Today, I cookie day, I used to make many… but, alas, they disappeared far too quickly. Nowadays, I make just a couple types… Shortbread is today.
Yum
it’s cookie day, whats your favorite?
united nations day
ending information poverty
If not for the internet, many of us wouldn’t be able to follow the World Cup or — more importantly — discover South Africa’s fabulous recipes for ‘Bobotie!’ For some of us, we do remember a time before the internet, for others they do not know a world without the web.
What are the real legacies of any civilization? I would argue that knowledge and experience shapes and defines what people become and that sharing this collective wisdom is what brings out the best in a society and thus defines them. The exchange of knowledge, news, stories and information can change the world and often for the better.
By contrast, restricting information creates arbitrary sources of power that can be — and often is — harmful to any society, especially to a free one. I have often thought it was the lack of access to information and communication that creates social problems, economic shackles and impoverishes society. The lack of information and the inability to communicate is a poverty we can not see.
So, when most people think of ‘information poverty’, they think of the inability to have access to basic books and cutting edge scientific research and that well may be true. Availability is a problem that can be addressed but restriction is another. Back in 1993, while in New Zealand, I observed a discussion regarding ‘information poverty’ in Africa and strides are being made. Australia knows too well the value of information as they lead the way with school room classes over radio then television decades ago. Back in 2008, Google wrote a short blog about information poverty.
Personally, opening up the internet and making it affordable worldwide has and will continue to make huge strides in reducing information poverty, promoting understanding and increasing communication across the planet. As we make the world smaller, it becomes more understandable, interdependent, and economically viable.
happy father’s day 2010
whatever
I was reading somewhere today that the word ‘WHATEVER’ was considered to be the worst and most annoyingly used word in the English language, or at least that spoken here in America.
‘WHATEVER’ is the ‘Yì Jīng’ (I Ching) and — as Tom Hanks might say — the ‘answer’ to any question!
question: Would you like stale meatloaf or mystery stew for dinner? answer: WHATEVER!
question: Would you like to discuss universal health, tea parties, pimps or Acorn? answer: WHATEVER
the complete answer to any boring question on earth: WHATEVER!
Some people say that if you answer a sincerely felt question with the word ‘whatever’, you are in fact being dismissive, putting them down and refusing to discuss the meaning of life with them? WHATEVER!
WHATEVER is a word one can use a lot … with the right people and and on the right occasions…
WHATEVER
Roger Freberg