Afromusing

• Africa Gathering: Mobile Cloud Computing – A concept

  Posted: December 22, 2009, 1:16 pm by AfroMusing

  Simeon Oriko is a student at University of Eastern Africa – Baraton, and today he is talking about the Mobile Cloud Computing paradigm. He starts by saying that web experience cannot be superimposed on mobile phones. It can be terribly frustrating to find information using mobiles. For rural areas where he often does IT outreach to students at schools… if the information they need to fulfill their dreams is available online, and the students do not have computer access; they should still be able to find that information through mobiles. There is a long way to go.
  He goes through the 4 problems of mobile web.
  - Storage in mobiles is paltry
  - Flaky connections particularly in rural areas
  - Small display screens (I should also add differing display screens. @cellstories had to deal with this when the Droid came out)
  - Flaky browsers. So many to choose from, optimized for different devices.

  Solutions
  - Put the processing in the cloud. Think Amazon EC2. Put the storage there too so the mobile acts as a dumb terminal of sorts. Storage space on mobiles is still quite expensive, but storage online can be very cheap, and processing information online is much easier that on mobile phones.
  - Create a common platform that all mobile phones can share. Its tedious to make apps for the myriad OSs like Android, Iphone, Symbian, J2ME
  - Integrating solutions like PesaPal

  Think of the potential of processing information on the cloud and delivering it through mobiles. With the increase in mobile subscribers forecast to reach billions in future. Think of the young people who have dreams of being a pilot, a doctor…whatever. Can we meet the challenge of providing this information through mobiles? Can we develop applications that meet our local needs of educations on basic phones?

  Attached is his presentation… I was greatly inspired by his talk… off to lunch to chat about this some more.Mobile Cloud Computing.pptx

• Solantern: There is no longer a reason to use kerosene for lighting

  Posted: December 21, 2009, 5:25 pm by AfroMusing

  Today at The British Council in Upper Hill Nairobi, I reconnected with a TED Global 2007 friend Joseph Nganga. He has a company called Renewable Energy Ventures (KE) and is currently a reseller for an innovative lighting solution called ‘The Solantern’. He was kind enough to give me a brief demo over lunch and I got to play a bit with a new solar device. It’s wonderful to see this device, because 2 years ago in Arusha we had a conversation about solar energy, gadgets, etc… I commend him for getting his business going, do look out for more collaborations from his company on a consumer guide for solar gadgets.

  The ‘Sun King’ consists of a polycrystalline solar module, cable, a stand and a ring of LED lights. It can work as a small torch, a task light, and a hanging light.

  Below is the video with a brief overview.

  Solantern from afromusing on Vimeo.

  It retails for 25 usd/ 2000 kes and you can call +254 721 211 406 to order.
  Email: info [at] africarenewables [dot]com
  Twitter: @thereva

  Physical Address:
  150 James Gichuru Road Opposite Lavington

  PS: I would dissuade anyone from getting the Safaricom ZTE Simu Ya Solar. Its shoddy and a waste of money at 3000kes. I bought one in August of this year and its Kaputt now. A much better gift is this solar lantern which is priced quite well at 2000kes. I will be testing it further this christmas, but from initial looks of it, the module is sturdy and the design is quite functional.

• CPH Day 2: Climate Drama

  Posted: December 16, 2009, 6:31 pm by AfroMusing

  From the briefings at the Tcktcktck Fresh air center, this ‘Hopenhagen’ is turning into a ‘Nopenhagen’. There were some NGOs whose access to the Bella Center (The center for climate change talks where world leaders etc are in) was revoked, and they planned a protest. BBC has some disturbing video of the Danish cops battling with protesters. It is a scary situation, and that is why I am not trying to go out there to find out what’s up. For now I will be holed up with the Global voices crew here and follow the events in safety. I know the smell of pepper spray (2007 Kenya elections melee…I am not getting reacquainted with it again)

  There doesn’t seem to be a workable deal that would take into account the developing countries’ vulnerability to climate change (think Maldives and Madagascar) with money allocated for helping them deal with climate change. Without this it is unlikely that the poor countries will agree to any deal. It is a standoff, a mexican standoff with no one as a clear winner, but the climate ofcourse as a clear loser.

  Just hearing that people pepper sprayed on the bridge near the Bella center. There is just too much drama here. That aside… as the plane circled in to approach the runway at Copenhagen airport, I saw a glimpse of the offshore wind power turbines. It is a magnificent sight.

  cc licensed photo by Pastalane.

  That Denmark generates 25-30% of their energy from renewable energy is commendable and is often an example to many countries, and probably the reason why COP15 is being held here. I spoke with a local Danish citizen and he expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress towards targets for increasing the %. I am not sure what % of energy generated in Kenya is from renewable energy, but I can tell you this… I am quite envious of the Danish 30%. With all the craziness happening now in CPH, It helps to refocus on the specific ways that we each can contribute positively to the environment. It is unlikely that some substantive agreement will be reached this week at COP15 talks, so its probably more useful to focus on what you and I can do and the technology that can help.

  I am going to start with taking a ride in a hybrid bike by MIT, then continue planting trees during the christmas holidays in Kenya.

  For COP15 updates, I am checking the Dot Earth blog, Tck Tck Tck and ofcourse Global Voices Online.

  PS: I saw a christmas tree with lights connected to a bike, so when a child pedals, the christmas trees light up! A festive example of using human power! Sorry, no pic, its snowing a lot here.

• Random: Enroute to Copenhagen

  Posted: December 15, 2009, 10:42 pm by AfroMusing

  This week began rather uncharacteristically… On Saturday, I dashed to Eldoret to attend a friends’ wedding. I learned that the airport code for Eldoret is EDL and not ELD. ELD was already taken by Eldorado in the US. I still think ELD is a fitting airport code for Eldoret, who do you renegotiate with? On sunday, I missed the flight back to Nairobi by 5 minutes, because there was a marathon starting around the same time. Making lemonade out of lemons… here are a few pictures of Kenya’s future gold medalists.The start of the race was rather rough, an athlete fell and bruised his knee from all the shoving to get to 1 million Ksh prize at the end of the marathon. My uncle stopped to give him a ride, and luckily I had a portable first aid kit, so he was bandaged up in no time. In the distance, you could see the Sports Minister’s (Hellen Sambili) helicopter which was rather snazzy. I asked the athlete in the backseat whether there was an ambulance, he said there probably is, but he is not sure where it is stationed. I think a better use of the helicopter would be to act as a air-ambulance of sorts for the athletes, rather than a floating spectacle. We also need better roads such that when there is a race, when one road is closed, we have an option to still get into Eldoret town. Not that stopping to enjoy the race is not a good thing… it is. But it should be optional. A girl can dream.

  Back in Nairobi, finally boarded the flight to Zurich, which was delayed by more than 45 minutes, meaning I would miss my connection. That is why I am typing this at Zurich airport. The roaming wifi is so slow, I had to use the voucher for free wi-fi. Problem is the voucher is only good for an hour. Enough time to just look through emails, download docs and get berated on twitter about my carbon footprint

  So, I will be in Copenhagen later today for some Ushahidi meetings, get caught up on the COP15 talks (which were thrown into disarray last week, and this week, the G77 negotiator walked out of the negotiations with some African countries in tow.) Still hoping that ‘Nopenhagen’ does not become the pun of the week. Denmark has already embraced’Hopenhagen’ (There is a Danish person somewhere grimacing at this chicanery- sorry!). I shall cover what I can on this blog, but do check out the Global Voices aggregator for COP15, which collates posts from GV authors in Copenhagen.

  Remember the quote about a lie going around the world before the truth has its pants on? Solana writes about the fake press release that ended up on WSJ about Canada’s allegedly shifting policy to a more positive one that supports a reduction in greenhouse gases and contribution to a fund for poorer nations facing climate change.

  PS: I covered the plenary meeting on climate change in 2007 for Global Voices, this was a meeting that led to the Bali talks (nothing much happened there because of GW & US’s throwing a wrench in the talks with a last minute proposal that basically scuttled any movement) The talks here in Copenhagen have an air of hope because Barack Obama has indicated a change in attitude. Problem is the change in attitude also needs to happen in the House and Senate back in the US. All in all, I look forward to seeing what comes of this…

  Note to self: Find time to see Bjarke Ingel’s building. Below is his TED talk “3 warp-speed architecture tales”

  Update: Arrived safely in Copenhagen. Tired… will blog/tweet tomorrow. Cheers!

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes