Archive for January, 2006

Aids is not witchcraft

Friday, January 27th, 2006

Besides the interesting and obvious issue of AIDS being associated with witchcraft, I think this sign is interesting on another level. The western eye would immediately see this as targeting gay men. But I don’t think it is. In Malawi (and many other countries) it is very common for straight men to hold hands [...]

Gluttony Night

Friday, January 27th, 2006

Just saw this article on BoingBoing about eating a 100 patty In-N-Out Burger.
Check out the picture:

This brought back fond memories of “Gluttony Night” - when a bunch of guys from my dorm decided to do an eating marathon of our favorite junk food dives. Let me see if I remember:
6 Inches of Subway sub
3 Tacos [...]

Wireless Networking in the Developing World

Friday, January 27th, 2006

Rob Flickenger - Wireless Networking Uber Guru and some friends have
just released a book that I can’t wait to read.
Wireless Networking in the Developing World
I think this book was written for me!
I have read other Flickenger titles, and found his work incredibly
practical and very motivating. Look out Malawi…
Download it here.
Some excerpts from the press release:

London, [...]

Those aren’t berries!

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

This past weekend we were driving down the highway and I saw some people selling berries. We had bought some really nice raspberries on previous excursions so I was happy to see another opportunity for it.

But as we stopped the car and the boy brought over his bowl, I realized that those weren’t berries he [...]

January Issue of Wired

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

I love Wired. Most of the articles eventually come out online, but there is something special about the glossy over size pages full of glitzy geekporn. Gadgets, graphics and games all meant to entice geeks to upgrade. One of my favorite computer science professors at UCLA told us that Wired should be required reading for [...]

Practical strategies for breaking the cycle of food insecurity

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

A while back I included a guest post from Stacia and Kristof Nordin called Man should not live on Nsima alone. They just included me on another one of their excellent editorials. The ideas put forward give me much hope for Malawi, but they are just as applicable in Los Angeles as Lilongwe. Anyways, enjoy [...]

Not the only guy from Reno in subsaharan Africa

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

I have been to a number of countries and on the road you always run into people with whom you share some sort of connection: “Oh, my inlaws are from Stuttgart… I went to UCLA too… We lived in Oxford for over three years” and so on. But it is quite rare to meet someone [...]

Wireless Mesh Networking in the news

Tuesday, January 17th, 2006

It sounds like some companies are trying to capitalize on the wireless mesh networking. The idea is pretty simple - let neighbors with broadband connections join them together to increase the total bandwidth that is available to them. The situation in Malawi is different of course, because hardly anyone has a broadband connection. For us [...]

Malawi Blogger Brai

Tuesday, January 17th, 2006

It has been over a month since our first Malawi Blogger get together, so I think it is time to do it again. This Friday evening, will be Malawi’s first ever Blogger Brai held at my house. It is a strictly BYOB event. This means you must bring a blogger if you want to [...]

My favorite Martin Luther King quotes

Tuesday, January 17th, 2006

Happy Martin Luther King day. Here are a few quotes from one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“When [...]

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