Uma Mishra of the GVSU Ghana Nsu Project joined us in June prior to her trip to Ghana. She has just returned from Atekyedo, the Ghanean village where she collaborated to install 30 water filters. She shares how she adapted communication to different cultural mainstays, like oral traditions, and about the finer layers of development work.
"The question is, when we work with communities like this, should we just be sterile in our interactions, just install water filters and leave," Uma said. "Or should we actually be human and give a level of dignity to the villagers and say, you know what, we are invested in helping you—and it's not us helping you but you helping yourself—so can we provide you the tools to do that?"
This week's song is "Skeleton Key" from Dave Sharp's album Secret Seven.
MEDIA ANALYSIS
Open source Facebook alternative launching next week
Diaspora, an open-source social networking site, is set to launch on Sept. 15. A collaboration between four New York University programming students, Diaspora was born out of the backlash against Facebook this spring when the networking giant reset users' privacy controls to be wide open.
[Read more: Wired]
Philadelphia enforces $300 business privilege tax on bloggers
Bloggers that sell adspace on their sites must fork over $300 to the City of Philadelphia for a business license. [Read more: Wired, The Atlantic]
FTC starting to go after companies for undeclared advertorials
In a recent blog entry, Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School examined the Federal Trade Commision's recent move in going after an astroturfing company that was paying reviewers to post positively about their video games on iTunes.
[Read more: Future of the Internet]
2010 Knight News Challenge: WindyCitizen/NowSpots real-time ads
Brad Flora of WindyCitizen, a news aggregator in Chicago, has been awarded $250,000 to develop what he calls real-time ads, or paid widgets set up on a page that syndicate all the various social media outlets of the advertiser. Flora believes that because they aren't banner images or static, the audience will be more engaged.
[Read more: Mashable, Knight, Nieman Lab]
CALENDAR
[FESTIVAL] Hispanic Festival 2010
Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11 from noon to 10 p.m. at Calder Plaza
This is the largest Hispanic festival in West Michigan and features music, dance, food and fun in the Calder Plaza. For more information, call (616) 304-2759 for more information or visit the downtowngr.org calendar.
[More info]
[ART] Avenue for the Arts Market
Saturday, Sept. 11 from 4–9 p.m. at 100 South Division
Visitors to the market will find the avenue lined with a group of local artists, handmade art and entertainment. The Avenue for the Arts Market reoccurs every second Saturday of each month during June, July, August and September. The growing list of participants includes painters, printmakers, illustrators, jewelers, musicians, and more. For more info, visit the Avenue for the Arts Facebook page or call Amber Stout at (616) 648-6165.
[More info]
[DISCUSSION] ACLU Legacy Lecture featuring Eleanor Clift
Thursday, Sept. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. SE
A contributing editor for Newsweek since 1994, speaker Eleanor Clift reports primarily on the White House, Washington and women in politics. Clift also writes a weekly column on Newsweek.com, titled “Capitol Letter,” analyzing the political news of the week. Clift is the co-author of “War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics” and “Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling,” and the author of “Founding Sisters” and "Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics.” She lives in Washington, D.C., where she is on the board of the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Center for Politics and Journalism. The Legacy Lecture series, presented by Bank of America, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the ACLU of Michigan and focuses on topics of historical importance to the organization and to Michiganders. For more information, visit the GRCMC calendar.
[More info]
[RAPIDIAN CELEBRATION] The Rapidian turns 1!
5-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at Mangiamo (1033 Lake SE)
Rapidian staff will be heading over to Mangiamo on Sept. 15 to celebrate our first birthday.
[More info]
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