Luke has been involved in the area of social development for some years now and has incorporated his IT background into this field that has allowed him to undertake unique opportunities working with communities to enhance their economic, social and political futures.

Luke left for Mongolia in April to work on the Mongolian Development Gateway. He will be away for a year - the longest he has worked on a international development project.

Luke definitely has all the interest in humanitarian issues while I concern myself with all other animals. I am extremely proud of his achievement in getting this job as I was with his work in Costa Rica and Yuendumu. He takes the Web to places that others only speak of and allows other communities to integrate it into their lives as they see fit.

To find out more about what he is doing check out his blog - his posts are much more interesting than mine!

This will probably never change and while it will seem like I have given up on this blog thing, suddenly, out of nowhere, a flurry of posts will arrive.

That is my theory anyway - or maybe it is just an observation…

Russ recently presented some of these ideas at Webstock in New Zealand. His presentation was called “Let go and allow users to control their own experience”. Fortunately for those who could not make it we get to see and hear Russ, plus have his slides.

Check it out along with all the other fantastic talks presented at Webstock this year.

I promise this is not an obsession with the colour red…

What should you do if you meet a Mountain Lion?

• Don’t run. Stay calm.
• Hold your ground or back away slowly.
• Do all you can to appear larger: grab a stick, raise your arms, open your jacket and spread it above your head.
• Wave your arms, shout and throw objects. The goal is to convince the lion that you are not prey and may be dangerous yourself.
• If attacked, fight back!!

I think the main message is, if you meet a Mountain Lion don’t be a pussy!

Originally when I told a few people I was going to the US for a month they were surprised I would spend so long there. All I can say is I wish I was there for longer – the landscapes, cities, hospitality and of course the people were fantastic! I would definitely go back, even to Las Vegas.

The two places I would visit time and time again (apart from Austin and SxSW) were San Francisco and New York. These cities were incredibly different but both had a great energy that made every day exciting.

New York is frenetic! Anything you want to do you can do it there – day or night. I was lucky enough to be staying with someone who lived in Manhattan which not only meant he had knowledge of great places to go but was part of a small community that allowed me to see how New Yorkers truly live. I was surprised to discover these strong local communities in a city of millions of people with a reputation for being unfriendly. The best thing about New York however, is everyone fits in whatever your beliefs, profession, background or appearance.

San Francisco is much more relaxed and laid back, something that appealed to me. In the cab from the airport I immediately felt like I was visiting somewhere familiar as we approached SF and that feeling never left me the whole time I was there. “The City” as San Franciscans call it is full of cultural micro-environments – one moment you can be in a street with coffee and clothing shops and by the next block you can be in an area that is run down and has a very different clientele. This all makes for a fascinating city. The nicest thing about SF is that you know those who live there love their city – not in manner where they try to convince you how great it is – just through sharing it with you.

I can’t wait to travel again and the US will definitely be a place I will go back and visit many times.

Everything I had heard about SXSW was true - the panels are good, the people are great and the parties are fantastic!

I have to agree with Cam regarding presentation highlights. Kathy Sierra’s “How To Create Passionate Users” was great - if you get the chance to see her do so! She has a wonderful presentation style. Most of the keynotes were also really interesting and they are available as podcasts for those who are interested.

There were other great sessions but I have to say I learnt the most at the party and lunch discussions. I have a stack of cards from various people I met and hopefully I will be able to stay in contact with all of them.

At SXSWi this year there were about 10 Australians – the Oz Squad! Hopefully that number will grow in years to come. I will definitely be back next year – I am already tempted to book my accommodation!

First stop Austin. Then Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Albuquerque, New York and back to San Francisco once more.

I need to get on top of my packing – everything is piled into my case and I really need to refine some of my choices. I am a dreadful packer – I always want to take everything I own. I also need to go and charge my laptop, camera, ipod and phone.

Hopefully I will write regular entries over the next few weeks and as always I will be on email.

Tim is madly packing over at his house so I had better go and look at my heap of clothes.

Ever since I can remember I have loved animals. My childhood cats copped the brunt of this affection until our Labradors joined the family when I was six. Early on my career options seemed clear: Vet, Zoologist or Palaeontologist.

I find it amazing now how closely I have stood by these initial decisions and how this fascination with animals has always remained such a passion.

My desire to be a vet was fulfilled and abandoned after five years of Vet Nursing. While I loved the job, it was not the side of animals that I wanted to spend my days viewing - vomiting cats and dogs with diarrhoea. So when I went to Uni, Zoology was the path I chose - with a focus on animal behaviour.

Recent events however, have allowed me to fulfill a hat trick of sorts - I am now working on the development of a new dinosaur exhibition and website at the Museum. While I am not a Palaeontologist I might get to go on a dino dig and I am currently putting together a list of dinosaurs I would like to purchase.

My current pick is Argentinosaurus – as we are going with a Gondwanan theme.

As for careers, time to start writing a new list.

Prior to attending, I had known and explained to clients that the Web is a worldwide medium and this needs to be considered when developing content and navigation. But to be honest I had never given it a huge amount of thought. Probably because the predominant number of websites are written in English and their interfaces are designed for Western Cultures - so being an Australian these issues had not significantly affected me.

Internationalization and localization of content

In his talk Richard defined internationalization and localization as:

“Internationalization is the design and development of a product, application or document content that enables easy localization for target audiences that vary in culture, region, or language.”

“Localization is the adaptation of a product, application or document content to meet the language, cultural and other requirements of a specific target market (a ‘locale’).”

When considering these ideas and content you need to think about the primary aims and audiences of your website. If your aim is to reach a global audience then you will need to incorporate internationalization into your content strategy as you would with your code and design. There are many ways in which this can be done and I have listed some broad considerations below.

Developing your site in one language

If you decide your audience is global but choose to keep your site in a single language you might think about:

• Dates, calendars and times (e.g. dates from different cultures include DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY, and YY/MM/DD).
• Avoiding phrasing and references unique to certain cultures or groups.
• Defining abbreviations (e.g. NSW).
• Numeric formats (e.g. 1.547 in a country and 1,547 in another country might actually be the same number.)
• How forms are structured and the collection of personal information.
• Whether your text and graphics contain references to objects, actions or ideas which, in a given culture, may be subject to misinterpretation or viewed as insensitive.
• How the content and interface interact. This includes the location, labeling and presentation of navigation.
• The use of plain language - no jargon.

The advantage of this approach is that it takes less time and it may allow you or someone else to localize your content in the future. The disadvantages however might include audience alienation and bland content that does not appeal to any group.

Developing your site in several languages

This can be done in a number of ways depending on the content and what the website is trying to do (e.g. inform, sell, educate).

• If you maintain the same content and carry out direct translations you might enable the users to understand the content but it might lack any interest or relevance.
• Alternatively you might have multilingual content written specifically for your audiences’ local cultures and interests, which often increases relevance.

The disadvantages of multilingual approaches are that they can be costly and complex to implement.

Delivering a culturally tailored website has obvious advantages and disadvantages. What you decide to do will depend primarily on your website’s aims and audiences.