[wsfii-discuss] RE: Trainerspot Webinars: A Potential tool tospread wsfii ideas to Africa and Developing World

Thu Jul 12 02:57:16 UTC 2007

Asif, I apologise for any sense of incompletion and
uncertainty you have regarding my talking on the
topic(s) I would love to have more people around the
world get their teeth into. My hesitation is based
merely on my inability to assure myself that I will
actually be online on a particular day and time. I
have seen that your webinars need a deal of
coordination, since they are timed and dated events. 

The reality is that without a very expensive fixed
line service, in a city like Mumbai in India, it is
simply impossible to set up a global
conference/lecture. My connection at my home/office,
which is among the more expensive home options
available in my locality (from a globally famous
service operator), is *never* the 24/7 I pay for. The
electricity too is no longer the 24/7 service this
city used to be famous for in the country. I will
certainly 'book' a date on webinars once I know a
reasonable period in advance that I can actually be
assured (say, if I have regular access to office
premises with a true broadband connection) of being
online as promised.

A bit of a whinge, I agree, but this is reality.
Achieving global broadband access for all is much more
than sticking a few aerials up on rooftops. As someone
familiar with parts of Africa you know the situation
much more critically.

You probably think that by 'broadband' I meant 1 Mbps
or higher, as is commonly accepted in the US, but I am
happy to settle for an assured always on, 24/7, at
much lower bandwidth. In India, incidentally, the term
is slowly beginning to mean 256 kbps and more, and
always on. It used to be 64 kbps, incidentally, a BIG
step up from unreliable dialup at 56 kbps in the
cities and 9.6 kbps everywhere else. 

My comments about applications are quite independent
of the need for broadband. I seriously think that for
the first time ever, people now have the ability to
communicate with anyone anywhere, in any form, using
many of the senses most of us have. This naturally
throws up a plethora of archives for people who
actually do use these communications as a part of life
and work. To my knowledge, there is no application
that actually binds these together in a coherent form,
as I described would be nice for me.  

--- asif.daya at trainerspod.com wrote:

> Vickram:
> 
> You are mistaken. You do NOT need broadband. I had
> someone from Africa with
> 28.8 modem login successfully - yes we did not do
> videos but we did
> powerpoints and discussions which is the norm. So, I
> would stop from this
> hesitancy due to bandwidth and just say you are not
> interested.
> 
> Asif
>  
> http://www.trainerspod.com/CMS
> http://www.trainerspod.com/community
> http://www.trainerspod.com/info
> 
> Please consider the environment before printing this
> message.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wsfii-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org
> [mailto:wsfii-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On
> Behalf Of Vickram Crishna
> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 7:59 AM
> To: Discuss list on the World Summit on Free
> Information Infrastructure
> Subject: Re: [wsfii-discuss] RE: Trainerspot
> Webinars: A Potential tool
> tospread wsfii ideas to Africa and Developing World
> 
> Aside from Asif's application, some of us have been
> using Gizmo and Skype
> for the monthly conference Laura organised. I must
> admit my own bandwidth
> limitations have made this a less than enjoyable
> session for me, and the
> unreliability of the connection itself makes it hard
> to actually be sure to
> attend. 
> 
> All the more reason to fervently want broadband for
> all. And an application
> that will make it easier to get a grip on - and
> participate in! - all the
> different things happening around the world. So far,
> in my humble opinion,
> lists, conversations, wikis and conferences don't
> even begin to make the
> cut. 
> 
> --- jeff buderer <jeff at onevillagefoundation.org>
> wrote:
> 
> > Things seem to have gotten pretty quiet here.
> >  
> > Any volunteers willing to take Asif up on his
> offer?
> >  
> > Anyone a bit curious about Asif and what he does
> and how it might 
> > relate to the future of wsfii?
> >  
> > I think this could evolve into real opportunity to
> put together some 
> > web conferences to better link together our
> network and also be a way 
> > to demonstrate how we can effectively use ICT
> tools without having to 
> > travel to meet someone in person at a conference
> or other physical 
> > location.
> >  
> > Jeff
> >  
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: asif.daya at trainerspod.com
> > [mailto:asif.daya at trainerspod.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 7:35 PM
> > To: jeff at onevillagefoundation.org;
> > wsfii-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> > Subject: RE: Trainerspot Webinars: A Potential
> tool to spread wsfii 
> > ideas to Africa and Developing World
> >  
> > Jeff:
> > 
> > You can get a detailed info about trainerspod from
> the links below and 
> > the sublinks below those pages especially the home
> page and community 
> > page. There are links at the bottom to follow.
> >  
> > Yes, it would be nice to have volunteers put
> together a webinar.
> >  
> > I too would love feedback on Wi-Max.
> >  
> > I hear sound foundry is pretty good too. But I had
> someone from Africa 
> > login at 28.8 modem into our Webinar held in the
> USA. Video would be 
> > an impossibility - but there are options for video
> and showing your 
> > desktop or the www. You can try it out at:
> > http://www.vroom.com or
> > http://www.elluminate.com/vroom where you can
> login and invite two 
> > other colleagues - you will be the moderator with
> privileges - but you 
> > can reassign privileges. Try it out for Africa.
> The person will need 
> > to go
> > to: http://www.elluminate.com/support to see if
> they have the Java 
> > modules. You too will have to go there to convert
> your Powerpoints to 
> > .wbd (whiteboard) format. ENJOY!!!
> >  
> > Asif
> >  
> >  <http://www.trainerspod.com/CMS>
> > http://www.trainerspod.com/CMS
> >  <http://www.trainerspod.com/community>
> > http://www.trainerspod.com/community
> >  <http://www.trainerspod.com/info>
> > http://www.trainerspod.com/info
> > 
> > Please consider the environment before printing
> this message.
> >  
> >  
> >   _____
> > 
> > From: Jeff Buderer
> > [mailto:jeff at onevillagefoundation.org]
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:16 PM
> > To: asif.daya at trainerspod.com;
> > wsfii-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> > Subject: RE: Trainerspot Webinars: A Potential
> tool to spread wsfii 
> > ideas to Africa and Developing World Asif,
> > 
> > >The train begins in Kenya and moves towards the
> > rural areas whereby
> > medical help is provided. I would like to add ICT
> help >and hopefully 
> > through the grant get broadband. I would need to
> hire locals for the 
> > portions of the grant.
> > 
> > Do you have a detailed document about Trainerspod
> that I could review?
> > 
> > My thought would be that this could be something
> that because it is 
> > operational project could be a good foundation for
> seeking a grant for 
> > the development of a wireless network along the
> rail line that 
> > Trainspod operates on. Then networks could expand
> from the wireless 
> > node at each stop.
> > >If we could encourage speakers on the topics you
> > have recommended below
> > we can discuss how to develop the topic into
> > >something of interest to
> > Africa. Anyone interested please contact me at 
> > asif.daya at trainerspod.com
> > 
> > Yes Regarding the presentation...I am wondering if
> we could have some 
> > volunteers here to help us put together a
> presentation for the 
> > Webinar.
> > >Yes I understand it is not just about wireless
> > (although as you know I
> > am interested in Wi-Max to push the country
> forward)
> > >but also about
> > ICT.
> > 
> > I would be interested to hear feedback from some
> of the folks here 
> > regardign WiMAX verses 802.11
> > >Yes, I understand the need for exchange of flow
> of
> > information and the
> > problems faced at each end. That is why I choose
> > >Elluminate - it can
> > accept very low bandwidth for communication. I had
> someone log-in at 
> > 28.8K modem once from Africa!!
> >  
> > Sounds good. Of possible relevance...I have been
> in communications 
> > with Soft Foundry
> (http://www.softfoundry.com/home.php)
> > regarding their low
> > bandwidth video conference technology.
> > 
> 
=== message truncated ===

Vickram

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