International Internetscape

My latest at RD. Ahmadi Muslim Community Doesn’t Speak For All Muslims | Religion Dispatches. The Muslim-American community is represented by a wide variety of organizations that speak to various interests. Large umbrella organizations, like the Islamic Society of North America, have not had much luck in covering the community because the diversity is nearly uncontainable. Each of these groups speaks with a voice that represents its own constituency. However, the Ahmadi community now seems to be making a serious push to become the central voice that represents Muslim-Americans.

Mountain View’s global teacher of 1,516 lessons and counting – Inside Bay Area. From a tiny closet in Mountain View, Sal Khan is educating the globe for free.  His 1,516 videotaped mini-lectures — on topics ranging from simple addition to vector calculus and Napoleonic campaigns — are transforming the former hedge fund analyst into a YouTube sensation, reaping praise from even reluctant students across the world.  “I’m starting a virtual school for the world, teaching things the way I wanted to be taught,” explains Khan, 33, the exuberant founder and sole faculty member of the nonprofit Khan Academy, run out…

WaPo does a piece on the technological transition happening at the White House. In addition to the usual transition headaches regarding phones, emails, etc., apparently the WH is not equipped, legally, to allow the Web 2.0 operation to continue. Be interesting to see how this plays out, especially if we are to get a new iPhone app (please). Favorite line: “The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software.” At least their Windows was state-of-the-art. (sorry couldn’t resist)