In the last few days, I was part of a team that organized a conference that brought together people from govt, private sector, ngo etc.

One of the “topics” in the “conversation” was “what can we learn from the private sector?” and lots lots of theory about methodologies and approaches and importing one experience from one field to the other.

I am not sharing this with you – no matter how deep that conversation truly was. But Instead here is a very tangible/funny/real life thing “we can learn”.

Here is what happened – each of those “parties” (govt, private sector,NGO etc) were showcasing different projects and products they did in a “gallery” or a separate space.

After all has been said and done – I was passing by – the room dedicated to the private sector had NULL or ZERO amount of flyers/stickers/posters – it was technically clean of anything that had value.
Everything that could be taken away or was worth it – was taken away.

As I dropped by the Govt/NGO spaces – the place was full with the posters/flyers/stickers and papers and other random materials.

Small things – i Know – but it really made me smile – was a small “hah!” moment – but I think in those small things lie big truths.

If you are looking through frontlineSMS software – you are less likely to find this in the interface.
This file was lurking under /Applications/frontlinesms2.app/Contents/java/app/web-app/help/core/activities

If you are a developer and using frontline – I thought this might be worth putting out there.

# The FrontlineSMS Web Connection API

FrontlineSMS lets you set up Web Connections to external web services. The primary function of Web Connections is to trigger HTTP requests on the external service when messages are received. However, in addition to this, you can enable the FrontlineSMS API through a Web Connection Activity, which allows your external web service to trigger outgoing messages through FrontlineSMS.

## Enabling the API

In the Web Connection walkthrough, you will be given the option to enable the FrontlineSMS API for that Activity. The only required configuration is the API Key that the remote service will need to use in each request. See [Creating a Web Connection][] for details on setting up a Web Connection.

For some totally random reason – in the last week and till today, i was always put in situations where i needed to escape characters.

So i found the list on this site, but each time i have to find the damn one, i’d spend 15 mins looking for it – so here it! I hope i don’t forget my own URL or that at least, i’ll stop needing them that often!

If you happened to have an old install of frontlinesms – and you want to un-install – removing the folder in /applications alone won’t do. (if you re-install again, you will see all “your stuff” again)

So to fully un-install (on osx) :

- shutdown frontlinesms

- command + space – type terminal (launch the little “black application”)

- type in : cd /users/replace-this-with-your-username

(to find out your user, on the command line, simply type in: whoami)

- type in : rm -f -r .frontlinesms2

- in Finder – go to /Application – delete the frontlinesms folder

Voila.

Now you are ready for a second fresh install

Random ramblings/scattered thoughts on Big Data vs Stories/Small Narratives in development

Stories pattern and train people into ways to see the world.
There is no genetic difference between us – the difference is in the stories of the society in which we grew up in.

Therefore for empowerment to happen – the stories people tell or share are one of the things you wanna change.

if you can change the stories the people tell, you change the way they see themselves and the way they see things around them.
But you wanna do that in a bottom up approach, not in a top down manipulative way…

traditional research/approach is hypothesis based and inductive with roots in science … it deals with objects, not subjects.
It does not allow for subjectivity, it assumes there is something objective to be discovered and measured.
its practices have crossed over to the development community including social sciences.

Experts gather stories from the fields – mostly using un-human or unfair ways like mass survey or SMS polls and tag them – their expertise/background is what actually counts.
Then those stories get structured and interpreted and redistributed by those experts as best practices and policy points.

But instead of experts, the stories that people tell to each other in very few sentences – are the stories who filter the way we see data and visualize it.

numbers create objectivity – they gain attention – so people believe them
stories create rich context so the people actually change – get moved.

Then those stories and narratives need to flow at a horizontal level (thanks to the internet) which is gonna create far more innovation and hopefully empowerment

in a typical matrix scene – a geek would see things made of codes and binaries animated in a cool way, usually in black and green… but reality is…well… a bit more disappointing – yet it is true…algorithms ARE everywhere – and it is not just bits of binaries, it is smart stuff.

Each website implements social media features and more targeted marketing approaches – with the use of cookies, tracking software and what not. Also with RFID, cam monitoring (trapwire anyone?) censors and geo location sharing/analysis tool… i started to realize – algorithms are everywhere – tracking, monitoring, reporting, suggesting things to buy, showing me ads, telling me how the weather will be, what time the metro gets in and if there are free seats for the movie i am considering.

Some of those algorithms are annoying – i don’t like how after i google “robot to clean house” – facebook starts to show me ads about different types – it is creepy and invades privacy. I don’t like trapwire either etc.

Other algorithms are useful – they tell me about the weather, metro time and useful stuff.

But here is a spin – algorithms are never complex enough or smart enough specially if you were trying to “trick” them.

Let me give you an idea – go to amazon – search for an item of your choice – leave – if you wanna be more mean add it to basket but don’t buy it.

After a few days – amazon will send you either a discount – similar items in the same categories but at cheaper prices etc.

Same for example while you are buying a hosting – provide just enough info like your email – don’t buy the item – wait a few days and more likely in a few days – after the algorithm determines that you are probably not interested in buying – they will send you an email with discount codes trying to lure you in.

Same for renewing subscriptions in magazines and stuff… foursquare checkings etc..

With a little bit of trickery – you can either get discounts or for example save yourself time. Instead of searching for a product – let the algorithm find you the alternatives and suggestions.

Point is – lots of business/govts are relying on automated algorithms… algorithms can be analysed (specially if you are a programmer) and taken advantage of if you have the will/time to get that 20% benefit or additional value.

Spot the algorithm – This is one interesting idea to keep at the back of your head – and why not trick it/hack it :)

If you ever were un-happy with youtube html5 support or had to look on self hosting your own videos and publishing them to get rid of youtube ads at the end – then you must probably ran into video.js.

“Video.js is a JavaScript and CSS library that makes it easier to work with and build on HTML5 video, today.
This is also known as an “HTML5 Video Player”.
Video.js provides a common controls skin built in HTML/CSS, fixes cross-browser inconsistencies, adds additional features like fullscreen and subtitles, manages the fallback to Flash or other playback technologies when HTML5 video isn’t supported, and also provides a consistent JavaScript API for interacting with the video.”

All cool and nice and easy to implement and skin – however there is one tiny missing feature. A share button.

You can probably create your own skin and shit – but I found a quick workaround that makes it look like you added a share button.
I am publishing cuz I did not find many search results that solve this – and there could be a poor or lazy soul looking for this.

You can download the workaround here and take a look at the compressed file containing the code and play the video featuring one of my favorite singers.

Here is a link to the page preview.

Ahla!