"Everyone seems to ignore the fact that they have played good cricket. They aren't as weak as some people seem to think they are."- John Dyson, the West Indies Coach, on Bangladesh cricket t...
July 31, 2009
July 30, 2009
Tipaimukh Dam And Transparency
(Also Published in Global Voices Online)My previous report on the damaging aspects of the Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project and protests against it generated much reader response. This post has updates on the situation.Asadul Haque at Haque's Talking describes how this has been a hot debate in Bangladesh recently:The Tipaimukh dam issue currently continues to dominate the domain of political, media, intellectual and civil society’s discourse in Bangladesh...
July 29, 2009
The feat of the "Lowly"
Congratulations to the Bangladesh cricket team for recording their first one-day series win over a test-playing nation by winning 2-0 against West Indies (WI) with one match to go and previously clinching the Test series (2-0). The boys really played well to prove that they are becoming a force to consider.Surely Shakib's captaincy and performance are proving beneficial for Bangladesh. Bangladesh can now turn back and win. According to the current...
July 27, 2009
Update
I have not updated my blog for a while. The main reason is the lack of internet connectivity. I mean I have now a monthly mobile internet connection package which performs a lot under its declared speed and it has a monthly cap which prompts me to stick to work rather than play. We have started the house hunt about ten days ago. We have so far seen more than 15 houses and closing in on one. Meanwhile we have traveled around Jakarta a bit. Went to the Ancol Theme park and the beach and rode on the cable car. (Pics coming up)Meanwhile our main source...
July 17, 2009
We Are Safe
Today at around 8:00AM two bombs went off in Kuningan area of South Jakarta. The homemade bombs were on the basement car park of the Marriot and a restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton. At least nine people are dead so far including a suicide bomber. No one claimed the responsibility but BBC is suspecting its the work of extremist organization Jemaah Islamia. An unexploded bomb and other explosives material were found in room 1808. Another bomb went off at a toll road in north Jakarta.We are also residing in Southern Jakarta but about 20 minutes away...
July 16, 2009
In Jakarta
Signing in from a cyber cafe in Jakarta. We have arrived safely yesterday. It was a tiring journey of about 18 hours of flight time and two stops (At Doha & Singapore). What can I say about Jakarta at first sight! Feels so like Dhaka. Smog, corruption, long queues, traffic jam, broken streets, Kacha Bazaar, high end convenient stores, shopping malls, high rises.Trying to sort out logistics here. There are a lot of things to do.. like hunting a house, getting a cost effective internet connection. The temporary accommodation had some lacking...
July 14, 2009
Good Bye Germany
It has been an interesting experience living in Europe for the last three years. In less than 12 hours we will be moving on. Next stop Jakarta, Indonesia; where my new home will be for the next couple of years. New country, new challenges. I can't wait to share my experiences.The summary of the last three years is that I enjoyed this study break, spent more time with my daughter (which was not possible during my last full time job), blogged more and ventured into the world of working online and I used the time to travel a lot. Europe gives you...
July 12, 2009
Bangladesh: Through The Eyes Of Expatriates
There is a vibrant expatriate community in Bangladesh and many of them work as volunteers or are employed in numerous non-government organizations. Some of them are also blogging and are sharing their experiences and these are generally true and more authentic than what is reported by the international media about Bangladesh. These views are extremely useful for those who are coming to visit Bangladesh and for Bangladeshis too. In the first...
Followed By The Dead
The last email from Twitter irked me a bit:Hi, Rezwan.Dead Grandmother (YourDeadGranny) is now following your updates on Twitter. A little information about Dead Grandmother: 146 followers9 updatesfollowing 1041 people I know I should not freak out. A Bangla blogger at Sachalayatan was also annoyed by an invitation in Facebook from the ex dictator (president) H. M. Ershad who is known for his attraction to women. Social Networking platforms are...
Ein Sommernachtstraum
Today I watched one adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the 'Schaubuehne Am Lehniner Platz' Theatre in Berlin. The name of the German version is Ein Sommernachtstraum.Its a collaboration between Director Thomas Ostermeier and Choreographer Constanza Macras and the brochure boasted "its an evening about loss of identity and sex."I must say I am amazed by the choreography and musical skills of the drama group. However in reality it was a mixture of Hard rock, opera, classical, improvised music, dance, acrobatics, choreography,...
July 09, 2009
July 08, 2009
Google Chrome OS and the economics of Free
Everybody is now talking about the announcement of Google that the Google Chrome Operating System will be available for users for free. From the Official Google Blog: Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start...
Glimpses of 1996: Investors Beware
Today I saw a report of share market manipulation in Bangladesh. BD Thai, a local company producing aluminum panels incurred losses for four consecutive years till 2007. Its share price dropped as low as Tk 43 while the face value of the share is Tk 100. Now, how to turn the price of Tk. 43 into Tk. 1200 (current market value)? Enter a foreign investment fund called GEM Global Yield Fund from USA, offering to pump in a huge amount into the company with a hopeless record and some market propaganda. The Daily Star reports:A deal was cut between the...
July 07, 2009
Bangladeshi Peacekeeper Wins The Heart Of The Liberians
Liberian blog 2tango informs that Lt.-Col. Ershad Hossain from Bangladesh voluntarily donated his blood to save Menemon Jarbo, a pregnant Liberian woman who later gave birth to a set of triplets. He is the team leader of MILOB (UNMIL Military Observer from Bangladesh) Team Eleven in southeastern Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County in Liberia.The blogger writes:This medical emergency was a case referred from River Gee County to the Martha Tubman Memorial Hospital...
The Mighty IE8 Without A Spell Checker
I basically use Firefox and sporadically use Internet Explorar when I am multitasking and checking my windows live mail. What I miss in IE is an inbuilt spell checker. I even downloaded a spellchecker plug in called iSpell which works manually and a bit cumbersome. Recently I have upgraded to IE8, and thought that it would have this feature. But sadly IE has still a long way to go comparing to Firefox and Safari in this regar...
All For Nothing
Mohammad Iqbal, an Indonesian blogger living in Bahrain analyzes the plights of a Bangladeshi worker in Bahrain:I recently met a Bangali who works for a hotel as a casual housekeeping attendant. He is actually Public Area attendant, one who takes care all public areas in a hotel, cleaning glass windows, or mopping floors of the lobby. He is not in charge for guest rooms. He does not make up rooms.What’s not fair?He spent BD1,500 to get working visa in Bahrain. He’s entitled 2 year permit. He’s paid BD10 a day, it means he earns BD240 a month. It’s...
July 05, 2009
July 03, 2009
Interesting Links
The 20 most popular names on FacebookPeople power in China100 movie lines in 200 seconds SolarNetOne: Solar-powered networking for anyoneToo Much [Internet] Bad for MarriageBangladesh's women are in the houseBangladesh dropped from religious freedom watch listNobel laureate develops low-cost health care system for BangladeshBangladesh blamed for absence of ‘hil...
Problem in Sending Money From Saudi Arabia
Many Bangladeshi workers struggle in Saudi Arabia to earn some foreign currency and send some savings to home. According to a latest report there are also some 50,000 Bangladeshi businessmen in Saudi Arabia and they prefer Hundi to Bank remittances."These illiterate people put millions of dollars in the banks. (But) when they attempt to send money through the banks, the Saudi secret police whisk them away and charge them with money laundering. So, some of them think of sending money through hundi." - Dr. Arifur Rahman, living in the Kingdom for...
July 02, 2009
July 01, 2009
OTTO
OTTO is an electronic musical instrument for realtime manual beat slicing of audio samples. OTTO ~ Getting Started from Luca De Rosso on Vimeo.OTTO has been developed by Luca De Rosso as a thesis project for his master degree in Visual and Multimedia Communications at IUAV University of Venice – April 20...
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