TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
where ever you go, there you are
where ever you go, there you are
« previous 4


Mira que viaje, mae.
Related to country: Mexico

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic



It’s been about a month or more since I’ve blogged, a month or more since I left Toronto, and a month or more that I’ve been traveling across Central America. Technically there is plenty to blog about, but I’ve found myself at a loss for time. In between planning travel logistics, attending the International AIDS Conference, and finishing off work contracts and school essays I’ve found myself short on blog time. As I set off for the International AIDS Conference last month with my iPhone clutched in hand I vowed to be a model global citizen and blog my experiences to the world. Now over a month later I can look back and acknowledge my idealism. The realities of being an AIDS Conference blogger are tough, combined with the forces of poor internet access, overwhelmed networks, and short bursts of free time that are arguably better spent getting to know the finer parts of Mexico City-- Tepito markets, luchador lockdowns, Volkswagen jitter bugs, rumbling metros with fresh literary treats, magnificent murals, and cafes con leche at the legendary Café Tacuba. Mexico City is one of my favorite cities in the world and it did not disappoint. I spent the majority of the time with my conference crew, some of whom had a better time finding time to blog, like Kate J from Unpacking Development. The conference was an incredible experience, and I attended a number of amazing workshops that are worth mentioning. Focusing my time mostly on youth and harm reduction streamed activities, I learned about the struggles of convincing governments that needle exchanges actually work, the tribulations of providing services for the youth who are most at-risk, convincing youth that harm reduction and peer-education are cool, and the various ways that NGOs are working to change that. I met some pretty amazing dedicated activists and researchers, and it was great to connect with people from Toronto who are usually too busy to hang out.

From the conference Josue and I ran off to some tranquility to try and pound through some work, mainly final subtitling videos and updating the VIVA! Project’s website. Drupal has been a journey in itself (as you can see yourself as an unlogged in anonymous user), but we are finally getting somewhere and the site should be running fine by the end of the month. Between traveling south and finishing off work somewhere on the coast of Oaxaca I get this email from Helena telling us about a conference coming up in September for Ignite the Americas. I had gone to the Ignite Youth Arts Forum last year and it blew me away. I immediately forwarded it to Josue and now weeks later he received his acceptance. Bouncing from one conference onto another, it’s hard to find time to blog, but now we’re finally back in Costa Rica for a week enjoying our home here for the last stretch. After passing through so many countries on our bus journey from Mexico to Costa Rica, I can honestly say that this feels like home and is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Yet I have to say goodbye for now, as grad school is calling. Better get back to those papers, including finishing up my work on new media on mobilerevolutions.org.



August 28, 2008 | 7:55 PM Comments  0 comments



Home?
Related to country: Costa Rica

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I just got back to Costa Rica this week and I finally feel like I am home. A strange feeling to feel when I am supposed to be leaving in a months time. Josue and I have just moved into a huge house with a beautiful garden full of fruit trees. We have noni, guayabana, manderinas, and mangos all in our backyard. We live in a quiet neighbourhood just a 10 minute walk from downtown Turrialba. The town itself is tiny but has plenty to do, including a range of cute bars, restaurants, and cafe's equipped with wifi. All around us are mountains, rivers, and farm fields.

I must admit I don't want to leave. My instincts tell me to settle down, find a cool job, and finish my masters desde aquí. It is possible, but I feel like I'd be letting people down if I stay. I think the most important thing is to concentrate on the work ahead and do an awesome job. I still have to finish working on a few websites and I have a pile of translation and subtitling to do.

Other amazing news is that before we left Panama I invested in an iPhone! I have been waiting all year for this, and it was totally worth the wait. Jailbroken, it is the most magical piece of technology I have used yet and I believe that it symbolizes a revolution in mobile communications. The digital divide may not be bridged with one laptop per child, it is already being formed by a huge network of cellphone users. The trick is to develop applications compatible with existing technology.

We went to the Kuna Yala region right before leaving panama and our guides got so excited when we mentioned that we were web designers. They told us that they had just got Internet access and they wanted to figure out how to download free video games and music. Yet both Josue and I were short for advice when they explained that they wanted to do it on their cellphone! They also told us that the local school also wanted Internet, but on an island that is short on power and telephone lines this could only be possible through satellite (preferably solar powered). Any social entrepreneurs interested in a digital divide startup, there is definitely a need for solar powered satellites and the development of better cellphone applications!

April 24, 2008 | 12:17 PM Comments  1 comments



Living within ones means... (aka learning to work without my Powerbook)
Related to country: Panama

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Over the last few months my computer has provided me with nothing but problems. I took it into the shop before I went to Costa Rica and had the screen and logic board replaced. Then weeks later it failed again, and I had to take it into Icon to get fixed in Costa Rica. As the part had to be sent even farther than before, I was forced to start work in Panama without my own computer, doomed to work on a PC. In Latin America there is a tendency to run ridiculously memory intensive software on machines that just can't handle the load. Most machines I've worked on are running Windows XP with less than 250mb of RAM. You get used to monitoring tasks so that you are using the least RAM possible.

Imagine designing a website, where your computer losses power once a day, and freezes constantly? You learn to live... in my attempt to live within my means, I've adopted a few strategies which I will share with my fellow web designers who are working in the third world. Bridging the digital divide does not mean just giving away free computers, it means that as a community we have to develop software which relates to the hardware that people are already using. Not everyone can run Windows XP and Adobe CS3! Even Adobe's software licensing program for NFP's excludes organizations who don't have the most up to date computers because of the hardware requirements!


So what do you do if you can't run the latest slickest graphic software? Well, you download GIMP, an open source super light graphic editing program which works across a variety of platforms including Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows. You also make sure to uninstall every Microsoft program you can on your computer, including IE7, and Windows Messenger! With just the simple tools of Firefox, Joomla, and GIMP; I have been working on CEAAL.org, and it has been going great. I have to admit that sometimes I cheat and sneak onto Josue's MacBook to do a bit of editing in Photoshop, but I feel like by the end of this time I should be good enough at GIMP to preform the exact same tasks.

So if you're running low on RAM, try it out! You might be surprised at all the cool things you can create.