Corey writes:

We've just passed the first month mark of living here in K-put, so now we're starting to focus on the real reason we're here: writing exciting blog entries helping SOVA!

My official charter for being here is to develop and support several databases (they like to call them MIS's at SOVA) for the various project teams, these include Sponsorship, HIV/AIDS, Health, and Education. My predecessor, Mike, has already created databases for everyone but the HIV/AIDS team. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that no one is using the databases. So, my self-assigned agenda for the first three months of this year is to try to get people using these databases. To make this happen, I plan to meet with as many people as I can and learn about them and their work here. In the process, I hope to find out what the barriers are to using the existing databases, and also maybe start to talk about what they want for the next-generation databases that I'll be creating later this year (using the Django web framework). In addition, I think my boss is keen to have an organization-level database that allows him (and other leaders) to pull & merge relevant information from all projects.

In addition to all the work around my "official" charter, as with any small organization, I'm going to get involved in anything and everything related to computers around here. The first step is to set up a dedicated server for the organization. In this environment, I'm going open source all the way. (Non-geeks, now is your last chance to close this page before being exposed to unmitigated nerdery.) I plan to install Ubuntu Server OS and configure a Samba domain, Apache web server, Sqlite databases, and file sharing. Also, bandwidth is quite expensive and in low supply here, so I'm planning on setting up a Squid proxy and SquidGuard web filter. I'm also currently working to help migrate our domain and public website to a new hosting provider (our current one sucks).

It feels good to be so busy!