Chiperoni ku Basel

Month: December 2006

  • Free Software for Malawi

    Alex Antener presents a talk on his Malawi projects:

    Freie Software – Eine Chance für Afrika, (in German)

    Very interesting, and lots of screens with GNU Linux.

    [update] The official recording of the talk is available online.

  • BBC World documentary

    BBC re-visits Madalitso in Mangochi District:

    The small town of Monkey Bay on the banks of Lake Malawi, like so many other small towns and villages throughout southern Africa, is being destroyed by HIV/AIDS. We return to Monkey bay where Joyce Lwanda jumps from class to class struggling to teach an entire primary school on her own. For the children taught by Joyce, head teacher at Kankhande primary School, HIV is both a threat to their lives, and for those lucky enough to avoid the worse affects of the disease it may just take away their best chance at Education. Joyce one of the few teachers that seems to bother to appear at school regularly is HIV positive.

    On return to Monkey Bay we also reunite with one of last year’s brightest pupils at Kankhande, Madalitso Mola. Madalitso like so many children in the school is an orphan. One year on, we see how Madalitso’s life has changed, has he too started to show signs of the disease that most likely took his fathers life, is he another one of Africa’s hopefuls lost to HIV?

    It discusses the WFP school feeding program and improvements at schools.

    If you get a chance to see it, let me know your opinion. I’m sure it will be repeated at various intervals.

    I’m viewing BBC World TV on my PC using Zattoo.
    The audio lags just a little bit, but the overall quality is good. And it’s live streaming.

  • Novartis Campus



  • Dead Media

    There’s a workshop on Dead Media

    at the LIFT conf.

  • What is a liquid?

    What is a liquid?

    “Liquids” under the new provisions include:

    * Aerosols
    * Chocolate spread
    * Cream cheese
    * Creams
    * Deodorants
    * Drinks of all kinds
    * Foams of all kinds
    * Gels
    * Hair gel
    * Liquid lipsticks (e.g. gloss)
    * Liquid mascara
    * Liquid/solid mixtures
    * Lotions
    * Oils
    * Pastes
    * Peanut butter
    * Perfumes
    * Roll-on deodorants
    * Shaving foam
    * Shower gel
    * Soft cheeses (e.g. Camembert) and cheese spreads
    * Soups
    * Sprays
    * Syrups
    * Toothpaste
    * Water
    * Yoghurt
    * or products of similar consistency

    The following items will not be regarded as liquids:

    * Chocolate-spread sandwiches
    * Hard cheeses (e.g. Edam or Parmesan)
    * Peanut-butter sandwiches
    * Powders
    * Solid lipsticks
    * Talcum powder

    Seen at Swiss

  • Overcoming the Digital Divide in Malawi

    Interesting:
    Overcoming the Digital Divide in Malawi

    via Hacktivate

  • unforced rhythms of grace

    (Disclaimer: rare confessional blog entry coming up)

    Monday, at about 17:22, some waiting room…

    Virtual audio streaming going on in my head:

    “So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

    It’s a fact. When I reach my personal end of the world, I start praying. Deep down I am a Christian. I can’t help but pray. I find comfort and courage in beautiful, century-old poetry snippets.

    There are so many situations we cannot control. Where we depend on other people and other people’s judgement.

    Note to myself: Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.


    BTW, this post was inspired by fresh air.

  • On Preconceived Ideas

    Video podcast on statistics vs. sweeping generalizations

    Hans Rosling is professor of international health at Sweden’s world-renowned Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder, a non-profit that brings vital global data to life. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, he debunks a few myths about the “developing” world.

    via Climb to the Stars.

  • The Mpemba Effect

    The Mpemba effect is the observation that, in some specific circumstances, hotter water freezes faster than colder water.

    via Kottke

  • Have Pride in Liwonde



    See Go2Malawi.com on re-introducing lions to Liwonde Park.

  • Potential Risk to Hearing?

    study:

    Sound Output Levels of the iPod and Other MP3 Players: Is There Potential Risk to Hearing?

    via Guy Kawasaki

  • text snippet

    On the maximum saturation point:

    If a new blog is being created every second, it’s worth mentioning that one is being abandoned every 1.5 seconds.

  • playland

    Weekend is WordPress playland here at the headquarters of Chiperoni.ch. I upgraded to the latest version of WP 2.0.5 and started playing around with the Tarski and Simplr themes. Quite undecided still. Will probably return to the previous design any time soon.

    Here’s the current Tarski setup:
    tarski

    And Simplr:
    simplr

    Also included is the usual WP plugin and howto browsing. See, for example, this description how to add a Flickr slideshow.