'“At the beginning there was some resistance among my colleagues about using these tools,” Preston said. “What did I hear at the very beginning? ‘Twitter is all about what people are having for lunch.’ Now, no one says that anymore.”'

How do you look beyond standard (and, per Christakis’ anecdotal evidence, misleading) metrics like Twitter follower/Facebook friend counts and find more meaningful metrics of influence?

Fascinating post by Cuban über-blogger Yoani Sánchez about the security cameras scattered about Havana and the unwitting testimony they provide to certain of the activities of of the Cuban state.

Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck on Haiti after the earthquake.

Haiti-specific Kiva.org and donation site rolled into one:

"Zafen, Creole for "It's our business," soon will offer you the opportunity to lend or contribute to sustainable economic development projects in Haiti.

"By providing support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, together we can bolster the Haitian economy, create new jobs, and improve the lives of those living in some of the poorest conditions in the world."

Excellent post that everyone should read before considering volunteering in Haiti (or any other developing nation, for that matter). Makes the important point that "by working for free volunteers undercut the local labor market. For the cost of a round trip plane ticket a local construction worker could be paid months worth of work."

Very cool nteractive map of incomes across New York City neighbourhoods.

"Wikipedia still has much to do: the map above suggests there are still whole continents that remain a virtual "terra incognita" and the next explosive growth in the online encyclopedia will come from places that have not previously been represented…."

I'd love to live in a city where the powers that be think of/permit/encourage public events like this

According to Wesley Gibbings, president of the Association of Media Workers, CARICOM has no plans to license journalists under the Model Professional Services Bill.

Great blog for DSLR video enthusiasts.

The official announcement from ICANN.

"By the middle of next year, Internet surfers will be allowed to use Web addresses written completely in Chinese, Arabic, Korean and other languages using non-Latin alphabets, the organization overseeing Internet domain names announced Friday in a decision that could make the Web more accessible."

Doesn't somebody from the Caribbean want to apply for a Nieman Journalism Fellowship at Harvard?

Researching–or want to research–the public impact of ICTs on the Caribbean? Apply for an Amy Mahan fellowship today!

"I don't know what's worse: this act of vandalisation in the name of philistine "beautification"; or the fact that it was probably the result of considered good intentions (of the kind that pave the proverbial road to perdition); or even the fact that I feel slightly guilty bothering about the whole thing, in the midst of a prolonged nationwide social collapse with far more urgent symptoms. Why am I troubling myself about an obscure piece of public sculpture instead of picketing Whitehall or UDECOTT or the EMA or the office of the Leader of the Opposition or the constituency office of the MP I didn't vote for?"

Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica doing respectably, at #28 and #23, respectively, and Guyana (tied #39) has risen in the rankings, overtaking Surinam (#42). DR, Haiti and Cuba–predictably–near the bottom of the pile. But where's the rest of the Caribbean?

Given the rapid pace of growth/change in urban areas, somebody should be doing this in every city in the world.

"Unless a great many people learn the basics of online crap detection and begin applying their critical faculties en masse and very soon, I fear for the future of the Internet as a useful source of credible news, medical advice, financial information, educational resources, scholarly and scientific research. Some critics argue that a tsunami of hogwash has already rendered the Web useless. I disagree."

"Technology and access to internet has advanced so much in the past years, that some will argue that there is no longer a question of whether people in remote areas will soon communicate online. Rather, we should talk about what forms of communication will take place."

“Digital access is essential to first class citizenship in our society. Without digital, you lack full access to information, you are second class economically and even socially,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “If a job application at Wal-Mart or MacDonald’s must be made online, how can we pretend that we have equal opportunity if significant portions of our communities don’t have access? Libraries can be part of the solution.”

Netherlands-based MetropolisTV is looking for video journalists to join their global network.

Kajsa Hallberg Adu's take on Mo Ibrahim's decision not to award an African governance prize this year.

Nikipedia does me one better and outlines the measures contained in CARICOM’s proposed Model Professional Services Bill that could make life very difficult for Caribbean journalists.

Important post from Guy Berger about government reactions to more active civic participation in Namibia and Botswana. (via @oso)

"Google has reportedly sent a letter to a high-profile Caribbean investigative website called The TCI Journal saying it will supply the IP addresses used to access the Journal's primary GMail account unless the Journal supplies a legal counter-motion within the next two weeks. A libel suit filed against the Journal in Santa Clara, California Superior Court concerns its reporting of government corruption in the Turks & Caicos Islands."

My organs will be no use to me in the afterlife (assuming there is one), so I've decided to donate them (after I'm dead, of course) to somebody who'll be able to continue using them. Why don't you consider doing the same?

Some of the rather ingenious entries in Platform 21's Remarkable Repair Contest, in which entrants were asked to submit ideas for repairing everyday objects.

"Gone, in other words, is any sense that blogging as a technology is revolutionary, subversive or otherwise exalted, and this upsets some of its pioneers. Confirmed, however, is the idea that blogging is useful and versatile." [via oso]

Clay Shirky on new media and its effect on politics: "easiest away to do that is for a politician to be very clear about what they believe and to say the same thing to everybody…. because that kind of clarity is what is getting magnified in the media environment today."

Faites attention, French Antilles, the visa-free Trinis are coming! And you're next, Schengen! (merci, @nplaughlin)

"The blogosphere is about to explode with buzz about CYXYMU, a Georgian blogger writing predominantly in Russian, who may have been the real target of cyber-attacks that made Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal inaccessible on August 06, 2009…"

Strong words from COHA re: Microsoft's actions in Cuba: "In the midst of what is certainly a cyber war now being perpetrated by Microsoft, the irony of the situation is inescapable – one of the greatest of corporate tyrannies, in an attempt to preserve its powerful hold on the market, rebukes a number of world leaders for purportedly doing the same, cloaking its actions in the garb of rectitude…."

How digital audio, mobile phones, mapping and other tech developments are influencing the preservation of endangered languages.

Global Voices post about IndieGoGo, a web site where independent filmmakers can raise funds and promote their projects.

"Google has officially launched the ability to filter search results using Creative Commons licenses inside their Image Search tool" Am I the only one who's only now hearing about this?

Series of interviews with "iconic sharers" from various disciplines by the ever-cool GOOD Magazine.

Site featuring photography by talented young photographers from all over the world, guest curated by bigwigs from Magnum and elsewhere.

"When you live in the Caribbean, where do you go on holiday?" asks BBC Caribbean

NYT Article on Berkman's Media Cloud project, featuring a lovely photo of @ethanz

Online component of a conversation about contemporary art and visual culture in Suriname, which will conclude with an exhibition in Paramaribo in February 2010. There'll also be a book published in three language editions.

"If you spent just one minute reading every website in existence, you’d be kept busy for 31,000 years. Without any sleep." That explains a lot.

A word about what we're doing at Global Voices to ensure we're still alive a few years down the road

Global Voices ventures into sponsored content with its promotion of the Put It On online contest for filmmakers.

B C Pires puts the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago's meeting with the Prime Minister in context

Brief overview and ratings of 23 Caribbean (though mostly T&T) organisations' use of Twitter by the intrepid @gwto

Part 2 of a lively discussion of Haitian music featuring Edwidge Danticat, Madison Smartt Bell, Ned Sublette et al, moderated by Sasha Frere-Jones. Part 1 can be found at http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sashafrerejones/2009/03/roundtable-hait.html

Useful media literacy guide from NewsTrust.

My birthday isn't till December, but if anybody wishes to give me an early birthday present feel free to pick any of the books from list list.

A 2007 CFR/Antilles interview with Kei Miller gets a second life on Bahamian culture blog Tongues of the Ocean

"Do ICANN's recent actions and immediate plans reflect the same respect for free expression that the new CEO claims is worth fighting and dying for? I wish I could say "yes" but many people are concerned that the answer is currently leaning more in the direction of "no.""

"New media is not replacing the need to "bear witness," it is spreading it beyond the elite few, and therefore making it harder for those elite few to get it as wrong as they've gotten it again and again — from Stalin's Russia to Bush's Iraq."

Ethan reflects on the Open Translation Tools conference we attended last week in Amsterdam.