Can you believe it?

The headline 'Lightning kills more Cambodians than Landmines' seems perverse in itself, but it's true. Known as one of the most heavily-mined countries on the planet, demining operations and landmine safety education have led to a sharp decrease in landmine deaths in recent years. To-date in 2008, landmines have killed nine people, but for the same period, 77 Cambodians have died due to lightning strikes. This doesn't take into account the number of injuries sustained as a result of landmines (Cambodia has over 40,000 amputees) and lightning bolts but in itself, the relatively low number of landmine deaths is positive news, if you can call any death a positive. Last year, landmines killed 26 people, with lightning killing another 45, so the sharp increase in lightning deaths is becoming a major concern.

This coming Saturday (20th), all computer geeks, nerds, techies and enthusiasts will be heading for the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center on Russian Boulevard at 9am til 5pm to share information about technology, blogging and the like. Over 100 people will be at Bar Camp Phnom Penh on Saturday and if it tickles your fancy, log in here for more infomation.