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!
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