Tag: AFRICA

A 2005 peace deal may have put an official end to Sudan's brutal, 21-year civil war, but George Clooney, Google and several human rights organizations want to make sure that the country doesn't erupt in further violence during a crucial moment in its history. Yesterday, Clooney and his colleagues announced the launch of the Satellite Sentinel Project, a new initiative that combines real-time ...

Most of us rely on our cell phones to stay in touch with our friends, check our e-mail or play Angry Birds. But, in less economically developed parts of the world, mobile technology hasn't just created a new avenue for instant communication, but an entirely new banking sector, as well. Mobile banking first took off in 2001, when phone operators Globe and Smart both began offering mobile payment ...

Share Plenty of people are using cell phones today, but many of the world's poorest mobile users don't actually have their own phones. Instead of shelling out $25 (or more) for their own personal handsets, many impoverished users simply purchase one phone, and share it amongst their friends or family. It may be a cost-efficient way of connecting to the world, but it isn't exactly convenient, nor ...

It may have seemed like a novel idea just a year ago, but an effective and marketable mosquito-zapping laser fence could be on the horizon. Intellectual Ventures (IV) continues to develop and demonstrate its anti-malaria technology, which relies heavily on Nvidia's Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). IV now hopes to raise awareness about the potential benefits and widespread applications of the GPU ...

The violent conflict between governmental and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not make the front pages of many Western news outlets, but it has definitely caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As the AP reports, a newly passed American law, which was signed into effect in conjunction with Obama's economic overhaul, will now require all gadget manufacturers to disclose ...

After making millions with the travel site Kayak, Paul English has turned his gaze from building Web start-ups to being a bit of a philanthropist. Okay, that's underselling a smidgen... English has taken on one of the more ambitious projects we've ever seen. His new hybrid non-profit/for-profit company, JoinAfrica, has a stated goal of blanketing the entire continent in free and low-cost Wi-Fi. ...

Two brothers have discovered a way to get close-up photos of African wildlife without risking life or limb. According to Wired, Will and Matthew Burrard-Lucas rigged a Canon EOS 400D camera to a remote-control buggy, and cruised it around Tanzania. The boys have even chronicled the adventure, which saw its share of excitement, on their blog. Will and Matthew took a basic four-wheeled robotic ...

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup just around the corner, the whole world (yes, even the States) will soon be swept up in soccer mania. The event will certainly produce an economic surge in host country South Africa, but, thanks to four Harvard students, soccer could produce more energy for the African country, too. According to Planet Green, the s0ccket ball generates and stores enough energy to ...

With Christmas fast approaching, we recently compiled a list of 70 Geeky Gifts Under $70, and unbelievably, we recently found a laptop that narrowly missed the cut. According to Techland, Cherrypal has released what might be the cheapest laptop on the planet. The 7-inch Cherrypal Africa costs a very frugal $99. But be aware, you're not getting the biggest, fastest, or most efficient machine ...

Many emerging nations have cellular access, but Internet service is still fleeting, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In an attempt to disseminate information to Ugandans, Google has teamed up with African cell provider MTN to distribute information, free-of-charge, via text message to a culture that is text -- but not Internet -- savvy. The program, which teams the American Web giant with the ...

Generating energy from plants is nothing new. We've all seen the 2nd grade science experiments that power light bulbs with with lemons or potatoes, and even U.S. agri-businesses are getting in on the fun by marketing corn-based ethanols as an alternative to traditional petroleum based gasoline. These methods can be politely described as a waste of perfectly good food. Why use that ear of corn ...

Google's next stop in its quest for world domination is sub-Saharan Africa, where its new Kenyan operations are headed up by Joseph Mucheru, former CEO of local ISP. Wananchi. According to Mucheru, Google's biggest roadblock to success in the region is the Kenyan people's lack of access to affordable bandwidth, something he claims Google may actually subsidize the expense of in order to get ...