Sameer Padania

"…the video testimony of Rodrigo Rosenberg [...] has been uploaded to YouTube. He was a lawyer in Guatemala City, and he was murdered this past Sunday, May 10. He left this video, taped before he was killed, in which he names his murderers: President Alvaro Colom, his wife and his private secretary."

"Al Manakh is the collaborative initiative to monitor, reveal and forecast new urban developments unfolding in the Gulf region. This analysis focuses on how the Gulf’s recent pace has not only shaped its own urban centers but also releases significant effects beyond its borders …"

A user-friendly Guide to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW) is now available. Seeking to better protect migrants’ human rights and dignity, the new publication encourages governments worldwide to ratify and implement the Convention.

"Quick: where can you go to find an 18th century map of the Galapagos islands, a video recording of immigrants landing on Ellis Island in the early 1900s, and a scanned 15th century German translation of Aesop's fables, complete with photographs of the original cover and woodcut illustrations?" The UN is aware, is it not, that video is a late 20th Century medium?

Fantastic resource for anyone to almost anything in social research.

The Trust in Digital Life Public-Private Partnership (PPP) aims over the course of two years to set out a vision for trustworthy products relating to information and communications technology (ICT), including devices, applications, services, and infrastructures. Central to this vision shall be a recognition of the importance of the rule of law, security, and privacy and other core democratic freedoms in contributing to trustworthiness.

"The next generation of directors will come from the Polytechnic of YouTube even if their films are shown online or on mobiles rather than in cinemas." William Gibson's Garage Kubrick idea coming to fruition.

OK, got to get them to do a "OK, so which right is being contravened here?" tagging game…

He is the CAPTCHA man.

2005 Christmas appeal by Guardian on behalf of MSF.

And more from BBC people who are insanely intelligent and do excellent work.

I love reading this kind of stuff – someone who knows their stuff, is open about sharing ideas, passionate for their work. V interesting and instructive.

"At its 2935th Transport, Telecommunications and Energy council meeting in Brussels, yesterday, the European Council adopted the following conclusions about how to deliver an accessible information society…"

"The much-anticipated Darfur debate between Enough co-Founder John Prendergast and Professor Mahmood Mamdani generated lively and sometimes heated responses in the auditorium at Columbia University that evening last month and on the blogosphere in the following days."

"The purpose of our centre is to provide a national focus for research and development into curation issues and to promote expertise and good practice, both national and international, for the management of all research outputs in digital format."

How to use social network analysis to uncover corruption…

"Use our new LOCATE service to tell us where you’re travelling to so our embassy and crisis staff can provide better assistance in an emergency such as a tsunami or terrorist attack. It only takes a few minutes to register your contact details and travel plans online and the local British embassy will know you’re coming. There's no need to contact them directly." What about dopplr integration? Huh? Huh?

The Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) providing specialist assistance in research and advocacy in the field of human rights, democracy and governance, launched a video and released a report documenting political and human rights violations against women in Zimbabwe. The documentary, Hear Us – Zimbabwean Women Affected by Political Violence Speak Out, and accompanying report, Putting it Right: Addressing Human Rights Violations Against Zimbabwean Women, present the findings of RAU’s study and call for action on the issue of politically motivated violence against women.

"Did we mention that the compensation was $10,000 per month Plus accommodations in a beautiful home in picturesque Healdsburg, a popular vacation destination in our neck of the woods. Working hours are flexible. And all you have to do is experience wine and good living, and then tell people about it. (Do you play Poker, or Liar’s Dice? Don’t worry; we’ll teach you.)" Another best job in the world.

Some tremendous parodies in this from Season 1 – but nothing beats the R Kelly rip-off: "Was it just about 30 seconds ago?" "No, it was just about 35 seconds ago."

"Consumers who have grown up during the past 15 years are completely at home in a world where much of what they want to hear, see or read will cost them nothing. True, in the case of some films and TV shows, the practices involved may skirt around the law a bit. Generally speaking, though, culture has become a happy free-for-all. Now may be the time to pay the bill." Not a piece that necessarily adds to the debate – but the editorial…

Now if it were in colour, and played video, and I could get my emails, and I could play ga…. Wait. No – it's a reading device – like a BOOK…

"What people want from BBC virtual spaces: diverse content, activism, audiences and producers networked, DIY media, richer content #bbcahrc"

Report by Robin Hamman about Claire Wardle's session on UGC at the BBC.

"Dr Prabha Kotiswaran’s critical reader of Indian writings on sex work will target a broad audience in order to inform public debate concerning the prospective legal shift, and her monograph Dangerous Sex, Invisible Labor and Other Stories of the Lumpen Proletariat: Rethinking the Regulation of Sex Work will engage with the standpoints on sex work which dominate contemporary debate."

"Children wanted their virtual worlds to offer them the opportunity to interact with others, to be creative, to share media made by other children, and for worlds to be a place away from adult rules. They also wanted online 'homes' – a hotel, house or town – and shops in which they could trade with other users."

Interesting organisation formed by former UN Ambassador Stephen Lewis and Paula Donovan, focused on high-level international advocacy.