I should add that monitoring recent changes on small and inactive Wikipedias, I was initially very skeptical of your plans and figured that they would be unfruitful.

Well, initially they were :)

Although it took a while since when you first posted the information about possible payment for articles, you have shown me to be wrong on this subject and for that I am very happy.

I was too optimistic about what would be the right incentive (200 CFA is too little).

An issue I have, though, is: how many speakers of Bamana and Fulfulde have access to the internet, to actually read these articles? How many even have access to a computer?

1) Very very little. 2) A bit more.

Another question: how many speakers of Bamanan and Fulfulde are actually able to read?

Quite some more, but only very very optimistic estimations are higher than 30%. It's more likely to be 10% or so.

I know that the hope is that at some point in the future, more people will be able to read these articles, but shouldn't their very creation go hand-in-hand with wider disemination of internet technologies in Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea...?

Definitely. I have some ideas to get this done. There are internet centers (CLICs) struggling to get by. Geekcorps Mali just started to buy of a lot of their time, in order to disseminate vouchers in communities. One idea is to give them to people who write for Wikipedia. Good for the CLICs, who are happy to give out vouchers, and good for the people, who can use the internet for free. It's also much easier to get done than giving out money. And it will lead to a healthier CLIC - often ONGs have been too eager to implement solutions that aren't viable in the long run.

I know there has been some activity to install the internet at local radio stations, but what about the non-broadcasting public, the plebes?

There is a lot activity there as well. Often one internet connection is shared by radio station, hospital, CLIC and municipality office. BTW, most Geekcorps Mali partner radios aren't equipped with internet yet. Geekcorps first wants to make sure that people at the radio actually use the computer for their radio shows. However, I did add the wik2dicted French and Bambara Wikipedias to Kunnafonix, the one-question-GNU/Linux-installCD. With fellow Geek Sebastian I also added the creation of Debian packages to wik2dict, in order to make it easier to get this stuff spreaded.

And now I actually want to write software for mobile phones, something like Tomeraider, but then Free. Not that it will run on many of the mobile phones right now in Mali, but it will in the near future. And I would like to have some kind of "viral" client thing. Some Java client that can easily be copied to other phones in the neigbourhood, that can find and access a DICT server running on a phone that has enough memory. Maybe some of you know of another compressed hypertext format that does include images? I like DICT for its spead and simplicity, but it lacks images...

The possession rate of mobile phones in Mali is probably something like 1%. But many mobile phones are often used by entire families, just like fixed lines in the rich world. And an African family is somewhat larger than a western family...

But maybe this all sounds too optimistic. But it also seems interesting to get in touch with African mobile phone operators to set up a service where people can access information. The colonial language Wikipedias are already interesting enough to get this done. Read out live even by flesh-and-blood persons when there's no ogg version yet.

Another thing to take a look at is text-to-speech synths. It's a challenge to write an interface to access Wikipedia, that can be used by people who are not able to read.

If somebody could set up some sort of "free net-cafe" in Bamako, with time-limits to prevent one person from using the computer all the time, and offer classes in how to operate computers, I'm sure that would help.

My fellow Geek Frederic has set up a community centre with a bunch of computers and Skolelinux. In one of the poorest areas of Bamako. And it's exactly people at this centre who wrote (and are still writing) the largest part of the articles. To get internet access there would cost them a fortune - 120 US$ a month IIRC. I will upload some video of Frederic teaching them how to write HTML. I think the most interesting is that this highly successful project was mostly funded by no less than... Frederic himself.

What I haven't mentioned in this message yet: The existence of an encyclopedia in their own language, written by themselves, will probably give people a boost of confidence in their language. Currently there is a huge lack of information in general, and information in African languages especially. Many people don't see the reason to actually learn how to read and write in their mother tongue. They just learn French (or English in poor Anglophone countries). Literacy rates would definitely be higher if there were more texts in African languages. But then again, the price of paper (or computer use) will always be too high for someone struggling to get her daily food.

Have you looked at Plucker (http://plkr.org)? As far as I can tell, the only existing reader is for PalmOS; but it is an open, documented format, and it does have hyperlinks and images.

I had heard of it, but somehow forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me!

(Is it actually possible to run a server on a cell phone?)

If you can run Java and Python on it, why not run a server? :)

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005, guaka@no-log.org wrote:

I was too optimistic about what would be the right incentive (200 CFA is too little).

...

An issue I have, though, is: how many speakers of Bamana and Fulfulde have access to the internet, to actually read these articles? How many even have access to a computer?

1. Very very little.
2. A bit more.

Another question: how many speakers of Bamanan and Fulfulde are actually able to read?

Quite some more, but only very very optimistic estimations are higher than 30%. It's more likely to be 10% or so.

And can they also speak French ?

...

wider dissemination of internet technologies in Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea...?

However, wikipedia does not need Internet.

Put a copy of fr and Bamako on a Linux box there,

There is a lot activity there as well. Often one internet connection is shared by radio station, hospital, CLIC and municipality office. BTW, most Geekcorps Mali partner radios aren't equipped with internet yet. Geekcorps first wants to make sure that people at the radio actually use the computer for their radio shows. However, I did add the wik2dicted French and Bambara Wikipedias to

I see you have done that ..

Kunnafonix, the one-question-GNU/Linux-installCD. With fellow Geek Sebastian I also added the creation of Debian packages to wik2dict, in order to make it easier to get this stuff spreaded.

I must check that out. Sounds great.

Maybe some of you know of another compressed hypertext format that does include images? I like DICT for its spead and simplicity, but it lacks images...

No pictures ? Still very useable.

The possession rate of mobile phones in Mali is probably something like 1%. But many mobile phones are often used by entire families, just like fixed lines in the rich world. And an African family is somewhat larger than a western family...

And mobile phones are much more commonplace than landlines.

But maybe this all sounds too optimistic. But it also seems interesting to get in touch with African mobile phone operators to set up a service where people can access information. The colonial language Wikipedias are already interesting enough to get this done. Read out live even by flesh-and-blood persons when there's no ogg version yet.

Discussions and conference in Pretoria talked about SMS'ing your request, and a voice callback with the first para of the article.

Another thing to take a look at is text-to-speech synths. It's a challenge to write an interface to access Wikipedia, that can be used by people who are not able to read.

What I haven't mentioned in this message yet: The existence of an encyclopedia in their own language, written by themselves, will probably give people a boost of confidence in their language.

I think you are right.

Cheers, Andy!