been at the heart of slick annual summits like TED and Pop!Tech. But turning brilliant ideas into well-conceived and thoroughly committed projects is an art for which the tools of web2.0 are particularly well-suited.

The theme of this year's Pop!Tech conference is “The Human Impact” and the list of speakers promises for some innovative thinking on how human beings impact the world and how the world impacts us in return. But an innovative idea is often only as valuable as the distance it is able to spread. We'll be looking forward to the reporting and reflections of our blogging friends as they help us focus the global conversation later this week. If you would like an email reminder to tune into the livecast of the conference beginning on the 18th, you can request one here.

0 comments · »»

Arabeyes: Eid Al Fitr Celebrations (Part 1)

Amira Al Hussaini · 20:57

The Holy month of Ramadan culminated with Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations throughout the Muslim world. Here's what bloggers are saying about the occasion in the first of a three-part series. Today's tour takes us to Lebanon, Libya, Israel, Morocco and Iraq.

Lebanon:
With the Presidential elections coming up around the corner, the mood on the Lebanese blogosphere is sombre. But Dodi comes back to life, after a year's break, with this post which describes some scenes from Ramadan:

“Among other things, Ramadan includes fasting from dawn (around 5:00 AM at this part of the world) till sunset (around 6:30 PM). Along with the assumed spiritual experience, I think this would help us remember the poor people who cannot afford a decent meal; unfortunately, in the age of consumerism and entertainment, Ramadan is given a brand new meaning.
How would a day in Ramadan pass for the common person here?
If possible, people will try to sleep till noon during Ramadan to help avoid the hunger while being awake. So, I shall directly jump to the afternoon period.
Throughout the afternoon, all TV stations abuse the expected hunger of the viewers to dedicate a couple of hours daily for cooking programs and to teach people to cook new fatty dishes,” he explains.

For more on Ramadan in Lebanon, Dodi's post is a must read.

Libya:

From Libya, Khadeja Teri wishes her readers a happy Eid.

“We're ready for it. The clothes and shoes have been bought and are waiting to be worn. All that's left is a stop at the pharmacy to pick up Tylenol Extra Strength to help me cope with the headache I am sure to get from all the noise the kids will make. Maybe I should see about getting something stronger…” she notes.

Israel:

From Jerusalem, Desert Peace, laments the conditions of Palestinians, who cannot celebrate Eid because of the continued Israeli occupation.

“The Glorious Holy Month of Ramadan is coming to an end… ushering in the wonderful feast days of Eid-el-Fitr. A time for joyous celebrations with families, a time to feel completely renewed and refreshed.
That's how it's spelled out in the books…
Unfortunately in Palestine the book is written differently… families are divided, family members are denied entry to join in the celebrations, families are mourning their loved ones killed by Israeli forces,” he writes.

Morocco:
Moroccan blogger Laila Lalami brings us another aspect of the celebration, this time from the Big Apple. She writes:

Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim readers! This year, the Empire State Building will be lit up in green in honor of the holiday, and the illumination will continue through the end of the weekend.

Maytha, from Kabobfest also refers to the Empire State Building in her Eid greetings post and writes:

Okay, perhaps a more genuine proclamation of Muslim support-New York will be lighting the Empire State building green in honor of the Islamic holiday that celebrates the end of Ramadan (literally translated, Eid al-Fitr means, celebration of the break!). Incidentally, the green illumination coincides with the upcoming release of “The Incredible Hulk.” Coincidence? I think not! Sublimial corporate tie-in masquerading as a altruistic act of religious toleration? I think yes…

Iraq:
Our last stop in this round up is in Iraq, where Mixmax discusses the dilemma of having Eid fall on different days, depending on the sighting of the new moon by different Islamic sects:

As its always the case on every year, not all Muslim countries announced today as the first day of the Eid. Some countries are celebrating that today, though, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Muslims in non-Arab countries such as those in China, Afghanistan and Philippine followed along. While Egypt, Syria and Oman announced that Saturday is the first day of the Eid! It has been the case for years, and every year I see on TV the endless discussions about how to put an end to such a dilemma. However, there is none and it seems that even if one muslim climb the roof of his house in the middle of the night and see the sign in the sky (a crescent), he will not be able to celebrate the joyful days because the country did not announce through its official religious channels!

4 comments · »»

Philippines: A Roundup of the Week

Tonyo Cruz · 05:31

aparador ni lisa shares some interesting news tidbits she stumbled upon while doing research on mining.

Pinoy legal urbanite Misterhubs asks a question about popular young actors Diether Ocampo and John Pratts.

“The use of abortifacients, contraceptive pills and devises, sterilization, directly willed abortion are wrong in themselves. They are against nature and God’s law,” asserts In and Out of Season.

What does a Philippine Science High School teacher do on a Sunday? Find out from Akomismo.

Pinoy Gay Blogs features another splendid blog.

For those want to get more information about AIDS in an alternative, Baklo Ako, May Reklamo has a suggestion: watch some cool videos from GI Jonny.

Perhaps one of the most eloquent ways of dealing with the loss of a loved one is through a poem. The J Spot and wife compose and dedicate a poem for baby Joseph Michael.

Cyberbaguioboy asks newbies in blogging some questions, including reminders:

Now that you have a blog, what now? Do you give in to the temptation of making it look impressive but lacks original content? Remember your blog is you. You have to be honest. So before you start typing another word, think. Think hard. Think well. Others are. You should too. Don’t get too engrossed with tricks. They’re mere illusions.

On a trip to Seoul, JessicaRulesTheUniverse.com shares funny notes about her companions. Here's a sample:

In every tour group you can easily spot two characters: the one you must never ask to take your picture lest foul consequences ensue, i.e. Me, and the one you must not make eye contact with lest he ask you to take his picture in front of every landmark, rock, and lamppost.

Taking a break from it all, Challenges and Movements jogs at the Golden Gate Bridge to reclaim fit, old self and remembers treks at the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Morofilm makes an important announcement:

I am organizing the 1st Mindanao Film Directing Workshop on October 13-14, 2007 in Davao City.

The Workshop in an intensive training focused at enhancing the directing and storytelling skills of up-and-coming filmmakers in Mindanao. Mowelfund Film Institute director Nick Deocampo will be the main speaker.

and generously raffles off two workshop slots to blog readers!

After the Pacquiao-Barrera boxing match, Peter Lavina gives the tale of the tape between the boxer's earnings and that of his whole hometown.

Empress Balita riddles readers about the identity of married actress Gretchen Barretto's recent “date”. Pictures included.

A local debit card may soon corner all Paypal withdrawals judging from Jozzua's experiences of easily applying for one and actually getting his Paypal money through it.

In the political front, Carol P. Araullo blogs about the PATRIA initiative of and for Filipino farmers. Ellen Tordesillas calls it “Christmas in October”, the purported “gifts” of President Arroyo who will vote to quash the “fake” impeachment complaint against her. Courtesy of Manuel L. Quezon III, here's an eyewitness report on how administration allies took steps to “inoculate” the President from a legit impeachment complaint.

And as we retire for the weekend, PinoyCentric.com offers as a fantastic essay on language and development by averyseriousblog.

Eid Mubarak to the Bangsamoro and all Muslims!

1 comment · »»