Funny

I’ve been using Twitter for a while now, and have thought quite a bit about it in Africa. More, I’ve thought about what the ramifications of Twitter pulling out of the global market means, and then thought quite a bit about Jaiku, Laconica and Mxit and various other chat/microblogging applications. There is, without a doubt, a move towards short-form updating via mobile and web, and it needs to be federated.

There’s something missing in this new mobile + web microblogging movement, and I think it’s location.

Why Location Matters

Most of us use these services for updating, and being updated, by our friends and interesting people. That’s the main use, and it will remain so. The truth is, you and I don’t really care to hear what any random stranger is doing, even if they are nearby. However, we do care what is happening on a very hyper-local level in the case of emergency or “big event”.

It’s somewhat like the “pothole theory” that I talked about earlier: you wouldn’t normally care about the pothole on a steet, unless it’s yours. It helps explain why we care about certain things.

If you use Twitter and have an iPhone, you’ll probably be aware of Twinkle - it’s an application that enriches your Twitter experience. In Twinkle, you can set your location and then a certain radius from which to receive twitter updates, even if they’re from perfect strangers. I think that’s the beginning of what we’re talking about.

However, again… I don’t want to just get updates from random strangers in my locale. I want to only receive the ones that are “important” to me. I want to be notified when there is an emergency, major traffic jam or something else pertinent to me.

The “What if…”

What if we created a way that a greater federated system of microblogging applications could also use location as an alert point?

Of course, my current world is colored by Ushahidi, crisis and emergency news coverage. I think of the ability to anonymously send in reports to a system like Ushahidi running in any country, and those who are part of this greater, extended and federated network would be updated - even if that person was unknown and anonymous.

Here’s a use case:

John is a Twitter user in Accra, Ghana. Anne has setup a local Laconica server with 5000 users in the greater Accra area. Eddie is not part of any of these networks, just an average guy with a mobile phone. Ushahidi is running in Ghana.

Users from the Laconica group can setup an “alert” for a specific radius from their location using Ushahidi, linked to their Laconica account.

An earthquake happens and Twitter and the Laconica server are ablaze with dialogue about what is happening. Eddie (our normal guy), sends an alert into the Ushahidi number, along with hundreds of other Ghanians who are not part of Laconica or Twitter. Anne, and the other Laconica users are receiving alerts (web and mobile) from within their set alert radius automatically, from completely anonymous people. Alerts on where people are trapped, who is missing, who is found, where not to go, and where help is needed most.

John, our Twitter user is updating Twitter, but it has no little local implications due to not being able to be used in Ghana (except via web). Local mobile users aren’t receiving his updates, and he isn’t receiving theirs.

I recognize that there are a lot of things going on in this scenario, and it’s imperfect, but it serves as a good setting to discuss some of the shortcomings of the current situation and the possible growth areas for them. It also talks to even bigger ideas and the greater impact in Africa of a real social mobile network that can connect people using only mobile phones and do it as needed.

There are some interesting things to learn and apply from location-specific alternatives to global SMS gateways (like FrontlineSMS), and I wonder where tools such as InSTEDD’s SMS GeoChat can be used here too.

More to come on “getting updates that matter” later, this is just some initial thinking on it. I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

Bush-videostreaming at Barcamp Jozi, originally uploaded by whiteafrican.

We had a great day 1 at Barcamp Jozi yesterday, and then a mad evening rushing around Johannesburg trying to find a good enough uplink connection to run the live streaming panel back to Barcamp Africa. We didn’t exactly succeed in live streaming, but the video will be uploaded shortly.

More importantly, we had an incredibly good time having the adventure, spending the evening having a conversation about mobile phones, the web and technology in Africa - all under the open skies of South Africa.

Panelists:

• Paul Cook of Thornhill Associates
• Ismail Dhorat of Startup Africa
• JP Viljoen
• Teddy Ruge of Project Diaspora

I can’t actually view the video, but if I could it would be at this link: Barcamp Jozi panel

Nigeria places a distant second, while 2 more Central/East African countries are heavily in their drink too (Rwanda and Burundi). Can’t say I know why there’s such an abundance of pombe in that region…

That’s from a neat data visualization tool called Many Eyes. Again showing the importance of data visualization for understanding large amounts of data easily.

I read, or heard, someone say that data visualizations are there, “to help the ignorant understand complex issues”. That’s about as accurate as it gets. Not ignorant in a bad way, but not everyone can be a statistician, a specific field specialist, or have the time to crunch numbers.

A bonus visualization showing mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people throughout sub-Saharan Africa:

(hat tip Ethan)

This was my favorite talk at the Web 2.0 Expo - probably one of my favorite talks period. I promptly went out and bought Clay’s new book, Here Comes Everybody, and am working through that right now. It’s good.

The big question he answers is, “Where do people find the time?”

Enjoy the 15 minute video:

Read the transcript here.

Currently I’m sitting in the “The Suxorz: The Worst Ten Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007″ panel at SXSW. The panel is full of interesting, and well-known, characters in the ad/media space.

This panel of bloggers and marketers will dissect ten terrible ad campaigns that abused the ideals of people-powered media, then award The Suxorz Trophy to the worst.

[click to continue...]

Scott Johnson has created a hilarious poster of 56 geek-types. Which one are you?

So many choices… I think I best fit the mold of a “photo geek” (or an “MMO geek”, I love playing online games when I have the time).

You can buy the poster here.

You know you have blog envy. That’s the feeling you get when you go to a blog and start getting those feelings of inadequacy. It might be because of really good design, maybe the writing is just incredible, it could be that they’re better at breaking stories or any number of other reasons.

I’m no different. Here are mine and the reasons why:

Web Worker Daily

It’s not just the great content, or the perfect design… It’s the whole package and it makes me angry just to go there. Part of Om Malik’s “GigaOm” network, it has thoughts, stories and tips on how to work from a mobile environment.

Coda

I’ve been envious of Coda’s brilliant blog design for over 2 years. Don’t let me get started on his photography skills, comparing myself there makes me feel absolutely pathetic. Please teach me how to be a Coda-clone so that I can die happy.

Thinker’s Room

Anyone who averages over 35 comments PER POST deserves credit. I’m extremely jealous of his ability to create community, not to mention his ability to write “funny” (though you have to be from Kenya to catch some of it).

WorldChanging

It’s like crack for someone who is interested in development and technology. I can’t go to World Changing and just read one story.

Creating Passionate Users

No one manages to get an idea across better than Kathy Sierra. This is where I go to beat myself over the head learning how to create simple graphics that you instantly “get”.

If you would like to participate in this exercise, please tag your post with “blogenvy” and list 3-5 blogs that create deep feelings of envy and jealousy.

This had me chuckling today… A fun look at the present world of online communities. It’s heavily skewed to the US market, but many of the sites are global.

As a bit of promotional fun, Muti is having a contest over the next 3 months. Winners will receive 1 kilogram of prime karoo kudu biltong (aka “jerky”) AND an official Muti logo t-shirt.

All you need to do is be the top Kudu Index (k-index) earner on Muti at the end of the month of March, April or May.

The Kudu Index is a measure of the quality of submissions - so this is all about quality over quantity. It won’t be possible for the winner to submit dozens of mediocre sites/news/pictures that each get a single vote.

You can view the progress of the kudu race throughout the month on Muti.

Should the winner not be contactable, as they may not have filled out details in the profile page, then it will be up to them to claim the prize. Any prizes not claimed after a month will be awarded to the next highest k-index that is contactable. If the winner happens to be a vegetarian, they will get a kilogram of prime karoo kudu food instead.

Let the games begin!

Kikuyumoja just pointed out that BoingBoing has a short piece on Google being biased. It turns out that if you type in the words “African Ingenuity”, Google will ask you if you really meant “American Ingenuity”… Nice.

Try it (and let’s see how long before they fix this)

In other news, it’s cool to see AfriGadget as #2 on the search engine results. Remember, anyone can send in AfriGadget articles and I’ll post them.

[EDIT: Google is pretty fast. One day later and it seems that they have fixed this little problem]

Here’s one of my wonderful time-wasters that I pass on to people when I lack the time to write anything really substantial. So yes, this is a cop-out.

Anyway, NetDisaster is a cool site. Basically, you go there and enter in any website URL you like, choose your particular disaster, then let it run. You can choose everything from worms to acid pee. Enjoy.

Here’s mine, tomatoes and dinosaurs:

An Australian news site is stating that the US has banned vegemite. Thank god for that! If you haven’t tasted this oily swill before, just be glad that you have been saved the horrors. Vegemite, is closely aligned with Marmite in my mind - both are disgusting and are not fit for human consumption.

Here are some quotes on Marmite. Substitute in “Vegemite” everytime you see the word Marmite, and you’ll be right on target:

When I first came to this country I went to a friends house. He wanted a snack so he made himself some Marmite and toast. Being a naive yank and only 11 at the time I asked him what it was. He told me it was chocolate spread and gave me a spoonfull to try. Needless to say, I almost barfed on his toast.

I’ve never eaten it since and will never eat it again. It’s the most disgusting, vomit inducing, turd coloured paste you can imagine.

Marmite is hell on toast produced by the devils own satanic herd…

I breathe deeply, raise the toast to my mouth and bite.

That is not good. Not nice at all. It’s very salty and tastes vaguely alive. It’s like bad caviar blended into a paste. It tastes like the crust on a three year old bottle of Worcestershire sauce. The butter, it does nothing. I chew on. It doesn’t improve.

Marmite = Horrid English goop…. resembling axle grease. Made from dead animals.

As you can tell, I’m no lover of Marmite, Borvil, Vegemite, or any other greasy looking spreadable substance. If you have any great anti-Marmite or anti-Vegemite quotes or stories, please write them here. I think I’ll start a collection.

[Update: Unfortunately, it appears I could be wrong on this - Snopes Report.]

Zefrank runs a daily video blog where he covers interesting news tidbits and shares his thoughts on a wide range of subjects. He’s crazy, off-color and very entertaining. In this episode Zefrank talks about branding.

(If your ears are offended by colorful language, don’t bother with this link.)

Bonus: Here’s Zefrank speaking at TED.

Here’s your fun and useless link of the day. Someone pointed me in the direction of Fodey.com where you they have a bunch of text generators. I gave the Ninja Text Generator a whirl:

Have fun, and I’m sorry if I completely wasted your time. You can never get those 30 seconds back.

Iconfactory has something special going on, and they know how to tell a story. I love this.

(via SimpleBits)