An online termites guide

While I was growing at Mzokoto in Rumphi, Northern Malawi, our home used to be heavily infested with termites. At that time, I used to think that termites were a problem for poor people in third world countries. I could not even imagine that residents of developed countries such as USA could also be suffering from termite damage. But a look at the termite guide site indicates that this problem is universal. This online guide contains basic information about termites, types of termites, general advice, reader questions and answers, termite fumigation suggestions. Useful links to other termite sites on the web are also available.

If the guys at termite guide site, can create a social network where "termite people" can be sharing their experiences, it would be great.

MyBlogLog goofs! Confines Problogger Contest to US bloggers!

As I woke this morning, I read an interesting blog post from MyBlogLog in which they have announced that they are running a Problogger contest. Part of the announcement reads

A few weeks ago we sat in our office and brainstormed on ways we could give our members a hand in their blogging efforts. We knocked all sorts of ideas around, the new blog-themed email signature being one of the ones that we chose, but our favorite idea was holding a contest that would 1-benefit everyone who participated and 2-give out a barrel-full of problogger-themed goodness.

::Robyn climbs up on her soapbox:: So, without further ado, I give you THE MYBLOGLOG PROBLOGGER CONTEST!

As expected, I was very excited with this news.But my excitement was short lived because a look at the rules of the contest indicates that

THE FOLLOWING CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR PLAY IN THE FIFTY UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (COLLECTIVELY, THE "ELIGIBILITY ZONE") ONLY AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED IN, AND A LEGAL RESIDENT OF, THE ELIGIBILITY ZONE.

Did they really knock all sorts of ideas around? I do not think so! By limiting the eligibility zone to the US like this, MyBlogLog (MBL) has made a very serious mistake. They should have realized that the blogosphere is a zone in which we have folks from all over the world. Confining this Problogger Contest to US residents will not go down well with residents of other countries. MyBlogLog is, in essence, sending out a message that MBL rates US based bloggers more highly compared to bloggers based in other countries. Other blog social networking sites will capitalize on these segregative tactics from MBL. MBL should have borrowed a leaf from BlogCatalog who run their own all inclusive blogger competition a few months ago. Ironically, that competition was won by an India based blogger, Narendra.

My US fan base is exploding!!!!

Of late, I have observed a huge increase in the number of visits from US residents to this blog. Last year, when I had just started this blog, UK residents were having an upper hand, particularly because a good number of my Malawian friends have moved to the UK (I guess it is is easier to move to UK than to USA for most Malawians). These UK based friends have been visiting my blog on a regular basis for the past one year.I just hope that they will continue doing so and even introduce this blog to their colleagues. Now, the great news is that after some SEO tweaking, my US fan base is exploding! Most of the US visitors land on my blog organically through search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Ask etc. I have also received some good traffic from US based friends at BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog. Some of them have eventually become regular visitors. My Statcounter limit is 500 and, as of today, 190 of the 500 visits are from USA while 74 are from UK. This trend is so exciting considering that I am based in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Ethanol Propelled Vehicle Project in Malawi

In my last post, I presented five facts which justify Malawi's work on the Ethanol Propelled Vehicle Project. Now, I will present the current status of the project and the way forward.

Before going any further, let me point out that the goal of this project is to compare the performance of a vehicle running on 100% ethanol with a petrol driven one. Therefore, an old petrol vehicle was used for the tests. During the road tests, engine temperature was normal, torque was high such that the vehicle was driven on high gear (5th) most of the times.The vehicle was test driven at 110km/hour.Fuel consumption was high due to the high speed and old age of the car. The rate of fuel consumption was 8km per litre compared to 10-15km per litre for petrol on new vehicles of the type at normal speed.The acceleration was lower than petrol.All the components of the fuel system are so far intact and do not show any sign of damage due to ethanol use.The results show that it is possible to use 100% ethanol to drive petrol vehicles.

As part of the way forward, the project will continue to generate data on engine performance of the ethanol driven vehicle and to make comparison with the use of petrol.Such data shall help in the cost-benefit analyzes exercise. The team will continue to test and check on the long-term effects (if any) of ethanol on the fuel system of vehicles. The team will further gather data on the performance of a flex vehicle and build capacity for Malawians to maintain ethanol or flex vehicles.

I asked the office of the Director of Science and Technology a few questions on this project. The response was well detailed and very encouraging. As a blogger, I was very excited with this development. The response goes like this:

• Question 1: In your current research efforts, besides the Lilongwe Technical College, do you collaborate with other organizations or institutions locally and internationally?

• Answer : We collaborate with Ethanol Company(Ethco) at Dwangwa, Prescane Company in Chikwawa (Locally). These are basically ethanol producing companies and have assisted with free Ethanol, most of which has come from Ethco at Dwangwa. Ethco has imported a Flex vehicle for further experiments (I will give more details on this to your other question below, about re-inventing the wheel). We have other institutions and organizations which we call 'partners' such as Stansfield Motors and CFAO Malawi, where partnership has been established. There are other partners and institutions with which partnership is sought. Originally, there was a suggestion to include the Polytechnic but there were some logistical and financial constraints. As the project comes up with more results, we shall expand and include all other relevant institutions.We should be holding a National Stakeholder Consultative Workshop sometime this year and we shall invite all stakeholders to the meeting.

• Question 2:I have been reading that ethanol propelled vehicles have been used in Brazil for quite sometime. In light of this, are we not re-inventing the wheel? Is it not possible for us just to send some people to Brazil for training on Ethanol propelled vehicles and see how we can implement the same in Malawi?

• Answer: It is not easy to send people to Brazil for training. We allocated some funds during the last financial year (2006/07) for an officer from Lilongwe Technical College to go to Brazil, but it did not materialize, because he could not get the invitation letter for him to process the Visa. CFAO as our partner assisted a lot to get the invitations, they even send e-mail messages in Portuguese, the official language in Brazil, but it did not work! We are still exploring ways of getting around this problem.Secondly, in Brazil, they are manufacturing Flex vehicles which can use pure ethanol, pure petrol or any combination of the two fuels in a single tank. A Flex has been imported by Ethco for further experiments in Malawi. However,you can agree with me that this technology will be far above the reach of most middle Malawians. The experiments we are conducting now are targeting the Biwi-Biwi, or Ndirande-Mlanga road -Red cross type of people. We believe that this group consumes a lot of fuel and could help to reduce the petrol demand hence imports if they turned ethanol. Thank you for your enquiry and interest in the Ethanol driven vehicle project, we hope that every Malawian stand to benefit if the results are commercialized in the future.

My views
I must start by congratulating the Department of Science and Technology, team at Lilongwe Technical College and the Ethanol Company of Malawi for their different roles in this project. They have set the ball rolling. I hope other stakeholders will come in especially with the upcoming National Stakeholder Consultative Workshop.

From what I have read, preliminary results of this research have shown that some parts need to be fitted to the vehicle so that it can run on 100% ethanol. Automobile companies may come in handy on this issue because they are the ones involved in the manufacturing and repairing of these vehicles .Therefore, for this project to be a success, automobile companies such as Stansfield Motors , CFAO, Toyota Malawi and others must take part in a more active role.

For this project to be a success, I am of the view that Malawi must establish international collaboration especially with the Brazilians who are already manufacturing flex vehicles. I greatly appreciate the efforts being done by CFAO in trying to establish a link with the Brazilians. If you know any organizations in Brazil, India, USA or any other country that either do research on or manufacture ethanol propelled vehicles, feel free to forward this post to them so that I can link them to their Malawian counterparts. Everyone can read this post because language is no longer a barrier these days. You can translate this post to ten other major languages of the world.

Japan to start research on the new generation of the Internet

News reports indicate that Japan will start research and development on technology for a new generation of the network that would replace the current Internet. This technology is expected to be released for commercial use in 2020. Speaking to reporters in Brazil, where he is visiting, the Japanese communications minister Yoshihide Suga said

an organization will be set up as early as this fall with cooperation from businesses, academia and government offices for promoting the technology when the Internet is seen to be faced with increasing constraints in achieving higher throughputs of data as well as ensuring data security. The envisaged network is expected to ensure faster and more reliable data transmission, and have more resilience against computer virus attacks and breakdowns. The ministry is hoping Japan will take a lead in development of post-Internet technology and setting global standards, a move that ministry officials believe would help make Japanese companies competitive in the global market for hardware and software using such technology.

Some tech commentators are of the view that this is a duplication of the US led Internet2 project. I beg to differ with this way of thinking. The Internet2 project has been around for more than ten years. The Japanese might have seen its shortcomings (remember that they are very smart) hence their interest in coming up with their own initiative. After all, this is just research. Let the Japanese and all other capable nations do their own research on this issue. If their interests coincide with the Internet2 project, they are free to collaborate with the US guys.

Many Africans, including me, have a strong liking for Japanese technology. If you come to Malawi today, you will find Japanese cars (Toyota, Mitsubishi, Isuzu etc) and motorcycles (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki etc) of all types. Actually, as I was growing up, my paternal grandfather used to own a Honda motorcycle. In light of this, I am of the view that a Japanese spearheaded Internet revolution will spread to the rest of the developing world more easily. As a result, all this talk about the digital divide will be history. What do you think?

The Access to Learning Award

During one of my aimless web browing sessions after a very busy day, I stumbled upon a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation web page.This site announces that the foundation's Global Libraries initiative invites applications from libraries and similar organizations outside the United States that have created new ways to offer these key services:

1. Free public access to computers and the Internet
2. Public training to assist users in accessing online information that can help improve their lives
3. Technology training for library staff
4. Outreach to underserved communities

The award recipient will receive $1 million. You can get more details and the application guidelines from the web site itself.If you know any library or organization that is eligible for this award, please refer them here.They might end up winning this prestigious award. Specifically, I would like to encourage African libraries and similar organizations, not to miss out on this one. On my part, I wish all the African applicants, all the best :)

The need for more Africa based researchers and academicians to take an active role in IEEE - Part 1

According to the Gurdian Education Weekly of June 8, 2005, Africa is the world's poorest continent, containing 18 of the 20 poorest countries in the world. In a related article, the Gurdian Unlimited further reports that relative to the rest of the world, Africa is getting poorer all the time. In view of this, it is very encouraging to see the likes of former US president Bill Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates and others helping in order to lift Africa out of the poverty trap.

"Currently, more than eight million people around the world die each year because they are too poor to stay alive."—Jeffrey Sachs. The End of Poverty.New York:Penguin Press, 2005,p.1

As one way of fighting poverty on the African continent, I would like to ask Africa-based Electrical and Electronic engineers, researchers and academicians to take an active role in the activities of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers(IEEE). This might not make sense to someone but hold your breath.Let me do a little bit of explaining. I am sure we will converge to the same line of thinking. Do you know anything about the digital divide?In a nutshell, the term digital divide refers to the gap between countries such as USA which have regular and effective access to digital and information technology and countries such as those in Africa which do not have this access. The IEEE is the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology. Most of the technological advances that we witness today were hatched through relentless research efforts of members of IEEE. By taking an active role in IEEE, African researchers would be on the leading edge of technology.With such experiences, it will be easy for them to customize what they learn from other colleagues in IEEE to the African setup. As a result, the process of bridging the digital divide will be easier and faster. Once this first step is done, continued involvement in IEEE will still be required to avoid losing the gains attained.

"The rate at which technological progress is accelerating is not a constant. The power of information technologies is doubling every year... "—Ray Kurzweil, author,inventor,futurist and winner of 1999 National Medal of Technology."A Singular Mind," United Hemispheres Magazine, Dec, 2006, p. 106.

African economies, which traditionally are based on agriculture and natural resources (gold, diamond, oil, diamonds) will be able to blossom in this information driven world. Mind you, most of the countries that are ranking high in the information revolution, do not have the diaomands, oil, uranium, gold etc. that Africa has.Things will turn upside down when Africa fully embraces the information age. The African re-birth will surely be accomplished.Let me sign out this posting with the following words of wisdom:

"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Matthew 19v30, King James Version of the Bible.

Wireless Network for Health Applications project at the Malawi Polytechnic

In an effort to make engineering relevant to the society, the Electrical Engineering department at the Malawi Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi has been running the Wireless Network for Health Applications project since mid 2006. This work is being done with collaboration from the Radio Communications Unit, Aeronomy and Radio Propagation Laboratory, Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy. The goal of this project is to improve the delivery of health services by improving access to information and timely communication through low cost wireless-based communication network and basic telemedicine applications in the city of Blantyre. Some of the specific objectives of the project include the following:

1. To improve access to information and ease of communication for the delivery of health services through increased Internet connectivity bandwidth, low cost wireless-based network and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP);
2. To use basic telemedicine applications for the delivery of health services, such as exchange of medical records, statistics, epidemic surveillance data, transmission of X-rays; and consultations with specialists through email; thus availing expert opinion at the which otherwise is available only at referral hospitals
3. To increase knowledge and skills of staff at Ndirande and Limbe health centres in City of Blantyre on how to use ICT facilities for the delivery of health services.
4. To develop an appropriate model for wireless-based communication network for health applications to be replicated in other areas.

The project is comprised of two phases: network implementation and installation of telemedicine applications. The first phase involved the development of a wireless network connecting Ndirande and Limbe Health Centres to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), the biggest hospital in the City of Blantyre, through the Polytechnic. As of now, it is possible to access the Internet from the two health centres through the Polytechnic as a gateway. The Blantyre Malaria Project (BMP) housed within the premises of Ndirande Health Centre can upload research data to their server in USA. It is also possible to make VoIP phone calls between the two health centres and QECH.

Now that I am back to the land of the lake, I am pleased to let you know that I am part of this project. As the project goes into the second phase, there is a need for collaboration with organizations or institutions which specialize in telemedicine applications. As we mind more about the communication aspects of the project, you can help us with the telemedicine aspects of the same. If you are either part of or you know such organizations or institutions, please get in touch with me through nyirendac at gmail.com.