tweets o' the day

• 07:18 up and at 'em early on a crisp Saturday morning in the Bay Area. leaving shortly for #barcampafrica at Google HQ
• 09:31 #barcampafrica is in full swing here in building 43 at Google. @chep2m is kicking off things with a bit of structure before the chaos begins
• 09:33 Have to say, the large group meeting space we're in here at Google is very well equipped audio/video. (not jealous at all) #barcampafrica
• 09:34 watching a great GoogleEarth tour of the many topographies of Africa (will try to get link for it later). soundtrack rocks #barcampafrica
• 09:40 Shannon Clark guiding us through the BarCamp format and its four principles #barcampafrica
• 09:41 1. whoever comes are right people 2. whatever happens was only thing that could happen 3. when it starts it's the right time. #barcampafrica
• 09:42 4. When it's over, it's over. The Law of Two Feet: you own your experience here today. go where you're interested & engage #barcampafrica
• 09:47 yay! @sharakarasic is up front sharing how to capture the content of the day on the wiki at barcamp.org/barcampafrica #barcampafrica
• 09:49 We're shortening the tag to #bcafrica from #barcampafrica. We'll see how long it takes to make the switch (I'll lead the way, c u there)
• 09:54 Come join in the wiki goodness at barcamp.org/barcampafrica #bcafrica #barcampafrica
• 09:57 Andrew McLaughlin talking about challenges with infrastructure in Africa. OLPCs are example of old school donor aid #bcafrica
• 09:58 OLPCs crowd out the business opportunities. Pay attention to the ecosystem and help them build businesses, not subsidies #bcafrica
• 09:59 idea for OLPC: open source the designs, allow local production, let them create the solution where they live #bcafrica
• 10:04 The kickoff panel is about to start with @jerrymichalski leading it. we're in for a special time #bcafrica
• 10:13 JM: Stress & shortage of resources perk up creativity. Today we'll hear all kinds of innovations. what to emulate? what not to? #bcafrica
• 10:27 Follow the live Twitterstream from #BarCampAfrica at snurl.com/49unf
• 10:32 Know and respect the culture in which you are trying to make a difference #bcafrica
• 10:33 know what the people you want to help actually want and need (may not be our original bright idea) #bcafrica
• 10:33 what is in your heart & mind is much more important than what is in your wallet. but all 3 need be used to make a difference #bcafrica
• 10:34 don't start anything in Africa, commit to be there for long term. too many have started something & then pulled out, dashing hope #bcafrica
• 10:35 To succeed in Africa property rights must be respected, rules of the game need be set up for business #bcafrica
• 10:36 @rachelpayne welcome to twitter! I'm following you #bcafrica
• 10:37 @sharakarasic it takes a village :-) trying not to get lost in wiki-ness (yet)
• 10:40 companies need to rethink biz models to fit the mobile devices and cultural diversity of low-income population #bcafrica
• 10:42 question: where are local projects uploading their needs so we can assist where they're asking us? ONE ANSWER: Globalgiving.com #bcafrica
• 10:44 much conviction in room that to understand how to help in Africa, you've really got to go there and speak with folks on the ground #bcafrica
• 10:46 RT @temi2004: @BarCampAfrica more ideas on development in Africa could be born here today than there have over the last 3 months #bcafrica
• 10:50 words of caution: "desire to help" isn't enough. what's your intent? what, specifically do you want to do? that's how to engage #bcafrica
• 10:56 What's working? example is Project Baobob in Kenya www.projectbaobab.org/ educating young African women to create leaders #bcafrica
• 10:59 is so nice to see the chorus of tweets helping capture the goings-on at BarCamp Africa - a nice rounded picture of the proceedings #bcafrica
• 11:01 RT @neddotcom Once educated locally in Africa, it can be very hard to find a good paying job there #bcafrica
• 11:11 first panel over, now about to create the grid of topics to discuss today. each of us responsible for creating an action item #bcafrica
• 11:37 BarCamp Africa Session leaders: please remember to add your notes to the list of sessions on the wiki snurl.com/49wli #bcafrica
• 12:01 In the breakout session put on by the XPrize Fdn trying to build a $10M prize project re: creating wealth at bottom of pyramid #bcafrica
• 12:02 getting a quick history of the XPrize Foundation origins (check the web site at www.xprize.org/) #bcafrica
• 12:05 All kinds of prize-driven successes: Trans-Altantic flight, chronometer, margerine and X-Prize's space flight prize #bcafrica
• 12:05 XPRize: we're talking about how we change the way people think, exploring what's possible leveraging prize money into innovation #bcafrica
• 12:06 XPrize: 2006: Genome decoding, 2007: moon travel, 2008: Automotive w/ 100mpg car (152 entries in this prize) #bcafrica
• 12:07 XPrize: now want to bring model to global development realm, the 2-3B people who need a little bit of oomph to improve own lives #bcafrica
• 12:09 XPrize: looking at six domains for development: agriculture, public health, IT/wireless, water/sanitation, transportation, and... #bcafrica
• 12:11 XPrize: visualize a specific place in Africa & dream of what it should be like in 50-60 years. Design a prize (goal) to reach it. #bcafrica
• 12:15 XPrize: anyone can win this prize, even someone in this room (of 30 people) or reading this Twitterstream #bcafrica
• 12:16 XPrize: Big challenge is to create a tight set of rules around the competition, aim for a contest that takes 5-8 years to win #bcafrica
• 12:16 XPrize: don't want something that can be solved in 3 years (challenge isn't hard enough), but do want it solve-able #bcafrica
• 12:20 XPrize: 6th domain for development is financial systems. (what's the next microfinance? what's the next economic revolution?) #bcafrica
• 12:23 XPrize: have an idea for this prize for creating wealth at the bottom of the pyramid? email it to pragnya [at] xprize [dot] org #bcafrica
• 12:25 XPrize: crowd idea: Self-powered kitchens (place where food is stored and prepared) where no outside fuel (wood, coal) required #bcafrica
• 12:34 I'm really surprised at how slow the PBwiki for BarCamp Africa is responding to edits (beware: wiki page names are CaseSensitive) #bcafrica
• 12:58 Don't forget to post your #BarCampAfrica notes on the wiki: barcamp.org/BarCampAfricaTopics #bcafrica
• 13:49 watching a kickass demo of Potenco's micro-grid electricity generating tech #bcafrica
• 13:57 thinking of ways that the micr-grid tech can support domestic elec needs (disaster prep, outdoor mtgs, etc) #bcafrica
• 14:20 in the Africa and Emerging Tech panel with @guykawasaki as moderator #bcafrica (Hi @planspark)
• 14:22 watching @guykawasaki ride the panel hard on their quantity of powerpoint slides (caveat to all who follow) #bcafrica
• 14:24 is very instructive watching @guykawasaki help entrepreneurs clarify their products in a way that relate to funders #bcafrica
• 14:27 how are appfrica and Ushahidi funded? (thru revs from coding work and via a grant from Humanity United, respectively) #bcafrica
• 14:33 strong distaste for white folks bringing aid to Africa, burning thru all the $$ driving around $50K trucks using $8/gal for naught #bcafrica
• 14:37 Really encouraged to hear so much self-reported focus and prioritization of the sustainability of projects. #bcafrica
• 14:39 surprised to hear that *default* interface with Google search in Africa is through mobile phones (not thru PC browser) #bcafrica
• 14:43 @neddotcom (Mark) @lpetrides (Lisa) connecting you here in Twitter since the email intro re: rep systems will likely be even more delayed
• 14:46 if you don't own it, you don't maintain it. This applies to situations around the world (in the US and abroad) #bcafrica
• 14:51 Panelist reports whenever he'd give laptops away in Africa on each trip, they were never used (fear of breakage, lack of skills) #bcafrica
• 14:52 seems to be general consensus on panel that the OLPC is another example of best intentions falling flat #bcafrica
• 14:53 a poor person's number one need anywhere in the world is the ability to make more money #bcafrica
• 14:54 Is cheap electric light a viable product (extends the day)? lighting is a money saving device, not a money-making device #bcafrica
• 14:55 biz model for lighting in Africa: give away the lights and sell the charge instead (replaces kerosene costs). think razors/blades #bcafrica
• 14:57 asked of panel by @guykawasaki: Thoughts on Kiva as a model? long pause... 1) "is a social loan", 2) likes model (a la Prosper) #bcafrica
• 14:58 "Who'd have thought Kiva would outlast Lehman brothers?" observed by @guykawasaki #bcafrica
• 15:00 @glennstrachan thanks for the @replies... remember I'm just the messenger of the panel's content here :-) #bcafrica
• 15:02 asked by @Guykawasaki "I want to write a check, but I don't want to fly over to Africa, what do I do?" #bcafrica
• 15:04 invest in local stock market? too abstract. buy an iPhone developer the iPhone he needs for testing #bcafrica
• 15:04 Kiva gives a good platform to start. There are too many folks wanting to do good in Africa, but efforts not coordinated. #bcafrica
• 15:05 If you just want to write a check, go with Kiva. If you actually want to help, engage in Africa #bcafrica
• 15:07 Ideas from crowd: 1) give to an SME fund. 2) Invest in future of Africa (education) 3) to Kenyans for Peace, Truth & Justice #bcafrica
• 15:11 Many folks stand up to say "best place to give $1000? my cause/organization" -- NGOs, BarCamp Ghana, EpicChange Inc, etc #bcafrica
• 15:12 @planspark I wish for such a tool. I use LiveTwitter to reverse-chron my own tweets with links, etc, but it trails a day behind #bcafrica
• 16:44 learning about African culture and dance from Jim Sowers. he should teach this to HS kids. makes african geog accessible themes #bcafrica
• 16:48 Sowers rode a motorcycle from Cape Town to Cairo, DJ-ing the whole way with his 25 CDs of music mixes, burning copies for locals #bcafrica
• 16:54 Sowers: USA isn't a melting pot, it's a salad bowl of ingredients contiguous but not amalgomated together #bcafrica
• 16:55 Sowers: we need a culture-pedia to capture our cultural distinctions to share with all #bcafrica
• 17:19 RT @makriese The Palin was booed LOUDLY when she dropped puck at Flyers' game. tinyurl.com/4oh2nv
• 17:32 Watching the TED video of William Kamkwamba. see it here: snurl.com/4a5m8 #bcafrica
• 17:34 See William Kamkwamba's Malawi Windmill blog here: snurl.com/4a5nw (last updated March 08) #bcafrica
• 17:40 You can see Kamkwamba's Moving Windmills video here: snurl.com/4a5t0 #bcafrica
• 17:50 Meta: great to see #barcampafrica trending high on Twitter search now (#4 after Obama, LSU and redsox) #bcafrica
• 17:52 @glennstrachan dontcha mean "THE Palin"? ;^)
• 17:54 outcome of pumping water in the village instead of girls travelling 2hrs each day to get water? reclaimed time for schooling #bcafrica
• 17:59 @temi2004 take a breather, you've earned it!
• 18:03 raising chickens isn't as hard as one thinks: urbanchickens.net #bcafrica
• 18:05 rec reading: "All Things Must Fight to Live" re: Congo
• 18:13 see africanleadershipacademy.com to see where William's in school now #bcafrica
• 18:58 great to be at BarCampAfrica today. good job @chep2m et all. thanks for tweeting, every1 #bcafrica
• 21:59 @itgirl great to see you, too. let's not let as much time pass before the next time

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