From the category archives:

Society and Culture

Why I am ashamed of some social media leaders today

13 January 2010

All day, the world news media has been reporting on the horrendous earthquake that struck Haiti late yesterday afternoon. One of the first organizations to respond was Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yéle Haiti, that sent out a tweet within about an hour of reporting the earthquake yesterday.
DONATE $5 BY TEXTING THE WORD "YELE" TO 501501
At [...]

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Best. Ambient. Travel. Video. EVER.

21 December 2009

I love ambient videos. I watch Sunrise International and other programs that just let you sit back and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings that have been filmed.
But now I have an ultimate experience to share.
The "new media" division of Norway's national broadcasting system, NRKBeta, has produced a video celebrating Bergensbanen's 100th birthday. The video shows every minute (7.5 [...]

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Recyled Technology: 2010 Winter Olympic Medals

23 October 2009

And not just recycled — upcycled!
The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada will be awarding the top three athletes in each event with medals made out of recycled circuit boards. Each medal will also be one-of-a-kind — a first for the Olympics — and, as a whole, make up a work [...]

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How to change your Facebook language setting

6 August 2009

Image via CrunchBase

Have you ever thought about letting a social networking tool help you increase your secondary language skills, especially when it comes to social media?
For example, what is "status" in Swahili or "message" in Chinese?
Facebook provides a great opportunity to do this whenever you want.
Here's how:

Simply go to the bottom of your Facebook Home [...]

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FoF: This is Norway

15 May 2009

As many folks know by now, my heritage is Norwegian — 100%. I'm stuck with it. It's a good thing I like it.
Sunday is Norway's national day – Syttende Mai (17th of May). It's the day that Norway adopted its constitution in 1814.
To celebrate and for my "Favorites on Friday", I'm sharing a YouTube video [...]

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Take a masterclass with the Masai

7 August 2008

Image via Wikipedia
The London Times Online recently featured a video about intercultural communication, "Masai Masterclass". A management consulting firm, ChangeMaker International, brought in a group of Masai warriors to teach British businesspeople about how to develop skills that will help them through tough economic times.
The article said:
One of the key aspects of [Masai] culture is [...]

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FoF: How does the news shape the way we see the world?

1 August 2008

Today's Favorites on Friday comes courtesy of the power and result of social networking and social media.
This morning, I checked my Facebook account. I noticed that a Facebook friend, Achim J. Mueller from Germany, had posted a link to World Mapper, a collection of world maps where territories are re-sized on each map according to [...]

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Europe08: In which Gordon Ramsay enters my life in tangible form

12 July 2008

Image via Wikipedia
I am a huge fan of Scottish chef Gordon Ramsay and any of his televisions shows. I have a friend who calls them the "Morse Code Shows" because BBC America "bleeps" just about every other?..-. .-. .. -.-. -.- .. -. –.?word out of Ramsay's mouth.
What do I like about Ramsay?

He has an [...]

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Europe08: What one semester of high school French will get you in Paris

9 July 2008

When I was about 12 years old and starting 7th grade, I signed up to begin to study a foreign language — Beginning French. Or so I thought.
Due to a registration error, the school also signed me up for Beginning Latin class. So for my first semester, I was studying foreign language for the first [...]

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Europe08: Watching television and finding BBC's "Tribal Wives"

9 July 2008

At home in the States, I often watch TV channels such as BBC America that help to give me different perspective on news and culture outside my own country. So when I get the opportunity to be abroad, I really enjoying watching television in the countries that I'm visiting to help give me insights into [...]

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