Author: Mathe

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Asterisk Sound Problem

I have spent nearly two hours trying to figure why I get no sound when I do a console dial on Asterisk. I was getting the error ‘Unable to re-open DSP device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy‘. As far as I was concerned my sound card was not being utilised by any application so I figured Asterisk was acting up on me.

Well I guess I was wrong. The soft phone (Egika) which loads immediately after booting was in fact the culprit. I quit the application. It is should be noted that there is a vast difference between quit and close in the context of the application, so using the cross (X) on the Egika window is not what one wants to do. After quitting I loaded Asterisk followed by Egika and both worked as expected.

I am satisfied with finding the cause of the problem but I am still curious about why Egika acts so possesively. The application uses an ALSA plugin and I thought the whole point of this sound architecture was to promote selfless and not possessive behaviour from applications using it! May be I am just annoyed orthere is something I am missing!!

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A Personal Musing on Basotho Clans

Although Lesotho is a one tribe nation, Basotho are divided into several clans. Each clan has an animal totem that not only guides it but in many respects defines the qualities/characters of members of that clan. Understanding these clans allows not only to celebrate the diversity of the nation and its individuals but provides a basis of respecting people for who they are and how they can contribute in the community.

In my previous posting, I made a reference to the Batlokoa clan, so I will start my discussion with them and then will proceed to discuss a few others.

Batlokoa

Batlokoa venerate the wild cat. As I was once told, Batlokoa unlike any other clan reflect so much the animal they venerate. If they are geared for an attack there is no stopping them! They would for example not hesitate to knock down a wall if at all they feel using the door might delay them.

They are also very cheeky (or at least that is what I have been told). It is said Sekonyela, the chief of Batlokoa was destroyed by Moshoeshoe precisely because of this. On many occassions he used to ask Moshoeshoe who he is exactly. He would phrase his question along the lines of: ‘I am Sekonyela son of Mokotjo, who are you? The Bamokoteli in the Bakoena clan are minors, your own father is a twin and at that the youngest! Why should I really bow down to you?’

For the record, although some thought Sekonyela was contemptuous he had a valid point; but this shall be explained shortly under the Bafokeng. The point is Batlokoa are fearless, ruthless and once they have decided you are not worthy of their respect embrace yourself for a good fight for that is as certain as death is to a person.

Bataung

I am a Motaung (see my about page) so expect a slight bias! The Bataung or rather the lions and lionesses are very gracefully by the mere fact of knowing that they are the true kings and queens of the jungle. As far as history is concerned, no great war that Moshoeshoe fought was without the Bataung in the lead. Although I cannot think of a book that can be used as a reference, I assure all that on many occasions Moshoeshoe had to wait for the Bataung men under chief Moletsane before attacking. This is because Bataung are not just good wariors they are excellent military strategists as well.

As a side note, in this year’ Grahamstown Arts Festival one of the best known Mosotho composer, J.P. Mohapeloa was honoured and guess what clan he is from? Well that can’t be a difficult guess so I shan’t answer! But I shall say he is also the man attributed with the follwing words of praise to Lesotho:

‘Sotho la rona, la Moshoeshoe
Le bopiloe ke eena
Ka merabe ea lichaba
Lesotho le letle’.

Bafokeng

Ke antse tsoeleng la phokeng (I was breastfeed by a Mofokeng). Again, excuse the bias if any! Bafokeng are the intellectuals. Like the rabbit, the animal they venerate, Bafokeng are clever and can outsmart you anytime. Bafokeng are also known as fun-loving. This perhaps explains why they gave power to Moshoeshoe with ease. I say they gave their power away because according to the hierarchy of the clans they are at the top and protocol was if any high ranking chief came to your land the reigning chief steps down for that chief. However, Makara chief of the Bafokeng when he went into Moshoeshoe’s land he simply said ‘I understand you dream of being a great chief and I have brought you my people’. (I am being simplistic about it but I thought I should spare you all the details.)

This protocol was the one that Sekonyela wanted Moshoeshoe to observe. However, because Bafokeng in some sense relinguished their power to Moshoeshoe, the interpretation was that Moshoeshoe was a proxy for them. As such, he was holding power for a clan that ranked higher than the Batlokoa.

As a side note, Moshoeshoe was a nephew to the Bafokeng. His maternal uncle Makakane (not sure about his name so I stand to be corrected) played a pivotal role in the transfer of powers. I haven’t really found text to support this but understanding the role of malome (maternal uncle) in Basotho traditions, I have no doubt that the uncle played a pivotal role :D. Another side note, Moshoeshoe ensured that his most senior wives came from the Bafokeng clan so I believe this helped to legitimise his powers. This is based on my believe that behind every great man is a smart woman. ‘Mosali o ts’oara thipa ka bohaleng’.

Bakuena

Bakuena venerate the crocodile. They are generally regarded to make best business men and politicians. Anybody understanding the link between these two professions indeed should understand the character of Bakuena. To those who might need a hint, let me put it this way, not all deals should be taken as personal, the deals are simply made with the greater good in mind! Moshoeshoe the founder of the Basotho nation was a Mokuena. When I do get around to writing all I know about him please just bear this in mind.

Basia

Basia venerate the cat. They are proud, confident and although tame, they are not easily subdued. If you have ever heard of the expression: “you don’t own a cat; a cat owns you!” then you can possibly understand why Basia are not subdued. Another thing about Basia is that they can be self centered. I suppose the tendency to put SELF first might also have to do with the fact that they own and are not owned.

Bats’oeneng

The animal totem for the Bats’oeneng is the monkey. One word comes to mind when it comes to the description of the Bats’oeneng and this is “masene” – ingenious. Sometimes their ingenious is as defined by the expression: “monkey see, monkey do” ! This being the case, one has to remember that looks can be deceiving. Furthermore, that the ability to act doesn’t mean the “action” has been thought through!

Makholokoe

Makholokoe are amiable and good-natured people. They venerate the domestic fowl (aka chicken). If you like, you may interpret their cautious behaviour as chicken-like but this doesn’t mean they can’t defend themselves: for they can! They simply may not be able to do so with the finesse of good warriors.

Other Clans

As suggested before, there are many other clans with their own defining qualities, for example, we have Matebele who are good fighters and medicine men. We also have clans such as: Bahlakoana, Batloung, Baphuthi, Barolong, Bakubung, etc

Basotho Clans Wiki
Occasionally, I aim to please: so I have finally decided to create a wiki of sort that includes a limited listing of praise songs of Basotho clans. If you can't see the wiki, you can also click here to access it.

To all who inspired the creation of this wiki, thank you so much for taking time to interact. I realise at some point I lost the courtesy to even acknowledge your comment postings. I apologise and hope at the very least you find your answers in the wiki, which is and will continue to be work in progress.

Likhomo!
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Invocations from Indigenous Music Performance

Yesterday, I went to see Umrhube (indigenous music) performance featured in the Grahamstown’ annual arts festival. The performance was great! However, the patriot in me thinks Basotho are better. This of course is debatable but is absolutely besides the point.

The point I wish to make is that the perfomance invoked thoughts of what ‘indigenous’ means and how much of what can be regarded as indigenous information an/or knowledge is documented. I am not really sure of the answer but since I appreciate that most of this information is passed on from one generation to the next orally, I thought it would be worthwhile to challenge myself by embarking on a journey that takes me to the roots of my origins. I will begin this journey by using Umrhube’ performance. The group dressed in colourful attire and each member dressed according to their own individual style and taste. The women in particular although danced standing reminded me of the Batlokoa women.

Batlokoa women like women from other clans (in Lesotho) dance on their knees. The only difference is that they don’t just move their upper body, they literally lift their knees much like men lift their legs. You can just imagine the effort; especially in making all believe that the elagance and beauty of the dance comes without effort! To those who understand the Batlokoa this is not surprising since defiance is one quality that can be associated with the clan. Thus, the dance itself can be viewed as an act of defiance, with women saying: ‘if you think as women we need to kneel then we shall! But we will do exactly what men do!’

Other than the dancing, the performance made me think of the role of music in general to culture. To me, it seems that we sing through it all. We sing when we are happy, sad, uncertain, bored, etc. So indeed music might be the food of the soul and through music we might just return to our roots.

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Behavior Change Communication

On Thursday, I sort of told Lorenzo (one of my supervisors) that I tend to stray a lot while in cyberspace. To my defence, the internet is such a huge huge place and it is pretty difficult even with best intentions not to stray. Anyway, whilst I was straying I came across an interesting article on Behavior Change Communication (BCC) for HIV/AIDS from the Family Health International (FHI) site.

First things first, what is BCC? Quoting verbatim, BCC is:

” a multi-level tool for promoting and sustaining risk-reducing behavior change in individuals and communities by distributing tailored health messages in a variety of communication channels.”

So in the context of HIV/AIDS, BCC is about tailoring messages that will help in the prevention of this disease. In tailoring messages, BCC advocates development of a strategy that will create a demand for information and associated services. The essential steps in creating such a strategy is quoted below:

“The following steps incorporate careful analysis, feedback and redesign throughout the entire process. Step 1: Identify the problem based on the overall program goals. Step 2: Segment target populations. Step 3: Engage in formative research. Step 4: Identify behavior change goals. Step 5: Seek consensus from stakeholders.

Step 6: Design communication plan, including objectives, overall theme, specific messages and outlets for dissemination. Step 7: Pre-test and revise. Step 8: Target communication to specific groups. Step 9: Implement the plan. Step 10: Monitor and evaluate it. Step 11: Seek feedback and make appropriate revisions.”

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Ontology as Part my Journey – Part 2

As I continue with my journey on use of ontologies, I decided to explore some of the tools that can be used in the development of ontologies. I have long decided to use Protege but I thought there is no harm in exploring what is available. I began my venture but like the good woman that I am, I decided to exercise the right to change my mind.

What served as a trigger for the change of mind was a random mention of Cyc in one of the articles I was reading. It wasn’t the first time I came across it but this time I thought to self: ‘about time you explored this!’ So with obvious determination, I proceeded with my exploration! This yielded fruitful results in less than 30 minutes (with the help of Google of course).

In 30 minutes, I was lead to believe that OpenCyc might be useful in helping me to model my HIV/AIDS ontology. As aptly put, OpenCyc can be used for “rapid development of an ontology in a vertical area“. What this means is that OpenCyc is ideal for developing ontologies in a specific domain. (Go here for more on vertical and horizontal ontologies)

This is literally good news since one is always adviced to avoid building an ontology from scratch – if possible! And I was almost under the impression that this is the route I may have to follow. ( I boldly told my supervisors not so long ago that ontologies related to HIV/AIDS for disseminating information to laymen are not available. ) Well I am yet to download OpenCyc and may be I might need to retract my statement. I shall cross that bridge when I need to, right now I am just happy I have an excuse to celebrate my Friday. (Of course, I don’t really need an excuse because every Friday is a good Friday 🙂 !)

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SATNAC Submission

I submitted my work in progress paper to SATNAC and I am pretty happy. I have been told that part of the exercise in writing a work in progress paper is to get practice in academic writing. I think I am growing from the experience but I am certain I don’t like red writing. I haven’t really verbalised this to Alf but for some reason he seems to have figured this out. All my feedback unlike with the proposal was in GREEN. I hope it wasn’t a case of him not having a red pen, but if it is (and hopeful he might read this) green is the way to go for aspiring tree huggers like myself.

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Ontology as Part my Journey – Part 1

Ontology use in the context of this research is beneficial in that it allows knowledge sharing and re-use. Although reuse may not be a challenge in this research as we will be modeling our ontology from scratch, it is important to ensure consistency. Without consistency, extendability of our ontology may be compromised; in a sense that it may be difficult to reuse.

Some important questions related to reuse include:

  • How the changes will be handled.
  • How versions of the ontologies will be related.
  • How to store ontologies.
  • How to identify and retrieve ontologies.

Central to these questions is the problem of harmonising the concept descriptions. For example, consider building a taxonomy that will be used to capture the statement” ‘HIV/Aids is an infectious disease that is not curable‘. With this in mind, which of these two is more preferable?

Right now I cannot say which between the two is better, but if at all one is better then it means there are good and bad ontologies. This is something to explore (but certtainly not today)! The point for today is simply to suggest that the two demonstrate that the challenge lies largely with the conceptualisation of the intial model; since to maintain consistency one depends mostly on initial modelling decisions. Further, idea of re-use of an ontology cannot be taken for granted even though it is one of the most cited reason for using ontologies.

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What is ontology?

Ontology is not a new concept. It is a century old concept, with roots from philosophy. However, the Semantic Web has popularised this concept (so many are forgiven to assume that this is new). But more to the point of this post, what is ontology?

In computer science, the classic definition is provided by Gruber. He defines ontology as a “specification of a conceptualization”. This definition although widely accepted some critics say it is too simplistic and incomplete. At the heart of this criticism is that Gruber’s definition reduces ontology to a model in people’s minds instead of a model that is representative of the universe that constitutes the domain.

I will try to explain what I think the critics say: in a nutshell, the argument being made is that ontology is much more than the concepts as understood by people in their own heads. Ontology needs to reflect completely the world of the domain being represented. To perhaps clarify this point of view, I imagined trying to see life through the eyes of an extremist (political or otherwise). To me, an extremist cannot possibly represent true reality of ‘what is’. Therefore, an attempt to reason about the world from that point of view would be doing the world injustice; since the vision of an extremist at best of times is not “true-to-the-world”.

My explanation may of course be a bit philosophical but as said before, ontology gets its roots from philosophy. Now, going back to Gruber. He does explicitly suggest that ontology pertains to modelling of knowledge of some domain be it is real or imagined. Further, he does insist that the modelling is as formal as specifying a program.

In conclusion, while the critics suggest that Gruber’s definition reduces an ontology to be seen as a mere “ad-hoc model built for some specific purpose”. I think I believe in Gruber’s definition for it is short and sweet (like me ) but also very open to interpretation. One possible intepretation is:

Ontology is a formal specification of conceptualization.