Like each year, Diplofoundation is looking for new interesting and interested people to take part in their Capacity Building Program for Internet Governance. You can find more details in this link . Keep in mind that the deadline is : 11 February 2009

If I'm not wrong, I won my first Personal Computer in the year 1991 after participating in a writing contest in french and winning the first prize. It was the famous Commodore 64 like in the picture with a tape reader and few tapes containing some games and programs such as the main Operating System (I remember only the Ninja Game I used to play with).

I miss my C64 which I had to exchange few months later to get my first PC with a mouse, The Amiga 500. Check the details of the C64 in this link

I can barely remember the details of the few times I spoke on radios. I can remember that everything started; I imagine it is the case with many Tunisians from my generation, with the interest for the international radio RTCI and the interaction with the presenters via snail mail. Many live interviews followed this beginning linked to several events I organized or subjects I was keen advocating such as the Free and Libre Open Source Software model.

I never imagined that few years later I’ll have my own “show” with a complete freedom of the topics I can present or the guests I can invite. Of course, this have to be linked to my interests and the subjects I can really present.

Few days ago, I was contacted by Radio TounesBledi team for an urgent matter they wanted to discuss with me. The matter was just an offer to take care of the English speaking program on this radio (which is broadcasting on internet from Canada). I tried to convince them that I don’t have any such experience and I never spoke in public in English (It’s a white lie). All the trust they are placing on me is based just on the content of my blog. They managed to convince me that I’ll be able to do it without even the need of an evaluation.

I had less than 14 hours to prepare the content of two hours of the “on air” program.

I managed to plan few things to speak about including of course the couchsurfing spirit (http://www.couchsurfing.com) and to include two interviews that went pretty well. Honestly I wasn’t convinced of my performance after the program but I believe that I’ll work it out in the future if I learn from my mistakes. My father, who doesn’t speak a word in English, managed to listen to the complete show from home and made an effort trying to understand what I was speaking about. My cousin who living in France told me later that she liked the program but not the “old fashion” musical selection :)

The program’s name is “bridging worlds”. It is scheduled for Thursdays between 3pm and 5pm (Tunis time, GMT+1). The time might change starting from the beginning of February 2008. I’ll keep you updated.

The link to listen to the radio is: http://www.radio.tounesbledi.net/live.html

I’ll talk about the radio and its amazing team again soon.

...

No I won’t talk about Jamiroquai’s Album. I want to talk about one of the best communities I discovered in London. The Couchsurfers.

Let’s be honest! What do young travellers need when they discover the world? I’ll give you the answer: A place where to spend the night (not even a bed if you have a sleeping bag) with the option of having a nice shower and change, a safe place where to leave the heavy backpacks during the day and, of course, a guide (usually a book) to tell you where to go and what to avoid (I’m used to buy the lonely planet).

How many times you take a room in a hotel and you pay an entire 24 hours for just a nap of few hours. Also, guide books are usually subjective and written by tourists without giving a local taste or vision of the area visited. What if you have a full list of local contacts you can trust and who might host you or at least meet you to give you the right tips/directions around a cup of local tea/drink.

The best solution I found for this was the couchsurfing.com website. Even with the fact that I wasn’t able to host people, I was invited to many picnics/partys/BBQs in many parks/houses in London and I met a variety of people (hosts, travellers or intruders like me). I remember also the London Calling where during one weekend I was able to meet “theoretically” a couple of hundreds of people not fearing the rain or late buses. It was amazing. All these people gave me enough confidence to start “couchsurfing” and hosting people and all my hosts and guests were so nice and very friendly.

From a southern perspective, I see this community also a good opportunity for Africans to meet travellers, learn about other cultures and improve foreign languages without having to struggle with travel expenses and visa restrictions. That’s what I call travelling without moving.

Come on guys (and girls): Join the community www.couchsurfing.com

PS: if you live in Tunisia, don’t forget to join also Tunisia Group and check out local events/meetings I’m willing to organise.