· October, 2011

Stories about Ideas from October, 2011

Russia: Pirate Flag Over Novosibirsk City

RuNet Echo

LJ-user dedmaxopka publishes [ru] pictures of himself placing a pirate flag over Novosibirsk city administration. “We just wanted to make nice pictures of the city,” explained the blogger to the police...

31 October 2011

East Timor: Investing in Creativity and Culture

Barcelona artist David Palazón ended up in East Timor as a break from his career. Now he is coordinating a project to research Timorese culture in hopes of creating a school for the creative industries, to stimulate jobs in the non-oil economy, small businesses, and tourism.

28 October 2011

Open Access Africa: Spreading Knowledge, Increasing Collaboration

We celebrate Open Access Week with a special focus on Open Access Africa. As the internet lowers the bar for publishing and disseminating information, print-era publishing models still keep African researchers and students separated from colleagues in different countries and their ideas. How has Open Access changed scholarship in Africa?

28 October 2011

Sri Lanka: Working Towards Uniting the Nation

The 26 year long civil war in Sri Lanka has left many scars and it is an uphill task to bridge all divides and start the reconciliation to unite people. 'Sri Lanka Unites' is engaging the youth across the country to build good leadership with hope and reconciliation who will unite the nation one day.

28 October 2011

United Kingdom: At Age 77, a Life of Inspiration

Julie Kertesz started blogging and photographing at the age of 70. Now at 77, she has become a role-model to people of all ages who desire to lead full and active lives of learning and doing. Paula Góes reports.

27 October 2011

Jordan: Alternative Voices on the World Economic Forum

From October 21 to 23, Jordan hosted the World Economic Forum's Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Arab World. This year, as the Arab world continues to awaken and reshape its existence, a vocal and alternative narrative is growing online.

23 October 2011

Coworking Spaces and Nomad Workers in Japan

Coworking is a growing worldwide movement, and Japan is no exception. Surprising to see in a culture where the idea of physically being in the office at all hours is ingrained in the psyche of the salaried worker? Perhaps not.

23 October 2011

Jamaica: I Think, Therefore I Am

Long Bench responds to a newspaper editorial suggesting that the “silent middle class must assert itself”, saying: “The term ‘well-thinking Jamaicans'…smacks of an elitism that is based in the editors’...

21 October 2011

Japan: We're Losing to Apple, and Here's Why

Blogger Isseki Nagae considers the sorry state of the Japanese personal electronics industry in light of the recent success of Apple in Japan. Through the words of Steve Jobs, Nagae argues that Japanese manufacturers pay too much attention to the views of the average user rather than developing new ideas.

18 October 2011

China: No Clear Solution to the Wall Street Occupation

The occupation of Wall Street has gathered a lot of interest in China, as have three blog posts last week from an investment banker, a columnist and a Yale professor, none of whom seem too optimistic that a new economic vision will arise from the growing global movement any time soon.

17 October 2011