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JulianaRotich_2013G-_一同认识brck，一个为非洲而造的连网方式_
Living in Africa is to be on the edge, metaphorically , and quite literally when you think about connectivity before 2008. 在非洲生活等于在边缘生活, 这既是潜台词,又相当符合实际情况 只要你想想2008年前的通讯状况就明白了。
metaphorically:adv.隐喻地;用比喻; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: connectivity:n.[数]连通性;
Though many human intellectual and technological leaps had happened in Europe and the rest of the world, but Africa was sort of cut off. 在欧洲和世界的其他地方 历经了人类智慧和技术的大飞跃, 但是非洲多少有点落后了。
intellectual:n.知识分子;脑力劳动者;adj.智力的;脑力的;理智的;有才智的; technological:adj.技术[工程](上)的;因工艺技术高度发展而引起的; leaps:n.跳跃,剧增,急变(leap的复数);v.跳跃;急速进步(leap的三单形式);
And that changed, first with ships when we had the Renaissance , the Scientific Revolution and also the Industrial Revolution . 而改变发生了,首先从船开始, 就是在文艺复兴的时代、科学革命时代 以及工业革命时代发生了变化。
Renaissance:n.文艺复兴(欧洲14至17世纪); Scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; Industrial Revolution:n.工业革命;
And now we've got the digital revolution. 而如今我们又经历了数字革命。
digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键;
These revolutions have not been evenly distributed across continents and nations. 这些革命并非在每个大陆和国家 平衡地展开起来。
revolutions:n.革命,转数(revolution的复数形式); evenly:adv.均匀地;平衡地;平坦地;平等地; distributed:adj.分布的;分散的;v.分发;分配;使分布(distribute的过去分词和过去式) continents:n.[地理]大陆,大洲(continent复数);
Never have been. 平衡从未出现过。
Now, this is a map of the undersea fiber optic cables that connect Africa to the rest of the world. 现在,海底光缆如地图一般铺开 从而把非洲与世界已经联系了起来。
undersea:adj.水下的;海面下的; fiber:n.纤维;光纤(等于fibre); optic:adj.光学的;视觉的;眼睛的;n.眼睛;镜片; cables:n.缆绳;钢索;电缆;电报;v.发电报;(cable的第三人称单数和复数)
What I find amazing is that Africa is transcending its geography problem. 我觉得很令人惊异的是非洲 正在突破它的地理局限。
transcending:v.超出,超越(通常的界限);(transcend的现在分词)
Africa is connecting to the rest of the world and within itself. 非洲正在与全世界联网, 包括非洲大陆自身
The connectivity situation has improved greatly , but some barriers remain. 通讯的状况得到了大幅度改善, 不过还是有一些阻碍。
improved:adj.改良的:v.改进:改善(improve的过去分词和过去式) greatly:adv.很,大大地;非常; barriers:n.障碍;栅栏;篱笆墙(barrier的复数形式);
It is with this context that Ushahidi came to be. 就是在这样的背景下才出现了 Ushahidi。
context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉;
In 2008, one of the problems that we faced was lack of information flow. 2008年,我们面对的一个问题 是缺乏信息流。
There was a media blackout in 2008, when there was post-election violence in Kenya. 2008年,当肯尼亚在大选后发生了暴力活动时。 当地开始了一段时间的媒体传播中断。
media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉; blackout:n.灯火管制;灯火熄灭;暂时的意识丧失; post-election:选举后; violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲;
It was a very tragic time. It was a very difficult time. 那是一段非常悲惨和难熬的时期。
tragic:adj.悲剧的;悲痛的,不幸的;
So we came together and we created software called Ushahidi. 所以我们聚在一起,然后创造了 叫做 Ushahidi 的软件。
And Ushahidi means " testimony " or " witness " in Swahili. Ushahidi 在斯瓦西里语中的意思是“证词”或“见证”。
testimony:n.[法]证词,证言;证据; witness:n.证人;目击者;证据;v.目击;证明;为…作证;
I'm very lucky to work with two amazing collaborators . 我很有幸能和两名了不得的人合作。
collaborators:n.[劳经]合作者;投敌者(collaborator的复数);
This is David and Erik. 他们是 David 和 Erik。
I call them brothers from another mother. 他们当他们是我同父异母的兄弟。
Clearly I have a German mother somewhere. 显然我在地球某处有一位德国裔的母亲。
And we worked together first with building and growing Ushahidi. 我们一开始一起 构建和发展 Ushahidi。
And the idea of the software was to gather information from SMS, email and web, and put a map so that you could see what was happening where, and you could visualize that data. 这个软件的目的 从短信、电子邮件和网页上收集信息,然后拼出一张地图 以便看到在什么地方都发生了什么事, 接着你可以将数据可视化。
visualize:vt.形象,形象化;想像,设想;vi.显现;
And after that initial prototype , we set out to make free and open-source software so that others do not have to start from scratch like we did. 在建立了初始原型后, 我们开始将其做成免费和开源的软件, 这样其他人就没必要向我们一样从最基础的地方开始。
initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于; prototype:n.原型;雏形;最初形态; open-source:adj.(计算机)开放源代码; start from scratch:从头开始;白手起家;从起跑线开始;
All the while, we also wanted to give back to the local tech community that helped us grow Ushahidi and supported us in those early days . 自始至终,我们都想要报答 那些在早期帮助我们建造 Ushahidi 并支持我们的当地技术团体。
community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体; early days:初期;为时尚早;前期;
And that's why we set up the iHub in Nairobi, an actual physical space where we could collaborate , and it is now part of an integral tech ecosystem in Kenya. 这就是为什么我们要在内罗毕建造 iHub, 这是一个可以让我们 在一起合作的实体空间, 其如今也是肯尼亚技术生态系统的一部分。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; collaborate:vi.合作;勾结,通敌; integral:adj.积分的;完整的,整体的;必须的;n.积分;部分;完整; ecosystem:n.生态系统;
We did that with the support of different organizations like the MacArthur Foundation and Omidyar Network. 我们在建造时得到了不同组织的帮助, 比如麦克阿瑟基金会和奥米迪亚网络。
organizations:n.组织,构造,有机体(organization的复数);组织机构; MacArthur:n.麦克阿瑟(美国五星上将); Foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立;
And we were able to grow this software footprint , and a few years later it became very useful software, and we were quite humbled when it was used in Haiti where citizens could indicate where they are and what their needs were, 而且他们的帮助使我们能够让这个软件走得更远, 几年之后它成了 一个非常有用的软件, 当人们在海地使用这个软件的时候,我们感到责任还蛮重大的, 当时人们用它反映自己的位置 和需求,
footprint:n.足迹;脚印; humbled:使...卑下;轻松打败(尤指强大的对手);贬低(humble的过去式和过去分词); Haiti:n.海地; indicate:v.表明;显示;象征;暗示;
and also to deal with the fallout from the nuclear crisis and the tsunami in Japan. 同样这个软件也曾用来处理日本的核辐射危机 和海啸。
fallout:n.原子尘;[核][环境]放射性尘埃;原子尘微粒回降;附带结果; nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的; crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; tsunami:n.海啸;
Now, this year the Internet turns 20, and Ushahidi turned five. 现在,英特网今年20岁了, 也是 Ushahidi 也迎来了其发展的第五年。
Ushahidi is not only the software that we made. Ushahidi 这个软件不止是由我们所创造。
It is the team, and it's also the community that uses this technology in ways that we could not foresee . 是这个团队,还有软件的用户们, 他们用我们预料之外的方式来使用这个软件。
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; foresee:vt.预见;预知;
We did not imagine that there would be this many maps around the world. 我们没有想到现在全世界 会出现这么多地图。
There are crisis maps, election maps, corruption maps, and even environmental monitoring crowd maps. 有危机地图,选举地图,腐败地图, 甚至还有环境监控包众地图。
corruption:n.贪污,腐败;堕落;
We are humbled that this has roots in Kenya and that it has some use to people around the world trying to figure out the different issues that they're dealing with. 让我们感到责任重大的是这个软件为肯尼亚而生, 而如今全世界的人 都在用它处理不同的问题。
issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
There is more that we're doing to explore this idea of collective intelligence , that I, as a citizen, if I share the information with whatever device that I have, could inform you about what is going on, 我们还在继续努力 去探索集体智慧的理念,而我,作为一个公民, 如果我用任意一种设备来分享我的信息, 我可以告诉你发生了什么,
explore:v.探索:探测:探险: collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报; device:n.装置;策略;图案; inform:v.通知;告诉;报告;告发;告密;
and that if you do the same, we can have a bigger picture of what's going on. 而且你要是也这样做的话,我们就能更加清楚地看到 正在发生的事情。
I moved back to Kenya in 2011. 我2011年的时候回到了肯尼亚。
Erik moved in 2010. Erik 2010年搬到这里。
Very different reality. I used to live in Chicago where there was abundant Internet access. 现实是那么的不同。我以前住在芝加哥 那里的网络无处不在。
abundant:adj.丰富的;充裕的;盛产;
I had never had to deal with a blackout. 我从来都不用考虑断电。
And in Kenya, it's a very different reality, and one thing that remains despite the leaps in progress and the digital revolution is the electricity problem. 但在肯尼亚,反差很大, 尽管有着飞跃性的进步和发生了数字革命,但仍有一个问题 电力问题。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; electricity:n.电力;电流;强烈的紧张情绪;
The day-to-day frustrations of dealing with this can be, let's just say very annoying . 日复一日的沮丧中处理这个问题中 可以说是非常恼火的。
day-to-day:adj.日常的;逐日的; frustrations:n.沮丧;受阻;阻止;挫败;(frustration的复数) annoying:adj.烦人的;使生气的;使烦恼的;v.使生气;打扰;骚扰;(annoy的现在分词)
Blackouts are not fun. 停电一点都不有趣。
Blackouts:n.黑朦;灯火管制(blackout的复数);
Imagine sitting down to start working, and all of a sudden the power goes out, your Internet connection goes down with it, so you have to figure out, okay, now, where's the modem , how do I switch back? 想象一下你刚坐下准备开始工作,突然间 停电了, 你的网络也中断了, 然后你要想,okay,现在,调制解调器在哪里, 我怎么重启它？
all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地; modem:n.调制解调器(等于modulator-demodulator);
And then, guess what? You have to deal with it again. 然后,你知道吗？你还要再重来一遍。
Now, this is the reality of Kenya, where we live now, and other parts of Africa. 现在,这就是我们住的地方:肯尼亚的实况, 这也是非洲其他地区的实况。
The other problem that we're facing is that communication costs are also still a challenge. 我们正在面对的另一个问题是 通讯费用,这也是个大挑战。
It costs me five Kenyan shillings , or .06 USD to call the U.S., Canada or China. 打电话到美国、加拿大或者中国 要花我5肯尼亚先令,也就是0.06美元。
shillings:n.先令;
Guess how much it costs to call Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria? 你猜下打电话到卢旺达、加纳、尼日利亚要多少钱？
Thirty Kenyan shillings. That's six times the cost to connect within Africa. 要30肯尼亚先令。在非洲大陆内相互打电话 还要花6倍的价格。
And also, when traveling within Africa, you've got different settings for different mobile providers . 同样,在非洲内部旅行, 不同的移动通信运营商要求的手机制式也不一样。
mobile:n.手机;汽车;移动电话;adj.活跃的;可动的; providers:n.供应者;提供者;供养人;(provider的复数)
This is the reality that we deal with. 这是我们要解决的问题。
So we've got a joke in Ushahidi where we say, "If it works in Africa, it'll work anywhere." 因此, Ushahidi 流传着一个笑话 是这么说的,“如果在非洲行得通,那到处都能行得通了。”
[Most use technology to define the function. We use function to drive the technology.] [大多数人用技术来定义功能,我们却用功能来推动技术发展。]
define:v.定义;使明确;规定;
What if we could overcome the problem of unreliable Internet and electricity and reduce the cost of connection? 如果我们可以解决 网络和电力不稳定的问题 并且降低通信费用,那会怎么样呢？
What if:如果…怎么办? overcome:vt.克服;胜过;vi.克服;得胜; unreliable:adj.不可靠的;靠不住的;
Could we leverage the cloud? 我们能否利用云技术？
leverage:n.影响力;杠杆作用;杠杆效力;v.举债经营;借贷收购;
We've built a crowd map, we've built Ushahidi. 我们已经创建了一张包众地图,还有 Ushahidi。
Could we leverage these technologies to switch smartly whenever you travel from country to country? 我们能否利用这些技术 来实现在无论何时发生的跨国旅行中的智能转换呢？
technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); smartly:adv.刺痛地;漂亮地;潇洒地;火辣辣地;
So we looked at the modem, an important part of the infrastructure of the Internet, and asked ourselves why the modems that we are using right now are built for a different context, where you've got 因此我们目光转向了调制解调器, 这是英特网构造中非常重要的一部分, 我们问自己为什么, 我们所使用的调制解调器 是为与现在不同的,有着
infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造; modems:n.调制解调器(modem的复数); v.通过调制解调器向…发送电子邮件(modem的三单形式);
ubiquitous internet, you've got ubiquitous electricity, yet we sit here in Nairobi and we do not have that luxury . 无处不在的互联网和电力的环境而造的, 但是在内罗毕这里我们可享受不到这种奢侈待遇。
ubiquitous:adj.普遍存在的;无所不在的; luxury:n.奢侈,奢华;奢侈品;享受;adj.奢侈的;
We wanted to redesign the modem for the developing world, for our context, and for our reality. 我们想要重新设计 一种适用于发展中国家的,适应我们现在的环境 和现实情况的调制解调器
redesign:vt.重新设计;n.重新设计;新设计;
What if we could have connectivity with less friction ? 如果我们可以建造一个比较稳定的连网方式该多好？
friction:n.摩擦,[力]摩擦力;
This is the BRCK. 这就是BRCK。
It acts as a backup to the Internet so that, when the power goes out, it fails over and connects to the nearest GSM network. 它相当于英特网的后备, 比如遇到停电的状况, 它会为你切换连接到最近的GSM网络。
backup:n.后援;增援;(文件等的)备份;adj.后补的;支持性的;伴奏的;
Mobile connectivity in Africa is pervasive . 在非洲,移动通信网络是很普及的。
pervasive:adj.普遍的;到处渗透的;流行的;
It's actually everywhere. 其实到处都覆盖到了。
Most towns at least have a 3G connection. 大部分的城镇都至少有一个3G网络。
So why don't we leverage that? And that's why we built this. 那么我们为什么不利用这个条件呢？这就是为什么我们建造了这个。
The other reason that we built this is when electricity goes down, this has eight hours of battery left, so you can continue working, you can continue being productive , and let's just say you are less stressed. 还有一个建造这个的原因是 当电力中断,它还能通电8个小时, 所以你可以继续工作, 你可以继续生产, 也可以说你不需要在那么神经紧绷着了。
battery:n.[电]电池,蓄电池;n.[法]殴打;n.[军]炮台,炮位; productive:adj.能生产的;生产的,生产性的;多产的;富有成效的;
And for rural areas, it can be the primary means of connection. 在农村地区,可以算得上 是首选的连网方式。
rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的;
The software sensibility at Ushahidi is still at play when we wondered how can we use the cloud to be more intelligent so that you can analyze the different networks, and whenever you switch on the backup, you pick on the fastest network, so we'll have multi-SIM capability so that you can put multiple SIMs, 我们想要知道怎么使用云技术来变得更智能时, Ushahidi社区对软件的灵敏性依旧能起作用, 因此你可以 分析不同的网络, 随时随地打开备份, 选择一个最快的网络, 于是我们打造了多SIM卡多待的功能, 这样一来你就可以插入多张SIM卡,
sensibility:n.感情;感受能力;鉴赏力; intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的 analyze:v.对…进行分析,分解(等于analyse); switch on:n.接通; capability:n.才能,能力;性能,容量; multiple:adj.数量多的;多种多样的;n.倍数;
and if one network is faster, that's the one you hop on, and if the up time on that is not very good, then you hop onto the next one. 如果某个网络比较快,就会连上那个网络, 如果它的运行时间不是很理想, 那你就可以立马换下一个。
hop:n.啤酒花;单足短距离跳跃;;v.单脚跳行;齐足(或双足)跳行;突然快速去某处;
The idea here is for you to be able to connect anywhere. 这个想法就是让你可以在任何地方连网。
With load balancing, this can be possible. 有了负载平衡,就用有可能了。
The other interesting thing for us -- we like sensors -- is this idea that you could have an on-ramp for the Internet of things. 另外一个有趣的事情——我们喜欢感应器—— 这个想法是说你可以拥有 一个连接各种网络的通道。
sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数); on-ramp:n.驶进坡道;
Imagine a weather station that can be attached to this. 想象一下它能连接到一个气象站。
weather station:n.气象站; attached:adj.依恋;v.重视;把…固定;(attach的过去分词和过去式)
It's built in a modular way so that you can also attach a satellite module so that you could have 它是以模组化的方式建立的,因此它也可以连接到 一个卫星的模组上,这样你就可以
modular:adj.模块化的;模数的;有标准组件的; module:n.模块;组件;单元;
Internet connectivity even in very remote areas. 在很偏僻的地方也可以连接网络。
remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的;
Out of adversity can come innovation , and how can we help the ambitious coders and makers in Kenya to be resilient in the face of problematic infrastructure? 逆境可以激发创新, 那么我们要怎么帮助那些在肯尼亚的雄心勃勃的程序员和编程师们 去迅速适应基础设施常发生问题的环境呢？
adversity:n.逆境;不幸;灾难;灾祸; innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; ambitious:adj.野心勃勃的;有雄心的;热望的;炫耀的; coders:n.编码器;编码员; resilient:adj.弹回的,有弹力的; in the face of:面对; problematic:adj.问题的;有疑问的;不确定的;
And for us, we begin with solving the problem in our own backyard in Kenya. 至于我们,首先着手于解决 我们在肯尼亚自家后院的问题。
backyard:n.后院;后庭;
It is not without challenge. 这并非没有挑战性。
Our team has basically been mules carrying components from the U.S. to Kenya. We've had very interesting conversations with customs border agents . 我们的团队基本上一直要做苦力,把零部件 从美国运到肯尼亚。我们和报关员还有过 一些很有趣的对话。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; mules:n.骡子;越境运毒者;(室内使用的)拖鞋;(mule的复数) components:n.部件;组件;成份(component复数); agents:n.代理人,经纪人;原动力;(agent的复数)
'"What are you carrying?" “你们都在运什么呢？”
And the local financing is not part of the ecosystem for supporting hardware projects. 然后当地的金融机构又不 参加支持硬件项目。
hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具;
So we put it on Kickstarter, and I'm happy to say that, through the support of many people, not only here but online, the BRCK has been Kickstarted, and now the interesting part of bringing this to market begins. 所以我们只好在众筹网站Kickstarter上面去,对此我可以很开心的说 在很多人的支持下 不止来自Kickstarter这儿,而是来自整个网络 BRCK开始起步, 然后接下来就要开始进行有趣的市场推广了。
I will close by saying that, if we solve this for the local market, it could be impactful not only for the coders in Nairobi but also for small business owners who need reliable connectivity, and it can reduce the cost of connecting, and hopefully collaboration within African countries. 最后我想说,如果我们能为当地的市场 解决这个问题的话,这不仅 对内罗毕的编码员有着重要的影响, 而且对那些需要稳定网络的 小企业老板们来说也很重要, 它可以降低通讯费用, 而且也希望对非洲各国的相互合作也会大有帮助。
impactful:adj.有效的;有力的; collaboration:n.合作;勾结;通敌;
The idea is that the building blocks of the digital economy are connectivity and entrepreneurship . 这个想法是这样的,数字经济的基础构成模块 是充满连接可能性和具备着创业精神的。
building blocks:(儿童玩的)积木;建筑砌块;堆积木;建筑砖块;基石; economy:n.经济;节约;理财; entrepreneurship:n.企业家精神;
The BRCK is our part to keep Africans connected, and to help them drive the global digital revolution. BRCK是我们 让非洲人民保持联系的努力, 同时也是帮助他们一同促进全球的数字革命的努力。
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）