OPEN FORUM 2009

On Saturday June 13th, 2009 OPEN Silicon Valley will be hosting it's 5th Annual OPEN FORUM 2009 Business and Leadership Forum in Silicon Valley. This year OPEN SV has done an exceptional job in confirmed speakers who will talk about a broad range of topics -- from Social Media to Cloud Computing to Cleantech. To learn more about OPEN FORUM 2009 visit http://opensiliconvalley.org. If you are a Twitter users and are interested in tweeting about the event, please email me at arafiq786@yahoo.com.




Copyright C. Abdulrahman Rafiq

Arundhati Roy at Karachi Press Club

Arundhati Roy speaks at the Karachi Press Club on Friday, May 8th, at the Women's Action Forum seminar titled Women to Reclaim Public Space.



Part 1:


Part 2:



Cross-posting from Teeth Maestro

Be aware of your sarroundings when leaving work late

On Monday evening, April 6th,, 2009 around 8:00 pm (Pacific Time), two employees from Cisco were mugged by 4 armed men. This was near Cisco Bldg D, across the road from the Champion St. Light Rail station.

The robbers snatched everything including laptop , wallet, cell phones and the worst part is they attacked the victims from behind.

Folks, especially women be aware of your surroundings. If you're working late then try and call your respective company security to escort you to your car.


Cross-posting to WadiBlog


Posting as a public service for the denizens of Silicon Wadi
http://wadiwallah.com -- Where Silicon Valley is a community

Taliban Rule in Swat must end!

Acts such as the the flogging of the young woman the world witness today in Swat Valley at the hands of Taliban must end. We. the people of Pakistan will appose and stop such acts of barbarism.

Lets send a message to the world, loud and clear that Pakistanis are alive and will not, at any cost let the country fall to the barbarism that we've witnessed today in Swat. We're a progressive, peace loving nation. Have had a few road blocks, but all is not lost.

This land, it's people have tremendous drive, great potential and talent to achieve the Sun and the moon. Be it in Technology, Art, Science, Music we have it all. All we ask for is a sustaining and just system of Governance that supports and honors it's Social contract with the people of Pakistan.



Also visit Teeth Maestro's blog.

Protest events planned in both Karachi and Lahore. See Karachi Protest, Lahore Protest and Twitter LongMarch.




Copyright C. Abdulrahman Rafiq

Evening on Media and Activisim at Goethe Institute

Invitation to an evening on

Media & Activism

07 April 2009,

5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Goethe Institute

2 Brunton Rd, Civil Lines, Karachi

(Brunton Rd is the lane next to CM House near the Sheraton)

For information contact maujmail@googlegroups.com
(or Subscribe to http://groups.google.com/group/maujmail?lnk=srg)

Students, journalists, activists, artists, technologists

& media workers are especially invited. Please forward.

+ + + +

An evening on Media and Activism

Do media and activism always go together. How does an activist media fill the gaps. How do the new technologies fit in this picture. What does this increased access to information mean for our complex culture and society.

In a timely note Rob van Kranenburg observes the present age of acceleration. Concerning the role of the artist in an ever more complex world full of radicalism, he dares to ask: what
does this mean for the disruptive qualities of art if disruption becomes the default?

Suzanne Hogendoorn presents her film on European activists at the G8 Summit 2007.

Awab Alvi gives us a behind-the-web look at citizens covering the Long March in March 2009 using internet & cellphones.

Faisal Qureshi will ponder the important question of what we out to to gain from the new technologies along with every other thing, in order to get somewhere.

We hope to involve journalists in the discussion. Open discussion will follow.

+ + + +

Programme

Welcome by Goethe Institute
Introduction by Mauj Collective

'On the Need of Bureaucracy: slowing things down in the age of
acceleration'
Rob van Kranenburg

'We will block you' (documentary film)
Suzanne Hogendoorn & Mark Kulsdom

Break

Tracking the Long March
Awab Avi

* to be announced
Faisal Qureshi

Open Discussion

Panelists:

Rob van Kranenburg graduated cum laude in Literary Theory at Tilburg University (Nl). He went to work with Prof Ronald Soetaert in Ghent, in the Educational Department, developing online learning modules, methods and concepts drawing on the idea of multiliteracies. In 2000 he went to Amsterdam to work as programmer on media education at the centre for culture and politics de Balie and as teacher-coordinator of the new media program in the Film and Television Studies Department at the University of Amsterdam. Feeling it was to young a field to predominantly historize it, he moved to Doors of Perception and co-programmed with John Thackara Doors 7, Flow, the design challenge of pervasive computing. In 2003 he mentored a postgraduate course in performance, theatre and the arts at APT, Arts Performance Theatrical. He has also been associated with The Virtual Platform (nl), the Waag Society (nl), Transmediale Festival (de) and Sarai (in).

Faisal Qureshi is an engineer, an entrepreneur and a well-known media personality. He is a founder chair person of Loose Ends Pakistan, a non-profit organization, host of several talk shows such as Ankahi (current) on Samaa TV, Loose Ends on Business Plus and Breakfast at Dawn on Dawn News, CEO of Kolachi Advanced Technologies, Director Blue Ice Technologies, founder chairperson of Mensa Pakistan, and a former Chairperson of P@SHA - the Pakistan Software’s Houses Association.

Suzanne Hogendoorn is an international documentary filmmaker from The Netherlands. Her documentaries are usually associated with activism and have aired on channels such as Holland Doc. She is a member of the Mauj Collective and is making a documentary on the same. She made the documentary with Mark Kulsdom

Awab Alvi is the most well-known blogger in Pakistan. He is also an activist and a practicing dentist. He has broken a number of stories to the media in the past and is an advocate of citizen journalism using the internet in particular. Awab's blog at http://teeth.com.pk/blog/ was selected the Best South Asian Blog for 2008
by the Brass Crescent Society Jury .

The Mauj Collective is engaged in art, technology and empowerment of people. It wants to introduce larger numbers of people in Pakistan to new media art. It wants to explore ways in which the interplay and interstices of art and technology are also socially engaging and empowering.

Posting as a public service courtesy. Siliconstani has no official affiliation to Geothe Institute or any of the above mentioned panelists.
Siliconstani is a Trademark of Abdulrahman Rafiq

Twestival Silicon Valley Launched!

It give me great pleasure to announce the launch of Twestival Silicon Valley. We have less than a week to go until February 12th. I'd like to request support from all Silicon Valley denizens. Twestival is a global all volunteer run effort. If you're interested sponsoring or supporting this effort please ping me on twitter at @siliconstani.

What is Twestival?

What is Twestival? Who can explain it better than Charity:Water’s founder, @scottharrison himself? Please watch this video, and we’ll see you on Feb 12th, in one of 200+ Twestival cities!



On 12 February 2009, 170+ international cities will be hosting a Twestival to bring Twitter communities together in an effort to raise money for charity: water. Twestival is organized 100% by international volunteers around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects. By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

Cross posting to Twestival SV, WadiBlog, Paksef

Copyright C. Abdulrahman Rafiq