I have not visited TIG for a long time, and even longer since I wrote here. I remember spending a lot of time on this network a few years ago. I am still impressed with the site and the amount of people from all around the world it brings together, and I wish this site the best of possible futures.

My question here is: How can we facilitate global learning through computers? How can we learn from each other? How can we move from potential to reality, and how can we move towards some of those goals that WSIS laid out in 2003 in Geneva?

One of my main interests lies in how we can learn by sharing on-line experiences. Using modern technology and a distributed work-load, we can do wonders. I will get back to this asap.

I am mostly writing on my website www.dltq.org these days, but I will try to write here, and I hope to be able to announce a bit more useful information next time I update this space.

Best greetings to all from Norway!

I am busy. Covering new fields, going to New York for the first time ever (my first in USA too) next week in order to attent vloggercon, very much occupied with party political stuff here in Norway, I was interviewed shortly by The World a few days ago, and you can listen to the piece where I contributed here, and the info page for that day's programme is here. I have my blog here, i videolog here, and I try to get some more studies done this spring.

I miss my days hanging out here in TIG, but life goes on. I will check out the page now and then though, and I have not sunk into the ground. Check up my blog whenever you want, or email me, or .. well.

Take care and have fun, all! :)

oh, and if you live in new york, send me an e-mail and we might meet up?

Raymond aka dltq

Hey, here is my new weblog/blog: http://dltq.blogs.com

Topics range freely, but are concentrated around politics and technology.

Catch you all later, at some point! :)

Raymond / dltq

Ok, I hereby officially close down my TIG update page. I will keep my older posts, and I will still now and then log on to check up on updates done by some friends, but I will not post regularly. Well, I have not posted that regularly last months anyway, so you won't notice much of a difference. :)

The system seems too unflexible for my needs, and I am considering moving on to typepad or similar blogware.

I will write a comment to this page with the address to my new online ramblings.

Take care and good luck to you all.

Raymond/dltq

Just wondered if I can subscribe to TIG updates using Feeddemon or similar software.

I have for a long time used href="http://www.wikipedia.com">wikipedia and have had a few days
now of brainstorming how one could use wiki software to make
communication more effective within groups and organizations.

I am currently in the middle of testing out href="http://www.socialtext.com">socialtext.com for the Balkan
cooperation project with members from Norway, Denmark, The
Netherlands, Serbia and Bosnia. (Or "Serbia & Montenegro" and "Bosnia
& Herzegovina" if you insist :P). One of my main conclusions is that
within our party (Liberal Youths here in Norway) we are indeed using
the internet and ICT as if we were still living in 1997. We have
archaic methods of using e-mail, and alternative and new ways of
handling information are not very well-known within the organization.

Even tho I am trying to stay ahead of the game and get to know more
efficient ways of handling information as well as other issues like
calling abroad using Skype instead of our regular office phone (much
cheaper to call Bosnia with Skype, or other voip solutions), I still
feel that there is so much I do not know.

So basically my question is: How do you handle information within your
organization? Have you found better ways of working in a project, and
would you like to share some of the experiences with the rest of us?

I would be very grateful for any input!

I am writing this update from my gmail account, and basically I am
testing whether this works well. If it does, it will mean that I will
be updating a lot more often here.

Since last time I updated I have had another trip to the Balkans, this
time Serbia as well as Bosnia & Herzegovina. I was attending a seminar
on Education and Democracy. More information about that you can read
here: http://www.mladiliberali.org/seminar_obraz_i_demo.htm

This seminar is a part of a cooperation between liberal youth
organizations in Norway, Serbia and Bosnia.

This was my second time in Serbia, and my first time in Bosnia. I have
absolutely fallen in love with Serbia. Well, of course it is not
heaven on earth, but I really feel a lot of empathy for the people
there, and I feel a certain sense of kinship with the country. I don't
know why... It was my first time in Bosnia. I mainly spent my time in
Sarajevo or just outside it, on the olympic mountain of Bjelasnica
just outside Sarajevo. The city is an awesome place, even tho - and
this is bizarre to think about - the city was under siege just 10
years ago...

I have some pictures from my trip, I will put them online soon.

***

Otherwise, I am pretty busy with studies (just finished my last exams
for this term this week), and with political life. 2005 is election
year in Norway, and I am working with the Liberal Youths, preparing
for it, schooling our members in different ways. It takes a lot of
time..

Ok, will update more later.

Raymond

--
Raymond M. Kristiansen
http://bergen.uv.no

I refer to the news that Ken Bigley was murdered by those who had kidnapped him.

This is my opinion:

Terrorism will go on. The "War against Terrorism" will NOT be won by - to quote Kerry - more of the same.

I think this whole charade is very unfortunate, especially for all those victims of this cycle of violence. It will get worse, and no matter how many billion $ the USA spends on "homeland security", or on bombs for Iraq or Afghanistan, or for other measures - smart or less smart, the situation will not get better. That administration need a change of approach. Now. The Guantanamo prisoners is just One (well-known) example of an area that needs review by US politicians.

I just read this commentary at Human Rights Watch.

I wondered what Exactly happened that helped spur Darfur to the attention of the global media... I guess it was a mixture of things.

Writing on three articles for the magazine, one of the articles is about Francisco Badenes, the Brazilian police investigator. I met him here in Bergen where he held a big presentation at the Town Hall, by invitation from the university branch of Amnesty International. I met him a few days later and asked a few questions, and my article is based on his answers, as well as the general problem of corruption/organized crime in Brazil.. (I am NOT saying that Brazil is a bad country; those who have reason will know the difference)

On saturday, I just found out today, I will be attending a big debate on environmental issues. It will be my first Major public debate for years... And the first in party politics (as opposed to student politics, which I did earlier), so I am a bit nervous about that. The hall will be filled with pro-environment youngsters (from the Natur og Ungdom norwegian NGO), and I will be representing the Liberals, which is part of the Norwegian government coalition, as well as the city government here in Bergen, so I will have to "defend" our party against all kinds of bad things that our government is doing. mmmm, sexy!

Oh well, I will use the tactics of open-ness, and discussion, and tell the socialists and others that hey, one thing is the ideal world, another thing is the real world, and our work is to move the real world towards the ideal world. We can do Some miracles, but we cannot do them all.. I guess the worst thing I can do is to defend our party or the government without any decency, and just say that the environment groups are whining without stop, or something silly like that.

Oh, Russia will sign the Kyoto Treaty, so this means that Norway has to reduce its emissions as well, hmm. Good!! Now, lets look constructively at what we can do together, here in Norway and internationally for the environment.

bleh, I need to finish those articles now, or the new editor of the magazine will slaughter me and feed me to the pigs.