New Beginnings, Once More

Today is my last day at Google. Actually, to be more precise, today is my third last day at Google. After all these years, you might think that, by this point, I'd be used to coming and going, and yet, it's still pretty hard. It's been an incredible 12 months. Since I started this job last August, I've made my way to 20 countries, met so many fascinating people, and made some truly extraordinary friends.

And yet, one year later, I'm also ready for a change. The flip side of moving around so much is that I haven't had much of a home this last year, or more figuratively, much of a real place in the world. Living on the extremes of life has been profoundly eye-opening. Before I started traveling a few years ago, I had no idea that this type of nomadic, high-flying lifestyle was possible. Now I've lived it, and I can appreciate it for what it is. Many of my friends have commented that my life seems to be endlessly exciting and glamorous, and to some extent, it has been, though they miss the parts when I'm throwing up from food poisoning or stranded against my will in a strange city. But it's also been somewhat isolating. It turns out that the lifestyle I had growing up has some merit to it too: seeing the same group of friends more than once every few months, having a place to call home, feeling like you actually belong. These are the things I look forward to becoming reacquainted with next year at Cambridge.

Cambridge, approaching fast on the horizon. For the last few days, I've been receiving a barrage of emails about all of the places, activities, and people that await me. I wish I could express my excitement. If I decide to keep this blog through this next step, I think I'm going to have to change the title though... Suggestions welcome.

Until the next time, my friends.

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Turkish Airlines: Worst Customer Service Experience Ever

An open letter to Turkish Airlines customer service:

Dear Turkish Airlines,

In the past, I've flown exclusively on your airline whenever there's been a TK option on my route. I'm sorry to say the flight that I just got off will be the last.

I booked a ticket from Tel Aviv to Nairobi with your company, despite the fact that there were cheaper and faster options available. When I got to the airport in Tel Aviv, the flight was delayed and they tried to reroute me. This was strike one. I had two more legs on my journey that I would miss if I didn't make it to Nairobi on schedule, costing me several hundred dollars.

After checking my passport in the system, the TK employee at the counter told me that there was no way to get to NBO that night, and that my best option would be to fly to Istanbul and TK would put me up for the night until the next flight. I asked if there were any way I could upgrade to business since the delay was costing me a day's travel and a great deal of money. The employee said there was none left, despite the fact that there were several empty seats in business when I got on the plane. Strike two.

When I finally got to Istanbul and went to the desk to sort out the hotel and flight for the next day, they informed me that my travel agency had not confirmed my ticket, and as a result they wouldn't put me up for the night. "Are you kidding?" I asked, "An employee from your company promised me a hotel room when I got here. If I hadn't been promised a room, I wouldn't have gotten on the plane." "The man at the counter must not have checked your ticket," he replied. I asked him if it was my fault that a TK employee had screwed up when he checked me in, and the fellow kindly informed me that it was in fact my fault. I kid you not. Strike three. This was, hands down, the worst customer service I have ever received in my entire life.

Now here I am, loyal TK customer, and I'm stranded in Istanbul with no hotel, no ticket out, and no help from any of your representatives. I have to say I'm sorely disappointed. I thought loyalty counted for something in this business. I guess I'll just have to find another airline for whom it does.

Sincerely yours,
Benjamin Cole 

Watching and Calculating, African Governments Learn From the Arab Spring

It's no secret that Africa houses some of the longest-serving and most repressive dictators on the planet. Even among the states that have progressed past authoritarian rule, many governments still restrict basic rights with heavy-handed and often violent tactics. It's also no secret that Africa has the smallest Internet penetration of any continent, though it also cannot be denied that the advent of cheap, web-enabled phones has been precipitating broad changes in the continent's Internet landscape. Up until recently, these two facts may have seemed only peripherally related. Most governments had taken a pretty laissez-faire approach to the Internet; it wasn't enough of an issue for most leaders to take the time to learn about, let alone address with policy. But as the Arab Spring continues to roar just a stone's throw North, tremors have rippled well into the heart of the continent. In response, many African governments have begun taking strong stances on Internet freedoms, even before most of their populations have had the chance to experience the free and open Internet as it was originally formulated.

Read more on the Huffington Post »

Encouraging Online Freedom of Expression in Sub-Saharan Africa

Our mission as a company is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful - it is therefore in our interest for free exchange of information to flourish online. As access to online information continues to grow in Africa, and in the aftermath of the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, we are beginning to see governments crack down on dissent in order to prevent free expression both online and offline. There is a growing need to raise awareness about the complex issues surrounding new technology and social media tools that are used for activism.

Read more on the Google Africa Blog »

Umbono: Jump Starting the Internet Ecosystem in Africa

Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa! To preemptively answer your question, no, I'm not on vacation – I'm here to help set up a new program called Umbono, Google's new start-up incubator that will be located here. But before I delve too deeply, let me briefly explain what a start-up incubator is. While the concept of incubators is relatively common in the US, when I've told folks in South Africa what I'm doing here, I often get a look of confusion – "An incubator? Isn't that something you put eggs in?" Well, yes, you could say that...

Mobile Money: African Panacea?

Alternatively titled "My Obligatory M-Pesa Post". Mobile banking/payments is the topic I get asked about most often by people who have just begun to scratch the surface of tech in Africa. "Oh, you work for Google in Africa... I just read about this fascinating mobile banking system in Kenya! Perhaps you've heard of it?" And while I do grow a little tired of fielding the same question again and again, it is the first question I get asked for good reason! The mobile banking phenomenon is an innovation indigenous to Africa, and a perfect illustration of African ingenuity.

One Year Later: Reflections on a full year out

Another significant milestone came and quietly passed for me yesterday. It was the one year anniversary of my graduation from college: one year since I said my teary goodbyes to my alma mater, to my friends, and to any semblance of life as I had ever known it. It's been quite a year since. I've explored more new places than I care to count; I've met just about as many new people as I did in my first year of college, and at some points, each week seemed to feel like an entire lifetime. In that sense, I've lived an awful lot in the last 12 months, perhaps more life than I lived in the first 20 years of my life. Here are a few of the lessons I've taken away.