Chiperoni ku Basel

Category: General

  • hazy sunset



    ending a beautiful & sunny day

  • The Eventual Death of Software Developer Magazines

    Software development magazines are losing ground compared to blogs, wikis… See Eric Sink’s post:

    For a while it was fashionable to predict that the Web would eliminate publishing, or at least that it would eliminate magazine publishing. Ten years later, most of these pubs are still around. But there is obviously some truth here. Today’s developer-focused magazines are looking very sickly indeed. The health of a magazine is very closely correlated with its page count.

    I also like the straightforward articles on marketing: Marketing for Geeks

  • How to Write About Africa

    Writing a book about Africa? Consider these tips.

    (and the same applies to films, TV reports, music videos, TV series and other media that help to foster wrong or one-sided cliches)

    via: Swamp Cottage

  • deja vue

    reading TechCrunch feels very much like the dot com boom, non?

    http://www.techcrunch.com/

    The typical Web 2.0 story: somebody builds a web app. suddenly it pops up on del.icio.us or digg or both.
    The web app gets swamped with hits. Next, registration is closed or the web app is down, while the app is moved to a new data center. For example see the following entry on Zooomr:

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/03/11/flickr-has-some-catching-up-to-do/

  • Today is Pi Day

    I heard about this yesterday evening on BBC radio:

    March 14, written as 3-14 in the United States date format, represents the common three-digit approximation for the number π: 3.14. It is often celebrated at 1:59 p.m. in recognition of the six-digit approximation: 3.14159. Some, using a 24-hour clock, celebrate it at 1:59 a.m. or 3:09 p.m. (15:09) instead.

  • For Alexa Traffic Graph Junkies

    better interface:
    Alexaholic – Get Your Alexa Traffic Graph Fix Here

    See for example the traffic stats for some CH blog aggregators.

  • Linux Intro Lessons in Blantyre

    Bennett Kankuzi is offering free Linux lessons at the Poly in Blantyre.

  • the downside of communities…

    Jeremy Keith writes:

    Comments should be disabled 90% of the time.

    via kottke.org

  • Basel Blogger Meeting

    A couple of Basel bloggers are meeting tomorrow evening at Restaurant Auf der Lyss.

    See Cybi’s post for details:

    Basler Blogger-Treff am Freitag 10. März

  • coComment is Swiss

    completely missed this:

    coComment is a Swisscom spin-off… based in Bern.

  • The Obliteration Phenomenon

    Alex Wright writes:

    […] a great deal of important work gets “obliterated” if you measure influence purely in terms of citations (or, I would argue, hyperlinks). Whiles citation analysis gives an excellent picture of how influence works in the great middle tier of scholarship, the technique falls on its face when it comes to truly groundbreaking work, which often tends to get buried in an avalanche of footnotes for follow-on, derivative works.

    Which leaves me wondering, is there a corollary effect on the Web? The sheer explicitness of Web linking seems to privilege measurable manifestations of influence: Google pagerank, Technorati rankings, traffic stats, and so forth. Does such a myopic focus on metrics mask the subtler dimensions of influence? Are there hidden works out there exerting a deeper, implicit influence that doesn’t show up in terms of pagerank? This is a tough hypothesis to prove, but I suspect that pagerank and other supposedly meritocratic weighting algorithms give us an overly simplistic and potentially misleading notion of how influence really works.

  • Malawi Tea Prices Up



    Malawi tea growers profited from drought in Kenya:

    “Tea prices have almost doubled in Malawi since December last year, according to local tea market analysts.”

    Source: KBC

  • another Flickr tool

    called:

    Flappr

    (some of these Web 2.0 names are really stuuupid…)

  • Buying a New Laptop

    I’m planning to purchase a notebook in the very near future. It should:

    • work flawlessly with Ubuntu
    • be mobile and quiet (not to heavy and big)
    • work with many applications at one time in GNOME / KDE with reasonable performance, i.e. mostly Web, email, Open Office, programming, DVD, music, (no gaming)
    • cost around 1500 CHF

    I’ve browsed thru a couple of Linux laptop pages:

    There’s tonnes of information out here… and I need help on the specs. Esp. with graphic cards and processors.
    I guess, one way is to take my live CD and test my way thru…

    What is your experience? Appreciate any help you can provide

  • Skyscanner.net

    looks useful:
    Cheap flights – low cost and budget airline specialist

    esp. the Month View which shows you the cheapest fare.

  • Help Save the German Language

    Adopt a German word for 5 Euro:
    http://www.wortpatenschaft.de/

    Apparently the German language needs your help:

    …Werden Sie Wortpate! Beschützen Sie ein deutsches Wort und übernehmen Sie dafür die Verantwortung: Entwickeln Sie das Wort weiter, pflegen Sie es, hüten Sie es vor MiàŸbrauch oder Verdrängung! Schreiben Sie Gedichte mit Ihrem Wort, tauschen Sie sich aus mit anderen Wortpaten und schaffen Sie Wörterbiotope oder -museen, ertüfteln Sie Wortspielereien. Und helfen Sie gleichzeitig mit einer kleinen Spende dem gemeinnützigen Verein Deutsche Sprache. Ihr Einsatz für die Gemeinschaft!

    Sie sind der einzige. Jeder kann nur ein Wort betreuen. Jedes Wort wird nur einmal vergeben. Unsere Datenbank sagt Ihnen, ob ihr Lieblingswort (noch) zu haben ist. Sie erhalten dafür eine Urkunde, welche Sie als offiziellen Paten dieses Wortes ausweist. Das Wort “kostet” fünf Euro. Der Erlös geht an den Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. Der VDS setzt sich ein für Pflege und Weiterentwicklung der deutschen Sprache. Sie helfen also unserer schönen Muttersprache (die über 1500 Jahre alt ist) und stärken unsere kulturelle Identität. Sie helfen uns allen – und helfen sich damit selbst. Geistiger Umweltschutz.

    And here’s a list of anglicisms you should avoid.

  • the smells and sights and sounds…

    quote from an interview with Alexandra Fuller:

    I am not sentimental about Africa as a place of memories — and I use the word ‘Africa’, knowing that I speak of only a tiny fraction of the continent — so for me, I am not stirred up with old emotions when I go home. When I get off the airplane in Lusaka, I feel at home. The smells and sights and sounds of the part of Africa that I come from are not memories, but a continuing reality. This is what is familiar to me.

    (…)

  • Advanced User Guide for Flickr

    useful:
    Flickr Advanced User Guide
    includes useful tips such as how to specify the photo privacy level when uploading imgs per email:

    e.g.

    • foo13bar+friends@photos.flickr.com – Visible to friends
    • foo13bar+family@photos.flickr.com – Visible to family
    • foo13bar+ff@photos.flickr.com – Visible to friends and family
    • foo13bar+private@photos.flickr.com – Only visible to you

    further tips:

    http://lifehacker.com/software/flickr/

  • enjoyable Sunday afternoon

    After a late lunch at Lily’s with friends from Bern, we went to see Vitus. A beautiful and poetic movie starring Bruno Ganz.

  • calendaring tool

    a new online calendaring tool is making the blog rounds:

    http://30boxes.com

    I’ve just signed up to test it a little…

  • rss to pdf

    very useful: convert RSS feeds to pdfs at:

    http://rss2pdf.com/

    via
    http://cyberwriter.twoday.net/stories/1570664/

  • i’m living in a fridge…

    Arrived back in Basel. To discover that it’s still winterly cold here. I’m living in a fridge…

    I enjoyed my 3 week stay in Blantyre, where I surprisingly still feel at home. As if I never left. Even though much has changed.

    My own descriptions of Europe sounded faraway and unreal.

    But a visit is always short and has a predefined end, so I really don’t know if this would be different if I moved back.

    It was beautifully warm and humid.

    The crops are looking good and it looks like there will be a good harvest this year.

    I spent a lot of time reading and listening to BBC Africa. And driving the 4WD pick-up around BT.

    In true chiperoni tradition, I’ve made some snapshots of stuff I found interesting. And I’ve started uploading them to my Flickr account at:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiperoni/

    Such as making guava tree leaf tea to soothe an upset stomach. A doctor we met showed us useful herbs. Growing in our own garden. My mom has invited him for a training. Cos like in any big city, this knowledge is disappearing.

    I’m currently reading “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” by Alexandra Fuller.

    Another book that I bought but haven’t started reading yet is “What happens after Mugabe?” by Geoff Hill. That’s an interesting question.

  • Very south

    One week vacation in Blantyre. It feels more like a month than a week. A lot has happened since I arrived at Chileka last Saturday.
    I even managed to fall ill for a day and a half. I still feel a little bit of nausea. It’s a long time since I have been in Blantyre during the rainy season. It’s extremely beautiful but very humid. So far it has rained every single day. Everything is lusciously green.

    Some stuff I’ve been doing:

    • Getting insight into the administration and management of Chombo Children’s Village, a home for abandoned children in Blantyre. Chombo was opened in June 2005 and now has about 25 kids. And there’s a long waiting list. The concept is similar to SOS Kinderdorf and fits well with the extended family tradition of Malawi. Malawian “house mothers” takes care of the Chombo children in the traditional Malawian way.
    • I’ve met with local companies and NGOs that have donated food for Chombo children. I also learnt that a WFP feeding program has started providing a meal at all primary schools around Blantyre.
    • I’ve met 2 Social Welfare Officers of Blantyre City and learnt about the community-based approach Blantyre City is pursuing to take care of orphans. Before abandoned children are referred to an orphanage, these officers investigate and find out if there are any relatives who can take care of them. This week a new girl, aged about 9 or 10 years old, moved to Chombo Children’s Village. She was chased from the house where she was staying and slept outside for several nights, before trying to find shelter in another part of town.
    • I’ve installed Ubuntu Linux on laptops for administrative and management purposes at Chombo. And now I’m teaching how to use OpenOffice. Which is fun.

    > More about Chombo: http://www.chombo.ch

    Books I’m reading:

    I finished reading “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith, and now I’ve started “Mukiwa – A White Boy in Africa” by Peter Godwin.

    Comments at chiperoni.ch:

    I don’t have Internet access from here. So I don’t know if my cron job has published this. I guess that’s something I really would miss if I ever moved here. Broadband Internet Access. ADSL Flat Rate. Google Search for “How to treat distemper in dogs”…. As you know, comments are moderated at chiperoni.ch. Which means it will take a couple of weeks before your comments will display at chiperoni.ch. Unless I find an Internet connection…

    yours truly,

    nchenga

  • No hassle ?

    Nobody around to hassle you? No problem! Web 2.0 has a workaround for you. If you need someone to nag you at regular intervals, set up hassle emails:

    HassleMe

    (filed under Erfindungen die die Welt nicht braucht)

  • condizionale passato of scendere

    looking for the condizionale passato, 2nd person, plural of scendere?

    see:
    Verbix