Tech Thankfulosity

It's been a great year for technology in foreign policy and development, and we've got a lot to be grateful for. So before we sign off to gorge ourselves on delicious holiday fare, we wanted to share a few of the things that we on the NDItech team are thankful for.

• The digital divide isn't as yawning a chasm as it looked in 2000.
• Being paid to play with cool tools like FrontlineSMS, TOR, and Linux on a Stick.
• Twitter. Fantastic way to get to know colleagues and stay on top of what's going on. Plus, the fail whale teaches one a certain zenlike patience.
• The citizens around the world with whom we work - these are people who are risking a lot to work for freedom and competent government.
• Open source communities of volunteers that somehow magically create and build amazing platforms like Drupal, Ushahidi and CiviCRM.
• The momentum behind Open Data and Open Government - creating a whole new set of opportunities for NDITech and our partners to help democratic governments be more transparent and accountable.
• Our coworkers on the NDItech team, who are a lot of fun as well as pretty damn smart.
• And since it's the season... that Turkey has unblocked YouTube.
• And of course, for you, our faithful readers. (Hi mom!)

We're going to be off for the long weekend, so regular posting will resume Monday. Eat way too much in the interim.