SaigonNezumi.com

I started posting blog entries on my Yahoo 360 account back in August 20, 2006.  My Vietnamese Sociology students from the Center for International Education and other university students at SaigonTech wanted me to post more on Yahoo 360 since they were all active there.  I remember being very active there for a couple of years.   I even met some friends from there as well and made some good contacts.

Sadly, Yahoo 360 will be shutdown.  It is still a surprise to many young Vietnamese bloggers who have used Yahoo 360 religiously for the last 3-4 years.  My students still use it.  They are the ardent ones who will use it until the end which should come soon.

I have been lucky that I started SaigonNezumi.com before I created my Yahoo 360 accounts.  I will not be affected much by the shutdown.  Many of my 360 Friends have already added me to my Facebook account.

I do feel sorry for the many young 360 bloggers who have no place to move their blog entries too.  I created a blog forum for my students but it is no way ready to handle anymore than 200 users.  Not yet at least.

Yahoo 360 Plus does not seem a popular option as well.   I posted this entry nearly a year ago:

The negative, since Yahoo 360plus will not be connected to the universal profile with other Yahoo products, could be the death blow to Yahoo 360 in Vietnam. The strength of Yahoo 360 is that it enabled Vietnamese bloggers to connect with other Yahoo 360 users around the world. If Yahoo 360plus just focuses on the Vietnamese market, many 360 users could move over to Facebook which is rapidly becoming popular among students and friends.

Unfortunately for you English speakers, Yahoo 360plus is only available in the Vietnamese language.

This is exactly what is happening.  I am seeing many of the Vietnamese bloggers who write English move over to Facebook.  They are very active as well.  That includes my high school ICT students and former university students.  I expect the same for other Yahoo 360 English speaking Vietnamese users as well.

Will they continue to blog?  It is hard to say.  I hate to say it, you can do quite a bit with Facebook now.  If a developer adds a small blogging application to Facebook  (I am not sure if one is there), that could be make Facebook a perfect replacement for Yahoo 360.

I am sure the Young Vietnamese IT geeks will have their opinions on this one.

Below is my last Yahoo 360 post:

It seems that Yahoo 360 will end soon. If you want to keep in contact with me, please visit the following sites:

1. SaigonNezumi.com (my blog) -> http://www.saigonnezumi.com

2. Facebook -> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=678700482

3. Twitter -> http://twitter.com/saigonnezumi

If you need help finding a new blog site, please email me at: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/aboutkevinmillerjr/contact-kevin-miller-jr/ and I will help you find a new place to blog at.

Thank you for being my Yahoo 360 Friends. I hope to see you at another forum.

Kevin Miller, Jr. saigonnezumi

Farewell Yahoo 360!

This week the BarCamp Saigon organizers will finally select the venue for next month’s BarCamp here in Ho Chi Minh City.  Over a week ago, Anh Hung and I visited the Saigon Institute of Technology (SaigonTech) Cong Hoa campus. SaigonTech is a private university providing IT training to Vietnamese students.  They have an affiliation with the Houston Community College System which allows Vietnamese students to earn a 2 year AA American degree in Vietnam.

SaigonTech has been the only venue candidate that is supportive of BarCamp Saigon.  Ms. Huong, the office manager, and I have known each other for nearly 3 years.  If we chose SaigonTech, we will get all the support we need to host the barcamp event there.

SaigonTech’s Cong Hoa campus is air conditioned but there are no elevators.  The building design is typical Vietnamese architecture which means it is very narrow and tall.  I think there are around 6-7 floors.

Here are pictures of the rooms:

(Large classroom seats 50 but we can accommodate up to 80 I think)

(Another view of the large classroom)

(A smaller classroom – seats about 30)

(Sorry guys, no elevators, you will be walking)

Tuesday night will be announce the venue for BarCamp Saigon.

I got some great shots of the what the traffic is like in Saigon now. Since last summer, it the roads have gotten very congested due to the increase of both cars and motorbikes. Even the police seem to have problems directing traffic anymore. For once, I saw people arguing with the police which is not the norm here.

(Morning view of the congested Cong Hoa street from SaigonTech)

(Cong Hoa street is packed in the morning near E-Town)

(Huynh Van Banh street at an intersection)

(I stayed in this spot for about 10 minutes)

(Ward Police to the rescue )

Woke up late, 9 AM. Ninja, my kitten was meowing loudly but I could not hear him since I wore my ear plugs

Tofu woman dropped by my house at 10:30AM but I was behind schedule so no tofu for me.

Had lunch at Mimosa on Bui Vien Street. Bought an Economist for 40,000 VND ($2.50 US). Headed to my school at 1:30 PM.

By 2 PM, realized my students were more competent in IT than IT staff. I spent half the class time being more of a system administrator than teacher. Finally got students to do things in the command line and nano towards the end of class.

Made it to Tan Binh District at 6 PM.  Had a great time at SaigonTech. School wireless worked flawlessly

Home now watching Ninja sleep on Lucky’s pillow.

End of another Saigon Monday…

I typed this post with my Nokia N800 using OS2008. It is awesome!

Darn, I had to spend another weekend at home working on my Laptop again. I really hit geek mode since I returned from the US. I am still not sure if I truly recovered from my trip yet.

One thing is for sure, I am ready for a short trip out of Saigon really soon. I am thinking about flying back up to Hanoi to meet a couple of friends and go over some legal matters in regards to forming a business in Vietnam.

Teaching is going okay this semester though I am getting burned out at SaigonTech now. Next semester I will either reduce the hours or take a one semester Leave of Absence to rest. I really like my IT class at the American International School. Bright kids, some of the best I have ever had all with bright futures.

My second stench with Indochina Capital is going very well. My teaching methodology has improved since my last batch of students.

IT is my realm though. No, I will not pursue the Unix SysAdmin position with Google. I want to stay in Vietnam and turn the Saigon Linux Group into something. First, though, I am thinking that maybe it is time that I do something with my IT skills. Everytime I walk away from IT, I seem to come right back. Maybe I should stay this time…

Cross-posted at:  Yahoo 360 – AmerasianKevin