GIS & Mapping Resources
Resource list from ICT for Development Learning Network’s August event on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Development: Experiences from the Field. The event was co-hosted by AED and Appropriate IT. Carmen Tedesco, Program Officer and Geospatial Coordinator at AED, moderated the panel discussion and also contributed to the resource list below.
Email Adventures: Setting up an SPF Record to Combat Domain Spoofing
Our domain got spoofed. The first indication was a ton of auto-responders in the past week that all got delivered to our catch-all email account. Most of these auto-responders were supposedly in response to our emails. But looking at the message header revealed a ton of emails with our domain name but unknown user names. TerimaddoxSilver@appropriateit.org, JennaeconometricGalindo@appropriateit.org, HenriettasuperstitiousLin@appropriateit.org, and so on and so forth. This is just a sample. We had 70+ such unknown users on one single day.
Setting up a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is one way to prevent domain spoofing.
Mobile Web, Digital Divide, and Development
PC World has an enlightening article from Kiwanja’s Ken Banks about the growing disconnect between mobile applications envisioned for development and the realities on the ground.
Mobile Applications of the Future
A while ago Google’s Android Developer’s Challenge announced the first round of winners for creating cool mobile applications. The competition elicited 1,788 submissions, of which a panel of judges picked 50 winners who each won a $25,000 award.
Reviewing the Top 50 mobile applications slideshow (pdf) gives us a good sense of the reach of mobile applications in the future and how the NGO sector has and can continue to benefit from these developments.
Technology Transformations for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)
Appropriate IT sponsors the Information & Communication Technologies for International Development (ICT4ID) learning network. June’s ICT4ID meetup topic was Technology Transformations for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). A few additional research resources on the topic:
Digital Divide Revised
Courtesy of Paul Lamb’s Download Divide over at Cool and Conscientious Ning network, a link to an article lamenting how far South Africa and Africa have fallen behind on the digital frontiers, using Firefox download statistics as proof.