new transparency paradigm

Popongi pepe!

Just found out I have to leave in the morning, meaning I will be kind of far away for our afternoon appointment - about 3,015 kilometres to be exact.

Can we reschedule for later this month?

In the meantime, keep an eye out for my article in Saturday's Cook Islands News about information, media and development.

And, very briefly, about blogs:

1. Basically, they are free, easily updateable websites. I use blogger because it is owned by google and least likely to disappear, taking all my hard work with it.
2. You can update them by email or via Microsoft Word. I use both methods.
3. You can also blog single or multiple photos with free software from Google called Picasa.
4. Just like normal websites, blogsites can be infinitely expanded, for free. Well almost infinite. It takes a lot to fill up one blog.
5. Blogs can also be plugged into the back of normal websites. Your normal website becomes the pretty shop window, while your blog delivers the daily (or weekly or monthly) specials to that shop window behind the scenes.

Of course blogs can be as frustrating as normal websites and creating the content is just as much hard work as normal. But I believe strategic value lies in their ease of use and potential for blogs to externalise current dependence on emails - like this one - to convey ideas and influence opinion.

So, for example, as well as sending an email to your inbox, I might also send this information to a blog where everyone can read it. Imagine, then if
... a few people, then some, then ALL people; and
... a few NGOs, then some, then ALL NGOs;
... and a few, then some, then ALL government departments,
... then a few, then some and then ALL businesses began cc'ing ALL (or even most) of their emails to the web, where anyone can read them.

Or more importantly search for webpage based emails by subject, issue and topic.

A whole new paradigm in transparency would be delivered.

I'm starting here.


jason browneditor@avaiki.nuwww.avaiki.nuavaiki news agency
avaiki | cook islands