Month: June 2016
CROWD SOURCING TOOLS
Crowd sourcing is defined by Merriam-Webster as the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, especially an online community.
Crowd sourcing is a type of participate online activity in which an individual, an institution, a non-profit organization, or company proposes to a group of individuals of varying knowledge, heterogeneity, and number, via a flexible open call, the voluntary undertaking of a taskan from employees or suppliers
Twitter
Twitter is another tool for crowd sourcing tool and its already being used for many crowdsourcing efforts. The best way to use it is create a hashtag, explain what you are trying to accomplish, and have your followers tweet away. One of the ways that Twitter has been used (other than listed above) has been by conferences like South by Southwest (SXSW) and Gnomedex. They used Twitter, so that attendees could tweet and discuss the events with their followers.
Face book is another Crowd sourcing tool Create a Facebook Page and tell everyone about it. You can use the many applications that Facebook offers, so that others can answer questions on a survey, have discussions on the forums, and/or have notes to bring awareness to a topic. Facebook Page is a great way to use it for building brands, calling people to action, and/or build ideas.
Evernote
Create an area for your team can collaborate on notes, ideas, and information. Evernote allows you to clip anything (e.g. web sites, images, videos, etc.) that you find useful and share it with others.
Google Docs
If you want to share and collaborate in the creation of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, then Google Docs is the best way to go. You can even chat with your fellow collaborators and see one another’s modifications without having to be in the same room.
Get Satisfaction
The best way to offer your clients the best customer service is by also allowing them the ability to resolve the issues themselves and share their questions and answers with anyone, even if that person is not a client. Get Satisfaction provides a way for companies to do that. JS-Kit Echo uses Get Satisfaction for their customer support. When I was having some issues adding the commenting system to my web site, I was able to quickly get a response from the JS-Kit team and their users. It was great to also be able to share my experience with my Twitter followers and Facebook friends.
Delicious
Delicious is another crowd sourcing tool which helps to share interesting links that could aid in the development of an idea, education, and/or marketing efforts. Delicious is my favorite one to use for this. You can have a create a network or a group bookmarking account so that anyone can add new bookmarks, tags to existing, and add comments. It also allows you to share your bookmarks on other social networking sites.
Dropbox
Have a way for your team to upload and share different files with one another. This is great for sharing code, developing a web site, or for storing research findings. Dropbox offers a virtual hard drive that you can drag and drop directly from your computer. It even provides an audit trail, so that you can know what was uploaded, when, and by whom.
Scribd
Scribd is another crowd sourcing tool which If there are written works, such as documents, eBooks, and use cases, that you want available to your team or customers, Scribd is the way to go. Scribd allows people to read a piece of writing, share it with others, and provide comments on it. It’s a great way to get the ideas, suggestions, and questions from many people and make a better product.
Ustream and youtube YouTube
Video blogging is becoming increasingly popular, especially now that smartphones have better video cameras, and there are apps to upload them to video services, such as Ustream and YouTube. Ustream gives you a way to host a live show and have your Twitter followers chat with you while you are on the show. Additionally, these can also be tweeted, so that their own followers can also contribute. You can also upload to YouTube, which is great because then you can also receive video responses.
Google Wave
Google Wave is another crowd sourcing tool which still has a few defects, but it can be a strong collaboration tool if Google resolves them. I am currently part of an Augmented Reality (AR) wave where they are trying to find a way to use Google Wave for AR. It is great seeing these innovate minds find creative ways to building augment reality into Google Wave, sharing code, images, and documents. Google Wave can also be used for customer service, web site/blog creation, an idea repository, etc.
WINNE BYANYIMA BIOGRAPHY
The story is about the life of Winne Byanyima since childhood upto date
THE GOOD AND BAD SIDE OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
THE PROGRESSIVE JOURNEY OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY SINCE ITS INCEPTION
This project is a story describing the historical background of Makerere University from when it was built in 1922 up to date
http://whenintime.com/HTimeline.aspx?tlurl=/tl/kandi2/history_of_background_of_makerere_univerisity/
POOR DRAINAGE CHANNEL IN NSAMBYA
Residents of Nsambya Kirobe are complaining about the abandoned drainage channel by Kampala city council KCCA that killed a boda boda man a two month ago
During the rainy season the drainage channel is filled with floods which makes the place smelly and sticky
Stagnant water pools near Nsambya areas have developed into breeding grounds for mosquitoes which spread malaria. Engineers and environmentalists need to check the quality of designs, construction and environmental aspects of the drainage channels.
Namusis Sara a resident Nsambya says the drainage channel is in a sorry state. He says the local authorities can’t claim to extend services to the resident yet they life is at risk.
Musisi Micheal says that they are vulnerable to diseases such as cholera and many another diseases. and hopes goverment the correct intervention policy in place. It is now a matter for the responsible agencies to act decisively to solve the flood problem
However KCCA promises to work upon the poor drainage channels in the area
KAVEERA BAN IN UGANDA
Kaveera Still In Use Despite Nema Ban
In short
Plastic carrier bags are still in circulation despite a government ban on their importation and usage more than two months ago. A Uganda Radio Network reporter visited several places in and around Kampala where the kaveera was widely in use in supermarkets and retail shops.
The usage of polythene carrier bags locally known as Kaveera remains rampant despite a government ban declared more than two months ago.
The ban came into force on April 15 through a directive by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the country’s environment watch-dog. It mainly targets carrier bags of less than 30 microns.
Last month, as a way of enforcing the ban, the environmental Police arrested 16 people and confiscated 800 kilogrammes of kaveera that they were selling in different parts of Kampala and Wakiso districts.
This action, however, appears to have done little to control the use of Kaveera. A random survey by Uganda Radio Network shows that the carrier bags are still rampantly used not only by roadside vendors but also by retail shops and big brand supermarkets.
Emmanuel Niwamanya, a resident of Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, says reusable bags are expensive and not easily available.
//Cue in: “It’s very hard…
Cue out:….are very few.”//
Similarly, Tony Katusabe, a trader in Nsambya implores government to make available other types of carrier bags at an affordable price.
//Cue in: “If paper bags….
Cue out: …prices made affordable.”//
AFRICAN MINISTERS TO SELL TOURISM AS CONTINENTAL BLOC
Tourism ministers from across the African continent have agreed to form a forum uniting them in order to address cross-cutting issues affecting the growth of the industry across the globe.
Derek Hanekom, the South African tourism minister , said the move is motivated by the realisation that what happens in other African countries affected the rest of Africa.
CNN’s Richard puts panelits on the hot seat to explain why tourism growth across the continent has been struggling. From L-R S.A Minister of Tourism-Derek Hane,CEO Tourism-Mwatsatsi, Deputy Minister of Tourism
“The Ebola outbreak which took place in West Africa resulted in dwindling tourism numbers in South Africa. Never mind that West Africa is closer to Europe than it is to South Africa. The actions of others elsewhere in Africa affect the image of us all as a continent because the world looks at Africa as one big country,”Hanekom said
According to statics, South Africa, is the third largest annual tourism expo in the world and the largest in Africa. It typically attracts between 8,000 and 11,000 of Africa’s tourism leaders, policy makers, global buyers and travel media seeking to promote tourism as a means of Africa’s economic growth and transformation.
Agnes Akiror, while Speaking to the New Vision on the side lines of the discussion, the tourism state minister, Uganda, confirmed the move.
Yes we had a meeting and agreed to complement each other rather than compete. The understanding is that we would be more competitive as a united force,” she said.
She further added that, the ministers agreed to address problems that might occur in other parts of the continent as way of creating awareness and allaying fears that might result from visitors misreading the situation.
Uganda alone, tourism overtook diaspora remittances and coffee to become Uganda’s biggest foreign exchange earner at $1.4b in 2013
The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that international tourist arrivals on the continent will grow by 4% this year. Tourist arrivals in Africa are expected to reach 130 million by 2030. This is more than double the 50 million arrivals we are currently receiving
HOW DIGITAL REVOLUTION IS IMPROVING JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION
The Digital Revolution is the change from mechanical and analogue electronic technology to digital electronics which began anywhere from the late 1950s to the late 1970s with the adoption and proliferation of digital computers and digital record keeping that continues to the present day
Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning “to share”[1]) is the act of conveying intended meaning to another entity through the use of mutually understood signs and semiotic rules. The basic steps of communication are the forming of communicative intent, message composition, message encoding, and transmission of signal, reception of signal, message decoding and finally interpretation of the message by the recipient. The following is the ways digital revolution helps to improve communication in journalism
Technology is quickly becoming the primary way of receiving information helping journalist spread information. The new digital technology able information to be spread at a first rate for instance notifications of news and emails allows society members to be aware of what is going on in the world in only a few seconds. In today’s fast-paced society, more and more journalist to turn their computers, cell phones, and Bluetooth devices for updates ranging from Facebook to weather predictions. Especially with the explosion of social networking and the development of smart phones,
Digital technologies have expanded quickly, permeating society with new formats and possibilities of communication. Hypertext, multimedia, hypermedia have become part of the routine of the vast majority of professionals and require schools to change their ways of teaching and learning. If we peer into the future, we can foresee a media landscape dominated by a highly fragmented, though active audience, intense media competition, and scarce advertising dollars. By embracing new technologies, professional journalism and media can hold on to their role as a vital information lifeline and continue to operate as the tool of a successful democracy
The digital revolution in information and communication technologies has created the platform for a free flow of information, ideas and knowledge across the globe and myriad ways in which changes and challenges are brought to the purveyors and the consumers of the news. We assume that the journalist is not an endangered species, but one whose functions and routines are being altered drastically. Now a website can operate as a platform upon which citizens may voice their opinions and questions regarding the issues about which they care” (Deuze, 2003, p.218). And, “dialogic” journalism is a more liberating notion of news creation
The content of a new medium is fully maintained by journalists interacting with citizens . The audience member (or the receiver) is taking an active role in journalism. At their core, these new models suggest profound changes for journalists’ roles and their ultimate control over the news. Digital technology demands more of the reporter, who often has to learn several operating functions, working at the same time as producer, editor and executor
New technology also makes it possible for patterns of similar events and issues to be associated across various societies. Solutions to local problems are no longer restricted to the community themselves but are picked up by interest groups, the world over and projected as exemplars. Newspapers throughout the world that have invested in other media are beginning to experience both the advantages and difficulties of a convergence whose catalyst is the Internet and whose immediate future will be the total integration of their news and commercial multimedia operations
New media can be interactive. Audience members can interact with each other or with reporters or sources, engaging in a dialog. Rather than sit back and only watch or listen, audience members can participate in a discussion room on line. They can send email to a reporter. The reporter may get an important lead on a story. A factual error might be quickly corrected. Audiences can interact with content. They can navigate through a 360-degree video. They can click on a “hot spot” and access additional information, text, audio or video that further explains a story element.
New media permit a wider or richer use of communication modalities. Words, spoken or written, background sound, still photographs and graphics, motion pictures, and more are all possible in a digital, networked environment. All of these modalities give the reporter more tools to tell a story and can engage audiences more fully by engaging more of the audience members’ senses. Research shows that attention, understanding and retention are all increased when more communication modalities are engaged in the classroom. There’s no reason why the same can’t be true in journalism.
New media make possible a new level of customization never possible before in journalism. Journalists have always strives to make their stories relevant. When stories break on a national, regional or even international stage, good journalists have always tried to localize them. They have always tried to find a local connection, a person, place or consequence for the home town, state or country. But, new media make it possible to take this journalistic ideal of localization to the ultimate level of the individual. Every story can be potentially made relevant to each individual person. This is impossible in traditional media.
Content can be more dynamic in a digital environment. It can be updated and kept current in an online medium such as the Internet or digital broadcasting system. Moreover, content is available on-demand and flows continuously from source to receiver and back again. This fluid system keeps the audience and journalist in a constant state of connection, whether the audience or journalist is at home, newsroom, or out and about in their community connected through a mobile phone, two-way pager or wireless personal digital assistant.
New media permit a wider or richer use of communication modalities. Words, spoken or written, background sound, still photographs and graphics, motion pictures, and more are all possible in a digital, networked environment. All of these modalities give the reporter more tools to tell a story and can engage audiences more fully by engaging more of the audience members’ senses. Research shows that attention, understanding and retention are all increased when more communication modalities are engaged in the classroom. There’s no reason why the same can’t be true in journalism
Computer mediated communication provides data that can be compressed into very small spaces and it can be accessed at very high speeds in non-linear ways. a separate media culture altogether. The important characteristics of the new media are that media texts are dematerialized in the sense that they are separated from their physical newsprint form.
Web technology has provided opportunities for sources and audiences to participate in news production. Scholars have begun calling reporters “gatewatchers” (Bruns, 2005) and information “monitors” (Deuze, 2003), insisting that they share authority willingly and embrace “citizen media” (Gillmor, 2004). Buzz words such as “networked journalism” (Jarvis, 2006) and “communal media” (Jenkins, 2006) demonstrate how some people are thinking about the Web technology as an opportunity for a journalistic revolution (Bruns & Jacobs, 2006) where citizens have a responsibility to speak up, create content, and counter mainstream media in virtual venues (Kline & Burnstein, 2005). This largely theoretical essay puts forth a new online model for news production functionality that takes into account the dynamics of information production, dissemination and consumption online
With the dawn of the information age (and electronic journalism), journalists’ functions have shifted from information transmission to information processing (Jurgensen & Meyer, 1992; Schudson, 1995). In McLuhan’s works, we learn that every medium presents a different sensory experience to extend the self into the world. It comes as no surprise then that journalism’s foundation has begun to change with the latest medium – the Internet
The new media has dislocated communicative action from the posts of the nations, provides instantaneous global contact and inserts the late modern subject into a machine apparatus that is networked. Also removed passivity among the media audience by enabling simultaneous reception, alteration and redistribution of cultural objects. Marshal McLuhan had first associated technology with content in his celebrated treatise. He outlined four different media cultures
The digital narrative allows us to better comprehend world events (global warming, migration issues, the economic crisis) through graphics, enrichment of experts and victims’ testimonies, conversations taking place over various locations, and collaboration with other media. These multiple interconnections and broad guidelines render the process more proactive
Digital revolution has increased journalist potential to investigate, produce and disseminate news to the public a reporter, but also the speed of publication in the frenetic pace of writing instantaneously and 24/7. Media industry veterans may find the tech-driven changes unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first, but they would do well to embrace the inevitable. We could say that with digitization, the journalist finally became a specialist, not in anything in particular, but in effective ways to perform journalism and make the newspaper quickly and widely available
Digital revolution offers news and information easily. The audience seems divided between a segment who want headlines and useful information bits and a fraction who want in–depth data documents and in–context reports (Kenney, et al., 2000). Another qualitative aspect is the unique possibility of the Internet to supply links to story sources (Deuze, 1998).
Over the past quarter century, dramatic technological advances in the production, manipulation, and dissemination of images have transformed the practices of journalism, entertainment, and advertising as well as the visual environment itself. In an age of ubiquitous information news junkies have never had it so good, at the touch of a button, online news is available everywhere from the “Times of India” on the web to online versions of the “The Hindustan Times” daily
The digital revolution creates a range of strategic opportunities for news publishers. Aside from the cost of online storage and bandwidth, a website can effectively deliver a wide range of audio, video and text to millions of consumers, at home and abroad, via wired and wireless connections. The result is that news publishers can now assert a virtual presence in foreign markets without any investment in capital-intensive printing facilities or expensive broadcast spectrum. Leading the way, for example, are UK-based newspapers such as the Daily Mail, the Guardian and The Times, which have amassed impressive audiences overseas thanks to the web—notably in the US, where their readership now rivals bastions of American journalism such as the Los Angeles Times.
It has enabled the journalists to be flexible and adjustable to the trending new technologies albeit new hardware or software. With such a help of the revolution, there has been gaps bridged especially hitherto existing gender gaps. For example in Uganda, the preponderance of journalist can be attributed to the digital revolution that not only favors men but also women as well. Thus it doesn’t segregate or discriminate any gender. And this is a robust improvement as far as journalism and communication.
Conclusion the digital revolution changes apparently everything; and it continues to do so, in a way that is unprecedented since Gutenberg and/or Industrialization. May be even more so. Professionally and personally for me, few things have changed my daily work, challenged my thinking, driven my professional curiosity and academic studies over the last two decades as the digital revolution of media and journalism. And of course as I am writing this, the revolution continue
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THE NEWS ALERT 