Israel Lopez tells of his experiences building a computer lab in Malawi in his presentation, Where There Is No Tech Support, given on SCALE 13x Sunday at 3 p.m. The SCALE Team caught up with Israel and asked him about his talk.
Q: Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background?
A: Sure, I am Israel Lopez, a local Southern California technology enthusiast. For money, I develop software and consult for companies here in the US and Australia. For fun, I support projects around the world, contribute to github, and Snowboard when there is fresh powder.
Q: You're giving a talk on Where There Is no Tech Support. Without tipping your hand on the actual talk, can you give us an idea of what we might expect?
A: Be prepared to be amazed how Africa can surprise you.
Q: Is this your first visit to SCALE? If so, what are your expectations? If not, can you give us your impressions of the event?
A: This is not my first visit to SCALE. My first visit was actually was by manning a booth promoting my Engineers Without Borders Project in Honduras. Since then 10x I've attended nearly every year. It's just a great place to talk about FOSS, the future of FOSS, and meet with great people.
Q: How can people participate in your talk/project?
A: They can certainly attend the talk, tell others about the project, write code for us, and sometimes even a little money can go a long way.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
A: Come, sit and relax; and let Africa come to you.
[SCALE Team interview by Hannah Anderson]