Over on NYC storytelling site [The Moth][1], Matthew McGough recounts [his experience][2] as a new batboy for the Yankees.
If you don’t want to hear the punchline now, go read the story. Else, read on….
[1]: http://www.themoth.com/ “The Moth”
[2]: http://www.themoth.com/index.php?id=89 “MY FIRST DAY WITH THE YANKEES”
The first tremor here woke us up at about one, and I didn’t know what was going on until the second one hit, shaking us as we stumbled for our clothes. The earthquake sent us down the stairs and out into the street, waiting, waiting to go back inside. Finally back in the apartment–and on the Internet–we checked the news reports. Nothing on CNN…but [Twitter][twitter] was abuzz with activity.
[twitter]: http://twitter.com “Twitter”
From my in-the-know friend, Eli: Rapper [50-Cent][shorty] made an appearance at the U.S. Embassy in Angola, for a March AIDS awareness event.
Here’s the notice the embassy sent to its staff (note the passive-aggressive prodding at the end):
> All Embassy staff are invited to bring their children to the Embassy this Friday morning (tomorrow, March 23) at 9:30 a.m. for an event on HIV and AIDS awareness which American musician Fifty Cent will attend. Local Angolan artists will perform raps about AIDS awareness. The event is appropriate for children who are at least 11 years of age. Please arrive at the event promptly–all Embassy staff should plan to attend.
But wait, the story gets better. From a followup email from a government staffer:
> According to people in my agency who attended this event, he didn’t rap but after meeting our Ambassador he urged the kids “Have sex, have lots of sex, but have safe sex!” and then exited by having his bouncers throw $100 bills in the crowd… No kidding–one Embassy maintenance worker scored two of them.
[shorty]: http://www.50cent.com/ “50 Cent’s official website”
Malawian Blogger Soyapi Mumba recently posted [his thoughts][soyapi] on the usefulness of [Twitter][twitter] in Africa. He notes that because so few Africans have access to computers, the usefulness of web technology like blogs email is limited, and people there have resorted to using radio for spreading announcements–even personal ones like deaths or family illnesses–among people. Cellphone use in the continent is much more widespread, and Soyapi lists a number of ways Africans could use a service like Twitter to update each other.
Soyapi’s got some good ideas about Twitter, but his ideas aren’t especially uniquely applicable to Africa. Doing things like sharing sports scores, news, and announcements via cellphone has been tried around the world. There’s a company working out of [Accra, Ghana][accra], however, that’s using text-messaging technology to actually help with the country’s development issues, and I think it’s got some real potential.
[soyapi]: http://soyapi.blogspot.com/2007/03/potential-of-twitter-in-africa.html “The Potential of Twitter in Africa”
[twitter]: http://twitter.com “Twitter”
[accra]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accra%2C_Ghana “Accra, Ghana on Wikipedia”
Earlier today, the Crisis in Darfur project was launched on [Google Earth](http://earth.google.com/ “Google Earth”), and its effect is staggering. Users of [Google Earth](http://earth.google.com/ “Google Earth homepage, where you can download the program”) need only search for the location **Darfur, Sudan** to see location-specific statistics, photographs, and videos of the genocide occuring in Sudan.
**Update [April 11]:** users of Google Earth can download the [Crisis in Darfur .kmz file](http://www.ushmm.org/googleearth/crisisindarfur.kmz “Crisis in Darfur .kmz file”) to go straight to the project in Google Earth.
The Crisis in Darfur project is a joint effort betweent Google and the [US Holocaust Memorial Museum](http://www.ushmm.org/ “US Holocaust Memorial Museum”), an organization dedicated to the study of the Holocaust and prevention of genocides like it.
[O](http://blog.jjg.net/ “Jesse James Garrett’s Hidden Agenda”) [Muses,](http://37signals.com/svn “Signals vs. Noise”) [o](http://adactio.com/journal/ “Adactio: Journal”) [high](http://coudal.com/ “Coudal”) [genius,](http://kottke.org “Kottke.org”) [aid](http://www.worldchanging.org/ “Worldchanging”) [me](http://laconcon.com/ “Lance Arthur’s Conspicuous Consumption”) [now!](http://dangerouslyawesome.com/ “Dangerously Awesome”)
[O](http://factoryjoe.com/blog/ “FactoryCity”) [memory](http://horsepigcow.com/ “HorsePigCow”) [that](http://jasonsantamaria.com/ “Jason Santa Maria”) [engraved](http://zeldman.com/ “Zeldman”) [the](http://powazek.com/ “Derek Powazek”) [things](http://www.subtraction.com/ “Subtraction”) [I](http://wisdump.com/ “Wisdump”) [saw,](http://simplebits.com/ “SimpleBits”)
[Here](http://tantek.com/ “Tantek’s Thoughts”) [shall](http://brianoberkirch.com/ “Like it Matters”) [your](http://www.hchamp.com/ “HChamp”) [worth](http://megnut.com/ “Megnut”) [be](http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/ “Demand Satisfaction”) [manifest](http://daringfireball.net/ “Daring Fireball”) [to](http://headrush.typepad.com/ “Creating Passionate Users”) [all!](http://a.wholelottanothing.org/ “A Whole Lotta Nothing”)
_– [Dante’s Inferno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse “the invocation of the muse from Dante’s Inferno”)_
Want to get in touch to ask a question, talk about a freelance project you’d like me to work on, or just say hi? Use the form below, please.
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**Hi, I’m Jacob Patton, and this is my website.**
I’ve been designing and developing websites for nearly ten years now, and I’m just getting around to blogging.
In the past, I’ve been the IT Director and Community Outreach manager for [Free the Slaves](http://freetheslaves.net “Free the Slaves”), a non-profit dedicated to fighting human trafficking around the world. At that position, I spearheaded and developed the [WarSlavery](http://warslavery.org “WarSlavery.org”) website to combat the problem of war-related slavery. (In case you’re interested in that sort of thing, WarSlavery is coded in [Ruby on Rails](http://rubyonrails.org “Ruby on Rails), and it’s working very, very well.)
After leaving Free the Slaves at the end of 2006, I’ve had a hand in a number of projects such as [31 Left](http://31left.com “31 Left”), a fun campaign to get people to make New Year’s resolutions for a good cause and most recently [Conferenceer](http://sxsw07.conferenceer.com “Conferenceer”), a social networking site for conference-goers.
I’m currently dabbling in a few personal projects, and I’m freelancing full-time. I’m mostly busy developing standards-based sites in Ruby on Rails, and I’m loving every minute of it. If you’re interested in getting my help on a project, why not contact_me?
You’re visiting Trisignia, where all the words, wit, and wonderment is the product of Jacob Patton. Of course, you can use most anything on this site—just share alike.
