Global Voices » Preetam Rai

At the Indonesian Blogger Festival

Preetam Rai — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:32:19 +0000

Indonesia has a vibrant blogging scene with a strong emphasis on community. The annual Blogger Festival (Pestablogger) Indonesia attracted bloggers and tech lovers from all over the vast island nation.

Packed venue for Indonesia Blogger Festival

Scenes from the bloggers festival.

This was the third time the annual event was being held and it is nice to see the number of participants increase every year.

Indonesian bloggers tend to be a varied bunch, not just in geography but also in terms of age and profession.

A breakout session on blogging ethics

A breakout session on citizen journalism

A citizen journalist shares his experience with bloggers

A breakout session on bridging the divide within Indonesia via blogging. The participants also discussed the ways in which blogs can be used to connect Indonesia with the outside world.

Tristam(representing a sponsoring organisation), Chip (tech enthusist from Vietnam) and Retty (Indonesian blogger) in a discussion. Indonesian event do not see the level of outside participation that Cambodian or Thai events do. Still, curious people are trickling in and we hope to have more people from the wider South East Asian region the next time.

A batik artist making the blogger fest t-shirt.

Blogger take a break from their discussions to enjoy some music.

Barcamp Phnom Penh Attracts Regional IT Enthusiasts

Preetam Rai — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:37:52 +0000

Early in October, tech enthusiasts from Cambodia and abroad met at the Paññasastra University of Cambodia, Phnom Penh for the annual Barcamp.

People registering at Phnom Penh Barcamp. This was the second year the Barcamp was being held in Phnom Penh. In 2007, the Cambodian bloggers organized a Cambodian Blogger Summit.

In a Barcamp, there is no list of speakers, no VIP speakers. Everyone who attends a barcamp can talk.

Barcamp attendee thinking of a session.

All you have to do is post your topic on the schedule board and collect enough people who want to participate in your session.

Presenters, preparing for their session after pasting their topic on the board.

In South East Asia, like other parts of the world, Barcamps are becoming popular. People are attracted to an event where there is no hierarchy, and everyone is welcome to share knowledge.

Participants deciding what sessions to attend.

A Cambodian presenter running a packed session.

Sajal from Thailand talking about tweaking new sites for more visibility on Google.

Khmer language session

Record numbers of international attendees at Phnom Penh barcamp.

Cambodian bloggers and technology workers have been active in making friends with people in the region via the internet. The Cambodian youth is also comfortable with English and usually write in English, so they are able to reach out to more people outside the country.

Cambodia also has many non government agencies exploring the use of IT in development and healthcare. The Barcamps in Cambodia gives us an opportunity to look into their work.

Pagna, the master of ceremonies at Barcamp Phnom Penh, smiles at us between announcements.

An unique aspect of Cambodian tech events is the number of women participants. They are not just participating but also helping organize and present sessions.

Thomas, German podcaster and blogger, talking about MindMapping. The sessions were not just about technology. People spoke about volunteering, social media, education and games.

Thai-Japanese attendee 31o5 talks about a system where one can log their dreams and analyze them.

Vietnamese participant Hung talking about social networks in Vietnam

How is Cambodia able to attract so many people from neighboring countries? Other than the networking and outreach ability of the Cambodian youth, a notable factor is the growth of budget airlines that makes travel affordable. Cambodia also has plenty of affordable accommodation. In a Barcamp everyone pays for their travel and stay, so having economical options will encourage people to join in.

Some of the organizers taking a break. As you can see in this image, they are mostly young Cambodian tech enthusiasts. The youth in Cambodia are driving the IT revolution and they are very active in using Facebook, Twitter and blog tools.

Pagna (Cambodian) talking with SK (Thai) on why Cambodian youth are more comfortable with English compared to the Thai. In Thailand, they have had computing resources available in their languages for many years. Most Cambodians start their computing experience with English language tools and systems.

Thailand and Cambodia has had some friction relating to an issue over the ownership of a temple. It was nice to see the people from both the countries sitting together and discussing issues and learning from each other.

Thai attendees also talked about a regional IT camp, the Mekong ICT camp and sourced out ideas.

Tamas, Hungarian-Thai participant talking about grassroots IT evangelism.

Barcamp Phnom Penh is over but hope to see you next year.

Disclosure:
Global Voices Online is one of the event media partners.

Internet in North Korea, Nokia's Ovi Store, Google Wave and Tech Happenings

Preetam Rai — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:38:05 +0000

Internet in North Korea

In a previous story we talked about Egyptian telco Orascom helping launch a 3G mobile network in North Korea. Last week several press reports claimed that internet access is now available on this network. There is a lively discussion on at nkeconwatch.com on just what type of content is available on this network and if the access is to the full internet or is it a limited intranet of sorts. I found one comment by a visitor to North Korea that gives us a glimpse of wider internet in the secretive nation.

Also interesting, a trendy local college girl we met in the hotel bar told us that she used to have Internet at home and that in the 2004-2005 timeframe she had been doing Internet dating. She would find a boy online and have him show up at a public place near her apartment block. Spying on him from above, if she didn’t like the way he looked, she would not come out to meet him. The Internet service was suspended in the 2005-2006 time-frame and she was very unhappy about that. She liked the Internet, regardless of the limited and NK-specific services that may have been available.

Nokia's Ovi Store

Nokia launched it's version of app store called Ovi store. Nokia phone users can now register on this store and buy apps for their mobiles. Tech bloggers are comparing Nokia's attempt to Apple's offering. Medianama, an Indian tech blog compares the usability of Ovi store to Apple's app store

Nokia has a substantial number of handsets in the market, each has its own form factor and operating system. Consumers won’t exactly be pleased when a particular application isn’t available for theirs. That’s where the iPhone App store has an advantage, since it’s the same OS, and just one type of app. In that context, Nokia’s reach doesn’t quite appear to be the advantage one thought it was.

Malaysia Mobile Tech News talks about another challenge facing Nokia app store initiative

However, it is difficult to achieve what Apple has done with the AppStore, simply because Apple didn’t give software publishers a choice when it started selling the iPhone - either sell through the AppStore or via very-limited-reach third party means (meaning Cydia and the Cydia Store, if you’re familiar with the iPhone). Nokia didn’t start off this way - every software publisher sold through their own website, or another mobile software e-marketplace, and to force “coerce” them to now come under the Ovi Store to the exclusion of every other avenue is an impossible task. After all, what’s the compelling reason for them to move over to the Ovi Store?

Web Services

While access of any sort is a good news in North Korea, netizens in Vietnam are lamenting the loss of a popular online service - Yahoo 360. Taitran in Vietnam describes the feeling in Vietnam after Yahoo announced that it would be closing the service.

Google was busy at its developer event giving away free Android phones and launching a new product called Wave.

Singapore based elearningpost writes how Wave is more than a groupware application that other vendors are selling.

The Wave is not just another application, it's a whole new way of using online information. If you have not seen the demo yet, you should. The Wave takes collaboration to a whole new level. When I was watching the collaboration demo, I felt the entire experience was more like an extension into multiple minds rather than the 'switch-type' collaboration we see in the likes of Sharepoint and Lotus Notes. The engagement just felt more organic, more emergent, more fun.

Also from Singapore, Rambling Librarian analyzes how Google Wave can be used by librarians to “transform the way we provide Enquiry and Advisory services. Or how we research, collaborate and publish documents”.

Tech entrepreneur Jonathan Gosier at Appfrica and based in Uganda isconcerned about the usability of the product in low bandwidth situations.

Of course, I have to point out that all this real-time communication stuff only matters to the fraction of people on the planet with good bandwidth. Here in Uganda, I’m so glad when an email actually makes it out of the queue that I don’t even bother to think about ‘rewinding’ conversations and dragging and dropping video! In all seriousness, it’s this reduction in basic utility for all users that worries me. Most Google’ products are by-in-large accessible no matter what kind of computer you’re on (except maybe Google Earth). With Wave they seem to be going down a path that might be a little more exclusive in nature. Not a deal-breaker but a concern none-the-less.

Events

Web designers in Vietnam had their WebcampSaigon 1 event that Fresco2.0 describes as a “a dedicated community by designers for designers”. Fresco2.0 has pictures and presentations from the event.

Neighboring Thailand had its Barcamp at the Sripatum university in Bangkok that also attracted technogists from Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The two day events had people talking about web 2.0, design, databases, content management systems, social media and hardware hacks. Some of the participants stayed overnight at the venue, coding and hacking. The presentations are at the Barcamp Bangkok 3 Slideshare page. Here is one from Kulawat about Agile.

The Heart Of Agile

View more OpenOffice presentations from kulawat.

Not every thing was tech though. Vietnamese delegate Huy Zing conducted a Salsa dancing session.

31o5 has a collection of great images from the event.

Earlier in May, Tokyo tech enthusiasts held their Barcamp. Participants gathered at Sun's Yoga office and talked about tech startups in Japan, Twitter, Japanese popular culture among other things. One of the popular session was a demo of Solaris Live USB creator by Hiroshi Chonan. Hiroshi is the developer of this utility that lets PC users try the Open Solaris operating system without going through an installation. In the video below a fellow Sun presenter points out why this live usb creator is important for the distribution of Open Solaris.

Another gadget that you see a lot in Tokyo tech events these days is the Poken. It looks like a USB drive and come in cool designs. You can store your contact information on a Poken and then exchange it with someone else just by placing your Poken next to another one. Here you see attendees at Tokyo barcamp networking with their pokens.

If you are in India, and working on a tech startup, the proto.in event would interest you. Amit Mittal at venturewoods.org writes

What got me excited though is the 3 day bootcamp that Proto.in is putting together. Day one will focus on diving into the business plan you have for the company, and combing through all the fine details. Day two, they teach you and groom you on how best to deliver a pitch (some advertising guys coming in here to help.) Day three, is all about the stage — well known event management company “BuzzWorks” will teach you how to handle yourself in front of the camera, what to do and what not to do when in a public forum.

Sydney tech enthusiasts have also announced a “recession” edition barcamp to be held on the 27th of June. Their new activity this time round is the Think Tank room.

Finally, we have a new idea for a few of the sessions - the Think Tank room. The Think Tank room is a small room with no projector and no tech - just enough room for a small group of people discussing ideas. And what better ideas to discuss than ideas about the future.

Oceania: Epeli Hau'ofa Has Passed Away

Preetam Rai — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:22:05 +0000

Noted Fijian (Born in Papua to Tongan parents) antropologist Epeli Hau'ofa died on January 11 in Suva, Fiji. The Savage Minds blog links to an essay by Epeli Hau'ofa tha argued against the commonly held assumption that the pacific islands were isolated communities held apart by massive oceans.

Thailand: Nightclub Fire

Preetam Rai — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:52:16 +0000

Dozens of New Year party goes were killed in a fire that broke out at a Bangkok nightclub.

North Korea: A New Mobile Network

Preetam Rai — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:15:15 +0000

The big news coming out North Korea this week is the launch of a new 3G mobile network by Egyptian Telecom giant Orascom. Pyongyang will be the first city to have the network followed by other larger cities. Orascom is reportedly investing $400 million in license fee and the infrastructure. Many analysts are questioning economic viability of such a venture in North Korea with its struggling economy. Mark Sutton at itp.net blog feels that Orascom might be looking at this project as a very long term investment.

Of course, it might be possible that Orascom is playing this as a very long term investment, waiting for a time when North Korea begins to open up. There has been a lot of speculation about the health of the totalitarian leader Kim Jong-il, and the Orascom group has other investments in the country, including a 50% stake in a cement company, and redevelopment work on the Ryugyong Hotel (the capital’s only prestige hotel project, which has remained unfinished for twenty years).

Wikipedia Link to Orascom Group

Riskwatchdog cautions readers and reminds them of how an earlier mobile network fared in North Korea

However, don’t get too excited. It seems to me that growth of Korea’s mobile phone network will be stunted for several reasons. In fact, this is the second time in the 2000s that North Korea has set up a mobile network. A fledgling network was launched in 2002, but this was reversed two years later, apparently because the authorities suspected that a mobile phone had been used to trigger a massive railway explosion in the northern city of Ryongchon. The blast was interpreted by some as an attempt to assassinate the ‘Dear Leader’, Kim Jong Il, whose personal train had passed through the area a few hours earlier.

The Ryongchon Train Disaster

Further down the post riskwatchdog lists three reasons why Pyongyang Fears Mobile phones. One of which is

They can make it easier for citizens to communicate with one another (that’s the whole point!). This would increase their ability to organise anti-government activities – such as protests or sabotage. For example, the popular uprising that led to the overthrow of Philippine president Joseph Estrada in 2001 was dubbed the ‘text message revolution’, because that is how the marches were announced and coordinated. Mobile phones would also allow organised crime to proliferate, and black marketeers to dodge the police by tipping each other off.

Chances are that the mobile network may only be open to the elites, the military and maybe to the foreign diplomats and business people. Even if the network is open, most North Koreans will find the fee handset price beyond their purchasing power. In any event, the launch of yet another communication network is a welcome sign.

India: Interest in Mizo Elections.

Preetam Rai — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:20:13 +0000

Kima posting on the illusionaire blog announces the election results in Mizoram and talks about the high turnout and intense interest in the polls.

Thailand: Going Home Finally

Preetam Rai — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:09:20 +0000

Oakmonster is happy that she can finally go back to Thailand. The opposition supporters had occupied the main airports in Bangkok and disrupted air services.

Philippines: Remembering the Teachers

Preetam Rai — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:04:53 +0000

The blogger at Village Idiot Savant remembers the teachers who impacted the blogger the most.

Malaysia: Alternative Energy

Preetam Rai — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:57:47 +0000

Mahaguru wonders why Malaysia in not exploiting the abundant sun and wind as a form of energy.

Thailand: PAD to Stop Airport Blockade

Preetam Rai — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:59:19 +0000

The Bangkok airport blockade by Thai opposition supporters might come to an end in the next couple of hours.

North Korea in Blogs

Preetam Rai — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:15:46 +0000

Stray Blog has written about his visit to North Korea's Kaesong City. His was one of the last tours before North Korea put a stop to cross-border travel. Stray Blog writes that the North Korean are disadvantaging themselves by this action.

My visit to Kaesong City, North Korea last weekend was timely. This week, relations between North and South Korea took a turn for the worse, and the North responded by canceling any cross-border movement. The unfortunate aspect of this decision is that the overpriced tours made a great deal of revenue for the people of the North. Canceling them is really just a further punishment on North Koreans themselves, who are already struggling to combat a debilitating food shortage. I was fortunate to be able to take one of the last tours of the North for potentially a long time.

Visitors to the country are struck by the lack of advertisement banners and colour as Stray blog observes.

- absence of colour: all of the buildings are very drab, and the people were clothed in primarily dull brown and black jackets. Only some of the children were dressed brightly - usually bright red jackets

Flickr user Kernbeisser has posted images of his earlier journey along the Pyongyang-Hyangsan motorway.

This motorway was planned to connect the capital with the city of Huichon in Jagang Province but the last section was never completed. The completed part which was opened to traffic in 1995 ends rather abruptly in Hyangsan at the entrance to the Myohyang Mountains. So the original “Pyongyang-Huichon Motorway” ended up as “Pyongyang-Hyangsan Tourist Motorway”.

North Korea Economy Watch announces the launch of the website of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (website link). On the website the founder Dr. james Chin-Kyung Kim writes about the motivation behind the institution.

PUST is an experiment to determine if it is possible to train generations of North Korean students-who have been shielded from many international influences-in the technical skills and knowledge required to make positive contributions to a global community undergoing rapid and constant change. PUST will also encourage the students to become aware of the cultural influences that create the differences in international thinking.

In North Korea, you will find people wearning pins (badges) featuring Kim jong Il and Kim Il Sung. These pins are coveted by foreign tourists and hard to get if you are not a North Korean citizen. the bloggers Lianlian Films managed to get one while in North Korea. They describe how they hold the pin in reverence even when they are abroad.

At the Pyongyang Restaurant in Kathmandu, a North Korean waitresses squealed when shown The Pin - they don't normally wear one in Nepal. The young lady picked it up very carefully, whipped out a piece of tissue and polished the little disc to a shine. Then she took out another piece of tissue and wrapped it up before giving it back. All throughout, she barely spoke a word but the message was clear - The Pin is sacred. Treat with care.

Talking about the North Korean restaurants, there are several of these across East Asia and are official North Korean investments. In addition to the food, a big attraction of these restaurants are the singing and dancing North Korean staff.

Here is a clip from one such restaurant in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh.

East Timor: New Airlines

Preetam Rai — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:15:05 +0000

Diligence informs readers of a new airline that connects Australia and East Timor.

Singapore: Country Specific Creative Commons Licences Online

Preetam Rai — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:50:14 +0000

Singapore based content creaters can now use Singapore versions of the Creative Commons licenses according to the Creative Commons Singapore blog.

Indonesia: Healthcare System and HIV Treatment

Preetam Rai — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:33:52 +0000

Elizabeth, an epidemiologist and advisor to governments on health issues, writes that inspite of funding, the healthcare administration in Indonesia is not able to help people deal with HIV.