Call for Action!

i originally wrote a simple script to acccess gps position but kept getting KErrPermisionDenied error relating to the positioning module. turns out that the python script shell and interpreter need to be signed with appropriate capabilities in order to access sensors and read/write data to/from them. i went ahead and through the app manager on the phone uninstalled the python script shell and python interpreter. then i downloaded the high capability unsigned .sis versions of each of these from https://garage.maemo.org/frs/download.php/5532/Python_1.9.2_3rdEd_unsign... and https://garage.maemo.org/frs/download.php/5527/PythonScriptShell_1.9.2_u... . after you get these, you can head over to https://www.symbiansigned.com/app/page/public/openSignedOnline.do and go through the short upload/download process (make sure to check all capabilities) and you'll end up w/ signed versions of these .sis files. upload these to your phone, from your phone open the file manager, install the newly signed versions of each of these (the interpreter first then the script shell) and you should have yourself readable sensors!
-brad

edit: a lot of gps programs require an initial fix before running the script. otherwise u will just get data filled with zeros. here's a quick tutorial on getting an initial fix http://www.ulpukka.com/obtaining-your-initial-gps-fix-on-your-n95

The Herald, a puppet paper of Robert Mugabe, has annouced that the ICT Ministry, controlled by MDC, has been annexed under one of Mugabe's minitries:

*From Radio VOP, 10 April*

**

*Chamisa dismisses annexing of ministry's functions*

Harare - Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa has described the annexing of functions under his ministry and hand over to an expanded Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development led by Nicholas Goche as a joke, indicating that President Robert Mugabe does not have the mandate to do so. President Robert MugabeIn an interview with RadioVOP, Chamisa said only the three principals could take such a decision. "Mugabe does not have those powers, those powers in the inclusive government arrangement lie with the three principals and they have not advised me that I have been demoted or that my ministry has been disbanded as I read in The Herald, I will not take things from The Herald, which is notorious for telling lies, so maybe its just a way of misleading people," he said. A Herald report on Friday indicated that President Mugabe had expanded the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to include the Department of Communications and that the new portfolio would now become the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development under Minister Nicholas Goche.

The ministry will oversee the operations at NetOne, TelOne, Zimpost and their governing body, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe. Chamisa said he was now awaiting the decision of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party Morgan Tsvangirai on the matter. "The Information Communication Technology ministry will be left to focus on developing appropriate policies and strategies of ICT innovations while spearheading the development of regulatory frameworks that facilitate the development of ICT. The ministry would also champion and promote ICT literacy in the country while formulating laws and regulations that would establish necessary departments," said the Herald. Under the new arrangement, Minister Goche would be responsible for all the communication parastatals and their regulatory bodies. The Department of Communications would be governed by the Postal and Telecommunications Act, Postal and Telecommunications Services Act and Postal and Telecommunications Corporation Act. Transmedia, which was also at the centre of the dispute, however remains under the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity.

Due to the government's restriction to access available data on infectious diseases, Venezuela is currently facing a threat of epidemic outbreaks of dengue, and more recently Chaga's disease, specially in the rural and coastal areas of the country.
 
In normal situations, epidemiological data is published openly on a weekly basis and accessible to the public. Recently, the Venezuelan government put a holt on data reporting. This decision is political in nature and is designed to hide the government's inability to implement timely and relevant health policies. Unfortunately, the lack of openness causes delays in efforts to control the epidemic
 
In response to this situation, we propose several mobiles technologies oriented to inform the communities about the status of these devastating diseases. One of these mobile applications consists of reporting to local hospitals the patient's health situation (fever, acute disease, etc). Once the patient has been admitted for medical care, and released, the information about the health status could be retrieved via a mobile phone accessible datebase.
 
Another way to alert the population about mosquito borne diseases would be to obtain information on the amounts of mosquitoes transmitting dengue. This novel way of reporting mosquito alerts could be crucial for predicting outbreaks as the virus is present in the mosquito prior to biting and transmitting disease to humans.
 
We propose the following:
 

• Develop and deploy an intelligent mosquito trap device (consisting of human bait, fan and container) attached to a cell phone with a sensor that would allow the weighing (counting) of mosquitos in various urban areas (see attachment). The cell phone is able to send an alert message indicating that high levels of mosquitoes have been reached inside the trap. The increase in the number of mosquitoes in urban areas have been shown to be correlated to the appearance of dengue outbreaks.
• Develop an interactive voice response alert system. The user will access the compiled data dialing into an interactive voice response system.  For example, color codes can be used to indicate the level of risk of mosquito biting. A simple green-yellow-red alert can provide information about the level of risk of transmission in your area. In addition, the warning system will be able to collect data over time and over a large area, allowing analysis of the data gathered from the various devices around the city to deliver (text, graphical) distribution of the levels of the mosquitoes in any given time.
• Design a campaign to create awareness in the community about the importance of high mosquito levels in the transmission of Dengue. Educate the population to use mobile phones to obtain information about prevention and the spread of mosquitos transmitted diseases.  

The UN/ITU report that Katrin mentioned is now up in Readings....

I went to an interesting panel discussion tonight titled Women Reporting from the Global Frontlines. The event was part of the Women, Action & the Media Conference at MIT's Stata Center. One of the panelists was Peta Thornycroft, one of the few remaining independent journalist in Zimbabwe. She was jailed in 2002 by the Mugabe government for breaking a media censorship law. It was very interesting to listen to her, especially after last weeks Skype conversation between Chris and the ladies from the NGO in Harare. Thornycroft described the current crisis in Zimbabwe as a repetitive story of human rights abuses, government repression and a collapsed economy.

• The military (musical interlude) control power.
• The majority of its people live in poverty (pic).
• The capital city is the murder capital of the world.
• Corruption (pic) is a way of life.
• The prison system is considered the worsed in Latin America.
• Your enemy feeds you and you feed your enemy: 70% of the food supply is imported — courtesy of petrodollars.
• Penetration of mobile telephony is 100%
• A group of thugs (pic) call themselves a Collective.
• Participatory Democracy means appointments from above (pic).
• A liter of gas is cheaper than a liter of bottled water.
• General Motors sells Hummers like hot cakes.
• The favorite pass time of Socialists (pic) is hitting the shopping malls.
• Government policies favor cars over public transport.
• A veterinarian runs the Ministry of Culture.
• The Minister of Culture is appointed Minister of Housing.
• A military guy runs the Ministry of Health.
• Epidemic statistics are concealed to protect the public.
• Millions of people have been protesting for years (pic).

Given this environment, how can mobile technology be used innovatively to achieve social impact? The problems and challenges are overwhelming, so we decided to narrow down our focus to the problem of under-reporting health statistics which affects most devastatingly the poorest segments of society. Please read the post Using Mobile Technology to Tackle the Problem of Under-Reporting Health Statistics in Venezuela.

Note: If you want a copy of our class presentation, please contact us.