October 2011 - change - Mailing Lists

Re: [change] [SPAM] $35 touchscreen tablet launched in India
by Rahul Banerjee 05 Oct '11

05 Oct '11

I totally agree :) Also, the way these ministers are hijacking this event for political mileage leaves a really bad impression. While lifting "villagers out of poverty" is a rather tenuous proposition (and quite frankly, beyond the scope of a single "miracle" device), this tablet is definitely packed with potential, though not for the "poorest of the poor", where the most impact is needed in India. It will probably be a bigger success with talented kids who generally don't have access to laptops and tablets (think kids living in rural areas, with electricity, but without good schools) and they would benefit from having a "hacker-friendly" device. This is _not_ a significant fraction of India, but it is a sizeable population. -- Rahul On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 4:24 PM, Joyojeet Pal <joyojeet(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I agree with Yaw on this -- sure, it is great that this technology is so > cheap, and one can argue that similar such efforts have brought up new > technology innovations (Netbook etc) and various other benefits, what is > deeply problematic is the idea that this will solve the issues of > development in India, and Indian minister Kapil Sibal's announcing the > project as being some kind of a dig out of exclusion > (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/india-announces-35-tablet…) > If you look at UNDP's latest HDI report on India, you may find that someone > should find this claim at least quixotic, given that the country ranks 119th > in the world for what ranks are worth. India as a state spends among the > lowest on education (3.6%) and healthcare (1.1%) and has an income > inequality problem that is by all measure growing yearly, gender inequity is > 0.748 (on a scale of the 'best' at 0.212 and 'worst' at 0.814). the average > Indian spends 4.4 years in formal schooling.. the list goes on and on. > i'm not saying this is not a significant achievement, my concern is tying > this to development in such a way, in fact specifically in the perception > that this could be the state's part in providing development in india. i > think it hurts the cause of folks working in this space at the very least. > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 7:03 PM, Yaw Anokwa <yanokwa(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> the hype around this tablet is terrible. >> >> i think it's great to have cheaper technology, but android tablets, >> even cheap $35 android tablets, will not lift villagers out of >> poverty. i wish it were that easy... >> >> >> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 15:49, Rahul Banerjee <banerjee(a)cs.washington.edu> >> wrote: >> > Sorry for the spam, but I couldn't resist sharing such wonderful news: >> > >> > http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/India-announces-35-tablet-compute… >> > >> > (Actually, the government is subsidising its price (which would be >> > closer to $50), but it's still pretty amazing that something like this >> > exists at all) >> > >> > -- >> > Rahul >> > _______________________________________________ >> > change mailing list >> > change(a)change.washington.edu >> > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> change mailing list >> change(a)change.washington.edu >> http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > >

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Fwd: [SPAM] $35 touchscreen tablet launched in India
by Yaw Anokwa 05 Oct '11

05 Oct '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Joyojeet Pal <joyojeet(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 16:11 Subject: Re: [change] [SPAM] $35 touchscreen tablet launched in India To: Yaw Anokwa <yanokwa(a)gmail.com> i have a paper forthcoming in an edited book on development in India, a raw version of which is here, in which i specifically address the issue of why india has seen ICTs as key to Development. Not sure if it would be of interest to Change, but just in case... http://joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/IndiaAspire.pdf On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 7:03 PM, Yaw Anokwa <yanokwa(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > the hype around this tablet is terrible. > > i think it's great to have cheaper technology, but android tablets, > even cheap $35 android tablets, will not lift villagers out of > poverty. i wish it were that easy... > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 15:49, Rahul Banerjee <banerjee(a)cs.washington.edu> wrote: > > Sorry for the spam, but I couldn't resist sharing such wonderful news: > > http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/India-announces-35-tablet-compute… > > > > (Actually, the government is subsidising its price (which would be > > closer to $50), but it's still pretty amazing that something like this > > exists at all) > > > > -- > > Rahul > > _______________________________________________ > > change mailing list > > change(a)change.washington.edu > > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > > _______________________________________________ > change mailing list > change(a)change.washington.edu > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change

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Fwd: Please distribute: GSEC 2012 application announcement
by Gaetano Borriello 05 Oct '11

05 Oct '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Wren McNally <wrenmc(a)uw.edu> Date: Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 9:59 AM Subject: Please distribute: GSEC 2012 application announcement To: Gaetano Borriello <gaetano(a)cs.washington.edu> Dear Gaetano, We could use your help to distribute the application announcement for our 8th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC). Please join our efforts to reach as many students worldwide as possible – spread the word far and wide through your networks! For your convenience, I provided messages below my signature for social media and email distribution. The GSEC application deadline is November 9, 2010. Any enrolled university student – in any field, at any level of study – is eligible to apply. GSEC business ideas may focus on any subject area and must address a problem of poverty in developing countries. Great news for 2012: · We will select 15-20 teams to participate in GSEC Week (Feb. 27 – Mar. 2, 2012) ; · Travel scholarships will be given to international teams, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; · At least $30,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a global health and an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) prize! Please contact me with any questions. Thank you in advance for your support! Wren McNally Assistant Director, Faculty & Community Programs Global Business Center/CIBER Foster School of Business, University of Washington Lewis Hall 315, Box 353200, Seattle, WA 98195 T: (206) 543-4109 Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) www.facebook.com/GSECUW 8TH ANNUAL GLOBAL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION (GSEC) ANNOUNCEMENTS: Facebook – www.facebook.com/GSECUW Students worldwide are invited to apply to GSEC: submit applications by Nov. 9, 2011! GSEC will give at least $30,000 in prizes, as well as travel scholarships, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. **Rules, application, and guidelines on the GSEC website** Twitter – @GSECUW Students worldwide: submit social biz ideas to GSEC by 11/9/2011. Travel support, great exposure, mentorship, $30k in prizes! #socent Email – Please spread the word: Applications are open for the 8th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC)! Apply by November 9, 2011 GSEC invites students around the world – across disciplines and levels of study to – to submit innovative business solutions to poverty in developing countries. 15-20 student teams from around the globe will be invited to Seattle for GSEC Week 2012 (Feb. 27 – Mar. 2), where they present to 400+ professionals, and compete for $30,000 in monetary prizes, including global health and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) prizes! Travel scholarships available for international teams, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Rules, guidelines, and application available on the GSEC Rules & Prizes page . Questions? Contact: gsec(a)uw.edu Blogs – Let your readers know about GSEC and the application deadline! Share your experience. Spread the news that GSEC teams are making a difference! · 2011 winning teams Sanergy’s pilot project in Kenya aims to serve 5000 people and create +80 jobs! Thanks to GSEC, they met with two Rotary Club chapters in Nairobi, one of which led to a connection that with a company that now supplies the cement used in their toilets. They were recently invited to join the Clinton Global Initiative and SOCAP11. · How does Wello (2011 global health prize team) plan to impact 1,000,000 lives in the next 5 years? With the support of Seattle funders, they’re launching a pilot project in November. · Remember the 2012 GSEC team who sought to support rice farmers in Mali? As a result of GSEC, Malo Traders gained valuable insights from the PATH Ultra Rice program and participated in the Unreasonable Institute this summer.

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Abraham Flaxman on Computer Coded Verbal Autopsy: measuring cause-specific mortality with machine learning
by Nicola Dell 03 Oct '11

03 Oct '11

This Thursday at Change we will be hosting a talk by Abraham Flaxman about computer coded verbal autopsy in resource-poor environments. Abraham Flaxman is a computer scientist hiding out in the Global Health Department at the University of Washington. He was trained in the theoretical aspects of randomized algorithms, but now spends his days measuring population health with statistical models. Abie blogs about applications of computer science to global health at http://healthyalgorithms.wordpress.com. TALK ABSTRACT:**** Cause-specific mortality data is critical information for public health decision-making, but in many areas of the world it is not routinely recorded. In the past several decades, Verbal Autopsy (VA) has emerged as an interview-based approach to fill the gap. Until recently, however, the methods for implementing and analyzing VA were costly, time-consuming, and not validated. The Population Health Metrics Research Consortium (PHMRC) changed this, however, through a recently completed, multisite validation study, which meticulously collected over 10,000 VA interviews for which the underlying cause of death was known with near certainty (aka “Labeled Data”). Since the majority of the PHMRC researchers had never heard of *machine learning* before I showed up, I was able to dazzle them with my basic knowledge of some off-the-shelf computer science technology. However, as we dug deeper, we found that even measuring how well a VA analysis method performs is non-trivial. Many, many work hours later, we have now wrapped up an analysis, which was recently published in a special issue of Population Health Metrics (http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/series/verbal_autopsy) In this talk, I will tell you about the verbal autopsy interview, the PHMRC validation study, our new metrics to quantify the quality of VA analysis methods, and the results of the "horserace" of analytic methods that we ran, where we found that a variant of the Random Forest classifier yields the highest quality results, better even than human experts. Please join us on Thursday for sandwiches, and to learn more computer coded verbal autopsy! *What:* Abraham Flaxman on Computer Coded Verbal Autopsy: measuring cause-specific mortality with machine learning *When:* Thursday, October 6th at noon *Where:* Paul Allen Center, Room CSE 203

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Fwd: [Cs-grads] FW: [Faculty] Peace Corps College of Engineering Class Presentations
by Yaw Anokwa 03 Oct '11

03 Oct '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lindsay Michimoto <lindsaym(a)cs.washington.edu> Date: Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 14:38 Subject: [Cs-grads] FW: [Faculty] Peace Corps College of Engineering Class Presentations To: cs-grads(a)cs.washington.edu *From:* faculty-admin(a)cs.washington.edu [mailto: faculty-admin(a)cs.washington.edu] *On Behalf Of *Andrea Perkins *Sent:* Monday, October 03, 2011 12:57 PM *To:* 'faculty(a)engr.washington.edu' (faculty(a)engr.washington.edu) *Subject:* [Faculty] Peace Corps College of Engineering Class Presentations Hello My name is Phil Hayes and I am the new Peace Corps UW Campus Representative and also am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Morocco 08-10). I was hoping to have an opportunity to let your students know about opportunities to work internationally with the Peace Corps. The best way we've found to target students has been through short presentations. Myself and a Seattle Regional Recruiter will be doing class presentations on campus from Oct 18th-20th. These will only take about 5-10 minutes and will consist of a general overview of Peace Corps, what we do and where we are, and also the benefits of serving. These short presentations can take place at the beginning or end of class, whichever is most convenient. We are currently in *much* need of internationally minded applicants with a background in engineering who have an interest in living and working in the developing world. Throughout Peace Corps’ 50 year history the University of Washington has been a strong source for quality volunteers. We are hoping to continue that legacy. If you are interested in having me come and speak with your class(es) please contact me directly. Thank you for your consideration and support and I look forward to hearing from you. Additionally, there is an amazing event happening on campus this Tuesday Oct 4th where over 25 people from all over the world who have worked with Peace Corps will be doing a presentation on international volunteerism. All are welcome to attend. http://www.world-affairs.org/events/2011/10/04/spirit-volunteerism Thank You! * * *Phil Hayes • Campus Recruiter • University of Washington Career Services Center, 134 Mary Gates Hall, Box 352810 * *Seattle, WA 98195-2810 * *Direct 206-616-5801* *Peace Corps Volunteer Morocco '08-'10* *Follow the Peace Corps online:* [image: Description: Description: cid:image001.gif@01CA5894.3681C9C0]<http://www.peacecorps.gov/?cid=sro_sig> [image: Description: Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CA53CC.EF1BC9D0]<http://www.facebook.com/peacecorps> [image: Description: Description: cid:image002.jpg@01CA53CC.EF1BC9D0]<http://twitter.com/peacecorps> [image: Description: Description: See full size image]<http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.rss> [image: Description: Description: cid:image003.jpg@01CA53CC.EF1BC9D0]<http://www.youtube.com/peacecorps>

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Global Health Nexus Undergraduate Competition
by Eleanor O'Rourke 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

Undergraduates in Change might be interested in this student competition being held by Global Health Nexus: *“Be the Change” *is a student competition for high school, community college and *undergraduate* students in Washington state to create solutions, awareness and innovation in global health. This competition is sponsored by Global Health Nexus and is being held during the 2011-2012 school year. Teams of students will design projects using technology, social media, the arts and more. The projects will range from innovative solutions to service delivery issues to advocacy and awareness campaigns through social media. *The contest offers a range of prizes and recognition opportunities, including:* - *Cash awards* - *Tours & visits with VIPs at global health organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH* - *Letters of commendation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation* - *Participation in our VIP awards ceremony at Seattle Center as part of the Next Fifty Celebration* More information, resources and application forms can be found on our website at *http://globalhealthnexus.org/competition/*<http://globalhealthnexus.org/competition/> or by contacting *info@globalhealthnexus.org* <info(a)globalhealthnexus.org>. The contest is open now! Please join us by spreading the news to faculty, students and parents in your community and give young people from Washington state an opportunity improve health at home and around the world. Initial proposals are due in December, so please get the word out soon!

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