Liberia Engage

Bloom Energy is finally ready to debut its Bloom Box, a fuel-cell capable of running up to 100 homes — carrying the potential to fundamentally change how utilities and companies alike generate and distribute energy.  Bloom energy is a private company so there is no stock symbol.  Bloom Energy is producing tiny fuel cell boxes they call “Bloom Boxes.  Bloom Energy is apparently attempting to target underdeveloped areas where a stable electrical grid has not been established and where stand-alone units could prosper.

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Bloom Energy: Is its ‘power plant in a box’ worth all the hype.  Capable of powering more than 100 homes while producing close to zero emissions, just one of these boxes could radically alter how people get their energy.  Energy for the reaction could be helped by solar panels.  Wireless and neatly compartmentalized, the Bloom Box could one day be a fixture in your backyard or basement, transmitting clean energy to your home as needed, Bloom CEO K.

Bloom has done an impressive job of keeping its technology under wraps until now — even through several fund raised, a public estimation of its valuation at $1 billion dollars.  Here’s what we know about its actual technology: the Bloom Box is based largely on a solid-oxide fuel cell (that can run on biomass or natural gas) developed by scientists at NASA and is made out of cheaper materials than those built by its competitors (at least according to company PR).  More recently, climbing energy prices and advances in materials technology have reinvigorated work on SOFCs, and a recent report noted about 40 companies working on these fuel cells.

Bloom Energy is a high profile startup working on a large scale fuel cell that could help stabilize the power grid and promises to have its device [.  Bloom Energy is also playing with the idea of purchasing power through a subsidiary (which has yet to be formed).  Bloom Energy is going to hold a press conference on Wednesday to release details about the box to the public.

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I had to post this picture so you see it for yourself.  Be careful driving around Liberia.  Some police officers will do the right thing. Please post your comments.  This is from the blog of John who is the author of the post on Libtelco.  Enjoy!

A Liberia traffic ticket

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I was looking up some information about Liberia’s only telecommunication government entity. This entity is the only telephone company run by a partnership between China’s ZTE and Liberia management under the leadership of Ben Wolo. The link below support the fact that we have come a long way in our telecommunication in Liberia. Read this positive review. Enjoy!

http://johnetherton.com/2009/10/09/libtelco-hosting-and-such

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Major Chinese mobile phone manufacturer ZTE wasn’t on Microsoft’s initial list of partners for Windows Phone 7. But they’re making phones based on the new OS, said ZTE Europe CEO Lin Qiang.

“We have our Windows Phone 7 that we are going to launch in Q4 at the end of this year,” Qiang said.

Windows Phone 7 doesn’t mean Windows Mobile 6.5 is dead, according to Qiang. Like competitor HTC, ZTE sees a continuing role for Windows Mobile 6.5 in low-cost or smaller devices that don’t match up to Windows Phone 7’s high-end specs.

“We will develop 7 and 6.5 devices in parallel,” Qiang said. “The requirements of hardware are totally different.”

The Ministry of Commerce Republic of Liberia has posted their handbook for starting a business in Liberia.  Liberia is coming a long way.  Please visit this link on their website for more details.  All comments are welcome.

http://www.moci.gov.lr/doc/HandBook%20or%20Business%20Procedures.pdf

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Liberia Engage blog found this information on colleges and Universities.  There is hope in Liberia as the country continues to recover from war.

The Director-General of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE), Dr. Michael P. Slawon compiled this information.  This information was reported by C.Y. Kwanue for the Daily Observer Newspaper.

The general student population attending the nine recognized degree-granting institutions is numbered at 31,304, Slawon told reporters. Of that number, 19,859 are male students, while 11,445 are females.

Not surprisingly, the UL carries the highest student population, being situated in Monrovia, the nation’s capital and most populous city. Of its 17,620 students 13,009 are males and 4,611 females.

The African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) on Camp Johnson Road, also in Monrovia, comes in at a distant second, with a student population numbering 3,432 students. Of that number, 1,516 are males and 1916 females.

At United Methodist University (UMU) on Ashmund Street, the student population is put at 3118, with 1,358 males and 1,760 females, while the African Methodist Episcopal Zion University (AMEZU) on Benson Street has 2,325 students – 1,077 males and 1,248 females.

The Bong County-based Cuttington University (CU) has 2,287 students, 1,233 of whom are males and 1,054 of whom are females.

Stella Maris Polytechnic, Slawon said has 2,090 students – 1,324 males and 766 females. Tubman University in Maryland County has 288 students, of which 219 are males and 69 are females.

The African Bible University College in Yekepa, Nimba County, has the least number of students. Of the 65 students, 53 are males and 12 females.

I have put together a list of Links to a resource of information on Liberia with useful stuff. 

1. Liberia Corruption Watch website (www.liberiacorruption.org), is an initiative of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL). Corruption is pervasive in Liberia and the media has become a partner in exposing acts of corruption.
2. Liberia’s poverty reduction strategy called “Lift Liberia” website where you can get a wealth of information.  Some of the information has not been updated since the beginning of this year but it is better than nothing.  Visit the website at http://www.liftliberia.gov.lr/index.php.
3. Transparency International question and answer section on corruption.  You will enjoy reading this website.  The website is http://www.transparency.org/news_room/faq/corruption_faq

Please post your comments.  Til next time….long live Liberia.

I came across this website today that is leading the Internet fight against corruption in Liberia.  No country can completely get ride of corruption, but getting it under control is a must.  Liberia business sector has to learn how to operate inside the guidelines of good business to be fully recognized as country where business can be done in a fair manner.

Go to Liberia Corruption Watch

Please post your comments..

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After spending most of my summer in Liberia, I had the opportunity to visit many government institution, businesses and the University of Liberia.  Every where you go, people are getting on the internet.  Most government ministries have full internet access through the local service providers who compete for this business.  With the launching into service Liberia telephone company (LIBTELCO), all government ministries, educational institution and business can get a good Internet access solution from the local telephone company for the lowest cost amongst the service providers in Liberia.

Google docs is a free, web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application offered by google. Google docs is google’s “software as a service” version of an office suite. Google docs is similar to microsoft word, the settings are there you have to scroll around to find all of its’ features. Please note that google docs is not a clone of word, excel, powerpoint etc! The majority of document-sharing services require user fees, whereas google docs is free to gmail users and non-users. “google docs is not yet supplanting microsoft, but the fact that google docs is being picked up so quickly shows tremendous momentum, and that’s a huge threat to microsoft,” said melissa webster, the idc analyst who conducted the survey. The study’s main finding is that about 1 in 5 companies reported that google docs is “widely used” in their workplace, however possibly as a compliment to microsoft office. Even if google docs is pretty basic for now, i suspect it will be catching word pretty quickly: a year from now, i bet the list of shortcomings will be a lot shorter. Google docs is an incredible tool for nonprofits as it saves time, requires next to zero training and can save your company a bundle of money. One-fifth of respondents surveyed by market research firm idc said google docs is now widely used in their organization, compared with around six percent a little more than a year and a half ago. Google docs is much better when it comes to sharing and collaborating on documents in real time, while office offers a richer feature set. Google docs is google’s on-line competitor to microsoft office 2007. College students should take note that google docs is missing one feature you might have learned to love — an equation editor. Google docs is one of the most prominent web-based document programs on the internet. If google docs is going to scale across the web, it needs to encourage each user to upload and share as many docs as possible as a regular part of their workday. However, for the vast majority of users who perform regular basic functions using word, excel, powerpoint google docs is a great and increasingly attractive alternative. Enterprise use of google docs is growing, with and without the blessing of it departments. Webster says that google docs is appealing because it makes collaboration easy. Google docs is not the platform – google is the platform and google docs is the consumer of the platform. Accessibility to google docs is not limited to those who have created it but to everyone on the web, but you do have the option of restricting other access to documents that you do not want others to mess with. Google docs is becoming ever more popular in educational fields. Google docs is very good application so it is certainly going to be an asset to larger companies. Google docs is probably a nice example of what could be a running theme for your book: it’s free, accessible from anywhere, has decent functionality, and assumes that you don’t mind that your text sits on google’s servers rather than your personal computer–and all that entails in terms of privacy, etc.

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