Hi,
I was speaking to a friend about how if I can get myself onto an
academic/research job I can try and experiment with the simputer,
some ideas on the proliferation of computers in India.

But I got a reaction that it is better to work on something "real"
and not "simple" (read trivial) things like the simputer.

I think the name simputer is not appropriate. Also its introduction
that it is meant for "the weaker sections of society" is a major put
off in people adopting to the concept. It seems to say that it is a
project of charity, and anyone using it is in some way part of
that "weaker section."

The simputer is quite complex actually. It is more powerful than a
palmtop, much more general purpose and much cheaper. One could well
think of a simputer being marketed in the west for say $500 a piece.
And this would be about three times the market price in India. Also,
the simputer manufacturer has to have a lot of design principles to
be incorporated into it. A typical manufacturer of a cell phone or a
palm top can afford to assume the existence of complementary
technologies like bandwidth, service centers, GSMs, etc. But a
simputer manufacturer cannot afford to do so. In fact, I believe that
as the simputer project takes off it invariable would require more
and more sophistication. One could well think of a simputer being
used as an email client in some village. Well it has linux and
anything is possible!

Please let me know what you think of the points raised here. Don't
you think it is necessary to shake off the philanthrophic picture
that essentially puts a halo over the heads of the project? I believe
a phianthrophic picture attracts the wrong kind of publicity -- one
that would start out well, but lose steam midway and refuse to scale.
Instead, it would be better to just say, simputer is India's answer
to the palmtop or something like that. And encourage the development
of complementary technologies for its proliferation in India.

Looking forward to your reply,
Srinath

I have seen the prototype.  If you read the specifications it is pretty
exciting. One of the guys who did the designing of simputer is my friend.
The original simputer weight is about 240g.  where as palm is around 120 g.
This will make a lot of difference.  But IISc people were telling that they
can reduce the weight to 100g.  The heavy weight is primarily because of 3
AAA batteries !!..  But 32MB of RAM makes it really exciting stuff.

cheers
bONI

----- Original Message -----
From: "Biju Chacko" <biju_chacko@...>
To: <simputer@egroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: [simputer] IT.COM


> At 12:28 PM 29/09/00 +0530, you wrote:
> >Okay..In that case I agree with the original message.  IT.com can be a
major
> >launching pad for Simputer.  Tell me onething how many of you guys have
> >started writing applications aimed at simputer ?
> >thanks
> >bONI
>
> I'm still in wait-and-see mode. I haven't seen anything beyond the initial
> press releases. I'd need to know if this was a viable product before
> devoting any of my limited free time to it.
>
> Biju
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

At 12:28 PM 29/09/00 +0530, you wrote:
>Okay..In that case I agree with the original message.  IT.com can be a major
>launching pad for Simputer.  Tell me onething how many of you guys have
>started writing applications aimed at simputer ?
>thanks
>bONI

I'm still in wait-and-see mode. I haven't seen anything beyond the initial
press releases. I'd need to know if this was a viable product before
devoting any of my limited free time to it.

Biju

Okay..In that case I agree with the original message.  IT.com can be a major
launching pad for Simputer.  Tell me onething how many of you guys have
started writing applications aimed at simputer ?
thanks
bONI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Biju Chacko" <biju_chacko@...>
To: <simputer@egroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [simputer] IT.COM


> At 10:08 AM 29/09/00 +0530, you wrote:
> >Sure it may be, but what is this IT.com, a portal u plan to launch
> >!!..Friend Simputer is going to be a revolution.  IT.com or msn.com can
get
> >benifitted by running a Cobverage on Simputer but not vice versa
> >
> >thanks
> >bONI
>
> IT.com is a major infotech expo scheduled to be held in Bangalore in the
> 1st week of November.
>
> Biju
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

At 10:08 AM 29/09/00 +0530, you wrote:
>Sure it may be, but what is this IT.com, a portal u plan to launch
>!!..Friend Simputer is going to be a revolution.  IT.com or msn.com can get
>benifitted by running a Cobverage on Simputer but not vice versa
>
>thanks
>bONI

IT.com is a major infotech expo scheduled to be held in Bangalore in the
1st week of November.

Biju

Sure it may be, but what is this IT.com, a portal u plan to launch
!!..Friend Simputer is going to be a revolution.  IT.com or msn.com can get
benifitted by running a Cobverage on Simputer but not vice versa

thanks
bONI

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharat Chandra" <sharat_chandra@...>
To: <simputer@egroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 8:08 AM
Subject: [simputer] IT.COM


> Hello all.
>
> IT.COM would be a great place to showcas the
> simputer. Any plans ?
>
> -- Sharat Chandra
> Final Year (Almost), Computer Sc.
> BMS College of Engg.
> Bangalore.
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

Hello IML DTD does not seem to be published yet.  Any way as per the specs,
Simputer has a Perl/Tk Interface for GUI , as well as it runs Kaffe.  Both
very much in the Linux world favourite list.  So I believe most of the
application development for Simputer is going to happen Using Tcl\Tk or Perl
or Java.  There will definitely be limitations to the versatility an ease of
use of a Markup language.

thanks
bONI
----- Original Message -----
From: "sriram durbha" <simputer@...>
To: <simputer@egroups.com>
Cc: <simputer-owner@egroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 11:08 PM
Subject: [simputer] Re: Welcome to simputer


> hi,
> where can i find the dtd for iml and some smple apps
> alsop the sourse code for imli would be helpful
>
> thanx
> ram
>
>
> _________________________________________________
> Get Your Free Email At, http://www.rediffmail.com
>
> For fabulous shopping deals visit:
http://www.rediff.co.in/shopping/index.html
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

Hello all.

IT.COM would be a great place to showcas the
simputer. Any plans ?

-- Sharat Chandra
Final Year (Almost), Computer Sc.
BMS College of Engg.
Bangalore.

hi,
where can i find the dtd for iml and some smple apps
alsop the sourse code for imli would be helpful

thanx
ram


_________________________________________________
Get Your Free Email At, http://www.rediffmail.com

For fabulous shopping deals visit: http://www.rediff.co.in/shopping/index.html

Simputer, is the most powerful  handheld computer.  Does it has anything to
do with tele health ???

thanks
bONI

----- Original Message -----
From: "Asmita MJ" <asmitamj@...>
To: <simputer@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:54 PM
Subject: [simputer] Telehealth


>
> hello!
> I am studying at the International Womens University
> in Germany, and as part of our project 'Virtual
> Communities' we were invited to offer suggestions and
> designs for the Telehealth project proposed for the
> Pacific Islands.  We were asked to offer conceptual as
> well as practical suggestions.
>
> In this context I would like to learn more about
> others experiences, readings on tele health projects,
> its impact on women, indigenous healing practices and
> healers, public health etc.
>
> Thanks
>
> Asmita
>
> --- Frederick Noronha <news@...> wrote:
> > -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor
> >
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> > _/
> >
> > _/  B y t e s   F o r   A l l ---
> > http://www.bytesforall.org
> > _/  Making  Computing  Relevant to the  People of
> > South Asia
> > _/
> >
> >
> _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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> >  SEPTEMBER * 2000 (2ND FORTNIGHT) ISSUE * FOCUS:THE
> > OUTSIDE WORLD
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> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  n o n - p r o f i t s
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  Benton Foundation is interested in providing
> > nonprofits with
> >  practical guidance in helping evaluate the
> > opportunities and
> >  risks of e-commerce in a thoughtful way.
> > Nonprofits should make
> >  e-commerce also work for philanthropic goals.
> >  Email benton@...
> >
> >  FAHAMU is dedicated to the strengthening
> > not-for-profit
> >  organisations  through the development of computer
> > and internet-
> >  based learning materials.
> >  http://www.fahamu.org
> >
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  h e a l t h    i s s u e s
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION for Africa, as organiser of
> > the African
> >  Development Forum 2000, is to hold a global online
> > discussion on
> >  AIDS from July 2000 till before the forum meets in
> > October.
> >  The African Development Forum (ADF) is an
> > initiative to position
> >  an African-driven development agenda. In October
> > 1999, the meet
> >  was on the theme "The Challenge to Africa of
> > Globalisation and
> >  the Information Age".
> >  See the ADF web site at
> > http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000
> >  To join the list, please send a message to:
> >  join-adf2000-l@...
> >  Or view messages posted at
> > http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000
> >
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  e d u c a t i o n
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  FOR EDUCATIONISTS wishing to join the 'Learning
> > Communities'
> >  mailing list, just send an email to
> >  LearningCommunities-subscribe@onelist.com
> >
> >  Check out http://www.Distance-Educator.com
> >  Suggestions regarding content? Would you like to
> > contribute
> >  something to this site? Email
> > vanessa@....
> >
> >  THE JULY-AUGUST 2000 ISSUE OF TechKnowLogia has
> > been posted on
> >  the web. The thematic focus of this Issue is on
> > Technology and
> >  Vocational & Technical Training.
> >  http://www.techKnowLogia.org.
> >
> >  GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LEARNING NETWORK (GDLN)
> >  The GDLN is a telecommunications network that
> > connects distance
> >  learning centers (DLC) in cities across the globe.
> > It harnesses
> >  the latest learning tools -- interactive video,
> > electronic
> >  classrooms, satellite communications and the
> > Internet -- to help
> >  break down the digital divide.
> >  * It provides decision-makers and agents of change
> > with access
> >  to partners who face similar challenges in other
> > parts of the
> >  world.
> >  * It harnesses expertise in a wide variety of
> > disciplines and
> >  connects knowledge centers around the world.
> >  * It enables people to learn in their home
> > environments without
> >  costly travel or work disruptions.
> >  E-mail: distance_learning@...
> >  http://www.worldbank.org/distancelearning/gdln/
> >  http://www.worldbank.org/gdln
> >  http://www.gdln.org
> >
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  d e v e l o p m e n t
> >
> >
> *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> >  GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT mailing list. To
> > subscribe to
> >  GKD-Digest, send the command: subscribe gkd-digest
> >  in the body of a message to
> > "majordomo@...".
> >  "The Global Knowledge Partnership" site offers
> > interesting
> >  discussion on issues of people-before-profit uses
> > of IT in South
> >  Asia and elsewhere.
> >  http://www.globalknowledge.org
> >
> >  SOME SEATTLE-BASED techies are dreaming up an
> > ambitious
> >  initiative to fight global poverty. And they plan
> > to use the
> >  Internet to do it. Digital Partners  says it wants
> > to  change
> >  the definition of philanthropy. The group will not
> > give food,
> >  clothing, or shelter to the poor. It will offer
> > them online
> >  content instead.
> >  One of the main reasons Digital Partners picked
> > India as its
> >  first target country is the presence of a large
> > Indian community
> >  in the United States. It's a community that is
> > closely knit,
> >  highly skilled, and financially sound reports
> > Lakshmi Chaudhary
> >  for WIRED.
> >  http://www.digitaldivide.org/
> >
> >  INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR Eradication of Poverty of
> > Canada in
> >  cooperation with Africa Canada Development
> > Initiative and other
> >  NGOs, will be observing the International Day For
> > the
> >  Eradication of Povertyn on 17 and 18 of October
> > 2000 at Metro-
> >  Toronto City Hall. Although poverty affects people
> > from all over
> >  the world, its intensity and extensity is more
> > pronounced in
> >  developing countries than others for variety of
> > reasons. Chief
> >  among them is lack of human resources development
> > as pointed out
> >  by Nobel Laureate Professor A.K. Sen. In order to
> > speed up the
> >  process of their development, we have decided to
> > hold a two day
> >  conference on lHow to integrate Information and
> > Communication
> >  Technologies into Eradication of Poverty in
> > Developing
> >  Countries.
> >  Programme includes: October 17, 2000 -- Morning:
> > Opening
> >  session, Topics for plenary session:  1) Overview
> > of IT and
> >  poverty eradication in developing countries; 2) how
> > to set up
> >  IT; what resources are required; how to obtain
> > those resources;
> >  3) role of multi-lateral agencies and multinational
> >
> >  corporations; 4)) role of local governments and
> > local community
> >  groups; and 5) CIT and gender related issues.
> >  Afternoon:  Three sessions, either three workshops
> > or three
> >  plenary sessions. Topics: 1) How to use IT for
> > agriculture and
> >  rural development, 2) How to use IT for educational
> > and
> === message truncated ===
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
> http://im.yahoo.com/
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

hello!
I am studying at the International Womens University
in Germany, and as part of our project ‘Virtual
Communities’ we were invited to offer suggestions and
designs for the Telehealth project proposed for the
Pacific Islands.  We were asked to offer conceptual as
well as practical suggestions.

In this context I would like to learn more about
others experiences, readings on tele health projects,
its impact on women, indigenous healing practices and
healers, public health etc.

Thanks

Asmita

--- Frederick Noronha <news@...> wrote:
> -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor
>
>
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
> _/
>
> _/  B y t e s   F o r   A l l ---
> http://www.bytesforall.org
> _/  Making  Computing  Relevant to the  People of
> South Asia
> _/
>
>
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
>
>  SEPTEMBER * 2000 (2ND FORTNIGHT) ISSUE * FOCUS:THE
> OUTSIDE WORLD
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  n o n - p r o f i t s
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  Benton Foundation is interested in providing
> nonprofits with
>  practical guidance in helping evaluate the
> opportunities and
>  risks of e-commerce in a thoughtful way.
> Nonprofits should make
>  e-commerce also work for philanthropic goals.
>  Email benton@...
>
>  FAHAMU is dedicated to the strengthening
> not-for-profit
>  organisations  through the development of computer
> and internet-
>  based learning materials.
>  http://www.fahamu.org
>
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  h e a l t h    i s s u e s
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION for Africa, as organiser of
> the African
>  Development Forum 2000, is to hold a global online
> discussion on
>  AIDS from July 2000 till before the forum meets in
> October.
>  The African Development Forum (ADF) is an
> initiative to position
>  an African-driven development agenda. In October
> 1999, the meet
>  was on the theme "The Challenge to Africa of
> Globalisation and
>  the Information Age".
>  See the ADF web site at
> http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000
>  To join the list, please send a message to:
>  join-adf2000-l@...
>  Or view messages posted at
> http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000
>
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  e d u c a t i o n
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  FOR EDUCATIONISTS wishing to join the 'Learning
> Communities'
>  mailing list, just send an email to
>  LearningCommunities-subscribe@onelist.com
>
>  Check out http://www.Distance-Educator.com
>  Suggestions regarding content? Would you like to
> contribute
>  something to this site? Email
> vanessa@....
>
>  THE JULY-AUGUST 2000 ISSUE OF TechKnowLogia has
> been posted on
>  the web. The thematic focus of this Issue is on
> Technology and
>  Vocational & Technical Training.
>  http://www.techKnowLogia.org.
>
>  GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LEARNING NETWORK (GDLN)
>  The GDLN is a telecommunications network that
> connects distance
>  learning centers (DLC) in cities across the globe.
> It harnesses
>  the latest learning tools -- interactive video,
> electronic
>  classrooms, satellite communications and the
> Internet -- to help
>  break down the digital divide.
>  * It provides decision-makers and agents of change
> with access
>  to partners who face similar challenges in other
> parts of the
>  world.
>  * It harnesses expertise in a wide variety of
> disciplines and
>  connects knowledge centers around the world.
>  * It enables people to learn in their home
> environments without
>  costly travel or work disruptions.
>  E-mail: distance_learning@...
>  http://www.worldbank.org/distancelearning/gdln/
>  http://www.worldbank.org/gdln
>  http://www.gdln.org
>
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  d e v e l o p m e n t
>
>
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>  GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT mailing list. To
> subscribe to
>  GKD-Digest, send the command: subscribe gkd-digest
>  in the body of a message to
> "majordomo@...".
>  "The Global Knowledge Partnership" site offers
> interesting
>  discussion on issues of people-before-profit uses
> of IT in South
>  Asia and elsewhere.
>  http://www.globalknowledge.org
>
>  SOME SEATTLE-BASED techies are dreaming up an
> ambitious
>  initiative to fight global poverty. And they plan
> to use the
>  Internet to do it. Digital Partners  says it wants
> to  change
>  the definition of philanthropy. The group will not
> give food,
>  clothing, or shelter to the poor. It will offer
> them online
>  content instead.
>  One of the main reasons Digital Partners picked
> India as its
>  first target country is the presence of a large
> Indian community
>  in the United States. It's a community that is
> closely knit,
>  highly skilled, and financially sound reports
> Lakshmi Chaudhary
>  for WIRED.
>  http://www.digitaldivide.org/
>
>  INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR Eradication of Poverty of
> Canada in
>  cooperation with Africa Canada Development
> Initiative and other
>  NGOs, will be observing the International Day For
> the
>  Eradication of Povertyn on 17 and 18 of October
> 2000 at Metro-
>  Toronto City Hall. Although poverty affects people
> from all over
>  the world, its intensity and extensity is more
> pronounced in
>  developing countries than others for variety of
> reasons. Chief
>  among them is lack of human resources development
> as pointed out
>  by Nobel Laureate Professor A.K. Sen. In order to
> speed up the
>  process of their development, we have decided to
> hold a two day
>  conference on lHow to integrate Information and
> Communication
>  Technologies into Eradication of Poverty in
> Developing
>  Countries.
>  Programme includes: October 17, 2000 -- Morning:
> Opening
>  session, Topics for plenary session:  1) Overview
> of IT and
>  poverty eradication in developing countries; 2) how
> to set up
>  IT; what resources are required; how to obtain
> those resources;
>  3) role of multi-lateral agencies and multinational
>
>  corporations; 4)) role of local governments and
> local community
>  groups; and 5) CIT and gender related issues.
>  Afternoon:  Three sessions, either three workshops
> or three
>  plenary sessions. Topics: 1) How to use IT for
> agriculture and
>  rural development, 2) How to use IT for educational
> and
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
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Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
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_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/  B y t e s   F o r   A l l ---  http://www.bytesforall.org
_/  Making  Computing  Relevant to the  People of  South Asia
_/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

  SEPTEMBER * 2000 (2ND FORTNIGHT) ISSUE * FOCUS:THE OUTSIDE WORLD
  ----------------------------------------------------------------

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  n o n - p r o f i t s
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  Benton Foundation is interested in providing nonprofits with
  practical guidance in helping evaluate the opportunities and
  risks of e-commerce in a thoughtful way.  Nonprofits should make
  e-commerce also work for philanthropic goals.
  Email benton@...

  FAHAMU is dedicated to the strengthening not-for-profit
  organisations  through the development of computer and internet-
  based learning materials.
  http://www.fahamu.org

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  h e a l t h    i s s u e s
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION for Africa, as organiser of the African
  Development Forum 2000, is to hold a global online discussion on
  AIDS from July 2000 till before the forum meets in October.
  The African Development Forum (ADF) is an initiative to position
  an African-driven development agenda. In October 1999, the meet
  was on the theme "The Challenge to Africa of Globalisation and
  the Information Age".
  See the ADF web site at http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000
  To join the list, please send a message to:
  join-adf2000-l@...
  Or view messages posted at http://www.un.org/depts/eca/adf2000

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  e d u c a t i o n
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  FOR EDUCATIONISTS wishing to join the 'Learning Communities'
  mailing list, just send an email to
  LearningCommunities-subscribe@onelist.com

  Check out http://www.Distance-Educator.com
  Suggestions regarding content? Would you like to contribute
  something to this site? Email vanessa@....

  THE JULY-AUGUST 2000 ISSUE OF TechKnowLogia has been posted on
  the web. The thematic focus of this Issue is on Technology and
  Vocational & Technical Training.
  http://www.techKnowLogia.org.

  GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LEARNING NETWORK (GDLN)
  The GDLN is a telecommunications network that connects distance
  learning centers (DLC) in cities across the globe. It harnesses
  the latest learning tools -- interactive video, electronic
  classrooms, satellite communications and the Internet -- to help
  break down the digital divide.
  * It provides decision-makers and agents of change with access
  to partners who face similar challenges in other parts of the
  world.
  * It harnesses expertise in a wide variety of disciplines and
  connects knowledge centers around the world.
  * It enables people to learn in their home environments without
  costly travel or work disruptions.
  E-mail: distance_learning@...
  http://www.worldbank.org/distancelearning/gdln/
  http://www.worldbank.org/gdln
  http://www.gdln.org

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  d e v e l o p m e n t
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT mailing list. To subscribe to
  GKD-Digest, send the command: subscribe gkd-digest
  in the body of a message to "majordomo@...".
  "The Global Knowledge Partnership" site offers interesting
  discussion on issues of people-before-profit uses of IT in South
  Asia and elsewhere.
  http://www.globalknowledge.org

  SOME SEATTLE-BASED techies are dreaming up an ambitious
  initiative to fight global poverty. And they plan to use the
  Internet to do it. Digital Partners  says it wants to  change
  the definition of philanthropy. The group will not give food,
  clothing, or shelter to the poor. It will offer them online
  content instead.
  One of the main reasons Digital Partners picked India as its
  first target country is the presence of a large Indian community
  in the United States. It's a community that is closely knit,
  highly skilled, and financially sound reports Lakshmi Chaudhary
  for WIRED.
  http://www.digitaldivide.org/

  INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR Eradication of Poverty of Canada in
  cooperation with Africa Canada Development Initiative and other
  NGOs, will be observing the International Day For the
  Eradication of Povertyn on 17 and 18 of October 2000 at Metro-
  Toronto City Hall. Although poverty affects people from all over
  the world, its intensity and extensity is more pronounced in
  developing countries than others for variety of reasons. Chief
  among them is lack of human resources development as pointed out
  by Nobel Laureate Professor A.K. Sen. In order to speed up the
  process of their development, we have decided to hold a two day
  conference on lHow to integrate Information and Communication
  Technologies into Eradication of Poverty in Developing
  Countries.
  Programme includes: October 17, 2000 -- Morning:   Opening
  session, Topics for plenary session:  1) Overview of IT and
  poverty eradication in developing countries; 2) how to set up
  IT; what resources are required; how to obtain those resources;
  3) role of multi-lateral agencies and multinational
  corporations; 4)) role of local governments and local community
  groups; and 5) CIT and gender related issues.
  Afternoon:  Three sessions, either three workshops or three
  plenary sessions. Topics: 1) How to use IT for agriculture and
  rural development, 2) How to use IT for educational and skills
  development, and 3) How to use IT in the areas of health.
  Morning: Workshops--Case studies Use of IT in India (in
  agriculture, rural development, education & health); Use of IT
  in Africa (in agriculture, rural development, education &
  health) Use of IT in Latin America and Caribbean (in
  agriculture, rural development, education & health)
  Contact: Dr.Bhausaheb Ubale, Tel. 416 494 4763, Fax 416 494
  2185, E.Mail: bubale@...
  Website: http://www.eradicatepoverty.com

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  a f r i c a
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  WHY ISN'T NIGERIA ONE OF AFRICA'S BIG INTERNET PLAYERS? Nigeria
  is an obvious candidate to become a large internet market but
  barely seems to have started down this road. NEWS UPDATES
  focuses on issues such as this. If you want to subscribe to News
  Update, simply send a message saying I want to subscribe to
  southwood@....

  INTERNET GROWTH IN AFRICA is rapid, but it's important to note
  that it starts from an "incredibly low baseline", says NEWS
  UPDATES. The cost of internet access remains a serious barrier,
  with charges ranging from $10 to $100 a month. The average
  monthly cost of using a dial-up account is $240 for 20 hours of
  access, compared with $29 or less in the US.

  THE TALKING Africa Open Directory is a useful source for African
  web sites. Talking Africa is a one hour radio programme
  broadcast from London.
  http://talkingafrica.szs.net/directory/index.html

              News Update is a free e-letter covering African
              internet content and infrastructure developments
              published by Balancing Act. The latest issue and all
              previous issues appear on the balancing Act web site
              (http://www.balancingact-africa.com). To subscribe
              to this free e-letter, simply send a message saying
              subscribe to info@.... Future
              issues will cover: the internet in Namibia, South
              African telecommunications policy, an assessment of
              telecentres and the internet in Senegal. The
              Telematics for African Development Consortium is
              pleased to be working with Balancing Act, another
              initiative focusing on providing free information on
              Telematics and Development to e-mail subscribers.

  KENYA'S "POOR MAN'S" ISP (Courtesy News Update): Wancheri.com
  named after the Swahili word for citizens is drawing attention
  with its low-price tariff. With internet connection fees usually
  costing about 10,000 Kenyan Shillings a month (more than $150) ,
  Wananchi.com offers full internet access for a tenth of the
  price at any time of day.

  A PROJECT IS UNDER WAY TO create maps that will help illustrate
  what's happening with national network development in several
  African countries. The link to the maps that have been done so
  far can be found at:
  http://www.nsrc.org/AFRICA/africa.html

  KABISSA IS A SPACE on the Internet for the African non-profit
  sector. To learn more about Kabissa and to set up a free
  membership account for your organisation, please write to
  info@... or visit http://www.kabissa.org

  SOME OF THE ORGANISATION WHICH can be viewed at
  http://www.kabissa.org/wougnet/wo_dir.html
  - Akina Mama wa Afrika-Uganda (AMwA-U)
  - Association of Uganda Women Medical Doctors (AUWMD)
  - Council for Economic Empowerment for Women in Africa (CEEWA)
  - Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the
       Advancement of Women (EASSI)
  - Forum for African Women Educationalists-Uganda (FAWEU)
  - Hope After Rape (HAR)
  - Isis-Women's Int'l Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE)
  - National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU)
  - Safe Motherhood Initiative in Uganda (SMIU)
  - Uganda Gender Resource Center (UGRC)
  - Uganda Media Women's Association (UMWA)
  - Uganda Private Midwives Association (UPMA)
  - Uganda Women Tree Planting Movement (UWTPM)
  - Women and  Children's Crisis Center (WCC)

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  a c c e s s   a t   s l o w  - s p e e d s
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  INFO ON SURFING THE WEB VIA E-MAIL: When the telephone system is
  too slow or unreliable to allow you to surf the web directly,
  you can do so via e-mail. For full instructions for a searching
  the web tutorial page go to
  http://www.teledyn.com/help/Internet/whatsnew.html, but the
  essential information can be downloaded from
  ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gb/gboyd/wsintro.faq

  WWW4MAIL -- Web Navigation and Database Search by E-Mail. The
  Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
  in Trieste, Italy www4mail software allows navigation and search
  of the entire Internet via e-mail, using any standard web
  browser and a MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Exchange)-aware
  e-mail program. At first glance, it may appear similar to one of
  the several web-to-mail software interfaces; but the www4mail
  program introduces new features not previously available. In
  short, e-mail messages containing filtered HTML pages are
  automatically passed to the www4mail server when links to other
  web sites are selected while browsing.
  Written in modular Perl, the program allows retrieval of web
  pages, searching of arbitrary databases, filling out of web
  forms (GET and POST conduct web database searches) and following
  of links (on-line browsing), all by e-mail. It is multi-lingual,
  easy to manage and supports current Internet standards (MIME,
  HTML 4.0, etc.).
  Developed from scratch on the Linux platform, www4mail has been
  used successfully on the BSD platform and contains some optional
  optimisations that are Linux-specific. For example, www4mail can
  monitor the system load average, directly from the Linux /proc
  file system and, at high load averages, queue requests for later
  processing.
  Read complete article at:
  http://www2.linuxjournal.com/lj-issues/issue75/3825.html

  ROBERTO VERZOLA <rverzola@...> ON THE commonman's
  Internet (August 2, 2000):
  I thought I'd share how I use intermediate technology to have
  email access and join mailing lists:
  I have no Internet connection at home or work. In fact, Email
  Center, the server I run that provides email services (no Web)
  to NGOs, has no Internet connection either. The server uses an
  intermediate technology called uucp, one that precedes the
  Internet and is optimized for dial up connections instead of
  dedicated lines. When I occasionally want to do some Web
  searching (which *needs* Internet access), I go to a nearby
  Internet cafe. I find I can meet most of my information wants,
  including joining lists and accessing URLs, with uucp-based
  email, in a way consistent with my own principles.
  The best recent example of a successful uucp operation I know of
  is the SDN-Pakistan operation which boasted of some several
  thousand users.
  Uucp can provide universal email service at a much lower cost
  per mailbox than ISPs, because any uucp user can offer as many
  mailboxes (and email addresses) as will fit his/her machine.
  Probably for this reason, ISPs would rather sell POP instead of
  uucp accounts. In the Philippines, for instance, out of more
  than a hundred ISPs, only one supports uucp, and they are also
  phasing it out soon. That is Schumacher's "disappearing middle"
  in action.
  In fact, in villages where outgoing phone calls are possible,
  uucp-based email can be used to implement at very low cost what
  used to be known as telegraphic services, which would be a huge
  improvement to a village with no such previous service. Where no
  telephone facilities are even available, a government can
  quickly set up a network for universal access to telegraphic
  services with packet radio.
  Public libraries, low-power radio, public telephone stations,
  uucp-based email, packet radio -- these are some of the
  intermediate technologies which can be deployed at lower cost,
  are more affordable to the people, and can provide or
  approximate the services offered by much more expensive full
  Internet facilities.
  I am even inclined to argue that in our case, a fax-in-every-
  village is a more important immediate objective, because it can
  not only provide telegraphic services, but also serve as the
  backbone of a quick-report freeze-the-count system during
  elections, which is very important in the Philippine context.
  But this is another story.

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  d i g i t a l - d i v i d e
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  THE DIGITAL DIVIDE between rich and poor countries is readily
  apparent. Some 90 percent of Internet host computers are in
  high-income countries with 16 percent of the world's population.
  http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/06/un.it.conference.reut/index.html

  UN VOLUNTEERS TO BRING the world's poor on-line. The United
  Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) website to aims
  mobilize volunteers around the world to help bridge the
  technological divide between developed and developing countries.
  United Nations Volunteer programme (UNV) http://www.unv.org/
  UNITeS http://www.unites.org/

  The latest brief from The Century Foundation in its Ideas2000
  series offers an innovative plan to help close the digital
  divide.
  See Century Foundations Idea Briefs
  http://www.ideas2000.org/IdeaBriefs.html
  direct link to *.pdf of entire report
  http://www.ideas2000.org/Issues/Education/DigitalDivide.pdf

  WHAT PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI of South Africa, President Ricardo
  Lagos of Chile and Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden have
  to say: "Until a decade ago, the three of us were partners in a
  struggle for freedom and democracy in Chile and South Affica.
  That victory was won in Chile in 1989 and in South Africa in
  1994. Today our countries are all led by social democratic
  governments. With the same spirit of solidarity and decisiveness
  as we struggled against and defeated dictatorships, we are now
  joining forces to enhance development and alleviate poverty. Our
  present challenge is the new economy of knowledge and
  information. With information technology, the concept of global
  solidarity has been given a new thrust..."
  http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/THU/ED/edlagos.html

  GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS HAS BEEN WORKING for 2 years in Brazil to
  help develop and disseminate a completely sustainable model of
  community-based technology access and education. It is a cross
  between a telecenter and small computer school, teaching
  marketable computer skills and civic education to poor urban
  youth in most cases. The centers are located, in most cases, in
  donated space in community centers, and are equipped with
  donated, used equipment and furniture.
  Contact: Max Savishinsky, Global Partnerships Seattle, WA
  Email: msavvy@... http://www.globalpartnerships.org

  LONE EAGLE CONSULTING has a new "Cross-cultural Self-directed
  Learner's Internet Guide". You can download and print it from a
  link at the top of the page at http://lone-eagles.com/guide.htm
  Also available is a new "Good Neighbor's Guide to Community
  Networking" at http://lone-eagles.com/cnguide.htm
  Lone Eagle's best listing of resources and articles for
  'Building Learning Communities" is listed at http://lone-
  eagles.com/teled.htm
  Two online courses for educators are included, with all lessons
  freely accessible.
  Email Frank Odasz <frank@...>
  Web: http://lone-eagles.com

  WEB PAGES BY LANGUAGE: English, the official language of nearly
  70 percent of the Web's pages, is still the most popular
  language of Web pages around the Net. Japanese runs a distant
  second, according to a study by Vilaweb.
  http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/demographics/
  print/0,1323,5901_408521,00.html

OneWorld, the organisation behind the world's leading portal on
  the Web for human rights and sustainable development, has
  launched an online campaign on the global digital divide
  http://www.oneworld.net/campaigns/digitaldivide


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  r e c y c l i n g - h a r d w a r e
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  DON'T THROW OUT THAT old 486! It could be saving lives in a
  hard-up hospital half the world away. Four years ago at a
  medical ethics conference in Dallas, emergency room nurse from
  Chicago Zina Munoz thought: "Why shouldn't older-model computers
  that people throw away in America be shipped out to Third World
  hospitals to hook them up to the Internet? There's nothing wrong
  with the systems except they are slow, and the hospitals need
  access, not speed."
  In June 1998, and thanks to funding from the ISN, Munoz and a
  team of doctors arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, along with eight
  second-hand computers donated by Toshiba Corp and upgraded and
  refurbished at home by her four cybernaut children and their
  friends. The team spent 2-1/2 weeks in Nepal, installing the
  computers and conducting training and clinical lectures with
  local renal specialists.
  Further small-scale projects followed in Nigeria and rural
  Argentina, and by this time the operation had been formalised as
  the Renal-Tech Donation Project, reports Reuter.
  http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0011/S1103/S1103101.htm

  COMPUTERS-FOR-STUDENTS is at Fairlington Presbyterian Church, at
  3846 King St., in Alexandria, Virginia.  Computers-for-Students
  is a Northern Virginia offshoot of Computer Reclamation and
  Training Center http://www.crtc.org (headquartered in
  Beltsville, Maryland). It has a mission to get donated computers
  into the hands of students who don't have them. And it funds its
  mission by selling some of the donated computers it receives.

  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
  e r r a t a
  *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

In the BytesForAll homepage (from BytesForAll June 2000 issue), the correct
URL of the site below should read as corrected below:
"FROM NEPAL WRITES, MAHESH KUMAR MALLA who is Project  Coordinator/Research
Assistant in Information Communication and  Outreach Division of the
International Centre For Integrated Mountain  Development (ICIMOD),
Kathmandu. He is involved in a team that is  preparing for E-conference on
the Asia Pacific Mountain Network and also  trying to identify relevant
information on ICTs with a special focus on  mountain development and help
develop a focussed section on the Net.Please contact Mahesh Kumar Malla at
mahesh@... "
http://www.icimod.org.sg


           *******************************************************
           *
           *  Roberto Verzola <rverzola@...> on
           *  improving access with low-cost Internet appliances
           *  (July 21, 2000):
           *
           *  After reading about the Indian Simputer on GKD, I
           *  had a chance to browse around our local electronic
           *  shops once more. I found VCD players selling for as
           *  low as US$ 65 and saw at least one 12-volt
           *  monochrome TV receiver selling for $35.
           *
           *  If the VCD player can be made to browse html files
           *  on CDROM, here's the possibility of a truly low-cost
           *  (sub-$100), stand-alone (no recurring connectivity
           *  charges) information appliance that can even run on
           *  12-volt car batteries. Any Taiwan, Indian, or Korean
           *  manufacturer listening?
           *
           *  The Philippines has 40,000 villages (and 73 million
           *  people). Providing each village with this appliance,
           *  for a 100% reach, would cost US$4 million. Some of
           *  our past presidents have probably spent this much on
           *  a single junket abroad. We have spent many times
           *  this amount just to host one image-building APEC
           *  meeting, which is of course another junket.
           *
           *  With such an appliance, all that would be needed are
           *  the VCDs and CDROMs. I have no doubt that these will
           *  simply materialize out of nowhere, as if by miracle.
           *
           *  My worry is that, like "pirate" radio stations, such
           *  an appliance might be prevented from being fully
           *  deployed, and we will be pushed and pulled right
           *  back into the maw of the Internet.
           *
           *  How come a high-cost medium like the Internet is
           *  foisted on us, but once truly low-cost approaches
           *  like low-power radio and CDs are discovered by the
           *  poor, they are hounded like pirates?
           *
           *  My other worry is the law of unintended
           *  consequences: that our villages would be flooded
           *  with VCDs of Hollywood junk and few CDROMs, in which
           *  case this suggestion will come back to haunt me --
           *  unless the government, NGOs, and development
           *  agencies step in to provide the CDs with development
           *  info and educational content.
           *
           ******************************************************

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture that, for the
purpose of spreading its ideals, seeks the involvement and
support of all who agree with its goals. Contact us at
bytes-admin@... * Compiled in public interest * CopyLeft
bYtES For aLL ezine volunteers team includes: Frederick in Goa,
Partha in Dhaka, Zubair in Islamabad, Archana in Goa, Arun-Kumar
in Dortmund, Zunaira in Karachi, Shivkumar in Mumbai, Rajib in
Kathmandu, Daryl in Chicago and Sangeeta in Kathmandu.
Partha Sarkar is webmaster of http://www.bytesforall.org
This ezine may be freely circulated provided entire message is
left intact. If you wish to reproduce in part, please write to us
for permission; we have never refused to date.
TO UN / SUBSCRIBE simply send a message to fred@...
with UNSUBSCRIBE B4A or SUBSCRIBE B4A as the subject line.
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Dear Radha,


On Wed, Sep 06, 2000 at 04:45:56PM +0530, Radha Raj wrote:


+----------
|
| Hi, Mark, Thanks for your interest in our project. I spoke with the
| senior decision maker here, Mr. R.E. Vikhe Patil, who is member of
| state legislature as well. He was minister in the previous Maharashtra
| Government.  He says he would like to know more about yourself. Can I
| have your personal e-mail ID?
|
+----------

Thank you for your letter. My personal e-mail address is:

mark@...

I have also included my resume with this letter so that you have an
idea of what I have done, specifically in India.

I hope this meets you well and in the best of health.

Regards,

- Mark Zugsmith



-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Zugsmith <mark@...>
To: simputer@egroups.com <simputer@egroups.com>
Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 10:41 AM
Subject: [simputer] Thank you!


>
>A friend in Bangalore sent me the simputer.org link.
>
>This project is my dream. I am not a developer or engineer. I did
>system administration and now work in technical sales.
>
>My true interest lies in helping to bring technology and education to
>areas within India and other 3rd world countries that are rural.
>
>If there is some way I could help, maybe come work for you in India, I
>would be honored. Previously I ran a food distribution project in UP
>for 2 years.
>
>Again, thank you all.
>
>Regards,
>
>- Mark Zugsmith
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>

Hi, Mark, Thanks for your interest in our project. I spoke with the senior
decision maker here, Mr. R.E. Vikhe Patil, who is member of state
legislature as well. He was minister in the previous Maharashtra Government.
He says he would like to know more about yourself. Can I have your personal
e-mail ID?

Radha
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Zugsmith <mark@...>
To: simputer@egroups.com <simputer@egroups.com>
Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 10:41 AM
Subject: [simputer] Thank you!


>
>A friend in Bangalore sent me the simputer.org link.
>
>This project is my dream. I am not a developer or engineer. I did
>system administration and now work in technical sales.
>
>My true interest lies in helping to bring technology and education to
>areas within India and other 3rd world countries that are rural.
>
>If there is some way I could help, maybe come work for you in India, I
>would be honored. Previously I ran a food distribution project in UP
>for 2 years.
>
>Again, thank you all.
>
>Regards,
>
>- Mark Zugsmith
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>

A friend in Bangalore sent me the simputer.org link.

This project is my dream. I am not a developer or engineer. I did
system administration and now work in technical sales.

My true interest lies in helping to bring technology and education to
areas within India and other 3rd world countries that are rural.

If there is some way I could help, maybe come work for you in India, I
would be honored. Previously I ran a food distribution project in UP
for 2 years.

Again, thank you all.

Regards,

- Mark Zugsmith

Hello
      I am new to this list. I came to know about simputer through the press and
got interested in it. I would like to know some information.

* Is there a working prototype ready?

* If so, is it available for purchase? Without purchasing a machine, how can
one contribute to the project?

* Is there a picture available?

* screenshots of GNU/Linux running on simputer?(I did not see any at
http://www.simputer.org)

* does it use custom made linux kernel? why don't we have a look at the one
being developed by the team led by CompaQ for its iPAQ 3600 series handhelds?
(www.handhelds.org). They have even got X running. Some nice screenshots are
also available in their website.

* which distribution is simputer running? package management? ketyboard
interface? ..

and more importantly,

* how can individuals like me contribute to the project?

* will the "hardware sources" like circuit diagram, netlist etc etc be
available under GPL?

Thank you very much.

--
Ramakrishnan.M

PS: Note that the opinions and interests are personal, and my employer has
nothing to do with the project and my opinions.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kamaraj Vinodh Kumar Jagannathan [mailto:kjaganna@...]
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2000 10:26 AM
To: 'simputer@egroups.com'
Subject: [simputer] RE: Welcome to simputer




-----Original Message-----
From: simputer Moderator [mailto:simputer-owner@egroups.com]
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2000 10:25 AM
To: kjaganna@...
Subject: Welcome to simputer



Hello,

Welcome to the simputer group at eGroups, a
free, easy-to-use email group service.  Please
take a moment to review this message.

To start sending messages to members of this group,
simply send email to

simputer@egroups.com

If you do not wish to belong to simputer, you may
unsubscribe by sending an email to

simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com

You may also visit the eGroups web site to modify your
subscriptions:

http://www.egroups.com/mygroups


Regards,

Moderator, simputer







To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com

-----Original Message-----
From: simputer Moderator [mailto:simputer-owner@egroups.com]
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2000 10:25 AM
To: kjaganna@...
Subject: Welcome to simputer



Hello,

Welcome to the simputer group at eGroups, a
free, easy-to-use email group service.  Please
take a moment to review this message.

To start sending messages to members of this group,
simply send email to

simputer@egroups.com

If you do not wish to belong to simputer, you may
unsubscribe by sending an email to

simputer-unsubscribe@egroups.com

You may also visit the eGroups web site to modify your
subscriptions:

http://www.egroups.com/mygroups


Regards,

Moderator, simputer

Hi folks:
	 a preliminary simputer home page is now up and running.
URL http://www.simputer.org
currently, it is low on technical details, but there are
placeholders for lots of things to give you an idea
of what to expect.
regards,
manohar


__________________________________________________________________________

Swami Manohar 	   	   Ph:    +91 80 309 2368 x204
Associate Professor 	   FAX:    +91 80 3341683
Department of Computer Science     Email:  manohar@...
  & Automation
				    http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/~manohar
Indian Institute of Science    home:  EV-003, Vigynapura Quarters,
				           RMV II Stage,  New BEL road
Bangalore 560012 		  Bangalore 560094.
INDIA 			    Res.:   +91 80 341 6046
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
   I am a new member to this list. Nice work on Simputer so far.
   I had few question: Where can I get a copy of the specification for
IML which is going to be used in Simputer. Any link ? Is it a W3C
spec or one started by the simputer project ?
   What is IMLI in 'you can help' document ?

Thanks
-swapan

Confirmation of reading: your message -

     Date:    4 Aug 00, 12:16
     To:      SIMPUTER@SMTP {simputer@egroups.com}
     Subject: Re: [simputer] Hello

Was read at 12:24, 4 Aug 00.

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Hai,

thanks for the update.  It is really exciting to view the model of
the simputer.  Can you please let me know when this is going to be
launched?  If you have any write ups or brochures, please do let me
have.

thanks once again,

S MURALI
***** Message Was Scanned For Viruses *****

Thanks for the update. Radha

I am interested in seeing the prototype, or at least the product brochure
with technical specifications. Radha

Hello Friends..,
    Thanx for this update Manohar. Actually I got excited after seeing the
prototype model of Simputer. I would like to know the likely schedule of
releasing this product in our group. I would like to suggest one different
option.. I think once after this prototype have taken the real picture it
will be great if everyone in our group will meet someday to know and discuss
more about this Simputer. Hope to see some light on this suggestion.
Thanx & Regards,
Sreedhar.

	 g  GE Global eXchange Services
	          GE India Technology Centre
	 __________________________________________________

	 Satya Sreedhar Mantha
	 Software Engineer
	 GE India Technology Centre Pvt. Ltd.
	 Upper Ground Floor, Unit 3, Innovator Building
	 International Tech Park, Whitefield Road,
	 Bangalore - 560 066, India
	 Phone:    +91 (80) 8410702/3  ext. 1148
	 Fax:        +91 (80) 8411592/4                    Dial Comm : 8
*901- 1148
        Email : satyasreedhar.mantha@...

Hi:
	 Thanks for your patience. You will be glad to know that
we are making progress in both the hardware and software fronts, though
there have been delays. The package design for the
simputer is also in fullswing. We thought it will be
nice to give a preview of the simputer to those on this list.

please watch this space for updates, and thanks once again
for hanging in there,
regards,
manohar

Hi:
	 Thanks for your patience. You will be glad to know that
we are making progress in both the hardware and software fronts, though
there have been delays. The package design for the
simputer is also in fullswing. We thought it will be
nice to give a preview of the simputer to those on this list.

please watch this space for updates, and thanks once again
for hanging in there,
regards,
manohar

Hello Friends..,
   Iam Sreedhar Mantha , and I would like t know more about this simputer and
in which stage of development it is running. Also plz send me every detail
about this simputer.
Thanx a lot,
sreedhar Mantha.

Hi,
What if we want two serial ports in Simputer (RS232C or RS485) ?
We are looking at industrial applications which use two serial ports.
Is there a provision for add on interfaces?
Best regards
Krishnaswamy

Swami Manohar wrote:
>
> Hi:
>         Attached is a brief writeup on the
> goals of the simputer project, the simputer trust
> and also the basic specifications of the simputer.
> As additional information that can be released
> becomes available we will post it to this
> mailing list. In the meanwhile, this is a forum
> for interaction among people interested in the simputer
> from various perspectives,
> regards,
>
> Manohar
>
>

Hi:
	 Attached is a brief writeup on the
goals of the simputer project, the simputer trust
and also the basic specifications of the simputer.
As additional information that can be released
becomes available we will post it to this
mailing list. In the meanwhile, this is a forum
for interaction among people interested in the simputer
from various perspectives,
regards,

Manohar



__________________________________________________________________________

Swami Manohar 	   	   Ph:    +91 80 309 2368 x204
Associate Professor 	   FAX:    +91 80 3341683
Department of Computer Science     Email:  manohar@...
  & Automation
				    http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/~manohar
Indian Institute of Science    home:  EV-003, Vigynapura Quarters,
				           RMV II Stage,  New BEL road
Bangalore 560012 		  Bangalore 560094.
INDIA 			    Res.:   +91 80 341 6046
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction to the Simputer Trust

The Information Technology Revolution that the world is currently
witnessing seems to be an urban-centric phenomenon. In India, it is
the English-speaking urban elite who has been influenced by the Home
Personal Computer (PC) revolution. It is really tragic to observe
that even though India considers itself to be a Software Super-power,
it has done virtually nothing about deployment of software in local
languages. A large section of the population remains blissfully
ignorant of the Information Technology Revolution. On the other hand,
the Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese have forged ahead with
localization efforts and made considerable progress in this area, to
address their peculiar needs. We cannot expect any multi-national
software giant to come to our assistance on this front. Even the
local software companies are focused on lucrative markets elsewhere.
Local software companies are also burdened by the traditional
mind-set of earning revenues through body-shopping services, rather
than through internally developed products. Hence, we hardly ever see
any innovative products for the vast, untapped local market. If this
trend continues, we will ensure that the Information Technology
revolution also skips India just like the Industrial Revolution.

It is in this context that some like-minded academics and computer
professionals of Bangalore have got together to form the Simputer
Trust, a non-profit entity whose objective is to define and develop a
low-cost, generic, mobile computing device for the common man and
make available the benefits of Information Technology to the rural
masses.  Customisable Indian Language front-end interfaces will be an
important feature of this product. Since this project's goal is to
deliver an extremely low-cost product, our strategy is to use widely
available, free public-domain software for the operating environment
and to develop our own applications. The basic software applications
on this device will be offered free of charge. We will also publish
the application programming interfaces to enable commercial and
non-commercial software vendors to develop applications for this
device.

The Simputer Trust has liberally borrowed its philosophy from the
concept of "free software" propounded by a worldwide group of
software developers who have created a new paradigm for the
development and deployment of such popular software as Linux and also
benefited from pioneering work done by the Free Software Foundation.
The Simputer Trust has extended the free software concept also to the
hardware design of the Simputer Platform. The hardware design will be
open and extensible, so that any licensee can add value to the
platform. The Simputer Trust will still retain ownership over the
basic platform so that it can continue to guide its development based
on the philosophy of the Trust.

The initial Simputer model will have a rudimentary Kannada front-end
interface. The product is targeted at an end-user price of under Rs.
9,000 (US$200 approximately). We expect that the demonstration
vehicle will result in large-scale deployment through governmental
and non-governmental agencies throughout the country. Costs will
automatically fall as volumes pick up.



What is the Simputer ?

Product Overview

The Simputer is a low-cost Personal Computer with multiple
connectivity options. It will be modular and based entirely on free
software from the Open Source Initiative. Its primary input will be a
touch-sensitive overlay on the LCD display panel. The primary
application interface would be a browser that can render the
Information Markup Language (IML). IML is a new XML application being
designed specifically for handheld devices like the Simputer.  The
use of XML-based language is in line with the Trust's philosophy of
utilizing global Internet standards.

A subsequent version of the Simputer may also use speech recognition
for basic navigation through the software menus. The Speech
Dictionary will be easily customisable for different Indian
languages. A text-to-speech (TTS) system will also be developed at a
later stage.

Quite simply, the Simputer is not a Personal Computer in the
conventional "PC" sense. The "Win-tel" architecture of the de facto
standard PC is quite unsuitable for deployment in the low-cost mass
market in any developing country. The entry barrier due to software
licensing is just too high. While the Wintel PC provides a de facto
level of standardisation, it is not an open architecture.

The Simputer, on the other hand, will be based on software technology
that is open and modular. The Open Source Initiative is a global
software initiative that aims to develop leading-edge technology
through a collaborative approach whereby all of the technology is
freely available to anybody. This provides us several benefits. We
benefit from the experience of the vast global pool of experts
working on software problems. We also have access to the entire
source code, which enables us to deploy the software on any hardware
platform that might be cost-effective for us at a certain point in
time. We also have the benefit of peer review processes that ensure a
relatively robust and stable end product.

The initial version of the Simputer is based on a StrongARM CPU. The
StrongARM is a Reduced Instruction-set (RISC) microprocessor, which
is designed for embedded applications. Several vendors provide ARM
based chips with a high level of integration and high performance at
a relatively low level of power consumption.

The operating system will be based on Linux. While Linux has already
been ported to the ARM, there is still a considerable amount of
effort that we have to put in. Since the Simputer has relatively
fewer resources than a PC, Linux has had to be pared down to the
barest minimum and yet retain basic functionality.

To enable rapid development and deployment of application software,
the basic development platform will be Perl / Tk. A Simputer
simulator and a comprehensive software development kit will be made
available by the Trust to facilitate widespread application
development.

We also propose to use a public-domain version of the Java Virtual
Machine, called Kaffe, as an alternate application delivery vehicle.
Any system, which implements the Java Virtual Machine, can deploy
Java applications virtually unchanged. Kaffe is a freely available
version of Java that has been developed under the Open Source
Initiative.

An important feature of the Simputer is the SmartCard Reader/Writer.
The SmartCard is emerging as a credible delivery vehicle for
financial transactions on the Internet and has become an important
tool for electronic commerce. The incorporation of a SmartCard
Reader/Writer in the Simputer will therefore increase the
functionality of the mobile device for deployment of a richer set of
value-added services, including services such as home banking through
personal ATMs, home shopping, etc. The SmartCard Interface will
enable a diverse range of applications that require security.
Electronic commerce, on-line banking and multi-purpose citizen-cards
will all require SmartCards in the near future.

The Simputer is targeted as a shared computing device for a local
community of users. A local community such as the village panchayat
or the village school, or a kiosk, or even a shopkeeper should be
able to give this device out to individuals for a specific period of
time and then pass it on to others in the community. This requires
the device to be personalized for individual use on a changing basis.
The SmartCard is again the basic method by which this device can be
personalized. A user's individual profile can be stored on a
SmartCard, which he can carry around with him. Once inserted into the
SmartCard Interface, the Simputer will read the profile from the
SmartCard and also update changes if any, during the current
transaction cycle.

We also propose to use Pretty-Good Privacy (PGP) encryption software
for providing secure and controlled access to data on the Simputer.
Once again, PGP is freely available over the Internet from European
sites that do not attract US sanctions. PGP is not currently known to
have any apparent weaknesses and back doors through which security
agencies can gain access to PGP-encrypted data. While in the long run
it might be desirable to develop our own public-key encryption
algorithms, PGP should suffice till such time.

It will be important for the Simputer to offer a wide range of
connectivity options. These connectivity options can be implemented
through a modular, generic Network Interface Module (NIM). The
primary connectivity option will be the V.34 / V.90 Modem. While the
Simputer could use a V.34 Modem chip-set, it would add substantially
to the cost of the bill-of-materials and power consumption. Since
Encore has already developed V.34 compliant data/fax soft-modem
technology, which is robust and well proven, we may deploy our
soft-modem code in the Simputer on a future date. This can
drastically lower the cost of the product without any major
compromise on performance.

Ease of use has to be an important guiding principle if this device
is to gain a substantial measure of popularity.  A low-cost version
of this device may be targeted to the home user, whereas a slightly
higher functionality version can be designed for use in "Web kiosks"
where people can come in and Surf the Internet at their convenience.
The Simputer can also be used in schools to allow them to offer
Internet access to their students at relatively low-cost.

The Simputer can also leverage the pervasiveness of telephone lines
and enable users to enjoy a new level of services from their Internet
Service Providers.  This could be in areas as diverse as Web-enabled
email access, home banking, home shopping, educational services and
new forms of entertainment.

The Simputer operating system, IML browser and tools and the main
application will reside in Flash ROM so that the system can quickly
start operation when powered up.  User profiles can be stored in
Flash memory as accessible files or also in the SmartCard.

Extensibility will be provided through a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
port to enable a user to add an external keyboard/mouse and other
peripherals.


The Simputer Specifications

Hardware
   CPU 32-bit RISC CPU running at 200MHz
   32 MB of DRAM
   Boot ROM
   16 MB Flash for Permanent Storage (DOC)
   Display I/F 320x240 Monochrome LCD Display Panel
   Input Device     Touch-panel Overlay on LCD Display
		     Used with a plastic stylus (Pen)
   Audio I/F Audio Codec & pre-amplifier for built-in Headphones/Mic
   SmartCard Interface   SmartCard Reader/Writer
   USB Interface   Built-in Root Hub capability
   Network Interface Module
            For various connectivity options
	    V.34 (33.6 Kbps) - soft-modem
	    IrDA Interface
   Connectors
                 Speaker and MIC Jacks
		 SmartCard Connector
                 RJ-11 Telephone Jack
	         USB Connector
   Dimensions approximately 5"x8"x1"
   Power Supply 3 AAA-sized NiMh batteries
		 Optional External Battery Pack with Charger (Docking Station)
   Optional Extensions   FM Digital Radio Receiver
   Docking Station
                     USB interface to Simputer
		     5-port Hub Function
		     To support expansion for the following peripherals
			 External Keyboard/Mouse
			 Printer
			 LAN
			 Digital Camera
		      Battery Charger
System Software
        Operating System Linux Kernel
        Security  Pretty-Good Privacy (PGP) Encryption Software
        Network Protocols     TCP/IP, FTP, Telnet, PPP, HTTP etc.
        Soft-Modem Algorithms V.34/V.17 Data/Fax Modem Technology

Application Software
       Internet access (Browser, Email, File-transfer etc.)
       Scripting Language for Educational Applications
	        Data Collection
	        Other mobile applications
Advanced Applications
       Text-to-Speech Software
       Speech Recognition for Simputer Navigation
       SmartCard based security oriented financial applications
       MicroBanking in the rural environment
       Personal ATM or Digital Wallet
       Software MP3 Player



Some Applications on the Simputer

Given below are a few short descriptions on some of the typical
applications that are envisaged for the Simputer. It should be
mentioned here that a group of students at the Indian Institute of
Management, Bangalore, are conducting a study of the likely
applications for such a device in the rural and semi-urban areas, as
part of their curricular requirments and they shall be sharing this
information with the Simputer Trust to enable us to fine-tune the
applications.

MicroBanking: The Simputer is the ideal mobile platform for a
complete, secure micro-banking solution. Several small cooperative
banks in Maharashtra are already providing services to their rural
clients at their door-steps. They carry around a small portable
device with a transaction printer, which enables the client to
transact with the bank and obtain a receipt directly. Current models
of the mobile device have several shortcomings. The Simputer provides
a much more secure environment, with the help of a SmartCard and
simple to use encryption software. It is felt that the Simputer can
increase the level of penetration of micro-banking in rural India and
achieve one of the important social objectives of the Trust.

Data Collection Organisations: that collect large volumes of data,
such as the National Sample Survey Organisation, the Census Bureau,
ORG, etc. are ideal candidates for a secure data collection device
based on the Simputer. Since the Simputer will strongly support the
Java environment, it is relatively straightforward to develop
customised forms-based data collection programs that can enable the
Simputer to collect various forms of data in the field and then pass
it on to a central repository for further processing. Once again, the
SmartCard offers a unique enabling technology for data security.

Internet Access: The Simputer will have a simple to use Browser for
accessing the Internet through one of several connectivity options.
Since it has a built-in modem, the modem provides the primary
interface to an Internet Service Provider such as VSNL or Satyam
On-line. In fact, it might be a good idea to tie up with ISPs to
bundle several hours of internet access in the basic package. The
Simputer will also use the USB to enable higher speed connectivity
through a PC in a web-kiosk or central site.

Agricultural Information: An important application of the Simputer
will be the dissemination of information to farmers relating to
agriculture, such as crops, fertiliser, irrigation, agricultural
finance, farm equipment, weather-reporting etc. Since the Simputer
will have the capability to function as a digital FM radio receiver
(at additional cost), a lot of educational and entertainment related
services can be provided through this powerful medium.

The School Laboratory: A whole range of educational applications can
be developed and deployed for the benefit of the rural student
population, on the Simputer. It should be possible to create
self-learning programs, laboratory experiments, information search
engines and other tools that can supplement the school curriculum. It
is expected that some of the NGOs will come forward to create
suitable program material in this area.

THE TRUSTEES:

The Simputer project has brought together people from two entities:
The Department of Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of
Science and Encore Software (formerly Ncore Technologies).  The
following is a list of the people.

The Encore Group:

Vinay Deshpande (Managing Trustee)
Shashank Garg
Mark Mathias
Samyeer

The IISc Group:

Vijay Chandru
Ramesh Hariharan
Swami Manohar
V. Vinay

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