February 2012
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“Unfortunately, the banana varieties grown in Uganda are low in essential...”
– Bill Gates on Building Better Bananas
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T-Shirts, Tuxes and Rap Without Frills →
I think I missed one hell of a concert.
January 2012
5 posts
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Dad's Coming to Town
For the next week I will be entertaining my first visitor from home, my father. I’m excited. Though I have been having an absolute blast living in Kampala, spats of home sickness are inevitable. Sometimes you just want a cheeseburger. Sharing my new home with my dad will help him understand and I’ll take comfort in knowing that at least one person back home has seen my life in Africa.
...
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2012
The first half of my Princeton in Africa Fellowship simply flew by. I’d like to think I have made the most of my time here in Kampala, Uganda thus far. I made brilliant new friends, traveled throughout the country and worked on inspiring infrastructure projects. For the holidays, I spent around three weeks back in the States. This gave me the opportunity to reflect on the first half of my...
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December 2011
8 posts
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Gay and Vilified in Uganda →
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. That is very difficult for many of my American friends to comprehend. This op-ed shines light on the human rights issue and highlights the role that American evangelical Christians have played in institutionalizing homophobia. Furthermore, it addresses many of the misconceptions held by many Ugandans.
American foreign policy has forced some Ugandans to...
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WatchWatch this.
And then read this.
This really puts The Daily Show in a different light for me. I always knew this was the case, but it feels different reading about what goes on behind the scenes. Jon Stewart often skewers Fox News for blurring the lines between their opinion and news segments. While it’s true his show is on Comedy Central, I think many viewers, myself included, often blur...
“Today, the White House announced administrative and private sector actions that...”
– We Can’t Wait: Obama Administration Announces $2 Billion in Resources to Support Job-Creating Startups
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10 steps to better blogging →
Here are Dan Frommer’s ten steps to better blogging. There is a lot of great advice that I will try to incorporate going forward, starting with:
Write the site that you want to read.
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November 2011
21 posts
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“Maybe Christmas”, he thought, “doesn’t come from a...”
– How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss
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What I Learned Building the Apple Store →
Former VP for retail at Apple gives some insight into the success of the Apple Stores. Reinvent the store.
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Daring Fireball: Getting Steve Jobs Wrong →
I really love John Gruber’s blog Daring Fireball; I even bought a shirt today.
A few weeks ago I posted a link to Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker piece describing Steve Jobs as a tweaker and had the following to say:
This is a great article on Steve Jobs as a “tweaker,” rather than a traditional inventor. Malcolm Gladwell waited a few weeks to put this out and had the benefit of...
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Protest process.
http://twitter.com/#!/Michael_Nutter/status/137399703162732544
Earlier today, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter asked Philadelphians to “follow the process.” Initially, this rubbed me the wrong way. Why should a protest follow a process? If the occupy movement is about challenging the current status quo, in which the political and financial elite control a disproportionate amount of...
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“This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of...”
– Robert F. Kennedy - Day of Affirmation Address
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Africa's Albertine Rift →
This article is a nice introduction for anyone interested in learning more about the complex human relationships and environmental issues that define the region of Africa in which I’m currently living.
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FrankieWarren.com →
Check it out! We wanted to make an online resume that would give people of snapshot of my work experience and interests. Jeff nailed it.
jenius:
Just launched a personal site I made for my good friend Frankie. I used this site as an example in the class series I teach as well!
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Fort Portal
Recently I wrote about my crew of weekend warriors. This past weekend we definitely lived up to the name. Fort Portal is about two hundred miles west of Kampala and took between five and six hours to reach.
We set off just after lunch on Friday, and packed sandwiches for the drive and the next day’s lunch. The sandwiches were a team effort. I created a Google Doc to take orders and shared it with...
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iPad and iPhone Application Development →
This is a free course offered by Stanford on building applications using the iPhone SDK. I might give it a try after I finish the CS106A course on Java. These classes take a fair amount of discipline to complete, but are a great resource for those who choose to take advantage of them.
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What N.B.A. Could Be Like Under a New Labor Deal →
I’m just hoping for a season at this point.
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Steve Jobs’s Real Genius →
This is a great article on Steve Jobs as a “tweaker,” rather than a traditional inventor. Malcolm Gladwell waited a few weeks to put this out and had the benefit of Walter Isaacson’s biography at his disposal. Great read.
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Weekend Warriors
As much as I love Kampala, the true beauty of Uganda is upcountry. To make the most of my time in Uganda, I have been traveling on weekends. The Rav4 has been completely worth it. There’s a feeling I can’t adequately describe that accompanies driving through the Ugandan countryside.
A few weekends ago a crew consisting of six of my close friends and me headed to Lake Mburo for the...
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“Apple denies that its correct name is Apple, Inc. The correct name of Respondent...”
– Apple to HTC
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Bill Gates advises Uganda on oil cash →
Mr. Gates is right. This is a huge opportunity for Uganda. Transparency will help ensure that the benefits of this windfall are more equitably distributed.
October 2011
17 posts
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“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really...”
– Mark Zuckerberg @ Startup School
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“We must partner with the private sector much more deeply from the start, instead...”
– Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator
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The power of community: Q&A with FKZ board fellow →
In 2010 I was invited to join the board of Fonkoze USA as the organization’s board fellow. Through this experience, I was able to gain a unique perspective on an innovative poverty alleviation organization and Haiti’s largest microfinance institution. When I accepted my position with Princeton in Africa, I knew that I would have to find someone dedicated to both development and...
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AirPlay TV - Joe Hewitt →
Want to read about the future?
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Malaria vaccine results face scrutiny →
Last week I posted about a new malaria vaccine that is the result of a collaboration between GlaxoSmithKline and the Gates Foundation. This update from Nature questions whether interim trial data should have been reported to the public and raises concerns about the trial’s “34.8% efficacy in severe disease.” It still seems like they’re onto something with this, but the full...
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Nairobi
My last post linked to an article about a recent act of terrorism in Nairobi, Kenya. The article struck me not only because I have friends living and working in the area, but also because I visited Nairobi just last week. In response to my post, Jane Yang, a fellow Princeton in Africa Fellow based in Nairobi, suggested I share my experience to show another side of Nairobi, which unfortunately is...
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Grenade attack on Nairobi disco injures 14 →
I was just in Nairobi last weekend. This is a stark reminder that things in Africa are much less stable than in the United States and foreigners are still targeted by terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab.
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Malaria scientist celebrates success after 24... →
This could be huge! Checking in with friends who actually know what they’re talking about. Will update this post when I learn more.
UPDATE: Here a is Hacker News thread on the subject.
UPDATE 2: Two Cheers for the Malaria Vaccine
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Uganda cracks down on opposition, arrests leader →
Things are heating up in Kampala again. The protests take place downtown, out of the way of my office and daily commute.
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Web savvy Africans fuel growth in online shopping →
While living in Kampala, I have been keeping my eye on this trend. From what I’ve seen there are two major barriers that online shopping has to overcome before successfully penetrating the African market.
First, the package delivery infrastructure is severely lacking. One of the reasons online retailers like Amazon are so successful in the states is because one can reliably get items in...