Feb 15, 2017

Google Coding Champion Came From Village Without Internet!

Location map of Cameroon Equirectangular proje...
Location map of Cameroon Equirectangular projection. Geographic limits of the map: N: 13.5° N S: 1.4° N W: 8.2° E E: 16.6° E (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Such a good feel good story - Kids in the West could learn from this young man.

A true champion is one who braces through all adversities and hurdles coming in his or her way. And this 17-year-old African boy is no different!
Nji Collins Gbah, who resides in a small, rural town far outside the capital of Cameroon, is Africa’s first Google Code-in champion. Google Code-in is a contest open to students around the world, aged 13 to 17.

What makes this champion different is that Collins used the knowledge he gained from two years of learning how to code by reading books along with online resource to beat his 1,299 other young adult competitors from around the world who have regular access to wireless networks in order to win the competition.

Collins is from the city of Bamenda in Cameroon’s predominantly Anglophone North-West region that recently fell victim to alleged discriminatory practices from the national government due to political unrest. There has been mounting tension in Cameroon between the country’s Anglophone population—who make up 20 percent of the population—and its French-speaking majority, as English-speakers feel that they are being discriminated against due to partial government practices in favor of the Francophone population.
In response to the protests spearheaded by locals, the government cut off the internet in towns across the area, including Collins’s as a punishment and a blunt tool for holding back dissent. The internet was disconnected just a day after Collins sent in his final submission for the competition, which was uncomfortably close to prevent his success. His hometown has been without internet for nearly a month.
Luckily, by the time entries closed, Collins had completed 20 tasks, covering all five categories set by Google and that too without internet and with no place to study. Due to the on-going protests against English language speakers in the predominantly French speaking nation, his school had shut down. Also, there was no wireless connection at home.

Later, Collins received some unexpected news of him being chosen as one of Google’s 34 grand prize winners.
“I was really, really amazed,” he told the BBC. “It meant my hard work writing a lot of code had really paid off.”
In order to stay on top of the game to win the big prize, Collins chose to travel almost eight hours to the capital, Yaounde.
“I wanted to get a connection so I could continue studying and keep in touch with Google,” he says.
As part of his prize from Google, the young winner received a four day trip to Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, where he will be meeting its top engineers and gaining insight into one of the world’s most successful enterprises.
“Hopefully I would like to work there one day, if that is possible,” he says.
In the future, Collins hopes to finish school back in Bamenda, and then study computer science in college.

Currently, Collins says he is working hard to develop his knowledge of artificial intelligence, neural networks and deep learning.
“I’m trying to develop my own model for data compression, using deep learning and machine learning,” he says.
His ultimate goal is a “huge step” forward in capabilities for data transfer and storage.
Source: TechdirtBBC

Feb 13, 2017

Facebook, Politics and Losing Friends In Real Life

Just read an excellent article over on Medium's BackChannel by Jessi Hempel. Can't recommend it highly enough, as pretty much anyone that has been on Facebook for any length of time surely has had a similar experience(s). I know I have, not with close friends, but relatives. There is much truth in that old saying 'Never discuss Politics, Religion or Sex' in polite company. So true!


"Help,” my mother began our weekly phone conversation. “Marge and I aren’t speaking.” Marge is one of my mom’s best friends. When she moved houses, Marge showed up with curtains and a lamp and had her grown son heave boxes in from the car. When my mom found herself alone on Christmas one year, Marge set an extra spot at her table.
But here’s the thing: Marge is a Republican. My mom, a Democrat.
This hasn’t mattered for the better part of the last decade. Their friendship is built on warm conversations over lunches, shared confidences, and favors exchanged. But then, several weeks ago, Mom became so outraged by current events that she began posting a series of anti-Trump memes and quotes.
Read More 

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