Contributing to the Spoken Wikipedia WikiProject

Today in my search for web-based knowledge I discovered a new WikiProject which allows users to upload Ogg Vorbis (.ogg) audio files of wikipedia articles. It seemed like a nice little nerd project to begin on a relaxing day off from work.

I first needed to find a program that would allow me to record, edit and export audio files in the .ogg file format which is the only format wikipedia supports. I went with the free program Audacity. The program is fairly intuitive. I've never really used any audio editing software but was able to at least get by without reading the directions which, in general is the way I like to do things :)

Given my current obsession with Namibia I went ahead and tackled the country's main wikipedia page.

I dove right in, recording sections individually and compiling them using Audacity. After about two hours of recording I had a complete file. As I went back to the wikiproject page I realized that there were a couple spoken wikipedia conventions I hadn't abided by. I later discovered that, being a new wikiproject, these conventions really are just guidelines and it even states if they would prevent you from using a file its probably best to just upload it anyway.

I thought that I should include the recommended introduction and concluding statement. Going back and adding in parts to the Audacity project was difficult. I ended up having to make minor additions to each of the 20 or so separate tracks which ultimately made up the .ogg file.

Once that had been taken care of and the file was ready to go I discovered that in order to upload files to wikipedia you have to be an "established user". In order to be autoconfirmed as an established user you need to have an account active for more than four days and have made ten or more contributions or edits. I have made a few but not ten, so before I could upload my file I had to find a few more things to edit in the wikiworld. Once I reached the threshold I was able to upload the file.

At 27 minutes 10 seconds the audio file is quite long but if you're interested in hearing all or parts of it just go to the Namibia wikipedia article and click on the audio icon in the upper right corner.

Africa and Google Search or Burkina Faso's Assault on the Internet

Two recurring themes on this Yuppie blog include Africa and Google. I use Google Analytics and Google Earth almost every day. I also think about traveling to Africa each and every day.

A few weeks back I created a map that displayed the number of tweet mentions per African country per million residents. I found it quite fascinating.

This post is similar but instead of tweets it simply compares the number of pages a Google search will find for each country (in millions). This number can be found at the top of any google search.

I...hypothesized that there would be a big discrepancy in what I expected to be the big dogs such as South Africa and Egypt and the lesser known countries like Equatorial Guinea or Eritrea (which I swear NOBODY seems to know about despite the conflict in and around the area).

Well, I was half right. SA and Egypt came in at number one and three respectively. Number two in our countdown, however, is the biggest of several unexpected placements.

Burkina Faso? Seriously? Now, there were a few unintuitive results I half expected (haha- how can you half expect something :) whether it be Chad placing high because it's also a name or Somalia's search results being inflated because of the American twenty-something's fascination with pirates, Guinea, being part of Guinea Pig certainly would rank high- What I'm getting at is that I knew there would be some surprises but I wasn't expecting this many.

I thought and thought about why Burkina Faso would be so high. I looked at the first few pages of results hoping for a clue but nothing. I thought to look at the google adwords that popped up on the side: Burkina Faso Pictures, Burkina Faso Girls and Burkina Faso, Trip Advisor. After seeing the second result I thought perhaps Burkina Faso was the new Russia when it came to mail order brides...I don't think that's it though. So I ask you, please help me solve the mystery of Burkina Faso in Google Searches. WHY?!

I know google can be sensitive to location and your own search history. I wouldn't think that the number of results found would change from place to place as I'm pretty sure that number would remain relatively static but if you find anything different than what I have, I encourage you to comment and let me know (cause this sort of thing really fascinates me for some reason).

In the map below the countries towards the red end of the spectrum have the highest number of search results whereas the green end of the spectrum indicates fewer google search results. I've included the full list of countries and the number of results in millions below the map.

I was also surprised to see Zimbabwe second to last. For a country that has been in the news a LOT in the last couple years, it sure doesn't have a big presence on the internet, er...I mean Google. The internet is much more than Google....right? :) Ethiopia was much lower than expected too.

I was surprised to see Burundi have more search results than Rwanda, and Mali! Mali is another place nobody seems to know about. I'd venture a guess that more American's have heard of Timbuktu than Mali. Although Timbuktu only has just over 2 million hits on a google search.

And here is our map:



South Africa 214
Burkina Faso 182
Egypt 166
Mali 135
Nigeria 123
Kenya 118
Guinea 113
Angola 110
Congo (Kinshasa) 105
Congo (Brazzaville) 105
Madagascar 104
Ghana 103
Sudan 98.7
Togo 98.1
Morocco 96.8
Chad 94.8
Senegal 92.6
Botswana 91.2
Malawi 89.7
Uganda 89.3
Tunisia 88.8
Sierra Leone 88.6
Algeria 87.2
Mauritius 87
Tanzania 87
Seychelles 86.7
Burundi 86.7
Liberia 85
Namibia 84.9
Gabon 84.9
Lesotho 84.7
Mozambique 81.9
Somalia 80.8
Benin 79.5
Zambia 79.1
Rwanda 77.5
Libya 76.7
Gambia 76.4
Cape Verde 76.3
Guinea-Bissau 75.1
Eritrea 72.7
Djibouti 72.1
Mauritania 72
Swaziland 71.9
Ethiopia 71.7
Central African Republic 70.8
Cameroon 66.4
Comoros 65.7
Western Sahara 57.3
Equatorial Guinea 57.1
Sao Tome and Principe 38.9
Côte d'Ivoire 30.5
Zimbabwe 21.3
Niger 15.7

iPhone Photography

I've recently downloaded two photography apps for the iPhone that I simply MUST tell you about. The tiny 2 or 3 megapixel cameras are a frequent target of iPhone haters but I've found them to be good for snapshots provided I keep the lens clean. When you add the power of the camera bag and colorsplash apps you can easily create effects you'll be happy to show your friends.

The first app I downloaded is called camera bag by nevercenter.com. Once you select a picture from your library you can render the image in several different styles. Holga (which they insist on calling Helga) creates the unmistakable toy camera vignette. The app sports two different epoch styles, "1962" which turns the image into a high contrast black and white image and "1974" which adjusts the colors to give it a retro-faded-with-a-hint-of-brown look. Other styles include cinema (widescreen), instant (polaroid), Lolo (which I used to know the meaning of), and infra-red (which leaves much to be desired).

I've enjoyed using pictures of office environments and sporting events and using the 1962 rendering. All in all, well worth the $1.99.

But the REALLY exciting app is Colorsplash by Hendrik Kueck. When I first saw the app a few months back, the pictures looked good by I was convinced it would be too complicated. The colorsplash app allows you to take images from your library and selectively color or decolor. The ability to zoom and use a red mask for the detailed clipping makes the images look fantastic.

The app is a bit limited in that really all you can do is select areas of a picture to color but it does just that so simply and dare I say elegantly that it is a must for anyone with an interest in photography and faux art.

I've included a few pics I quickly edited using the colorsplash app. None of them took more than two or three minutes.


Me after a Tigers game in my kick-ass hoody


AnnArbor.com offices


16 days until Michigan football!

These are so fun to do that I'm sure more will follow!

Countdown to Namibia

After my trip to London and Tanzania I knew I had caught the international travel bug - BAD. Every day at work I stare across my desk at the 50 x 70 National Geographic world map and think about the possibilities. An infatuation with flight price checking on kayak.com also seems to work its way into my daily activities.

There are few places in the world I don't want to visit. Places in Africa, however, always seem to rise to the top.

When I was 17 or 18 and still lived at home I stumbled upon (of course this was before stumble upon) the Christmas Island Marathon. The annual event held on the Australian Island just south of Indonesia. It made perfect sense, train for a marathon, travel to a tiny remote island in the Indian Ocean and have stories for a lifetime.

It's always seemed like a good idea.

In the last ten years I've looked up information on the Christmas Island Marathon a handful of times but the timing or desire was never quite there.

After returning from Tanzania the idea began to intrigue me more and more. The last time I had looked up the Christmas Island Marathon I couldn't find anything past 2006 or 2007, I was concerned that the event was no longer being held.

A few weeks ago, when the idea once again crossed my mind, a google search revealed information about the 2009 Christmas Island Marathon. Thrilled that the event is still going on I got information about travel to the island. I was getting very excited about the idea.

I don't know what the google search was but later that day I came across something that just clicked with me. I knew, right from the time I read about it that it was for me: the 2010 Namibia Marathon.

I registered, secured my spot, and paid my registration fee of 150 GBP. I have a shit load of work ahead of me but am incredibly excited about the challenge. The wait for my Tanzania trip was horribly long and drawn out. This time I get to work each and every day towards the trip.

And so, I have begun my training for the 2010 Namibia marathon and I couldn't be happier.

PRK Laser Corrective Surgery

Six minutes after I first met my surgeon he was removing the epithelial layer of my eye. As what I can only describe as a drill descended towards my cornea, I couldn't help but think about the multitude of disclaimers, both pre and post op procedures, and my coworkers suggestion to go "one eye at a time".

Despite the numerous eye dilations, the dry eyes, the nerves and cost, my experience with PRK was amazing. There was virtually no pain during the procedure and the despite minor complications my recovery was almost pleasant.

Four weeks ago, after a couple weeks of pre-op appointments I had PRK laser eye surgery to correct my astigmatism and near-sightedness. PRK is similar to LASIK only the reshaping of the eye to focus light occurs on the outside of the eye as opposed to under a flap.

My Optometrist told me that LASIK is so popular because it gives people the instant gratification Americans seek. With LASIK, your vision is clear almost immediately and the recovery time is very short.

While the results of PRK are about the same, (my Ophthalmologist told me there is an argument that PRK will create better vision- of course he probably says the opposite to the LASIK patients) the recovery time is much longer.

As most people who about to get PRK do, I searched the internet to read about the experiences of a few. Willingly allowing someone to scrape off some of your eye and shoot lasers in it deserves more than just a googling...but it can't hurt.

Once I had been prepped for surgery, adjusted in the chair, had my eye locked open with a ring and my eye "sucked" up (its the only way to describe it), I was asked to look directly at the light in the laser. I did. Or at least I thought I did. When the surgeon said "I don't think you're quite looking at it" I got a bit nervous. I've been using my eyes for not too short of 30 years and I have a pretty good idea of when I'm looking at something. After being instructed to look slightly left of where I was looking I got very nervous about where I was supposed to look. Should I look right at the light or just to the left of the light where the surgeon half-way suggested? After what seemed like a half a second but in reality was more like ten, I sort of went with in between the two. As the ticking of the laser machine began I became very nervous that I was doing something wrong. It was too late for questions so I just focused all my energy on keeping my stare as still as a robot's until the laser stopped.

One down one to go.

After the surgeon rinsed the residue out of my eye I could tell that my vision was pretty clear. Not crystal clear, but much clearer than I can remember. The feeling was reassuring. I thought to myself "at least you'll have vision in your right eye!"

The procedure for the left was much the same only no issues with the direction of the light. About ten seconds after the laser began ticking I heard one of the surgical tech staff say "procedure stop" followed by what seemed like a sort of sigh from the surgeon. I'm convinced my eye jumped at the fear of "procedure stopping" but after a split second of confusion my eye was right back to the light. Apparently I heard something wrong. The procedure continued and concluded about 20 seconds later.

I was ushered into a post-op chair where I saw the optometrist. Dr. Hayes was very reassuring, provided me with some eye drops and said things looked good.

For the next few days I really milked it. I got meals cooked for me, laundry done - the whole nine yards. The evening of my surgery I did have a scare; one of my protective contact lenses fell out. I talked to the surgeon on the phone and he told me to just keep the eye closed. I had an appointment at 7:45 the next morning but it's HARD to keep one eye closed for 14 hours.

My vision slowly improved, however, after three days I was scared. I could see hints of clarity but the crispness just wasn't there. I had read about how vision continued to get better after surgery. I felt as though I could get glimpses of where my vision would be and it was not great. It was a difficult few days. I knew I was one of the less than 1% of people that have significant issues.

By day four I was cleared to drive. It was great to drive without glasses but my vision was still at a point (20/40 at best in both eyes) where I felt like I shouldn't be driving.

My vision continued to get better. Still not great but I was getting to a point where I though that if it stopped improving I could still lead a happy life.

Then dumbass me was drinking with some friends at a work conference.

I should point out that the Doctor I saw in Battle Creek (near where my conference was) told me a couple drinks would be ok. What wasn't ok was me agreeing to play "belly-busters". That is the game where you run towards someone, jump in the air and bump stomachs.

I'm not a big guy and the guy who "belly BUSTED" me has some weight and height on me.

BOOM

Down goes Ryan.

Another friend told me I was bleeding from my eye. This is not what I wanted to here. I had a small cut over my right eye but I felt fine. I went to bed not worrying too much.

I awoke the next day and noticed that the vision in my right eye was significantly diminished from the previous day. After freaking out for a few hours I made an emergency appointment with my Doctor.

It turns out everything was just fine.

So, four weeks after surgery my vision is a touch better than 20/20 in my right eye and not quite 20/20 in my left.

My surgery was not cheap, $3,900 at the TLC eye center in Ann Arbor. My surgeon, Dr. Sensoli was great. My Optometrist, Dr. Hayes has been the most encouraging, friendly Doc I've ever had. I have to be careful about what I saw or the man crush accusations come out.

For those of you who are about to have or just had PRK surgery and are concerned about the surgery - it's not bad as long as you go to a reputable place.

I had virtually NO pain during recovery. As Dr. Hayes told me, with PRK you have to EARN your vision, it takes time and will test your nerves but the benefit is amazing. Waiting and hoping for your eyesight to get better is a rough experience. Trust in your surgeon and prepare for a life without glasses!