This morning before work I turned on the TV and "Telecurso" was on TV Globo, the Brazilian channel we subscribe to on cable. I'd heard of this program before, an educational initiative maintained by the Fundação Roberto Marinho. Curious, I looked it up online and discovered the full series (with new episodes being added) available on YouTube. This program can be good not only for Brazilians, but also to non-Brazilians like myself who speak Portuguese and could benefit from the Brazilian history lessons and Portuguese classes. I plan to watch the episodes that pertain to Brazilian history first, and then review the Portuguese classes. Click here to check out the page on YouTube. The following video is one example of what's offered. Add Comment Access to education has long been a problem in Brazil, and while illiteracy remains high in that country, there have been significant improvements in recent decades. Basic literacy alone, however, won't provide the educated public that a democratic republic needs to survive. There has been explosive growth in the area of private education in Brazil in recent years, and just the other day I came across an interesting article that explains the current situation and overall strategy from the perspective of the government. You can read the full article by clicking here, and the following are some quotes I found interesting. Brazil opted to provide higher education to a growing proportion of students, albeit of varying quality, on the premise that a country cannot develop optimally if it does not have a top end that performs strongly as well as broad participation. While expanding and improving its public institutions, other layers of institutions were created - including colleges and private providers - to widen participation. The "varying quality" is mentioned there is no joke. Some private schools in Brazil have a better reputation than others, but in general the public universities have the best reputations of all. This is odd to me, as someone who grew up in the Midwestern United States in an environment where I came to see private universities at least of equal quality to the public options. One of my sisters-in-law is studying to be a nurse in Brazil and, while her educational experience has been generally good, she has told a few stories of lackadaisical professors that sound terribly similar to some community college teachers my wife has suffered under. Public education on all levels in Brazil is "free," but admittance to a public university usually requires passing a very difficult entrance examination called the "Vestibular." There is also now an option that involves annual testing in high school, but it is also very challenging. Those who have the benefit of private high school education (which is generally very good in Brazil) and expensive "pre-Vestibular" courses have a distinct advantage over public high school graduates. Thus, the better-off often have a better chance of enrolling at a higher quality, free public university than their less-well-off counterparts. Those with fewer means end up paying for an education that may or may not be of good quality. There has been debate, he said, on the question of "some education or no education at all. Much of the private system provides this kind of education, often in business or in law". For example, Brazil's law association runs a bar examination that must be passed if a law graduate is to practice: 80% of students fail. "Many law schools never get their graduates into the bar association, but they still attract students because, even if they cannot practice, they still have a degree and can do something with it." This "some kind of education or no education at all" question is similar to what I've long asked about higher education in the United States. I've heard of countless literature and history majors graduating with no job prospects at all. It made me wonder what they thought they'd do with that degree. Even I have at times sorely regretted my "Bachelor of Ministry" degree (no amount of accreditation makes it particularly worthwhile outside the field of Christian ministry). Then again, if the goal is an educated populace rather than personal success, any degree will be "good enough" and better than nothing. As for the 80% of law students who never pass the exam to become lawyers in Brazil, I found that more than a little daunting. It's long been a dream of mine to study and practice law in Brazil. I suppose I'll have to study all the harder, especially given my cultural and linguistic disadvantage. While many in Brazil see private institutions as 'second-class', and although drop-out rates are high, the sector's extraordinary growth has driven the massification of higher education, and has raised the participation rate of school-leavers to 21% and the education levels of the populace. There is no doubt that private higher education is very much in demand in Brazil, and I certainly agree that having more citizens better educated will be a benefit to the nation as a whole. At the same time, it would do those private university students well to consider carefully the school they'll be paying to attend, as well as the preferred course of study. See also:BRAZIL: Private education far better than none at all (University World News) Brazil, The Still-Drowsy Giant 10/11/2011
For the past several days my brother-in-law, Marcelo Lima, has been staying with my family. We are his last stop before returning home from a support-raising tour of churches in the American South and Midwest. He is a missionary in Brazil. My wife and I intend to move our family back to Brazil in a few years, where I hope to work in technology and also help HOPE worldwide expand its outreach. Hearing from him about the current situation in Brazil has been both encouraging and concerning. Brazil is making great strides in reforming its bureaucracy and promoting business. International investors are taking strong interest in the country and the upcoming World Cup and Olympics to be held in the country are contributing to new infrastructure and a renewed commitment to fight corruption. On the other hand, the cost of living continues to be ridiculously high in Brazil. Everything from gasoline to cable television are luxury items for the upper middle class (although, of course, many who can't really afford "luxuries" find a way to obtain them anyway). Taxes overwhelmingly burdensome and what should be simple paperwork to open a back account or start a business can take weeks or months to complete. When we move to Brazil, my family will be making some sacrifices. We'd better be ready for it. Brazil may be a giant that's awakening, but it's still a pretty drowsy beast. AOL's "Daily Finance" is calling the projected expansion of broadband in Brazil a "gold rush" for multinational companies, but I think the real growth will actually follow the development of the communication infrastructure. Brazil is a nation of young and increasingly tech-savvy people. The only two restrictions on a massive explosion of start-up work (at least that I can see) are the nation's adverse business laws and bureaucracy, and the lack of suitable infrastructure. Even just solving the second problem would open the door to an enormous increase in start-up activity. With just a little improvement, Brazil could potentially become home to the new Silicon Valley of our day. Mobile Technology in Brazil 09/28/2011
 During my brief time of residence in Brazil from 2001 to 2003 it seemed to me that cell phones were everywhere. Everyone from old ladies at the bus stop to boys playing soccer in the street had cell phones, and I joked that soon enough dogs would have them there too. Still, phone calls were expensive, and a lot of people (including me) had pre-paid phones and took advantage of the fact that there was no charge to the user on incoming calls (it cost the person calling a cell phone quite a bit though). For this reason I've doubted for a while that smartphones could make much headway in Brazil, assuming that the Internet connection would cost a fortune. Turns out, I was wrong. Two of my nieces in Brazil are roughly my daughter's age, in their early teens. They've explained to me that although regular phone calls continue to be expensive, unlimited texting and unlimited Internet are only 50 centavos (about 27 US cents) each per day. This puts texting and mobile Internet access well within the reach of many Brazilians. For years average Brazilians have gotten along with buggy, virus-laden copies of Windows on their desktops (for those who even own computers). With cell phones already so much a part of the culture and with reasonable rates for mobile data, it seems to me that Brazil is set up to make the leap on the consumer level from desktop to smartphones, and quite possibly from Windows to Android. Still, while the Brazilian government officially supports open source technology, it has also encouraged the opening of an iPhone and iPad factory in the country. In any event, mobile technology has been and will continue to be very important in Brazil. Given all this, the wise focus for future software development work in Brazil appears to be in mobile apps. That's where I'll be giving my attention, in any case. Two Views of Brazil 09/09/2011
This past week I came across an infographic and a customized Google map that provide very distinct perspectives on Brazil. The first, provided by The Economist, is a map of Brazil with the states replaced by countries of the world that are economically equivalent. It was sobering to see Santa Catarina matched with Qatar, and even more so to see that São Paulo is on the same level as Poland. The second is a map of Brazil with links to videos created to promote different regions of the country for tourism. View República Federativa do Brasil in a larger map Both of the above give us a broader perspective on a large, diverse and growing nation. Freedom, Corruption and Google Brasil 09/07/2011
 On September 7 Brazil celebrates its independence from Portugal. From my experience living in Brazil, besides being a day off work, it really doesn't inspire the same level of patriotic pride that July 4 brings out in Americans. In any event, some in Brazil are using the occasion this year to march against corruption. Brazil has been plagued by the greed and misdeeds of the powerful (and the not-so-powerful) since the earliest days of its settlement by the Portuguese. The culture has become so permeated by this climate that Brazilians are accustomed to looking for a "jeitinho" ("little way") around any and all bureaucratic barriers they encounter. It's survival. What I wonder is if and how large foreign companies that are not so amenable to this way of doing business will manage. Of particular note, at least to me, is Google. Google receives a fairly regular stream of requests for disclosure of user data from the Brazilian government. Given that Google's social network "Orkut" is so popular in Brazil this isn't too surprising. Brazil's strict anti-hate speech laws are no doubt a large driving force behind this number, as well as the laws prohibiting causing "moral harm" to people through things said about them online (even when not involving racism or libel). An recent case of Google refusing to hand over user data illustrates the problem of excessive regulation of speech and political corruption. The mayor of Varzea Alegre, a small backwater town in northern Brazil -- population 38,000 -- filed suit against Google Brasil near the beginning of this year because three people using Blogger anonymously were accusing him of corruption and embezzlement. The local judge ordered Google to shut down the blogs and hand over identifying information for the users, but Google refused, citing free speech and the fact the company only provides hosting services in this case. The judge applied a $3100 fine for each day the blogs remained active, and just last month froze US$141,000 of Google's bank assets in Brazil for non-compliance and non-payment of earlier fines. In my opinion, three changes need to take place in Brazil if it is to realize its full potential as a democracy, especially in the modern tech world. First, the legal/judicial system needs to learn to distinguish between those engaging in hate speech or other forms of restricted communication and the platform used. Google is in no way responsible for the views expressed by users on Orkut, Blogger or any of its other online properties. It cannot filter every status update, every photo and every blog post before it is made public. It simply can't be done. Second, Brazil must review it's position on what is restricted speech. As distasteful as Nazis and pedophiles are online, the line needs to be moved in Brazil. Just offending someone cannot be sufficient reason to take legal action and pursue criminal charges. Third, the Brazilian government has to undergo a thorough, merciless housecleaning. Zero tolerance for corruption. No more 'secret votes' to absolve politicians of wrongdoing. Brazil has so much potential and seems to be on the rise as a world power. It's past time the nation took steps to ensure good governance, ethical leadership and sustainable technological development through legal reform and rigorous investigations and prosecutions wherever corruption is found. See Also: Google fined in Brazil for refusing to reveal bloggers' identities (TNW) What Keeps Brazil Back (IgneousQuill.org) Dealing With Brazil's Red Tape (IgneousQuill.org) Google Transparency Report Orkut Needs Clear Migration Path to Google+ 09/06/2011
 For at least three years now the status on my Orkut profile has been a message in Portuguese stating that Facebook is far better than Orkut. As bad as the user experience is on Orkut, I'm surprised it's hung on as long as it has, essentially outliving MySpace despite virtually no visible development work to improve it or add functionality. The reason my status was in Portuguese was simply that the only contacts I have there are all Brazilian. Orkut, virtually unknown among Americans, has been the social network of choice for Brazilians for a few years. It would seem that is now changing.  According to recent numbers, Facebook now exceeds Orkut in total number of users in Brazil. Facebook has around 30 million users there, more than Orkut's 27 million. Click here for a translation of an article on these statistics. Personally, I've observed this shift taking place over the past year or so as Brazilian family members and friends have created profiles and friended me. It makes my life a little easier, consolidating all of my contacts into one location. This brings me to the suggestion in the title of this post. Google still wants to compete in the social networking arena, as evidenced by the creation of Google+. Orkut, a Google property, is visibly in decline. It seems only natural that Google should create a simple, prominently-displayed (on Orkut) migration tool from Orkut to Google+. Even better...let people who migrate keep their non-migrated Orkut friends, and vice versa. As Google+ improves (hopefully) and Orkut continues to be the static mess it has been for years, users will make the reasonable choice and shift over to greener pastures, staying in the Google fold at the same time. After all, I really believe the only reason Orkut held on as long as it did was because Brazilian users already had all of their friends there and were accustomed to the interface. If now they are beginning to weary of Orkut, how much easier would it be to stay where their friends are bug obtain a better experience? Just a thought. I'll be very interested to see what happens with Orkut, Google+ and Facebook over the coming months. UPDATE: There's now an option to share Orkut albums on Google+! It's not much, but it's a good first step. 9/30/2011  Recommended Podcast: Talk 2 Brazil 08/31/2011
 Talk to Brazil bills itself as "the World's First and Only English Language RadioTalk Show on Business in Brazil." Featured live on LA Talk Radio, this program is fortunately also available for download. The host, Tom Reaoch, is a consultant and speaker with many years of experience in business in Brazil, where he still lives. If you are looking for interesting podcasts dealing with business and tech in Brazil, Talk 2 Brazil is a good place to start. It's the best (and only!) I've found of the genre so far.  Another interesting factoid about Peixe Urbano: They’ve imported a dozen American engineers, product managers and designers. It’s not outsourcing, and it’s not insourcing. It’s something unique, and you don’t hear about Non-U.S. startups hiring and moving Americans to wherever they are very often. Perhaps we’ll see more of this over time. The company has hired people from Apple, Intuit, Tagged, Merchant Circle and other companies. So if you’re an American techy and you want to get paid (including stock options) to go hang out in Brazil for a few years, you know where to send your resume. Brazil’s Peixe Urbano Takes “Significant Growth” Round From General Atlantic and Tiger Global (Techcrunch) Peixe Urbano is a Groupon-style daily deal website, and I've heard from several friends in Brazil about how much they love it. This and other web-based businesses could finally be coming into prominence in Brazil, as more and more homes are connecting to broadband. For the longest time those with any home internet connection at all were depending on dial-up service (remember the 1990s?), but lately that's been changing. Between my efforts to master Ruby on Rails, my experience in social media and my work as a site producer, I'm hopeful that I may be able to step in and help fill the gap for some Brazilian-based tech company in the not-too-distant future. See Also: Brazil's Boom Needs Talent (Barron's) Brazil Vows to Connect Internet to Most Households by 2014 (TMCnet) | 
Adam Gonnerman - Former missionary, ESL teacher, customer service rep, social media manager and web producer; currently employed as a project manager in New York and volunteering through HOPE worldwide.
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