New and Noted: paper re. gaps in SMS use in Berber communities

Leslie L. Dodson, S. Revi Sterling, John K. Bennett, Minding the gaps: Minding the gaps: cultural, technical and gender-based barriers to mobile use in oral-language Berber communities in Morocco, Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers - Volume 1, Pages 79-88 "The proliferation of text-based applications in the Mobiles for Development (M4D) domain tends to privilege the conventional wisdom that texting is a ubiquitous skill among mobile phone users. This view obscures many real and present barriers to using SMS and mobile features, most critically where low literate and/or oral language-dependent communities cannot rely on text as a viable communications system. This paper investigates mobile "utility gaps" -- the spaces between high rates of mobile phone ownership and low use of productive features on mobile phones."

Berberus

startuparabia.com, Berberus, The Semantic Maghreb Blog Aggregator, 2 Oct 08

Details: Berberus "Berberus is a new blog aggregator that was recently launched to cover blogs from the Maghreb region. The name is an obvious reference to the region and its roots. The site also says it references the existence of a form of berberism (free man) in every blogger who aspires to express themselves freely."

It's a useful resource: et'll be even more effective when they have RSS functioning.

Berbers

Strategy Page, It's Hip To Be Dead, 11 May 08 "The one thing al Qaeda has to offer is media recognition. Any terrorist action associated with al Qaeda gets more coverage. Since terrorism lives and dies according to how much media attention it gets, this is a persuasive pitch. Still, the Berber radicals have not shown any inclination become another al Qaeda franchise."