Month: July 2006

Mike posts about attempting to invite women to Sketching 06, the hardware prototyping conference he put on a few weeks ago. Though he made an attempt to invite women outside of his personal network, only one of 30 women invitees outside his network was able to attend. Rather than answering on his site, I wanted… Continue reading Bridging networks and gender gaps

In coming to India, there are two things I really wanted to do this summer but can’t: Futuresonic, which is hosting the PLAN’s Social Technologies Summit, and ISEA 2006, with its Interactive City Summit. Both are events that everybody seems to be a part of. Both have had outstanding precedents and it pains me to… Continue reading Choosing one means not choosing another

As I’ve mentioned, in India, I’m researching how people share mobile phones and the according manifestations of it in space and territory. There’s one instance of it right now in Mumbai, with the bomb blasts last night that killed 183 and injured 714. As happened with terrorist attacks in London last year, people are organizing… Continue reading Shared mobiles and the Mumbai blasts

Steve Portigal forwarded me a few sites that are doing something to help the recovery effort. He says: This site shows just one thread where people are talking about trying to reach each other and they are helping make connections whent he phone lines are down. Also, Mumbai Help shows the news unfolding, with Mumbai’s… Continue reading Mumbai bombing information and recovery sites

I was exhausted last night and went straight to bed after dinner at Jonathan’s. That’s why I missed the news of the blasts in Mumbai (Bombay): serial blasts across the city during rush hour. 164 people were killed. It seems to be the work of two Islamic militant groups, one Pakistani, the other a student… Continue reading Safe in Bangalore

I had planned to write about the last several days, about Arachna and her lovely friends, about my flatmates and apartment house mates, with whom I’ve formed a little community, about going to the bar with the great view, of the auto rickshaws and shopping and walking. Instead, I’m wiped out. Not sure what it… Continue reading They call it Delhi belly

When I wake up here, the first thing I hear are the birds. No ordinary chirping, these are tropical birds with strange calls. The bird calls invite other birds: right now, I hear a grouchy crow. The birds start at the very first light, while it’s still gray in my room. The light brightens and… Continue reading What I hear in the morning

A wonderful first day … where I end up having lunch on the roof, hearing a good presentation, eat Baskin-Robbins, then take a motor rickshaw to the Oberoi, meet a mutual friend, meet young artists and the well-known founder of the NID– National Institute of Design, then go home again, finally meeting my sufficiently snarky… Continue reading First day

Countries we flew over Originally uploaded by maximolly. On our way to Bangalore, we flew over Iran and Kuwait. I couldn’t see anything as we flew over Mumbai — cloud cover, I assume. But all of this was fascinating to me. I’ve never flown over–or to–India or parts of the Middle East.

So tired. But I’m here. I’m at the guest flat that I’m staying in in Bangalore. More soon.