Himmels Pagoda (Temple of Heaven): A restaurant in Berlin...
May 31, 2007
May 29, 2007
Pageflakes pagecasts: the 100000 feed strong metagator
After the recent addition of pagecasts feature Pageflakes announces that its users have created 100000 pagecasts for its metagator. Pageflakes CEO Dan Cohen informs:"Pagecasting" is the intersection of personalized pages with social media. Unlike existing social media such as blogs and podcasts, virtually anyone can use Pageflakes to easily and quickly mashup a multimedia page with interactive Flakes that will enable them to express themselves and...
May 24, 2007
One Valerie Taylor
Many Bangladeshis regard Valerie Taylor as someone similar to Mother Teresa.She founded a Rehabilitation Centre for Paralysed Patients (RCPP) in 1979 which was later renamed as Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP). For the last 27 years CRP is renowned for treatment, training, education, and rehabilitation for the disabled people in Bangladesh. Now there are some annoying news that the management wants Valerie out of CRP. Angelmorn...
May 23, 2007
1971 liberation war and the role of Indian army
The Bangladesh liberation war is an epic itself. The atrocities of Pakistani Army were countered and fought by Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) initially in March 1971 and in the later stage (in December) Indian Army engaged in the war directly. Although India trained Mukti Bahini and provided arms from much earlier. Now there are certain quarters in Bangladesh who try to ignore India's contributions and some think that it was India's game plan to divide Pakistan, their arch rivals. And interestingly there are some quarters in India who thinks that...
May 22, 2007
Frequently asked questions to people who criticize the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
A great masterpiece by Asif Saleh of Drishtipat in the Daily Star. Some excerpts:"We speak out because we love our country and the people who serve our country honorably. Our cheering and our finger pointing is driven by the government actions and it is all because of a common interest of seeing what is best for our dear homeland named Bangladesh.Just one request: please don't term us "anti-state" because the government won't like what we say. Stopping the information flow is not the way to deal with criticism but rather by changing the minds with...
May 21, 2007
Bangla (Band) is performing in Germany
Amader Gaan reports:Folk fusion band Bangla's growing international popularity reached a new height as they got the honor to perform in a concert in Germany with one of the biggest icons in world music, Bono, the lead singer of U2. The concert titled 'Your Voice Against Poverty' will take place on June 7th in Rostock, Germany and is organized by an anti-poverty movement with the help of Bono. The Band will also perform at Halle (near Leipzig) on...
Dr. Yunus in Berlin
I met Dr. Muhammad Yunus today in Berlin. He was here in the SPD office Willy-Brandt House at Wilhelmstrasse for a reception of the local Bangladeshis (Photo: Yunus with an organizer).This is his second visit to Germany in this month. He is here to attend the preparatory meetings of the G8 summit to be held next month. Chancellor Angela Merkel, leading the German presidency of this summit is trying to do something for the women of Africa. She has...
May 20, 2007
Why headline matters?
"On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece."Copy Blogger has details on how to write magnetic headlines.
Hat tip: David Sasa...
Pageflakes: the number one personalized web page
I first found about Pageflakes about a year ago. Since then it has become sleeker and better. For those who are new to it, its an Ajax-based personalized start page like the big boys, Google personalized webpages, My Yahoo and Windows Live. In this page you have hundreds of interesting Flakes (modules) to add. These Flakes contains your day-to-day requirements like reading email, Web search, subscribe and read RSS/Atom feeds, address book, dictionary, notes, calendar, weather forecast, social networking like del.icio.us bookmarks, flickr photos,...
May 19, 2007
Deshantori
Watched Mridul Chowdhury's documentary Deshantori (via Google Video). This is a docu-drama, which portrays the struggles of 26 Bangladeshis to illegally migrate to Spain through the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara desert. It starts with the illusions about the West of the common Bangladeshi youth. Mezba did a review on this. Some excerpts:The movie had a couple of quotes that I remember. For example, this girl chides her friend, "You are ready to get up at 6 in the morning and work hard all day once you reach London, yet today in Bangladesh you stay...
Richard McInnes likely to be Bangladesh's cricket coach
Richard McInnes, an Australian, has been the Australia cricket team's performance analyst and a senior cricket coach at Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. He also coached Bangladesh's under-19 cricket and guided them towards a plate title in Under 19 World Cup held in 2004. Bangladesh beat Australia to clinch that title.This will be a good decision for the Bangladesh cricket board if they appoint McInnes as the successor of Dav Whatmore. McInnes knows many of the current national team players personally. I remember from an interview...
May 17, 2007
May 15, 2007
Cashing on breast-feed substitutes
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million infants die around the world every year because they are not breastfed. Where water is unsafe a bottle-fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhoea than a breastfed child." - Baby Milk ActionJoanna Moorhead of the Guardian Unlimited writes an investigative report on Nestlé's aggressive marketing of its baby Milk Formula's in Bangladesh using loopholes in the international code for marketing baby formulas. She has noticed doctors using pens with Nestlé's emblemed...
Whatmore on Bangladesh Cricket
The Bangladesh - India 3rd one day cricket match washed away because of heavy rain. Too bad for the thousands of spectators and millions of cricket lovers all over the world.Dave Whatmore gives an insider's view of the Bangladesh cricketers in an interview. And he is damn right in many occasions. Some excerpts:"When we start well we are much better. If we don't start that well, then it becomes a much bigger job to bring it back in line. This has happened very often. The ability is there, but sometimes it just clicks.The cricketing world wants to...
May 14, 2007
Quote of the day
"Even if religion, caste, class and culture continue to divide the subcontinent, one thing is bound to continually unite them: the love of cricket."- Expat blogger Tom of Bangladesh Barta after watching Bangladesh India 2nd One-Day match live in Mirpur Stadium, Dha...
May 12, 2007
Tasneem Khalil Freed at last
At about 11 PM Bangladesh time on the 11th of May Tasneem Khalil released by joint forces about 22 hours after being picked up. Drishtipat Blog has time line of events.At last we have some press about Tasneem Khalil in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi news papers ran the story of his release. There was a silence during the day (in those few News papers who have midday publications)* The New Age* BDNews24.com* The Daily Amader Shomoy* The Daily Prothom AloMahfuz...
May 11, 2007
Spread the news: Free Tasneem Khalil
I wrote about Tasneem in the Technorati wtf (Where's the fire section). Please click on the link and vote for it so that it remains on the top of the list for more amplificati...
Breaking News: Journalist Blogger Tasneem Khalil arrested
I am appalled by the arrest of Bangladeshi Journalist and Blogger Tasneem Khalil by the Joint Forces. Reports have been coming that he was picked up by the joint forces from his house at around midnight. They have taken away his cell phone and passport. There is a state of emergency in Bangladesh and probably Tasneem became victim because he raised questions against the extra judicial killings of the joint forces. Here is his blog where you can read...
May 10, 2007
Bangladesh vs. India: Live cricket links and ball-by-ball commentary
Within a couple of hours the first one day between India and Bangladesh will start. Millions of fans like me will be watching the game via online live streaming of the match.Indian Nero Sports, first Cricket only TV channel will telecast the series live. Sky Sports will telecast the matches live for the viewers in Europe.There are some web links to watch the game online:1) Via Sopcast: Please download sopcast from here. Then find live video cricket broadcasts of the match from the channels list and click on any one of them. 2) Via TVU: Live Cricket...
Cashing on social media
What helps people, helps business. -Leo Burnett, American Marketing expert
David Sasaki of Global Voices writes an investigative report on the "Economics of Social Media Conference". He shows how the new media and web 2.0 contents created by millions of individuals and published for free prompted by humans' trait of socialization are helping some entrepreneurs to cash on.
Some interesting observations by David:Observers have noticed that internet users like to have one central place for their online profile. For the majority of people, that central...
Microlending - the 2.0 concept of Microcredit
Most of us know about Microcredit and how it operates. An institute offers small loans to a group of individuals without collateral and peer pressure and observation secures the proper utilization and return of the money. But what if this becomes more interactive like Web 2.0?What if a group of individuals finance a small loan to one or more individuals instead of the institute? Prosper, a 15-month-old venture is doing just that in USA combining social networking with online auctions.Wired News has details:"Prosper's marketplace is a blend of eBay-like...
Bicycle woes
Summer is imminent and bicycles are ruling in Berlin. You have to give them priority while you are driving. They will not stop no matter what happens say even if you have to follow one for a long while in a narrow road at 20km per hour. If one rider has to put down his/her feet because of you (other than stopping at a red light) you will be cursed.I miss Bangladesh where driving is more of a shrewd game and you make the rules! Chris has some interesting observations about driving in Banglade...
Bangladesh National Cricket Academy is the future of Bangladesh Cricket
Bangladesh National Cricket Academy is a new project of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) with technical assistance from Cricket Australia to raise the standard of cricket in Bangladesh. They have already got a sponsor for the next five years."The concept of a cricket academy was initiated to bridge the gap between the national side and the under-19 team as Bangladesh has become dependent on the youth players for their obvious talent." (Noman Mohammad)Here are two interviews which will give you an insight into the development of Cricket in Bangladesh...
May 09, 2007
Press freedom in Bangladesh: Self censorship is the greater evil
Here is an interesting discussion by some renowned journalists of Bangladesh on the occasion of the World Press freedom day organized by Drik. Bangladesh is under a state of emergency and police permission was needed to hold this discussion. What an irony.Some excerpts:Probir Sikder: I was victim of terrorism in 2001. I am very confused what should I say about journalism and safety? I was attacked and lost my leg, but when I went on TV we could not mention the name of my attacker. I see these glossy supplements made in newspapers about press freedom,...
May 08, 2007
Bangladesh India Cricket Series: Battle of Emotions
Bangladesh is a new cricketing nation. The passion for cricket is growing from the mid Nineteen Nineties after Bangladesh stepped into the big arena of cricket. Whereas India has more than a hundred years of cricketing history. It has also won the world cup and have produced many cricket legends in the World. After the loss of Indian team to Bangladesh in the recent World Cup people reacted very emotionally. Actually it prompted India's exit from...
Not aid but technologies fight poverty
You don't often see great ideas to reduce poverty. Here is a great video which just shows the background of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh, which boast to reduce poverty with connecting poor people who had no access to telecommunication (I am ignoring the criticisms against it, which is a broader issue)."Connectivity increases productivity and reduces poverty"- Iqbal Quadir, founder of Gonofone and GrameenPhone. He is currently the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Development Entrepreneurship, Senior...
Today's Links
* Bangladeshis trapped in airport for weeks.* So... who's gonna move it?* "South Asianness" versus border-fencing.* How to get out of Iraq.* The best global web sites of 20...
May 07, 2007
Putting Bangladesh on the frontline of climate change
"About 150 million people are crammed into this overcrowded country, making for a density of 1,000 people for every square kilometer. The country is only 40 percent the size of Germany." - reports Matthias Gebauer, a German consultant. He writes a series on the dangers of the effects of the Global warming in Bangladesh in Der Spiegel Online.However if you read his reports (link below) minutely you will see that it tells about rampant poverty in the...
May 03, 2007
May 02, 2007
A freedom fighter's tale
Bangladesh liberation war is an epic if every fighter tells their stories. And not often you get the chance to read a real freedom fighter's story online.Shahzaman Mozumder is a top IT executive who received Bir Protik award for his gallantry in the 1971 Liberation war. He is also a blogger and has starting posting his book about his experience as a member of the Mukti Bahini (freedom fighter) in 1971 . Read his stories how he become a freedom fighter and proceeded on to liberate the country. Amazi...
Some facts about Bangladesh
A VSO volunteer compiles today's statistics on Bangladesh (source: UNICEF, UN MDG, UNDP, World Bank). Some quoted here with my comments in parentheses:… 100 children died from diseases relating to a lack of clean drinking water (Recent heatwave is responsible)… 3 people were killed extrajudiciarly by the Rapid Action Battalion in ‘crossfire’ incidents (No comment)… the caretaker government arrested 1000 people with no hope of trial (No comment)… 5 children were killed in road traffic accidents (In a nation of 140 million people figure out the percentage...
My first podcast attempt
I submitted a story in the BBC Outlook which is promoting citizen journalism efforts. You can listen to it from here. Seek for the second story in Monday's edition, which starts from 12:25 minutes.Here is a text version of the piece.After listening to the piece (they have stripped the background Music) I think I should have done better....
Orang Bangla
Approximately 350,000 Bangladeshi labor migrants, locally known as "Orang Bangla", a derogatory slang, serve in Malaysia. Malaysia resumed manpower import from Bangladesh with the recruitment of some 50,000 skilled and unskilled workers starting late last year. Shortage of flights and various procedural flaws are hampering their transfer to Malaysia as per a Daily Star editorial. So actually what the most of them do? They provide unskilled labor in manufacturing, construction, plantations and cleaning/manual labor works in the city. A study shows...
May 01, 2007
Quote of the day
"A blog isn't a publication. It's a person"- Jeremy Wagstaff while discussing how to really read Bl...
Breaking News: Serial Bombs in Bangladesh.. again
BDNews24 reports:A series of bombs went off at Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong railway stations Tuesday morning, spreading panic among commuters. A rickshawpuller was injured in the Chittagong blast. All the bombs exploded between 6:45am and 7:00am.Aluminium plates inscribed with militant slogans purported to be from an al-Qaeda network were found at the bomb sites. This seems only a sign by the militants that they are here. The Chief of Police also...
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