TWO OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS ON THE SAME STAGE!!!!!!! *clutching my chest*
2 hours agoIt doesn’t look like much at first — just a silvery, tough-looking device the size and shape of a brick. But inside this hunk of metal is some amazing stuff; its intelligent software, durable hardware and portable power source can keep users connected to the Internet wherever they go.
It’s called BRCK, and it will hit the mass market in November at a sale price of $199. The company behind it is Ushahidi, a Kenyan enterprise headed by Julianna Rotich.
“While Africa may have joined the digital revolution and mobile is becoming ubiquitous, Internet connectivity is not always reliable and the price of connecting is high,” Rotich told the BBC. Importing technology from other continents hasn’t managed to close that gap, which is why Ushahidi designed its hardware to cater specifically to African users.
BRCK is durable, easily portable and eminently capable. Its user interface is simple and intuitive, its smart software can switch between Internet sources — anything from Wifi to 4G to Ethernet — and its battery can keep users connected even when the power is out. It can also hold data from devices or apps like Dropbox, with a total 16 GB of storage.
Before creating this hardware, the company created platforms for crowdsourcing information; its software can be used to conduct market research, monitor elections or organize events. It has been useful in times of crisis; during the aftermath of disasters including the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and the recurring Queensland floods in Australia, witnesses and aid agencies used Ushahidi’s technology to coordinate reports of victims’ needs.
With BRCK, Ushahidi is gearing up to broaden its operations even further. Africans will find the new hardware particularly useful, but Internet users all over the world will be able to reap the benefits, too. “The BRCK is like a backup generator for the Internet,” said the company in a press release. “Our motto has always been ‘if it works in Africa, it will work anywhere.’”
For some reason, this sort of infrastructure tech has been catching my eye for the past few years.
2 days agoMore musical justification of my love for Steely Dan’s “Peg.” Shut up.
(cf. my last “Peg” post)
3 days agoI’m pretty sure I saw this when it first aired because I distinctly remember the torn-up door from the skit previous to Harvey’s appearance.
6 days ago
Whether it’s Starbucks, the old Borders, or the local festival, the sight of monks stopping in for a cup never gets old.
2 weeks ago
I can relate.
2 weeks agoI always knew Michael McDonald did a background vocal on Steely Dan’s “Peg,” but I never realized he actually WAS the background vocals…
1 month ago
Another Cleveland touchstone: the world headquarters of Lincoln Electric is just a 5 or 6 minute drive from where I grew up.
From “Going to Work” (Story by Harvey Pekar. Art by Gerry Shamray.)
1 month agoLuckily, the classic “Funk 49” guitar riff keeps me from dwelling on the cognitive dissonance of seeing Joe Walsh and Daryl Hall in the same video…
1 month ago