My profile was getting crowded so I'm moving most of it here while I experiment...
| Interesting reading online: |
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| Five Things Wikipedia's Founder Has Learned About Online Collaboration |
| Interesting books |
| Stasiland, Nine Parts of Desire |
| Interesting listening |
| Water and Sanitation Needs in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies - No, really, it's interesting, even if you're not a water engineer! Science, changing the world, politics, media, truth & lies, Latin America to Rwanda. |
| Interesting viewing |
| Children of the Revolution (twisted), Dil Se |
| I am Chris Watkins, known online as Chriswaterguy (or, formerly, as Singkong2005). Feel free to leave a message or browse my Scratchpad, below. |
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In Appropedia, I tend to focus on:
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I'm a water and sanitation engineer by training; however I'm interested in broader appropriate technology, development & sustainability issues. I'll probably do more editing here once I'm travelling and viewing projects.
Other collaborations
I love the way the internet facilitates collaboration, and I'm quite involved in several collaborations:
- Nabuur.com - "The global neighbour network." I'm mainly offering assistance where there are online villages with water or sanitation issues. (See my user page).
- I'm very involved in editing development-related topics on Wikipedia. See my Wikipedia page.
- I'm also an enthusiastic cook, and have started recording my recipes. I see cooking as being related to:
- sustainability - especially vegetarian cooking;
- health - healthy food is important, but it has to taste great so that people will cook and eat it.
- financial security - making good food from basic resources; and
- quality of life - which needs no justification.
What I do
I will soon (well, sometime in 2007, I expect) be leaving Australia, on a one-way ticket. (I keep saying this... but really, I will get there!) First stop Indonesia, followed by East Timor, Thailand and India (details yet to be worked out).
As I travel, I look forward to contacting development, environmental and permaculture organizations, and assisting where I can. I expect to be learning more than assisting though, and I certainly don't present myself as a foreign expert. My main way of contributing to development will be through developing Wikipedia and Appropedia.
Looking for work in Asia
I will also be looking for work in Asia at some point (probably 2007), so if you know of suitable openings in the development world, please let me know. As long it doesn't involve managing a project (deadlines and such) or lots of paperwork. My strengths are to do with language, communication & facilitation, as well as a knowledge of appropriate technology, and openness to what suitable in the specific context, rather than having fixed ideas. (Link to my CV/Resumé coming soon).
I'm also open to doing volunteer work. For example, I might get a job in a city teaching English, with at least 2-3 days off per week to work on other projects. And of course, I will continue with my wiki contributions whenever I have a spare moment.
My reading list
Is there an OpenSocial bookshelf widget?
My actual "to read" bookshelf in the physical world has a heap of books that I'm working through, including some history, as well as science fiction (from my writer friend) and "Engineering in Emergencies." A few jottings on books I want to check out follow:
- A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein. See description comments and rating at Amazon.
- Orwell, more non-fiction. Down and Out..., Burma experiences, essays.
- Daniel QuinnW - "If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways" looks interesting. However, his arguments on overpopulation and food aid seem simplistic and foolish. Even Malthus modifed his arguments so many years ago, and wasn't so "Malthusian" by the end.
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Recently read:
- The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (which is almost a great book, just needs a few more drafts and a broader perspective). Comment: hard to get through.
- Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney