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The organization committee of the yet to be named bilingual blog conference, which will take place in 2005 in Montreal, had a first meeting last night at Zeke’s Gallery. (Thanks for the space and the great ideas, Zeke!). Of course, there are photos (1, 2, 3) of the meeting on Flickr. Yulbloggers are serious Flickr freaks.

People who added their names to the wiki for the conference will soon get an e-mail with more information. If you have no idea what I’m talking about but are curious, take a look at the wiki where ideas are coming together. (Here’s a definition of a wiki.) We’re thinking about a day of talks, something rather informal, true round-table discussions (vs panels), not too much geeking and, well, a fair amount of mingling and partying. Something a bit like the Northen Voice conference in Vancouver but with a Montreal touch.

I send a personal invitation to women interested in blogs and their use. Go have a look at the wiki! Show your interest! Let’s get some girls in there!

Before we even make eye contact, I realize I hate the man walking down the grocery aisle toward me. He�s never kicked my dog, I�ve never slept with him�in fact, we�ve never even met. But in bold white letters, the word �VEGAN� is printed across his black T-shirt. Staring at his malnourished frame as it hovers over the seasonal produce, I clutch my package of extra-fatty bacon and feel as though we�ve had an argument.

I�ve been having this reaction more and more frequently as the streets of Toronto turn into a silent battleground of the slogan. Cheap pastel Ts are usurping the button, the blog and the bumper sticker as the vehicle du jour for pop-cultural identification. And it�s not just here. Every city in North America has been inundated with these bold, reductive catchphrases. They are the passive-aggressive accessories of a mute generation.

From The Clothes Make The Man, by Siri Agrell, in the February/March issue of Maisonneuve.

A remarkable new computer software programme is being piloted to teach children about the genocide, about citizenship and about the tough choices adults often have to make.

The new simulation – it sounds wrong to call it a computer game given the subject matter – runs a series of dilemmas similar to those the UN peacekeepers faced during the genocide.

An informant tells the students, who play the role of UN officers, that hidden arms caches are about to be distributed to Rwandan government militiamen who may commit genocide.

The students have several choices. Do they risk confrontation and raid the arms caches? Or should they ask for advice from UN headquarters in New York?

From BBC News.

Thanks to Blork for the tip