Since I've been promising this for a while, I suppose I'd better actually write it. I fear I built up Saturday too much, and it won't really be nearly as interesting as it sounded like it would be. Oh well.
So, I started out by going to see the apartment, my only other prospect besides the nice but very far house in Nakasero. This one isn't super close (definitely not walking distance) but more manageable, and doesn't put as much traffic as humanly possible between itself and work, like the place in Nakasero did. Anyway, the people with the big house there decided not to renew their lease, so it became a non-option.
Anyway, I got there via special (as I've said, what we'd consider a cab) with Benon, one of the drivers I know from Jon and Sarah who stages near the bottom of their hill. He's really nice, and is actually who drove me in from Entebbe, also. I took a special on my own to see the other house, too, but it's still a bit new. Anyway, he remembers me, and knows Jon and Sarah well, so he knows their house and such.
So, I didn't have very good directions to the place, and the landlord was pretty hard to understand over the phone. He and Benon ended up talking and working out the directions, though even so, Benon was a bit unsure of where he was going. But eventually we found it, and the landlord was a polite older guy with a Rolex (I noticed this the next day, when I was handing him 1.4 million shillings...). The apartment itself turns out to be currently occupied by a woman involved in this same sort of work whose name I recognized from the housing email list (although I think her name came up because of a bigger place in the same compound, from when there was somebody else coming to work with Jon around the same time as me). Anyway, she was really nice, and had done some work with Question Box, though had to stop because of her other work. She knows a lot about it, and we're going to meet at some point while she's still here; she's got some documents that could be helpful, and advice on (e.g.) getting jobs here, and (e.g.) writing oneself into funding proposals and grants and such (that is -- if Question Box got more funding, some of that would be to pay me to keep working for them).
Anyway, so the conversation with her was very beneficial, in addition to seeing the place. It's a little studio, attached to the landlord's house, I think. It's got its own entrance, own bathroom, etc. The kitchen (such as it is) is pretty limited -- it's basically a little sink and counter, with a freestanding electric burner thingy, small fridge, and electric kettle...so, no oven, but that's alright. Most of the staple foods I make (uh, rice, pasta, different pasta, beans) and vegetables I'll make are stove-requiring. And yeah, lunch is provided on the weekdays at work (so in that respect I'm getting paid, by the way). But yeah, I was introduced to the place at 800,000 shillings/mo, which seemed alright ($380/mo), especially compared to the Bay Area. After I looked at it and told the guy I'd let him know as soon as possible (he wanted to know soon), I went about the rest of my day (see below). Later I got a text from Benon saying the landlord called him (I guess because they understood each other better? Didn't still have my number? I don't know) saying that he'd misspoken and the apartment was 700,000 -- about $330. Maybe he took my not having called him yet as indecision, I don't know. I told him I'd take it, though, and went the next day to pay him. I paid him two months rent on Sunday, which was why I was carrying 1.4 million shillings, which was a little uncomfortable (and the only time I'll probably ever hold more than a million of any currency...).
Getting to work won't be too bad...I'll have to walk (maybe)/special/boda (to be avoided) to the main road, and from there I can get a mutatu (also called a taxi; a bigger van that follows a route) to the bottom of the hill where Jon and Sarah's house and the office are. Should be pretty inexpensive, maybe a couple thousand shillings ($1) total each way, or so. Also, Jon talked to Rose, and it sounds like the budget should permit about 300,000 ($150) total for me for transit, which should pretty much cover my commute.
So anyway, after I got back from the place in the early afternoon, I decided to go downtown for the adventure, and also to get a new phone for my voice number, as discussed a couple of posts ago. This started with a walk down the hill to the bigger road, which was really my first time just walking around on my own. I felt a little uncomfortable, a little out of place, but it was alright. I got on a mutatu there headed downtown, which cost 700/= (about $0.35!) to go all the way there. It was crowded (about 7 or 10 people in it?) and somebody had a big bag of potatoes (Irish, as they call them), but not uncomfortable. I'll post a picture of one sometime, they're distinctive, these flat-fronted Toyota vans, painted white with blue checkers.
Anyway, the downtown area is really crowded. It transitions pretty quickly from the big state buildings and Western-style hotels to the dense, market-y area that comes a little later. People and traffic were both pretty thick all over, including in the roads. There were a ton of little shops and street vendors. I tried a bunch selling phones, and gradually got better at it...at the start they were asking like 100,000 for a pretty simple, plain phone. I got one place down to 55,000, but tried some others; having that one was helpful at the others. Anyway, the guy had definitely suggested the phone was unlocked, and it turned out not to be (carrier-locked to Zain/Celtel -- and I already had an MTN line, and kind of had to use them since they're Grameen's partner; theyr'e also what everybody has so it's cheaper). He told me about an unlocking joint, and it sounded cheap enough I was willing to do that -- but (according to them -- and they seemed to know what they were talking about and have the tools to do unlocking) that model couldn't be unlocked by them. So then I went back to the place I bought it, where the guy was going to let me go up to the slightly higher end unlocked version of the same thing that sold for 80,000+, but he'd do 75. I got him down to 70,000 (which he had to ask his boss about!), so I felt like all in all I'd done reasonably well for myself, haggling-wise. It was, after all, a brand new unlocked handset for like $35 -- not bad at all. Simple, yes. But well made (and with a built in flashlight!). It uses the non-US GSM bands (it's dual-band) but, oh well, the times it's most useful to me will be outside of the US where I don't want to carry my iPhone and/or use a separate line for data.
I also withdrew some of the cash I needed to pay my rent downtown, and some more at the Barclay's bank near the house/office. That reminds me, one thing I've noticed here -- not just downtown, but everywhere -- I've probably seen the most and most visible and biggest firearms here I ever have before, and that's including Alturas. Now, these aren't people just casually carrying them, of course, but there are armed guards all over the place -- it's weird, especially given how little crime I hear there is (or maybe that's why?). A lot of banks, fancy houses, stuff like that have guys outside with old-looking rifles, sometimes, or sometimes fairly modern-looking assault-type rifles like AKs, or sometimes big pistol-grip pump shotguns...it's a little intimidating, but seems very casual. I guess it's not too different from cops or security guards with pistols in the States, just more conspicuous (and accurate and powerful).
Anyway, the day was pretty exciting, though I don't think I've conveyed it all that well. I got a mutatu back to the main road near home and walked back, as well. The upholstery was leopard print, I couldn't help but notice.
Well, I've been typing all day, so that's going to have to do it for now. Hopefully next time I'm someplace interesting like that I'll have the nerve to a few pictures for you (I didn't really this time, I felt a little weird about it -- and likely will continue to, but I can probably manage one here and there).
Monday, June 29, 2009
Google SMS launched in Uganda!
Today's announcment (see AppLab page, Google Africa blog post, writeup at WhiteAfrican) came as quite a surprise -- we knew there'd be something, but this is pretty big. They've been increasing their presence in Uganda, and hired Appfrica to do some local (Luganda, I assume) translation earlier this year.
So anyway, today they announced Google SMS service to Uganda -- itself no small feat -- as well as SMS information services for agriculture and health topics (in much the same vein as Question Box, but by text). Finally, they also announced "Google Trader," an SMS-based system designed to facilitate commerce, helping people get price information and connecting potential buyers and sellers (UPDATE: explanation from Google here)
All of this is a collaboration between Google, Grameen's AppLab, responsible for testing high-tech ideas (including Question Box), and MTN, Grameen's telco partner in Uganda (and elsewhere, I believe) since the Village Phone.
All this attention from Google seems like it can't be a bad thing...of all of the private companies to work with (particularly with resources like they have), Google is certainly pretty benign -- they make their money off of people getting access to information, after all.
Now, does this mean Google and/or Grameen will be hiring in Uganda...?
[The unusual brevity is because this post was drafted on my phone]
So anyway, today they announced Google SMS service to Uganda -- itself no small feat -- as well as SMS information services for agriculture and health topics (in much the same vein as Question Box, but by text). Finally, they also announced "Google Trader," an SMS-based system designed to facilitate commerce, helping people get price information and connecting potential buyers and sellers (UPDATE: explanation from Google here)
All of this is a collaboration between Google, Grameen's AppLab, responsible for testing high-tech ideas (including Question Box), and MTN, Grameen's telco partner in Uganda (and elsewhere, I believe) since the Village Phone.
All this attention from Google seems like it can't be a bad thing...of all of the private companies to work with (particularly with resources like they have), Google is certainly pretty benign -- they make their money off of people getting access to information, after all.
Now, does this mean Google and/or Grameen will be hiring in Uganda...?
[The unusual brevity is because this post was drafted on my phone]
LINK: What is Question Box? by Jon Gosier
This is an excellent overview of the premise and potential of the Question Box project, (for which I'm currently working) written by its CTO, Jon Gosier of Appfrica labs, on the Appfrica blog which covers work being done at Appfrica as well as other technology and social entrepreneurship issues in the region.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tethering again, and MacBook sleep/wake crash
For me, at least, the creation of the USB ethernet interface OS X sees the USB-tethered iPhone has brought on the crash-on-second-sleep-after-boot bug that's been noted in 10.5.7. I've solved it by removing the interface (and creating an unused new one). Don't know why this works, but it does, and I'm satisfied. I don't have restore CDs (or a backup...) here, so I didn't want to have to reinstall, and getting hardware work done would be much much worse. (I think I may pick up an external for Time Machine here; I'm told they're quite reasonable, and my phone-buying experience introduced me to the haggling that's possible here).
Anyway, now I've resolved to stick to Bluetooth tethering. It takes more phone power, yes -- but it also doesn't suck power out of the computer like USB (or like the USB modem the iPhone's replacing) and the computer's battery is, in many cases, the more precious resource, especially since I have an external battery to juice up the phone in a pinch.
Also, not only do you not have to plug in the phone, you don't have to do anything to it -- it can be in a pocket or bag and you can initiate the tether from the computer end. My new apartment's a little studio, and I'm definitely going to use my AirCurve (a passive, acoustic amplifier for the phone's speaker, that permits a cable to be run through it for power) on my nightstand as a clock-radio and charger, and I'm sure I'll be able to tether anywhere in the apartment with it docked there (even the bathroom -- is Jason reading this?).
So yeah, it's annoying that the USB method brought on this major OS X bug (fixed in 10.5.8 I hope?), but in reality Bluetooth is way more convenient. Nothing to mess with on the phone, no need to remember a cable, less drain on the computer's battery, ability to put the phone where it gets best signal, etc.
I'm sorry for blogging so much about my own tech issues/solutions here, but for one, it's on my mind, and for another, I think it's easy on the one hand to forget about how much more difficult the connectivity etc we take for granted in the States is here, and on the other to assume that nobody has iPhones or internet at all in Africa and think these are total non-issues here (and while I'm exaggerating here, you know what I mean).
Oh, and still working on that (actually maybe interesting) post about my day out yesterday.
Anyway, now I've resolved to stick to Bluetooth tethering. It takes more phone power, yes -- but it also doesn't suck power out of the computer like USB (or like the USB modem the iPhone's replacing) and the computer's battery is, in many cases, the more precious resource, especially since I have an external battery to juice up the phone in a pinch.
Also, not only do you not have to plug in the phone, you don't have to do anything to it -- it can be in a pocket or bag and you can initiate the tether from the computer end. My new apartment's a little studio, and I'm definitely going to use my AirCurve (a passive, acoustic amplifier for the phone's speaker, that permits a cable to be run through it for power) on my nightstand as a clock-radio and charger, and I'm sure I'll be able to tether anywhere in the apartment with it docked there (even the bathroom -- is Jason reading this?).
So yeah, it's annoying that the USB method brought on this major OS X bug (fixed in 10.5.8 I hope?), but in reality Bluetooth is way more convenient. Nothing to mess with on the phone, no need to remember a cable, less drain on the computer's battery, ability to put the phone where it gets best signal, etc.
I'm sorry for blogging so much about my own tech issues/solutions here, but for one, it's on my mind, and for another, I think it's easy on the one hand to forget about how much more difficult the connectivity etc we take for granted in the States is here, and on the other to assume that nobody has iPhones or internet at all in Africa and think these are total non-issues here (and while I'm exaggerating here, you know what I mean).
Oh, and still working on that (actually maybe interesting) post about my day out yesterday.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
iPhone tethering...
...is awesome with 3.0! I just bought an inexpensive (70k/=, about $33) unlocked simple Nokia phone for my voice number, so now my Grameen SIM (for the GPRS modem) can reside in my iPhone. It now has unlimited EDGE data, so I can get email on it (I'm very pleased to turn Push and Fetch back on), and now, thanks to 3.0, as soon as I plug it into my computer it turns tethering on, and does exactly what the GPRS modem did, albeit with better service. It probably takes more power, but at least it also has a battery, and if the computer's battery is low and I don't want to charge the phone from it, it works over Bluetooth, too. This is handy in case I forget to bring the iPhone's cable, too.
Anyway, that solves the problem of data for my phone -- now I don't need to get a second connection, and I can get a lot more good out of Grameen's money. After all, they pay for the whole month of unlimited data (in theory -- I'm sure it's limited in practice, but at the speed it gets, I doubt you could ever approach its limit), so I might as well use it. This way I don't need a second piece of hardware, and I can carry my email, Evernote notes, and so forth around with me all the time, which is helpful. I always carry a paper notebook, as well, now, but still, there are definitely bits of info in my email that I occasionally need at a moment's notice.
This means sometimes carrying two phones, but I can also leave the iPhone at home when I'm going someplace where I'm uncomfortable carrying it or just don't need it, much like when I used to carry a phone and my N800/810 -- except now the second device has a persistent data connection (moreover, one I don't have to pay for).
In any case, I'm pleased with the setup, and the fact the iPhone OS 3.0 supports tethering (instead of using PDAnet or other 3rd party, jailbreak software, that was always pretty cumbersome) makes it really convenient. Of course, MTN isn't an iPhone carrier, so I had to go to a 3rd party site to generate a Profile file for it, but that was painless.
Anyway, I'm pleased with the setup and testing it out now. The little Nokia is nice and feels well-made. It's probably the simplest phone I've owned; it's a bit simpler (and substantially better made...) than my old Samsung flip phone I got the summer before I started at Cal. Now all I have to do is get used to a phone with buttons again...
Once I have some more time and energy (today was very exciting and eventful and I don't quite have the energy to write about it right now -- but it's definitely worth writing about) I'll write up the actually interesting parts of my day instead of the dry techie parts. Apologies for now.
Anyway, that solves the problem of data for my phone -- now I don't need to get a second connection, and I can get a lot more good out of Grameen's money. After all, they pay for the whole month of unlimited data (in theory -- I'm sure it's limited in practice, but at the speed it gets, I doubt you could ever approach its limit), so I might as well use it. This way I don't need a second piece of hardware, and I can carry my email, Evernote notes, and so forth around with me all the time, which is helpful. I always carry a paper notebook, as well, now, but still, there are definitely bits of info in my email that I occasionally need at a moment's notice.
This means sometimes carrying two phones, but I can also leave the iPhone at home when I'm going someplace where I'm uncomfortable carrying it or just don't need it, much like when I used to carry a phone and my N800/810 -- except now the second device has a persistent data connection (moreover, one I don't have to pay for).
In any case, I'm pleased with the setup, and the fact the iPhone OS 3.0 supports tethering (instead of using PDAnet or other 3rd party, jailbreak software, that was always pretty cumbersome) makes it really convenient. Of course, MTN isn't an iPhone carrier, so I had to go to a 3rd party site to generate a Profile file for it, but that was painless.
Anyway, I'm pleased with the setup and testing it out now. The little Nokia is nice and feels well-made. It's probably the simplest phone I've owned; it's a bit simpler (and substantially better made...) than my old Samsung flip phone I got the summer before I started at Cal. Now all I have to do is get used to a phone with buttons again...
Once I have some more time and energy (today was very exciting and eventful and I don't quite have the energy to write about it right now -- but it's definitely worth writing about) I'll write up the actually interesting parts of my day instead of the dry techie parts. Apologies for now.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Looking for housing, not a whole lot of consequence to say
I haven't had a chance to write much lately, I've been really busy.
I ended up staying up until like 3 the other night trying to send a document I finished at about 1 or 1:30. That only too so long because I fell asleep while I was waiting for the (SQL) query to finish on the server and make its way over my abysmal internet connection so I could work on it. It was immensely frustrating trying to send it, Mail.app wouldn't work, gmail wouldn't work...eventually I used the CalMail webmail because it would actually load. [EDIT: that was Wednesday night, now it's Friday morning, and still no working Gmail IMAP. Using web/basic html version)]
The other day I looked at a house in Nakasero. It was really, really nice and there was a room available in it for what would be about $350 all told. So far it's the best definite deal I've found, and I like it a lot, and the people who live there aren't too much older and in similar (development) work, so it'd be great...except it's quite far away. I'm not sure how I'd get to work, but on foot is pretty much not an option. Specials are waaay too expensive to take everyday like that -- I'd be spending like ten bucks a day on them, or something. Bodas (moped taxis, I suppose) are cheap, but, well, pretty totally unappealing because of their safety (or lack thereof). Mutatus -- big vans that are either sort of group taxis or follow predefined routes (I suspect a mixture of both) -- must be pretty inexpensive, and are heavily used by locals. That'd be worth investigating. I do know somebody who owns a motorcycle helmet because she takes bodas...that'd be an improvement, but still not great.
Anyway, I was forwarded on an email about another house with spots open that's closer; couldn't get through last night but hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of them today. UPDATE: No such luck, somebody's three research assistants took all of the openings. Oh well. A couple of Bugolobi flats ones didn't pan out either -- just as well, they're pretty depressing. These huge buildings all together on this hillside but with a little too much empty space between them, deteriorating visibly and with some of the hideous giant stork birds on the roof for effect... Also, the driveway (road?) into it looks like the last time it was patched they accidentally mixed landmines in with the asphalt. Seriously, the pot holes were mind-blowing. Driving on it was like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland; I felt really bad for having asked my special (cab) driver to take me there, it had to have been awful for his suspension/frame/everything.
However, Barbara, the office manager and Question Box operators' direct supervisor (she's also who contacts the experts for calls that are escalated to them because we can't) has been looking for a house as well and so had some contacts; she was also appalled at the prices people were telling me (almost certainly reflecting a mzungu [foreigner] tax, so to speak) and found a couple of places that were both pretty close and reasonably affordable; I'll check them out tomorrow, I think, which is good -- the nice, far place people wanted an answer tomorrow (though I don't think as of yet they have any other takers, so I can probably stretch it if need be, but don't want to be rude either). Anyway, Jon thought he might be able to find/scrape together some money to pay for transportation for me, in case I do have to live far. Though, I've seen the budget from Grameen -- it's pretty small, considering the time, people, and equipment involved. And Jon's already given me a place to stay, and provides lunch for everybody at the office (that's substantial: one of my meals each day, 5 days a week), out of his/his company's pocket. Anyway, though, I'll take what I can get; if my housing is only 2-300US/month I imagine if you divide the airfare across the whole time I won't be paying much more than in the Bay Area, although there are other expenses (shots, storage, insurance) that will inevitably drive it higher. But in all, not bad, considering it's also work/living experience in the kind of thing I want to keep doing, and exposure to a lot of people doing just that as their real job. (I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of landing or at least positioning for an actual job here in the future).
A lot of these development types here have Master's degrees; it does seem like it's helpful for getting real jobs in the field. Seems worth considering, at least. Doesn't pay for itself in the same way as a PhD, but it can be quite quick, as well (1 year at LSE, for instance).
Unrelatedly, I've in the past couple of days spoken to a Berkeley iSchool student doing dissertation work here, whose blog I read, and also met a guy who did one of those policy internships at Google (and because of who he worked under may have a shot at a job in the Obama administration, according to Jon), but who also just got accepted there, but isn't going because he's got a (some?) job(s) here. I know he's doing marketing work for Jon/Appfrica, and also doing something for the local Google person/people, who Appfrica did some translation work for recently, as well.
The whole ICTD community is relatively small, it seems, so everybody works for/with everybody else and ends up very well connected as a result.
And I'm not sure my modem's going to work tonight either, so this may have to wait until the morning to post. Hopefully once I settle in better and get a place I'll be able to talk about real issues instead of just what I'm doing, too, though I'll talk about that to the extent it's interesting, too.
Oh, I figured it would be annoying if I inlined too many pictures, so I started using flickr to post up photos I've taken on my phone. The photostream's at http://www.flickr.com/photos/phutterman, for those interested. I'll probably put a few into actual posts as I see fit, as well, but everything I take that I keep on my phone should make its way to the flickr, eventually (as connectivity permits).
I ended up staying up until like 3 the other night trying to send a document I finished at about 1 or 1:30. That only too so long because I fell asleep while I was waiting for the (SQL) query to finish on the server and make its way over my abysmal internet connection so I could work on it. It was immensely frustrating trying to send it, Mail.app wouldn't work, gmail wouldn't work...eventually I used the CalMail webmail because it would actually load. [EDIT: that was Wednesday night, now it's Friday morning, and still no working Gmail IMAP. Using web/basic html version)]
The other day I looked at a house in Nakasero. It was really, really nice and there was a room available in it for what would be about $350 all told. So far it's the best definite deal I've found, and I like it a lot, and the people who live there aren't too much older and in similar (development) work, so it'd be great...except it's quite far away. I'm not sure how I'd get to work, but on foot is pretty much not an option. Specials are waaay too expensive to take everyday like that -- I'd be spending like ten bucks a day on them, or something. Bodas (moped taxis, I suppose) are cheap, but, well, pretty totally unappealing because of their safety (or lack thereof). Mutatus -- big vans that are either sort of group taxis or follow predefined routes (I suspect a mixture of both) -- must be pretty inexpensive, and are heavily used by locals. That'd be worth investigating. I do know somebody who owns a motorcycle helmet because she takes bodas...that'd be an improvement, but still not great.
Anyway, I was forwarded on an email about another house with spots open that's closer; couldn't get through last night but hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of them today. UPDATE: No such luck, somebody's three research assistants took all of the openings. Oh well. A couple of Bugolobi flats ones didn't pan out either -- just as well, they're pretty depressing. These huge buildings all together on this hillside but with a little too much empty space between them, deteriorating visibly and with some of the hideous giant stork birds on the roof for effect... Also, the driveway (road?) into it looks like the last time it was patched they accidentally mixed landmines in with the asphalt. Seriously, the pot holes were mind-blowing. Driving on it was like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland; I felt really bad for having asked my special (cab) driver to take me there, it had to have been awful for his suspension/frame/everything.
However, Barbara, the office manager and Question Box operators' direct supervisor (she's also who contacts the experts for calls that are escalated to them because we can't) has been looking for a house as well and so had some contacts; she was also appalled at the prices people were telling me (almost certainly reflecting a mzungu [foreigner] tax, so to speak) and found a couple of places that were both pretty close and reasonably affordable; I'll check them out tomorrow, I think, which is good -- the nice, far place people wanted an answer tomorrow (though I don't think as of yet they have any other takers, so I can probably stretch it if need be, but don't want to be rude either). Anyway, Jon thought he might be able to find/scrape together some money to pay for transportation for me, in case I do have to live far. Though, I've seen the budget from Grameen -- it's pretty small, considering the time, people, and equipment involved. And Jon's already given me a place to stay, and provides lunch for everybody at the office (that's substantial: one of my meals each day, 5 days a week), out of his/his company's pocket. Anyway, though, I'll take what I can get; if my housing is only 2-300US/month I imagine if you divide the airfare across the whole time I won't be paying much more than in the Bay Area, although there are other expenses (shots, storage, insurance) that will inevitably drive it higher. But in all, not bad, considering it's also work/living experience in the kind of thing I want to keep doing, and exposure to a lot of people doing just that as their real job. (I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of landing or at least positioning for an actual job here in the future).
A lot of these development types here have Master's degrees; it does seem like it's helpful for getting real jobs in the field. Seems worth considering, at least. Doesn't pay for itself in the same way as a PhD, but it can be quite quick, as well (1 year at LSE, for instance).
Unrelatedly, I've in the past couple of days spoken to a Berkeley iSchool student doing dissertation work here, whose blog I read, and also met a guy who did one of those policy internships at Google (and because of who he worked under may have a shot at a job in the Obama administration, according to Jon), but who also just got accepted there, but isn't going because he's got a (some?) job(s) here. I know he's doing marketing work for Jon/Appfrica, and also doing something for the local Google person/people, who Appfrica did some translation work for recently, as well.
The whole ICTD community is relatively small, it seems, so everybody works for/with everybody else and ends up very well connected as a result.
And I'm not sure my modem's going to work tonight either, so this may have to wait until the morning to post. Hopefully once I settle in better and get a place I'll be able to talk about real issues instead of just what I'm doing, too, though I'll talk about that to the extent it's interesting, too.
Oh, I figured it would be annoying if I inlined too many pictures, so I started using flickr to post up photos I've taken on my phone. The photostream's at http://www.flickr.com/photos/phutterman, for those interested. I'll probably put a few into actual posts as I see fit, as well, but everything I take that I keep on my phone should make its way to the flickr, eventually (as connectivity permits).
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
First couple of days of work
I didn't have a chance to blog yesterday about my first day, but I'll include both of my first two days in this post.
Both days I've gone in with Jon at about 9. Everyone else gets there and starts by 10, although they trickle in before then. Everyone who works there is very nice, it's an enjoyable work environment. In all, I've interacted more with the Appfrica developers than with the Question Box operators, I fear, though.
So yesterday I started out upgrading and redistributing the memory between the main (live) server and two other similar machines. One is going to be a development server, and one is to run the eGranary drive, which is a big repository of educational and academic, etc, documents on an external hard drive.
Stupidly, the eGranary only comes with Windows software which is irritating and closed (basically everything here is Linux-based for cost, expandability, openness, and so forth -- all of the reasons it's a better platform for this sort of thing). But it turns out that the contents are easy to access and stored in a standardized fashion (having been pulled from the web in the first place with an open source tool, HTTrack). We're going to try to integrate it into the Question Box software backend using the existing indexing system.
So, upgrading those machines and working with the eGranary were big parts of what I did. It was a pretty slow day for Question Box, but I saw a couple of calls taken. Today has also been slow (the caller liasons, Grameen's so-called Community Knowledge Workers, have been at a training and doing a field survey.
Still, I've been introduced to the software they use, written in-house, which is actually pretty impressive. It integrates searching the approved information sources, beginning with cached previously used answers and then moving on to cached webpages and documents, and eventually the web, if need be. It also includes all of the record-keeping functionality that allows us to keep detailed call records of the sort I've been analyzing.
My task is to figure how to improve what the operators are doing, and as yet I'm not sure. The software's pretty slick, and the operators seem pretty good with it, though there's always room for improvement.
There are a few steps I don't understand, such as logging much of the same information on paper immediately after entering it to the computer. While it isn't harmful when things are slow, I don't understand the purpose and it seems like it would become a major slowdown when volume is higher. So far as I can see (and anyone can tell me) the paper records are never used for anything. I think I will recommend against continuing their use (which has already been mentioned -- that's something Rose [Shuman] and Jon [Gosier] asked me to look at).
Anyway, the other major task I've been working on is an analysis of call log data from the Question Box records. Unfortunately, the behavior of the exporting tools on the server is variable at best; I started with copied and pasted data from the web-based tables into Excel. Since then an Excel-export tool purportedly came back online but still isn't right. Anyway, as of today I've started over on a table pulled from a slightly different query with more complete and useful information, but still missing some handy info (that another set of otherwise less useful queries do include). Also weirdly, the total number of records generated by these different sets of queries don't seem to quite add up, which is distressing.
The data is definitely useful for general trends, regardless of its exactness. We are talking about 1000+ queries for the month of May, so slight imprecision should not affect the overall picture too much. Redoing what I already did is unfortunate, but a lot quicker as now I know the Excel tricks necessary both to strip out some of the data, such as reducing very long answers that bog down Excel to a set of statuses (answered, not answered, referred to expert, etc), as well as generating counts for various categories (and marginal distributions) using Pivot Tables.
It's still not the most enjoyable/interesting/stimulating work, but I feel like I should do it first since it's got to go into a midterm report to Grameen (damn, and I though I was done with midterms...). Also, there's less to observe while Question Box activity is slow like it has been. Still, I know I need to get more actively involved with the operators. Once I get this stuff out of the way and no longer have an excuse not to, I'll have to. That is what I'm here to do, after all. I can wrangle Excel data from anywhere (and could learn a thing or two from Mark at TSW).
Anyway, I've gotten a certain amount done, and a lot of it's going to take time (although identifying software issues to have the developers work on is something to do early, so there's time to develop, debug, and deploy it). This week I still need to try and have a meeting with Barbara (the office supervisor, oversees the operators and handles escalated questions) and the operators themselves to try and better identify problems they see with the system and whatnot. I wanted to see more and better understand what they're doing as is first. Hopefully tomorrow there'll be a bit more activity. And I know I've missed a few calls today working on the data and stuff; I'll try to wrap the report up soon as well.
I'll attach some pictures that I took of my desk (in Jon's office) and if I get a chance to take some, the bigger office area, which is where I'm working now, since there are some seats, and it's more interesting. Plus I can see/hear the operators in action even if I'm not focused on them. The office is high up on a hill, too, and has a really nice view.
EDIT: pictures probably to follow in another post, as I think I'm going to leave my computer here at the office to download iPhone OS 3.0 (as there's now a software unlock for it on the 3G, so I can use it with MTN, T-Mobile, etc). The unlock came impressively quickly after the software release, especially given that there wasn't a working unlock for the previous newest (2.2.1) baseband, only the one before that (causing 3G owners some headache). 2G owners have it so easy by comparison...and it sounds like for the moment 3GS owners (anyone?) are high and dry, but in all likelihood, anyone who has one this early in the game must be on AT&T.
If I'd brought my phone cable, I could have put them up now, but I didn't. Sorry! Tomorrow!
Both days I've gone in with Jon at about 9. Everyone else gets there and starts by 10, although they trickle in before then. Everyone who works there is very nice, it's an enjoyable work environment. In all, I've interacted more with the Appfrica developers than with the Question Box operators, I fear, though.
So yesterday I started out upgrading and redistributing the memory between the main (live) server and two other similar machines. One is going to be a development server, and one is to run the eGranary drive, which is a big repository of educational and academic, etc, documents on an external hard drive.
Stupidly, the eGranary only comes with Windows software which is irritating and closed (basically everything here is Linux-based for cost, expandability, openness, and so forth -- all of the reasons it's a better platform for this sort of thing). But it turns out that the contents are easy to access and stored in a standardized fashion (having been pulled from the web in the first place with an open source tool, HTTrack). We're going to try to integrate it into the Question Box software backend using the existing indexing system.
So, upgrading those machines and working with the eGranary were big parts of what I did. It was a pretty slow day for Question Box, but I saw a couple of calls taken. Today has also been slow (the caller liasons, Grameen's so-called Community Knowledge Workers, have been at a training and doing a field survey.
Still, I've been introduced to the software they use, written in-house, which is actually pretty impressive. It integrates searching the approved information sources, beginning with cached previously used answers and then moving on to cached webpages and documents, and eventually the web, if need be. It also includes all of the record-keeping functionality that allows us to keep detailed call records of the sort I've been analyzing.
My task is to figure how to improve what the operators are doing, and as yet I'm not sure. The software's pretty slick, and the operators seem pretty good with it, though there's always room for improvement.
There are a few steps I don't understand, such as logging much of the same information on paper immediately after entering it to the computer. While it isn't harmful when things are slow, I don't understand the purpose and it seems like it would become a major slowdown when volume is higher. So far as I can see (and anyone can tell me) the paper records are never used for anything. I think I will recommend against continuing their use (which has already been mentioned -- that's something Rose [Shuman] and Jon [Gosier] asked me to look at).
Anyway, the other major task I've been working on is an analysis of call log data from the Question Box records. Unfortunately, the behavior of the exporting tools on the server is variable at best; I started with copied and pasted data from the web-based tables into Excel. Since then an Excel-export tool purportedly came back online but still isn't right. Anyway, as of today I've started over on a table pulled from a slightly different query with more complete and useful information, but still missing some handy info (that another set of otherwise less useful queries do include). Also weirdly, the total number of records generated by these different sets of queries don't seem to quite add up, which is distressing.
The data is definitely useful for general trends, regardless of its exactness. We are talking about 1000+ queries for the month of May, so slight imprecision should not affect the overall picture too much. Redoing what I already did is unfortunate, but a lot quicker as now I know the Excel tricks necessary both to strip out some of the data, such as reducing very long answers that bog down Excel to a set of statuses (answered, not answered, referred to expert, etc), as well as generating counts for various categories (and marginal distributions) using Pivot Tables.
It's still not the most enjoyable/interesting/stimulating work, but I feel like I should do it first since it's got to go into a midterm report to Grameen (damn, and I though I was done with midterms...). Also, there's less to observe while Question Box activity is slow like it has been. Still, I know I need to get more actively involved with the operators. Once I get this stuff out of the way and no longer have an excuse not to, I'll have to. That is what I'm here to do, after all. I can wrangle Excel data from anywhere (and could learn a thing or two from Mark at TSW).
Anyway, I've gotten a certain amount done, and a lot of it's going to take time (although identifying software issues to have the developers work on is something to do early, so there's time to develop, debug, and deploy it). This week I still need to try and have a meeting with Barbara (the office supervisor, oversees the operators and handles escalated questions) and the operators themselves to try and better identify problems they see with the system and whatnot. I wanted to see more and better understand what they're doing as is first. Hopefully tomorrow there'll be a bit more activity. And I know I've missed a few calls today working on the data and stuff; I'll try to wrap the report up soon as well.
I'll attach some pictures that I took of my desk (in Jon's office) and if I get a chance to take some, the bigger office area, which is where I'm working now, since there are some seats, and it's more interesting. Plus I can see/hear the operators in action even if I'm not focused on them. The office is high up on a hill, too, and has a really nice view.
EDIT: pictures probably to follow in another post, as I think I'm going to leave my computer here at the office to download iPhone OS 3.0 (as there's now a software unlock for it on the 3G, so I can use it with MTN, T-Mobile, etc). The unlock came impressively quickly after the software release, especially given that there wasn't a working unlock for the previous newest (2.2.1) baseband, only the one before that (causing 3G owners some headache). 2G owners have it so easy by comparison...and it sounds like for the moment 3GS owners (anyone?) are high and dry, but in all likelihood, anyone who has one this early in the game must be on AT&T.
If I'd brought my phone cable, I could have put them up now, but I didn't. Sorry! Tomorrow!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
End of my first night in Kampala
(12:05am, 20 June)
So, here I am inside my mosquito-net-fort at Jon and Sarah's house. It's just after midnight local time right now.
Bringing both the flashlight and the little USB-port light were good choices; the light switch is inevitably outside the net, so the flashlight makes getting in etc much easier, and the USB light makes for good and easy to position light for typing without needing batteries or anything.
This afternoon and evening were really nice. I met Jon, of course, and he took me to the office and showed me around and introduced me to the operators and office manager, as well as to the Appfrica developers with whom we share space, and who helped write the software interface the Question Box operators use.
Jon and Sarah also have a really cute puppy ("Zipper") from the local SPCA. She's 11-ish weeks old, pretty small, and impressively mild-mannered for a dog of her age. I'll have to post pictures of her later.
Later in the evening a few of their friends came over, including one of their friends' couchsurfers. It turns out that Jon and Sarah are on CS, and I suppose now I definitely have to join since I am, for all intents and purposes, couchsurfing their place. They said they'd write me a reference on it, too, and they and their friend and their friend's couchsurfer exchanged some stories. We watched a movie, Revolver, from one of their well-stocked (and all completely MPAA-ok...) external hard drives. It was by the same person as Snatch, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, etc, but was kind of incomprehensible and not really as good. It seemed to be going for sort of a Fight Club-style twist but left it way too ambiguous.
I think they have Arrested Development on one of their drives, so thankfully my forgetting to bring it with me won't prevent me from seeing it until the fall (not that I'll ever have time to...). I also went briefly to a nearby and pretty elaborate supermarket with Jon to get a few things he needed for the people coming over, but didn't get anything for myself; will sort that out over the weekend. I just had no sense of what I had space to store or prepare or whatever while I'm at their place. He also showed me a couple of places that might have rooms while we were out, and hopefully I'll be able to get one before long. Also, it's commonplace for stores to have bulletin boards where these things are listed.
In all, I don't feel like I accomplished much today but it was definitely a start, and while I didn't see a whole lot of the area besides from the original car, I definitely feel like, well, I'm here, and am starting to get a feeling for the place.
In other news, apparently Grameen issued Question Box a couple (three?) GPRS/EDGE modems, but the operators' computers are at the Appfrica office where there is already a connection (about $1000/mo for a 192kbps connection!), so Jon said I could just use one as my connection for the duration of my stay. I might still get data for my iPhone, as well, but needn't decide right away. It'll work fine as a phone once I get a SIM card for it (tomorrow, I hope), which will help with getting a flat and all that.
OK, I think that's all for now. I'm exhausted, and excited not be in an airport for the first night since Monday and sleeping in a bed for the first time since Saturday.
So, here I am inside my mosquito-net-fort at Jon and Sarah's house. It's just after midnight local time right now.
Bringing both the flashlight and the little USB-port light were good choices; the light switch is inevitably outside the net, so the flashlight makes getting in etc much easier, and the USB light makes for good and easy to position light for typing without needing batteries or anything.
This afternoon and evening were really nice. I met Jon, of course, and he took me to the office and showed me around and introduced me to the operators and office manager, as well as to the Appfrica developers with whom we share space, and who helped write the software interface the Question Box operators use.
Jon and Sarah also have a really cute puppy ("Zipper") from the local SPCA. She's 11-ish weeks old, pretty small, and impressively mild-mannered for a dog of her age. I'll have to post pictures of her later.
Later in the evening a few of their friends came over, including one of their friends' couchsurfers. It turns out that Jon and Sarah are on CS, and I suppose now I definitely have to join since I am, for all intents and purposes, couchsurfing their place. They said they'd write me a reference on it, too, and they and their friend and their friend's couchsurfer exchanged some stories. We watched a movie, Revolver, from one of their well-stocked (and all completely MPAA-ok...) external hard drives. It was by the same person as Snatch, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, etc, but was kind of incomprehensible and not really as good. It seemed to be going for sort of a Fight Club-style twist but left it way too ambiguous.
I think they have Arrested Development on one of their drives, so thankfully my forgetting to bring it with me won't prevent me from seeing it until the fall (not that I'll ever have time to...). I also went briefly to a nearby and pretty elaborate supermarket with Jon to get a few things he needed for the people coming over, but didn't get anything for myself; will sort that out over the weekend. I just had no sense of what I had space to store or prepare or whatever while I'm at their place. He also showed me a couple of places that might have rooms while we were out, and hopefully I'll be able to get one before long. Also, it's commonplace for stores to have bulletin boards where these things are listed.
In all, I don't feel like I accomplished much today but it was definitely a start, and while I didn't see a whole lot of the area besides from the original car, I definitely feel like, well, I'm here, and am starting to get a feeling for the place.
In other news, apparently Grameen issued Question Box a couple (three?) GPRS/EDGE modems, but the operators' computers are at the Appfrica office where there is already a connection (about $1000/mo for a 192kbps connection!), so Jon said I could just use one as my connection for the duration of my stay. I might still get data for my iPhone, as well, but needn't decide right away. It'll work fine as a phone once I get a SIM card for it (tomorrow, I hope), which will help with getting a flat and all that.
OK, I think that's all for now. I'm exhausted, and excited not be in an airport for the first night since Monday and sleeping in a bed for the first time since Saturday.
Friday, June 19, 2009
In Kampala [written earlier today]
10:30am, 6/19. Kampala, Uganda.
[This is actually a real post, though written a few hours ago. Connectivity issues]
I've just arrived at Jon Gosier (founder of Appfrica.org, Question Box CTO)'s house, although he's not here right now. I'm writing this in his living room, waiting for him to get back from a meeting. Will post it up when I get a chance to go online. All told, it's been 56 hours since I left Berkeley. I'm exhausted, although I slept pretty much on the last flight, so I'm at least functional today (for the moment, at least).
I feel like I've seen so much in the couple of hours since I landed, I really don't know where to begin, and I'm sure I won't be able to get everything down in one pass, so you may have to bear with me if some of the detail doesn't come out until another post or two down the line once the initial shock subsides.
I suppose I'll start with the plane ride, since it happened first. Not a whole lot to report, although it was quite comfortable and we were in fact again served both dinner and breakfast, both of which were quite palatable. Nothing fancy, but as good as plenty of things I'd make on a school day and be pleased with.
I sat next to a young women in the middle of a Master's at the London School of Hygiene. She's from Uganda (Western part originally, has lived in Kampala) and did her undergraduate there. This was to be her first time home since leaving for London for school, and it was clearly very significant to her. She's doing nursing, I think, but also public health/nutrition, and wants to do her thesis on infant nutrition/feeding and HIV, which sounds really interesting. I actually don't know anything about mother-child HIV transmission, and it's something I hadn't thought much on before. It sounds like interesting and very relevant research. She was really interesting, and it was cool to meet someone in her position. She wants to come back and do development work in Uganda or the nearby region when she's done.
The airport at Entebbe was very small, especially compared to the enormity that is Heathrow. It's surrounded by lush and distinctively unfamiliar greenery. The humidity and warmth were immediately evident, although it's not that hot. It's maybe 80 now (10 am). The smells were distinctive and different as well, and difficult to place.
Customs and immigration was quick and pretty painless, especially as I already had a visa. The only people to process were those on our flight, some of whom were residents, some needed visas, etc, so it was very smooth.
Jon had sent a car to pick me up (and paid him ahead of time! I didn't know this, and expected to have to pay him. I also didn't have any idea how much to tip, but as I only had very large Ugandan bills I tipped him a few dollars US, and probably higher than I should have). It was exciting to have somebody with my name on a sign at the airport. Probably the last time I'll see that in a long time...
The drive was pretty intense. The traffic there is pretty ridiculous, pedestrians and boda-bodas (mopeds) all over the place, passing is done whenever opportune, and so forth. Speed limits seem relatively nonexistent and dictated by conditions. This also goes for lanes, merging, etc. I never felt directly endangered, but it was still quite an adventure. I find driving in the US sufficiently stressful -- driving there would drive (heh, sorry) me to madness. Also, I can't yet comment on overall air quality, but the air on the roads was dreadful. The drive was probably roughly equivalent to a pack of unfiltered cigarettes. Catalytic converters and other modern emissions control stuff that we're used to -- especially in California, with its relatively stringent laws, are definitely not the norm here. The blue-grey of untreated exhaust hangs heavy over the roads, and the smells of diesel and gasoline exhaust vie for your attention, depending on whether you're closest to a huge scary truck or a boda-boda is darting suicidally down the center divider, practically brushing your elbows.
The sights from the drive, too, were fascinating, and I saw far too much to begin to describe. The drive into Kampala from Entebbe is about 40km, and takes maybe 45 minutes. Some of the drive is countryside, and then it's increasingly urban; the city starts fairly gradually. Right outside the airport at Entebbe (or part of it, I guess, but not right by the commercial terminal), was the UN airfield. There were a number of their big transport planes and a couple of big helicopters parked, all white with UN stenciled on. There was a also a big stack of UN shipping containers, presumably from the delivery of some kind of aid supplies, though I'm not sure what they've provided there. There were also some giant tent-like temporary hangars or something.
A lot of people were out and about, but I suppose it makes sense, it was mid-morning on a weekday. At various intervals along the road there were houses, rows of attached shops, shacks, and so forth. There were a couple of outdoor markets, as well. Many of the buildings look similar, often of some kind of brick construction or at least foundation, with a sort of stucco-textured exterior. For some purposes and in some places there were many roughly nailed-together wooden buildings as well; these also serve as add-ons to more permanent buildings.
I saw a few larger structures under construction; it didn't look all that different than here, but (quite conspicuously) the scaffolding, rather than manufactured, fit together metal parts and whatnot, was much rougher and was mainly wood lashed or somehow held together.
The phenomenon of 'branded' buildings is shockingly commonplace; it seems like every strip of businesses has one painted the bright red of Coca-Cola, yellow of MTN, or purple of Zain. Cell phone marketing was extremely prevalent other than these as well (note that two of those companies, MTN and Zain, are mobile providers). Everywhere along the road you saw billboards as well as business' signs advertising cell service and deals. Warid was a major advertiser, though their buildings and shops seemed less prevalent.
I also saw lots of little MTN booths, selling airtime as well as advertising payphone and charging services. I couldn't say for certain whether they were villagePhone, PayPhone, or other pay phone system-based, but it was pretty excited. I didn't take all that many pictures, because I felt a little funny (especially with the window down) but I did snap one of the first cell tower I saw.
I suppose the heavy branding presence of mobile providers has to do with it being one of relatively few products based upon major brands: in the US, we're bombarded with advertisements for all many of things, but mainly for branded chain businesses in a variety of fields: food, services, cars, electronics, and so forth. Yet here I think it's safe to say that the majority of services are performed by small businesses, and this is likely extends to a lot of the goods and services that are provided by large companies in the US and therefore advertised heavily. The new-ness, hipness, and excitement surrounding phones is much greater here, as well, and may be comparable to the marketing we see (mainly by handset manufacturers) for their high-end smartphone products in the US (Apple, HTC, Palm, etc).
I think I'll get an MTN SIM card soon; it would seem in poor taste to use another provider after all the research I've done on their Village Phone system, and given that they're still Grameen's telecom partner with AppLab projects like Question Box. Anyway, I'm sure their rates are competitive (they have to be) and their coverage should be best. Also, while not terrifically cheap, they've got data service, which I fear I'll need, at least to an extent, though that will depend on the office internet and the availability of internet cafes and such. Still, especially given that I can tether my phone to my computer for data, unless I end up living in a house or something where a bunch of people share a fixed-line internet connection, I definitely won't get a connection for where I live. So it'd be a combination of the cellular and residential internet utilities I've become accustomed to paying for as it is (and, of course, a tiny fraction of the speed of either, but that's another story).
Anyway, this by no means encompasses my experience so far, but it's a start, and I'll have lots more to say once I actually meet Jon and see the office and whatnot, as well. Hopefully I'll get to actually post all these, too; they're starting to pile up.
[This is actually a real post, though written a few hours ago. Connectivity issues]
I've just arrived at Jon Gosier (founder of Appfrica.org, Question Box CTO)'s house, although he's not here right now. I'm writing this in his living room, waiting for him to get back from a meeting. Will post it up when I get a chance to go online. All told, it's been 56 hours since I left Berkeley. I'm exhausted, although I slept pretty much on the last flight, so I'm at least functional today (for the moment, at least).
I feel like I've seen so much in the couple of hours since I landed, I really don't know where to begin, and I'm sure I won't be able to get everything down in one pass, so you may have to bear with me if some of the detail doesn't come out until another post or two down the line once the initial shock subsides.
I suppose I'll start with the plane ride, since it happened first. Not a whole lot to report, although it was quite comfortable and we were in fact again served both dinner and breakfast, both of which were quite palatable. Nothing fancy, but as good as plenty of things I'd make on a school day and be pleased with.
I sat next to a young women in the middle of a Master's at the London School of Hygiene. She's from Uganda (Western part originally, has lived in Kampala) and did her undergraduate there. This was to be her first time home since leaving for London for school, and it was clearly very significant to her. She's doing nursing, I think, but also public health/nutrition, and wants to do her thesis on infant nutrition/feeding and HIV, which sounds really interesting. I actually don't know anything about mother-child HIV transmission, and it's something I hadn't thought much on before. It sounds like interesting and very relevant research. She was really interesting, and it was cool to meet someone in her position. She wants to come back and do development work in Uganda or the nearby region when she's done.
The airport at Entebbe was very small, especially compared to the enormity that is Heathrow. It's surrounded by lush and distinctively unfamiliar greenery. The humidity and warmth were immediately evident, although it's not that hot. It's maybe 80 now (10 am). The smells were distinctive and different as well, and difficult to place.
Customs and immigration was quick and pretty painless, especially as I already had a visa. The only people to process were those on our flight, some of whom were residents, some needed visas, etc, so it was very smooth.
Jon had sent a car to pick me up (and paid him ahead of time! I didn't know this, and expected to have to pay him. I also didn't have any idea how much to tip, but as I only had very large Ugandan bills I tipped him a few dollars US, and probably higher than I should have). It was exciting to have somebody with my name on a sign at the airport. Probably the last time I'll see that in a long time...
The drive was pretty intense. The traffic there is pretty ridiculous, pedestrians and boda-bodas (mopeds) all over the place, passing is done whenever opportune, and so forth. Speed limits seem relatively nonexistent and dictated by conditions. This also goes for lanes, merging, etc. I never felt directly endangered, but it was still quite an adventure. I find driving in the US sufficiently stressful -- driving there would drive (heh, sorry) me to madness. Also, I can't yet comment on overall air quality, but the air on the roads was dreadful. The drive was probably roughly equivalent to a pack of unfiltered cigarettes. Catalytic converters and other modern emissions control stuff that we're used to -- especially in California, with its relatively stringent laws, are definitely not the norm here. The blue-grey of untreated exhaust hangs heavy over the roads, and the smells of diesel and gasoline exhaust vie for your attention, depending on whether you're closest to a huge scary truck or a boda-boda is darting suicidally down the center divider, practically brushing your elbows.
The sights from the drive, too, were fascinating, and I saw far too much to begin to describe. The drive into Kampala from Entebbe is about 40km, and takes maybe 45 minutes. Some of the drive is countryside, and then it's increasingly urban; the city starts fairly gradually. Right outside the airport at Entebbe (or part of it, I guess, but not right by the commercial terminal), was the UN airfield. There were a number of their big transport planes and a couple of big helicopters parked, all white with UN stenciled on. There was a also a big stack of UN shipping containers, presumably from the delivery of some kind of aid supplies, though I'm not sure what they've provided there. There were also some giant tent-like temporary hangars or something.
A lot of people were out and about, but I suppose it makes sense, it was mid-morning on a weekday. At various intervals along the road there were houses, rows of attached shops, shacks, and so forth. There were a couple of outdoor markets, as well. Many of the buildings look similar, often of some kind of brick construction or at least foundation, with a sort of stucco-textured exterior. For some purposes and in some places there were many roughly nailed-together wooden buildings as well; these also serve as add-ons to more permanent buildings.
I saw a few larger structures under construction; it didn't look all that different than here, but (quite conspicuously) the scaffolding, rather than manufactured, fit together metal parts and whatnot, was much rougher and was mainly wood lashed or somehow held together.
The phenomenon of 'branded' buildings is shockingly commonplace; it seems like every strip of businesses has one painted the bright red of Coca-Cola, yellow of MTN, or purple of Zain. Cell phone marketing was extremely prevalent other than these as well (note that two of those companies, MTN and Zain, are mobile providers). Everywhere along the road you saw billboards as well as business' signs advertising cell service and deals. Warid was a major advertiser, though their buildings and shops seemed less prevalent.
I also saw lots of little MTN booths, selling airtime as well as advertising payphone and charging services. I couldn't say for certain whether they were villagePhone, PayPhone, or other pay phone system-based, but it was pretty excited. I didn't take all that many pictures, because I felt a little funny (especially with the window down) but I did snap one of the first cell tower I saw.
I suppose the heavy branding presence of mobile providers has to do with it being one of relatively few products based upon major brands: in the US, we're bombarded with advertisements for all many of things, but mainly for branded chain businesses in a variety of fields: food, services, cars, electronics, and so forth. Yet here I think it's safe to say that the majority of services are performed by small businesses, and this is likely extends to a lot of the goods and services that are provided by large companies in the US and therefore advertised heavily. The new-ness, hipness, and excitement surrounding phones is much greater here, as well, and may be comparable to the marketing we see (mainly by handset manufacturers) for their high-end smartphone products in the US (Apple, HTC, Palm, etc).
I think I'll get an MTN SIM card soon; it would seem in poor taste to use another provider after all the research I've done on their Village Phone system, and given that they're still Grameen's telecom partner with AppLab projects like Question Box. Anyway, I'm sure their rates are competitive (they have to be) and their coverage should be best. Also, while not terrifically cheap, they've got data service, which I fear I'll need, at least to an extent, though that will depend on the office internet and the availability of internet cafes and such. Still, especially given that I can tether my phone to my computer for data, unless I end up living in a house or something where a bunch of people share a fixed-line internet connection, I definitely won't get a connection for where I live. So it'd be a combination of the cellular and residential internet utilities I've become accustomed to paying for as it is (and, of course, a tiny fraction of the speed of either, but that's another story).
Anyway, this by no means encompasses my experience so far, but it's a start, and I'll have lots more to say once I actually meet Jon and see the office and whatnot, as well. Hopefully I'll get to actually post all these, too; they're starting to pile up.
Suck it, Starbucks
Or should I shay, shuck it, Shtarbucksh.
< /sean connery >
(7:30pm BST, 6/18)
[More from the airport, not interesting, but I'm posting it because I wrote it]
So, I had this little certificate for any free drink from any Starbucks (US or UK, it said) that I believe my friend Marya gave me for my birthday my first year in school. She got it because they badly screwed something up, I think, but I don't remember the details.
Anyway, I've had it for years, and was saving it for the right moment, and this afternoon, that moment came. Observing how astronomically expensive everything is here, I realized this was my chance to really milk it for all it was worth.
Now, it didn't have a store number on it, which is apparently a problem, but the guy just wrote the one here's number. He was being nice, so I didn't want to get too elaborate (and expensive) with the beverage, but I still got a venti mocha frapuccino, which was here in pounds more or less what I'd expect it to be in US dollars (which is already way too much). It was £3.40, which works out to almost $6! For a drink! A large, unhealthy, and very tasty drink, mind you, but still -- ridiculous. But I got it for free. Heh heh heh.
That is all.
Oh, ok, I lied, one more thing: turns out the outlets I tried in the airport are decoys, or something, because my plug adapter/surge protector worked here. That I tried three separate plugs before with no luck made a good case for it being my equipment, but it really wasn't. Weird.
< /sean connery >
(7:30pm BST, 6/18)
[More from the airport, not interesting, but I'm posting it because I wrote it]
So, I had this little certificate for any free drink from any Starbucks (US or UK, it said) that I believe my friend Marya gave me for my birthday my first year in school. She got it because they badly screwed something up, I think, but I don't remember the details.
Anyway, I've had it for years, and was saving it for the right moment, and this afternoon, that moment came. Observing how astronomically expensive everything is here, I realized this was my chance to really milk it for all it was worth.
Now, it didn't have a store number on it, which is apparently a problem, but the guy just wrote the one here's number. He was being nice, so I didn't want to get too elaborate (and expensive) with the beverage, but I still got a venti mocha frapuccino, which was here in pounds more or less what I'd expect it to be in US dollars (which is already way too much). It was £3.40, which works out to almost $6! For a drink! A large, unhealthy, and very tasty drink, mind you, but still -- ridiculous. But I got it for free. Heh heh heh.
That is all.
Oh, ok, I lied, one more thing: turns out the outlets I tried in the airport are decoys, or something, because my plug adapter/surge protector worked here. That I tried three separate plugs before with no luck made a good case for it being my equipment, but it really wasn't. Weird.
British Airways, Heathrow, and hands-on with a Nokia N97
(9am BST, 6/18)
[This post is boring, just what was on my mind at the airport. Lame, I know]
Heathrow is a very nice airport, much more so than I remembered [EDIT: except that all of their power outlets appear to be decoys]. I suspect it's been renovated in the relatively recent past. I also probably haven't been there since 2001 or so. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone through security when funneled to do so from my flight (seems like coming off another flight means you're already secure to me) but I did. They were more strict here than in the US, and I was forced to drink my little bottle of water from the previous flight on the spot, but it was just as well, it was time for me to take my doxycycline anyway.
Speaking of the flight, while I haven't flown across the Atlantic (or anywhere comparably far) since 2003, I believe, my memories of this sort of thing are not their sharpest, but I think this was the most comfortable such flight I've experienced. The plane was nice and new, the crew were nice (very polite -- but also harsh when people were being dumb, but not unreasonably so). Despite a warning to the contrary, I found the food pretty good. Perhaps the fact that I did not have to pay extra for it (ahem, US Airways) and especially that I did not have to pay the exorbitant cost of food in an airport contributed to my enjoyment of it. In any case, it was more than acceptable. There was also a bit of breakfast, which was nice.
My ticket to Entebbe does not mention a meal option (going to Heathrow I had a chance to request a vegetarian meal) which makes me suspect there is not equivalent service on it, although it's just as long a flight. Perhaps they don't serve food on flights to colonial destinations. It should at least be comfortable, and I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't super full and there was a lot of room per person.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with myself for the next many hours. I don't think my flight's until 9 (about 12 hours away) and it's morning now, going into the city actually seems realistic, although I think the inconvenience of security here along with the enormous size of the airport and so forth make it a little too daunting. It would also cost money, though staying in the airport is also not an inexpensive proposition. I'm already getting hungry again, because of course breakfast on the plane couldn't be too close to landing. I've been distressed to see things priced in a way that would look steep if it were US dollars, but it's effectively almost twice that.
For a country that was as poor relative to the US as it was 50 years ago (and for a long time since), the cost of living sure looks very, very high. Of course, airport prices are always high, but I'm referring to the prices I've faced there in the past, as well. I suppose the tremendous strength and value of the pound is a big part of that, though.
Now, I've just got to find some internets to post this (and download iPhone OS 3.0!). I fear neither of those will happen until I get to Uganda, however. That aside, I do have some documents to read, but I'll have to find some electricities if I'm to do that for more than a couple of hours, too.
Speaking of that sort of thing, I briefly got my hands on a Nokia N97 in their store in the airport. It's quite a machine. Great keyboard (bigger than, e.g., a G1, but not quite as spacious as the N810 -- it's smaller relative to the N810 than I had imagined) and a very nice screen and everything. I like the customizable homescreen widgets. I didn't use it that much but the UI seemed quite snappy. I tend to expect any touchscreen phone not running what I think of as one of the main OS's (iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile -- to an extent, Palm OS) to be slow and difficult; take for example LG or Samsung's touchscreen pseudo-smart phones. Of course, Symbian is a legitimate smartphone OS, just one you see much in the US (regrettably). I think it's excellent on non-touchscreen phones (N95 and derivatives, E-series), and that some, like the E71, are a strong alternative to BlackBerry devices. I personally like the S60 interface much more than the BlackBerry OS. But a good button-interface UI does not always translate well to a touchscreen (cough, BlackBerry), and honestly I didn't have enough time with the N97 to say, nor have I tried an ExpressMusic (5800?) in the US, either, but I think enough's been written elsewhere about both.
All I constructively have to say about it is that one, the OS was responsive and looks good, and two, the hardware was excellent. It's a good size, feels durable (including the funny tilt slider), and looks sharp. Could it replace an iPhone? Absolutely, though it would take some getting used to. I suspect, though, much like with the Nokia internet tablets (albeit less so), certain (many?) tasks won't have quite the same level of quick ease they do with the iPhone, and will therefore be less useful.
A big part of what makes the iPhone so successful, I think, is how quickly you can do a lot of things. Some of this is fictional, like when apps load a picture of their UI before it's active to make it feel faster. But, whatever, it works, psychologically. Also, the lack of an informational home screen (sigh, I'd still like this -- no harm in putting it on the lock screen!) makes for the quickest access to a variety of tasks. This sort of thing means it only takes a click, slide, and a tap or two to load up NextBus for the stop you're near.
Now, this is arguably a double-edged sword, and one I've thought a certain amount about. It's so easy to things up that it's very easy to forget you don't need to. I, for one, am uncomfortable with too much reliance on it, and consciously resist that to an extent. Even so, the lack of phone and internet here in Heathrow bug me a bit, especially given how long I'll be here.
Anyway, the point I was making about the iPhone is that it's achieved an ease and convenience of use that have made it a huge fraction of mobile web traffic. And think about it: how many people do you know with BlackBerries (or whatever else with comparable data access) who regularly browse the web with them, versus those with iPhones? So the moral of this convoluted story I'm telling is that I'm not sure the N97 has that level of ease of use or UI speed, and may limit its appeal somewhat. At any rate, it's extremely high price tag will also have that effect (although without carrier subsidies, all of the fancy phones we're used to expecting to pay $200 or so would be just as bad).
[This post is boring, just what was on my mind at the airport. Lame, I know]
Heathrow is a very nice airport, much more so than I remembered [EDIT: except that all of their power outlets appear to be decoys]. I suspect it's been renovated in the relatively recent past. I also probably haven't been there since 2001 or so. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone through security when funneled to do so from my flight (seems like coming off another flight means you're already secure to me) but I did. They were more strict here than in the US, and I was forced to drink my little bottle of water from the previous flight on the spot, but it was just as well, it was time for me to take my doxycycline anyway.
Speaking of the flight, while I haven't flown across the Atlantic (or anywhere comparably far) since 2003, I believe, my memories of this sort of thing are not their sharpest, but I think this was the most comfortable such flight I've experienced. The plane was nice and new, the crew were nice (very polite -- but also harsh when people were being dumb, but not unreasonably so). Despite a warning to the contrary, I found the food pretty good. Perhaps the fact that I did not have to pay extra for it (ahem, US Airways) and especially that I did not have to pay the exorbitant cost of food in an airport contributed to my enjoyment of it. In any case, it was more than acceptable. There was also a bit of breakfast, which was nice.
My ticket to Entebbe does not mention a meal option (going to Heathrow I had a chance to request a vegetarian meal) which makes me suspect there is not equivalent service on it, although it's just as long a flight. Perhaps they don't serve food on flights to colonial destinations. It should at least be comfortable, and I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't super full and there was a lot of room per person.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with myself for the next many hours. I don't think my flight's until 9 (about 12 hours away) and it's morning now, going into the city actually seems realistic, although I think the inconvenience of security here along with the enormous size of the airport and so forth make it a little too daunting. It would also cost money, though staying in the airport is also not an inexpensive proposition. I'm already getting hungry again, because of course breakfast on the plane couldn't be too close to landing. I've been distressed to see things priced in a way that would look steep if it were US dollars, but it's effectively almost twice that.
For a country that was as poor relative to the US as it was 50 years ago (and for a long time since), the cost of living sure looks very, very high. Of course, airport prices are always high, but I'm referring to the prices I've faced there in the past, as well. I suppose the tremendous strength and value of the pound is a big part of that, though.
Now, I've just got to find some internets to post this (and download iPhone OS 3.0!). I fear neither of those will happen until I get to Uganda, however. That aside, I do have some documents to read, but I'll have to find some electricities if I'm to do that for more than a couple of hours, too.
Speaking of that sort of thing, I briefly got my hands on a Nokia N97 in their store in the airport. It's quite a machine. Great keyboard (bigger than, e.g., a G1, but not quite as spacious as the N810 -- it's smaller relative to the N810 than I had imagined) and a very nice screen and everything. I like the customizable homescreen widgets. I didn't use it that much but the UI seemed quite snappy. I tend to expect any touchscreen phone not running what I think of as one of the main OS's (iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile -- to an extent, Palm OS) to be slow and difficult; take for example LG or Samsung's touchscreen pseudo-smart phones. Of course, Symbian is a legitimate smartphone OS, just one you see much in the US (regrettably). I think it's excellent on non-touchscreen phones (N95 and derivatives, E-series), and that some, like the E71, are a strong alternative to BlackBerry devices. I personally like the S60 interface much more than the BlackBerry OS. But a good button-interface UI does not always translate well to a touchscreen (cough, BlackBerry), and honestly I didn't have enough time with the N97 to say, nor have I tried an ExpressMusic (5800?) in the US, either, but I think enough's been written elsewhere about both.
All I constructively have to say about it is that one, the OS was responsive and looks good, and two, the hardware was excellent. It's a good size, feels durable (including the funny tilt slider), and looks sharp. Could it replace an iPhone? Absolutely, though it would take some getting used to. I suspect, though, much like with the Nokia internet tablets (albeit less so), certain (many?) tasks won't have quite the same level of quick ease they do with the iPhone, and will therefore be less useful.
A big part of what makes the iPhone so successful, I think, is how quickly you can do a lot of things. Some of this is fictional, like when apps load a picture of their UI before it's active to make it feel faster. But, whatever, it works, psychologically. Also, the lack of an informational home screen (sigh, I'd still like this -- no harm in putting it on the lock screen!) makes for the quickest access to a variety of tasks. This sort of thing means it only takes a click, slide, and a tap or two to load up NextBus for the stop you're near.
Now, this is arguably a double-edged sword, and one I've thought a certain amount about. It's so easy to things up that it's very easy to forget you don't need to. I, for one, am uncomfortable with too much reliance on it, and consciously resist that to an extent. Even so, the lack of phone and internet here in Heathrow bug me a bit, especially given how long I'll be here.
Anyway, the point I was making about the iPhone is that it's achieved an ease and convenience of use that have made it a huge fraction of mobile web traffic. And think about it: how many people do you know with BlackBerries (or whatever else with comparable data access) who regularly browse the web with them, versus those with iPhones? So the moral of this convoluted story I'm telling is that I'm not sure the N97 has that level of ease of use or UI speed, and may limit its appeal somewhat. At any rate, it's extremely high price tag will also have that effect (although without carrier subsidies, all of the fancy phones we're used to expecting to pay $200 or so would be just as bad).
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Giant Spreadsheets
The spreadsheets of Question Box call logs I've been looking over are sufficient to make my 6-month-old MacBook choke pretty noticeably. I suppose it could benefit from more ram, but even so, I'm a little surprised.
Column with pasted full text of webpages (including wikipedia pages) used for long answers, I'm looking at you. There's nothing else there that could be the culprit.
While I suspect it's the problem, I can't simply get rid of it as it's the only way to tell if questions were answered or not, as some questions that don't appear in the unanswered lists have blanks or "no answer" in that column, so it's necessary to retain. I think I'll have to figure out some way to truncate the contents of those cells or replace them all with a simpler binary answered/unanswered...but I don't really want to do that for 1000+ records by hand. I'm sure there's some way to automate that in Excel, but I'm not sure. Maybe even better would be a set of four (or so) possibilities, also taking into account whether the question was escalated (to an expert) as well as its answered status.
If that proves doable, it would lend itself to consolidating all the records into a single table, which would greatly facilitate the process of generating useful data about it (already greatly facilitated by my exciting discovery of Excel's magic Pivot Table abilities).
At any rate, I think it's time to break out the AppleScript.
And, uh, as far as blog posts go, file this under "self-indulgent descriptions of what I'm working on/thinking about." It doesn't serve much informative purpose, but hey, I've been sitting around an airport for several hours and still have several more to go, and this is a situation where describing what I'm thinking helps me think about it, so for the moment you, dear reader(s) are on the other end of that. Thanks, and my apologies.
Column with pasted full text of webpages (including wikipedia pages) used for long answers, I'm looking at you. There's nothing else there that could be the culprit.
While I suspect it's the problem, I can't simply get rid of it as it's the only way to tell if questions were answered or not, as some questions that don't appear in the unanswered lists have blanks or "no answer" in that column, so it's necessary to retain. I think I'll have to figure out some way to truncate the contents of those cells or replace them all with a simpler binary answered/unanswered...but I don't really want to do that for 1000+ records by hand. I'm sure there's some way to automate that in Excel, but I'm not sure. Maybe even better would be a set of four (or so) possibilities, also taking into account whether the question was escalated (to an expert) as well as its answered status.
If that proves doable, it would lend itself to consolidating all the records into a single table, which would greatly facilitate the process of generating useful data about it (already greatly facilitated by my exciting discovery of Excel's magic Pivot Table abilities).
At any rate, I think it's time to break out the AppleScript.
And, uh, as far as blog posts go, file this under "self-indulgent descriptions of what I'm working on/thinking about." It doesn't serve much informative purpose, but hey, I've been sitting around an airport for several hours and still have several more to go, and this is a situation where describing what I'm thinking helps me think about it, so for the moment you, dear reader(s) are on the other end of that. Thanks, and my apologies.
En Route to Chicago (though actually posted from O'Hare)
I'm writing this from the (relative) comfort of my flight to Chicago. My flights so far have gone relatively well, although the first one was delayed and threatened to make me miss this connection -- but fear not, that one, too was behind schedule, so all is well. Now assuming my luggage makes it to Chicago (if not right away, at least within the 17 or so hours I'll be spending there), I should be fine. Getting to BART and the airport was uneventful, and the airport was rather shockingly uncrowded, even for Oakland.
Note to self (and others): US Airways is pretty lame. They've so far succeeded at the most basic things an airline can be expected to do (e.g., flying planes), but have a penchant for charging for anything beyond that, like peanuts or whatever their $5 (!) snack package contained. No free peanuts or anything, just beverages. Also, a single checked bag costs an additional $15 (plus ungodly high fees if you're over 50lbs, I'm sure, though mine wasn't). These may be relatively common practices these days, but as I tend to fly airlines that are often both cheaper and more pleasant (such as Southwest) I haven't experienced them before.
Anyway, I don't fly a ton, but enough that these domestic flights still haven't quite evoked the full sense of what I'm getting myself into. So far it just feels like going across the country, which, for the moment, is what it is. I've got a lengthy layover in Chicago, though, and will start earnestly analyzing a large volume of call log data, which is an important part of my job once I get there and will probably help get me into it.
I am a bit sad to be leaving Berkeley so suddenly, although it's not as though I won't be back, at least for a bit, in the fall. Still, it's probably just as well. Being around for classes starting (and especially the new band season starting) and not being a part of it would probably be worse. This way, I get a break from it to sort myself out and convince myself I don't still go to school there.
On that note, last night I saw one of my roommates from my first year for what will probably be the last time in quite a while, as he's going to Ecuador in the fall semi-indefinitely. Still, earlier in the weekend both of us and our third roommate from that first semester got together, and it brought everything satisfyingly full-circle. I know all of this isn't very relevant, but it's been on my mind, and I figured I'd mention it. I suppose I just have a hard time with transitions like the big out-of-college one. Well, leaving the country for a few months seems like just the ticket, especially when it's so exactly the kind of work I want to do, and rather fortuitously closely related to the academic work I've already done.
I suppose that about wraps up my thoughts about the beginning of my trip for the moment. I'll probably have something to say about the data I'll be analyzing later, and can post some of my actual job description for those who'd like to know in detail what it is I'll actually be doing.
Note to self (and others): US Airways is pretty lame. They've so far succeeded at the most basic things an airline can be expected to do (e.g., flying planes), but have a penchant for charging for anything beyond that, like peanuts or whatever their $5 (!) snack package contained. No free peanuts or anything, just beverages. Also, a single checked bag costs an additional $15 (plus ungodly high fees if you're over 50lbs, I'm sure, though mine wasn't). These may be relatively common practices these days, but as I tend to fly airlines that are often both cheaper and more pleasant (such as Southwest) I haven't experienced them before.
Anyway, I don't fly a ton, but enough that these domestic flights still haven't quite evoked the full sense of what I'm getting myself into. So far it just feels like going across the country, which, for the moment, is what it is. I've got a lengthy layover in Chicago, though, and will start earnestly analyzing a large volume of call log data, which is an important part of my job once I get there and will probably help get me into it.
I am a bit sad to be leaving Berkeley so suddenly, although it's not as though I won't be back, at least for a bit, in the fall. Still, it's probably just as well. Being around for classes starting (and especially the new band season starting) and not being a part of it would probably be worse. This way, I get a break from it to sort myself out and convince myself I don't still go to school there.
On that note, last night I saw one of my roommates from my first year for what will probably be the last time in quite a while, as he's going to Ecuador in the fall semi-indefinitely. Still, earlier in the weekend both of us and our third roommate from that first semester got together, and it brought everything satisfyingly full-circle. I know all of this isn't very relevant, but it's been on my mind, and I figured I'd mention it. I suppose I just have a hard time with transitions like the big out-of-college one. Well, leaving the country for a few months seems like just the ticket, especially when it's so exactly the kind of work I want to do, and rather fortuitously closely related to the academic work I've already done.
I suppose that about wraps up my thoughts about the beginning of my trip for the moment. I'll probably have something to say about the data I'll be analyzing later, and can post some of my actual job description for those who'd like to know in detail what it is I'll actually be doing.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Summer Reading List
I'm trying to decide what books/documents to bring with me to read (that are pertinent to what I'm doing. I probably should throw in some other casual reading, as well, though I've got no idea what...it's been a while since I've had much time to read for fun).
So far I've got a few, but not that many, lined up. There are a few that had been sitting on my shelf for a while but that I had to turn in at the end of the semester, and I doubt I can check out campus library books now. Well, I can probably check them out, I'll still show up as a student until the fall semester starts -- but I won't be back until after that, and if they should get recalled I would be somewhat SOL (or rather, the recaller would -- but I'd be the one to get fined).
The ones I'm pretty certain of are:
Mastering the Machine Revisited by Ian Smillie. This is a respected (I gather) book on a variety of technologies and technological approaches intended to alleviate poverty (recently updated to address ICT, as well). I've read some of it (assigned in Prof. Burrell's technology and poverty class) but not the whole thing, and have been meaning to for a while.
The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank by David Bornstein. I presume this history of Grameen was written primarily for popular audiences, but I've heard good things about the author, so it should be at least enjoyable, and likely informative, as I don't know a whole lot about its earlier history.
The World Bank in Uganda: Country Brief 2005-6. A pretty standard institutional document. Good for an overview of broader conditions, recent trends in income/poverty, demographics, etc., as well as for a sense of the larger scale development policies and such, which my own narrow study of telecommunications didn't really address in the depth I'd like. I'll be digging around for other similar documents.
Livelihoods and the Mobile Phone in Uganda, by Prof. Jenna Burrell. This document was written by Prof. Burrell for the Grameen Foundation and particularly its Application Lab (the branch focused upon novel uses of ICT, and that the Question Box project falls under). I've had it around for some time after finding it on the AppLab site, quite by chance, but decided to hold off on reading it until after finishing my thesis out of concern that it was too similar and, significantly, that it was based upon some of the exact primary data (her interviews) that were a major part of my thesis. It seemed problematic to read someone else's (and particularly my own advisor's) analysis of the same data I was using. Now, however, I'm very interested to read it (although she herself dismissed it as "consulting work").
There are a number of relevant documents I, in some cases read and used in writing my thesis, and in others than I found but didn't end up using much or at all, that I would like to reread in a more leisurely fashion, as well. Among these in particular are researchictafrica.net's "Towards Evidence-based ICT Policy and Regulation" and "Towards an African e-Index" series of papers.
Obviously, many of these are relatively short papers and documents, and only a few are full books. This may be a problem; hopefully I won't get there having exhausted my whole reading list. Nevertheless, books I don't own are somewhat out of the question, so I may have to stick with my reports and such. Some of them are pretty long and they're all pretty dense, so I imagine I'll be fine. At this point, it's looking as though I'll be spending most of my (LONG) trip there analyzing call logs, and I don't anticipate having much free time there to read until I get settled and figured out. Even then, I don't know. Anyway, it's always better to have too much to read than too little. At any rate, I'll have an internet connection (such as it will be) and, for a while, my CalNet proxy access, so I can always find more, too.
Still, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be interested to hear them.
So far I've got a few, but not that many, lined up. There are a few that had been sitting on my shelf for a while but that I had to turn in at the end of the semester, and I doubt I can check out campus library books now. Well, I can probably check them out, I'll still show up as a student until the fall semester starts -- but I won't be back until after that, and if they should get recalled I would be somewhat SOL (or rather, the recaller would -- but I'd be the one to get fined).
The ones I'm pretty certain of are:
Mastering the Machine Revisited by Ian Smillie. This is a respected (I gather) book on a variety of technologies and technological approaches intended to alleviate poverty (recently updated to address ICT, as well). I've read some of it (assigned in Prof. Burrell's technology and poverty class) but not the whole thing, and have been meaning to for a while.
The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank by David Bornstein. I presume this history of Grameen was written primarily for popular audiences, but I've heard good things about the author, so it should be at least enjoyable, and likely informative, as I don't know a whole lot about its earlier history.
The World Bank in Uganda: Country Brief 2005-6. A pretty standard institutional document. Good for an overview of broader conditions, recent trends in income/poverty, demographics, etc., as well as for a sense of the larger scale development policies and such, which my own narrow study of telecommunications didn't really address in the depth I'd like. I'll be digging around for other similar documents.
Livelihoods and the Mobile Phone in Uganda, by Prof. Jenna Burrell. This document was written by Prof. Burrell for the Grameen Foundation and particularly its Application Lab (the branch focused upon novel uses of ICT, and that the Question Box project falls under). I've had it around for some time after finding it on the AppLab site, quite by chance, but decided to hold off on reading it until after finishing my thesis out of concern that it was too similar and, significantly, that it was based upon some of the exact primary data (her interviews) that were a major part of my thesis. It seemed problematic to read someone else's (and particularly my own advisor's) analysis of the same data I was using. Now, however, I'm very interested to read it (although she herself dismissed it as "consulting work").
There are a number of relevant documents I, in some cases read and used in writing my thesis, and in others than I found but didn't end up using much or at all, that I would like to reread in a more leisurely fashion, as well. Among these in particular are researchictafrica.net's "Towards Evidence-based ICT Policy and Regulation" and "Towards an African e-Index" series of papers.
Obviously, many of these are relatively short papers and documents, and only a few are full books. This may be a problem; hopefully I won't get there having exhausted my whole reading list. Nevertheless, books I don't own are somewhat out of the question, so I may have to stick with my reports and such. Some of them are pretty long and they're all pretty dense, so I imagine I'll be fine. At this point, it's looking as though I'll be spending most of my (LONG) trip there analyzing call logs, and I don't anticipate having much free time there to read until I get settled and figured out. Even then, I don't know. Anyway, it's always better to have too much to read than too little. At any rate, I'll have an internet connection (such as it will be) and, for a while, my CalNet proxy access, so I can always find more, too.
Still, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be interested to hear them.
Monday, June 1, 2009
First post and introduction
Why hello there! This is my first post, and will serve as something of an introduction, both for myself and for this blog.
My name's Nat. I just graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economy (strictly Political Economy of Industrial Societies), with a concentration and thesis about ICT and Development (ICTD). I'm very interested in the potential (and limits) of these technologies to improve quality of life in the developing world.
I'm also very interested in technology in general, and as such, this blog will cover a variety of technology-related issues, not just those related the developing world. I'm particularly interested in mobile technologies and phones, both with regard to development and otherwise, so expect to see a certain amount of iPhone and Android related posts. I will likely also blog to an extent about Linux/open source issues, Mac-related topics, and whatever else is on my mind about which I have anything intelligent/worth reading to say.
Also, I will be traveling to Uganda in a couple of weeks to intern with a fascinating ICTD project there, so this blog will also serve as something of a travelogue, as well. I will post separately with more information on the project, what I'll be doing, etc.
And finally, thank you for reading. I'm sorry if it takes a little while for me to iron out the formatting and whatnot, as well as develop my hopelessly archaic academic prose into something internet-readable.
Oh, and the phrase "Tyranny of the Plurality" came from a conversation at work, and just stuck out to me as an interesting phrase. It doesn't, at first glance, have much to do with the content of the blog, but I suppose we'll see.
My name's Nat. I just graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economy (strictly Political Economy of Industrial Societies), with a concentration and thesis about ICT and Development (ICTD). I'm very interested in the potential (and limits) of these technologies to improve quality of life in the developing world.
I'm also very interested in technology in general, and as such, this blog will cover a variety of technology-related issues, not just those related the developing world. I'm particularly interested in mobile technologies and phones, both with regard to development and otherwise, so expect to see a certain amount of iPhone and Android related posts. I will likely also blog to an extent about Linux/open source issues, Mac-related topics, and whatever else is on my mind about which I have anything intelligent/worth reading to say.
Also, I will be traveling to Uganda in a couple of weeks to intern with a fascinating ICTD project there, so this blog will also serve as something of a travelogue, as well. I will post separately with more information on the project, what I'll be doing, etc.
And finally, thank you for reading. I'm sorry if it takes a little while for me to iron out the formatting and whatnot, as well as develop my hopelessly archaic academic prose into something internet-readable.
Oh, and the phrase "Tyranny of the Plurality" came from a conversation at work, and just stuck out to me as an interesting phrase. It doesn't, at first glance, have much to do with the content of the blog, but I suppose we'll see.
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