A new software development firm known as B4C Software Engineering has just been established in Malawi. The firm's website is http://www.b4csoftware.com/
The company now specializes in the development of custom enterprise software, user experience design, systems integration, software maintenance and support.
Just read on BBC news website that a Kiswahili version of Facebook has been released! Honestly speaking, I am thrilled. Long at last, African languages are also gaining prominence as communication medium in the cyber world. I do not know KiSwahili, but this idea is just great! At least to me... What about you?
Alinune Musopole, an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Sciences Education programme at the Malawi Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, has developed a mathematics software package for secondary schools in Malawi as his final year project. As with the localized word processor project by Edmond Kachale, I also share with you esteemed blog readers a synopsis of this project. Also watch out this blog for more featured projects!
Project Title: A Secondary School Mathematics Software Package for Malawi
Project Author: Alinune Musopole (nune_musopole (at) yahoo.co.uk)
Project Supervisor: Bennett Kankuzi (bfkankuzi (at) gmail.com)
Project Location: Dept of Mathematics & Statistics, Polytechnic, University of Malawi
Abstract:
There are many challenges that secondary school students in Malawi are facing in the learning of Mathematics in Malawi. Examples of these problems are lack of confidence, lack of practice and lack of motivation by students.
One of the ways through which problems faced by secondary school students in the learning of Mathematics can be alleviated is the use of the computer. Computer software, particularly Mathematics software packages, can help reduce problems faced by students in the learning of Mathematics in Malawi as practicing tools, hence we developed a software package that shall be used by secondary school students in the practicing of Mathematics. The software package is based on the Malawi Senior Secondary School Mathematics curriculum and the package is called a Computer Package for Secondary School Mathematics (CPSSM) for Malawi.
The algorithms and user interface for the program have been implemented using a Turbo C++ compiler and the Object Windows Library (OWL).
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An executable of the project can be requested via the given emails. Full LaTex and pdf reports of the project can also be requested via the same.
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Are you an individual or an organization in Malawi?
Has someone developed a software system for your organization or business?
If the answer is YES! Then we have very good news for you. We are pleased to inform you that we can professionally test your software system to check if it conforms to software engineering standards. In particular, we will test if the software meets your business requirements. And of course, we will also test its usability, its reliability and other software engineering parameters...
Be it database systems, web-based applications, accounting information systems, health information systems, statistical software systems, e-learning systems, etc.......
We are based right in the heart of Blantyre in southern Malawi. Call us on 04188893 or drop us an email at bfkankuzi (at) gmail.com
Nowadays, many people download and install different software from the Web onto their computers. For example, one might download media players, anti-virus software, photo-editing software,..., the list is endless.
However, the question might be: How much trust do you have on the software you install on your computer? To understand the importance of this question, we might need a definition of the word "trust". According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, trust is defined as "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something". The Free Dictionary defines trust as "firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing".
Consider a case where you download and install a media player on your computer and every time you open it, it collects your private information such as your credit card information and even your passwords and it sends them over to the person who created the software? Is this what the software was supposed to do. I do no think so. You had the trust that the media player was supposed to be used to play media files and not to be collecting your private information without your knowledge. Isn't it? I hope we now see how trust is a fundamental issue in software.
When we install particular software do we ask ourselves questions on the integrity or reliability of the software? Or we just blindly trust that the software is supposed to do what the software developers tell us of their software. I think as software users we need to be more careful.
I for one only have trust in software whose source code is "open". By the way source code are human readable and understandable instructions which are later converted to a form which a computer can execute i.e. binary code. A computer can only execute instructions in binary code. So if the source code is "open", I can inspect the code of the software and see by myself whether the software really does what its developers claim it does. On the other hand, if the software is distributed only in binary code and its source code is hidden from the public then it becomes a problem to trust that piece of software.
Fortunately, there are loads of software out there which have open source code. One great open source software is the robust Web browser, Mozilla Firefox. I just love it so much after being tired of ... Whether you are using Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, you may download Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/.
Are you interested in learning more about open source software, then its time to make that move by logging on to this website: http://makethemove.net/foss.php and possibly now start to trust the software you install on your computer.
Good luck!
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