Ethan Zuckerman is talking about Carl Bernstein and the “The best obtainable version of the truth.”
Kevin’s got some links to the international food aid conference coming up.
Leo Africanus would like to point out that the Masai do not belong in zoos.
And Naamen Gobert Tilahum posted about some Hanes underwear ads that are just so breathtakingly mean that I can’t even find words for them.
This blog, Development Industry, is
about Development business, its uses and abuses; the distortions that it can cause and the occasional impact that it may bring about.
The Development Industry is big and powerful; and is well intentioned. But it is not without its failings nor devoid of hypocrisy….
It’s a lot of links and not too much original content, but they are interesting links and I like the bitter and questioning perspective. I think I’ll put it on my blog round-up.
Top Medical Discovery of 2007 Explained via Cartoon. Found via Women’s Bioethics Blog, this blog entry is a nice example of the importance of communicating information in an understandable way.
I love this blog, Uncivil Society, a lot. Jeff Trexler is a professor of social entrepreneurship at Pace University, and his blog brings together an amazing number of different, fascinating ideas. This post on a recent New York Times article is a nice example.
Also, he likes Soviet deconstructionist art. As do I.
The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech. Wow, do I love Ethan Zuckerman’s blog. His approach to blogging is similar to mine, in that he tries to bring together a lot of ideas to improve development practice in the field. He does it a lot better, though, and writes meaty posts full of interesting analysis.
This post, on the use of new technologies, is one of the most insightful things I’ve read in a long, long time.
Project HOPE In the Field is Project HOPE’s blog. It’s a nice effort on their part, in terms of what’s on there. Appealing first-person content, with plenty of action photos. It’s not sanctimonious or stuffy and not gratuitous with beneficiary pictures. It has a donate link after every entry to let you support the exact work you are reading about.
But here’s the thing – it’s hosted on blogger, of all places, using an only slightly modified template. You’d think it was just one volunteer’s effort if not for the official links and pictures. It looks amateurish.
If they are going to the effort of having an official blog, why not incorporate the blog into their main site? It would give people a reason to keep coming back to the site, and I would bet that every visit increases the chance that someone will donate. They must have a web designer; it wouldn’t be that hard to have them build in a blog and appropriate functionality.
It’s a very strange choice. Old-fashioned, and out of touch with how people actually use the web.
Ten reasons Central African Republic should be on your radar. Just something to think about on Friday night. The AlertNet blogs in general are a great source of interesting analysis and real-time experience in relief work. You can easily lose an hour or two in there, and be a better-informed person for it.