When I was in Buenos Aires last I sat down in the morning with La Nacion and here is the resulting video in English and transcription in Spanish.
When I was in Buenos Aires last I sat down in the morning with La Nacion and here is the resulting video in English and transcription in Spanish.
Hi, Matt, you’ve obviously caught the BA bug. Who doesn’t?
I enjoyed the recent article about the monedas trucas… what a city for a blogger to explore.
Unfortunately when I lived in BA for four years, up until last summer, I wasn’t in a position to blog about it. It’s a pity because I carried a magnetic chess pawn in my pocket to test for fake coins, and my experiences could have made for a few cool blog posts, if not an entire site. I find that most of my Argentine friends are simply happy to text or tweet, which is rather sad, especially as they never seem to leave the pages of Facebook.
Your interview with La Nacion explains a lot because when I tried to share it, link it to my blog and my BA chums, the newspaper required a heap of info: my DNI (cedula) or passport number, everything but my DNA profile. It’s no wonder that Argentines are still rather wary of the web, because of their country’s bureaucracy.
There are so many improving translation programs available that there’s no real excuse for any of us not including some sort of translation facility on our blogs to invite comments from further aflield. However, that’s not the Argentine way, with the exception of the city folk I know who spend more time with foreigners than with their own, probably because despite a brief economic recovery nobody has the money to leave Argentina, except for maybe a trip to Brazil, Chile or Uruguay. So there’s a curiosity about the world.
I’d love to get back to BA for another few years and spread the word about open source… those guys in the confiterias still think everything has to be paid for and that’s their problem… they’d rather buy a flashy iPod than engage the world by opening a vein on a truly international blog.
How I wish I’d run into you when I was still there a few months ago. We could have done something with the Buenos Aires Herald and especially with Pagina12, unless you’ve already been there. The Clarin arts magazine would be a cool publication in which to place the WordPress stamp. Let me know if you require any contacts. I’m sure your sorted.
Back to the La Nacion interview and I’ll do my best to spread it around… hasta luego, thanks again.
Hey Matt, great interview, brillant software! have a great start to 2009!
Tony Trainor, I am from Argentina (I don’t live in BA though), and I have to agree with everything you say; great comment.
I liked the interview Matt. Cheers.
Happy birthday Matt, have a good weekend, and thanks for for giving me inspiration for another blog entry… BTW, I do think that La Nacion might have transcribed your video interview out of respect for its Spanish speaking readers. Anyway, mustn’t grumble!
OK, dare I say, I wrote a lil’ note about ol’ Matt?
God bless the boy, and all who said aroud him
http://tonytrainor.com/journal/2009/01/wordpress-gurus-argentine-trackback/
Hi,Tony! If you lived in BA for four years, I´m afraid you certainly stayed at the wrong neighborhood and called the wrong confiterias…
As far as I know, my fellow citizens are very aware of open source software, or the likes of it, back from the times of the Commodore 64. As far as I know, they are contributing nowadays to many projects, including such arcane ones as the workings and reworkins of the Amiga OS.
Regarding our curiosity about the world, which is real, we don´t need to talk to strangers in the street–we have our own grandfathers for that. Through our veins runs blood from almost every country in the world, and about a century ago we could barely understand each other. Due to local economic constraints, you will now find Argentines living and working almost anywhere in the world.
And, lastly, by all means don´t place the WordPress stamp in Clarin or Pagina 12–they stand among the most discredited media in the country, belonging to the same discredited news manipulator media group. (BTW, to describe Clarin arts magazine as “cool” is veery far fetched; I use to browse it when short of sleeping pills).
When you are back in BA, please ask for directions.
Cheers
Here is the pic I took on Jan 2nd when I was on holidays trip to Necochea (Buenos Aires): http://twitpic.com/yyhy
I spent time reading the interview with my feet over some sand as you can see 😉
Regards,
@rofc