May 18, 2011

burdens of a free software advocate

Sometimes it just sucks to be a Linux lover.

This post is most-definitely nerdier than the average update on this blog, just forewarning for those of you less technically inclined (or less inclined to pay attention to such things). It's been an awful past few days in the world of technology for me. First and foremost, I picked up a Vodacom mobile broadband modem while I was in Dodoma this past Monday, thinking it would be a good investment for my work here and quite possibly beyond this time and place. I haven't had much of a chance to test it out until today, and it's been nothing but frustration.

May 17, 2011

crushing these manuals...and my coccyx

We're so close! I just returned from a trip to Morogoro; a subset of us that spent two weeks there in March made a second appearance to receive feedback on the not-yet completed manuals we've been writing for the Ministry of Education. We're now buckling down to get these submitted to the Ministry, and the brunt of the work is placed on my shoulders. It's mostly my fault for choosing to do things a certain way, a way that's difficult to replicate and train others to assist with. The job I refer to is the illustrations in all three of our books (one for each science subject); I'm in charge of digitizing drawings and making them available for inclusion in the manuals.