|
Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
|
|
Kindlized
I first saw the Amazon Kindle in early February when Steve Brotman, a fellow director of Knovel Corporation, showed me his at a board meeting. I was not convinced it would be different than the many predecessors I had tried but I was intrigued enough to order one. After waiting a month for the backorder to be filled, I opened the box, turned on the Kindle and within a couple of minutes I was reading Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth in a new and comfortable way. I had recently purchased the paperback version of "Pillars" for $14.97 and was about half-way through the gripping 1,000 page novel. With my new acquisition I visited the Kindle bookstore on the device and keyed in "pillars". I selected the Follet novel and in less than a minute the Kindle version was ready to read. The $7.99 charge for the e-book was automatically placed on my credit card. There is no login, user id, password or network connection process. The "Amazon Whispernet" (from Sprint) is totally seamless. In addition to more than 100,000 books, you can also choose from a dozen or so top newspapers and magazines plus a few hundred blogs. If you are an author, there is a streamlined process to Kindlize their books. It took me less than five minutes to add Net Attitude to the Kindle Bookstore. You can also add virtually any document of your own such reports, long emails, user guides, or just about anything. The most amazing thing about the Kindle is how easy it is to use. Amazon set out three years ago to create an entirely new portable reading device with the ability to wirelessly download books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers. The Kindle uses "electronic paper" that makes the screen as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper without the strain and glare of a computer screen. You have to see it to believe it. The device weighs ten ounces, never becomes hot, and is easy for both "lefties" and "righties" to read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time. I have arthritis in my neck and need to read without bending my head down. I use a reading stand which works very well except with large books like "Pillars", it is hard to keep the book open on the stand. No problem with the Kindle. It just sits there and when it is time to "turn the page" you just tap a button on the Kindle and the next (or previous) page appears. You can select from six font sizes to suit your taste and compensate for lighting conditions. If you encounter a word you are not familiar with, a couple of clicks the built-in New Oxford Dictionary displays the definition. You can add bookmarks, notes, and take "clippings" as you read. It is a joy to use. All things considered, I think Amazon has hit a major home run with the Kindle. The Chinese invention of paper in 105 A.D. changed the way the world communicates. The invention of "e-ink" may change it again. The electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. The screen displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting. There is no glare and you can read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room. With the addition of a $10 memory card, the Kindle can store more than 1,000 books. All you put in your briefcase is the paperback sized Kindle. The battery life is good and full recharge takes just 2 hours. Don't forget to pack the charger when you go out of town. I am away for a few days and forgot mine. I finished "Pillars" but now I have to wait until Tuesday to start another book. |
|
|
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
|
|
IBM Happenings: February 2008
|
|
|
Friday, March 14, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008
|
|
|
Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - Giving Back
Of all the people who are able to fly to South Africa on business or vacation trips, surely the least among them is far more fortunate than those in the depressed areas of South Africa. For those so inclined, are there ways to give back? I have been asking myself that question. Fortunately, there are many choices and I plan to act on some of them. Among the time-tested organizations that have long-term experience working in Africa are the following... Habitat for Humanity South Africa builds on the basic The Habitat Vision -- “A world in which every person has a decent place to live”. HFHSA has been actively building in South Africa since 1996 and to date over 2,000 houses have been constructed across Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The Africa Fund reaches out to local religious leaders, community and labor leaders, as well as state and municipal officials and their constituencies. The Africa Fund works to support human rights, democracy, and economic development on the continent. The African Medical and Research Foundation, founded in 1952, is committed to empowering the disadvantaged people of Africa. The organization works in close partnership with local communities, government ministries of health, UN agencies, other NGOs to develop locally appropriate models for improving health, to contribute to capacity building at all levels, and to develop an enabling environment for health improvement. The African Services Committee was founded in 1981 by a group of refugees and provides relief and assistance for diverse ethnic immigrant and refugee groups in need of food, shelter, clothing, medical care, legal services, housing, and employment. Books for Africa, founded in 1988, Minnesota-based Books for America collects, sorts, ships, and distributes books to the children of Africa in partnership with Rotary Clubs, YMCAs, churches, schools, and various community groups. The Global Alliance for Africa, is a Chicago-based group that works in concert with local and international partners to bring medical care to those regions of Africa most in need of help. The South Africa Development Fund, was founded in 1985 by South African exiles living in the U.S. and it works in partnership with community-based organizations to provide financial and technical support to communities disadvantaged by decades of apartheid policies. All of these fine organizations accept online donations. |
|
|
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - Cape Town
There are many things to explore outside of Cape Town, most notably the Cape of Good Hope.The rocky point is a called a headland which means it is an area of land adjacent to water on three sides. I always had thought that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern most tip of Africa, but that distinction actually goes to Cape Agulhas, which is about 90 miles to the southeast. The Wikipedia says that the rounding of the cape in 1488 was a major milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish a sea route to the Far East. More than 500 ships were wrecked trying to go by the Cape and instead crashing on the rocks. You can see water bubbling around the rocks off shore but many ships in bad weather could not. Now with GPS every ship can know precisely where it is and where any obstacles are. We also visited Cape Point which is just over a mile away. Both are well worth seeing. It was quite a climb to get up to the lighthouse. Unfortunately, the weather gets so bad that the lighthouse was not visible at times and therefore not effective. A few years ago we rounded Cape Horn on a cruise but the weather was so bad I was not able to get a very good picture. Here are some pictures from Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope. At the end of the day we made a visit to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. I don't much about flowers but I have to admit that it was quite impressive. No trip to Cape Town would be complete without visiting the wine country. Just like California has Napa and Sonoma, South Africa has eleven different wine areas with nice towns and "wine farms". The region we visited is called Paarl and the tour and tasting was at the Seidelberg Wine Estate. The views were beautiful and the wines were excellent.From there we rode through Franschhoek, where the French first made wine in South Africa 300 years ago. We stopped at Haute Cabriére Cellar Restaurant for lunch. The unique restaurant was built into the side of a mountain. We got to the Cape Town airport at 2 PM thinking we had plenty of time but it turned out to be a chaotic Friday afternoon. We got home twenty-eight hours later. Our luggage arrived twenty-six more hours after that. All in all a really fun and educational trip. |
|
|
Sunday, March 9, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - Victoria Falls
A bit conservative but we left Sandton at 9am and got to the airport at 9:30 for a 12:15 flight to Livingstone, Zambia. The first surprise, of many to come, was the $135 per person visa fee to enter the country. Ground transportation had been arranged and two young gentlemen escorted us to a small van to begin the 15 mile trip to the Victoria Falls Hotel. The first stop was at the immigration center as we left Zambia. This was followed by a stop at another immigration center as we entered Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe charged $50 per person to enter their country. Both immigration centers had long lines of people and trucks. The people are in poverty trying to survive in a country where the government leaders have done nothing for them and have bankrupted the country, but not themselves. Inflation is running at 100,000% while life expectancy has declined to 38 due to 17% of the male population having HIV infection. We had to remove our luggage and change cars and drivers at the border so that the car service would not have to pay the visa fees. Dozens of huge tandem flatbed trucks carrying copper and industrial materials lined the shoulders of the poorly paved road. Some would have to wait a day or more to get clearance to cross the border. There were people along the road selling various food, carrying huge loads of goods balanced on their heads, and a baboon or monkey here and there. We finally arrived at the hotel after nearly seven hours. The ground transportation had to be paid in U.S. dollars -- no credit cards. After all the government fees -- which likely go to politicians, not education or road repairs -- I was out of U.S. dollars. The next surprise was that the hotel informed us that there would be a $20 per person charge to enter the trail to visit the famous water falls. No credit cards. No local currencies accepted -- only U.S. dollars. Could the hotel advance some cash and charge to our room? No. They will accept U.S. dollars as payment but they will not give out any dollars. "Sorry for the inconvenience". How do I get some dollars to go see the falls that I have traveled all day to see? You have to go to Zambia to a bank. There are no dollars available in Zimbabwe. I was beside myself to put it mildly -- feeling like I was in a small room with two doors that both said "No Exit". Fortunately, the driver was still in the lobby and he took us to the bank, with stops at both immigration centers, a wait in line to get our passports stamped and change cars again at the border. The bank in Zambia was open and dispenses U.S. dollars against an American Express card -- except that international money transfers ceased at 3:30 PM. It was 3:45 PM. Back to the car and on to a shopping center five miles down the road to an ATM. After entering my PIN I asked for 1,500,000 Zambian kwachas, which I estimated would be about $400. The hourglass on the ATM screen flashed for a few minutes and then displayed a message saying "This ATM will be temporarily unavailable from 4 PM to 4:30 PM daily". It was 4:15. (The next day a charge for $402 appeared in Quicken from my credit card account). Back to the car and down the road to another ATM. This time I requested and was able to withdraw 2,000,000 Zambian kwachas. Now on to a "Currency Exchange Center". Sounds fancy but it was downscale from a strip mall dry cleaning business with handwritten posters on the wall showing the exchange rate. I presented an inch thick wad of bills and walked out with $522 plus a remainder of 900 kwachas because they don't handle coins. The 900 kwachas were worth twenty-four cents. Back to the car, through the two immigration centers, passport lines, car change, and finally to the Victoria Falls park at 5PM. How long does it take to walk through the park and see the falls? Two hours but they close in one hour so it is too late to go. The day could have been a Chevy Chase vacation series movie. The Victoria Falls Hotel overlooks the Victoria Falls Bridge and the gorges below. It is historic, elegant, and tranquil but not necessarily equal to the international acclaim advertised. The main thing going for it is the falls being within walking distance. The rooms are expensive and the food was the most expensive of the trip. Not sure if it was the malaria medication in preparation for MalaMala or the hotel food that made me sick the following few days. I think it was the hotel food. The wine selection and quality was poor. The dining room was hot and humid -- no air conditioning. The service staff were all very friendly and it would not have been fair to take out the uncanny day on them. The next morning we walked to the falls. Once off the hotel property we were met with local young men offering various souvenirs for sale. Offering would not actually the right word -- they were hounding and begging. You have to feel sorry for them but you can't solve the problem by buying from them. One of them had something I had been looking for and when I offered $15 the few sales people suddenly became a throng that would not leave us alone. We paid our $20 U.S. dollar entrance fee at a gate and headed into the jungle to see the falls. As we got closer the mist in the air turned to a sprinkle and eventually pouring rain. The sky was blue but the tremendous amount of water from the falls makes the area feel like a rain forest. After an hour we returned to the hotel soaked through to the bone. The experience of the past day and a half made me feel soaked in every way. I was really happy to get back to Johannesburg to begin the last leg of the trip -- to Cape Town. |
|
|
Saturday, March 8, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - MalaMala
The most interesting part of MalaMala is seeing the animals but I was also interested in the aviation aspects of the trip. We headed to MalaMala from Johannesburg aboard a 29 passenger Jetstream 41 regional turboprop airliner which is made by British Aerospace. Their were two pilots, a flight attendant, and six passengers. I don't think South African Airways made much money on the flight. I was impressed with the Jetstream. It has two 1,650 horsepower Honeywell turboprop engines with McCauley five-bladed propellers. The pilots have a digital radio communications system and a fully digital automatic flight control system. The MalaMala Airport is a different story. The "airport" is actually a mile-long paved strip in the middle of the bushveld. There are no buildings and the emergency ground resources consist one fire truck sitting in the weeds. I don't believe there are any navigation aids on the ground. Nevertheless, I am quite confident that the daily flight into and out of MalaMala is as safe as any flights anywhere. The MalaMala Game Reserve has been in existence since 1927 and claims to be the largest private "Big Five" (lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant) game reserve in South Africa. MalaMala has 40,000 acres of land with a 12 mile unfenced border with the world-renowned Kruger National Park. There are several different "camps" where one could stay -- we were fortunate to be at Rattray's. Not only does MalaMala provide an exciting wildlife experience but it also is very focused on preserving and protecting the animals and the ecosystem. This became evident from the outset when Rob, our ranger, briefed us on the protocol to be followed while out in the bush. No getting out of or standing in the Land Rover, no waving of arms, and no making of noises to try to attract the animals attention. Each day started at 5:30 AM with a wake-up call from Rob. After a cup of coffee we headed out in the Land Rover with our new friends, Gerhard and Hiltrud, from Germany. In total we made five trips into the bush. Rob and Culver, our tracker, had an uncanny sense of when various kinds of animals would be in certain places. The reserve has more than 1,000 miles of "roads" and frequently the Land Rover would suddenly pull off into the grass to see one of the big five or other animals. Rob would shut off the engine and we would just sit and watch. The rangers are in constant radio communication with one another to keep each other informed about the location of the game. The animals at MalaMala have grown up with engines as part of the ambient noise of the bush. They were not intimidated or seem to notice us whispering to each other as we were in awe of these great animals. We were typically twenty to fifty feet or so away and sometimes less than ten feet. (see photo gallery). We got back to camp at 9am for breakfast. In the afternoon we would meet at 4 PM and head out until 7:30 PM and then meet for cocktails and dinner. All three meals each day were prepared by the on-site natively-dressed staff. Our ranger sat with us at each meal and the homemade food was extremely good. On the second night we dined outdoors in the boma by the crackling fire pit. After dinner it was time to return to our khaya (Zulu for ‘home’). Although the facilities were more than expected, the real attraction was the animals. At departure we received a certificate validating that we had indeed seen the big five. We actually saw many more animals including jackal, hyena, baboons, water buffalo, cheetah, giraffe, zebra plus many different birds and interesting plants and trees. The lioness playing with her four cubs was a special treat. As usual, I have to apologize for my poor photographic skills but the photo gallery is worth more than whatever else I can say, except for one thing that I found truly amazing. A leopard had overtaken and killed an impala. An impala is a fast runner and weighs 150-200 pounds. They can jump a distance of thirty feet. Whatever it's abilities, it was not enough to get away from the leopard. It dragged the impala to the base of a tree and we sat thirty feet away in the Land Rover watching as it planned the next steps to protect the "kill" from being taken by other leopards or by hyenas. After devouring enough of the meat to lighten the weight a bit, the leopard picked up the impala by the neck with it's teeth and raced straight up a fifty foot tree like a rocket ship. I could barely believe it as I saw it. Leopards are said to be able to carry three times their weight up a tree. The leopard placed the impala between two limbs near the top of the tree with head and antlers and two legs hanging over one part and the other two legs hanging over the other. The leopard then parked itself spread-eagled over a lower part of the limb and rested. We went back that night and saw hyena (notice those nasty teeth) laying in the grass hoping the leopard would get sloppy and let the impala fall to the ground. We went back the next day and the leopard was still up in the tree. Too bad I did not have a night vision zoom lens. Hopefully this picture conveys the story. |
|
|
Thursday, March 6, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - Infrastructure
Other aspects of infrastructure in South Africa were a mixed bag. Broadband Internet access was available everywhere we visited including the MalaMala bushveld (via satellite). Even Zimbabwe had dial-up access in an Internet lounge. It was $4 for 15 minutes if you paid cash, or $8 if you put it on your hotel bill. According to the Internet World Stats, just over 10% of the population of South Africa had Internet access as of 2006. I suspect the number is much higher now, especially if you consider Internet Cafes. We saw many of these throughout Soweto. iBurst, one of South Africa's largest wireless broadband providers, is planning to roll out 20 000 Internet cafes by 2010. Availability of electricity in Africa is a challenge -- even in major cities in South Africa. When we checked into our hotel in Johannesburg, there was a letter under the door from the hotel general manager saying that if elevators stopped working, the emergency power generator should kick in within eight minutes. There are rolling power outages throughout the country. People say it is due to poor planning by the government. Rolling blackouts are annoying but the bigger problem is total lack of electricity in many parts of Africa. Without electricity it is hard to move water. Without water it is hard to build an economy and grow food. The big potential is solar, as Africa is very well positioned geographically. The UN and non-profits such as SELF are trying to break down economic and governmental barriers to exploiting solar's potential. Finally is mobile communications. I took my iPhone because that is where all my calendar and contact details are, but when it comes to phone calls and the mobile Internet, the Apple - AT&T team does not make it easy. Apple locks the iPhone so you can not put a Vodacom South Africa SIM card in it -- Apple wants to be sure to get their commission from AT&T. In South Africa, AT&T charges $2.49 per minute for inbound or outbound calls, fifty cents for a text message, and $20 per megabyte for data service. (Some modest discounts are available if you sign up for a monthly international plan). Some unwary travelers have forgotten to turn off automatic email retrieval in their iPhone and ended up with thousands of dollars in charges from AT&T. Maxroam is an innovative VoIP company in Ireland. For a little more than $40 they send you a SIM card which you can put into any unlocked GSM phone -- such as the Treo which I held onto after getting the iPhone for use during international travel. Maxroam gives you a U.S. mobile phone number. If someone calls my iPhone while I am out of the country it will automatically forward to the Treo. If I want to make a call I dial from the Treo using whatever local GSM operator is available. The cost for Maxroam varies by country -- in South Africa it is 39 cents per minute for inbound calls and 49 cents per minute for local or outbound calls. The Maxroam proposition was very appealing but unfortunately it did not work. I called and emailed the company with no response. If not Maxroam, someone will figure out how to use VoIP to get around the outrageous international mobile roaming rates. Fortunately, I was able to get a Vodacom prepaid card for the Treo. It worked very well for local and international calls. Most international calls were made from the hotel room with my ThinkPad using Skype at two cents per minute. Internet Technology , Mobile , Travels , iPhone March 6, 2008 10:22 AM |
|
|
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 |
|
|
South Africa 2008 - Johannesburg
On the arrival night, it was a pleasure to meet Matimba Mbungela, a managing executive at Vodacom South Africa, in person after having exchanged email and phone calls during the prior week. Matimba introduced me to his colleague Chris Ross, the senior sales executive for Vodacom South Africa, who would be host of the conference taking place the next day. Vodacom is a Pan-African cellular communications company providing world class GSM services to more than 30 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique. More than 500 Vodacom business partners attended The Future of Technology conference to get an update on the various Vodacom offerings. My keynote at the end of the day offered a view of The Future of the Internet. That evening a delightful gala was held to recognize the sales achievements of the top Vodacom partners and dealers. Like most conferences, there was an exhibition area where dozens of hardware, software, and services companies showed off their latest offerings. One of the most interesting one was the Firefly, from Grapevine Interactive. The Firefly is a parent-friendly mobile phone for young children. The tiny colorful phone has three prominent buttons on it. One to call Mom, one to call Dad, and one to place an emergency call. The phone can also store twenty parent-approved phone numbers. Another conference took place later in the week in Midrand at Vodaworld, the company headquarters. The top 200 senior level executives of Vodacom came together as part of their professional development and to network with one another. The first part of the morning focused on The Future of the Internet and the second half we discussed innovation and how to nurture big ideas. The latter session was based on a class I led at MIT in September. During the second half of the first week we stayed at the Intercontinental in Sandton, just a few blocks from Nelson Mandela Square. The giant statue of the former President of South Africa is impressive as is the life of the man who was first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election in the country. Mandela had led the anti-apartheid movement. We could see Robben Island, where Mandela spent 27 years in prison, from the waterfront the following week in Cape Town. We also visited his former home in Soweto. The respect for Nelson Mandela is universal regardless of ethnicity or political leaning. He will be 90 in July. Nearby in Soweto is Orlando West stands the Hector Pieterson memorial square. Pieterson was killed at the age of twelve when police opened fire on protesting students in 1976. More than five-hundred were killed in the struggle. Soweto, which stands for townships southwest of Johannesburg, consists of dozens of townships and represents more than a third of the population of the city. The poverty is incredible. Some progress is being made but the results of decades of repression are obvious. The sights are breathtaking and not in a positive way. Hard to imagine that a government rationalized the extreme segmentation and discrimination. After a half day touring Soweto we had lunch in the Dube section of Soweto at Wandies Place. I could not identify most of the food in the buffet but it was very tasty. Another half-day educational visit was to the Cradle of Humankind. It was well worth the one hour ride north of Johannesburg into the Gauteng province to see the Sterkfontein Caves where the 2.3-million year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (nicknamed "Mrs. Ples"), an early hominid, was found in 1947. We literally had to crawl on hands and knees to get to the bottom of the enormous limestone cave hundreds of feet below ground. Although there was not much light, we could see huge stalactites and stalagmites and an underground lake that is fed from more than fifty miles away. Excavation at the site continues. In case you did not know it, we all came from Africa. The guide said "welcome back". If you are interested in finding the path taken by your ancestors to get from Africa to whatever part of the world you live in, take a look at the human genographic project.
Conferences , Internet Technology , People , Travels March 4, 2008 03:17 PM |
|
|
Monday, March 3, 2008 |
|
|
Luggage Back Too
I visited South African Airways (flysaa.com) and at the bottom of the "After your trip" page was a link for "Lost/damaged luggage". Could it be? II entered the file reference number from the printout and voila! Information about each of the four bags was displayed along with the status. As the day went on the status changed from "No information available" to "Arrived at airport" to "Delivery process underway". It took thirty-six hours to get the luggage but I was impressed with how South African Airways had integrated a very old application with a user-friendly web front end. Apparently the people at the airport are not aware of it. The airline could certainly take some anxiety away and offload an extremely busy call center by informing their customers about the web application and including the url on the printout. The ideal solution would be to have the application automatically generate an SMS text message to your mobile phone every hour with the status. The pictures are uploaded to the gallery and the stories will start soon.
Internet Technology , Mobile , On Demand , Travels March 3, 2008 04:58 PM |
|
|
Sunday, March 2, 2008 |
|
|
Back From Africa
|
The "e-book" -- replacing the paper book with something electronic -- is not a new idea. 
The trip is over and things are back to normal, but South Africa has left a lasting impression on me. All the stories and pictures are in the index below. For anyone who wants to print the stories, they are all combined into a single 
The 
It was a smooth flight from 
If there is a "must see" in South Africa it would be Victoria Falls. My bottom line would be that if you go there to make it a day trip and be sure to fly directly to the Victoria Falls airport. The way we made the trip turned out to very complicated. Just like 
We met 
The 
There is much to write about Africa and Internet technology, but I can not resist sharing about our luggage. We waited in line along with many others to provide information about the size and color of the missing bags. The agent entered the information and gave us a printout that was clearly from a decades-old system. We were told to give a call after twenty-four hours. I called after 26 hours and was told there was no update and that it could take up to five days. The reasoning was that there may not be room in the next few flights for "extra" baggage -- the classic case of taking care of the new customers rather than upset them by helping customers who have already been disappointed. After continuing to get "there is no new information" I thought to myself that tracking luggage would be a great application for the web. I wondered if the airline had thought about it.
The trip back from Africa took twenty-nine hours. If you include the half day in Cape Town's 
