Open Technologist

Grameen Foundation Statistics – Microfinance

On Blog Action Day I blogged about how the Grameen Foundation is using open source software to assist there needs to rid the world of poverty. I just finished Jeff Howe's book Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business and he provides further statistics about the Grameen Bank: The concept of micro-lending started 1976 with a loan of  $27 to 42 villagers The Grameen Bank was started 7 years later The Grameen Bank became self-sustainable by 1995 67% of...

People Participation in Mass Collaboration Projects

One of the most prominent examples of mass collaboration is Wikipedia. According to Alexa, Wikipedia is the 8th most visited website in the world. Playing a role in Wikipedia's high ranking is the up-to-date information provided by the community of contributors. The contributors provide the  content and ultimately what why visitors turn to Wikipedia for knowledge. Therefore, the importance of having a community of willing contributors is essential to the livelihood of any mass collaboration...

OLPC Available With Windows

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is non-profit organisation whose current focus is the development and distribution of the X0-1 laptop to children in developing nations. The laptop makes use of a Linux OS and a criticism from many countries is that it does not use a Windows OS. They felt that the students would be better prepared for jobs in the global workplace if they used Windows. In response OLPC will now be releasing a laptop running Windows XP Pro specifically built for the XO laptop. Peru...

South African IEC Website Blocks Open Source Users

I decided to have a look at the South African Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) website to see where you could register for the upcoming elections. Instead I was presented with the following message: It seems their website only allows Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer users. So that means no Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Linux or Mac...

Symbian and Nokia Go Open Source

In June 2008 Nokia bought out its partners in Symbian (mobile operating system) for $410 million and have decided to forfeit the $300 million in licensing revenue by going open source. Nokia have started the non-profit Symbian Foundation with around 40 companies joining and plan to release Symbian for free in the first half of 2009. According to CEO Nigel Clifford they are hoping that the money that companies would normally spend on licences would now be spent to innovate on Symbian and is...

Tackling Poverty With Open Source Software – Blog Action Day

The theme for Blog Action Day is poverty and the Grameen Foundation is an organisation making use of technology to enable the poor to create a world without poverty. The Mifos Initiative program is using open source software to create a service model that increases access to technology for microfinance institutions, allowing them to reach the worlds poor. Microfinance is a program whereby poor people are granted small loans (less than $200) to start and sustain small business like the Villiage...

Fennec – Firefox Mobile For Windows

Open Source mobile web browser known under the code name "Fennec" from Mozilla will be available for Windows mobile in a couple of weeks. Mozilla developer Mark Finkle revealed that development for Windows Mobile version is heating up and and that a Linux version is in a alpha testing. You can install it on a Nokia N8x0 and assist with testing. There are no plans yet for a Blackberry version and there was work happening porting it to Symbian but there has been no indication on the...

Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Network

Architecture for Humanity is a charitable organisation that aims to produce architectural solutions to aid humanitarian crisis and communities in need. The Open Architecture Network developed by  Architecture for Humanity, is an online community whose goal is to improve the living conditions of people living in informal settlements and assist those with shelter after a disaster. The network allows designers to: Share ideas, designs and plan Review designs by others Collaborate with all...