i went a-photowalking and learned about a project that is collecting and growing old varieties of fruit.
Category: General
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Twitter, SMS and Africa
This recent Twitter announcement is disappointing on a personal level, but also on a more global level as White African discusses:
Twitter represents a change in communication. By acting as a global gateway for updates via SMS (or the web), that then updates all of your followers, Twitter succeeded in breaking ground in one-to-many messaging. There have been a couple times over the past year where Twitter was used in Africa to get news out that wasn’t possible in any other format.
And in the comment thread he explains:
What’s missing for it to work in Africa is not just the sending of updates, but the receiving of your contacts updates. That really is what created the network effect for Twitter, and why it can’t succeed where it’s not available.
In Africa, not having SMS is a deal killer. Though there would undoubtedly be users who access it through the web – as is true throughout the rest of the world, true penetration in Africa can only come through services that can be fully operational using only SMS. Why I think this is particularly disappointing is that those third generation Twitter services that could really serve the needs of both ordinary Africans and humanitarians globally will not be built now.
The really interesting thing to me, so that Twitter doesn’t have to shoulder the load by itself, is the opportunity to build services that are separate and independent, but also equal. I guess the closest analogy I have would be to Jabber in this case – where anyone can run a server and that makes the whole greater than the sum of it’s parts.
A very interesting thread, which I’d like to recommend here.
My observations in Blantyre:
- Despite the relative high cost, nearly everybody has a cell phone.
- The top present to get for your girlfriend is a cell phone (!).
- Most people use prepaid cards. See the current tariff plans at Zain (previously Celtel) and tnm.
- Cell phones are helping to connect remote places, that never had a telephone connection. Villagers can hear more often and directly from family members that have moved to the cities or emigrated to SA, the USA and other countries. Farmers can compare market prices, receive weather updates. See Cy’s video.
- Internet services are relatively expensive. Out of reach for personal use. Connecting via fixed line is slow and error prone. The way forward is wifi. Despite these encouraging developments, Internet will remain out of reach for most people for many years to come.
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The Summer of 08
As a gentle drizzle sets in, I’d just like to dump a couple of
carefully composed poetrytext snippets here at Chiperoni headquarters.So far this summer of 08 has treated me well. I’m spending every weekend with my latest gadget: Shooting photos with my Canon 40D. There’s a lot to learn. And try out. Especially regarding lenses and post-processing. I’m still very much of a snapshotter.
I have noticed something:
The memory aspect of photos has become important to me. A couple of years ago before I started blogging and flickring, I joked that I’m taking photos with my retina and one day I’ll just download the contents of my brain (bioware, wetware). But as I proceed through life, more and more of my life pictures are moving to the back of my brain. I can still access them if I want, but they are moving further back as I take care of the daily clutter. But I don’t know if the pictures will disappear one day.
I like the way I can document one moment. With one shutter click.
Yesterday I went to see the Fotomuseum in Winterthur. I enjoyed it immensely. The show that I liked the most was the one on Theo Frey.
See this Wikipedia page for more infos on his biography.
The show reminded me of a Hernando de Soto interview I read. Not so long ago, many people lived in abject poverty here in Switzerland. The Frey photos brought this time closer.
Throughout the past weeks I’ve continued my low key fitness and jogging program. I haven’t run any races or lost any weight, but it helps to deal with stress. And the side effects of sitting hunched up in front of a laptop.
The Summer of Ohhh Eight…
Did you realize? This is the second last year of single digits. I didn’t know that 08 is a lucky number in China. But I feel that this summer is special. A time to remember. Dobbiamo profittare. -
wiring
i went a-photowalking (again).
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Basel Rhyhafen
i went a-photowalking again
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A reading list for aspiring knowledge workers
For future reference:
A reading list for aspiring knowledge workersc.f. Definition of a knowledge worker
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Finding good seats
in the sardine class:
SeatGuruuseful site
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Back from Blantyre
I spent a couple of sunny, winter days in Malawi’s biggest city, visiting family and meeting friends.
I’ve started uploading some of my snapshots to Flickr. More to come as I sift thru the GBs of data.
Travel was uneventful, except for the fact that my luggage took 6 days to arrive in Blantyre. It started out with a harmless announcement by the SAA pilot that he would need to unload some cargo due to overloading. Overloading a plane is a safety issue, and I’d rather wait for my bags than crash into some mountain. Later during the flight, the pilot announced that 23 bags had been left behind. But no worries, the bags would be brought to Chileka on a later flight on the same day. This was the start of various misinformed messages.
The flights between Jo’burg and Blantyre are always fully booked and a lot of cargo is shipped by air.
Anyway, my bags finally arrived in good condition. The SAA staff at the Blantyre office were very polite and helpful. And I learnt that I’ll put my camera charger into my camera bag. Instead of my checked luggage.
Flying back was uneventful as well. Except for a small scare. During the security scan check at Chileka, my camera bag fell right through a defect rung in the conveyor belt onto the floor. Luckily the bag is well-padded and nothing happened to my cam.
Cam bag = already amortized.
Another Chileka detail, I’ll not forget so fast: several Blantyre kindergarden and school classes came out to the airport to watch the aeroplane land and take off. Just for fun. They sat on top of the observation deck’s wall, shouting “aeroplane” and stomping their feet on the iron sheet roof of the departure hall below.
Recurring news topics:
The attacks on foreigners in some South African townships had many Malawians worried about their relatives. Several dozen buses were sent to bring home fleeing Malawians. For generations Malawians have gone to South Africa to work there. And some have lived all their life in SA. From a linguistic perspective I wondered why the BBC and other media used the term “xenophobic attacks” instead of the “r” word.
Muluzi’s arrest.
The Zimbabwe election.
Internet in Blantyre:
Compared to last year, there are more WiFi hotspots. The costs are high, especially for private customers. The IT marketer in me kept discussing possible business ideas that improved connectivity could entail for Blantyre-based companies. E.g. outsourcing accounting services to Blantyre or working with a creative agency.
It was good to see BT. A mixture of peanut butter, BBC World Service, Chombe tea, nsima, boerewors, chiperoni, jumping dogs, waiting…
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Jet lag
Last night was the second night that I couldn’t sleep cos of jet lag. Instead of trying to relax, I started googling for sites on combatting jet lag. One thing is sure, I’m doing it wrong. Apparently it takes one day of recovery for every timezone I crossed…
My current strategy is to go out and get some sun.
A couple of other links that I’d like to share:
Cooking and gardening are subversive activities. An interesting video on food.
There’s a Canon cam hack which I might try out (via TWiP).
Found a site that offers video podcasts on CSS.
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snapshot of the day
took this photo on my way home today
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giorni e nuvole
I watched this movie yesterday… and it get’s the label “problem film”. It’s ok. But throughout the film I was waiting for some major action.
It’s all about unemployment, and the subsequent downsizing, and the effect it has on this Italian couple somewhere in Italia. Reflecting the stagnant economy.
As I said not bad, but I wasn’t in the mood for this topic.
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at tarmac level
i went a’ photowalking (again)
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Categorize your Mess
Stumbled across this article on messiness at Green Tea Ice.
Some categories of mess:
MINIMESS — A contained, clearly delineated pocket of mess within a larger area, as on a counter, in a closet or a drawer, or on a bulletin board or a refrigerator.
CYCLICAL MESS — A mess that waxes and wanes in cycles. Some messes grow during the week (or the winter), only to be pruned back on weekends (or in the spring). Other cycles may be dictated by work, mood or pressures of parenting.
VERTICAL MESS — Anything looks neat when it’s in a pile, even unlikely objects like CD cases, magazines, mail and receipts. Gravity is a powerful glue, and the appearance of neatness can be improved by adding a bin where a pile forms.
HEAPED MESS — A large heap of items stuffed under a bed, a desk or even a couch. Oft-retrieved items do not sit around long enough to become deeply embedded, while rarely needed items become entombed at such deep levels that it can be fun to excavate them later. Broaden your notion of storage area to include spaces behind or under furniture, or between heavy appliances like washing machines and dryers.
SATELLITE MESS — There are 1.5 billion square feet worth of self-storage units available for rent in the United States. The money saved on a professional organizer could pay for a year’s worth of storage.
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I blog to share
like this Brian Solis post. And especially this quote:
Personally I blog to share information, ideas, and thoughts and observations that may or may not help people. I’m not in the news business. Nor am I in the blogging business. But even still, it is a significant commitment, one I’m currently weighing in the greater scheme of life/work balance. I’m sure I’m not alone.
