In response to @livilodge’s RT of @runwildsafaris’ tweet:
RT @runwildsafaris: Giraffe herd. Big Kudu bull, 2,5 turns on the horns, Impala, Wildebees, Zebra. Some cloud on the horizon. Hot afternoon.
— richard chanter (@livilodge) April 15, 2012
I wrote:
@livilodge @runwildsafaris rainy grey day in basel, switzerland. Saw a couple of dogs on leashes. You win !
— san mangwana(@nchenga) April 15, 2012
I just got back from a run around the Finnenbahn. The distance is nothing to write home about, but it was a pleasurable experience with temperatures around 18 degrees. Spring is here.
With all the fresh air rushing thru my system, I was in mindblogging mode. Reflecting on all the data I have been consuming here and there.
Yesterday afternoon I tried out new bicycles at a bicycle shop in downtown Basel. I am thinking of buying a new bicycle. My Univega will soon be 10 years old. And a lot has been happening in the bicycle space since then.
I read Scoble’s post on reducing noise on Facebook. Useful! I don’t really have the a signal to noise problem on FB, but they are offering more and more control. Which is good.
On Twitter: Did you see that you can now embed tweets?
yay! no chiperoni today! RT @wetterbasel: Heute: Klar bei max. 19 Grad, Morgen: Nebel bei max. 18 Grad, (Stand: 11:00 Uhr)
— san mangwana(@nchenga) March 24, 2012
How to find the embed code:
Although I am quite sure that I will keep my screenshot collection of fun tweets.
The effort to tweak all these corporate social media channels is getting higher than high. Don’t let the social media corporations take over.
Instead of just consuming content, I encourage you to create content. Write a blog, take photos, learn something new, write how-tos, write about your area of expertise, own your own data, participate, enter into dialog, have fun. Here are some ideas:
Top 10 Essential DIY Skills That Aren’t as Hard as You Think –lifehacker.com/5896102/top-10”¦
— san mangwana(@nchenga) March 24, 2012
I am planning to attend BarcampBodensee in June. Anybody else coming from the Basel area? It would be a great opportunity to present an updated version of my presentation on mobile internet usage in Malawi.
So much has happened in this space. And even in a downturn, TNM has managed to increase its subscriber base by 35% in 2011. Compare and contrast those kind of numbers with the saturated markets here in Europe.
The number of Facebook users from southern Africa is increasing despite the high internet access costs. Socialbaker lists 95 820 users from Malawi.
Leave a comment or contact me if you can provide further interesting data / anecdotes / user behaviour on internet usage patterns in the warm heart of Africa.
Thank you for reading and supporting chiperoni.ch. Alles wird gut.
P.S.: I missed a LOLCat photo opportunity today: a cat stretched out on the seat of Vespa. Unfortunately I didn’t have a cam with me.
hmmm…
70% of your tweets should share resources- sharing others’ voices, opinions, quotes, blog posts, articles, content and resources
20% of your tweets should engage in conversations with others, responding, connecting, collaborating and connecting with others.
10% of your tweets can be chirping, chitchat as Angela calls it, on trivial details or self-promotion.
via 10 Tips For Managing Twitter As Your Usage Increases | Blog of Mr. Tweet.
All these rules, guidelines. Not sure I endorse any of them. I assume their target audiences are people tweeting for business reasons.
Twitter is many things to many different people. What works for you may not work for the next person. Or do you plan your conversations to include “70% of resource sharing”?
But by quoting this guideline, I am showing that this kind of article works. 10 steps to success… Follow this method and success will be yours.
Research on Jaiku:
Apparently… who knew… Research has found… Microbloggers are really boring… The article shows 3 things: either there were no linguists on the research team, otherwise they would know that a lot of content that is sent across the communication channel is “meaningless in itself” but serves the purpose of keeping the communication going. Or secondly if there was a linguist on the research team he or she failed to make this connection. And thirdly the amazing culture of searching (errr… by default gooogling) for everything. I entered the new disclaimer of this site as a search phrase “This is a very boring personal website” to find the article on Jaiku research.
In was für einer Welt lebe ich eigentlich.
Personal projects:
The MBA project is moving along. It was quite an experience to be on-campus at a large state university. One thing that struck me most was the vast expanses of ruralness. When I think of the US from my Euro-centric perspective, it comprises sprawling big cities like San Francisco, New York, Miami, Chicago. Influenced by visits and movies. But 2 weeks in West Lafayette have changed this image. Lots of farmland between O’Hare International Airport and the uni.
I learned – during one of the cultural classes – that China has 143 cities with a population of over 1 million. Compared with the US where there are about 52 metropolitan areas with a population of over 1 million.
Somehow I find it both comforting and scary that the superpower of the world is based on large expanses of small and mid-sized towns that depend on farming.
Compare this with the increasing pressures of urbanization in many parts of the world.
The big three: Land, water, food.
Another amazing fact from a euro-centric perspective: The wage rate in Indiana dropped from $30 to $15 within one year. That number alone shows the crisis.
New cam: Going to get an S90 to replace my overexposing Ixus 900 Ti.
Flickr wall: I want to build a Flickr wall based on this example. Wish me good luck…
Free advice for a Twitter/Google/Facebook/Friendfeed world…
And a finally word of advice: Remember that all of your precious UGC data that is stored at external, commercial sites may be gone tomorrow. Don’t take 5 years to learn this.
As Malawi celebrates independence day tomorrow, here is a list of Malawi twitterers you might like to follow:
Vincent Kumwenda – currently at Muloza border, Mulanje; topics include Malawi news, world news, interesting Malawi web pages, and soccer. He also writes a blog.
Fred Bvalani – in Blantyre; tweets about mobile applications and phones, Oracle training in freezing cold Cape Town, Manchester United, movies, church, Escom power cuts, and Malawi news and websites. Check out his blog.
Dannie Grant Phiri – first started twittering during the recent Malawi elections; writes about Malawi and soccer in his blog at http://daniso.weebly.com/.
Soyapi Mumba – well-known Malawi blogger and twitterer, software developer, volunteer developer at Ushahidi, lives in Lilongwe. He writes about software development, interesting mobile and web applications, Malawi news. He is the programmer behind Owinna – a web app on Malawi football league fixtures and results, as well as the Premier league and other international championships. You can access this information through the website or SMS by texting FOLLOW owinna to +447624801423 or on Twitter.
Clement Nyirenda – blogs and twitters from Tokyo, where he is doing a PhD in computer science. He covers many IT and development topics related to Malawi. A good resource to learn about projects such as Seacom. He discusses entrepreneurial ventures and their effect on Malawi. Read his blog post on Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter stunt to raise awareness about malaria.
There are many more, which I might mention in a second blog post.