The Best of News Feeds #7

After a very busy and intense couple of weeks I would like to lighten the mood a little and share with you a few news items that have passed my way recently. From PNG Coffee to Secret railways, from brawling PNG journalists to optimisation tips for Wordpress, from the Open Source debate to vandalism. It’s all here folks!!

One of the best things about living in PNG!

Kev on: Arabica and Robusta

Rummaging through the pantry cupboard for some spices for my pickled cabbage project I found several bottles of instant coffee. I thought that Joan might be doing a Nell. Nell was my dear grandmother who, when late in her life started buying daily amounts of bacon and chicken. We had to dispose of quite a lot of her hoard and my mother managed to restrict gran’s cash…

A good place to start for uninitiated in SEO:

Maile Ohye on: Google’s SEO Starter Guide

Webmasters often ask us at conferences or in the Webmaster Help Group, “What are some simple ways that I can improve my website’s performance in Google?” There are lots of possible answers to this question, and a wealth of search engine optimization information on the web, so much that it can be intimidating for newer webmasters or those unfamiliar with the topic. We thought it’d be useful to create a compact guide that lists some best practices that teams within Google and external webmasters alike can follow that could improve their sites’ crawlability and indexing….

Eventually a bridge we must all cross:

Jeff Chandler on: Weblog Tools Collection: 10 Optimization Tips

Even though WordPress works pretty well out of the box, there is still a number of optimization tips that can be accomplished to make WordPress function that much better. Vladimir Prelovac has done an excellent job describing ten optimization tips that you can use on your own WordPress installation. The tips and techniques range from optimizing database tables to implementing caching. There should be at least one or two tips within this article that everyone can implement on their own blog…..

Another Microsoft vs Linux debate!

Werner Heuser on: The NetBook OS Question: Windows XP vs. Linux

The netbook revolution is upon us—possibly due to the gotta-have-it factor more than anything else. After all, netbooks practically scream “buy me” from store display tables as a result of their featherweight designs and low prices. Since Asus kicked off the category in the U.S. with the original Eee PC 701 in October 2007, netbook sales have skyrocketed. Both consumers and business users seem to find their virtues irresistible—that is, at least as second computers. Netbooks are generally too limited, particularly in keyboard and screen size, as well as storage space, to function well as main laptops. …..

Nothing like a good secret!!

Tavurvur on: TOP SECRET: Cairns to Port Moresby Railway

We have documented 150 different railways which have been constructed in the country over the years, together with the many hair-brained schemes to build grander railways. In the end, our key conclusion it is not that it is technically difficult to build railways in the country, but that the state of political, institutional and economic development in the country is such that it would not be possible to manage the thing in an efficient and sustainable manner. Selection of the book title “end of the line” just about sums it all up.. …..

Why can’t Papua New Guineans just have a couple and be happy?

Malum on: All-in brawl at Papua New Guinea media awards

Simmering tensions mixed with alcohol have been blamed for Papua New Guinea’s media night of nights turning into an all-in brawl, Australian Associated Press reports. The 2008 PNG Media Council awards ceremony on Saturday night erupted in a fight requiring Port Moresby hotel security to step in and pull apart scrapping guests. The fight came late in the proceedings, after speeches on the importance of media freedom and accurate reporting. Fighting between staff at PNG’s Post-Courier newspaper, owned by News Limited, and colleagues from PNG’s National Broadcasting Corporation marred what was generally considered a successful evening. …

Something insane about burning down your own house!

David Ulg on: Mount Hagen’s Kapal Haus in ashes

Below is what is left of the famous Kapal Haus after the fire had completely destroyed the entire building. WHP is back to square one! Hope plans are in place to erect an identical building soon…

What does a squid have to with faster Internet?

Newsforge on: Speed up your Internet access using Squid’s refresh patterns

Bandwidth limitation is still a problem for a lot of people who connect to the Internet. You can improve your available bandwidth by installing Squid caching proxy server on your network with configuration parameters that will increase your byte hit rate, giving you about 30-60% more bandwidth….

Will we one day see a change to the PNG Constitution?

Tavurvur on: The Rise of Islam in PNG

ABC News Papua New Guinea correspondent Steve Marshall recently produced a story about the growing number of Papua New Guineans converting to Islam in the country. His story raises a number of interesting points and questions concerning the religious future of PNG. According to the report, PNGeans began converting to Islam in the early 1980s and there are now more than 4,000 followers in the country with recent reports of entire villages converting at the same time….

Here’s an example of Web 2.0 in action!

Emmanuel on: PNGARNet – Who’s on it?

Head over to Malum Nalu’s Blog for a report on the PNGARNet (Academic Research Network), finally being used at the University of Goroka. After hearing about it coming closer to fuition earlier this year at the ICT Workshop at UPNG, I’m keen to hear more on how developed PNGARNet is and what Universities….