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Blogger Meetup September 2013

Jinja — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 07:50:31 +0000

(Above: bloggers on Google Hangout.)
It used to be that IT meetups were about *blogs*.
(Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Yes, I’m that old.)

On Saturday the 7th, Anirudh invited us for an informal blog meetup.
Talk ranged from the election to upcoming Burma IT events, as well as just general catching up.

There were lots of folks chatting on Google Hangout (above). I couldn’t even get my Ubuntu laptop into the local Wi-Fi, and my Iphone was too old to download Hangout. Clearly, connectivity is up, and so is the sophistication of the tools we use. (I’m forcing myself to learn new tricks.)

In past days we’d gather at anyplace with decent Wi-Fi (and caffeine (above)). Occasionally I’d host ‘Geek O’ Clock‘ at the House32 offices. But meetings ‘IRL’ (in real life) don’t happen that much these days, which made it all the more welcome.

It was easy to connect up, and great to chat to some of the other’dinosaurs’ / IT wonks. After the meet some of us stopped off to check out Ritthy Ou’s regular ‘Politikoffee’ meeting. (Every Saturday 2:30-5:00pm at BBC Cafe).

Below: Anirudh makes a new friend

BarCamp Saigon 2013

Jinja — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 12:20:47 +0000

This last weekend I joined the ‘Cambodian Contingent’ (15 people) organized by Open Institute‘s BarCamp impresario Be Chantra for a brief visit to Ho Chi Minh City for ‘BarCamp Saigon‘.

It’s about a six hour ride by bus, which means an early morning start. Geek alert: once we crossed the border, my Khmer friends immediately got Vietnamese 3G sim cards so they could ‘check in’.

We landed in the heart of the traveler district, taking small but comfortable rooms in Bui Vien street. (Felt a little bit like a more restrained Khao San Road.) I got in touch with some mutual friends Chantra and I had met at Mekong ICT Camp this May.

BarCamp Saigon was slated to take place on Sunday the 7th. The following day, while Chantra, his family and the other travelers went for a visit to Dai Nam park, I did a quick recon of the venue and tried to figure out the city a little bit.

When the time came for dinner, our Vietnamese friends pulled out all the stops to find a good restaurant, and we ate with gusto. We were joined by photographer/food aficionado Vinh Dao, formerly of Phnom Penh, now living in Saigon, and some Mekong ICT Camp alumni.

The next day called for an early start. As it turned out, over 3000 people had registered for the event!

#barcampsaigon 10:00am: it’s on like Donkey Kong!

— Vinh Dao (@vinhdaoUS) July 7, 2013

The opening session got off to an enthusiastic start with the urging of team leader Anh Minh-Do and a huge assemblage of enthusiastic volunteers.

Many of the sessions seemed to have a fairly technical bent. I was pleased to have a good crowd for my talk on E-Books.

(Above two photos courtesy Ta Thuy Trang)

I’d presented on this topic before (BarCamp Angkor) but it was a 3 minute ‘Lightning Talk’ and it was great to elaborate in less haste.

Publish your E-Book (In 10 Steps) + links: http://bit.ly/ZtWcsW

The ‘Cambodian Contingent’ was mainly there to watch, and departed just before noon so they could be back at work on Monday. Lunch time offered free meal vouchers, but it was *packed* so we decided to retreat and actually buy our lunch.

I had mooted the idea of a ‘Blogger Showcase’ for the afternoon, and initially it looked like there would be only three presenters. We were happy to be joined some BarCamp BarCamp/Tech meetup stalwarts.

I led off with my patented freestyle rap, Vinh Dao talked about his passion for food (NyamPenh, Vietnomnom), and Ta Tuy Trang profiled her writing/photography blog. Kounila Keo (Blue Lady Blog) told of how her blog contributed to personal and professional growth. Preetam Rai (Smarter By Sharing) finished off with a charming story on how he met his wife via a blog comment. Ta Tuy Trang Kounila Keo Preetam Rai

After that most of us explored the other talks. There were plenty of informal discussions: one attendee was interested in how to take photos and be creative on a daily or weekly basis. I suggested he look into Illustration Friday’s prompts.

#IllustrationFriday is great exercise for aspiring artists. http://t.co/zHsGeTQiqQ #BarcampSaigon

— John Weeks (@john_weeks) July 7, 2013

I was interviewed by two students who (at first) I’d thought were writing up a profile for a blog or student newspaper. It later turned out they were new to BarCamps and presenting and just wanted to get a better grasp of how it all worked.

By the time BarCamp was winding down the remaining people from the Blogger talk headed out for an early dinner, and then we checked in at the raucous, post-event ‘BeerCamp’.

Meanwhile, party in Ho Chi Minh http://t.co/BHHTjN46tF

— Kounila (@Kounila) July 7, 2013

Preetam, Kounila & Co. were headed back to the same area, and did some ‘due diligence’ by checking in with some IT community friends. (One was Minh Ngoc, a Mekong ICT alumni from 2010!) That was a pleasant surprise. We caught up on varied geek topics, it’s always good to bounce ideas around.

Preetam and Wikpedian Anirudh Singh Bati topped off the evening with some Indian food. I managed to have one more glass of beer and that was it for me. All told, a great turnout and a fun evening. (Let’s see if the organizers can top it next year.)

My Flickr photos: http://goo.gl/Us5Zk

http://www.barcampsaigon.org

http://twitter.com/barcampSaigon

http://www.facebook.com/BarCampSaigon

Beatboxin’ Blogger

Jinja — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:46:19 +0000

Working late on a project and feeling goofy.
If YOU had to represent your blog via music, how would you do it?

Blogger Rap Version 1.0 – Jinja.Apsara.org from John Weeks on Vimeo.

Feeling a little nostalgic for the days when if you were *serious* about the web –
you just had to have a blog.
http://jinja.apsara.org/2008/05/raging-party-on-the-internet/

Click for alternate take. http://vimeo.com/68434292

Mekong ICT Camp 2013

Jinja — Sun, 12 May 2013 04:24:45 +0000

[Note: This is a 'placeholder' post until I have more time to web up my day-by-day notes.]

Mekong ICT Camp: this year’s theme was ‘Data Data’ and held at the Srindhorn Environmental park in Cha-Am, Thailand. (Geeks at the beach!) I’d never expected to return and was gratified to share about Open Development Cambodia.

I’ll try to provide a day-by-day analysis of both the content and training tracks. It was great to meet creative techies from all around the region, and most of us would have been quite content to stay a few more days! This student-made video (above) captures a lot of the effort and enthusiasm.

Blog Post from Beth Kanter: http://www.bethkanter.org/mekong/

Engage Media: http://www.engagemedia.org/blog/engagemedia-at-the-3rd-mekong-ict-camp

Beyond Access: http://beyondaccess.net/blog/2013/05/23/mekong-ict-camp-beyond-access-heads-to-thailand/

Here’s our poster of participants; more to come!

Also don’t hesitate to check ‘Sketch Mekong ICT’.
http://sketchmekongict.tumblr.com/

TechCamp Phnom Penh 2013

Jinja — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:31:56 +0000

Some very brief tidbits from Cambodia’s first TechCamp!
http://techcampphnompenh.wordpress.com

So pleased to see the Open Development Cambodia team ‘walk their talk’! That’s my team!

Above: US Ambassador Todd asked us to ‘like’ his Facebook page. (Not what I would ordinarily expect in a diplomatic intro. )

Yrs truly w/host (and blogger) Soma Norodom. Looking to be a fun and informative event!

Postscript: A ‘Storify’ listing of tweets & blogs. http://storify.com/techcampglobal/techcamp-phnom-penh
More pictures (VOA Khmer): http://goo.gl/aDyif Tharum’s brief writeup: http://tharum.com/blog/2013/03/14/techcampphnompenh.html