Robert@PNG

Ever heard of a News Aggregator or RSS? If you visit multiple websites on a regular basis to catch up on their latest stories, news or articles then I highly recommend the use of what is called a News Aggregator.

A couple of definitions from Wikipedia should clear things up:

In computing, a feed aggregator, also known as a feed reader, news reader or simply aggregator, is client software or a Web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs in a single location for easy viewing.

Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check websites for updates, creating a unique information space or “personal newspaper.” Once subscribed to a feed, an aggregator is able to check for new content at user-determined intervals and retrieve the update.

I subscribe to well over a hundred news feeds and with an aggregator I am easily able to peruse, delete if not interesting, all news items much faster than what I ever could if I had to go to each website separately.

From Open Source to World news, from Earthquakes to Personal Blogs, from Technical stuff to Wordpress plugins.

Here’s a sample of some of the news items I have taken a closer look at over the past week or so…

An early look at Wordpress 2.7:

Weblog Tools Collection: First Look At WordPress 2.7

Although tentatively scheduled for November, WordPress 2.7 looks to be as big of a release since WordPress 2.5, perhaps even bigger. Before reading the rest of this post, please keep in mind that what you see in the following screenshots is by no means a representation of the final product. Also keep in mind that WordPress 2.7 should not be used on a live blog as 2.7 is no where near stable. What you see here is not necessarily what you’ll get. This post will highlight WordPress 2.7 at its current stage of development. Keep this mind before publishing an irrational comment…

That’s a lot of blogs!

The Blog Herald: WordPress.com Passes 4 Million Blogs

WordPress.com, Automattic’s hosted version of WordPress, just recently passed a whopping 4 million blogs, as the screenshot above shows. That is some impressive number! I do wonder how many of these are active, and how many are spam? Perhaps the folks over at WordPress.com will touch that in the inevitable blog post announcing breaking 4M, we’ll see.

We all relate so well to…

MadDog: My Bleeding Internet Connection

With Telikom and the firmly entrenched ISPs doing whatever it is that they seem to be doing to keep control of progress (Hah! What is that?), and protect profits flowing steadily in their direction, the bandwidth-hungry consumer is left out in the cold.

I’ve begged Telikom for something better - anything! Oh yes, Telikom has a VSAT thingie which nobody but government agencies and government finagled businesses can afford (Hmmm… I wonder how that works). However, our ISP has nothing to offer but hints of dire consequences if we dare to dump it for something better.

Bilums to go?

David Ketepa on: PNG Bilums

Some of my friends here in the United States wanted to purchase bilums of similar kind or pattern shown below. I would appreciate if someone knows where I can grab couple these. I know they sell them at the airport, markets, and on the streets but I want it from one person who has the same patterns or designs. Please, let me know if you know of anyone of your friends. I will be in PNG from September 21st - November 16th, 2008. You can email me with more information. I appreciate your help/comments/suggestions, etc…

A huge win for PNG!

Tubuans & Dukduks on: PNG Wins Classic Against NZ in Grand Final

For the past six years I’ve been waiting for this to happen - and it finally did:

Papua New Guinea fought back magnificently to win its first International Cup in the curtain raiser to the Hawthorn-Western Bulldogs final at the MCG, defeating 2005 winners New Zealand by eight points.

SafeSquid to the rescue…

Newsforge: Controlling Internet access with SafeSquid

Content-filtering proxies restrict Internet access privileges for users or groups across an entire network. They must be able to block unwanted content through keyword, URL, DNS, MIME, and image filtering. They need to authenticate and log a user’s Internet activity by monitoring and generating detailed reports of URLs accessed, and they must integrate antivirus or malware protection by accessing a reliable antivirus server. Fulfilling all these functions may be a lot to ask, but SafeSquid delivers on all counts.

Another couple of earthquakes in the past week:

USGS - Earthquake monitoring service: M 6.3, eastern New Guinea region, Papua New Guinea

Saturday, August 30, 2008 06:54:06 UTC
Saturday, August 30, 2008 04:54:06 PM at epicenter

Depth: 56.00 km (34.80 mi)

Thanks to Emmanuel more on the B-Mobile sale:

Masalai Blog: B-Mobile Sold

Kinda funny how back in April when there was talk of selling B-Mobile there was such a fuss about it with everyone jumping up and down about it. But then yesterday and as silently as a whisper 50% of B-Mobile was sold and hardly anyone seems to care anymore.

Also interesting to note that GEMS who formally was to back GreenCom has ended up just getting into bed with Telikom. Oh and good work for our SuperFunds getting involved there as well.

A gruesome discovery?

Malum Nalu: WWII pilot’s skeleton found hanging in Kokoda Track tree

THE skeleton of a World War II pilot is thought to have been discovered hanging in a tree on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Herald Sun reports.
A group of hikers lead by Melbourne man David Collins, of No Roads Expeditions, made the astonishing find on Thursday August 21.
“We had just left Templeton’s Crossing and had walked up over the top of Mt Bellamy and were coming back down to the next camp ground when some of the hikers stopped to take photos of the natural canopy above the trail.

More on the PNG/Taiwan/Bigmen bribe scandal:

Mathew Yakai: Papua New Guinea fraud suspect kept in detention

Wu Shih-tsai, a key suspect in the Papua New Guinea diplomatic fraud scandal, is being kept in custody because prosecutors fear he could attempt to escape during the ongoing investigation into the case, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.

Wu and his partner Ching Chi-ju, who were commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 2006 to help broker a deal for the establishment of diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea, allegedly embezzled the US$29.8 million intended as aid for the Pacific country.