another great example of collaborative work in the Web

In Bb 2.0 is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls, and developed with contributions from users.

The videos can be played simultaneously - the soundtracks will work together, and the mix can be adjusted with the individual volume sliders.

Visit: http://inbflat.net/
and enjoy it! :)

Sobre Internet y web 2.0 "inclusivos"

Cuando hablamos de Internet inclusiva, término que difiere de "exclusividad", talvez pensamos inmediatamente en conectividad. Aquella de la necesidad de computadores, de banda ancha, de educación para usarlo. Yo quiero traer un tema talvéz poco desarrollado, porque no he encontrado mucho del tema en Internet, el uso de la misma para personas con discapacidades físicas e intelectuales.

Soy de las personas que creen absolutamente que la Internet no es un priviegio, sino debe considerarse como un derecho fundamental de todas las personas para acceder a un alto nível y calidad de la información. Así como los medios de transporte, el telégrafo, el teléfono y contando con los grandes adelantos tecnológicos de hoy en día, la Internet es un medio de comunicación indispensable para conectar ideas, pensamientos, discusiones, emprendimientos, etc.

Ha pensado en cómo acceden y cómo usan la Internet, personas que no pueden ver? aquellos que no escuchan? aquellos que se les dificulta hablar un idioma y que no captan rapidamente siglas, emoticomes. El llamado: lenguage cibernético?.

Pues yo les comparto, por mi experiencia, para los que tienen discapacidades intelectuales, Facebook resulta aburrido, por tener tanta información tan dificil de captar y entender. Allí no encuentran lo que les interesa y les divierte. Pensemos también, si se nos viene a la cabeza un sitio en Internet para escuchar historias narradas o hacer networking?

De hecho, preguntémonos también, en nuestro mismo comportamiento, qué estamos haciendo para compartir nuestras ideas con un mayor número de personas teniendo en cuenta sus diferencias. Sin discriminarlos sino sabiendo que eres parte importante de esta comunidad pero con características diferentes a las mías. No mucho creo yo.

En Colombia, 1 de cada 20 personas tienen una limitacion fisica, 1 de cada 40 es invidente y 1 de cada 200 tienen limitaciones auditivas. Y 5% del total de poblacion necesita herramientas especiales para rapido y efectivo proceso de inclusion social. Información que encontré aquí.

Es allí cuando me cuestiono si el "Social Media" es tan social como lo catalogan o más bien, estamos derivando a un mundo más excluyente que participativo.

Actualmente, trabajo en Bruselas, como directora de Comunicaciones de la organización europea para personas con discapacidades intelectuales y sus familias. Me han escogido aquí porque hay esperanza en lograr un Internet más incluyente, en generar conciencia y en traer las maravillas del web 2.0 para personas con estas discapacidades. Personalmente, el reto y la oportunidad me parecen increíbles. Mi público objetivo serán todas estas personas que merecen comunicarse, acceder a la información que les interesa, que tienen derecho. Que puedan participar en las decisiones de la sociedad y que su opinión sea escuchada.

Me encantaría escuchar sus opiniones y trabajos al respecto, por mi parte les compartiré cómo va mi experiencia que empezó hace muy poco y me ha hecho cuestionarme la manera como veo y entiendo la Comunicación y la web 2.0

Seguimos charlando,!

Lala

Pd. Mis disculpas por los posibles errores en la redación, ando en un teclado francés.

Where are you from?

What I have learned as a traveler is that you are not only a person discovering the world, but you become an ambassador of your culture, your people, your country and its stereotypes as well. It brings you the responsibility to invite others to get to know more about it.

I am from Colombia, a country full of stereotypes. Yes, I think you know already what I am talking about.

To hear people making jokes about cocaine, drug dealers, kidnappings, or wait hours at the airport while they over check my Colombian passport and my previous travels, or facing the reality that many friends have been deported or have gotten a visa negation, is now part of my daily life as a traveler. But I also have decided to take the positive approach and explain to the people what is the reality behind all of this.

I have learned it now, although it was not easy at the first time.

It was an American that asked me if was true that the Colombian cocaine was the best in the world and you can find it in every corner in my country, I just reacted violently and said that he should reply to me in the other way around, since the United States is the main cocaine market for the Colombian drug dealers.

Actually, Colombia still is the world’ largest cultivator of coca, producing over the 50% of the total production (81,000ha), followed by Peru (56,100ha) and Bolivia (30,500ha). But what people don’t know is that only the 3% remains in Colombia, the largest markets are North America, followed by West and Central Europe and South America. (Source: The UN Offce on drugs and crime)

Coca leaf tea is not cocaine

In 2006, travelling to Poland my first travel to Europe to attend a international conference, me and my Colombian friends were asked to wait in a different line at the migration check in at the airport . We were carrying food, candies and other representative elements to show in a cultural exhibition.

The airport authorities were questioning if the liquor inside of the bottles was certainly Rum and if the corn white flour for making “arepas” –special Colombian dish- was actually food. And you cannot imagine how freak out I was trying to explain that the coca leaf tea is not cocaine.

Although coca leaf chewing is common only among the indigenous populations, the consumption of coca tea (mate de coca) is common among all sectors of society in the Andean countries, and is widely held to be beneficial to health, particularly in the high altitudes and to overcome fatigue, hunger, and thirst.

However, they passed our luggage and clothes through the X-ray many times just to make sure.

The negative impact

In the Czech Republic, I met a guy wearing a T-shirt with the legend “I am a Colombian drug trafficker”. It caused so much pain for me when he told me he was wearing it just for fun. For me, it means something completely different:

With 2 to 3 million displaced persons, Colombia presents the highest number of internally displaced people in the western hemisphere, and the second largest displaced population in the world after Sudan. Most of the displacement is related to the country's four-decade-long internal armed conflict, the most protracted in Latin America. This 'dirty war' is a complex conflict fought primarily between left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and Colombian armed forces. But it also involves drug traffickers, landowners, and other legal and illegal interests. (Source: UNHRC, the UN refugee Agency)

More than 40,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Colombia as a result of this armed conflict since 1990 alone.

Geographically, Colombia is as big as Spain, Portugal and France all together and one of the most bio diverse countries in the planet, with a very fertile land. The same as we can increase the production of coffee, potato or corn, we can increase the coca production as well. But with a high demand and ilegal practices of trading, and illegal groups controlling the business, the production of coca is still a rentable possibility for many poor families in Colombia.

I do not deny what is happening internally in Colombia and its stereotypes, I can talk straight forward with every person in the world about them. Today, if you ask me if I recommend you to visit my country, without doubt I would say YES, I do.

Actually, I don’t see myself raising my family in any other country different than mine. Talking to my children about our reality and teaching them how to become our country the number one, the same as my parents did with me.

I recommend you to see yourself the country behind the stereotypes, the country moves by the passion of its kind, happy and good people. Discover Colombia through its heart. Don’t be afraid to see yourself the reality of this country and, how we Colombians say: the only risk is wanting to stay longer… maybe forever.

And now, I am asking you: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
Which are the stereotypes of your country? Don’t you think is time to break them out?