Knight News Challenge: Feowl: Networked data-collection & power cuts monitoring
1. What do you propose to do?
Helping local media leverage a network of SMS-enabled contributors, Feowl provides the community with reliable data about the electricity supply.
2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different?
The Newschallenge is…
This week’s Economist magazine print cover preview: Africa Rising, December 3rd - 9th 2011. A notable contrast from this cover featured on the print edition in May 2000.
South Africans and their Bicycles
Azonto Dance is a form of dance which mainly involves moving of all the joints in your body in a rhythmic fashion without taking any or very little steps. The dance originated from the southern-most part of Ghana in the early parts of the 2000s.The dance has evolved with the fast pace dance culture of modern West Africa. The name Azonto gained the porpularity from a section of the tema based musicians such as Sarkodie, Stay Jay Eduwoji and a list of others but as to the main origin to the dance is yet to be known because both the Accra and Tema claim the originality of the Dance.
An electoral official checks an election result sheet using a candle after the Presidential election in Yaounde, Cameroon, Sunday, Oct. 9. 2011
In 2010 returning from extensive travel in Mali and Mauritania, Chris Kirkley (Sahel Sounds) presented “Music from Saharan Cellphones”. The music on the compilation was collected from cellphones in the Northern Malian town of Kidal. In much of West Africa, cellphones are are used as all-purpose multimedia devices. In lieu of personal computers and high speed internet, cellphones house portable music collections, playback songs on tiny built-in speakers, and swap files through peer-to-peer Bluetooth wireless transfer. The songs collected in Kidal range from DIY Tuareg guitar, auto-tuned Moroccan chaabi, Malian coupé décalé, and fruityloop hip hop. Originally released as a limited run cassette tape by Mississippi Records in Portland OR, the cassette was uploaded to blogs and online media hubs, and quickly became a viral source of new and inspiring sounds.
Promotional video for The Dutch Cycling Embassy
Voter registration rolls being “consulted” by potential voters in Buea. Video is from the Election’s Cameroon (ELECAM) office in Buea, the capital of the southwest region of Cameroon. Many citizens left without obtaining their voter cards. The 2011 presidential election in Cameroon will be held Sunday, October 9th.
What happens when you ask Google Maps for the location of zombies around the world?
Using a keyword search for “zombies”, the map visualizes the absolute concentrations of references within the Google Maps database.
The map reveals two important spatial patterns. First, much of the world lacks any content mentioning “zombies” whatsoever. Second, and related, the highest concentrations of zombies in the Geoweb are located in the Anglophone world, especially in large cities.
It also shows how Africa, where the word ‘zombie’ originally came from, misses out on those criteria. Phew.
Some shots from a visit to iceEthiopia, Ethiopia’s technology innovation hub based in Addis Ababa.
