Black Digerati

Noire Digerati has been moved for over a year now!

mikey20 — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:56:35 +0000

What’s up peeps?!

I know a few of the original readers of the site still come to this site, but may not know that I completely redesigned the site and moved it to the Squarespace.com platform for better functionality and design.

You can check out the beautifully designed and content rich new Noire Digerati site at www.noiredigerati.com!

Cheers,

Michael Lang (Noire Digerati Founder & CEO)

Dr. Andrew Williams – Out of the Box: Building Robots, Transforming Lives

mikey20 — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:24:25 +0000

Here is a video of Spelman Spelmot creater and Computer Science professor Dr. Andrew Williams discussing his book ‘Out of the Box: Building Robots, Transforming Lives.

MikeyDigital

The Spelman SpelBots Tie for First Place at 2009 RoboCup Japan

mikey20 — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:19:02 +0000

: Naquasia, Ariel, NeeCee, Jazmine, Mimi, Tajiana , Dr. Andrew Williams

The SpelBot robotics team at Spelman College recently tied for first place at the 2009 RoboCup in Japan. RoboCup is the largest event of research in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the world. This talented group of ladies are coached and led by Spelman Computer Science professor Dr. Andrew Williams. Dr. Williams is the first African-American to earn a PhD in engineering from the University of Kansas. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Williams a few months ago at the Tapia Conference in Portland, OR. I mentioned to him the work I’m doing with Black Digerati and he was like, ‘oh yea I know about the Black Digerati site!’ He lives by the motto that you can do anything, which is what he instills into students at Spelman encouraging them to pursue the field of computer science and robotics. That level of encourage is what underrepresented minorities in Science and Technology need in order for us to succeed. Also, the ongoing success of the Spelman robotics team dispels the myth that women and minorities (specifically African-American men and women) either aren’t interested in Computer Science or don’t have the mental capacity to perform Computer Science research.

Mikey Digital

Source: Spelman.edu

The Mobile Phone Revolution in Africa

mikey20 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:49:52 +0000

Below is a video trailer about the increase in mobile phone subscriptions in Africa called ‘Hello African.’ The video is courtesy of whiteafrican.com, Martin Konzett, and the team at ICT4D Austria.

Mikey Digital

Fourteen African American Ph.D. Researchers in Computer Science

mikey20 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:21:56 +0000

During Black History month 2009 Portland State University computer science professor Bryant York profiled 14 African-American males who are doing advanced research in computer science. These brothers are doing extraordinary research in everything from Network Security to Visual Data Mining. The 14 combined have over $32 million in research grant funding. I had the pleasure of hearing one of the brothers on the list by the name of Dr. Brian Blake at Georgetown University speak a week ago at the Tapia Computing Conference in Portland, OR during the Google session. He provided some excellent insight into resume/CV writing.

Also, a separate document about African American women researchers in Computer Science is being developed by a colleague of Dr. Bryant York. I will keep you posted on its development.

Click hereto view the pdf of the write up.

Mike Digital

OLPC Rwanda plans to provide computer access

mikey20 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:36:16 +0000

This is a video of a report done by worldfocus.org that describes OLPC Rwanda’s plans to provide computer access to the country’s 2.3 million schoolchildren

more about "OLPC Rwanda plans to provide computer…", posted with vodpod

Is Digital TV the new Digital Divide?

mikey20 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:28:06 +0000

Black Enterprise recently released the ‘Analog to Digital Conversion’ statistics compiled by the Nielsen Co. As you all know the federal government is mandating that television viewers around the country convert from analog to digital technology. The results are causing some industry researchers to speculate that this transition period may create a new digital divide. As it stands now 12.5% of African-Americans and 13% of Hispanic households are not ready for digital technology compared to 8.4% of other households. The city of Houston, TX currently has the highest percentage (15.8%) of unprepared households while Ft. Myers-Naples, FL is the city with the most prepared households.

Honestly, I hope this transition period doesn’t turn into a mini digital divide because the African-American and Hispanic communities are already suffering from so many other digital divides. My hope is that the bill signed by President Obama delaying the conversion until June 12 and the $650 million for more converter box vouchers will prevent another digital divide from developing.

Mikey Digital

Source(s): Black Enterprise, Nielsen Co.

UCLA Professor Jane Margolis discussing education, race and computing

mikey20 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:19:42 +0000

Below is a video of the author of the book I wrote an article about entitled ‘Perspectives on why black youth shy away from Computer Science.’I will see Dr. Margolis next week at the prestigious Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference in Portland, OR that I have been selected out of a pool of computer science students to attend. I will try to schedule an interview with her and post it on the site.

Black Digerati: Chinedu U. Echeruo

mikey20 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:13:38 +0000

Chinedu Echeruo

I can remember a few years ago if I needed directions to somewhere I would go to mapquest.com like a lot of other people. The only problem is, quite a few times the directions that mapquest.com provided turned out not to be accurate at all. The frustration I experienced with mapquest caused me to search for alternatives and I begin using Google Maps or my GPS if I’m in the car! I also take that same approach when I need to catch a train or bus here in Chicago thanks to HopStop.com founded by Chinedu Echeruo.

Chinedu, a Harvard Business School graduate, built the site HopStop.com in 2005. HopStop is a city transit guide. The focus is on providing door-to-door subway and bus directions and maps for New York City, Chicago, London, to name a few. The site also allows you to search for places to eat, drink, sleep and see. HopStop receives a staggering 1.75 million visits and 10 million page views per month. Some of the cool technology the site offers include intergrated Web, SMS text messaging, and the ability to receive audio-based public transportation information.

Chinedu and the HopStop.com team continue to give misguided people in some of our major cities exactly what they need, directions. So, if you live in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, D.C or London, use HopStop.com as your city transit guide alternative. Even if you don’t live in one of these citites, help end the travel confusion of a friend or family member by directing them to HopStop.com.

Mikey Digital

Source: http://hopstop.com/

Black Digerati currently under redesign

mikey20 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:20:33 +0000

Sup Y’all!

Wanted to drop a line real quick to let everyone know that Black Digerati is undergoing a redesign. We encourage your feedback and any ideas you have that you believe can help the site serve you better. Either post a comment on the site or email the team at black.digerati@yahoo.com.

Mikey Digital