Access to Information: How will the other 70% get it?
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Access to Information How will the other 70% get it? Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor Information Systems Department San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA 94132 USA Computer Science Graduate Seminar Series Computer Science Department San Francisco State University Unless noted otherwise
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Transcript of Access to Information: How will the other 70% get it?
Access to Information
How will the other 70% get it?
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorInformation Systems DepartmentSan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, CA 94132 USA
Computer Science Graduate Seminar SeriesComputer Science DepartmentSan Francisco State University Unless noted otherwise
Can information flow like water?
http://ltse.env.duke.edu/files/ltse/images/India%20Persian%20wheel%20irrigation%20Ganges%20Plain.jpg
A water “battery”.Can we build information batteries?
Viva La Revolución
Can we spark a paradigm shift by providing equitable access to information all over the world?
Somebody is finally thinking of the children!
To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.
—OLPC Mission Statement,
It's an education project, not a laptop project. —Nicholas Negroponte
in the beginning...
ooh! laptop!
(July 2007)
Give 1 Get 1 – Nov 2007
Where no one has gone [computing] before...
School Galadima, Abuja City, Nigeria See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Galadima
Samkha village located in the suburbs of northern ThailandSee http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Thailand/Ban_Samkha
Khairat school is India's pilot site.See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India
Ethopia
http://www.reactivated.net/weblog/archives/2008/10/olpc-ethiopia-updates/
Cameroonhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/3110907018/in/set-72157611290673682/
Afghanistan refugee camp, Pakistan http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Pakistan/Atlas_School
Solomon Islandshttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Solomon_Islands
Uruguay: Every primary school child has an XO.http://olpc-ceibal.blogspot.com/
postage stamps too!
1.6 million XO laptops and counting See Google Maps
Deployments worldwide
Also see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Property:Number_of_manufactured_laptops
Multiple hats...
Disclaimer: I do not work for OLPC. I am only a volunteer!
OLPC-SF Deployments
● A hub for exchange of ideas, plans, content, etc.
● Deployments
– Afghanistan (Carol Ruth Silver, MTSA)
– India (Humaira Mahi & Sameer Verma, SFSU)
– Jamaica (Sameer Verma & Univ. of the West Indies)
– Madagascar (June Kleider, XO-ology)
– Senegal (Drew & Lick-Wilmerding Schools)
– South Africa (EduWeavers)
– San Francisco (Starr King Elementary)
– Uganda (UC Berkeley)
School environment
Manage contentManage access
Manage assessment
good to hav
e
XS: OLPC School ServerThe Internet in a Box
(unsung hero too!)
What does the XS look like?
Fantasy View
What does the XS look like?
Reality View
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/
What does the XS look like?
● Any x86 box with requisite memory, crunch and storage can be the XS.
– It could also be a ARM machine in the near future...
● Ideally, we want a machine that
– Consumes very little power
– Has the necessary crunch
– Portable
● Pocketable, even?
– Very forgiving for power brownouts, heat, dust, etc.
● Kinda like the XO.
Services that the XS runs
● Networking
– DNS
– DHCP
– NAT/Masquerading
– Bridging
● Identity management
– Seamless XO login
– Single One Time Password (SOTP) on server
● Activation
– Theft deterrence
Services that the XS runs
● Collaboration
– XMPP via ejabberd
● Storage
– Files and attachments for courses
– Backup files
– Other media
● Backup
– Journal/Datastore backup
● XO Software updates
– Push updates including firmware and OS images
● Activity server
– Pushing activity bundles
Networking
● Provides networking infrastructure for the school.
● Acts as an Internet gateway (if backhaul exists)
– Includes HTTP proxy (optional)
– Content filter (optional)
● Supports Wi-Fi:
– Ad-Hoc
– Mesh (IEEE 802.11s draft)
– Infrastructure (Access Point)
Identity management
● Single One Time Passwords (SOTP) for maintenance.
– Remote ISP maintenance, etc.
● OLPC XO Browse
– authenticates seamlessly with Moodle
– Moodle talks to ejabberd for permissions, etc.
● First XO to access Moodle
– This XO becomes admin.
– This XO can assign other teachers, course creators, and other such roles
Collaboration
● XMPP-based collaboration via ejabberd.
– Ejabberd is a XMPP (jabber) server written in erlang.
● Uses gabble mode under telepathy in Sugar.
– Gabble allows for server-based collaboration
● XOs switch to salut mode in case no XS is found.
– Salut allows for peer-to-peer collaboration
● Activities such as Chat, Write, Memorize use XMPP to collaborate.
http://xmpp.org/
http://collabora.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy_software
Storage
● Much of the storage lives in /library partition.
– Mount /library on external USB disk or other media and expand storage.
– Run rest of the system off a CF or SD card (solid state)
● Files can be served as
– links via Moodle
– links via Apache (add Apache config)
Backup
● Three processes:
– Traffic control
● provides basic "traffic control" to manage load.
– Backup-complete script
● Creates links for latest snapshot.
– Daily cleanup
● enforces a per-user "soft" quota.
Updates
● Pushing updates to OS image and firmware via rsync.
Layout (Access Points)
Hardware vs Load
Benjamin Tran's Master's thesis:jmeter to load and and nmon to record the load
Hardware recommendations
● Schools with less than 40 laptops:
– use XS-on-XO: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS-on-XO
– Requires a SD card (4GB, preferably class 6)
– External USB hard drive (may need own power)
– USB-Ethernet for backhaul.
Fit PC and Fit PC2
● Fit PC works well and is comparable to the XO-1 in performance.
– More configurable than the XO-1.
– Replace a SSD in the FitPC to make it cooler and more power efficient.
● http://www.fit-pc.com/fit-pc1/● Fit PC2 has heat problems.
– Intel Atom runs too hot
● Surprise, surprise. ● Maybe glue on a large heat sink?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndevil/3535934684/
Hardware recommendations
● Schools with up to 100 laptops:
– 1GHz CPU, 1GB RAM,
– at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.
– Something in the mini ITX form-factor works well.
– Fanless units are better
Hardware recommendations
● For up to 500 laptops:
– dual-core 2GHz CPU
– 2 to 4GB RAM
– at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.
– This type of a machine usually works in environments with good power resources.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/
Hardware recommendations
● More than 500 laptops
– Server-class dual CPU
– 4 to 16GB RAM
– at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.
– Data center hosting is also an option.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamisonjudd/2433102356/
School Server
Screenshots
XS Moodle Screen Shots
Main page
Front page settings
Front page roles
List of users
Roles and permissions
Presence service
Antitheft controls
Add a course
Site files
Question bank
A zip file, which includes content and structure for the entire course!
Moving courses
...deploy in Madagascar!
Create in San Francisco...
XS: Internet in a box
No Internet? No power? No problem :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XShttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/School_server
OLPC SF Community Summit 2010
http://olpcsf.org/CommunitySummit2010/
October 22, 23, 24, 2010
Garima
Garima lives in Bhagmalpur, India. They get electricity ~ 2 hours a day. The village has no access to the Internet as yet. Their school has no computers. The classrooms are too small to accommodate the 1100 children who go to school there. So, the children sit under a tree. One tree per class.
India just spent Rs. 300 billion (U$6.77billion) on the Commonwealth Games.
Will a silly-looking green computer make a difference? I hope so.
--Sameer
Made with the free stuff
Its your intellectual property. Keep it open. Vote with your fingers.
Use open formats!http://www.openoffice.org/
