The Best of News Feeds #6

Here’s a selection of a few favourite News Feeds from the last week or so…

Heaven forbid!!

Tabuans and Dukduks: The Absence of “National Identity” Within PNG

In early December 2007 I remember having a beer (which led on to a whole lot more) at Lamana GC and literally bumping into a person who was an Economist working for the National Government. From his facial features I profiled him to be in his early 30s and from the Southern Highlands. After apologising about my clumsiness we started chatting and I asked him where he was from.
He paused, looked me in the eye, and replied “I’m from Papua New Guinea”. Seeing my bemused look, he went on to explain that he didn’t believe in provincialism or tribalism – as far as he was concerned Papua New Guineans should not term themselves as Engans, Tolai, or Papuans. We should call ourselves Papua New Guineans and nothing more…

Open Source Rules!!

Hack Wordpress: Revolution 2.0 Themes Now Available to Download!

Last month we wrote about Brian’s huge announcement that Revolution was going open source. At that time, the original launch date was scheduled for November 1st, but in the time since then the entire Revolution team has come together and managed to get Revolution 2 ready for an early launch!
As of today, Revolution 2 is officially available to the WordPress Community. Included with the Revolution 2 launch are 8 incredible new themes (10 if you count the two blog theme variants) which were designed to fill a large number of different niches. So far the choices include magazine themes, professional themes, media themes, photo themes, video themes, and even blog themes. Best of all, they are available to download completely FREE!…

What do you think?

SiteProNews: Key Comparisons of Linux vs. Windows Servers

For someone who is fairly new to web hosting, choosing the platform you are going to use for your server can be a difficult and even mind-boggling decision. Although there are several obscure choices still available, the most widely used Operating Systems (OSs) are the enterprise, or server, versions of Linux and Windows...

There’s no end to blogging…

TechBlissOnline: Wordpress 2.7 beta 1 – a quick review with pics

Wordpress 2.7 beta 1 has been released.Thought Matt and his team are behind schedule, they are working hard and the final product is expected to be released towards the end of november.
Here is a quick review of the current beta 1 version.As pictures would convey more than words, this review will have pictures of all important interface changes that I have noticed.Overall the team has done a good job to enhance the productivity of wordpress bloggers.The most regularly perfomed tasks, whether it be making a quick post or doing a comment approval, can now be done from the wordpress dashboard.And every administrative page can now be accessed from the dashboard with a single click.Thanks to the wordpress ribbon (Ok let me be the first to call it a wordpress ribbon) that hangs on the left…

Could this have really happened?

Matt from Bluehost: Chicken with your head cut off…

True story – In 1945 there was a chicken in Colorado that had its head cut off (Sorry, gruesome I know). What’s incredible about this particular chicken is that the axe missed its jugular vein but left enough of the brain stem attached for this chicken to live. Not only did this chicken live, but it actually seemed to thrive. In fact, in the following two years the chicken actually put on 6 lbs…

And when will we see Trapist beer in PNG?

Emmanuel: SP Lager Outlets in Australia

You can now find you favourite SP Lager at the following outlets in Queensland…

Bastards!

Kev: Bali Bombers

The Bali Bombers are soon to die. Speculation about when is rife. It may have already happened or it may again be delayed by a last minute appeal from family and lawyers.
The last execution in Australia was 41 years ago with the hanging of Ronald Ryan. It took a few years more for most states to abolish the death penalty. Many of the arguments against the death penalty were based on the fact that quite a few innocent people on death row were executed. Not so with the Bali bombers. They freely admit their guilt and are looking forward to martyrdom and the virgins which are going to be theirs in paradise. Question: Do female martyrs get male virgins?...

Native or imported?

Tubuans & DukDuks: Who Introduced the Sweet Potato into PNG?

How did the sweet potato or kaukau (Ipomoea batatas) arrive to be in PNG?
I asked myself that question as I was reading Jared Diamond’s ambitious Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs and Steel. For those who don’t know the book, Diamond essentially argues that Eurasian civilization and consequently domination of the world is not so much a product of ingenuity, but of opportunity and necessity – of being in the right place at the right time…

What will they think of next?

TechBlissOnline: How to install ubuntu on windows with a single click

Install ubuntu on windows vista/XP with Wubi.This is an ubuntu installer and all it takes to install ubuntu on your windows vista/XP PC/computer is just a single click (double click).You can now install the latest ubuntu version – Intrepid Ibex 8.10…

Solar powered Linux?

Newsforge: GNUveau Networks builds solar-powered Linux computer networks for remote villages (video)

Scott Johnson of GNUveau Networks has developed a solar-powered Internet “hub” system (running Ubuntu GNU/Linux) that he builds to order in his Daytona Beach, Florida, home. His objective is to bring computers and the Internet to places that have no connectivity, no phone service, and no electricity. This is no pipe dream. There are real SolarNetOne installations running in Africa right now, providing wireless connectivity and “Internet Cafe” access to hundreds of people. The system uses off-the-shelf hardware that Scott modifies to run on 12V — and to use a lot less power than the stock versions. As Scott says, in solar-powered computer installations, “The Watt is king.”…

PNG Fonts

Tabuans & DukDuks: Typing Using Custom Made PNG Fonts Based on Traditional Designs

This is one of those things you read and you say to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” It’s something simple yet simultaneously very impressive – typing on your PC with any operating system utilising any software that uses font typefaces but now with the option of using custom made Papua New Guinean fonts based on our traditional designs and cultural imagery…