from the horizon

This is my third time working in Indonesia, and I’m going to be here from 6 months in total, so I thought it was about time to make a serious attempt at learning Indonesian. I’d heard that the best place to do this was in Yogyakarta, so I took a week off work booked myself into a language school.

It’s been a while since I’ve been at school, and I’d forgotten that I’m not actually the best student. This is mainly because I enjoy playing more than studying. Fortunately the language school (Wisma Bahasa) I chose had the motto “Teach no words only create situations in which you learn and enjoy communicating in the language”, which suited me perfectly. The classes were one-on-one, and I quickly managed to start joking round in Indonesian, which I figured was essential to my learning process. My finest moment was the creation of the word “memonyet”, which according to the rules I was taught means “become like a monkey”. Read the rest of this entry �

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated – sorry, I’ve been super busy (how unusual), but I assure you it’s been worth the wait. Over the next couple of weeks I promise you an assortment of (some post-dated) delights – photos, stories, conference papers, videos, musings and monkeys (don’t forget the monkeys).

In an attempt to keep me regular, I’m starting a high bran diet, and also a regular “Idea of the Week” post. These ideas will probably range around Technology, Developing Countries and generally what we can do to make the world a better place. I’m going to have to cut back on my perfectionist streak, which tends to make posting take several hours at least, so apologies if these posts are a little rough around the edges!
As always you comments are welcome
(except for Gareth – you’re just a pain )

Anyway, without further ado (or with further ado, what ever suits you best)…

I’m a big fan of Google Earth, as you might be able to tell, from the recent addition of my blog map, where I’ve plotted the locations of my posts. I also think that Google Earth is a valuable tool for NGOs to use, so it’s quite exciting to see them starting to use it.

The first example is from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund – no this isn’t a global smackdown map). They have produced layers which you can download, to see where they are operating in the world, and take virtual tours of some of their projects.

Read the rest of this entry �