A Mobile Money Solution for Illiterate Users

Existing mobile money platforms have text based interfaces and target literate people. Illiterate people, without the assistance of literate individuals, cannot use such platforms. Applying user-centered requirements gathered in an Ethiopian context, this paper presents the design and development of a mobile money solution that targets illiterate people. Particular emphasis is given to how illiterate users deal with cash money in their everyday life and how such practices can be mapped into financial technology design. Given the ubiquity of mobile telephony in Africa, our solution is based on the widely available, relatively inexpensive and open source Android mobile web platform. The proposed system enables illiterate individuals to count money bills, while providing the facility to accept and make payments. In so doing, we provide an example of how a pervasive technology such as smartphones can empower a hitherto often neglected user category of illiterate users

The Internet as Ideological Battleground

Recent global events that have brought to light the use of new technologies by terrorist groups have focused attention on the role of the internet in the radicalisation of vulnerable individuals and groups towards a violent extremism. In 2007, the case of Abdul Basheer, a law graduate in Singapore arrested for attempting to join the Taliban in Afghanistan drew attention to the use of the Internet as a source of inspiration and information for would be terrorists. More recently Sydney man Belal Khazaal became the first person to be convicted on the charge of making a document connected with assisting in a terrorist act after using material already available on the internet to develop his own publication The Rules of Jihad - Short Judicial Rulings and Organisational Instructions For Fighters And Mujahideen Against Infidels . Both cases point to the developing role of the Internet in the process of radicalisation and suggest that the Internet has become an important tactical tool in the terrorists’ repertoire. The role of the Internet in radicalisation and the extent to which it contributes to the process through which latent beliefs translate into violent actions is not fully understood. However, with the developing strand of terrorism studies that deals with the diffusion of intent as an integral component of counter terrorism efforts has come an understanding of terrorism as a battle of words and ideas. Nowhere is this more evident than on the internet

The iconic ghetto, color-blind racism and white masculinities: a content and discourse analysis of Black Twitter on www.Imgur.com

In this research, I investigate Black Twitter on www.Imgur.com. I identify the general contours of Black Twitter images on Imgur as well as the reception and response to this content by the individuals who use this website. I first categorize the images of Black Twitter in order to describe their main features. Second, I describe the various ways that the individuals on Imgur respond to Black Twitter through a thematic content analysis and critical discourse analysis of the written comments. I conclude that Black Twitter on Imgur reproduces the same racist stereotypes that have been present in decades of media coverage of African Americans in the United States. Furthermore, the responses of individuals on Imgur to Black Twitter evidence anti-Ebonics ideologies, SIDE theory for group identity and participation, and the ongoing development of competing white, masculine identities in a color-blind space

Personalized Knowledge Service Based on Smart Cell-Phone Usage: A Conceptual Framework

Smart cell-phones include many advanced applications and services, which allow their users to achieve various useful goals. However, many users face difficulties when upgrading their cell-phones devices to more advanced ones, partially because their applications include more complex patterns of use for achieving the users’ goals. We present a conceptual framework that aims to help overcoming usage barrier by providing smart cell-phones’ users a personalized knowledge service. The framework is based on the utilization of task models and on the tracking and analyzing the usage of the applications included in the smart cell-phone that enable to construct users’ stereotypes and suggest personalized help according to their usage patterns. It is assumed that the system monitors the usage patterns of the user, thus enabling dynamic update of his/her belonging to a stereotype. The user can override the suggestions and navigate independently in order to find the required knowledge

Impact of Mobile and Wireless Technology on Healthcare Delivery services

Modern healthcare delivery services embrace the use of leading edge technologies and new scientific discoveries to enable better cures for diseases and better means to enable early detection of most life-threatening diseases. The healthcare industry is finding itself in a state of turbulence and flux. The major innovations lie with the use of information technologies and particularly, the adoption of mobile and wireless applications in healthcare delivery [1]. Wireless devices are becoming increasingly popular across the healthcare field, enabling caregivers to review patient records and test results, enter diagnosis information during patient visits and consult drug formularies, all without the need for a wired network connection [2]. A pioneering medical-grade, wireless infrastructure supports complete mobility throughout the full continuum of healthcare delivery. It facilitates the accurate collection and the immediate dissemination of patient information to physicians and other healthcare care professionals at the time of clinical decision-making, thereby ensuring timely, safe, and effective patient care. This paper investigates the wireless technologies that can be used for medical applications, and the effectiveness of such wireless solutions in a healthcare environment. It discusses challenges encountered; and concludes by providing recommendations on policies and standards for the use of such technologies within hospitals

How Do Tor Users Interact With Onion Services?

Onion services are anonymous network services that are exposed over the Tor network. In contrast to conventional Internet services, onion services are private, generally not indexed by search engines, and use self-certifying domain names that are long and difficult for humans to read. In this paper, we study how people perceive, understand, and use onion services based on data from 17 semi-structured interviews and an online survey of 517 users. We find that users have an incomplete mental model of onion services, use these services for anonymity and have varying trust in onion services in general. Users also have difficulty discovering and tracking onion sites and authenticating them. Finally, users want technical improvements to onion services and better information on how to use them. Our findings suggest various improvements for the security and usability of Tor onion services, including ways to automatically detect phishing of onion services, more clear security indicators, and ways to manage onion domain names that are difficult to remember.Comment: Appeared in USENIX Security Symposium 201

ICT Update 73: e-agriculture strategies

ICT Update is a bimonthly printed and on line magazine (http://ictupdate.cta.int) and an accompanying email newsletter published by CTA. This issue focuses on e-agriculture strategies

Reviews

Managing Change in Higher Education: A Learning Environment Architecture by Peter Ford and eight other authors, Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and the Open University Press, 1996. ISBN 0–335–19791–4. 161 pages, paperback. No price indicated

Usability Enhancement of SMS Interface for Illiterate Users

This article analyzes several User Interface (UI) designs and puts forward some more general design principles for interfaces designed for low-literate users. The results of this study highlight the importance of text-free interfaces compared to text-based interfaces for the illiterate and low-literate population. The study developed a Short Message Service (SMS) interface consisting of many design elements, including graphical icons, voice, and text reduction. The participants were more satisfied with the designed SMS interface as compared to the traditional text-based interface of SMS. We believe that if the user interface is appropriately designed, users will not need formal literacy, computer skills, or any external help to operate the application. It has been shown that an interface with minimal or no text but one or more graphics, audio, and digital components is helpful for users with low literacy rates

Enhancement of the Conventional Sri Lankan National Fuel Pass to a Comprehensive Fuel Station Application

Due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. There was a fuel supply problem because of the lack of foreign currency. Even though the government tried to supply the fuel demand, it was unsuccessful due to refueling the fuel since all people were trying full tank their vehicles. Therefore, the government took a new approach by creating a simple QR code scanning application. Even though the application was developed, the features were minimal. To give good insight and emotions to the users, improve their user experience, and maximize user usability Fuel Station App was developed. This is capable of viewing, Downloading, Regenerating the QR, Managing and altering the user profiles, and calculating the fuel consumption of the user vehicle. After the development phase, the app was tested, and the results were collected from the study. The survey confirmed that the users prefer the proposed solution to pump fuel and get good insights from the application