I don’t want to go back to war. I don’t want Sri Lanka to go back to war. My fear is that most of what we are doing today, and who we are, will drive us back to one. One thousand days after the last war ended, what gave rise to it is still largely [...]
How to bypass Twitter’s censorship in-country
Twitter’s recent announcement that it had implemented a system which would let it withhold particular tweets from specific countries has caused a storm, with many decrying the move as one that aids repressive regimes more easily control information flows within the country. As the Guardian notes, The company has insisted that it will not use [...]
International Network of Crisis Mappers (ICCM) 2011 keynote address
I was privileged to deliver a keynote address at the 2011 International Network of Crisis Mappers, held in Geneva from 14-15 November, 2011. The ICCM network has now kindly put a video of my keynote on YouTube.
Speech at the Awards Ceremony of Agenda 14’s Short Film Festival 2011
Delivered this speech in Sinhala at the Awards Ceremony of Agenda 14’s Short Film Festival 2011, held at the National Film Corporation Cinema. A PDF of the Sinhala version can be downloaded from here. ### Good evening. In the time I have for this speech, which is around 10 minutes, over 6,000 new videos would have [...]
On photography
Granularity of many vs. the vantage of the few: Photography and activism today was the title of a lecture I delivered recently at the American Centre, and in a slightly revised form, at the Fulbright Commission. The preparation for the lectures reminded me of my experience with photography. I first handled Thaththa’s Minolta when I [...]
Crisis mapping, disasters and aid: A new paradigm
Prezi presentation on ICCM 2011 by Geeks Without Borders Last week I delivered a keynote address at the 3rd International Conference of Crisis Mappers held in Geneva, an annual meeting of the practitioners, academics and some of the best minds in the world involved in shaping the future of humanitarian aid and post-disaster relief work. My [...]
Granularity of many vs. the vantage of the few: Photography and activism today
I made this presentation at the American Centre in Colombo yesterday, at the invitation of Nooranie Muthaliph, Project Lead of the interesting Rotaract Shutterbug competition organised by the Rotaract Club of Panadura. I was asked to Create awareness of these powerful mediums used by different communities and people in bring about change and, Generate interest of people in Colombo/ [...]
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
I woke up to news of Steve Job’s death. His ’05 commencement speech at Stanford University is one that I’ve watched and read many times. Seems fitting to republish today. ### This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June [...]
Civic and citizen media’s true potential: Telling your story, how you want to
My friend Jeevani Fernando, in an incredibly kind gesture, has transcribed my interview with Ashoka Foundation recently on civic and citizen media, accessible here. Direct link to original post here. ### Citizen Media Experts Interviews: Sanjana Hattotuwa ‘Citizen Media is Vital for the Global Population to Move Forward in the 21st Century’ The Ashoka Changemakers [...]
Creating social justice initiatives online
I was invited by Sri Lanka Unites to speak to a group of 25 students from 13 district at the Royal College auditorium today on the use of new and social media to strengthen social justice and democracy. I remain conflicted about SLU. On the one hand and prima facie, the failure of Beyond Borders [...]
