From the blog:
Esra'a al Safei and the Wisdom of Crowds – Crowdvoice, a user-powered platform tracking voices of protest around the world, works to diversify our understanding of complex events. Rising Voices interviews it's visionary founder about working digitally in Bahrain and her new platform to promote local musicians.
We're Around the World! Photos from the RV Micrograntees – The Rising Voices micrograntee winners from around the world have been documenting their projects as they progress. We chose some images from their flickr streams, Facebook pages, and websites, sharing the work they have been doing over the past few months.
(And, don't forget to check out Mapping For Niger's great profile page for all it's participants: http://mappingforniger.wordpress.com/)
MOOCs Galore – Everywhere we look there seems to be another announcement for a cool MOOC course. Here is a selection of a few that we would love to take… (Editor's note: some of these deadlines have passed, or are soon. Check it quick!)
A Guide to Getting Started on Wikimedia Commons – Wikimedia Commons houses more than 18 million freely licensed media files. It is the place for users to help illustrate Wikipedia and the world around them. But as many new contributors find out, understanding the world of free licenses and encyclopedic content can be a challenge. They recently released a new tutorial brochure to help make it easier to collaborate and contribute.
Sharing Testimonies: An Open Project for Victims of Rape – Speaking and exchange is the first step towards healing. The blog project “Je connais un violeur” (“I know a rapist”) provides an open space for women to anonymously exchange their testimonies while also working against misconceptions around rape. RV interviewed the founder about the project. (Note: this article may not be suitable for more sensitive readers).
Opportunities
Make Internet History! Who would you like to nominate for the Internet Hall of Fame? Perhaps it is someone that has worked to make the web a more accessible space for communities around the world… Nominations are due October 31, 2013
Zoomaal, in partnership with Hivos, is setting up ‘The Hivos Creativity Competition’ in order to encourage the Arab creativity and innovation: anyone in the Arab world or someone from outside that has a project in the Arab world can post his/her creative idea on Zoomaal’s platform and enter with the chance to win up to $10,000 http://bit.ly/15W6Gjr
The African Story Challenge is a new $1 million programme of reporting grants to encourage innovative, multi-media storytelling that aims to improve the health and prosperity of Africans. Its goal is to contribute to the building of a strong media sector able to deliver content that matters to the African public. Extended deadline Nov. 3
An innovation award for public libraries: Are you offering an innovative service that uses information and communication technology (ICT) creatively – that is, in non-traditional, new and different ways – to improve lives in your community? Tell your story and enter to win US$1,500! http://www.eifl.net/eifl-plip-innovation-awards
New Projects to Check Out
It’s not every day that a media house joins forces with a university to fight crime – it's happening in Trinidad and Tobago. Called Bullet Points, the app tracks and visualises the country’s murder data in real time, allowing desktop and mobile users to immediately see the wider context in which individual murders occurred. http://bit.ly/17CwOzo
On the new online platform Populus.cl [es] citizens can learn about laws, vote on them and compare their choice with decisions made by members of Congress. After they cast their vote, Populus shows users which legislators support or reject that particular issue. http://bit.ly/15BhJl7
A group of developers and designers from Europe who are curious about the emerging African tech hubs are on hack trip of the continent. Check AfricaHackTrip on their blog or Tumblr and follow discussion about the trip on Twitter.
Events
Blog Action Day will be held on October 16 when 1000s of bloggers from 100s of countries gather together to discuss Human Rights. Make sure you don't miss out – register your blog to take part.
Learning
Upcoming from Poynter's news university: a webinar for journalism educators on how to use digital resources http://poy.nu/GDPWqD (note: not free)
And check it out!
Global Voices has launched a new section The Bridge : a place for original writing, opinion, commentary and investigation from the unique perspective of the Global Voices.
And we leave you with a great quote from the Endangered Languages Project blog around strategies to encourage young Māori to maintain their language:
“For Māori to want to learn to speak Māori, ‘it must be cool’. If it is not ‘cool’ they will quickly turn to the ‘cool’, that is, the English language. Why is it ‘cool’? It is because it is on the radio, on the television, in the books, on the internet. That is where they are thinking, where that are observing… We have lots of work ahead of us to make this happen.”
