“[…] Here in Trinidad and Tobago, the Road March results still rely on a manual system—TUCO officials physically count song plays at competition venues. “This outdated process is not only time-consuming but also vulnerable to human error, bias, and undue influence…. Embracing digitalisation in Carnival adjudication could resolve these challenges …
Read More »Noble: The urgency of the moment—the world at tipping point in class war
We begin 2025 with the shocking reports of a teen being murdered by his ‘best friend’. The reality that gangs are everywhere causes us to pause. We are struggling to get food on our tables. Life is closing in on us. We are living in grim times. We can no longer …
Read More »Noble: When your neighbour’s house is on fire; T&T must learn from USA debacle
“When your neighbour’s house is on fire, wet yours!” is an excellent Trinidadian proverb applicable now. We have been consumed with the goings-on about succession planning cum election preparation in the People’s National Movement. Not forgotten is the troubles of the Dissident Five, who have been sidelined after the United …
Read More »Demming: Digitisation won’t erase public sector “stuckness”, without attitude change
Congratulations to the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MLA). I received my digital marriage certificate in four days without leaving my home. Unfortunately, we have to start the process all over because there’s an error. The name of one of the witnesses is incorrectly spelt. Having gone through the application process I was …
Read More »Noble: The golden handcuffs—our love-hate relationship with Trinidad and Tobago
In 1958, the author, John Steinbeck, wrote an essay describing San Francisco as a city with “a golden handcuff with the key thrown away”. The article was a rhapsody about life in that city. On the other hand, we watch our nation slide into a putrid abyss—never leaving but badmouthing …
Read More »Dear Editor: Bottom in the web—AI composes soca song in three seconds
“[…] Bottoms up, they shake and sway; hips are moving, in a playful way; “Gyrating to the rhythm, so divine; women’s bottoms, pure sunshine…” In the following Letter to the Editor, Orson Rogers from Belmont shares with Wired868 what happens when he asks AI language model to write a soca …
Read More »Daly Bread: What ‘further’ digitisation? We are barely off the ground
Many lives and our economic survival depend on the availability of vaccines in sufficient numbers to vaccinate 70 percent or greater of the adult population. We are re-opening for business before the 70 percent target is achieved and before more is known about the Delta variant, described as ‘relentless’. That …
Read More »Demming: Gov’t vaccination cards need tens of thousands of sheets of paper; why not digitise?
An official in another country laughed when I presented my driver’s permit because it was a simple laminated card which could be made at any print shop. That was about 15 years ago and things have only improved slightly. I thought of this when I received my vaccine card which …
Read More »MSJ: Education Ministry’s proposed online schooling will exacerbate inequalities
“[…] We are deeply concerned that the decision by the Ministry of Education to implement a programme of home-based learning conducted by teachers using an ‘online platform’ will seriously discriminate against the children whose parents are either unemployed or whose incomes are barely able to put food on the table. …
Read More »Education Ministry says brace for September restart, reveals online learning plans
Minister of Education Anthony Garcia revealed that school is unlikely to restart before September 2020, as the government adjusts to the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The third school term of the 2019-20 academic year was due to start on Monday 20 April but Garcia described that as ‘virtually impossible’. …
Read More »Anonymous teacher: Don’t ask about virtual teaching during vacation; and blame the ministry!
“Why are parents so upset and concerned about school work during that period?! They do not want to admit it, but they have had enough of their own angels! “And you know if there was school and no Covid-19, I bet you almost all of these same parents would not have …
Read More »Demming: T&T must emerge from pandemic as healthier, more tech savvy nation
April 7th marked the 55th month of Trinidad and Tobago being under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley and no one could have predicted the current scenario. Not in our wildest dreams did we contemplate that we’d be engaged in a daily tally of deaths versus confirmed …
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