Stories about Ideas from July, 2010
Japan: Abandoned Building Clock
@MaripoGoda crowd sourced Flickr photos to build Haikyo Tokei, which shows a different photo of broken clocks in abandoned buildings to tell the time every minute. @mazzo shared [ja] his communication with the developer, who acknowledged that the images for 11:02 and 08:15 represent the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and...
Taiwan: Build a home for bats
Green architect, book author, and blogger Alin(阿羚) introduces how to build a home for bats and decrease the rampant trouble of mosquitoes in Taiwan[zht] because each bat can feed on at least 1000 mosquitoes and bugs a day.
Afghan Bloggers on Wikileaks War Logs
Afghan bloggers writing in Dari appear to be relatively quiet in the aftermath of the leaked military reports posted on Wikileaks. Here are reactions from two Afghan bloggers.
Nepal: No Toilet, No Citizenship
XNepali Blog reports that as a part of the sanitary awareness program in rural Nepal, the Kaikot district council “has formulated a requirement in which every citizenship certificate applicant need to have a toilet at home”.
Taiwan: Film Festival of “Food and People”
Karen Yu announces on okogreen blog that the “2010 Food and People Film Festival”(zht)-co-hosted by fair-trade coffee shops and environmental NGOs-will be showing 4 documentaries on each friday through out September. The 4 documentaries are We Feed The World, Sustainable Table, Bullshit, and Black Gold.
Israel: “Oliver Stone is a Nutcase”
“Oliver Stone is a nutcase,” announces Yael, from Life in Israel. “Oliver Stone has come out with some virulently anti-semitic comments, claiming that Jews control the media, downplayed the Holocaust, defended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and complained about Jewish influence in the United States…” she continues.
Egypt: Americans need appointments to visit Embassy
Joseph Mayton, who is based in Cairo, tweets: “American Embassy in Cairo bars Americans from walk-ins, starts appointment only access to Embassy – down with Embassies!”
Japan: How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays
After a video on Cherry Blossom Viewing [en], the team of Legon produced an instructional animated video on How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays (Hanabi) [en] in Japan. Both in English and Japanese, it illustrates the basics of the firework festivals that often light up the summer night sky in Japan.
Bahamas: Race & History
“If…young Bahamians imagine that they can take their twenty-first century notions of black and white and translate them into what they may one day read about the history of this nation, they will never fully understand their country and its rich and difficult past”: Nicolette Bethel explains the significance of...
Japan: Agriculture and Entrepreneurship
Barnali and Anirvan (who traveled from the U.S. to Japan by ship!) blog about interesting Agriculture 2.0 projects that they encountered at green drinks Tokyo. “About sixty young people crowded into an event space to hear speakers talk about “Agriculture 2.0,” projects connecting urban dwellers with healthy local food, while...
USA: Interview with Mary Joyce, Editor of Digital Activism Decoded
Mary Joyce is the editor of a new book called Digital Activism Decoded, that features contributions from authors and digital activists from around the world.
India: A Future For Kolkata
Supriyo Chaudhuri has some ideas about a bright future for Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.
Taiwan: TEDxTaipei is coming
The second TEDxTaipei installment: TEDxTaipei 2010 will be on July 24th and 25th with 27 speakers from local and from abroad, from musicians to scientists. The whole event will be live-streaming here.
Bahamas: on “race”
“Please. Don’t call me white.” Nicolette Bethel writes about the intricacies of race, history and politics in the Bahamas. “The ‘race’ that has historical significance and the ‘race’ that we appear to practice today are two very different animals.”
Africa: Maker Faire Africa 2010 T-Shirt Design Competition
“In celebrating African creativity; Maker Faire Africa 2010 and African Digital Art network are partnering up to encourage designers throughout Africa to showcase their talent through a T-Shirt Design Competition,” writes Ghanaian blogger Mac-Jordan.
Trinidad & Tobago: Colourful
“The rich and various colours of our people are one of the things I like about this place. We are not homogenous”: Lisa Allen-Agostini is colour conscious.
Trinidad & Tobago: Housing Policy
Afra Raymond goes more in depth into his ideas “for a more effective and equitable national housing policy.”
Moldova: Shutting out the world
Morning in Moldova argues that Moldovans only look east to Russia and west to the European Union, in the process mentally shutting out the rest of the world.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: happy birthday, Mandela
“When I was ten years old, I like the rest of the world watched Nelson Mandela walk to freedom,” writes Abeni, sharing her thoughts on the 92nd birthday of the South African hero.
Trinidad and Tobago: recycled jeans
Trinidadian artist and designer Richard Rawlins posts images of his “Bag Project”, turning discarded pairs of jeans into one-of-a-kind bags. Jeans are “the great unifier”, he writes.
Jordan: Has Technology Killed Our Romanticism?
Computers and technology play an important role in our everyday lives. One blogger from Jordan remembers the romanticism of getting a letter in the mail and declares on her blog: "I hate electronics."
